What I Bought 8/18/2010

I had an opening paragraph in mind last night. I woke up this morning and didn't remember it. At any rate, this turned out to be that one big week of comics I have a month nowadays. So that's nice, though the counter to that is there are no comics for me coming out next week. I'll be back in the boonies by then, though, so it'll be two weeks before I receive comics. Sort of renders that moot.

Atlas #4 - The other-dimensional beings use Namora to do some damage before our heroes rally, with a little help from the dragon. Then it's time for a lecture on where the threat is from and how Delroy and the 3-D power tie in. Then Atlas resolves to take the fight to the aliens, which doesn't quite work as planned, but I think I see how they're going to resolve it.

I'm guessing the issue had to be modified since the book's being canceled after the next issue. Partway through, Bob tells them he know how to reach their enemies' world, and the bottom of the panel says 'End of Part 4". Next page just continues the story. There's a small leap forward, and it's by a different artist (Ramon Rosanas) but it stays on the same plot. It does say Part 5, but I'm not sure why stuff in the same physical comic would need to be split into separate parts. As a whole, I don't love the issue, but there are a lot of little parts I like. Lao getting involved in the defense of Atlas headquarters, the complications the team faces when they land in a different world, the startling reveal of Bob's true form. I'm not sure why Rosanas drew him interacting with the others without his helmet. They can't breathe the same air.

Avengers and the Infinity Gauntlet #1 - Is Marvel just using Humberto Ramos for covers these days? I see a lot of covers on many different titles by him, but I don't know if he's also doing any interiors.

Impulse buy. Plus, it's a mini-series from Marvel they aren't charging $4 an issue for! I presume that's related to it being an all-ages book. So, Thanos has the Infinity Gauntlet, makes half the people in the universe vanish (it doesn't say they're dead, just they're gone). The remaining Earth heroes circle the wagons and prepare to send a small team to investigate. They're sending a small team because they don't actually know what's going on, and I guess the rest of the heroes will try to keep the universe from falling into chaos. Then Doom shows up and tells them he's joining in, that's all there is to it. And they'll be relying on a interstellar trucker to get them where they need to go. Okey-doke.

Brian Clevinger and Lee Black are writing Spider-Man as a little more of a putz than I'm used to. More awed by the other heroes and impulsive, much less competent. Probably part of serving as the audience stand-in, since we would no doubt be having a hard time functioning well at times like this also. I love their Dr. Doom. He's got the cool arrogance working. Brian Churilla handles the pencils, and it's hit-and-miss with me. He makes Thanos look suitably intimidating on the first page, and there are some other bits funny bits, but it doesn't work as well when either the panels get smaller or the number of characters increase. It starts to look too simplified (and I'm still not sure how or why Spidey webbed the Vision in the face when he was attacking the Super-Adaptoid).

Batman Beyond #3 - Terry gets his butt kicked by Hush and fails to protect Calendar Man. Then Old Man Bruce chews him out about, questioning his commitment. Because Bruce Wayne's overbearing tendencies have grown concentrated as he's aged and withered. He spends some time with his family and his increasingly frustrated girlfriend, argues with Bruce about the little piece of Kingdom Come he's planning to introduce to Gotham. Then he has a chat with Tim Drake, a run-in with his Catwoman, and he's gonna try and talk to Dick Grayson next. Then Hush meets up with Catwoman. Also, Old Amanda Waller threatens a subordinate. So there's a bit going on.

I'm not sure who Hush is. Actually being Tommy Elliot seems too obvious, but I can't figure Beechen's going to use the same sort of twist they used in the movie (with the Joker sort of implanting himself in Tim Drake's head). Could be a clone, I guess. Would explain how he can move like he does, since he really shouldn't be McGinnis' superior physically. Still liking Ryan Benjamin's art more here than I have in previous encounters, though his Bruce Wayne looks a bit too unkempt at times. Perhaps that's by design. That panel after Terry storms off and Bruce is standing in front of his Bat-Wraiths, I can't tell whether he's smiling or frowning, but it isn't a friendly look either way.

Darkwing Duck #3 - Little help from Launchpad and our hero escapes some nasty security robots. Then they start getting chased by a reunion tour of some of Darkwing's old enemies, then everybody gets captured and the mastermind behind the company that pretty much runs the town is revealed. In between we learn why Darkwing hung up the threads (however long ago that was, I haven't tracked the first issue down yet), gave Launchpad the boot, and why Quackerjack (that's the guy on the cover) really doesn't like Negaduck.

Well, I enjoyed that quite a bit. It's been a long time since I watched the cartoon, but I think Ian Brill has all the characters right. There were a number of bits I smiled at, both jokes and sight gags (the panel where we see why Launchpad thought Darkwing gave him the boot actually worked as both). James Silvani's the artist, and I really like his work as well. You know those cartoon gags where there's a hallway full of doors and people are running to one door, entering then appearing through an entirely different door, while someone chases them fruitlessly? Silvani did that gag in one (large) panel, which seems pretty impressive to me.

Power Girl #15 - Power Girl does eventually stop the big purple guy. For about five seconds, at which point Max Lord shows up courtesy of a Kryptonite Boom Tube or some such bullhockey and helps him escape. Maybe Power Girl believes Booster now. Maybe. Also, Power Girl is very cross with one of her employees to make him hack into military databases for her. I understand she's trying to protect innocent lives and her secret identity (fail on that second account), but she could have been nicer.

Should Kryptonite work on Power Girl? Batman's Kryptonite didn't work on Earth-2 Superman. Then again, that was Infinite Crisis, which was two universe reboots ago. This issue says it does, so I suppose it does. I still don't think the coloring on the title is helping Basri's art. Power Girl looks sort of cold, somehow, unfriendly, even when she's not being angry, and I think it's because her colors different than it was when Conner was on the book. It makes her seem more aloof to me. Granted, Winick's writing her as someone who can't seem to focus on her company and threatens employees with their past transgressions isn't helping on that count. It's making her sorely lack compassion and understanding.