SUPERMAN #35

It was kind of a big deal that John Romita, Jr. went to DC. He'd been with Marvel forever (I first became a fan when he was drawing Punisher War Zone way back when). So DC went full hog, paired him with their biggest writer, Geoff Johns, on their second biggest hero, Superman, and voila! Big time! The problem is that there has never been a good Superman book like ever and that this one isn't really any different. Unlike a ton of online commentators, I really like JRR's bulky, bigger than life characters and his work. I suppose because it's unique while still being classic. This isn't his best work, however. And the story, about Superman meeting a new test-tube baby/super guy from another dimension, isn't all that interesting. This is the fourth issue of the current run with JRR & Johns and probably the worst. It's not awful. It's entertaining, light, easy on the eyes. But it's not compelling. It doesn't really make you care too much about anyone. I will say that Johns is often a long term creator and maybe all of this is just building up to a grand scheme of awesomeness. But, really, no one seems to be capable of writing a great Superman book. Dude's like kryptonite to writer's or something. Someday maybe we'll see an epic, awesome, earth-shattering run. I've been reading Superman books off and on for twenty-five years and still waiting. ** (out of ****)

WYTCHES #1

If you have to misspell a word in the title of your book then it probably means you need a new (original) idea. But I suppose if you wanted to see anyone's take on witches in comicbookdom it'd be Scott Snyder's. With that said, this book is a bit of a disappointment but still a much more engrossing read than most books out there. Jock's art unfortunately doesn't work that well here and, honestly, Snyder could've just called his "witches" something else because they're not really like what we've seen before. The premise is that a teenage girl is bullied and wishes her bully would disappear. She does! A few witches pull her into a tree and she's gone and it fucks up this teenage girl's life. The witches here are all clawed-arms and, apparently, bigger than humans (it doesn't help that Snyder's afterward gives more of the plot/premise away than the actual book). You can "pledge" another human to these witches and in return get whatever you want. So the story is kind of like sell-your-soul-to-Satan. A good read with a few rough edges. *** (out of ****)

THE FADE OUT #1

The opening to this book is awesome (and what a stellar first line: "Charlie still thought about The Phantom Planes sometimes"). And just like that, you know you're in Brubaker/Phillips territory. Their last book, a mash-up of demonic cults and film noir, Fatale, just ended in July, so it's not like we were all waiting with baited breath or anything for a new dose of their hard-boiled gut-punches. This new book is similar to all of their others, which might be a shame if their typical stuff wasn't any good. It's post-WW2 Hollywood, and the 50's brings us an alcoholic screenwriter who happens to get mixed up in a murder cover-up by the studios. The main character, Charlie Parish, is almost too much like most of the other main characters Brubaker and Phillips have cooked up...but that's the only bad thing I can say about this book. It's super entertaining, engrossing, brutal, and has terrific art by Sean Phillips as usual. And the Hollywood locale will no doubt add some interesting characters and scenarios to the mix. It's same-old, sure, but a knock-out nonetheless. ***1/2 (out of ****)

OUTCAST #1

Robert Kirkman, the king of comics and TV these days, is back with a new original series. That's kinda sorta a big deal. If that wasn't enough, the book is $2.99 for 44 pages. A fucking steal! Batman #32, also out today, is $3.99 for 19 pages of art. So you can see why a lot of people look down at the big two publishers. Anyway, Kirkman's latest, drawn in spare, subtle detail by the impressive Paul Azaceta, is basically an exorcist story. The main character, Kyle, previously had to deal with his mother and wife being possessed by a demon. Now he's pulled back into the fray by a preacher friend who needs help exorcising a demon out of a boy. The catch? Why are all these demon attacks happened around Kyle? What's so special about him? I guess we'll find out...but it wouldn't surprise me if this turns into a heaven vs. hell type showdown with Kyle being the savior. That's a cliche, right? And that's the problem with the book. Kirkman, obviously, made his bones with two books that are pretty far from being original: a zombie book and a super-hero book. He has, to his credit, made them entertaining, wild, and fun. So far this book, Outcast, isn't "fun," but it is fairly compelling (and, unfortunately, it's not scary or creepy at all). We'll have to see where he goes from here, but so far it's kind of average. **1/2

QUANTUM & WOODY #11

I guess Valiant, even back in the day, thought one hilarious
buddy super-hero book wasn't enough (the first being,
obviously, Archer & Armstrong). I started reading this new series but then stopped for unknown reasons and now I'm back. This book is very, very funny. The writer, James Amus, is terrific at the "quip" and also at Austin Powers style
dumb/funny villain dialogue. The plot featuring clones,
scientists, and love, isn't all that interesting but it's a hell of a
fun book. The art is okay. Wilfredo Torres penciled the
majority of the book but for some unknown reason the last
three pages are horribly drawn by someone else. This book,
faults and all, entertained me. *** (out of ****)

ORIGINAL SIN #1 + SOUTHERN BASTARDS #1

Writer Jason Aaron had two big profile releases in consecutive weeks. If you're like me and a big fan of his, that's a good thing. The first out of the gate was Southern Bastards #1, an Image book and Aaron's first outside of Marvel since Scalped ended two years ago. This new book is a rip-off of the movie Walking Tall. A guy goes back home to a small, southern town to clean up his dead father's house. The catch? The town is run by a kingpin thug and the main character's father died fighting them with his infamous club. So now the son will inevitably do the same and fight. Not a terrible premise, albeit super unoriginal. The book opens with a dog taking a shit. I guess Aaron couldn't write a scene like that in a Marvel book so he was dying to for years. The art is sloppy and herky-jerky in a lurid style by Jason Latour. It screams indie. Not a bad start, though. It's compelling. Original Sin #1 (of 8) is not. It's this year's big Marvel event. The Watcher is killed and Captain America and Wolverine and Thor and the usual gang have to solve the mystery. The Watcher knew everything...so I'm assuming everyone's sins will be revealed. The art by Mike Deodato is mediocre, and the coloring (by Frank Martin) and inking by Deodato are way too dark. I thought I was reading it in a cave. Big event books usually suck (remember last year's bore Infinity?), although DC's current Forever Evil is super fun. Original Sin so far is just dull.
Oh, well.  
Southern Bastards #1 *** Original Sin #1 *1/2

THE SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #31

This is the last issue of this book, the infamous book where Dr. Octopus took over Peter Parker's mind. It lasted thirty-one issues in a little over a year. I can't say that I loathed the book, especially since I read every issue, but the potential for a superior series was there and it sadly ended up being a good not great book. The major problem was that I thought it would be a typical evil-takes-over cliche, like an evil twin tale. Doc Ock as Parker would be villanious, sleep around, create mayhem, entertain the fuck out of us. No. Doc Ock as Peter went back to college, started a company, dated a girl, fought some villains. Eh. It wasn't that different, which is why it was ultimately not as great a book as it could have been. It was the same-old-thing with a slight twist when what we all wanted was a major twist. In this issue, the finale of "Goblin War," the Green Goblin gets unmasked, Parker, now back as his old self, saves the day. Even the girl lives. Yawn. Giuseppe Camuncoli does wondrous work on art but even Dan Slott took a vacation day and only wrote the plot (Christos Gage wrote the script). As much as I like Slott, I wonder what some other Marvel writers would do with Spider-Man. Namely...Jason Aaron. It's sad that Marvel only really has one Spider-Man book (they used to have Web of and Spider-Man and Spectacular). DC has a ton of Batman books. If you don't like, say, Detective, then go read one of the others. If you don't like what Slott and co. are doing then you're screwed. And with the end of this experiment comes a new The Amazing Spider-Man #1 in two weeks with the same creative team. It'll be more of the same. And that's not a bad thing. After all, I'd be happy if Parker was still taking pictures at the Bugle and with MJ. ** (out of ****)