CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE.

Here we go again with CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE, where I opine upon comics that I have bought and/or received in the interval between July 20 and August 4, some of which may even still be on sale at finer comics selling establishments worldwide if you're lucky. Or not, as the case may be.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI 13 #15: Last issues, especially last issues in which an ambitious plotline has to be resolved to everyone's satisfaction, are rarely effective and/or tidy...and this is no exception. Still, it gets the job done quickly and efficiently, and all that's left is to shake our heads at a marketplace that can't, or won't, support a well-done comic book like this one was. The racks will be a poorer place without it. A-

GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #2: Guillem March, so good on covers, is just not impressing me all that much on interiors with his awkwardly distorted figures and not-especially-compelling layouts, negating whatever pleasure can be derived from the teaming of some fairly interesting characters. Plus, if you get that Hush character involved to the extent he is here, then that's pretty much a good sign you don't want me to read your comic. So au revoir, c'est la vie, and I miss Pfiefer's Catwoman ongoing more than ever. C-

DELPHINE #4: The conclusion of Richard Sala's latest "fever dream" doesn't make for compelling reading on its own, despite its not-so-subtle "beware of obsession" message...but when rendered by Sala's excellent linework and gorgeous sepia-tone, then it becomes worthwhile. Excellent work from one of the most distinctive stylists around, but my patience for writers who won't just say what they mean sometimes is wearing thin. A-

DETECTIVE COMICS #855: I still think Rucka was in a better groove on his first stint on this book; but that was then and this is OK for what it is- the whole mystery about what this cult wants with our fiery Bat-redhead is intriguing enough, I suppose. The main reason to buy this remains J.H. Williams III, and he continues unabated with some of the best work of his career. That said, I think I liked the villainess better when she was called the Painted Doll, and I don't really know who's at fault for that one. A-

FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF 3 WORLDS #5: Didn't really know what to expect from this WAY overdue finale, but a kinder, gentler take on Wanted wasn't really it. All's well that ends well, I guess, unless you're a Kinetix fan, and even then we got a small sliver of hope for a revival down the road, so there's that. I guess Legion fans can be happier (they'll never be completely happy, this much I know) that we have yet another, streamlined Legion for their eventual (I presume) reading pleasure, and it's nice to know that at least one of the Archie Legion, perpetually outspoken teleporting bug Gates, is among their number. Otherwise, this is pretty much your standard issue Perez-drawn comic, with masses of bodies all flying around and pointing and swinging and hitting and shouting with gaping mouths and rubble rubble rubble and Kirby Krackle everywhere, and if this sort of thing doesn't give you a headache like it does me, then you can bump this up one letter grade. C+

GREEN LANTERN #44: One long extended fight scene between Hal, the Barry Allen Flash, and the Black Lantern-fied Martian Manhunter, impeccably drawn of course but rather routine otherwise. A functional chapter in a multi-issue crossover thing that I am following out of idle curiosity, if nothing else. B

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #16: It's 1976 all over again as we get the original Gerber/Stern/Milgrom era Guardians, minus Nikki (grumble grumble, why does Marvel and DC conspire to keep me from the comics women I love?) in a odd little story that finds part of the current team encountering the old-school GotG in the Avengers Mansion, and fighting off the Badoon before all reality comes to an end or something like that. It shouldn't make a lick of sense, but DnA pull it off thanks to the well-earned familiarity we have with the current team and how they play off their predecessors, and only the lack of Nikki makes me grade it no higher than a B+. Well, that and the earnest but not-great art.

HELLBLAZER #257: In a plot which might have been better served in a romance comic, John realizes he's not done such a good thing by giving Miss Right Now the love potion mickey given to him by the standard issue creepy demon in a kid's body...but wait, maybe it's all a scheme to get out of the s.i.c.d.i.a.k.b's pocket (the scab curse and its eradication, remember?) , and for some reason that I really can't articulate, that little wrinkle makes this more interesting somehow. So good for Milligan and good for us. B+

HEROGASM #3: More superguys behaving badly, ad infinitum. Fortunately, done with good humor and a tolerable amount of cynical snarkiness, Ennis' stock in trade. This issue's Fantastic Four satire reminded me of a sour Not Brand Echh, and I'm not sure that's what Garth intends. McCrea's on autopilot, but he's telling the story well enough. If I damn with faint praise, so be it- this is worthwhile if you like The Boys; all others stay far away. B-

IMMORTAL WEAPONS #1: It's Kung Fu Panda meets Hero meets Forrest Gump, filtered through the Marvel Comicsverse, as the first spotlight falls on the gargantuan Weapon Fat Cobra. It rambles a bit, but there are some funny lines (from a writer, Jason Aaron,who generally doesn't bring the funny all that often) and the artist does a nice job on FC's expressions as he runs the emotional gamut while listening to his life story (which he's conveniently forgotten), related by a writer he hired to help him fill in the blanks for his memoirs. In addition to the main narrative, a bevy of other artists do the flashbacks; Mike Lark's is the best, but the others, including Khari Evans and Stefano Gaudiano aren't bad at all. The backup story is an Iron Fist proper tale which pretty much picks up the dangling threads from the latest (to date) issue of Immortal Iron Fist, by the same writer- and I thought it was fine, with Swierczynski, Foreman, aided by that Gaudiano guy again, doing a better job than the previous one. B+

INCREDIBLE HERCULES #131: Been kinda hard to put a finger on it, but recent issues of this still-enjoyable title just haven't been quite as...well, enjoyable. Not bad, just not all that great either and certainly not as enjoyable as previous epic story arcs. Maybe it's the lack of a major threat, with inter-family squabbling taking its place, maybe it's the lack of an artist with a dynamic style, who knows. Still a pleasant enough read, but I hold out hope that the upcoming Thorcules business will pick up the pace a bit. B+

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #29: The post-Johns era begins with some new, and rather generic members, one of which is quite surly, and a big superheroes vs. supervillains group throwdown culminating in the somewhat surprising brutal stabbing of one of the good guys. In short, pretty much your standard DC comic these days. C+

MADAME XANADU #13: The Thirties era storyline continues, and unsurprisingly since the same person wrote both this and that, it will appeal mostly to those who really miss Sandman Mystery Theatre. For those of us who like Madame X, fear not, she's still the most prominent character in this pulpish tale of a demonic being who is driving his business associates to an untimely end. For those of us who revere Mike Kaluta, the news is not as good- he seems a bit rusty when it comes to this sort of extended sequential storytelling, and awkward anatomy and unsuccessful perspectives abound. That said, I'll take lesser Kaluta over the best efforts of many artists any day of the week. B+

PHONOGRAM 2: SINGLES CLUB #4: In which we spend some time with DJs Seth Bingo and the Silent Girl, and what it lacks in narrative clarity it makes up with nifty character moments (love the Blondie tribute), sort of shorthand for this entire series so far, both this and its predecessor. McKelvie has improved a lot since the beginning, though (or maybe I've just gotten used to his style), and this series is really humming, boogieing, choogling, whatever you want to call it, now. It also benefits from the backups by David LaFuente and Charity Larrison, which are nicely done. A-

POWER GIRL #3: PG turns the tables on the Humanite, escapes bondage, and with the help of (good to see her again) Terra saves New York in credibility-stretching, but still convincingly done, fashion. I hope you don't consider this a spoiler. Lighter in tone than the two previous issues, hence a lot more enjoyable and Amanda Conner is aces on art as always. A-

THUNDERBOLTS #134: If I only knew then what I know now about the big revelation this issue, then I wouldn't have bothered. Still, storywise OK, artwise as inconsistent as ever. Docked a notch for getting my hopes up. C+

WEDNESDAY COMICS #4: Pretty much everything I said in my review a week or so ago still applies; whaddaya say I check back in on this series after I've read #'s 5 and 6, and then after #9, and at the end with #12? Until then, incomplete.

Tuesday Wednesday Break My Heart...

Cure song lyric, OK? For the life of me I couldn't think of any cute post titles involving "Wednesday".

Anyway, WEDNESDAY COMICS. DC's latest attempt to do something a little different without really innovating, giving us a format nobody really was clamoring to see return at a price point that gives all but the hardcore pause, and featuring either obscure fringe players of the DCU, or mostly different, more "traditional" (i.e., not grim, downbeat and depressing) versions of the flagship characters. Not to mention, USA Today tie-in aside, putting them only in comics stores where none of the Great Unwashed that presumably would be entranced by the novelty of this product could find it. As a comics fan, as well as someone who gets their comics at a discount, I can't help but be interested; it was made with the deep-seated comics connoisseur in mind, not surprising since Mark Chiarello, whose design smarts and aesthetic savvy is second to none, is riding herd over it. Look, Steven Grant has already summed up the pros and cons very succinctly, as is his wont, so you should go read what he says. He pretty much nailed every point that occurred to me as I read the first two issues in one sitting. When you return, I'll put my two cents' worth in about each feature so far.

OK? Here we go.

BATMAN: Unsurprisingly, this reads like an episode of 100 Bullets that just happens to have Batman in it. Just like the last time Azzarello and Risso tried their hand at the Caped Crusader. Oh well, gorgeously drawn as usual, but the story is so far routine, and you have to believe that Azzarello will see fit to work the title character in at some point. B

KAMANDI: Ryan Sook's art on this is just magnificent; by choosing to imitate Hal Foster's Prince Valiant style, complete with caption narration rather than word balloons and such, he gives Dave Gibbons' script a resonance, weight, gravity, whatever that I just don't think it would have in lesser hands. There really should be more of this in the future. A+

SUPERMAN: Lee Bermejo's art is very good here, if a bit dark and excessively Photoshopped. Shame John Arcudi has chosen to write such a sodden script, featuring Supes flying around and indulging himself in self-doubt after an encounter with an alien. I know, I know, just trying to show that you can do serious drama with a man who flies around and lifts buildings, and show that he has depth and dimension. Fine, but is this really the best way to showcase (arguably) the most recognizable character your company has to offer? B-

DEADMAN sports wonderfully vertiginous Darwyn Cooke-style art by Dave Bullock in service of a decent murder mystery with supernatural overtones; kinda standard fare as Deadman stories go but the illustration goes a long way towards making it shine as far as I'm concerned. I guess it would help if you've never read a story about Boston Brand before. A-

GREEN LANTERN gives us the early days of Hal Jordan, in a deliberately early 60's-flavored Quatermass XPeriment-type story about an astronaut who returns to Earth and turns into a monster. It's reasonably well-done, if not particularly original, and Kurt Busiek keeps it moving along smartly- but again the real star is artist Joe Quinones, who has a light, dynamic style. I'd like to see more from him as well. A-

METAMORPHO benefits from Mike Allred's rendition of the title character and his supporting cast; while I've had my problems with his output in recent years- I eventually had to throw up my hands and walk away from his most recent self-indulgent attempt at Madman- he is definitely in his "element", if you'll pardon the pun, here, and his style is perfect for Rex Mason and Co. Neil Gaiman is giving us a most un-Gaimanish script, if you want to call it that, because it's so slight and not at all precious...and along with the intentionally cutesy accompanying features with the little kids or #1's roll call, it does evoke the feel of those old Haney issues of yore, even though Haney would have told the story we've been given so far in two panels of the old book. B+

TEEN TITANS is some amalgamation of the various teams that have appeared in the comics over the last few years, and suffers from Sean Galloway's ungainly art, which makes this a lot harder to scan that it should be, as well as some murky, unflattering color. Galloway seems to be trying to give us a TV-show style that evokes the recently ended CN series, but instead evokes Spectacular Spider-Man more, to my eyes anyway. His is a style that works much better in pinups and single-page illustrations rather than trying to tell a story- the figures and linework are much too stylized, loose and chaotic, and everything comes across as incoherent. For what it's worth, #3 was an improvement on that score. The story itself is again nothing special, just a way to showcase the featured team as they battle a previously-inept menace who is suddenly a serious threat. Stop me if you've heard that one before. Too late, I'm done! C+

STRANGE ADVENTURES gives us Paul Pope's Flash Gordon-style take on Adam Strange, and it's flat out brilliant. Even though this alien invasion is yet again not the freshest plot out there, Pope is so good that he can tweak it and provide nuance and subtlety in just about every panel. I would subscribe to any newspaper that featured comics pages like this. A+

SUPERGIRL's rampaging super-cat and super-dog story is pure fluff, but the chief appeal is (as is so often the case) Amanda Connor's likable art, which elevates it by default. A-

Dan Didio scripts the METAL MEN installment, and it's like he was working from a script-o-matic program in this by-the-numbers account of a bank robbery thwarted by the robots. The bank guard illogically, of course, turns on them after they apprehend the criminal, and of course he grabs the kid that just happened to be close by that we got to meet in a panel or two. I mean, geez- has Didio even read any DC comics before he got his current job? I've read a ton of Metal Men stories since I was a preschooler, and except for the old Harris/Sekowsky short run at the end of the original series that had them as fugitives from justice, I have yet to recall seeing an instance of the Metal Men being feared and shunned by meatbags a la Marvel's mutants. Old pro Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and relative newcomer Kevin Nowlan impress with the former's dynamic layouts and figure drawings, and the latter's assured inks. Beginning to detect a trend here? B+

Ben Caldwell's WONDER WOMAN is just a mess, an explosion of chaotic, crowded layouts (honestly, did he get paid by the panel?) and loosey-goosey figure drawings, colored in mottled pinks, greens, and purples, definitely not helped by the newsprint it's printed on. Apparently, this is set early in Wondy's career, as she is threatened by weird dreams and vague menaces which of course will turn out to be a real threat later, bet on it. That's not a bad premise for a WW story, but the execution is haphazard, to say the least. C

SGT. ROCK's main attraction is the art, by the great Joe Kubert. Otherwise, it's pretty much a standard issue DC war story, the sort that you could pick up on any given week for about 30 years back in the day when DC still did war comics. Not that that's a bad thing. B+

IRIS WEST/THE FLASH takes another standard-issue early-60's type plot, dresses it up in dynamic, modern-style art, and while it's certainly not bad it's just not all that good either. It's just there. C+

CATWOMAN/THE DEMON takes a pretty good idea- Selina steals an artifact from Jason Blood- and runs with it, soon finding herself (unsurprisingly) in trouble of the supernatural sort. Very good so far, again unsurprising given that it's Walt Simonson and Brian Stelfreeze bringing it to us. A

HAWKMAN so far is a showcase for Kyle Baker, and he makes the most of it- he's flexing muscles here he hasn't flexed in some time now, well since The Truth anyway. Hawky defies the laws of physics as he breaks into a in-flight jet plane, seeking to apprehend what appears to be terrorists on board, but as so often is the case, they're more than they appear to be! A fun return to the kinda savage old Fox/Kubert days, bad science and all. A-

And that's a quick and dirty look at Wednesday Comics as of issue #3. Honestly, I've been harsh on the scripts, and not so much on the art, and that's probably not fair. Most of the stories are still getting their legs under them, and the art has been outstanding from the get-go. Maybe they'll transcend their mostly derivative and uninspired beginnings. I hope so. I don't know what DC really hopes to accomplish with this experiment, and I really doubt they'll accomplish it anyway...but if they set out to give us a super-size art showcase that appeals mostly to presumably discerning comics geeks, then mission accomplished. As an intro for the uninitiated to the Amazing World of DC Comics as they now exist, well, let's just say that these uninitiated are in for a bit of a surprise.