And the Rest
Amazing Spider-Man #645
By Mark Waid, Paul Azaceta and Matthew Southworth
This latest arc of Amazing Spider-Man has been an unbelievable treat in comparison to the previous abomination by Joe Quesada. As the culmination of the various Brand New Day story threads, some established almost 100 issues ago, this is the final act in the greatest era Spider-Man has experienced, at least in my lifetime.
For the last few issues we’ve been slowly building up momentum towards the epic battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus that is, so obviously, on its way. And yet, Mark Waid has managed to craft a tale that takes us in a completely different direction to the one we envisioned at the start of the arc.
It’s a clever device to bring in all of Spider-Man’s heavy-hitting villains and play them off against the wallcrawler; it feels much the same as the Sinister Six concept, only this time there are far more villains, and the stakes feel much higher.
The art by Paul Azaceta and Matthew Southworth is absolutely gorgeous; much improved from Azaceta’s previous issues on the book. The style is a mixture of gritty colours and wonderfully rendered character models. You can tell who everyone is, and it’s nice to see characters like the Looter receiving a modern day makeover that still looks almost identical to the original Steve Ditko design.
The next issue is the final instalment of this arc, and hopefully it maintains the incredibly high standard of creativity displayed so far. It’s ending on a high note will do nothing more than reinforce the suggestion that Mark Waid is still one of the best craftsmen in comics.
Rating: 10/10
Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat #4 (of 4)
By Jen Van Meter and Javier Pulido
Initially this book’s appeal was solely based on the combination of Greg Rucka’s wife and Javier Pulido art. But, as the series has progressed Jen Van Meter’s writing style has displayed itself in an almost perfect manner; she is talented, certainly, and perhaps even as good as her husband in terms of character building. And this conclusion to her Black Cat mini-series is the capper to an all-around perfect story.
By making the Black Cat’s thieving lifestyle more of a business enterprise than a hobby, Van Meter has added a new layer to the character of Felicia Hardy. Her crew, who assist her throughout the mini-series, are some of the best new creations within the Marvel Universe for a while; adding quirky humour and much needed aid to the heroine.
The fact that this whole mini-series has tied in to the Grim Hunt event from Amazing Spider-Man is also something to be applauded. For people who don’t even have a passing interest in that arc, this mini-series is still an essential purchase; it completely sidesteps the original narrative and builds itself up to the point of perfection without needing to rely even slightly on the core Spider-Man title.
Javier Pulido’s artwork is, as ever, absolutely stunning throughout this issue; in fact, this series has showcased some of his best work – a cartoony style that manages to remain fresh and exciting. It is absolutely stunning to behold.
Now that this series has wrapped up, the desire for more Black Cat stories has become suddenly overwhelming. We can only hope that Marvel has the sense to bring Van Meter back to pen another mini-series, or perhaps even an ongoing, preferably with Pulido handling the art chores.
Rating: 10/10
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5 (of 6)
By Grant Morrison, Ryan Sook and Pere Perez
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne has been a fun ride, so far, but it also feels like a failed experiment. The sporadic release schedule has, in many ways, hurt the story; particularly, the ability of Grant Morrison to build a compelling narrative through the fractured state of Bruce Wayne’s time-travelling mind-set.
This penultimate issue takes us into far more familiar territory than its predecessors, tying into Morrison’s current arc on Batman and Robin, as well as linking us into the murder of Bruce’s parents. It feels cathartic for us to be taken back to the start of everything in order to build towards a more satisfying conclusion.
The cover tells it in the best way possible: This month, Bruce Wayne is a private detective; a gumshoe or, at the very least, someone who thinks they’re a private eye. The story is focused around the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne and ties in the ongoing Doctor Hurt thread that goes back all the way to R.I.P. It’s clear from this issue, as with almost every other Batman comic he pens at the moment, that Morrison has always had an incredibly intricate plan for the Dark Knight, and here is the confirmation many Batman fans so dearly craved.
The artwork by Ryan Sook is a perfect fit for the world of Batman, painting a gritty and realistic canvas of Gotham City. The transition in the second half of the book from Sook to Pere Perez also feels natural, to the point where it’s hard to notice the shift unless you know the distinctive styles intimately.
The next issue will confirm for many people whether or not the experiment of a time travelling Batman worked or not, but the plethora of poor scheduling choices on the part of DC may hurt the impact of that final segment of an otherwise brave and meticulously executed story.
Rating: 10/10
Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Batman and Robin (One-Shot)
By Fabian Nicieza and Cliff Richards
There’s something wrong at DC Comics. To promote the Return of Bruce Wayne mini-series and lead into the upcoming Batman Incorporated storyline, they’ve churned out a series of one-shots, solely based around significant figures in the Bat-Family. Set after the end of the Return of Bruce Wayne series, these one-shots have featured a figure called the Insider who just so happens to be...well, if you’ve not worked it out after this paragraph there’s little help for you.
This issue deals with Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne, or Batman and Robin, as they deal with some goons, as well as the mysterious (cough) Insider. The interactions between the pair feel wonderfully fluid and are almost as powerful as when Grant Morrison pens the pair, but there’s something missing from this one-shot. It just doesn’t feel relevant, or important.
Fabian Nicieza has handed in a decent script; it works on the foundation of a typical Batman and Robin adventure, but there’s no real depth to anyone. It’s almost as though this series of one-shots doesn’t even matter. There’s some nice character development with Vicki Vale, taken directly from the pages of Nicieza’s own Red Robin series, but otherwise, nothing truly of note here.
Cliff Richards handles the art with a certain degree of flair. He is, by no means, the best artist in the world, but his visuals have a distinct and energetic style. There are times, however, where the art feels muddy and confusing, and this hampers things far too much to be excusable.
The issue’s ending leads directly into the Red Robin one-shot, also penned by Nicieza, and so the appeal of just picking up a couple of these one-shots is blown apart by the distinct through-line demanding that you obtain them all. How truly disappointing!
Rating: 6/10
Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Red Robin (One-Shot)
By Fabian Nicieza and Ramon Bachs
Now that’s how you do a one-shot that can also be included as part of a mini-series. Firstly, you hire the guy who writes Red Robin, the character the issue is about, and the guy who used to draw it. That way, it can be effectively slotted into the Red Robin canon, as a whole. That being said, this issue was still far from perfect.
Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Red Robin #1 presents us with the concept that Tim Drake and the mysterious Insider (have you worked out who he is yet?) are working together to take down Red Robin’s old enemies, the Council of Spiders. It’s partly a test of their threat level, but also a test, on the part of the Insider, of Tim’s skills as Red Robin.
The story manages to engage throughout, carrying on the majority of the threads from the previous one-shot, as well as the regular Red Robin ongoing. If nothing else, Fabian Nicieza understands Tim Drake, and as a result of that, we get one of the best Boy Wonder characterisations in the last decade. Tim is impulsive and brash, but also calculating and manipulative; the perfect successor to Batman, in many ways more so than Dick Grayson.
Ramon Bachs art, meanwhile, causes a whirlwind of desire on the part of a Red Robin fan; his departure from the series and subsequent replacement with Marcus To may not be such a bad thing, but seeing him draw the supporting characters again does conjure up a sense of longing.
The final pages of the one-shot tease one of the other upcoming instalments in the series, but as that’s still a few weeks away, it’s best to take it on face value alone at present.
Rating: 8/10
Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Outsiders (One-Shot)
By Mike W. Barr and Javier Saltares
Sigh.
Where to begin?
The third issue in DC’s phenomenally bad mini-series/one-shot mash-up focuses on the Outsiders, a group of characters that have rarely been interesting, normally managing to be either boring or just plain annoying. Not only this, but if this is considered to be part of a mini-series, then it really holds no place in the narrative at all. It’s a non-entity.
The Insider encounters the Outsiders and one of them works out who he is, because it’s obvious.
That is literally all the plot this issue contains, and then, at the end, it’s implied that the Insider knew there was no point going to visit the Outsiders. That, in itself, is infuriating.
Mike W. Barr has made an effort to try and make this one-shot accessible to readers who may not have read anything about the characters prior to this issue, and it does an okay job of conveying who they all are, but by that point you won’t care. They are absolutely boring characters, who really don’t need to be around anymore.
The artwork by Javier Saltares, meanwhile, is absolutely hideous. The character models on Vicki Vale and the Insider feel off, and many of the Outsiders seem to morph as the book progresses. There are even a handful of panels where the art seems to be in a completely different style. It is lazy, sloppy and far from enjoyable.
As a part of the mini-series/event/one-shot arc this issue falls short of delivering even on the lowest of levels. It’s just not a good comic book.
Rating: 3/10
Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Batgirl (One-Shot)
By Bryan Q. Miller and Pere Perez
The ups-and-downs of this micro-event are becoming even clearer as we enter the fourth issue of the run, focusing on Batgirl. Now, Batgirl, along with Red Robin, have been the two most consistent Bat-Books outside of Morrison’s grip, so hopes were high that this would be marginally more enjoyable than the rest of the Road Home issues.
And it is.
This is the best issue of the event so far. It’s essentially an issue of the Batgirl series, which so far, hasn’t had a dull moment, and it’s been worked into this monstrous event. Batgirl investigates a robbery, encounters the Insider, they fight, he reveals his identity to her, and there are some emotional scenes.
So, now that she knows the Insider is (blank) everything throughout the ongoing series starts to make a bit more sense. And, seriously, have you not worked out that the Insider is (blank) yet?
Bryan Q. Miller is one of the best writers DC has at the moment, and this issue is a pure example of that. The character of Stephenie Brown has gone through so many changes and rough patches over the years that she needed someone to really take the time to pick her apart and analyse her as a character. Miller’s done that, and as a result, in this issue we get a deeper look at her personality and her issues with father figures and authority, particularly when engaging with the Insider.
Pere Perez maintains a high standard of art in this issue, on par with the regular series. The characters look right, the action is fluid and exciting and the quieter moments are perfectly realised. It’s almost a certainty that this creative team has defined the Batgirl character.
That’s all for this mini-event for the week, but it has been semi-consistent in that, half of it’s been great and half of it’s been rubbish. Here’s hoping that the next issues will be the former, rather than the latter.
Rating: 10/10
Justice League: Generation Lost #11
By Judd Winick and Aaron Lopresti
It’s unnerving to me that a series that has, since the first issue, been a spectacular rollercoaster of action, humour and entertainment, can fall so far so quickly. The latest issue of Justice League: Generation Lost, however, manages just that. It’s a bland, unexciting fight issue, featuring the Metal Men and the mini-team of Fire, Ice and Rocket Red.
There are some fun interactions to be had from Rocket Red and the girls, and the Metal Men are, in some ways, interesting characters, but this issue lacks substance completely. The previous issues have always carried a certain level of integrity, even when the drama was dispersed in exchange for some over the top action; here, there is none of that. It feels stiff.
Judd Winick has penned a magnificent story, so far, and this issue is hopefully the only blemish on that otherwise perfect run.
The artwork by Aaron Lopresti, meanwhile, is fairly decent. The characters look distinctive enough, and the fight scenes are well choreographed, but there feels like something’s missing throughout. That something feels important, too.
All in all, it’s nothing too much to worry about; the series is almost guaranteed to return to standards in an issue or two, and with a one-hundred percent brilliance record, the creative team have earned the right to one bad issue.
Rating: 5/10
New Avengers #5
By Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen
There’s something about Marvel’s magical characters that just doesn’t sit right in the world of Mutants and Spider-Men. Brian Michal Bendis doesn’t seem to have this view, though, as he keeps diving back into the world of mysticism with this arc, effectively a sequel to his more recent Sorcerer Supreme arc from the first volume of New Avengers.
This issue had a lot of exposition to give us, and as a result, it’s probably the weakest issue of the first arc to date. That said, it’s still head-and-shoulders above the other Avengers books being published, as we get the line-up we’ve grown accustomed to dealing with the problems we’ve seen them encounter previously.
The way Bendis writes Wolverine and Iron Fist in this issue is commendable, particularly when you consider how often people complained about his Wolverine characterisation a few years ago. This Wolverine is a mad, mad psychopath; but, he’s here to save the world, too, and as a result, he takes centre stage as the book progresses.
Stuart Immonen has been one of the top tier artists at Marvel for some time now, and this book is a showcase of his best artwork to date. The full-page splashes are gorgeous, the attention to detail is staggering and the portrayal of the characters within the art is fantastic.
New Avengers stands head-and-shoulders above all the other Avengers titles being published at present, and while this is easily the weakest issue of the run so far, it still overshadows the majority of Bendis’ current work at Marvel.
Rating: 9/10
