Here In
Bongo Congo
Good King Leonardo is looking for some cool relief from this current stretch of
mid-summer heat, so let's get right to it and see if this week's comics are
cool enough to provide that relief!
Wild Blue Yonder #1
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Mike Raicht: Writer
Zach Howard: Art
Nelson Daniel: Colors
IDW Publishing has recently released issue #1 of a new science fiction
action-adventure comic book entitled Wild Blue Yonder. This is a post-apocalyptic
themed comic book; after civilization collapses from radiation and
pollution, humanity's survivors assemble into two camps, an
underclass of underground miners and a "privileged few" who live
in massive airfleets and wage war on each other as they live on
mountaintops and battle among the clouds. The series is written by Mike
Raicht with art by Zach Howard and colors by Nelson Daniel.
Issue #1 introduces two interweaving sub-plots. In the first storythread
we're introduced to Cola, a young "good guy" fighter pilot and her
dog/sidekick named Critter. At a mountaintop bar, Cola recruits a young
unemployed miner named Tug to be her new gunner, after which the two spend
most of the issue in an extended aerial firefight against the forces of
evil in this storyverse. The second storythread introduces the bigger
theme of the comic book, that of the war between Cola's extended family and
friends who make-up the last surviving group of good guy fighters versus
the huge armada of bad guys, led by a hard-nosed dictator named "The
Judge." Without spoiling any details, by issue's end, the good
aviators have won their latest skirmish but not without The Judge patiently
laying the groundwork for advancing his long-range schemes against this last
band of hardy flying foes.
I liked many aspects of this comic book, but in the end I'm giving it an
average, mixed-bag positive review. Three strong story elements stand-out
on the plus side of this new title. The art is mind-boggingly exquisite,
with the visual team providing amazingly detailed aerial battle scenes that
pull the reader into an almost 3-D reading experience. Secondly, the
personalities of the main characters are both interesting and
heart-warming, including the young, brash female pilot Cola, her
down-to-earth new sidekick Tug, the human-like dog Critter and their fighter
buddy Scram. Third, there's a neat mix of Rocketeer-style fighters in the
mix (including the afrementioned Scram), who jetpack around the fighter planes
adding an exhilarating dimension to the action sequences.
On the downside of this new title, the emphasis on this being a
post-apocalyptic, fall-of-civilization version of the future dampens much of
the story logic. The world is portrayed as just too much of a wreck to
sustain the level of massive, constant air combat and colossal waste of
dwindling resources that are applied to the full-throttle, all-out warfare of
this series. Even for the suspension of logic that's routinely allowed in
the world of comic book publishing, much of this version of reality is a
stretch for a science fiction fan to accept as doable even in a funny book
world.
In sum, I couldn't help but feel that the creative team got so wrapped-up in
the visual beauty of what they were creating that they forgot to balance it
with enough plot logic to make many adult readers willing to commit to
being monthly fans of this storyverse. That doesn't completely take
away from the positive and entertaining aspects of this new series, it just
keeps it, for now at least, from being a top-of-the-comic book pile
success. So bottom line, for some mindless, harmless mid-summertime comic
book reading, by all means take Wild Blue Yonder out for a spin and see for
yourself what you think of this "world of the future" new comic book
series!
Suicide Squad #21
Publisher: D.C. Comics
Ales Kot: Writer
Patrick Zircher: Art
Jason Keith: Colors
DC Comics is up to issue #21 of its latest Suicide Squad
title. This is the third incarnation of the Suicide Squad,
which had its debut in 1959 in issue #25 of The Brave and The Bold. The
current team consists of a group of anti-hero supervillains who act as deniable
assets for the U.S. government, carrying-out Black Ops assignments in exchange
for an eventual commute of their prison sentences. The team operates out
of Belle Reve Penitentiary under the command of government agent Amanda
Waller. The title's creative team consists of writer Ales Kot with
art by Patrick Zircher and colors by Jason Keith.
Issue #21 presents the final installment of a two-issue storyarc entitled
"Discipline And Punish," and alternates two sub-plots.
In the briefer storythread that is set 17 days in the future and both
starts and concludes the issue, we see members of the Suicide Squad battle a
giant Frankenstein-like creation on the streets of Las Vegas. The more
dominent storyline fills the bulk of the issue, and presents a present-day
revolt against both the Suicide Squad and Agent Waller by well-known
Joker girlfriend Harley Quinn.
After escaping the confinement of her Belle Reve prison cell, Harley runs
amok throughout the prison, taking Agent Waller hostage while seriously
wounding a Squad member. Without spoiling too many details, the incident
builds to a tense armed stand-off between Quinn and Squad member Jim Gordon,
Jr., with Agent Waller perilously in the line of fire. Quinn suddenly
states that she wishes to negotiate a better prison commutation deal for the
Squad via her hostage negotiation with Gordon, whereupon we're tossed back to
that ongoing Vegas street battle set 17 days from the present time of the
hostage stand-off.
This comic book deserves a very positive review, albeit with one
final significant point of criticism. On the plus side, the art is
excellent and the Suicide Squad team make-up is fun and entertaining, including
the aforementioned Jim Gordon, Jr., introduced over the past few years in the
Batman storyverse as the previously-unknown, criminally-insane son of Gotham
City Police Commissioner Gordon. Best of all in this issue is the
presented personality of Harley Quinn; while various DC writers have each
crafted their own take on her behavior, writer Ales Kot gives us a fresh and
wonderful reinterpretation, cutting-back on the child-like innocence of her
personality and emphasizing the stone-cold killer side of her criminal
psychosis. His dialogue for Quinn is flat-out great, peppering her
language with sharp and creative street slang that makes her
character all the more believable.
The one glaring criticism is an odd lack of conclusion to either sub-plot in
Kot's script. This issue is the wrap-up segment of a two-part story, yet
neither sub-plot concludes. We're left hanging in the hostage stand-off
sequence with Quinn's vague remark about wanting to "change the deal"
on the Suicide Squad's Black Ops arrangement, and we're left in the very last
story panel with the Las Vegas street battle still in full gear. It just
makes no sense to cut-off the story in mid-action for both storythreads and
left me with a very dissatisfied feeling that the story didn't come to a proper
and satisfying conclusion. But the positive story elements outlined above
are so strong that I happily still award this issue with a positive, thumbs-up
review recommendation. So by all means, get on-board with reading this
very entertaining latest publishing incarnation of DC's long-running Suicide
Squad!
Batman/Superman #1
Publisher: D.C. Comics
Greg Pak: Writer
Jae Lee & Ben Oliver: Art
June Chung & Daniel Brown:
Colors
DC Comics has just released issue #1 of its new Batman/Superman title within
The New 52 umbrella of DC titles. I was a big fan of the previous
Batman/Superman title, which ran for many years, and as such wanted to review
this latest version of pairing-up the two giants of the DC storyverse, Batman
and Superman. The new series is scripted by Greg Pak with Jae Lee and
June Chung providing the artwork for the first 18 pages of the issue #1
story, while Ben Oliver and Daniel Brown create the visuals for pages 19
through 25.
The kick-off multi-issue storyline is entitled "Crossworld," and
provides a plotline that pairs the well-known main DC timestream with an
alternate reality. The alternate universe setting dominates most of the
issue #1 story segment; in this timestream, both heroes are young adults and
haven't met yet. The plot is a murder mystery, as Clark Kent follows the
trail of murdered Wayne Enterprises employees to Gotham City, meeting
Bruce Wayne for the first time. Action explodes as the pair unexpectedly
come together during the next attempted murder. Without being a detail
spoiler, the killer is revealed to be a mystical evil spirit who unknowingly
inhabits a person's body and commits the crimes.
The final six pages of the issue shift the tale to our mainstream DC
universe, as Superman is inexplicably teleported across realities to the
mainstream Smallville. Confused and outraged, he battles the mainstream-reality
Batman until in a dramatic bridge to next month's issue #2, Pa Kent
unexpectedly arrives on the scene to intervene and save Batman's life.
The issue's final story panel centers on the malevolent spirit-being relishing
the chaos and plotting his next move against our heroes.
This is a fresh addition to the many pairings of Batman and Superman over the
years that works well in three respects. First, its always fun to read a
superhero comic book with alternate reality elements that refresh well-known
facts about our heroes. I enjoyed one particular commonality
between the duo in the alternate universe, that both of those heroes lost
their respective parents at a very young age. I also liked that the pair
are younger adult versions of themselves who aren't yet aware of each
other's existence. Secondly, the crossworlds concept is presented very
well in this premier issue and offers a huge potential of various plotlines for
upcoming issues.
Third, a hats-off is due to whoever at DC made the decision to assign separate
art teams to depict each of the two alternate realities. The
non-mainstream art is a very sharp-edged, non-traditional style that adds a
very alien-like atmosphere to this alternate place and time, while the mainstream
universe style, reminiscent of well-known comic book artist Phil Noto, roots
this world in a more familiar comic book visual palette and
establishes the sense that this is the mainstream, well-known world of our
usual DC story-telling.
On a minor constructive criticism note, there is some confusion here and there
in the storytelling as to who or what is responsible for certain events
playing-out. I'm still not sure if the evil spirit-being plopped the
alternate Superman and himself into the main DC world or whether they're both
victims of circumstance. But there's enough high quality entertaining
stuff going-on throughout this issue to allow readers to relax about those
confusing plot interludes and see just where the storytelling will take us as
this multi-issue storyarc unfolds. So a positive review recommendation is
deserved for all Good DC Readers to take a seat on this alternate
universe-hopping express and see where it all takes us for an entertaining
ride of a read!
The Superior Foes Of Spider-Man #1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Nick Spencer: Writer
Steve Lieber: Art
Rachelle Rosenberg: Colors
Marvel Comics has recently published issue #1 of a new series entitled The
Superior Foes Of Spider-Man. The concept here is that five Spider-Man
foes: Boomerang, Shocker, Overdrive, Speed Demon and the lone female Beetle,
have joined forces as a new group called The Sinister Six (and
yes, one of the lame running gags in this issue is that these hapless idiots do
indeed realize that they have only five members). The comic book is
scripted by Nick Spencer with art by Steve Lieber and colors by Rachelle
Rosenberg.
The premier issue plot alternates between two sub-plots. In the kick-off
storythread, team leader Boomerang narrates an allegedly humorous story
detailing his own origin as well as the details of how he formed the
group. The lengthier sub-plot details the group's present-day situation;
with Boomerang in jail after being captured by Spider-Man, he directs the free
members of the group in an elaborate effort to move stolen goods around,
fulfill some group obligations to other bad guys and make some money on
their own. In a bridge to next month's issue, Boomerang is released from
prison and its revealed that he's manipulating his dim-witted gang for his own
selfish purposes.
This new series is an attempt to provide the type of tongue-in-cheek, light
satiric humor previously seen in such series as DC's "Formerly Known
As The Justice League." Unfortunately, it simply falls
flat in trying to deliver that level of chuckle-humor. No one is a more
skilled writer than Formerly Known As The Justice
League scripter Keith Giffen in delivering that type of quality,
light-hearted farce; unfortunately, writer Nick Spencer is not in Keith
Giffen's category, and try as he might the laughs are few and far between the
mostly consistent flatness of this storyline. While the artwork and style
of narration is decent, it can't make-up for the cricket-chirping silence
that results from the lack of consistent funniness in this comic book.
So enough of the negative talk already, and let's just end this review with a
"nice try pat-on-the-back" to the creative team and a review
recommendation for all good fanboys and fangirls to take a pass on reading
this new title. If you really want to be entertained by a successful
effort at Mad magazine-style superhero funniness, then by all means check-out
the back issue bins and graphic novel reprint shelves at That's Entertainment
for copies of the aforementioned excellent Formerly Known As The
Justice League series.
Contest
Winner Announcement!
Our latest contest fantasized that our favorite home-away-from-home pop culture
emporium That's Entertainment had a resident store cat, and challenged you to
propose a genre-appropriate name of our "Comic Book Kitty". And
the contest winner is (drumroll, please)...Mike Dooley, who proposed the
name T'Challa for the store cat. For the uninitiated, T-Challa is the
proper name of the Marvel Comics superhero The Black Panther. We think
that any storecat named T'Challa would protect That's Entertainment as fiercely
as his namesake has protected his African Kingdom of Wakanda all these
many years in Marvel Comics! Congratulations to Mike who wins our first prize
$10.00 gift certificate to (where else) That's Entertainment!
New Contest
Challenge Announcement!!!
The Bongo Congo Panel Of Contest Judges offer-up a historical trivia contest
for your consideration this week. Its a historical fact that the city of
Portland, Oregon was named after Portland, Maine by one of its pioneering
founders, who immigrated from Portland, Maine and won the naming rights in
a famous coin toss. Your contest challenge is to e-mail us at Gordon_A@msn.com no later than Wednesday,
July 31 and tell us what other well-known New England city was the other
potential name choice available in that infamous coin toss. Please
note that our first prize $10.00 gift certificate to That's Entertainment is
redeemable for regular retail merchandise or in-store, ongoing specials, only.
That's all for now, so have two great Red Sox watching (stay in first place,
Red Sox!) and comic book reading weeks and see you again on Friday, August 2
Here In Bongo Congo!
