Another batch of capsule reviews from the Comics Daily team, including Blue Beetle #33, Captain America #44, Secret Invasion: Inhumans #4, Ultimate X-Men #98 and X-Force #9. Continue reading »

Resurfacing after a few month missing in action, the Buffy series understandably has a little difficulty in getting its momentum back. While there’s a handsome apology for the delay contained in the letters page, the third part of a four-issue arc is an awkward time for a title to go on hiatus, and as a consequence, the lack of fresh plot in The Time of Your Life’s conclusion is keenly felt.

The bi-centennial Willow has pulled off quite a feat, managing to unite every faction in the twenty second century against its visitor. Buffy knows her friend too well, however, being able to spot the witch’s real intentions. Given that this is a conclusion, the writer spends much of his time on action sequences, showing the readership both the threatened full-on Buffy versus Fray battle and the slayer army rallying after the attack on their castle. In light of the focus on future events, it’s unsurprising that the latter conflict feels rather messy, joining the internal politics of Team Twilight in being shoehorned as interludes in the slayers’ one on one brawl. The arc’s main weakness is that it leaves Fray’s world largely unchanged, making the story feel slightly inconsequential. While Buffy’s last act in the future will undoubtedly stay with her for some time to come, Joss Whedon comprehensively undoes of the alterations that he had made to the future slayer’s world, leaving the scenario exactly as Summers found it. While the slight stumbles in this issue don’t damage the arc as a whole, the inequality of impact that the two time periods have on each other is a more serious gripe.

The issue’s main strength comes from an unusual trick Whedon pulls off, in the form of a moment that carries considerably more weight after the reader has time to reflect upon it. Buffy’s execution of Willow is initially brushed off as a possible future vision, but after putting the book down and musing on events, it becomes clear that this actually stands as the character’s in-canon fate. How her killer deals with her part in events will provide interesting material for the book’s future. It’s a reasonable issue, but to truly get the series back on track, we’ll need to see this quality maintained consistently for a few months. There’s a lot riding on next month’s contribution from guest writer Jeph Lo-

Ah.

And so here it is. The final part of “Batman RIP”. Hugely anticipated, hugely controversial, hugely difficult to actually review, as it happens. Look, it’s the final part of a Morrison storyline. You’ve probably already made your mind up about it, and it’s probably everything you thought it would be – unless you were taken in by the incredibly misleading hype that somehow saw readers of the Daily Telegraph and Guardian informed that this was going to be the last ever Batman story.

And of course, it’s difficult to review because, just like the end of All-Star Superman, I don’t particularly want to spoil it for you. We’re relatively liberal with that concept here on Comics Daily, but I am posting this on the evening the book has come out in the UK, and it is a comic that most if not all of you will have some kind of interest in – for the curiosity factor if nothing else. But so much of what I want to say about it would have to involve telling you exactly what happens – and I’m not prepared to do that. What I’m going to do instead, however, is break format a bit in order to examine how I think the issue succeeds in a handful of different goals. So let’s start with :

Is it a good single issue of a comic book? Oh yes. Littered with delicious moments – another “hh”, some grave digging, the Joker at his absolute best, the Bat-family kicking some arse, a Princess Bride-esque display of poison dodging and an unforeseen yet jaw-dropping pun of a final line – it’s easily one of the better single-issue reads of the run as a whole. It rattles by, and even manages not to suffer too much from Tony Daniel’s workmanlike art. Ignoring all external context, it’s a damned fine superhero comic.

Is it a good ending to the individual “Batman RIP” story? Yes, I’d say so. In the closing pages there’s a lovely sense of bringing the entire arc full-circle (and if he leaves you to draw the final mental line back to the arc’s very first page yourself, that’s your lookout not his – although an artistic glitch means that there’s no sense of visual continuity between the two), and just about everything that the arc threw up in and of itself is resolved. Of all the sub-arcs of the Morrison run so far, “RIP” is probably second only to the magnificent “Club of Heroes” three-parter as a story that can be read as one complete whole.

Is it a good ending to Grant Morrison’s run? Only in the sense that, thanks to its imperfection, it’s a microcosm of the run as a whole – terrific moments, hints of an underlying genius, but something still not quite clicking perfectly as it should. And it doesn’t feel like Morrison’s swansong on the book – because it clearly isn’t intended to be. External circumstances mean that we still don’t know who the hell is going to be writing the book from now on, but at the time of writing this, Morrison clearly thought it would be him. This is the end of his “book one”, his setting out of his ideas about who Batman is and what he means. While plot threads are generally as wrapped up as Morrison tends to leave them (which is not to say they’re done so entirely), thematic ones are left flying all over the place. It’s only to be hoped that he’ll get the chance to start working some of them in more detail from next year.

Will it please the people who took the arc’s title literally, who like to have every single story nuance fed to them through exposition, who can’t work out answers for themselves or deal with the concept of multiple possible interpretations, and who thought Morrison would somehow change his writing style at the last minute and come up with the sort of bluntly straightforward “The Death Of Superman” or “Knightfall”-style storyline the newspapers were anticipating?

Well, of course not. But did you need me to tell you that?

Every Wednesday we take turns to delve into our trusty longboxes, pluck out a dusty back issue, and give you our thoughts. We’ll also try and place it in the context of the time it was originally published.

Comics annuals always have a hard task. Make the story too throwaway, and people are likely to skip over it entirely. Make it too essential, and they’re just as likely to complain that it’s too expensive and that the story should finish in the main series.

The Incredible Hulk ‘97 annual opts for a third, slightly more preferable option. The issue contains two stories, both of which slot neatly into Hulk continuity and deliver significant stories for the characters involved, but does so in a way that it can be entirely ignored by anyone who doesn’t want to buy it. It’s a thin line to dance along, but the comic pulls it off well.

The two stories are set during the “Heroes Reborn” era of the Hulk, where a Bannerless Hulk roamed the earth in something of a bad mood, occasionally accompanied by Rick Jones’ grand-daughter from the future, Janis. The first features long-time supporting characters from Peter David’s run, Doc Samson and the Pantheon, as they deal with a child who may or may not be the offspring of Bruce and Betty. Thrown inexplicably but enjoyably into the mix is the Shi’Ar Imperial Guard, who were stationed on Earth for a brief time. The mix of characters is obscure and difficult to keep track of, but you can’t argue with the spectacle of the Hulk fighting Superman-analogue Gladiator. Writer Chris Cooper does, to his credit, manage to keep the overall theme and narrative of the story from being overtaken by the guest-stars, and the end result is both an enjoyable and respectful tale.

The second half of the issue concerns the wider Heroes Reborn arc, and showed what I believe were the first hints at some connection between the Hulk, Franklin Richards and the Heroes Reborn universe. However, it also contains the Hulk’s long-awaited first meeting with Artie and Leech, which is much more fun. There’s less at the centre of this story, but between the cutesy, manga art style, the slapstick traps the kids set for the Hulk, and the way that he seems oddly reasonable when dealing with children, it’s a nice little short story memorable because it’s funny and entertaining, rather than because anything particularly major happens in it, and sometimes it seems like there aren’t enough comics like that around…

A good annual overall, though unfortunately, the references to current continuity that made it seem more enjoyable at the time have ultimately bogged it down in the past. It’s not essential reading, but it is an amusing comic, and one that’s easy to love.

Something a bit different this Tuesday, since it’s been a quiet week for comics – at least, for comics worth saying anything about. While the series in question is already up to its second episode, I thought it worth taking a quick look at the pilot episode of the new DC-related animated series Batman : The Brave and the Bold…

The instinctive reaction, of course, is to say “What? Another Batman cartoon?” And coming so soon after the disappointing The Batman, it’s probably a valid one. However, targeted as it is at something of a younger market, The Brave and the Bold is arguably more distinct from the Dini/Tamm Batman series than the Begins­-inspired effort, and quite frankly it’s all the better for it. Following in the footsteps of the likes of Teen Titans Go, it’s a slick, light-hearted, extravagant slice of all-ages fun, and well worth checking out despite its apparent simplicity.

It’s strange, though, in that it takes its cues from a version of Batman that was once the most common public perception of the character, but which has been finally eroded by two different movie franchises and the aforementioned early ‘90s animated classic. It’s Silver Age, pure and simple. This is a Batman who’s known more as a “superhero” than a grim vigilante, who bats nary an eyelid at flying through wormholes with rocket-powered wings, and who actually… you know… smiles.

But while there are tropes clearly lifted from the ‘60s TV series – a wry musical sting here, a rope-tied deathtrap cliffhanger there – there’s a crucial difference in that this Batman isn’t camp in an Adam West kind of way. There’s a sense of fun, and there are jokes, but it never takes the piss (even with comedian Diedrich Bader giving a suitably bombastic lead vocal performance) – the superheroics are genuinely on the level, and a strong balance is maintained. It’s nice to see a nod, too, to one of the strongest ever examples of the fusion of comedy and non-parodic superhero stories – the villain in the throwaway pre-credits sequence, the Clock King, while he’s changed quite significantly, is drawn from Giffen and deMatteis’ seminal Justice League run.

Another masterstroke, meanwhile, is in the use of the new Blue Beetle as the first episode’s guest character (each weekly, unconnected tale features, as if you hadn’t guessed from the title, a different character teaming up with Bats). While a few obvious changes and simplifications are made, it’s generally a note-perfect rendition of one of the DCU’s best new characters of recent years (we even get an appearance by Paco!), and merely strengthens the opinion that he (a) shouldn’t have had his series cancelled, and (b) should quite probably get his own cartoon. The young, generally-unsure-of-himself but occasionally-gets-carried-away hero is a good foil for a square-jawed, all-hero Batman, and his origins and power set fit well with the outer-space theme of the episode.

Topped off by some genuinely brilliant animation – fast-paced and McCracken/Tartakovsy-esque, with some absolutely lovely flashes – it may be a little simple and straightforward, but it’s a very well-produced cartoon, and it’s clearly got its heart in the right place. It’s not going to set the world on fire, but given the generally po-faced and overly “dark” nature of most DC properties nowadays, it’s nice to see someone doing something a bit lighter.

The removal of Larry Stroman from X-Factor’s pencilling duties would be welcome in any event, but the return of Valentine de Landro is a double cause for celebration. De Landro has pretty much established himself as the definitive penciller for the book, and there’s been no drop off in the quality of his detailed but expressive work. Unfortunately, however, his return is somewhat ill timed, with this issue’s plot being mainly padding for the Darwin Awards arc’s inevitable trade paperback.

Despite the explosive cliffhanger that the field team faced last time, the main focus of this issue is events on the home front, with Val Cooper attempting to coerce Siren into accepting the O.N.E.’s somewhat sinister “protection” for her unborn child. The events of the Messiah Complex crossover are subtly allowed to overshadow the conversation, with the implication that another mutant birth could turn into a similar fiasco kept in the background. This danger allows Cooper slightly more credibility as a character than normal, although her initial belief that handcuffing Rictor is a sound negotiating strategy is a little hard to accept. The conclusion of this element raises a smile, but the subsequent scene where Theresa comes fractionally closer to killing Cooper is a little more difficult to accept as a result. The last scene of the issue makes clear that the government’s offer is about to become a lot less academic, and hopefully having the couple reunited will give more life to this strand.

Elsewhere, Madrox and his crew benefit from Peter David’s rewinding of events, allowing their situation to be fleshed out before the bomb blast seen at the conclusion of the previous issue. Once the gang recover, there’s little new that hasn’t been seen before in the title, with character threads present without being advanced. Jamie continues to be worried by the unpredictability of his duplicates, Monet and Longshot continue to instinctively flirt and Guido continues to solidly advance the plot without comment. As for the actual investigation that the team is undertaking, there’s little progress, with the one update on the Karma Project’s experiment being entirely predictable.

The writer obviously feels completely at home with this book, with the updates on his family life now an established part of the recap page. It’s just a pity that a desire to drag the story out for its secondary publication format has left purchasers of the single issues slightly short-changed.