Action Comics #1

Sometimes, a boy just wants to have fun. Especially in the comics he reads. There are titles I pick up because the writing is good, the story's fresh, or the art's amazing. Then, there are titles that are just fun to read. That bring out the 7 year old---or the violent-horny fucker---in me. These titles all rate high in the fun factor, so no stars on this one.

Action Comics (DC)
Written by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza; Art by Pete Woods;
Cover by Dave Gibbons

Of course. Good old, dependable action, and under Busiek's, it's just straightforward smackdowns with some interesting pairings. Firestorm, Nightwing (Buttwing to the ladies), The Veteran, and Superman in Star Wars bickering gung-ho, all played out like classic Westerns. Perfect introduction too to the Geoff Johns storyline coming this month. The Superman book is also getting a much needed facelift care of the same writer where the stories are as hard-hitting as the punches.

The Boys (Wildstorm)
Written by Garth Ennis; Art and Cover by Darick Robertson

This has got to be the guiltiest pleasure of all. Sometimes, you just want to see them superheroes getting their asses kicked, and with Ennis helming, asses are bound to be pounded and ripped. Apart. That's a lot of ouch. Out-preach the Preacher then, with bellowing giggles along the way. A nasty sister to Ellis' Next Wave, the Boys (and a girl who rips faces off of her opponents) are out to get the big Seven---the world's greatest superheroes where justice and blowjobs are mandatory---to teach them a lesson on humility. Impalement begins this week! And double yay because this book is bi-weekly.

Outsiders (DC)
Written by Judd Winick;
Art by Matthew Clark and Art Thibert

Green Arrow (DC)
Written by Judd Winick;
Art and cover by Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens

Yeah, Winnick. He takes time (well, years) to warm up but his current work in the Green Arrow and Outsiders books have recently been my favorite downtime reading. My shot of espresso. My rock n' roll riff. Outsiders (the OYL run, specifically) is brash, blood-splattered, caked in dirt. The stink adds to the attitude, and the fist fights are always well drawn. Morrisson's loverbirds, Monsieur Mallah and the Brain (thanks Do for the trivia), also up the freak factor, the outsider-ness that makes the book less familiar, less cozy.

Green Arrow is Winnick's soaring chorus. Ollie left for dead and shot through the heart as Star City goes up in flames and a wounded Mia is buried under a collapsed building is, whew, tha bomb. The coup. The Empire Strikes Back moment. The fuck-you to the doubters, me included.

Capsuled: Atom #3, Outsiders #40, OMAC #3

Bitchin' week. A week of joyless humdrumming. I always get confused with live-to-work and work-to-live --- is there a lesser a lava pit? Someone has gone all Brother Eye on me, crisis of infinite ego. Now, for that lobotomy.

Let's escape, shall we?

THE ALL-NEW ATOM #3
Written by Gail Simone; Art by John Byrne and Trevor Scott;
Cover by Ariel Olivetti

Trippy. And gooey. A war's about to break out between an alien acne cyclops and insect robots with bad grammar while the Atom is swimming in digestive juice inside Giganta. Genius, ain't it? Morrison's oddity with Simone's words is impenetrable abusurdity like Roussel's theatre but even better because it's funny and strangely, quite grounded. The science of shrinking, unstable molecular integrity, etc. is all bubbly babble in sports action reportage, detailed panic in its purest sense. And it's cool how the asian Atom is getting all the girlies' attention. And tongue action. *****


Outsiders #40
Written by Judd Winick; Art by Matthew Clark and Art Thibert;
Cover by Daniel Acuña

Never trust a monkey in love, indeed. Monsieur Mallah's got it bad for the Brain. He's got is so bad that he's made a business out of it and could give all the super villains a run for their money. Literally. I'd like to get me some cloned metahuman superhero myself --- oh the possibilities --- but for Mallah, it's an expression of epic adoration. I like it how Mallah's intention is the purest and most focused. The OYL run has found the Outsiders edging toward terrorism, alarming even Superman. Post-crisis Dick Grayson is more Jason Todds in his ways; the kryptonite Nightwing keeps just in case Superman goes all Maxwell Lord again says it all. The heroes are more confused with their ways and purpose, and Mallah's singular fixation --- to create a body for the Brain --- is the most honorable of all. Whatever profit the couple makes from the clones all go into perfecting the process. It is kinda sweet in a Mary Shelley way. Issue #40 finds all the Outsiders captured except for a morsel of Metamorpho and Katana who are searching the decks for a particular clone to help them free Nightwing and co. And the chosen (cl)one totally kicks ass --- Superman! They just freed another Bizarro, and while the plan did work, well, let's just say the Outsiders fucked up big time. I think it's about time Batman gave Nightwing a good spanking. *****


OMAC #3
Written by Bruce Jones; Art and Cover by Renato Guedes

The art on this book is consistently excellent. Reminds me of the "Waking Life" animation, sharp and fluid. And it's really the main reason why I'm buying this book, and I'm sorta nostalgic over the OMACs in the eighties. (This week's ish c/o Faye, thanks sis!) The story so far is ... floundering a little. The human host of the last OMAC is a coke head and how he's able to control the OMAC is beyond me though I'm thinking that maybe he is special or something. And now he's obssessed with a Vegas showgirl. An OMAC superhero seems like a possibility, but I hope Brother Eye regains control in the end and sends this OMAC to a duel to the death with Cyborg and Firestorm who spend most of their time staring at computer screens and looking puzzled. **

Got to believe in magic (and a talking chimp)

DAY OF VENGEANCE
Written by Judd Winnick and Bill Willingham; Art by Justiniano, Ron Randall & Walden Wong; Cover by Walter Simonson

This is the Empire Strikes Back of the Countdown titles. That ending leaves a bitter, gnawing, coppery aftertaste. I've got to stop saying this but this is the best. Tha bomb.

The first part collects ACTION COMICS #826, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #639 and SUPERMAN #216. Eclipso's re-introduction into the DCU begins with multiple suicides. Tingle much. Then, the hunt for the perfect host. The super host. Winnick keeps it bare and simple --- Super Eclipso and Captain Marvel's slug fest is a blur of bloodied knuckles and power punches. Action porn adrenalin. I like how everything feels (reads) loud all through out until you reach the last panel. All the pumped up rage ends with a whisper to the Spectre's ear: Magic is evil. And you know he believes it. Duhn-duhn.

Day of Vengeance. The Spectre is determined to destroy everything and everyone magical, and it's up to the Shadowpact (Enchantress, Ragman, Blue Devil, Nightmaster, Nightshade, and Detective Chimp) to stop his bloody rampage. And they don't. Not completely. Which is the magic of this book. Willingham is in his element, and he has never been as inspired, as surprising in his writing as in this one. Alternately funny (the Enchantress/Ragman flirting, and always the detective chimp) and scary, with back stories that don't actually bore. Sure, Captain Marvel is still a stiff, but this is not his story. Much like Villains United, the anti-hero heroes are likely to plan screwed-up plans, are likely to panic and fumble, are likely to try harder to save the world. Black Alice was supposed to be the deal-breaker, and when that plan didn't work, there was nothing left to do but to fight. Blindly. Ten kinds of dead meat but you gotta love them for trying.

And I'm off to get the Shadowpact title. ****