Best Comic
This week was fairly underwhelming in terms of quality: lots of placeholder issues and the like. Countdown is still building towards its finale, but this week's issue was more about talking and less about getting stuff done, so it kinda broke the quality ramp the last few issues had been generating.
One of the saddest casualties of this week was the Atom. The book no longer has that quirkiness that it had when it first came out that made it one of my favorites. In this issue, for example, the Atom reveals his chops as a classic science hero, able to build wacky machines to help him explore the miniaturized world of his own cellular structure. This has made the character one step closer to being Ray Palmer and one step further from the character I've grown to like because he was more of a tourist that used Palmer's technology.
Green Lantern is also wandering a bit, as Geoff Jones slowly constructs his "blackest night" scenario by creating the various other color lanterns (Red, Orange, etc.) (betcha, by the end of this, someone gets a rainbow lantern and brings dancing unicorns and lucky charms to the universe.) No real character moments, no real relationship building except between Sinestro and Hal in a "Silence of the Lambs" kinda way. One other thing that bothers me is that Green Lantern seems to be in its own universe. You would think, with Apokalypse exploding in countdown a week ago, that the Green Lanterns would somehow be involved, or at least aware that something screwed up is happening. But no, it's on its way to creating a totally different menace to the universe.
The JSA, from last week, which is also written by Jones, is a bit more in tune with the infinite crisis stuff: that book is looking at the Third World, the precursor to Kirby's Fourth World, which is now being undone to create the Fifth World, which is interesting, because didn't magic already go into the Fourth Age? I can't remember. DC is so involved in trying to destroy its universe every summer that its writers can't develop interesting stories using the new paradigm.
So, anyway, this week's best comic is not a comic at all, but a movie. Justice League of America: The New Frontier animated movie was much better than I expected it to be, and a treat to watch. Mixing golden and silver age iconography and lightly retreading the effect of McCarthyism on superheroes (which was explored in The Watchmen and the excellent short story "Witness" from the first Wild Cards book), Darwin Cooke places his JLA story in a classic 1950's universe and explores how the world's heroes, generally acting as lone guns to avoid government prosecution, join together to fight an overwhelming menace.
There's also a JLA retrospective movie in the special features that was really interesting, as well. I guess you can currently download the movie off of XBOX Live for the HD version, which should kick butt.
So, go get it! Congrats to JLA: The New Frontier!
One of the saddest casualties of this week was the Atom. The book no longer has that quirkiness that it had when it first came out that made it one of my favorites. In this issue, for example, the Atom reveals his chops as a classic science hero, able to build wacky machines to help him explore the miniaturized world of his own cellular structure. This has made the character one step closer to being Ray Palmer and one step further from the character I've grown to like because he was more of a tourist that used Palmer's technology.
Green Lantern is also wandering a bit, as Geoff Jones slowly constructs his "blackest night" scenario by creating the various other color lanterns (Red, Orange, etc.) (betcha, by the end of this, someone gets a rainbow lantern and brings dancing unicorns and lucky charms to the universe.) No real character moments, no real relationship building except between Sinestro and Hal in a "Silence of the Lambs" kinda way. One other thing that bothers me is that Green Lantern seems to be in its own universe. You would think, with Apokalypse exploding in countdown a week ago, that the Green Lanterns would somehow be involved, or at least aware that something screwed up is happening. But no, it's on its way to creating a totally different menace to the universe.
The JSA, from last week, which is also written by Jones, is a bit more in tune with the infinite crisis stuff: that book is looking at the Third World, the precursor to Kirby's Fourth World, which is now being undone to create the Fifth World, which is interesting, because didn't magic already go into the Fourth Age? I can't remember. DC is so involved in trying to destroy its universe every summer that its writers can't develop interesting stories using the new paradigm.
So, anyway, this week's best comic is not a comic at all, but a movie. Justice League of America: The New Frontier animated movie was much better than I expected it to be, and a treat to watch. Mixing golden and silver age iconography and lightly retreading the effect of McCarthyism on superheroes (which was explored in The Watchmen and the excellent short story "Witness" from the first Wild Cards book), Darwin Cooke places his JLA story in a classic 1950's universe and explores how the world's heroes, generally acting as lone guns to avoid government prosecution, join together to fight an overwhelming menace.
There's also a JLA retrospective movie in the special features that was really interesting, as well. I guess you can currently download the movie off of XBOX Live for the HD version, which should kick butt.
So, go get it! Congrats to JLA: The New Frontier!
