Broken Frontier

Detective Comics #820

The Dynamic Duo take on Scarecrow, combat their deepest fears, and then return to Commissioner Gordon with startling new evidence of Harvey Dent’s possible innocence. Meanwhile, detective Jason Bard fights for his life against the Tally Man.

“Face the Face” has had some middling highlights in its 7-part existence, including an understated though authoritative reestablishment of a throwback status quo, plus the return of Gordon plus Batman and Robin to Gotham City proper. Beside this, the story has disappointingly lingered for far longer that it required, especially from a writer of such usually high caliber comics as Robinson. Case in point – this issue spends half its allotted pages chronicling a battle with Scarecrow, a scene which climaxes with a validation of Tim’s abilities (an acknowledgement readers have received a half dozen times in the past year at least) and which literally contributes to the main murder-mystery events not one single jot. The remaining pages then reveal that a new supporting cast member, who’s appeared for all of six pages prior, is a relative to a classic DC hero, and then comes the back-up Bard story which contains a fight and, again, nothing that contributes to the main plot. Plus the whole purpose thus far has been to set-up the “grand return” of Two-Face, which is a wholly meaningless gesture as readers haven’t actually experienced his year-long absence.

I’ve never been so baffled by the choice of contents in a penultimate chapter in all my many years as a comic book reader. The entire arc isn’t so bad, but this chapter was 100% worthless as far as its contribution to the overall epic. It also should be said that the Jason Bard back-ups have been, all along, far more inspired than the main event, and that’s a very telling thing.

- Dave Baxter

Dragonlance Chronicles #8

Fighting a desperate delaying action, the companions try to free the slaves from Pax Tharkas, only to be betrayed by one of their own. Now, trapped between two red dragons, Tanis and company come face to face with the dread Lord Verminaard.

As the concluding part of Devil’s Due’s adaptation of Dragons of Autumn Twilight, this issues manages to hit all the marks. It may not draw in the casual reader, but Dabb and Kurth effectively capture the overwhelming nature of the threat facing the party. The duo successfully conveys a sense of awe and dread throughout the mine battle, beautifully underscored by the muted colors of Santiko. The epilogue nicely sets up the forthcoming Dragons of Winter Night, striking a satisfying balance between “closure” and “cliffhanger.” The revised title page was a long overdue addition, providing better recaps of the large cast.

Dragonlance Chronicles #8 may not be the best choice for someone that either hasn’t been following the series or read the source material. In terms of looking at it as an adaptation, Dabb and Kurth perfectly capture the heart and emotion of the original novel.

- Fletch Adams

Fantastic Four: First Family #4

The Fantastic Four are not quite so fantastic in this issue as Reed’s attempts to blend a super team with a family dynamic hits a large roadblock. Unfortunately, the genius, telepathic, madman Franz is moving farther and faster in his plan to change humanity… and destroy it in the process.

Joe Casey continues his exploration of how the Fantastic Four became a family. The latest installment, as with the previous three, places the story in between the adventures first created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. By not focusing on the superhero action, though Casey allows the emotional interaction of these four characters to take center stage and create a different kind of tension. Artist Chris Weston uses his photorealistic style to help create an even deeper sense of realism here as well.

Fantastic Four: First Family is a different and insightful look at the origins of one of Marvel’s top super teams. Readers are treated to a version of this group that is uncertain and uncoordinated and ultimately on its way to becoming a family.

- Tonya Crawford

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #9

Uncle Ben has returned! And the villain responsible – Hobgoblin 2211 – a character whose origins have remained a mystery for over ten years (since his introduction in the Spider-Man 2099 Meets Spider-Man special from 1995), at long last, due to massive fan demand (shyeah, Peter David wishes), has his full origin revealed!

FNSM has been a wild ride even by David’s standards, featuring some of the writer’s most thought-provoking and downright creative story ideas in years (between this and X-Factor, it’s enough to believe the man is going through a personal comic-book renaissance). This latest yarn is startling in its conception, dragging Uncle Ben kicking and screaming back into Peter Parker’s life, though in an innovative, bizarre way which far outshines the kitschy, fable-esque Straczynski version of the same reunion in Spider-Man #500. Add to this a mind-blowing, inventive and involved origin story for the Hobgoblin 2211 villain and FNSM #9 reads like Spider-Man if it was a Vertigo comic (not for mature readers, but with similar story sensibilities).

For all the hullabaloo over the Civil War events in Amazing, FNSM is the Spider-man book with the greatest payoff, most consistent art, and most absorbing stories on the rack. “Jumping the Tracks” is the best arc yet, and with the grand finale right around the corner, and with Uncle Ben seemingly a permanent fixture, now is a grand time to hop on board and make the title a permanent fixture in your pull box!

- Dave Baxter

Gødland #11

Adam Archer battles Friedrich Nickelhead, as well as the sexy-suave villain’s pseudo-scientific creation: A Thing That Has No Name! Meanwhile, Angie Archer confronts The Never within the confines of the many-headed pyramid, Maxim launches a valiant rescue effort, Neela Archer enters the great unknown, and Supra, Eeg-oh, and Ed hijack a weapon of massive potential power.

Whew! Gødland races toward its one-year, round one climax and there’s a whole lot of doings going on. If you haven’t been reading the series up ‘til now, definitely wait for the trades. For those of you in the know, Joe Casey continues his devil-may-care pacing and self-referential, dry-wit dialogue, while Scioli pumps out pure Kirby magic. It’s a massively fun read, and in issue #11 the concept of the modern-classic blend with a black humor twist gels better than it has in previous installments. Thus far, Gødland has been a triumphantly original book, yet missing the cohesive, unconditionally daring direction of Casey’s much lamented Wildcats 3.0. Thankfully, this latest chapter shows signs that the plot may soon allow for just such a necessary coalescence.

The most straightforward issue yet, though paradoxically also the most jam-packed with new characters, new ideas, and new subplots readers won’t see coming. A bizarre Casey comic that may just live to a ripe old age and bestowed the honor of finishing what it set out to do: tell a wild, complete, and epic comic book tale. Excelsior, baby.

- Dave Baxter

Hector Plasm: De Mortuis

Hector Plasm is the latest in a long line of ghost hunters, and in De Mortuis, the character’s origin is revealed along with six other tales of exorcism, hauntings, history, and supernatural showdowns!

Writer Benito Cereno has created a brilliantly intriguing character in Hector Plasm, a ghost hunter whose origins, abilities, and methods of operation far separate him from the many other of his fictional ilk. While other supernatural adventure comics tend to focus on either the blatant horror or high-concept action, Plasm is a book that contains an equal portion of both while additionally utilizing highly innovative and constantly shifting storytelling techniques, which allow the book to far outshine the competition. The art by Bellegarde, though, is the true cake winner – his pages are terrifying and dynamic and utterly captivating with an unflagging penchant for apocalyptic action, oddball comedy, and – most impressively of all - long, quiet, serene moments of talking-head character interactions. Some of the seven stories collected in De Mortuis have appeared as backup features in other comics, but a good portion are true originals, and the ones that were once-serialized are worth reading again as fluid, complete tales.

Fans of Hellboy, The Devil’s Footprints, BPRD, Cal McDonald, and any other supernatural horror fiction should find a trunk-load to love in Hector Plasm: De Mortuis. It’s an honestly fresh take on a currently overexposed genre, and its godawfully well done. Buy it and maybe we’ll get a second one-shot packed with even more brilliant stories! Hoot!

- Dave Baxter

Red Sonja #10

Sonja and her young apprentice make their final assault on the troop of raiders who attacked the girl’s village and the pupil learns a lesson about the bigger picture and the power of reputation. Meanwhile, the mysterious figure clad in animal skins draws ever closer to our heroines with blood and reckoning on his mind.

This storyarc has been an interesting one for the book as we’ve observed pieces of Sonja’s troubled past in flashback interspersed with her training of the young girl. These have come together to give us a fuller picture of the heroine. A kickass warrior woman she may be but this story seems to indicate that the way of the sword is the only way Sonja knows how to relate to other people. If the stranger trailing them is any indication, this will have consequences for both women. The art by Mel Rubi is as rich and lovely as ever and Pablo Marcos’ flashbacks maintain their dreamy eeriness.

Action-packed eye candy is still Red Sonja’s bread and butter but Oeming is doing his level best to give the stories a hint of depth. It’s an effort much appreciated by this reader.

- Eric Lindberg

Red Sonja vs. Thulsa Doom #4

As Prince Aashim rallies his people, Sonja and her ally Ozzyus pursue the warlord Doom into the mines below the Hyrkanian capitol. Their final confrontation brings revelations, betrayal, loss, and an ultimately pyrrhic resolution to the conflict. But even if Lord Doom can be defeated, can Aashim forgive the Red One for the murder of his father?

Red Sonja vs. Thulsa Doom has been a bit meatier in substance than many of the Sonja spinoffs, thanks to the personal nature of the heroine’s mission (this is her home, dammit!) and the emotional journeys of Prince Aashim. Issue 4 concludes the story though the ending feels a tad anti-climactic, as the payoff we’ve been waiting for all this time seems to come and go rather quickly. Nonetheless, David and Leiberman’s tale is rife with twists, turns, and true epic fantasy action and the art by Will Conrad remains crisp and strong.

While the end is not fully satisfying, Red Sonja vs. Thulsa Doom has had more impact on the character than any of Dynamite’s previous miniseries.

- Eric Lindberg

Savage Dragon #126

Mr. Glum, the diminutive, red-skinned, once-overload of another, outer-dimensional world, at last makes his bid for world-domination (the Savage Dragon’s world that is!). After firing the God Gun in the previous issue, all living creatures must now obey Glum’s every command, and the only man that could resist such divine mind control – the Dragon himself – remains deep in a coma and still sans his once-prodigious healing factor.

With this very issue, Erik Larsen has entered the creative territory of an honest auteur. The man now writes, pencils, inks, letters, and colors the book, meaning it is, in its entirety, by Erik Larsen. While the Presidential campaign yarn fizzled in ways the creator himself admitted to, the Glum storyarc is executed with an about-face inspiration bordering on sheer afflatus. It’s hysterical, it’s horrific, it’s fluid, and it’s marvelously inventive, following each imaginative idea to its emphatically logical conclusion. The myriad of characters which usually serve merely to baffle the reader into post-continuity depression, now aptly fill an epic of a grand yet gradual world-wide coup. Larsen’s art is equally at its clearest and most consistently, panel-by-panel affective as it’s ever been.

To put it bluntly: this is the single best issue of an amazing, unforgettable series which has had its fair share of highs and lows. It’s at a zenith now (hell, even the back-up starring Vanguard was pitch-perfect and thrilling!), and this’ll be an ongoing storyline, too, not just a one-hit one-off, so jump on board to the Savage fold right bloody now!

- Dave Baxter

Spawn #156

Something terrible has happened to Spawn’s ex-wife Wanda’s twins, something that may tie into the impending end of all things. Meanwhile, Spawn learns a valuable lesson from the death goddess Kali, one that may lead to his only hope in staving off the apocalypse.

Spawn continues to march towards the big, big, big, final conflagration we puny humans like to call Armageddon (amongst other appellations). The crazy-disturbing cliffhanger from the previous issue enters into some truly bizarre territory, and barrels forward with a surprising speed, leading to yet another pull-your-hair-out final panel. The culmination of the Spawn vs. Kali battle is a bit disappointing, with a zen lesson learned that struck me as awfully forced. Another minor strike: the Two Japanese Spawns vs. Zombies battle takes place completely off panel, and we return to the aftermath without having witnessed any of the hanck-‘n-slash glory, even though it was build-up for two issues prior. Tan’s art, though, is only getting better and better and may perhaps be the best overall work Spawn, the comic, has ever had, which – being primarily regarded as an art showcase book – is high praise.

Hine’s plot seems to be rushing, and I hope he slows down and takes his time. This is the end of everything: don’t people think that deserves a gradual, epic arc? Nonetheless, what is here is mostly good, bordering on great, and it looks damn fine. Best. Spawn. Ever.

- Dave Baxter

War of the Worlds: Second Wave #3

As the foursome continues to run from the invading aliens through the sewers and into the countryside, Miles struggles with the ghosts of his past. And just as salvation for the group is within reach it threatens to slip away.

I hadn’t even skimmed over the previous two and was forced to go back and read the reviews my colleagues gave to get a sense of how these people got to where they were. Even then, this is a pretty sparse issue. Nothing really happens that we haven’t seen before in film. In fact, this issue reads a lot like the portion of the Spielberg film that Tim Robbins’ character inhabits. Although the story falls flat by using this primarily as a transition issue, the art is expressive and well-rendered, especially in the action scenes.

I’m a pretty slow reader, and when it takes me five minutes to read a comic, chances are that it is not living up to its full potential. This would be one of those times.

- Kert McAfee