Snap Judgements: Brawl #1, Batman Confidential #10, New Avengers #35, Simon Dark #1

As always, Geekanerd brings you Snap Judgements: short, spoiler-free, and... I forgot the other S...

Brawl #1 (of 3)
Gets an A from AHR
I already read both the stories contained in this comic on Act-i-Vate, an online comix collective where creators put up their comics page by page, as they finish them. It's awesome. But I got this print version because Immortal is the sort of story that should really be read in a suitably moody location, say, an empty beach or a end-of-the-line bus station. Dean Haspiel has created a truly memorable character in Billy Dogma, a hard man with a heart of gold who inhabits a stylized world of crazy love and sexy absurdism. The high romanticism and abrupt action creates a mood you can sink into like a waking dream. Cut into pieces for this three issue series, the first chunk of Immortal is over all to soon, and it would have been nice to sustain the mood by releasing the story as a one-shot. But then we'd be missing out on the second story, Mike Fifee's Panorama, a gritty, surreal noir rendered in splattery black and white that really benefits from the transfer to good old fashioned scratchy paper. I enjoyed Fiffe's story more the second time around, particularly the inner monologue narration which, in contrast to pulp patter of Immortal, ticks along to a realist beat even as the hero's flesh drips off his face and takes on a mind of it's own.

Another Brawl opinion after the jump, plus Judgments for Batman Confidential #10, New Avengers #35 and Simon Dark #1

Brawl gets a C from Albo
I hate being a negative Nancy, but Immortal made no damn sense. I liked alot of the individual panels, but the storytelling was so scattershot I honestly thought maybe they printed the pages out of order. Panorama shared this tendency a bit, but by the end I was with it and really enjoying the bizarre reality Fiffe had crafted. All told, from my POV you would be wise to stick with the free online version. (side note: The clerk at Midtown very politely asked me why I was buying this book. I've never been asked that before. I suspect he had already read it.)

Batman Confidential #10
Gets an A from AHR
I'd like to say that Confidential scribe Michael Green is currently writing one of the best takes on the Joker I've ever read. But I can't, because the character that Green has been writing is the man who existed before mutating into the mass murdering clown we all know and love. This allows Green to sidestep the "unreliable narrator" problem common in writing the Joker - because the character doesn't take the literal plunge into craziness 'till close to the end of this issue, Green has this Man Who Would Be Joker tell his own story without having to interrupt the thought process with non sequiturs and jokes just to stay in character. Green makes the most of this lucidity, demonstrating a Frank Millerian ability to offer insight into action sequences with present-tense narration, while maintaining a sense of chaos and violence. Denys Cowan's art continues to impress, although neither he nor Green manage to make the fully realized Joker as disturbing as the awesome cover might have lead readers to expect. But we've got two more issues to see how they handle the J-Man in his all his psychotic glory, and I for one expect great things.

New Avengers #35
Gets an A- from Albo
The minus in my score is solely because the image from the cover has nothing to do with the contents of this issue. Last ish ended with a big symbiote invasion, then we see this cover and of course we flip: It's goddamn Venom Wolverine! Well, instead of telling that story, this issue flashes back a few months and tells the tale of the Red Hood gathering a bunch of D-rate villains (seriously, I know some Marvel mythos and I recognize maybe two of these guys) together and organizing them into a new crime syndicate. And it's awesome. Bendis' common sense originality (as in, "duh, how come no villain's ever done ____ before") shines, his dialogue snaps, his pacing... I'm out of flashy verbs, but it's good. This is the centerpiece book of the Marvel Multiverse, the only place where shit is really going down. If you care at all: buy it.

Simon Dark #1
Gets an A from Albo
Gotham City has a new protector, and he's... different. 30 Days of Night creator Steve Niles writes this book about a guy who doesn't really know who he is, but protects the innocent by decapitating suckas with a wire. He's also homeless, begging for money from those he saves so he can buy some food. He is the anti Bruce Wayne. He's apparently been prowling this little outskirt of Gotham for a while, and the people seem to love him even though he doesn't want much to do with them. Not out of contempt (he's actually quite sweet), but some teensy social phobias. I really hope The Bat ignores the headless corpses, because he would kick Simon's ass. And I like Simon. A lot. It's original, moody, and I can't wait to see where it goes.

Snap Judgments - Batman Confidential #9, Parade (With Fireworks) #1, Welcome To Tranquility #10

Geekanerd's Snap Judgments gives you Triple-S comic reviews: short, sweet, and spoiler-free.

O What Fools These Heroes Be - Batman Confidential #9

Another great issue in this Joker-origin arc by Heroes producer/writer Michael Green. The parallels to Christopher Nolan's movie Batverse continue as B-man visits Prof. Jonathan Crane in his pre-Scarecrow days, just so Crane can give him the classic "there's evil in this world" speech. Green's writing for the Pre-Joker is at top form here - without the overarching koo-koo crazyness that many Bat-authors tend to let the Joker run on, Green's Not-Yet-The-Joker comes off as the smartest guy in the room, a little bored with how simple everything is, and only interested in his new best friend, Batman.

Artist Denys Cowan plays a little fast and loose with character's faces, occasionally venturing a bit too far into Quasimodo territory for my tastes, but for the most part his compositions match the wit and grit of the writing. One particular scene that finds a character examining his new battle scars made me think I shouldn't leave this book lying around my apartment, lest someone flip it open to wrong page and be permanently scared off comic books.

Wit + Grit + Fun With Disfigurement - Drifting Face Planes = B+

The reviews roll on with Parade With Fireworks #1 and Welcome To Tranquility #10...

Don't Reign On My Parade - Parade (With Fireworks) #1

A few months ago, I had occasion to interview several members of Act-i-Vate, an online collective of writer-artists who produce serialized web comics for free public consumption. I asked the gang what Act-i-Vate comic they were currently most enjoying, and the title that came up again and again was Parade With Fireworks. No longer confined to the web, Parade With Fireworks is now available as a two-issue miniseries from Image.

You can immediately see what makes this a comic artist's kinda comic. The art is lush, with fluid line work and what seems like an effortless sense of movement. The issue's highlight is the opening prologue, which spans decades in a few deft pages, each panel boldly conveying an iconic moment in time. The body of the story is more subtle. Set in 1923 Italy, author Mike Cavallaro uses a parade in a small town as a microcosm for looking at the clash between the Communist and Fascist parties. Those not up on your 20th century Italian history (I found Wikipedia helpful) may find the significance of the events a bit hard to grasp, but the art is masterful enough to convey what counts.

Outstanding Art + Great Prologue + Political Unrest = A-

Check In Time - Welcome To Tranquility #10

Ten issues into this series by Gail Simone, I've noticed a trend. When an issue centers around a character and their backstory, it's golden. After all, this is a series about retired superheroes and their families - everyone has got loads of exciting history, and learning it slowly through era-stylized flashbacks is one of this book's most unique and appealing features. But when the book focuses on the events of the present-day plot, things tend to lag. The plots themselves are interesting, but with so many characters to keep track of, a present-day issue has the feel of checking in on a bunch of different locations, and just getting enough information from each group of characters to keep the story straight.

But no matter, this issue is worth buying for the back-up "Tranquili-Teens" story, which comes in the form of an awesome Scooby-Doo parody, and includes the canine exclamation, "Oh my bones and foodbowls!". I can't stay mad at a book after a line like that.

Mystic Exposition - Killing Time With Zombies + Bones and Foodbowls = B-

Snap Judgements: Batman Confidential, Killing Pickman, Batman, The Boys, Daredevil

Madder Love - Batman Confidential #8

While the general public likes to snicker about the supposed homoerotic relationship between Batman and Robin, the more obvious gay subtext in the Batverse has always been the Joker's obsession with Batman. Frank Miller famously interpreted the character this way in The Dark Knight Returns, Paul Dini and Grant Morrisson have both played around with the concept, and the current arc of Confidential dips into this oh-so-dogey territory once again. Writer Michael Green does a great job of laying the groundwork for the twisted relationship between Batman and his greatest foe, and highlights the similarities between the two - such as the fact that they're both batshit crazy, particularly well illustrated in a sequence that finds Batman playing the peeping tom on a lovely lady, while simultaneously obsessing about his war on crime.

Confidental seems to be jumping on the Dark Knight train by setting this story arc almost exactly where Batman Begins left off - the Joker hasn't quite become the Joker yet, Bats is still getting used to crime fighting, and there's a really fun sub-plot involving the origin of the Bat Computer. The scratchy pencils by Denys Cowan really stick in your head, even though he tends to shade the character's faces into almost German-Expressionist territory. But God knows there's enough wierdness going on in this book already, so you just go with it.

Murder as Flirtation + Scratchy Art + Mentally Divergent Batman + Cool Alfred = A-

Batman, Killing Pickman, The Boys, and Daredevil after the jump!

The Silver Age...OF TERROR - Batman #667

Now that he's got that Batman #666 unpleasantness out of his system, Grant Morrison is doing what he does best; taking strange, forgotten characters from the DC archive and making them modern, human, and hilarious. Here he gives us a modern day version of The International Club of Heroes, a bizarre conglomeration of multi-ethnic Batmen that one would expect to be padlocked in the Silver Age vault. Here, they behave like a clutch of has-beens who either live in the past or never really cared about superhero-ing in the first place. They've all got tons of personality and are immediately endearing, making the subsequent Agatha Christiesque mystery storyline all the more creepy. Humor, character, and action...no one nails the hatrick like Grant. Throw in some solid art bolstered by ace colorist Dave Stewart, and it's good to be a comics fan.

Bickering C-Listers + Scary Violence + Batman Teh Cool = A


Don't Go In There! - Killing Pickman #1
From Archaia Studio, the folks who brought you Mouse Guard, comes a gorgeous new title about a cop's hunt for a serial killer. Judged by the script alone, this is a solid crime story in the vein of Se7en,with a few unique touches, such as supernatural elements and an Asian-American lead (pretty much the only one on the stands, other than DC's new Atom). But story aside, what sends this books off the chart is the art by Jon Rea. Despite the fact this comic had the least amount of gore out of all the books I read this week, the visual story telling in Killilng Pickman creates such a distinct atmosphere of dread you have to steel yourself before turning each page. At times, words and commentary are etched into the panels like hidden messages, and it gives the feeling of a demonic third-person presence as you're reading. It's spooky stuff, and I can't wait for next month.

Real Deal Art + Atmosphere Over Gore + Scared To Turn The Page = A


Holy Scandal, Batman! - The Boys #9
This book has been very fun as a glimpse into a debaucherous world inhabited by heroes that look a lot like those we know and love, except they do some really dirty shit. Which is why this issue's high point is an intimate situation between three icons and the low point is pretty much the rest where they're still caught up in a mystery that I've totally lost interest in and have totally forgotten why I was supposed to care in the first place. If my vote counted I would hope issue 10 took us back to less talk, more stomp. Also, am I the only one that finds it extremely distracting that the main character is painstakingly drawn to look like Simon Pegg? He always comes off looking so stiff because Darick Robertson won't cartoonify him, instead going for accuracy in every panel. It just doesn't work.

Dirty Fun - Some Sorta Dull Mystery - Simon Pegg Gimmick = C+


So Grimy You'll Need a Shower - Daredevil #99
Daredevil is in such a fun place right now. His story is separate from those mega-events that are rocking the rest of the Marvel Universe, and it's a comfy little corner to be in. In case you haven't been keeping up, everyone pretty much knows Matt Murdock is Daredevil, though he still denies it and legally persecutes those who make such claims publicly. Most of the book these days is spent outside of the costume (though there is a good old fashioned information gathering beatdown break this ish), following Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson dealing with the troubles of being an outed superhero and trying to keep Matt's blind wife safe and happy. Oh, and there's also the girl that's hanging around who has the mild superpower of making every man she meets fall in love with her. The reason I'm telling you all of this is... I'm trying to catch you up so you can start grabbing this book off the shelves. Because it's solid, gritty, superhero crime fiction. Much better than the other superhero crime fiction on the stands (COUGHpowersCOUGH).

Crime Tastes Good - Maybe Almost Drags a Little + A Unique Superhero Situation = B