Batman #626-630: As the Crow Flies

Reading this 2004 Batman story after all these years was an interesting experience. In many ways, it acts as the prelude to Judd Winick's landmark Batman run, but there are definitely insights to be gained from looking at it alone.

For a start, this is a Batman story and a good one at that. It showcases the strengths of the character by building on what so many previous creators have turned his adventures into, in the process posing some interesting questions. 

By utilizing his famous villains and a generic status quo, it almost seems like a more adult interpretation of the famous Batman: The Animated Series.

Interestingly, the character himself is largely relegated to the role of a detective opposing Penguin and Scarecrow, who receive most of the character development here. Penguin is by and large playing the role of a mob boss, in line with the modern interpretation of the character, while the Scarecrow is depicted as his subordinate, desperate to please him. The story introduces another character as his assistant, but she is mostly kept to the sidelines in order to further the mystery. 

As for the central premise, it deals with the men allied with the Penguin being terrorised by fear and eventually hounded by a horrible Scarebeast. The principal antagonists are astonished that their plan to better control the mobsters has somehow turned awry, but the Batman will be the one to truly put a stop to the carnage and get to the bottom of things. And while an attentive reader will be able to piece together the identity of the mystery villain, that only serves as a testament to the story logic at work.

Winick is very self-assured when writing this story, featuring a lot of action and pacing it to build upon and maintain the momentum. He is at every point aided by the art team of Dustin Nguyen and Richard Friend, who provide a very brash and impactful version of Gotham city.

It may seem that an over the top detective story will be par for the course for the Batman titles, but not many of them have this level of craft attached to them. While a longtime reader has seen this type of story many times before, rarely has it been as engaging. We have seen Batman face hideous monsters before, we have seen him dealing with the power struggles in Gotham's underworld, these are all standard Batman tropes, but they are rarely this propulsive and entertaining. 

As for the foreshadowings of Winick's Under the Hood mega-arc, they are subtle but effective. In a way, the whole of "As the crow flies" feels like a creator getting used to the character while preparing to tell a more daring storyline. And while acting as a forerunner to a more acclaimed story might appear to diminish the creators' efforts here, this isn't done in any way to the detriment of the readers.

Without making any grand statements to the character like the famous "Batman: Hush" storyline that preceded it and in many ways set the stage for the idea of returning Jason Todd to the Batman titles, this story took Winick and a fresh off the Wildcats 3.0 Dustin Nguyen to the task of crafting a solid superhero story. They have certainly achieved this and turned "As the Crow Flies" into a story that will help new fans fall in love with the character and his mileu, and remind older readers of what "Batman" is like when it works.

Catwoman: When in Rome 1-6

In 2004, DC published "Catwoman: When in Rome", acting as a spin-off of the Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's popular "Batman: Dark victory" storyline. Released following the duo's stint on Marvel's prestige books, the mini-series acknowledges the tie-in, but exists largely to tell it's own story.

Ostensibly, the series elaborates the character's origins, but by the time of it's publication the company had already went ahead with a different version of the character. Taken as a collaboration of the two talents well suited to telling the stories together, "When in Rome" turns into a treatise on the character's appeal.

Characterized as a sexy thriller with a healthy dose of humor, the series truly reads like an artifact from a different era. The heroine looks and acts like a sex bomb, her "costume" merely a couple of curios added to her skintight leotard. That is not to say that Catwoman doesn't spent a large part of the story wearing even less, but she takes it all in stride.

The plot concerns Selina arriving in Italy with a purpose that reveals itself only later on, after she has already become complicit in affairs of a criminal don she'd never heard about before. The tone and atmosphere are seductive enough that the reader doesn't really question the many twists and turns rocking the story to and fro from the Batman universe, confident that it will all make some kind of sense in the end. Loeb is of course pedantic enough to ultimately clear up any confusion, but it's Sale's work that leaves the lasting impression.

The whole presentation strikes the reader as very visual and gorgeous to experience, with beautiful ink washes by Dave Stewart making for a spin-off that has all the hallmarks of a major publishing project. Putting Catwoman in an idealized Italian setting, the artist pairs her with contrasting figures of a love interest and a comedic foil. It is the original character that proves the more memorable, as the Riddler's role in the story ultimately feels as shoehorned as most of the other plot elements pertaining to the story's status as a Batman spin-off.

What attracts about "When in Rome" is precisely the chance of watching two acclaimed creators enjoying themselves. Reading this well paced, politically incorrect story it's clear that the duo are having fun which has the effect of charming the reader into accepting both the goofy and the intriguing bits.

It might be a footnote in the duo's opus, but Loeb and Sale's work here should absolutely be taken into consideration by a reader looking for a lighthearted DC story with high production values.

Batgirl #35-40 "The Batgirl of Burnside"

Last month saw the completion of the first storyarc of the "Batgirl" revamp, which has since been lauded as both a commercial and critical success. The revamp has attracted significant attention from the debut of the character's costume redesign and was eagerly anticipated by an audience looking for something new in DC's output. The publisher has repeatedly faced criticism for failing to bring enough innovation in its line wide 2011 makeover. When contacted to follow up Gail Simone's "Batgirl" run, the new creative team was finally given a chance to do just that, create a modern superhero title that tried to reach out to current urban audience, consisting mainly of younger people.

By specifically targeting teenage girls, the publisher has seemingly given an unprecedented amount of freedom to artist Cameron Stewart and writer Branden Fletcher. And while Stewart's other commitments relegated him to a role of breakdown penciller and co-writer, they also allowed Babs Tarr to add her own touch on the pencils. The colorist Maris Wick's completes the creative team that has cemented the image of Batgirl for a new generation of fans.

The first issue starts slowly, asking the reader to trust the creative team as it exposes them to a new cast of characters and a change in the setting. Batgirl has moved to Burnside, a Gotham suburbia that for all intents and purposes functions as an extension to a college campus. Thus, most of the characters that populate the book tend to be young, trendy people, obsessing over self image and social media. This perfectly compliments the creative team's vision of Barbara Gordon as an overachieving post graduate that is trying to find a new place in the world for herself and her crime-fighting alter ego.

The creative team's debut calls back to the character's superhero past but in a way that provides a clear break from who she was. The in-story explanation goes on to add her longtime ally Black Canary to the supporting cast and introduces the conflict between the two that they try to resolve over these six issues. It naturally deals with the changes Barbara has been going through and the new ways she uses to battle the fashion conscious, off the moment threats that begin plaguing the lives of herself and her new circle of friends.

These pages show that everyone in Burnside is taken with the Internet culture and are thus easily manipulated by dating websites, tech savvy multimedia artists and reality TV stars, which are certainly a far cry from the serial killers and Batman rogues that the character has been dealing with in the past. Nevertheless, the creative team is careful to maintain a through-line between the episodic stories, dealing with a genuine threat behind the seemingly unconnected attacks at Burnside. It strikes right at the heart of Batgirl and once again calls into question her new way of life.

Every chapter of the wider story is similarly paced, starting dense with a wide variety of characters all feeding into the eventual conflict that resolves in well staged fights and ending on a cliffhanger that maintains the reader's interest in this new creative direction. There is a variety of well dressed, wispy new characters, but Stewart and Fletcher wisely choose to spotlight the few key people in Barbara's life, while purposefully leaving out return appearances from her father and Batman.

Both are repeatedly referenced, but it seems that the creative team has deemed their presence as something that would only distract from the story they were telling. It was imperative to make sure that the new tone of the book had more to do with "Scott Pilgrim" than Scott Snyder's "Batman" and in this respect, the book completely succeeds. Yet, the Bryan Lee O'Malley's young adult sensation already feels outdated when compared to the lifestyle trends depicted on these pages.

There's no doubt that "Batgirl"'s modern hipsters will feel dated in a decade or two, but as of now, they are presented in such a way that the new, and more importantly, teen audience can sympathize with them. Thereby, it makes sense that the larger threat uniting the individual enemies would come from the character's past. The creative team themselves seem to be confronting their own vision of Batgirl with the conservative past of the well trod Batman spin-off story model.

On one side, there is Black Canary questioning Barbara's every move and criticizing her media friendly new role as the Burnside's protector. Dinah is presented as a slightly older version of the female superhero that nevertheless ultimately embraces a new role for herself. What's preventing Batgirl from doing the same is Burnside itself, which continually reshapes to fit the latest social trends, the locale's relationship to its new suburban protector as fickle as the latest Internet sensation and easily manipulated by the unseen mastermind.

That the protagonist nevertheless manages to triumph and in every way that counts leaves her past behind is inspiring in all the right ways. Despite the hardships, Barbara Gordon still manages to establish new friendships, starts her academic career and finds herself entering a romantic relationship. None of these start off perfectly for the slim, long-haired heroine, and at one point near the end she seems like she will break from the outside pressure, but with the help of her friends, she find a new strength in herself to overcome the adversities and continues on with her life, stronger for the experience.

It's strange that such a female positive, life affirming story with a diverse cast was at one point painted as ignorant to the issues dealing with the transgender experience. The creative team had clearly contrasted the problematic depiction of a villain with a positive image of a well adapted cast member carried over from Simone's run, but it was apparently deemed too subtle by some of the more sensitive audience members.

Despite the controversy, the revamp can be deemed a success in every aspect, and has already lead to the establishment of the Black Canary spinoff. In fact, it will debut as part of the company's line wide makeover, inspired chiefly by "Batgirl"'s success. It has been announced that the series will continue with Babs Tarr providing full art, sans Cameron Stewart's breakdowns and there is every reason to think that it will grow even stronger. Now that the title has successfully established itself as an entity distinct from its dark roots, and has in fact crafted the narrative around the protagonist embracing her newfound freedom, the creative team should be set to likewise continue forward with their storyline. Their audience will only grow as books like "Batgirl" and "Ms Marvel" stop being exceptions and the industry starts providing entertainment for fans of all backgrounds, having finally found a way to market beyond their existing demographic.

Comic reviews for Wednesday, October the 10th

BATMAN #13

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo debut the opening chapter of "the Death of the Family" crossover. The main story is set to run in "Batman", while spin-off titles tie-in, and for the moment, the creators deliver what they've promised. There is an ominous feeling to the episode from the start, building to the start of Joker's depraved revenge. With the character single-handedly executing his plan, the story maintains an atmosphere of the slasher horror movie, albeit one drenched in Batman mythos.

Snyder never forgets that he's writing a Batman story, structured as the traditional chase the villain ends the dark knight detective on. It's also just as much a Joker story, calling back to the character's numerous previous misdeeds, albeit with a ring of finality to it. Batman's nemesis launches his campaign of terror so aggressively, so relentlessly, that "the Death of the Family" seems poised to leave lasting ramifications to the title.

Capullo is likewise in full form here, making sure the reader sees every important detail of the grim proceedings, while drenching the story in unbearable paranoia. The artist keeps the Joker's character design a secret until the cliffhanger (which goes to explain his frustration when the posting of an upcoming cover spoiled the reveal on the Internet), but the character is still present throughout the issue. In contrast, the artist continually shows Batman under heavy light, caped and broad-shouldered, but woefully ineffective. Bruce is continually two steps behind his enemy, and it seems like he can barely follow the trail.

The story climaxes with Joker crossing the line and attacking a key Batman figure, revealing the extent of his knowledge of Bruce's operation. The rationale behind his enemy's current plan of attack works to establish the tie-in for the rest of the Batman line, but it remains to be seen how much it factors into the Snyder and Capullo's main story.

This is not to say that the start of the creator's second year of Batman stories is flawless, as the police station sequence and the later television broadcast announcing the villain's plan to the Gothamites exhibit some confusion in layouts leading to the lack of effectiveness. The fight in the factory that closes the issue is likewise so dense with details that it lacks a seamless storytelling flow (including an unfortunate prop that will momentarily take the reader out of the story), but in general the issue portrays both creators in a very strong light.

Snyder utilizes a lot of dialogue in these plot-oriented 24 pages, working in concert with Capullo's quirky, caricatural visuals to create a rare story that lives up to the hype surrounding it. The back-up reunites Snyder with Jock, the illustrator of his previous run on "Detective Comics". The painted pages are likewise disturbing, with the co-writer James Tynion IV elaborating on the plot point previous to Batman's arrival to the factory.

The story is no more than a vignette featuring Harley and the Joker, elaborating on their sick relationship in regards to a particular plot point. Tynion IV quickly achieves an atmosphere of abject dread, but his is a thankless task giving that the reader is already aware how the scene ends. In a way, the co-writer is being asked to shock the reader into a few moments forgetfulness, before the story returns to the relatively comforting reality of what the reader just saw in the final Snyder/Capullo pages.

Jock's work is traditionally angular and moody, but realized in the limited palette of reds and blues, except for the shock of Joker's hair.The close-ups on Joker's mouth are likewise effective, keeping the reader unaware of the character's position in regards to Harley. It goes without saying that the two character's share a very one sided abusive relationship, which excuses some of the violence on the part of creators, who thankfully restrain from depicting the full extent of implied depravity.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #18

The finale of "New World Orders" follows the pattern when it comes to this arc, being the end of the plot-based exercise that had little to show for it. The Bunn-scripted issue covers the three fronts of Captain America and SHIELD's battle against Codename Bravo and the Hydra, with a real sense that the heroes are over-matched. Yet, once the protagonists make their way to the enemy commanders, they prove relatively easy to beat.

It's doubtful that Brubaker would have realized his plot in much the same way had he written the arc on his own, but as it stands, the villains who have tormented Cap since this iteration of the title launched prove little more than braggarts, who have managed to brainwash the American public to their side. The issue continues last issue's Baron Zemo/Agent 13 fight in a decent way, but the co-writer's addition of Dum Dum Dugan's work behind the scenes ultimately ends the satellite in a way that is a little too easy and convenient.

In turn, this makes Falcon and Diamondback's efforts superfluous, but the co-writers choose to utilize their short scenes to show the effect of enemy manipulation on the common man and set up a new dynamic between the characters. The heavy handed real world relevance issue ultimately proves like little more than an afterthought, and gets little more than a mention in Cap's fight against Bravo and Queen Hydra. The duel is remarkably short and efficient, but is notable largely because of its finality and the way Marvel chooses to present it.

Throughout the issue, Eaton underplays the more brutal elements of the script and sticks to a superhero aesthetic that de-emphasizes the violence. The reader is not made privy to the body-count behind the fake Discordian invasion, with the dialogue carefully explaining that despite the appearance, the fights against Zemo and Bravo carried no fatalities. Scott Eaton's work is therefore allowed to maintain a darker edge, while still working in the artist's exaggerated superhero style.

Unfortunately, the careful framing only accentuates the feeling that "New World Orders" shows the creators at their most restrained, presenting a story that tries to provide an epic sendoff to the plots and themes of this volume of "Captain America", but only succeeding in the former. The co-writers try to use the character's out of costume appearance to provide for some measure of closure, but the lessons learned feel broad and obvious. The writers are ultimately use the sequence to spell out their intentions and clue the reader in on the eventual fate of the principal players.

The story concludes on a genre standard vignette aiming to provide some ambiguity to the heroes' victory, but a long-time reader will likely be more interested in the one page teaser for the next month's story. With #19, Ed Brubaker concludes his run on the title, with the relaunch already solicited as a part of the Marvel NOW! initiative. Reunited with Steve Epting, the primary artist of his original "Captain America" stories, Brubaker will no doubt leave provide a poignant coda for the title that never really gained a foothold in this latest iteration.

SCARLET SPIDER #10

Interestingly, the second part of the arbitrary "Minimum Carnage" crossover provides for a pleasant diversion. Chris Yost, the regular writer of "Scarlet Spider" scripts the issue himself (with special thanks to "Venom" writer Cullen Bunn), and the mini-event feels slightly more organic.

This is not to say that the "Minimum Carnage" is now free of the exposition that weighted heavily on its first part, but that it builds up some rhythm when its two leads finally start interacting. The repentant, yet still aggressive Kaine has little time for Agent Venom, following Carnage's disappearance, but at least for a short while it feels that the writer will forgo the cliche of having the two protagonists fight as soon as they meet.

Yet, utilizing Venom's symbiotic nature, Yost still gets to include the fight a mere few pages later, providing for the issue's major fight sequence. Flash losing control of the symbiote seems to be unconnected to Bunn's plot of demonic possession and seemingly operates in disregard to the set-up as presented in the character's own book. Pham and Brown illustrate the sequence in a clear and energetic way, providing a lot of the flair missing from the story's initial "Alpha" issue.

The Microverse sequences substitute the slaughter from the beginning of the story with the fantasy sequences, teasing the role of an evil mastermind that is profiting from Carange's actions. The hooded figure could well turn out to be an analogue for the "Micronauts" arch-villain Baron Karza, but so far he appears only in hologram.

Meanwhile, the story's two discuss crossing over into the microscopic world, with Yost doing his best to discern between two anti-heroes. Scarlet Spider reluctantly follows Agent Venom's lead, with both ultimately defining themselves after Spider-Man. Following the requisite comic book super science, the two are once again separated. Pham and Brown don't invest a lot in the backgrounds of these Microverse sequences, but the colors help make the setting distinctive.

The microscopic world has a truly alien feeling, especially when compared to the drabness of the ruined space center where the most of the issue takes place. When Micronauts finally show up, they feel entirely of the place in what has become Venom and Scarlet Spider's space opera adventure. The reader is not expected to be aware of the company's struggle to keep the characters created while they held the licence to the property, with the freedom fighters instantly recalling the better known "Masters of the Universe", or even "Star Wars" characters.

The issue ends with Yost going so far to explicitly mention the "Star Wars" connection, right before Scarlet Spider is subjected to the monster that would not feel out of place in George Lucas' movies. Keeping Carnage out of the spotlight has definitely helped the story settle in a pulpy, adventure story direction, but there is still no indication that the crossover will ultimately cohere into a satisfying whole. For the moment, "Minimum Carnage" appears to be a little more than an unlikely, but inoffensive outing for its well defined leads, playing out in a completely different fashion than the 1990s crossover that inspired it.

WALKING DEAD SPECIAL: MICHONNE

To tie-in with this Sunday's premiere of Season Three of "the Walking Dead" TV-series, Image and Skybound present a Special issue of the comic book that inspired it. The "Walking Dead Special: Michonne" is meant to reintroduce the character whom the TV audience briefly saw in the final episode of the last season, a katana wielding lawyer who has long since become a permanent fixture of the comic book.

Two days before the Season Two finale, the March issue of "Playboy" published a short presenting the character's origin story. The six page Kirkman/Adlard collaboration wasn't reprinted in "Walking Dead" #100, and it's only now that Image has decided to present it, along with the character's original appearance. "Walking Dead Special: Michonne" thus combines the "Playboy" short along with "Walking Dead" #19, and offers no new material except for the Charlie Adlard cover.

The 6-page "Michonne's story" basically presents the first days of zombie apocalypse from the titular character's point of view, without offering any new information. There is very little dialogue in the story itself, as Kirkman prefers to narrate the events using caption boxes. Reading Michonne's recollections largely dispenses with the excitement reserved for the series, as the character obviously survives to join the book's cast at a later date.

The main series has long abandoned the initial shock of the zombie invasion, thus seeing the creators revisit the "Days gone bye" setting has some novelty. In the end, the short, no matter how well put together proves no more than a promotional item. As for the longer story that follows it, it takes place relatively early in the series run, and mostly presents an extended fight scene. There is some initial confusion regarding the setting, and the characters opposing Rick, but it ultimately boils down to a decent episode of a longer serial.

Rick and his group are vying for control of the prison with the group that previously held it, with the new player using the ensuing confusion involving a zombie attack to join in with the cast. And while #19 is ultimately Rick's story, showing one of the first steps in the character's gradual loss of humanity, Michonne is given enough space to showcase her use to the group. Basically, she is a genre character initially divorced from the every day problems of the group.

Kirkman and Adlard choose to portray her value primarily in terms of her fighting prowess and the appeal a beautiful woman wholly capable of fending for herself has to the audience. The character has since enjoyed a couple of relationships, but is still largely defined by her ferocity, which is somewhat softened with the "Playboy" short. Michonne is still a long way from a rounded character (that role has gone to Andrea, who also appears in #19), but the Special does enough to make her stand out.

Beyond the return to earlier storytelling modes, "Michonne" also offers a look into the evolution of Charlie Adlard's artwork. Reading the two stories back to back, it's apparent how the artist has changed the way he approaches the series. For a start, Adlard now chooses much thicker inking lines and seems to rely more on Rathburn's gray tones. The artist was stylistically mature when he inherited the book from Tony Moore, but he seems much more assure in these newer pages.

There is a more natural flow to the pages of material that premiered in "Playboy", as well as a tighter grasp on the figures. It remains to see how the artist's style will further evolve, but for the moment both him and Kirkman are overshadowed by their popular character. Even if this tie-in Special doesn't work to increase the readership of the series, it works to increase the awareness of the connection between the TV-series and the comic book that inspired it, which is more than enough, given the latter's success.

Comic reviews for Wednesday, 12th of September

BATMAN #0

The #0 issue of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's "Batman" offers a very unusual entry. Starting with a heist scene that would not be out of place in a Christopher Nolan Batman movie, the creators feature an early Red Hood phase Joker gang, before getting back to Alfred and lieutenant Gordon. The story is almost evenly divided between the two halves, and amounts to a fairly disconnected day in the life of Bruce Wayne, covering out the early days of his mission.

Snyder and Capullo naturally fare better when it comes to conveying the opening action sequence, which manages to hold the reader's attention despite the familiarity of the tropes involved. Capullo's work is rough, but effective, with clear layouts and a reasonably distinctive designs of the two relevant Red Hood gang members. The backgrounds are sparse and generic, but the art conveys everything it needs to keep up with the tense dialogue. Inker Jonathan Glapion opts not to refine Capullo's pencils and carryies over the artist's scratchy, kinetic line.

Where the story stumbles is when Bruce returns to his temporary abode and starts conversing with Alfred. The butler voices his suspicion towards his master's early, pre-Bat-suit mission, before the writer decides to avoid tradition and instead of providing some kind of closure towards the Red Hood gang plot, he brings in James Gordon for a long conversation piece that rounds out the issue.

In so doing, the writer tries to recreate the typical Batman and Gordon rooftop dynamic, but there's little tension in the ground the two cover here. Bewaring the scene's static nature, Snyder introduces a ticking clock gimmick, by having a Batarang about to activate just out of the lieutenant's reach. The device is not entirely unsuccessful, but its artificiality becomes apparent as the reader gets to the final page.

In realizing that Snyder's script comes to no real conclusion but simply stops, the reader is made painfully aware that the rooftop scene was an underwhelming substitute an additional action scene following the opening, and that there is not even a hint of resolution of the immediate plot. The story ends up being simply a short window in the life of "Batman: Year One" phase Bruce Wayne, dedicated to setting up the upcoming Joker crossover. As for the resolution of the cliffhanger, the reader is told to wait until 2013, where it wil presumably be revealed in a "Death of the family" flashback.

As for Capullo's work, it strangely becomes more defined during the conversation pieces. The backgrounds are more than serviceable, and his layouts manage to liven up the static pages in ways that seem natural. Strangely, the younger selves of Bruce and Jim end up receiving very diverting redesigns. FCO Plascencia's palette of blues and grays is in full display, but the future Batman's blue eyes end up highlighting his youth and arrogance in a very unfamiliar way. Likewise, Jim Gordon's bushy hair and stunted posture provide a caricatural look for the character whose mannerisms seem broad, if familiar.

No doubt these are carry overs from the artist's early days as a Todd McFarlane devotee, but they are usually better integrated. Yet, for all of his shortcomings, no doubt coming on the heels of the deadline pressure (which has already necessitated Becky Cloonan filling in for Capullo in the previous issue), the penciller's style remains direct and in synch with Snyder's script. Seeing the tighter, more direct line signals to the readers that Andy Clarke continues to illustrate the back-up, even before they get to reading the credits.

James Tynion IV has sole credit as the writer of the piece, taking place a year into Bruce Wayne's career as Batman. Tynion IV frames the sequences featuring Batman's future Robins around Gordon's conversation with his daughter Barbara. The lieutenant is justifying the use of Bat-signal by highlighting the inspirational aspect of Batman's mission, which Clarke proceeds to illustrate in the three two page sequences.

The cutaways are short but informative, carrying over the momentum before they converge just as Gordon lights the signal. Some of Jim's narration goes overboard in explaining his motivations, but the story is otherwise functional, if unnecessary. The main thing the reader comes away from is the writer adding an edge to the future Robins, that oddly succeeds in making the problematic Jason the most sympathetic of the three. The backup goes on to clarify the characters' New 52 origins, but it doesn't elevate the eight pager from its function of a storytelling exercise.

Batman's origins and the details of his modus operandi are at this point so familiar with the audience, that there was no reason to reiterate the basics in this title (not to mention the character's other concurrent solo series). Taking the Red Hood plot as the single plot strand that has direct bearing on the upcoming events, and seeing it cut short to make place for a highly unnecessary backup story reflects the counter-intuitive move of having an entire month of editorial driven flashback stories in each of the publisher's ongoing series. Hopefully, the creative team will deliver on their promise to follow up the events of this issue's cliffhanger, which is the only way to justify the purchase of this #0 issue.

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FRANKENSTEIN - AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #0

The Frankenstein #0 issue offers a primer in respect to the character's early days, setting up his relationship with the scientist who made him. Loosely inspired by Mary Shelley's novel, the action oriented story follows the monster as it gains sentence and makes its first steps in the world of men.

Despite the S.H.A.D.E. director captions, Kindt and Ponticelli serve up a very dynamic retelling of the Frankenstein story, punctuated only by some conveniences when it comes to the series' overall continuity. For instance, there is no reason for why the monster doesn't slaughter it creator, as it does to the men serving him. The plot point makes sense only as it sets up the ongoing title's next arc.

Likewise, the inclusion of Lady Frankenstein brings nothing to the story at hand, and only makes sense in the context of Frank's previous adventures. The character's further adventures, as selected by Kindt likewise follow up on the connection with his creator, leading up to another brawl that finishes the issue. Kindt does a solid job in depicting the monster's fanatic tendencies, as well as its sense of nobility, while casting light on the previously underplayed Victor Frankenstein connection.

Ponticelli's rugged, kinetic style helps visualize the grim and determined story, which is surprisingly grounded considering the title's tradition. The artist's design for Victor seems as uninspired as the doctor's one-note lunatic characterization, standing in stark contrast to Frank's single-mindedness. Otherwise, the penciller/inker continues to provide clear layouts and fast flow, without cohering into an all around smoother presentation.

Despite the rough edges to his work, Ponticelli remains a rare DC artist who has managed to not only keep up with the deadlines but also pitch in to help illustrate "Animal Man". The story ends with a montage delineating some of Frank's other adventures, but the visuals only highlight the problems with the character starring in an ongoing title. At this point, after a year of stories featuring the monster and his supernatural allies, there is still a feeling that DC would have been better off producing an occasional mini-series with oddball pulp premise.

Looking at the title from both the creative and the commercial standpoint, it's hard to see the series lasting past the arcs featuring the protagonist confronting both Victor and S.H.A.D.E, respectively.

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #643

The third entry in the "Everything burns" crossover comes in the "Journey into Mystery" spin-off, once again illustrated by Carmine di Giandomenico. In keeping with the crossover, it offers little actual momentum, with most of the plot progression carried through conversations. Once again, the characters reveal secret histories behind their previous dealings, and the Asgardia/Vanir war gets relegated to the sidelines.

In keeping with the title, the chapter focuses on Loki, and his devious ways. To the writers' credit, there is a real sense of Laufey's son manipulations reaching critical mass, and him struggling to find a way to square off all the accumulated debts and broken promises. The story starts with stylized captions typical of Kieron Gillen's "Journey into Mystery", but they evaporate as soon as the writers complete the introductory scene.

Yet, it's unlikely that a reader not keeping up with the previous chapters, or even the entirety of the Loki-starring "Journey into Mystery", will be able to make much of what happens in this issue. Keeping up with the static nature of the crossover, the creative team surpasses the challenges the God of Mischief encounters as he ventures into Muspelheim. The character focus breaks only for the subplot involving Volstagg, that was chosen to lead the Asgardian effort to counter the Vanir.

Despite this unlikely turn of events, Fraction and Gillen go to great lengths to make it feel like a temporary role, that the Voluminous warrior takes with a heavy heart. The crux of the issue revolves around an eight page conversation between Loki and Leah, that will be hard to fully appreciate for anyone not previously acquainted with the title. In the process, Thor's half-brother executes another of his manipulations, which the creators try to get across as a major plot point, but it falls short for reasons regarding the very same character history.

Thus, the character's betrayal already hints at a noble higher purpose for his actions, which will be revealed at a crucial moment during the crossover. Thanks to the company's marketing department, it's already certain that Loki will play some kind of role in an upcoming "Young Avengers" title. In terms of the crossover, the suspension of disbelief should be stretched to except everything including the character's eventual heroic sacrifice.

Even as Thor and his friends are progressively closer to defeat, the writers are careful to keep up the whimsical tone. Thus, the captions return to illustrate "Volstagg's War Journal", but beyond the surface Punisher parody stands a scene that illustrates the biggest weakness of the crossover. The writers once again use a two page sequence to remind the reader of the scope of the war, but it only serves to underscore their disinterest in the epic storytelling that would go with the implications.

A true commitment to a fantasy war would seemingly take years and years of continuous publication to support the various fronts and alliances made on the way. Gillen and Fraction are not set on writing that kind of "Lord of the Rings"-inspired story, as "Everything Burns" aims to achieve a completely different set of goals.

Marvel and the respective writers are mainly using the storyline to wrap up the iteration of the title started with JMS' revamp before the Marvel NOW! relaunch. As such, the crossover is not only timely but time constrained. To the writers' credit, the slow paced, character centered crossover is everything but a dashed off effort to wrap up the loose ends and end the books in the way that does not entirely alienate the existing audience.

Unfortunately, the biggest point of contention still comes from the artwork, which tries to match the title's seedier nature.  Yet, the artist's angular style is not an ideal fit for a dialogue heavy script, even if the ornately designed characters find themselves in exotic locations. Di Giandomenico's characters grimace, but they lack the expressiveness needed to carry over the long conversation scenes.

Despite a lack of strong definition, the artist's style is kinetic and elaborate, but the computer coloring underscores that he is simply illustrating the wrong storyline. When employed during the "New Mutants" crossover, Di Giandomenico helped define the look for the chapters in both books, and its hard to imagine the story without his art. Yet, "Exiled" was an action packed superhero story, aiming for a much lighter and more traditional tone. "Everything burns", with its two pencillers achieves a dynamic quite different than the more harmonious effort of its co-writers, and really brings into question the publisher's decision to rush the story into print without a unified visual aesthetic.

Reviews for Wednesday, 8th August

BATMAN #12

The latest issue in Snyder's sprawling Batman run is the definition of a fill-in. A supporting character from one of the previous issues gets fleshed out in a story without any real tension or a reason for its existence. In many ways, the Becky Cloonan illustrated pages bring to mind an indie aesthetic that's sympathetic to modern Gothamites spotlighted in the issue, but there is a real feeling of artificiality throughout the story.

The book tries for a controversial angle with the lead character's gay brother, but it all comes off as forced. In a lot of ways, Batman #12 recalls the vastly superior "Batman Year 100", but with a key difference. Paul Pope focused on the vigilante's helpers precisely because he wanted to keep the lead character as an enigma. Scott Snyder has continually let in the reader on Bruce's innermost thoughts, and in a story as personal as "Court of Owls", there is really little point to flesh out a minor character's inner life.

Had Greg Capullo been able to keep up with the grinding monthly schedule, it's doubtful that the writer would ever have come up with the story. As such, he tries to get the reader to sympathize with Harper, the electrician, and come up with the way how her little contribution impacts Batman's mission, but the results are ponderous.

Previously, the Greg Rucka/Ed Brubaker side characters were so strong and so well defined, that they managed to carry a whole book, that was for some time a standout in the Batman line of titles. There is no evidence that reading about Harper and her brother would be a pleasant experience, and something that the reader would cherish month in and month out.

The issue dispenses with the back-up, to provide additional pages that explain the tease Harper gives in the opening, but the presence of a different creative team jibes strongly with the intended purpose. If the idea was to have strong indie talent present a honest tale of real life young adults, then the presence of Snyder protegee James Tynion IV as a co-writer, and much more importantly, Andy Clarke, really dispenses with the intended effect.

Cloonan has repeatedly shown that she is adept at depicting action (in this issue even), thus having Clarke provide seven closing pages comes off very abrupt, considering the difference in style. The featured villain had previously shown up in the pages of Snyder and Jock's "Detective Comics" run, and comes off as cartoonish, but not much more exotic than the typical Batman rogues.

The next month's #0 supposedly sets up the forthcoming developments in the Snyder/Cappulo run. With the Joker mega arc opening the second year of the "Batman" stories, the Harper story will no doubt soon be a distant memory, a not to successful tangent reminiscent of the Vertigo side stories bridging the gap between two bigger stories realized by the title's regular penciller.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #16

The second part of "The New World Orders" maintains the same solid, if underwhelming tone of the opening issue, with Cullen Bunn trying his best to channel the Brubaker's plot into a semblance of a typical issue of the run. The results, coupled by Scott Eaton's continued competent, but unrefined work (this time inked by three inkers) seem a bit more accomplished than last time, but never approach the clarity and the definition of Steve Epting's cover.

Eaton's work is nevertheless more caricatural and works with more energy, reminiscent of Mark ("Ultimate Spider-Man") Bagley's work. His rendition of Agent 13 is particularly nimble and spunky, even if it sticks to the traditional rules of the genre when it comes to objectifying women.

As for the story, most of it deals with the TV pundit Reed Braxton, who comments on the Discordian invasion and riles the common man against Cap. It's a well paced issue, if ultimately slight on plot development, but it's unlikely to change a reader's mind on the last stretch of Brubaker's run. With most of #16 told from the perspective of Carter and Dugan, the next issue should return the focus on Steve, and bring him closer to the masterminds behind the invasion scenario.

By adding a third party to the Bravo-Captain America conflict, Brubaker was consciously prolonging the clash, making it more meaningful when Steve finally overcomes the enemy's barrage, but stylistically, the book offers the reader very little. By this point in his 8 year run on the title, the writer has told similar stories with much more energy, and its hard not to look at "New World Orders" and see much more than echoes of more accomplished stories from back when the Brubaker/Epting "Captain America" was routinely hailed as one of the best superhero monthlies.

FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #12

On "Frankenstein", Matt Kindt brings his first arc to a close with a well-paced issue, framed as a conversation between the S.H.A.D.E. director and his chief scientist. By now, it's apparent that Kindt aims at making the book into more of a spy epic, and has used "Satan's Ring" as a test to see how well DC's Creature Commandos fit into the mold.

He manages to preserve Frank's relentlessness and personality, even adding to the mythos with the addition of flashbacks, setting up the arc where he squares off against his creator. The romantic subplot between him and Nina has likewise continued in a subtle and believable way, far surpassing the cues from the original "Flashpoint" mini-series.

The problem is that in the process of narrating some of the creator's wildly inventive ideas, the whole thing starts appearing beyond silly and childish. Seeing Frank dispatch the Leviathan goes a long way to cancelling the suspension of disbelief. A more nuanced portrayal, perhaps including the two agents who have yet to reappear in the book since the first part of the arc, would have brought some level of credibility to storytelling.

That the mole in the organization turns out to be an easily dealt with threat comes as a no surprise. Likewise, the eventual reveal of what is the significance of the Ring itself reveals it for a easily forgettable McGuffin. These two plot points would have proven anti-climatic in a better story, but in "Satan's Ring", they appear as just another underdeveloped bits of a strange, sprawling plot.

Alberto Ponticelli remains crucial to the book's consistency, as his visuals maintain the continuity and connect the disparate bits of the creator's imaginings. With the book's sales in the continual decline, its doubtful the connection to DC's better received Edge titles will convince the retailers to stick with the title in a firmer way. Hopefully, Kindt will find a way to make the strange mixture of Grant Morrison and Jeff Lemire ideas his own by then, and give the wannabe cult title a proper sendoff.

THE MIGHTY THOR #18

The start of "The Mighty Thor"/"Journey Into Mystery" crossover. Kieron Gillen and Matt Fraction write a very confidant beginning to the nine part saga, without drawing too much on the established continuity. Aided by the exceptionally solid artwork of Alan Davis (himself making a strong showing at Marvel, with the concurrent release of the Clandestine tie-in Annuals), the pair begin their story in a manner that recalls both Hitchcock's "Birds" and "the Lord of the Rings".

The Aesir/Vaenir war that preceded the events of the crossover gets spotlighted in an easily understandable and appeal way, ala the beginning of "Fellowship of the Ring", and the writers take pains to start their story properly. Both the lyrical quality of "The Journey Into Mystery", and the straightforward pseudo-mythological superheroics of "The Mighty Thor" find a way to these beautiful pages, showing the beginning of the renewed hostilities between two mythological races.

The plot tries hard to incorporate all of the segments of the Asgardian Realm, both to show how far reaching the Faustian gamble of their opponents are, as well as to set up the players in the game of the rising stakes. All in all, a surprisingly enjoyable beginning of the event that promises to unite the two titles for some memorable storytelling.

VENOM #22

This issue marks Rick Remender's final entry in "the Venom" series. After plotting the last arc that wound up written by Cullen Bunn, Remender writes the final issue of his run solo, illustrated more than adequately by Declan ("Hero Killers", "Thudnerbolts") Shalvey. The heavily narrated story brings thematic resolution to Thompson's father issues, while wrapping up the Jack-O'-Lantern subplot.

Obviously, both of these things are left for Bunn, and possible future writers to pick upon, but for now they are adequately dealt with. Once again, Remender appears very sincere when tackling Flash's inner life, and commits to tackling the dark subject matter in an adult way.

The flashbacks never feel like perfunctory origin sketches, but an actual attempt to get to the bottom of Flash's problems with aggression and substance abuse. Bringing in the father comparison does more than provide the back story, and ultimately ties back into his rivalry with Jack-O'-Lantern. The eventual clash feels a bit slighted, and even gratuitous, but is saved by Flash's eventual decision regarding the villain.

And while the parallels do eventually become heavy handed, Shalvey's artwork proves to be a very adequate conduit for Remender's final word on the character. The penciller/inker feels very sure when depicting superhero action, which has a great flow and clear line, while he adopts a softer tone for the flashback sequences. Lee Loughridge further separates the two by a limited palette of colors that further accentuate the quality presentation and reward the reading experience.

The writer's frank farewell on the letters page further reinforces the feel that he respects both the experience and the readers of the title, which he leaves in Bunn's capable hands. Hopefully, the editorial will pair the new writer with a regular artist, as the lack of visual consistency has proven the surprisingly strong title's chief problem.

Reviews for Wednesday, July 11

BATMAN #11

The latest issue of DC's "Batman" finally concludes the 'Court of Owls' storyline, with an epic fight between the supervillain designed to be the final nail in the Court's plan to destroy Batman. In many ways, the confrontation mirrors Bruce's initial fight against the Talon, but it definitely suffers due to the last issue's cliffhanger. Tying the villain's identity to Batman's past is in keeping with the arc's general approach, but the creators' awareness of the shocking implications works to undermines the immediacy of the story.

Considering that DC has already allowed for an in-continuity son of Batman, adding retroactively another personal relation doesn't necessitate a never ending monologue where the bulk of dramatization falls on the hands of the artist. Seeing a capeless Batman propelled through the air, silently listening to the villain's ironically laying out his plan while supposedly trying to find a way to counter him does not really provide for memorable storytelling.

The company should have used the opportunity the "New 52" relaunch provided them to simply remake the Batman continuity any way they saw fit. By softly remaking the franchise, and politely adding the wrinkles of new Court of Owls mythology makes sense from the standpoint of not wanting to irritate the fans of the more traditional incarnations of the character. Yet, outside the willingness to provide some changes for the decades old arbitrary status quo of Batman, there is nothing really controversial about the storyline. Batman the character that has been changing constantly in the years since he debuted, and mostly for the better, to the point where every opportunity to genuinely tell new stories should be welcome and tried out, if only to try and realize the potential in the idea.

More problematically, the villain's outfit seems very generic and despite the effort, Snyder and Capullo have yet to present him as the worthy addition to the rogues' gallery. Somewhat similarly to Hush, the mastermind ultimately lacks both in the character design and character, which will hopefully be changed the next time he shows up in the more consolidated form. The back-up likewise continues to derive most of it's tension from the implications involving the Wayne family history, but reads even more overwrought. James Tynion IV continues to co-writes the seven page Rafael Albuquerque illustrated addendum, that finishes the three-part "Fall of the House of Wayne" story.

Jarvis Pennyworth' story is yet another piece of world building working to provide a stronger foundation for the pulp-inspired character, re-calibrated by Scott Snyder. It ultimately boils down to a second epilogue, enabling the "American Vampire" artist Albuquerque to provide a scene where Bruce confides with Alfred regarding the Court, much like he did with Dick in the Capullo drawn sequence several pages before.

Judging by this issue, despite the interviews promoting the upcoming Joker starring arc, Snyder and Capullo are firmly dedicated to continuing the story of Wayne's clash with Court of Owls. It remains to be seen how the creative team handle such an ambitious piece of raising of the stakes superhero storytelling, and whether their more cerebral efforts will ultimately rival the 1990s "Knightfall" experiment.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #14

Ed Brubaker concludes his second to last arc on his Captain America run, which he has been working on since 2005. Patrick Zircher has illustrated the entirety of the "Shock to the system", with this issue serving as an long fight sequence that culminates the immediate plot. Ever since the latest relaunch, and arguably even before, back to "Captain America: Reborn", a certain lack of enthusiasm has slowly started to dominate the title, with this proving as the ultimate example of competently put together comics, that lack the energy of his earlier work with the character.

The fourth part of the arc reintroducing Scourge to the Marvel Universe plays out in a fairly predictable way, with the bulk of the conflict lying in Cap's previous relationship with the man under the mask. To Brubaker's credit, the story works if the reader is unfamiliar with the character, but that doesn't make it into anything more than a cliched four issues, that justify their existence mainly by having the whole scheme concocted by the villains who have plagued Steve since the relaunch.

Said villains make no appearance in the story, which deals with the deaths of supervillains in the witness protection program. In execution it has felt too short to properly elaborate on the idea, with the political content seeming particularly bland and neutered. The brainwashed villain serves as the mouthpiece for Codename Bravo's philosophy, that at this point in the series feels about as argumented as Commander Cobra's agenda in "GI Joe".

Patrick ("Mystery Men") Zircher's work is solid, yet his capable renditions in the house style will hardly make the reader seek out the work on his name alone. The final two pages are pencilled by Mike Deodato, Brubaker's collaborator on the "Secret Avengers", and use the political potential to sets up the next arc. Co-written by Cullen Bunn, "New World Orders" aims to bring Brubaker's run to the close, and will hopefully provide a more engaging reading experience.

FRANKENSTEIN #11

The second issue of Matt ("Super Spy") Kindt's run on "Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E." continues to pick up on the hints of a conspiracy in the ranks of S.H.A.D.E. Despite his work on "Animal Man", Alberto Ponticelli once again finds time to illustrate the title on the monthly schedule, as the writer takes Frankenstein to a new, impossible underwater location. Following the last issue's sojourn to the cloud city of Untropolis, DC's answer to "B.P.R.D." features Frank and Nina heading out to the city of ex-spies located inside the Leviathan. This is in keeping with the depiction of Monster Planet's continent sized monsters from the book's opening storyline, and helps carry over the feeling of consistency, despite the change of writers.

Since his first issue last month, Matt Kindt has introduced the theme of Frankenstein having flashbacks to the lives of people from whose limbs he was created, and #11 features a succession of silent panels telling a tragedy relating to high seas. Ever since Grant Morrison's remake of the character, Frank has been depicted as a highly fatalistic immortal with a strong sense of justice, but what Kindt seems to want to bring to the title is a deeper and more personal understanding of the character.

Seeing Frankenstein bond with Nina is likewise an interesting development, despite the heavy handedness of the scene. The issue ends with a high energy cliffhanger trying to marry the unrestrained indie comics scene with DC's more conservative approach to publishing, which brings to focus the many problems with the title. Despite their tries to produce a book that feels like a Mike Mignola creation, the editorial has managed to set up the title that is more akin to Jack Kirby's "O.M.A.C."

Thus, "Frankenstein agent of S.H.A.D.E." once again reads unfocused, never really managing the transition from a high concept "Flashpoint" tie-in mini-series to an ongoing title. In monthly installments, Kindt's story feels very random and haphazard, but to the writer's credit, he definitely approaches the project with a vision that is sympatico with its history. Hopefully, he will have enough time to escape from Jeff Lemire's shadow and present his own version of the concept.

VENOM #20

In the penultimate chapter of the "Savage Six" storyline, Cullen Bunn and the departing writer Rick Remender give Lan Medina a fairly straightforward script to illustrate. With Robert Atkins' help, the original "Fables" artist serves another moody chapter in the escalating war between Venom and Crime Master. The representational artwork continues to present something of a tonal clash with the over the top writing, but Medina and Atkins certainly do their best to accommodate the grim and gritty tone of the Anti-"Spider-Man" title.

Opening with the twelve page fight sequence, the story quickly justifies the "Savage Six" subtitle, as Remender has Venom confront Death Adder. The Silver Age villain has previously figured in his "Punisher" run, and proves to be a fairly generic opponent. Flash narrates the entire fight, which does provide for some sense of urgency given that the antagonist is silent throughout. The creators largely resist from having Death Adder show anything in the way of powers, and quickly render him the weakest of Crime-Master's Savage Six. Seeing the neighbors organize to confront the threat on their own is a nice touch, but Medina and Atkins' work again lacks the proper touch to adequately present the middle aged balding man who spends most of his panel time in his underwear.

The whole time, Flash is focused on the implications of his loved one's kidnapping, which makes the follow up sequence when he finally catches up on Human Fly brutally effective. The excessive violence for once fits the story given the previous relationship between the two characters, and the situation involved, with the added bonus of the Flash arriving to the Fly's den in a logical way. The story concludes with the scene spotlighting Betty Brant, as set up in the two page subplot that breaks up the issue's two Venom sequences.

Eventually, the story peaks with the unexpected reveal of Crime-Master's identity, which makes his attack on Flash and Betty all the more personal. Unfortunately, bringing back a character who appeared once in "Spider-Man" 50 years ago supposes that the reader's intimately familiar with the original Stan Lee/Steve Ditko run on the character. The surprise reveal certainly dulls the impact if the reader only has a cursory understanding of Betty Brant, the former Daily Bugle secretary and Peter Parker's love interest that ended up being Flash's girlfriend. More importantly, it remains to be seen how the co-writers manage to fit a satisfying conclusion for a story with this many players in a single twenty page issue. The solicitation for #22 implies that Remender will be tying up some of the dangling plot lines in his last issue on the title, ensuring that Venom's final showdown with his own version of Sinister Six ends up as the book's strongest arc to date.

WALKING DEAD #100

After all the hype about the record breaking sales, and multiple covers, Image has finally gotten around to releasing the milestone #100 of it's currently most successful title, "the Walking Dead". The slightly oversized issue starts off with a montage, establishing the location of each of the primary characters, before it puts the focus squarely on Rick, Michonne, Glenn, Maggy, Sophia and Carl. At that point, the reader is aware that the antagonists plan to attack at dawn, and that people in Rick's group will be taking turns in watching over the van as they camp for the night.

The simplified, RPG tactics employed by Kirkman are quickly forgotten as a mood of genuine horror takes over, threatening to take a series further in a dark direction. With the long-teased appearance of Negan, the issue quickly turns in a long monologue, with the villain stating his intent and making a show of power. Adlard's character design, as teased on the fourth consecutive thematic cover, depicts the man as an ego-obsessed bruiser, it's Kirkman's dialogue that completes the tone for the Governor's successor. Negan is depicted as immature and psychopathic, which works to irritate the reader just as much as it does the characters.

Yet, at the end of the speech, in which he keeps belaboring on the point of being surrounded by fifty of his own men, the leader of Saviors kills off a long-standing character. Adlard's blunt way of depicting first the injury and then death, serves to remind the reader that no one is ever safe in "Walking Dead", and works to give new blood to the series. The characters are forced in the new status quo, with every intention of getting their revenge, and using the first possible chance to try and restore their positions.

Kirkman is to be commanded for addressing some of the larger questions, particularly involving Rick, head on, but both the character death and the first inklings of the status quo come with their own misgivings. There were much more shocking deaths and shake ups in the series' past, particularly considering the massacre in #48, but where the new issue succeeds is in laying out the rules for the interactions between the human settlements in the immediate vicinity. For a long time, Rick and his band of men were allowed to force themselves into more or less functional communities, changing the series' focus into almost a zombie apocalypse diplomacy soap opera. #100 establishes a clear threat that brings some the immediacy back into the series, which makes the reader more tolerant to the sensationalistic way it has been presented in this issue.

Change of direction and the value of the protracted Second Act (PART TWO)

The long derided superhero serial model derives most of it's strength out of the protracted Second Act. In 2010s, both Marvel and DC, historically the sole owners of nearly all of the work done in their superhero lines, have long abandoned their support for new titles. Their superhero lines basically consist of the continuing adventures of characters most of the fans are at least casually familiar with, and typically well past their creative prime

"X-Men" have long since evolved past Chris Claremont and John Byrne's contributions, "Iron Man" is decades away from it's defining Bob Layton and David Michelinie days, but they still have a presence in the market beyond their licensing appeal in other media. Contemporary fans hold out hope for the reinvigorating runs such as the Grant Morrison's take on Marvel's mutants, or even Matt Fraction's take on the armored Avenger, presented as a solid piece of well told genre entertainment. Even on titles like "Iron Fist", that had a late in the day commercial revival, its clear that the authors are mostly calling back on the original incarnation of the character, while recasting it in a more stylistically unified whole.

It's clear that the 1970s popularity of kung-fu in America that birthed the original series is decades away, but in continuing the story and adapting it to the retro sensibility of some the more accomplished modern Marvel titles, the creators at least get to indulge their own sensibilities. Yet, even when they are writing what was marketed to the fans as "the Last Iron Fist Story", and having to abandon it year and a half from the resurgence's conception, even faced with a swift cancellation following the new creative team continuing in the same vein, Marvel refuses to actually finish the story. Even at its most creative, even when there are slim chances that the character will ever garner a large following in the market place, the editorial does not accept anything but an open ending, providing for more stories down the line.

Such stubbornness is easily understandable given that the company makes most of it's sales from its ongoing titles. The older stories, even when they are much more accomplished than "Marvel Premiere" that birthed the kung fu superhero, get treated as nostalgic inspirations relevant to long time customers and discerning fans patient enough to stick with the outdated storytelling and yesterday's superhero trends. Marvel acknowledges the decades of the broad strokes of its own continuity, but theoretically, a new reader accustomed to the superhero stories needs only the working knowledge behind the character's origin and background to follow the latest renovation.

Essentially, the company has settled into the protracted Second Act as a main storytelling model. Regularly, the solicitations proclaim major changes in the direction for all of its titles, but what these do is mostly tease the climatic end of the Second Act, and presenting a possible continuation of the final Act of the story, before backtracking and returning to the Second Act, for a new take. Cumulatively, the collective weight of the hundreds of fall starts end up with a veritable encyclopedia of abandoned plot lines, and underused characters, that are then revisited for thematic resonance, or more commonly sheer novelty.

This is nowhere as clear as in Marvel's "Spider-Man", the title that has made its lead's inability to bring his often self-destructive superhero career to an end a character trait. Indeed, the publisher ultimately saw the hint of closure provided by the character's marriage and the possibility of children as working at cross purposes to the title's appeal in such a way that it went to infamously controversial stories designed with the express purpose of returning the character to his roots.

It can be said that it was Frank Miller that it was Frank Miller who was the first creator to react to this basic contradiction of the market in a creatively memorable way. By publishing his and David Mazzucchelli's  "Batman: Year one", DC was well aware that it was presenting its readers with a thoughtful and stylized reconstruction of the Bob Kane originals that were seldom seen by its audience. Generally, the idea was that the character was improved upon in the years since he debuted, but placing the highly accomplished update of the character's First Act in the pages of the ongoing Batman title, it's doubtful that DC could predict how Miller would react to its eventual popularity.

Instead of producing a follow-up Year Two in the same understated retro aesthetic, to provide for an inspirational break from the continuing Second Act of Batman's regular adventures, Miller produced a much more controversial work. Taking full control of the project as the premiere writer/artist of his generation, he decided to create the final Batman story, distilling the essence of the mythos into a near-futuristic dystopia that owed as much to studio-mate Howard Chaykin as the Bob Kane (co) creations. The resulting "Dark Knight Returns" proved a landmark genre work, that worked not just as the Final Act in the Batman saga, but as a potent work in it's own right, a satire that put its creator and his artistic voice into the spotlight, at the same time both empowering the DC characters he was using, as well as transcending them.

The universal acclaim helped the creator to forge his own path in the medium, but one of the many close minded ways of the industry's reaction was the embrace of artificial endings to the characters purposefully kept young and ideally continually relevant. Perhaps the first of these was Alan Moore and Curt Swan's "Whatever happened to the Man of Tomorrow", debuting while Miller's series was still in publication, ending the story of Superman while the company prepares for the relaunch. Marvel's "The End" line of mini-series likewise make flirting with the Third Act a sub-genre of its own, but it should be noted that there is nothing morally wrong with the company's decision to indefinitely continue the adventures of its characters.

It's all but expected, and in the history of genre fiction generally looked upon as a positive. As long as the audience responds to continuing efforts on the part of the creators and the commercial structure that supports them, the Second Act serves as a viable way to tell the story that was never truly designed with a clear endpoint in mind. Any kind of adventure storytelling basically follows this model, as long it keeps to the episodic format with little to no overall continuity.

The problems accumulated in Marvel and DC superhero universes stem from a number of inconsistencies, both in story and presentation, that stem from the continually changes in creative talent, the rigid approach to continuity and the publishers' propensity of imitating the overall trends of the moment. A much healthier model is presented in Franco-Belgian comics album tradition, where the relaxed publishing schedule and the respect of the original creator's set-up leads to a storytelling model that arguably still produces stories with no set ending, but with one clear difference.

Grant Morrison - "In every style and fashion" part 1

Grant Morrison has always been an inventive storyteller, with something of a heady and ambiguous note to his scripts. This made his already ambitious comics something of a hard thing to get for a large portion of the audience. Yet, it seems that as his profile has been increased, that the complaints have gotten louder, to the point that now, when he writes DC's flagship titles in a very stylized way, even some of his old-time fans are protesting. So how did Morrison end up with his current narrative tics that cause such controversy?

the Early years

The most acclaimed and popular of Morrison's British works, and what eventually brought him to attention of DC comics, was "Zenith". Starting in 1987, "Zenith" was serialized in four "phases", story lines that ran in the US weekly anthology "2000 AD". It consisted of Morrison and artist Steve Yeowell turning the genre conventions upside down, while presenting the readers with a superhero acting like a rockstar. "Zenith" was a complex tale, consisting of monsters straight from the stories of P.H. Lovecraft invading the bodies of superheroes, along the way tying together everything from Captain America homages to rock stars and magic. In its third phase, "Zenith" spotlighted a "Crisis"-like event, gathering homages to most of UK's comic book heroes, which is seemingly what made the American superhero publisher seek him out.

Benefiting from the attention Alan Moore had gained to the UK writers, Morrison was asked to pitch a reinvention of one of DC's superheroes. He opted for "Animal man", producing a 1988 mini-series that remade the character as an animal activist. DC chose to continue with the series, but Morrison had much more ambitious plans. Plotting a course for the next two years on the title, the writer went in for a very ambitious post-modern take, taking the previously light-hearted meta fictional elements of Silver Age to the extreme. The stories were penciled mainly by Chas Truog, starting the trend of fast and sketchy artists illustrating Morrison's stories.

Still, despite not opting to pair him with an A-list penciler, DC liked Morrison's approach so much, they made him a writer of another concurrent ongoing title, "the Doom patrol". Starting in 1989, Morrison, aided by Richard Cased on the art, did his take on one of the weirdest superhero teams, digging in whole-heartedly at the characters' core as freaks and outsiders, all the while employing even more elaborate literary techniques. Still, despite all of the philosophical themes that he exposed his readers to, exploring the comparisons between reality and fiction, Morrison still stuck to the genre conventions, building all of his narrative structures atop the traditional superhero storytelling conventions.

Taking these multi-year epic stories into account, it's interesting how a simple tale, serialized in Trident (a British anthology title at the time), can shed a lot of light on Morrison's creative process. "St. Swithin's day is a short semi-autobiographical story, illustrated by Paul Grist in an alternate style that brings to mind Hernandez brothers and other independent comics at the time. A very moody and sincere piece, "St. Swithin's day" reads like a stream of conscience piece, dealing front and center with a position of a young man in Thatcher's Britain. Thus, it stands in stark contrast to Morrison's superhero deconstructions and the heavily detailed and layered approach that has characterized so much of his work before and since.

"Arkham asylum", a Batman graphic novel Morrison wrote and Dave McKean gorgeously painted is perhaps the best example of the state his writing style at the time. The story is rich with details and allusions, common to all of Morrison's work that just bursts with creativity, and yet a lot of ideas are shown briefly in passing, as he maintains the basic plot, that of Batman trying to find his way out of the lunatic asylum his enemies have barricaded themselves into.