AQUAMAN #1
Written by Geoff Johns, art by Ivan Reis
Fresh from the character's return in Brightest Day, here we have the same creative team tackling an ongoing series, and man did they have a job to do. Aquaman is considered, fairly or unfairly, to be among the worst of DC's line-up, despite some amazing runs in the past by all accounts. Johns tackles this situation head on here, hoping to prove to new readers and naysayers that Aquaman has potential, and generally succeeds.
Right from the offset, Johns puts Aquaman in a situation to show off his powers, a simple bank robbery he hears from the ocean, and vows to stop the perpetrators, to the LOLZ of the police. Aquaman shows them who's boss though when he flips the getaway truck through mid air and takes bullets like a boss.
This begins an entire section of Johns working to challenge misconceptions of Aquaman, in the form of an asshole blogger asking asshole questions ('how does it feel to be NOBODY'S favourite superhero?') while trying to chill and have lunch in a diner (his order may be a slight shock). In the midst of this, Arthur Curry's past is kind of set up in an attempt to make a more sympathetic character.
If you've read Brightest Day, it will come as no shock that the art in this title is similarly good. Vibrant and eye popping colours in the Boston set scenes contrast with the dark and subdued art introducing some new foes, The Trench, seemingly a kind of underwater Zombie heading to the surface to find food... VERY interested to see where this title goes. Definitely one to read, and my favourite title of the week.
THE FLASH #1
Written and drawn by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Coming hot off the heels of Flashpoint is another rebooted Flash series starring silver-age hero Barry Allen. From the very first page it's apparent there have been some major changes here since before the reboot - Barry looks noticeably younger than in his last appearance, and hence he's no longer married to Iris, and instead is beginning a relationship with his colleague in the CSI team, Patty, who are out on a date at some wine and cheese event for scientists in Central City.
It's not long though before their date is interrupted by some mooks who have crashed the party to steal a portable genome re-coder. Barry (who has a cool new folding costume) quickly suits up and beats up the dudes. After having retrieved the device, the body of one of the robbers is discovered that is linked to Barry's past.
All well and good for the first issue, nice setup plot wise and characterisation wise. Manapul and Buccellato are completely new to writing books, having only previously drawn them, and they do a pretty damn good job. Conversations come across as believable and it zips along from page to page very well (fitting, for a Flash comic). Being writer-artist allows you to very closely tailor the script to the art, and my do they do a wonderful job here. The art is just wonderful, with cartoony pencils that really suit the character, conveying the speed and fluidity of the Flash., aided by gorgeous watercolour like visuals and truly imaginative page layouts and panels (the title page and the scene in Barry's apartment are particular standouts).
I very much enjoyed this comic, and I'll definitely be back for issue 2.
GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS #1
Written by Tony Bedard, art by Tyler Kirkham
A multicoloured Lantern team book has been a very long time coming, and not just because it evokes memories of Power Rangers. Unlike the other Lantern books, this retells Kyle Rayner's origin story, which is bizarre considering they haven't done it for any of the other Lanterns, and Kyle's hardly the most obscure one. So we see Ganthet, the last Guardian, mourning his fellow guardians and vowing the last power ring goes to the right hands. Then we see Kyle at a restaurant, where he goes out to take a piss, and then gets made a Green Lantern by Ganthet. That's basically it.
While Kyle becomes accustomed to his new powers, the rest of the issue is a montage of various coloured lanterns losing their rings for reasons left unknown. This all sets up a nice cliffhanger at the end of the issue that will probably want to make you come back for the second.
This was an OK comic, the worst I read this week but the potential of a Lantern team book is too good for me to even think about stopping reading this title currently, and there was nothing awful about this issue. The art is functional, if not impressive, and it flows along pretty well. Let's just hope the story builds up and becomes as awesome as the premise.
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #2
Written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Sara Pichelli
Miles Morales continues to discover more of his powers in this, the second issue of his story. Bendis is still writing for the trade here, and I can't help but feel these issues are just too damn short for my £3 (true of most Marvel comics these days, sadly), but I can't really complain much more than that considering Bendis writing for the trade means a DAMN GOOD trade in the case of Ultimate Spidey, and the faster release schedule avoids too long a wait for the all important first suiting up.
As long as the origin issues stay as good as this though, I'll be happy waiting for a while yet. Continuing on from issue 1, we see Miles discovering more of his powers on top of his invisibility, including a sort of electric shock thing, and we meet his best friend, Ganke (rocking an awesome Frog Man t-shirt). Being from the Ultimate Universe, Miles is rather worried about his new found powers, seeing as how unbelievably bad mutants are treated in this universe, and Ganke tries his best to reassure him about it all. Later we see a great, well written heart to heart between Miles and his Dad, setting up plot points that will obviously go right to the heart of the character dynamics and status quo in this book. On the other side however, I can't help but shake the feeling that Miles is just a little too young as of right now, he really is just a boy on the cusp of his teens, but it's pretty obvious that's a very deliberate choice from Bendis and I'll be interested to see where he goes with it. This is Spider-man though, so heartbreak has to be just around the corner...
Like a lot of books this week, again the art shows incredible talent. New York really comes across as a vibrant, diverse and colourful place, and in Spider-man comics, New York is as essential a character as the web-slinger himself, and hopefully this continues and we'll also see some of New York's shadier side in due course. Credit must also be given to the wonderful facial expressions, that really help to convey the characterisation Bendis is hammering in the first arc. Recommended, despite the price and short issues.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #670
Written by Dan Slott, art by Humberto Ramos
Since Dan Slott took over as the sole writer on ASM last November, he's pretty much been killing it on this title, really focusing on the Spider-man cast as a whole, rather like a sitcom, and it seems like a bunch of story elements are coming to a close here, having been built up since Slott took over, hitting high story points along the way (the excellent Death of Marla Jameson arc) and filler arcs (which are still great). Spider-Island is definitely one of those high story points.
Everyone in New York has Spider-Powers, and the Jackal and various other villains not seen in a long time are trying to take over the city. This comic is just plain fun, with nice cartoony art that really fits the plotline. Slott always manage to make his issues feel large and dense, avoiding that ripped off feeling you get from a lot of $3.99 Marvel comics.
Being mid event though, this issue kind of stumbles a tad. A certain plot of this issue is dependant on the Venom tie-in comic currently ongoing, and his escapades just come off odd and confusing if you haven't been reading that comic.
Still, I wholeheartedly recommend catching up on Spider Island if you haven't already done so. It's incredibly enjoyable.
Next week! The first of the DC #2s, is Superman alright?, and just what the hell is the Joker up to?
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