The Main Event Comic Book Reviews 10.10.08
Posted by Dennis Twigg on 10.11.2008
Down with the DCU!
Secret Six #2 General: Gail Simone's ongoing series following the moral ambiguity of DCU's mercenaries continues as the Secret Six plunge headlong into a scheme that sees them breaking into a super prison and trespassing into the territory of the Batman! Writing: The series really fires on all cylinders as the newly introduced Bane begins to show his own personality and the plot begins to get juicy. Catman heads to Gotham to confront Batman and their interaction is completely rock solid. Batman is focused and driven and Catman provides the perfect foil, focused but searching for a purpose in a way. Their banter and their combat elevates both of them rather than leaving fans of either character wondering how their beloved comic book favorite was brought so low. On the other end of the plot spectrum, the break-in portions could have been by the numbers, but the character interactions are snappy and fun enough to elevate the story. Even so, the looming bad guy in the story (and the trouble he's causing) creates a palpable tension that hangs over the rest of the cast. Art: The action is crisp, clean, and distinct. Batman and Catman's skirmish looks every bit as solid as you'd hope. Ragdoll, bizarre visual item that he is, is eloquently and expressively drawn. If the artist and writer continue to dovetail so well things will only look up from here. Overall Score: A-. A great start to a great new series.
Green Lantern #35 General: Geoff John's Secret Origins seven part mega plot wraps up this issue. Does the new look at Hal Jordan she new light on an iconic figure or is it a dull retread? Writing: Geoff Johns is certainly a competent writer. His characterization of Hal and Sinestro's early relationship is spot-on and the way he blends together many parts of Green Lanterns early career into a coherent origin is very satisfying. However, the core of the Green Lantern origin mythos remains the same and I can't help but feel a tad disappointed that it took seven issues just to streamline his old origin with some of Johns' new takes. Johns has surprised me in the past, having what I thought were mediocre stories become good when viewed with the lens of hindsight, but this time I feel cannot help but feel that we spent a long time to accomplish a bunch of minor retcon tweaks. Art: Ivan Reis is a great Green Lantern artist because of his ability to render many different alien figures in interesting and organic ways. The main characters that populate the series look consistent and vibrant, but there's not a whole lot for Reis to flex his artist muscle on this issue. That said, he does quite nicely with what he's given. Overall Score: B-. If you're unfamiliar with Green Lantern's origin you will probably enjoy this issue and plot arc. For myself, I ended up feel like I was reading a bit more a retread than a re-imagining.
