What I Bought 12/15/2010

This is likely the last of the comic reviews for 2010 here. I haven't any books coming in next week, and the last week of the year I'll probably be at my dad's the entire time. I only had one book coming in that week anyway, so no big loss. Not even sure I still want to get that Action Comics issue. That being the case, let us enjoy the three books I bought this week. For tomorrow, we die. Or I do, if the department of transportation can't get the roads cleared. A little freezing rain and it all goes down the tubes.

Avengers Academy #7 - That's not a bad cover. It's not anything spectacular, but it gets the point across (The cover says, in the lower right corner "The Big Return of GIANT-MAN"). I'm not sure Hank Pym changing identities for the 9 millionth time is that big a deal, but it's not my book.

There are a couple of plots in this issue. The team is asked to transport the Absorbing Man across town, he manages to escape, and Pym has to take him down. The other storyline is Hank's making preparations to try and bring Janet van Dyne (the Wasp) back to them. Hank's found a way to pull her body back together after it was scattered across dimensions at the end of Secret Invasion, and seems bound and determined to do it, over some of the others' objections. Fortunately, the fight with Crusher Creel gave him some perspective. So now I'm curious to see if he'll stick with Giant-Man. He said he didn't need to stay the Wasp to honor Jan if she was brought back, but if he's not doing it, then he could keep calling himself the Wasp. The decision may be out of his hands now.

The strength of the issue was the character interactions. Based on this comic I'm starting to get an idea of some of the rookies' personalities. Some more (Reptil and Hazmat) than other, but for an issue that wasn't focused on them, it wasn't a bad start. Mostly it was Pym, whether interacting with Tigra, or Jocasta offering her perspective, or his fight with Creel. I don't necessarily agree with Gage's conclusions (like Giant-Man being the identity Pym was most comfortable in), but I thought he expressed the core of who Hank is well. The recap page was helpful, which is nice. Tom Raney was the artist (according to the cover, the interior credits say Mike McKone, but they lie), and his work looks different from how I remember it in Annihilation: Conquest. I'm sure coloring is part of that, since Conquest was a whole lot of deep, ominous reds, and the lighting here is a bit less moody. Some of his heads seem off, like in the panel where Crusher's reaching for Hazmat, his head doesn't sit right on his body, and there were a few places where the character's movements don't seem like the match from panel-to-panel, but on the whole, it works. Raney draws the big cosmic stuff in the issue well.

Darkwing Duck #7 - I don't know if it shows up in the image I'm using, but the cover actually has sooty, gray spots on it, just like an old comic would. Works nicely with the way the cover is referencing old Batman covers. I don't know if Sabrina Alberghetti created that effect, or if it was added later. Maybe they used a little charcoal on it?

Inside, Launchpad, Gosmoduck, and the reprogrammed Quackwerk-Bots are rounding up the Darkwings, including a horde of winged monkey Darkwings. I love how Silvani and Brill are just throwing out any kind of Darkwing they can think of. Darkwing and Morgana are attacked at his home by the arrow-wielding alternate who won't say his name. he shakes of the mental control, and we find out why he won't say "Darkwing Duck". Unaware of that, DW and Morgana have a way to track down those responsible, and with Gosmoduck in tow, attack NegaDuck and Magica. The heroes are doing terribly well, and then Morgana figures out who the threat behind the problems in the water supply is.

It's another character from the Darkwing universe I'd completely forgotten about until the moment of the reveal. Then I see who it is, and I can't believe I'd forgotten. I love that this book keeps doing that. Some of it is nostalgia, certainly, but it's also that Brill and Silvani are pulling out all the stops, throwing every threat and ally out there at once to make a story that keeps ramping up. Why not, right? Between Darkwing and Ducktales, there's plenty to draw from, so might as well use it. Also, Silvani lays out a fight scene very well. Each panel has its own thing going on, but it also hints at the next panel, so that the action flows naturally from one to the next.

Rebels #23 - I think Dox is gonna need a bigger gun. This issue involves the sitdown between the Green Lantern Corps and the L.E.G.I.O.N., except there's not much chance of a happy and peaceful resolution. John Stewart doesn't like that Dox is stirring up anti-GLC feelings, while Dox denies any involvement, and keeps baiting Stewart. Then Dox sets up a situation he believes the Lanterns won't be able to handle, so his team can save the day. Except the rookie Lanterns do deal with it, mostly by hitting it (with some deduction providing confidence in the "hit stuff" plan). So John and Vril play nice for the press, and I assume the two groups won't go to war now. Which is good, since Dox may need the help with Starro back up and running.

I thought John came off a little aggressive. I know Dox is a pompous jerk, he was pushing John's buttons as hard as he could, and John Stewart is not the sort of back down, but he pretty much threatened to wipe them out if Dox didn't quit manipulating public opinion. Sure, Dox is using Lobo, but there are some heroes in the group, and what, John's going to encourage the Corps to attack them, lock them up, kill them? He'd have to be serious about it, because I doubt he'd bother to try and bluff Dox. it's more the response I'd expect from Guy, or the Guardians themselves, with their typical superciliousness. I did like his zing on Dox about the rings being able to see the core of one's character, and what a Sinestro ring picking Dox says about him. Not sure if Dox disagrees or cares, though.

I liked the story overall. It highlighted some of the differences between the two groups, resolved their conflict in a way that doesn't leave a reader wondering why they aren't fighting openly, but also doesn't seem like an unrealistically happy arrangement. Claude St. Aubin's art is still good, though Lobo could stand to look more slovenly. He had some fun with customizing the Lanterns' outfits, and though he didn't get wild with the ring constructs, he depicted them well.