OPTIC VERVE #1 18 Aug 02	Comics Published on 7 August 2002 MATT MARTIN
Sequart.com Columns

The Path #5

To those who've read more than a few issues of Crossgen's books, the format of this issue of The Path (normally a competently, if not terribly inspired, written book) should seem disturbingly familiar. As our hero stands on the cusp of a momentous decision / battle / duel, he / she spends some time learning about the background of his/her sidekick. The name of the hero and the sidekick are irrelevant, you can basically plug in any pair from any Crossgen book. In this case, it's Obo and Wulf, the wayward monk and the barbarian warrior who has sworn his sword to Obo's cause.

What it comes down to is simply this: these issues make you feel like you're being cheated. Crossgen writers seem to place a high premium on the cliffhanger ending, using it in nearly every single issue. The suspense stops being part of the fun and becomes an annoyance when you pick up the next issue to find that it's basically nothing more than a space-filler. Typically, these sort of "down-time" issues are used to kill time in between story arcs, not in the middle of them.

To boot, Bart Sears normally handles the art chores and is doing as fine a job as he has done in his career, in my opinion. However, this month we get a fill-in by Walt Simonson that looks like it was inked by a five-year old. Rubbing salt in the wound is the fact that Simonson apparently inked it himself. Throughout the book, I found myself saying, "Damn, whoever inks this is butchering the shit outta Walt's pencils... ." Then I flip the last page and say, "Shit... WALT was butchering Walt's pencils. How sad... ."

I give it: .

100 Bullets #37

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There's very little, to be honest with you, that I can say about this book that hasn't already been said before and by more articulate writers than myself. Yes, it reads better in trade form. Yes, it seems like it's always late. No, it's in no way new reader friendly, as much of the book revolves around furthering the subplots that have been slowly building since the first issue. Yes, Julian, Azzarello's run on Hellblazer DID suck.

But God bless him, Azzarello, through this book, single-handedly brought me back to comics and restored my faith in the medium. No lie, 100 Bullets #8 was the first book I had picked up in something like four or five years and I haven't quit since. Julian can attest to the sheer disgusting amount of comics I consume in a week (shit, this past week was LIGHT for me). I've got Azzarello to thank for that.

To more directly address the issue at hand (no pun intended), #37 is a solid start to what I believe is six months of one-shots focusing on the Minutemen who have so far been recovered (or discovered, depending on your point of view) by Graves and Shepherd. This time, the spotlight's on Dizzy, the chica from the first story arc. In true 100 Bullets fashion, the issue that focuses on her barely has her in it at all. Mostly, we're given an update on her through the conversation between Graves and Shepherd, a conversation that manages to clear some things up but still leave so many dangling plot threads, since they are the glue that holds this book together.

Eduardo Risso brings his A-game to the field, as per always. The man is one of the most solid workers I've ever seen in this industry. That's all that needs to be said, I think. Anything I say isn't going to do justice to his work anyways; why bother?

I could do this every day and never feel guilty; I give it: .

Vertigo Pop: Tokyo #2

I wish I had more positive things to say about this book, but I just don't. It boils down to the simple fact that I don't enjoy this book as much as I would if I, y'know, spoke Japanese. Sadly, I understand a fair bit of the language, as well as find their culture interesting, and I still couldn't make myself care too much about the book. I thought the first issue showed promise, but at this point I'll just pick up the final two issues for the sake of finishing the mini. After all, aren't we all just looking forward to the Pete Milligan VP: London mini anyways?? On a bright note, Seth Fisher's pencils are consistently good. He has a nice Geoff Darrow sort of style, to my mind, but it manages to capture the flavor of manga art without being that Amerimanga crap. On that note though, I have a sinking suspicion that the two "manga guys" in my store would find this book infinitely amusing, since they would clearly be hip to all the in-jokes and what not.

I give it: .

The Crusades #18

Times were I thought this book represented the promise of a brighter day during that bleak, albeit thankfully brief, night that Vertigo endured after the double-shot of Ennis ending Preacher and Ellis announcing that he would be wrapping up Transmet shortly. That's like being punched in the mouth and then kicked in the junk, man; one would be enough, two is just gratuitous.

However, at some point, the book just lost me. I think it was when I realized we're evidently going to have at least one new "Knight" per story arc. Let this speak for itself: I read this issue less than a week ago, but I can't even think of any spectacularly mediocre moments since the whole book felt like one big one. Again, this is another case where I'll simply pick up the next two issues (the series is finished as of #20) and wish the book had ended about six issues earlier, when I was still interested.

I give it .

Ultimate Spider-Man #25

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Sigh... I don't even have the words to express how irredeemably bad this issue is. Say what you will about the Ultimate books, love 'em or hate 'em, I think they serve a purpose and do a good job filling their role. However, this issue was such a complete was of space that I don't even know where to start; I could literally churn out pages dissecting why it's so bad. I won't do that though, I'll just try to be brief.

1. I don't appreciate re-reading #24, word for fucking word, from another character's perspective. Tossing in ghostly heads and some insane (or is it inane? You decide... .) word bubbles to show us how crazy the Goblin is does NOT a new issue make. I find it hard to believe that I'm alone in this sentiment.
2. Given Marvel's recently much-publicized (as per Kevin Smith's FAQ post at Comics Newsarama) need to coordinate the movie continuity and comics continuity, there really is no cliffhanger whatsoever in the cliffhanger ending. When Smith tells the world that he and Straczynski can't discuss Peter and Mary Jane's marital status because they have no marital status in the flicks, it's rather hard to believe that she might be dead.

Detective Comics #773

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Even though the cover would seem to suggest otherwise, the "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive" crossover extravaganza continues. Yep, no matter how much we all want it to die and go the fuck away, the crossover rears its ugly head again, this time in the guise of Sasha Bordeaux, the Human Dangling Plot Thread. In what seems to be a theme for this week, I just shrug and suffer through 22 pages of story that could have been told in half that, at least.

Sasha continues to languish in prison for her "role" as Bruce Wayne's "accomplice" in the "murder" of Vesper Fairchild. None of which happened, obviously, since Bruce was acquitted of all charges. But since Sasha's still in the clink, and we haven't bothered to check up on her since the crossover began, we close it off by, you guessed it, killing her off-camera.

But the problem with that cliffhanger ending is that if you've read DC's solicitation for future issues, Batman / Bruce is investigating the "possibility" that Sasha is in fact in the custody of Checkmate, this cookie-cutter government shadow conspiracy group that's been alternating between irritating and helping Batman for a while now. So, clearly, she's not dead (Not dead in a comic book? No way!!), since if she were dead, they'd just pretend she never existed.

Sadly, if this is indicative of the sort of work we can expect from the rest of his run, I'll wait with baited breath for Rucka to exit the book to make way for Brubaker, himself exiting Batman to make way for the Dynamic Duo of Loeb and Lee.

I give it: .

Also of note and published this week:

Thundercats #0
Gotham Girls #1
Uncanny X-Men #410
Superman #185

I promise, I actually enjoyed some of the books for next time. Sadly, the same can barely be said of those I reviewed for this time.

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