Comics Catch-Up: PROPHET & SUPERGIRL

It's easy to fall behind on monthlies. Or, to miss them completely. Luckily, with the rise of digital comics, not jumping on the bandwagon early doesn't mean needing to hunt through back-issue bins to catch-up. As a result, I've recently been playing catch-up on some excellent series. I'm about a month or so behind on these series.

Prophet #21-23 (Image) begins a new story from the ashes of Rob Leifield's old Prophet series back in the 90's. I know nothing of the original and that knowledge, so far, is completely irrelevant to this fantastic continuation by Brandon Graham and Simon Roy. John Prophet wakes up in a distant future and prepares for his "mission." The terrain is unfamiliar as are the various life-forms he encounters.

As I wasn't a huge fan of many of the Image founder's books back when it first began (I read Spawn and Savage Dragon regularly and that was it) this title didn't pop-out at first. But I've been bird-dogging Graham's King City collection (which will now be my next trade purchase) so I was curious about this title, and, after reading some positive reviews, I decided to jump on. Glad I did. Graham and Roy accomplish some amazing moments over these three issues. The use of third person narration boxes to propel the story and provide insight into the world is astonishing in it's brevity and detail. As Prophet uncovers supplies, each item is identified quickly, precisely and succinctly without interrupting the narrative, while, in fact, adding layers to this unknown mission. Prophet encounters a caravan and joins it as a transient worker, which leads to my favorite moment from the three issues, that plays like a homage to Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation as Prophet overhears, via his translator device, some dire goings-on that he feels compelled to act on. Simon Roy's art has a simplistic feel, but, under scrutiny, the details of this alien world are richly observed and well-detailed. Roy's art reminds me of Geoff Darrow, but blockier and a bit cleaner. The broad stature of Prophet also gives me a hint of John Buscema's Conan. This means it looks fantastic. Prophet is a must read. Highly Recommended

Supergirl #1-7 (DC) contains fighting, fighting, and more fighting. Kara lands on Earth, fights some unknown group who find her rocketship, then she fights her cousin Superman, then she goes to the moon and fights some more, then she encounters some laboratory-bred "world-killers" from her home planet Krypton and fights them in New York City. I probably missed some fighting. But this series works. It's been riveting and engaging thanks to the inner dialogue Kara has with herself throughout. Writer Michael Green & Mike Johnson perfectly capture Kara's struggle to understand what happened to her. We're also teased along by hints and reveals of life on Krypton before it's destruction as Kara struggles to understand how she ended up on Earth. The set-up with Superman is especially smart - the flashback to Kara babysitting  for Kal El to Supes confronting her in his poorly accented Kryptonian is well executed. I was most impressed by the set-up of The Brain in the middle issues and hope this is a recurring villain. The final arc finds Kara fighting the World-Killers, a group of super creatures bred to destroy, where Kara finally understands and accepts who she is and how to deal with the enormous powers bestowed upon her thanks to Earth's yellow sun. The art by Mahmud Asrar is clean, with a slight cartoony feel, that captures not only Kara's vulnerable state exquisitely, but her transformation into a hero as the story moves forward. The many fight scenes are a tour-de-force of super hero battle scenes. Kudos all around on this one. Highly Recommended

A Two Week Haul

I was off the grid for a week and as a result missed a week at the old LCS. I returned in time for this Wednesday's offerings and was able to get last week's haul as well. Except for Saga #2 (Image), which I'm still hunting around for.* 

Here's the the two-week takeaway:

Avenging Spiderman #6 (Marvel)

Batwoman #8 (DC)

Fantastic Four #605 (Marvel)

Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE #8 (DC)

Justice League #8 (DC)

Lobster Johnson #4 (Dark Horse)

Planet of the Apes #13 (Boom)

Punisher #10 (Marvel)

Ragemoor #2 (Dark Horse)

Rocketeer Adventures 2 #2 (IDW)

Wonder Woman #8 (DC)

With plenty to read, there's plenty to talk about. Here's some thoughts on some Marvel comics. Reviews on others later this weekend, hopefully.

Fantastic Four #605 *Pick of the Week* 

Sensational issue. Perfect epilogue to the sprawling saga that ended with last issue. Rather then engage in a soapy, emotional, overview of the myriad of events that just concluded, Jonathan Hickman has Reed Richards unwind by time-traveling with his dad. During the trip, Reed takes in the enduring legacy of his and his teammates work over the millenniums. Simply amazing how something that seemed like filler or padding or convenient in the build-up to the "Death of Johnny Storm" storyline - Ben being able to turn human again - propels the emotional center of this story. Artist Ron Garney depicts The Thing throughout the ages as resigned yet stubborn, with cracked rocky features and stalactite beard. Each panel is emotionally centered up to the end, back in the present where Reed slows down and appreciates all that's around him that's not a science experiment. This issue just solidifies how great a creation Ben Grimm/The Thing is. And why the bond between the four is something that other team books will never match. Highly recommended

Avenging Spiderman #6 / The Punisher #10 (The Omega Effect Three-Part Crossover)

One of my ground rules I made for myself when coming back to regular comic reading was not to fall for crossovers and nonsense of the like. So, now an excellent storyline from Daredevil has spilled over into Avenging Spiderman and Punisher and I find myself purchasing copies of Avenging Spiderman #6 and Punisher #10 (two series I don't normally buy) as I await Daredevil 11, which concludes the story. The story: Daredevil has a drive containing information on 5 megacrime organizations and each outift wants it. Punisher wants to kill everyone and Spidey makes a lot of quips (I probably only noticed the over-quipping Spidey, especially in Punisher issue scripted by Greg Rucka, as Rucka has said that he finds Spiderman "imtimidating to write" due to the wit factor). Rucka and Mark Waid (co-writer on Avenging Spierman and writer on the forthcoming Daredevil issue) create a powerful tension to Daredevil and Spiderman's uneasy alliance with Punisher as they plot to bring the crime groups together and, of course, make sure none of those groups acquire the disc. The Omega Effect story is solid so far.The art by Marco Checchetto in both Avenging Spidey and Punisher has been stellar, easily dispatching information from panel to panel cleanly and efficiently. I eagerly await the conclusion. These smallish crossover things are something I can get behind. Recommended

*I'm not sure why I'm so resistant to having a pull-list subscription at my shop, which would avoid problems like this especially now that creator-owned comics are rising steadily and, the ones I'm reading at least, are knocking it out of the park, but the demand may not be as high as weekly offerings from The Big Two, and so shops order for pre-orders, which leave someone like me, with out a pre-order, scrambling for titles that get a buzz, but may not have been ordered to satisfy demand.

I’m Back. Maybe. Sorta. We’ll See.

Yikes. It’s sure been a while since I last posted anything here. Plenty has happened, no time to write it down. Or something like that. Anyway, one interesting thing – in the context of this here blog, at least – is that I now read comic books on a regular monthly basis again. It started slowly. Check out a series here, pick up a series there. Oh, hey, that graphic novel looks good. Let’s give it a shot. Then it became a small, but steady stream of monthlies. I also discovered digital comics and that allowed me to check out some writers and artists that I was unfamiliar with since my last serious regular buying, which was probably sometime in 1993.

So, it was slow and steady and very fun to begin weekly treks to the local comic shop (LCS). During this time I wasn’t buying many superhero comics as I avoided most monthlies from DC and Marvel as everything seemed to be tied to some big “event” with universe-defining crossovers. I tired of “events” back in 1992; I wasn’t going to use my newly found comic reading time on such nonsense again. So I avoided the Big 2 and stuck to the little guys and comic genres like horror, crime, and monsters. Good stuff really. But I missed the capes and tights.

Then, in September 2011, DC Comics re-launched their entire line of superhero comics, starting each at number 1. Sure, this was just another gimmicky event in many ways, but it also provided me an opportunity to jump right into the action.

Now, 7 months after DC’s “New 52” re-launch, I am completely ensconced in around 40 (!) monthly titles from a half dozen publishers. My plan is to use this blog now as a comic book review/thoughts/essays forum. I’ll, at least, update it weekly with a list of the week’s haul and try to provide timely reviews and thoughts as well. We’ll see how it goes.

Last week's recommendations:
Exile on the Planet of the Apes #1 (Boom)
Fantastic Four #604 (Marvel)
Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE #7 (DC)
Saga #1 (Image) *Pick of the week*

This week’s haul:
Eerie Presents: Hunter HC (Dark Horse)
Justice League #7 (DC)
Planet of the Apes #12 (Boom)
Ragemoor #1 (Dark Horse)
Rocketeer Adventures 2 #1 (IDW)
Wonder Woman #7 (DC)