Batman & the Outsiders #4 - The way I figure it, I dropped Robin when someone (I'm still unclear as to whom) decided Cassandra Cain should be Robin's evil opposite/arch-foe/whatever. Therefore, I have to financially support a title that seems to be putting her back on the other side, right? Right. So the Outsiders (sans Grace and Thunder) are in French Guiana to investigate the launch of a rocket by the company that had the OMAC Batman has re-appropriated. Green Arrow is less than pleased to see Batgirl. They fight briefly, on two separate occasions, and Ollie appears to have settled at least some of his issues. Meanwhile, two people show up in the jungle looking for Batman. he recognizes them, I don't. They know who he is under the mask though, for what that's worth. And by the end of the issue Batman is preparing to enter the shuttle control building, or get killed. Could go either way.Not exactly a fast-paced book. Well, it reads fast, because Dixon is keeping the dialogue sparse, but it doesn't feel like the Outsiders make much progress towards their goal. I always worry about things like that, because it could mean when all the cool explosions start, it'll feel rushed. I think Dixon manages to give us a gist of each character's general personality from relatively little, which is kind of nice. I don't have a lot of experience with some of these characters, so it's nice to get a quick idea how they'll react to things. Whether those personalities are good choices for the characters, I leave to you. I like Julian Lopez' art. I don't know that I've read a comic he's illustrated before. It's the sort of clean style I like, there's a nice energy to it. The facial expressions are a bit exaggerated, but they work. It was a light issue, but 3 out of 5.
Deadpool/Everyone #50 - Hmm, Deadpool has the same oversized pouches on his belt that Batgirl has, just with different buckle designs. Wade's reminding me of Earthworm Jim a little because of the bit of his mask that sticks out. It's like the top of Jim's earthwormy head.So, dinosaurs are on the loose in Manhattan, and they've combined with symbiotes. Deadpool's on the scene with Bob and Weasel trying to put things right. Unfortunately, he's taking a bunch of crap from most of the others heroes, such as Spidey, Ms. Marvel, and that tool, Mr. Wonderful, I mean Wonder Man. Except the Fantastic Four, they were cool to Wade, especially the Thing. No worries though, Wade knows what to say to put Carol Danvers back on her heels. No, it's wasn't an obscene proposition! So Wade's doing his thing, with a little gift from an unseen friend (who totally should have asked for Wade's help a couple months back), when things start to go awry. But Wade's ready to make a major sacrifice. Well, for him it's more of a mild annoyance, but for anyone else it's a major sacrifice. Things end on a fairly happy, if sedate, note, as Wade maybe learns something about belonging. I'm going to miss this title.
I'm not sure which parts of this issue to attribute to Reilly Brown's plotting or Fabian Nicieza's scripting, so let's just say I was generally pleased with the writing as a whole. I'm unclear on when the problem that required sacrifice on Wade's part happened exactly, but I imagine it could have happened just about anytime during the issue, so who cares? Wade gets a lot of funny lines, pretty much all the regular cast members get a moment to shine (not Irene so much, but she's out of her depth here), and Wade teaches us that he would have fit right in on an X-Book during Claremont's soliloquy-spouting heyday. 4 out of 5.
The Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death - Orson looks like he's slipping on ice on that cover. Seriously, look at his legs. It really looks like he's about to fall on his ass. This is all about Orson being pursued by the Green Mist of Death, who goes by the name John Aman. He pursues Orson through Brooklyn (I think), the West, Germany or Central Europe, and France. Orson tends to run, rather than fight, and Aman's just keeps hounding him. And eventually, it all leads back around to Aman's going to talk to Danny at the end of Iron Fist #12. Different artists illustrate each part of the story.I wonder about why each artist was chosen to illustrate the part they did. I'm sure there's a reason for each one, but I don't know enough about each time period to really guess what they're meaning to evoke. The thing that most interests me is Aman, how his tactics remain similar, even as his goals change from one encounter to the next. Orson doesn't seem to change from one meeting to the next, but Aman does. Or at least, he shows different parts of himself. I didn't like this one-shot as much as I did the Annual. There's some neat ideas but it doesn't work as well for me. I'm not sure what the difference is. Maybe the Annual being Orson as seen through Lucky Pierre's eyes added something? Maybe the different artists felt more distinct from each other somehow. Or maybe I'm just tired of waiting for the Tournament of the Heavens to finish. 3 out of 5, but a higher 3 than Outsiders, for what that's worth.
3 comments:
To add a little trivia, the names "John Aman" and the "Green Mist" are references to the Golden Age Amazing Man, an obscure character created by Bill Everett (Sub-Mariner's poppa).
It's kind of cool, because Roy Thomas based part of Iron Fist's origin on Amazing Man.
I liked this Iron Fist special, and the art was really cool. But, I think this special, and the Annual too, would have read better if they'd come out in addition to the monthly issues, rather than filling skip months. The main storyline needs to keep up its momentum.
That said, I love how they're filling in the back story for Iron Fist, this is ret-conning done right.
fortress keeper: That's interesting. Thanks for the info.
jason: I liked some of the art, especially the Frankenstein part, I'm not so sure about the Old West jailbreak, though. Something about the coloring bugged me. If I could figure out the significance of each artist and what their section is trying to evoke, it might help.
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