My Personal, Definitely NOT 'Best Of' Top Ten Comics Of 2008

To reiterate the title of this post, this is a selection of the comic books I enjoyed this year that I also thought were very good. This is not a list that classifies for inclusion on any 'Best of' lists: I haven't read nearly enough comic books to be able to even suggest which were the best of 2008, and I have no intention of doing so. These are MY favourites of books read this year. Here ends the disclaimer, and just in time for the end of the year.

1. Scalped

Even though Scalped started in 2007, it was this year that I finally took the plunge and never looked back. The three trades collect some of the best comic books being published and I can’t recommend them highly enough to anybody hasn’t tried them. DC provides the entirety of the first issue as a PDF [link to PDF] for you to try – read it and tell me you don’t want to read more. [my reviews: TPB 1, TPB 2, TPB 3]

2. Criminal

If you’ve been reading good comic books for the past few years, you know that Ed Brubaker has been writing some excellent books for a while now (Sleeper, Immortal Iron Fist, Daredevil, Captain America, Gotham Central). Criminal is the pinnacle of this because it is a pure distillation of Brubaker via his artistic partner-in-crime (if you’ll pardon the pun) Sean Phillips. Like Scorsese and De Niro, this is a team that works perfectly together: the second season of Criminal has been a master class in excellent comic books, with the three one-shots looking at background characters in the Criminal-verse, and the four-part story of Jacob Kurtz, the cartoonist behind Franz Kafka PI.

3. Aetheric Mechanics

I’ll readily admit to being a huge fan of the work of Warren Ellis, to the extent of buying his genre-troubling comics at Avatar (Doktor Sleepless, Anna Mercury, Black Summer, No Hero) in the floppy format even though I know they will read better in the collected form. However, it was this black & white graphic novella (again from Avatar) that knocked my socks off this year. Starting out as an Ellis version of Sherlock Holmes in a steampunk setting, it completely turns itself on its head with the denouement. It is hugely entertaining to start with – Sax Raker is a wonderful version of Holmes and the storytelling is pure Ellis – and the art is insanely detailed and engaging without being distracting, working well without colour, without the wonderful ending. My favourite one-off story of the year [my review].

4. The Umbrella Academy

I finally succumbed to the overwhelmingly positive word of blog on this series and bought the trade; I have to admit that people were right – this is really enjoyable comics, a Grant Morrison-influenced superhero book, yet with wit, originality, flair and high entertainment value. Gerard Way has written a fantastic debut comic book series and Gabriel Ba provided an art style that is impeccably suited to the story. Fun, inventive, moving and worthy to be on the list [my review].

5. Fables

Because of the fact that it is so consistently good, Fables tends to get overlooked. Month in, month out, Bill Willingham continues to tell excellent stories based on characters from myth and stories exiled in Manhattan. This year saw the conclusion of the war with the Adversary and his empire, a story that people might have thought would be a satisfying conclusion to Fables, but it was only the start of another chapter of the series, with Willingham setting up new antagonists and a new angle for the intrigues in the Fables universe. Ably abetted by Mark Buckingham on pencils, and the excellent James Jean covers, this is an excellent series that I enjoy buying in the monthly format, something I’ve done since the very beginning.

6. Usagi Yojimbo

Stan Sakai’s story of Miyamoto Usagi, a masterless samurai in 16th-century Japan, is an absolute masterpiece of the comic book world. However, because it is a black & white comic about a rabbit in a world of anthropomorphised animals, very few people read; also, anybody interested in trying it out admit to feeling daunted by having to read so many trades (they are up to 22 now – the series has been going for 20 years) to catch up. The thing is that you don’t need to read everything to appreciate the skill and brilliance, but it will enhance your enjoyment. Meticulously researched, beautifully drawn, wonderfully rich and full of believable characters, this series mixes epics with detective stories and tales of Japanese folklore. There were only eight issues this year, but each one was great. Definitely worthy of being on the list.

7. 52

This is a chronological cheat but I only read the series this year, so it’s a 2008 book for me. The four collections of the series are first books I got from the library where reading them made me want to buy the books for myself [my review]. This immense story is an amazing achievement in its own right: a weekly comic book containing multiple lead characters, interconnecting plots, four writers and the wealth of the DC universe in an absorbing story that rewards re-reading. It is incredible that they were able to complete this mammoth undertaking, let alone make it an enjoyable read. I’m not sure what it was like as a weekly story, but the trades make for a fascinating look at the DC universe from a different perspective, and the trades also contain some commentary from the main players for an added bonus.

8. Superman & Legion of Super-Heroes

I never thought I would have a story written by Geoff Johns on any kind of list of good things. It’s a complete surprise to me to see it here, and I wrote this thing. I’ve not enjoyed a lot of things that Johns has written, but this bringing of the LSH into the current world of Superman – and making them work wonderfully – is a delight [my review]. The story is enjoyable as well has having a thematic connection to Superman as a character and the LSH are re-energised for an audience who don’t read the convoluted continuity of long-running and constantly updated LSH. With Gary Frank’s clear, strong artwork imbuing the characters with the nobility they deserve, this story was a delight from start to finish and I had to re-read it almost as soon as I finished.

9. Agents of Atlas

This is my list of my personal favourites of comic books read in 2008, so this means I can include a series that was published in 2006–2007 and collected in 2007. I read this earlier this year and it was a very enjoyable read, made even more impressive by the excellence of the packaging – I got my hands on the hardback collection [my review], which is crammed with bonus goodies, including reprints of early stories of the original stars, as well as other bits and pieces. The new comics, by Jeff Parker and Leonard Kirk, take old characters from Marvel history and do something interesting and new with them, rather than doing the same old thing, and it’s great to see they are finally getting an ongoing series coming out of the Dark Reign crossover.

10. ClanDestine volume 2

This is my blog so I’m allowed to include something on my personal favourites JUST BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY EXISTS. The sheer fact that these five comics came out this year is reason enough; ClanDestine is an oddity in the world of company-wide crossovers and established characters ruling the world of superhero comics. It is a throwback to a more innocent age yet it is no less engaging, no less entertaining, no less enjoyable for it. It won’t end up on any ‘Best Of …’ lists – and, to be completely truthful, it wasn’t the best ClanDestine – but the beautiful art and charming story of the Destines needs to noted as a Good Thing, especially when nobody else read it.

Comic Book Review – Scalped: Dead Mothers

Scalped #12–18 by Jason Aaron & RM Guera (with John Paul Leon and Davide Furno)

Scalped has been my personal discovery of the year – a visceral, gritty, taut and gripping thriller set on a reservation in South Dakota, it continues to enthral and entertain with each collection. The first collection [my review] was the attention-getter, the second collection [my review] informed while set around the proceedings of one night, and this third collection goes for emotion and character.

The title of this trade lets you know the truth – Gina, the mother of our protagonist, Dashiell Bad Horse, has been found murdered. Gina was always trying to get Dash to take up his Lakota roots but he spurned them and her; now he has to face this. In the first issue, drawn by Leon, we see Dash after having undercover night terrors, as he worries that Chief Red Crow will kill him when he finds out the truth (that Dash is working for FBI agent Nitz to take Crow down, in a vendetta Nitz has for the death of two agents many years ago). In a variation on his dream, he is visited by his mother who tries to impart some words of wisdom to her son about the history of their people and their place in the world. It will be later in the day that Dash will find out she is dead …

Aaron then parallels this story (as Crow wants to find out who killed Gina) with that of a meth-head whore who was murdered by Diesel, a Kickapoo wannabe who is also working for Nitz; the meth-head left behind five kids, with the eldest wanting revenge for the death of his mother, even though he is only about eleven. Dash wants to take down Diesel and hand him to Crow, knowing that Crow will want to kill him for ruining his office on the opening night of the casino, so he’ll have a murder to pin on Crow. But Nitz torpedoes this idea: he says that Diesel is not to be arrested for this and, if Dash does, he’ll make not only Dash’s life a misery but that of the orphans. Dash is not happy with this Catch 22 situation and obviously things don’t end happily …

Everything that combines to make this book is just right – Aaron’s blend of police procedure, life on the rez, the mysticism of the Lakota and the intricacy of the plotting; Guera’s art, which handles raw landscapes, violence, talking heads, emotive silent panels and detailed realism in a vivid and dirty style; and the greatness of the idea and the characters (I love that Dash had posters of Bruce Lee and Batman on his walls as a teenager). Scalped is a brutally brilliant story that I’m surprised isn’t being made into a television series by someone who wants to make money from damn good comic books.

Comic Book Review – The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite

The Umbrella Academy (issues #1–6) by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá

One of the great things about all the comic book blogs is that it represents a diverse collection of readers and tastes when it comes to comic books. In this way, I can see what might be of interest before I spend my hard-earned money on my entertainment – this blog should indicate that I love reviews, even if mine aren’t particularly good or different. Of course, the blogosphere isn’t perfect: there are many times when I’ve ignored the enthusiastic posts of someone pimping a book they love because I’ve tried some things that have been recommended and not gotten what all the fuss was all the about. The Umbrella Academy was another entry in the list of things that some people like. However, it kept on coming up as ‘a good thing’ on too many posts from different people. Even I can’t ignore that amount of noise – and I’m glad I didn’t.

The Umbrella Academy doesn’t initially sound like an interesting prospect – the first book from the lead singer of a band I’ve never listened to (My Chemical Romance). However, Wikipedia reveals that he wanted to be in the comic book industry, and he has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, so he’s not just a visitor from another field of entertainment who wants to indulge his inner geek. And he lists Grant Morrison as his main influence, which is a good thing in my book – the title of the first comic is practically a tribute to Grant’s Doom Patrol: The Day The Eiffel Tower Went Berserk.

The story tells of seven unusual children (of a larger number) born on the same day to women who weren’t expecting it, who are adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves and trained in the use of their powers. The first issue tells of a tale from when they were ten years old and saved Paris, before jumping ahead 20 years to the death of Hargreeves and seeing The Umbrella Academy when they are older, and the threat that arises by their coming together for Hargreeves’ funeral and how the team interact with each other now.

The ‘school for gifted kids with a kindly old man’ concept sounds like the X-Men but there the similarities end – this is more like Doom Patrol, a precursor to the X-Men, with the strangeness of the heroes and the battles they fight. However, I think the influence of Grant Morrison’s Zenith can’t be ignored, with the idea of kids with powers growing up and doing different things and what happens when they come together (although I could be biased, because Zenith is one of my favourite Grant Morrison books).

The book isn’t just about influences and weird stuff (such as Spaceboy, the leader of The Umbrella Academy, having his head transplanted onto the body of a gorilla and now living on the moon); it’s an entertaining story, but it is also about people who grew up together and have a lot of history but don’t necessarily get along; it’s about feeling isolated even in a place where being strange is okay; it’s about discovering who you are and facing up to it. There is emotion and feeling behind the fight scenes and the violence.

For a first-time writer, Way seems to have arrived fully formed – his narrative captions are a delight to read, concise yet informative, his characterisation taut and his handle on plotting and storytelling is almost perfect. He is helped by having the right artist for the job: Bá. Everything he is asked to draw, Bá handles with poise and moody flair. Hints of Mignola percolate through the book, with use of shadow, but there is a cartoonier edge, a sense of fun that bubbles to the surface and brings everything to life. Although James Jean’s hauntingly beautiful covers are a delight, Bá’s art is the best medium for the adventures of The Umbrella Academy.

I’m really happy that I decided to pick this book up because it was a fabulous read – it’s turned me into one of those bloggers enthusing about a comic book. I’m delighted that there will be more stories from Way and Bá (The Umbrella Academy: Dallas is currently ongoing) because the scope for further adventures is seemingly unlimited – what stories are there to tell of the 20-year gap? How did The Horror (number 00.05 of The Umbrella Academy) die? What will happen now that Hargreeves is dead? Read The Umbrella Academy – you won’t be sorry.

From A Library: 52 (The Entire Thing In Four Volumes)

[I'm so inconsistent: I was doing well, with regular posting and reviewing, then I miss a day and I go AWOL. Then Christmas comes along and everything goes to pot. I was meaning to post over Christmas, but that was a little ambitious. So, let's try to get things back on track and lead up to one of those 'my favourite comic books' posts that are so popular these days.]

52 (Issues 1–52, collected in four trade paperbacks) written by Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns; breakdowns by Keith Giffen; art by various.

I'm not a DC universe guy – I grew up reading Marvel and the X-Men – so I wasn't going to buy fifty-two comic books about the back waters of the Distinguished Competition. However, I wanted to read the series because of its singular achievement: a weekly full-colour comic book written by four writers over the course of a year, never missing an issue, and telling multiple stories with a consistent tone.

The books themselves are a great package, containing the comics and the excellent covers from JG Jones (although unfortunately in small size only; this is one of the few times a book collecting the covers is actually justified) as well as commentary from the main people involved (with the exception of Grant Morrison) and some breakdowns/pencils by Giffen.

There are different storylines to follow in 52: Ralph Dibny investigating; Renee Montoya being tested by The Question; Steel, Natasha and Lex Luthor and the metagene; Booster Gold being a hero with the aid of Skeets; Black Adam and Khandaq. Obviously, with so many different angles, there is a lot going on: there's the cult of Superboy, Black Adam ripping a criminal in half (nice, DC), we see superhero 'ER' with Dr Midnite, Space Heroes (Animal Man, Adam Strange and Starfire) stranded, the advent of the Chinese superheroes – The Great Ten (with great names and powers – must have been Grant), Rip Hunter saying 'Time is broken', the introduction of Batwoman, Luthor's Everyman project, the arrival of a new superhero (Supernova) in Metropolis, Black Adam creating a new Marvel (Isis) – and this is just in the first trade.

There is also a lot of time for nice character moments, such as Clark being fired for not being good enough to be a reporter without his powers (and the nice scene between Clark and Lois afterwards), or the interplay between Montoya and her former lover Kate Kane, or the state of Ralph's mind in his quest. This is one of the positive aspects of doing fifty-two issues – there is a lot of time to delve into the players in the story, not just twenty-two pages each week of action. There is still four-colour entertainment the way you like it, but the writers have definite plans for the characters and showing this via the story.

Booster Gold dies saving Metropolis from a nuclear submarine (to the shock of Skeets), Black Adam and Isis marry, Lobo helps the Space Heroes (under a vow of non-violence), Ralph is called in to solve a locked-room mystery (the Helmet of Fate has killed Tim Trench in the House of Mystery), Will Magnus is captured by his Metal Men and taken to Oolong Island where all the other missing mad scientists are (which is an absolute genius idea – step forward, Grant Morrison), Black Adam makes Isis' brother into another Marvel (Osiris) – there is a nice joke about the Question saying the Marvel names to see if it's contagious. There is the 'new' Justice League: Firestorm, Bulleteer, Super Chief (a native American superhero), Firehawk and ... Ambush Bug! ('Hello, Room Service? Send up a plot and three pages of dialogue right away! The weekly grind is tearing me apart! Fifty-two!'). There is there return of Amanda 'The Wall' Waller and Checkmate and the Suicide Squad. Again, this is only halfway through the series.

To keep the schedule of a weekly comic book, there are a host of artists. This is means there is an unevenness to the art – Joe Bennet does a lot of work as does Chris Batista, with the likes of Ken Lashley, Eddy Barrows, Todd Nauck, Patrick Oliffe doing issues. There are some nice issues by Dale Eaglesham, Phil Jiminez, Drew Johnson and Darick Robertson, which highlight the difference between all the art, but it would be impossible to have only a few artists being able to hit all the deadlines, especially some of the bigger names, so this can be excused for the enormity of the task.

The scope of the book covers all the aspects of DC universe that I've come across – from space to the various aspects on Earth (the street level, the science heroes, the magic, the villains, the non-powered heroes), 52 demonstrates the wondrous expanse of the DC universe and what it has to offer. The writers took hold of the opportunity to show you why they love the DC comic books so much, and they've done an admirable job of doing it in an entertaining fashion. There are great twists and turns (the reveal of Supernova and Skeets, the Space Heroes saved by Lantern Mogo [the planet Green Lantern], the reveal of Sobek) and there is one of my favourite moments in comic books – when Ralph, in the Tower of Fate, he shoots the Helmet of Fate he is wearing with the wedding ring to reveal it was Felix Faust: 'You knew it was me ...? How?' 'Because Faust ... I'm a detective.' He then explains everything and even gets Neron trapped into the bargain – even in death he's better than them as the spell of binding keeps Neron and Faust in. Absolutely brilliant. Even the mad scientists have their day, as they take down Black Adam after he has destroyed Bialya (and everyone in it) in his grief: 'Feel free to cackle hysterically gentleman.' I love the humour of the book in places, such as the best line in the book for Will Magnus: 'I have a particle wave ray gun and bipolar disorder. I have no idea what I might do if I pull the trigger.'

Is 52 perfect? No (even Rucka notes in the commentary that he isn't happy with the solution to the Wonder Woman) and there is a level of death, gore and violence that jars with the spirit of nobility that pervades the book. Some characters aren't given enough screen time, and the end of the series veers away from the rest of the book (with the universe-eating villain and the saving of fifty-two worlds). However, in total, this is a book unlike any other, an exciting and absorbing tour of a universe of characters and heroes and imagination that leaves you with a big smile on your face with the ending for the Dibnys as they become Ghost Detectives. This collection of the comics is an amazing undertaking and an incredible achievement and made me do something I hardly do: after reading them from the library, I had to buy the trades for myself. That's a good recommendation.

Television Thoughts

Keeping up my disjointed approach to blogging this week, I wanted to get down some notes on recent television viewing. Somebody asked me what I watched regularly and I didn't have an answer; however, this wasn't strictly true. It's just that I don't sit down to watch things when they are actually aired because my viewing habits have been completely altered by a digital video recorder. I will now record want what we watch for a convenient time. Therefore, I don't know what I'm watching by normal standards. I haven't sat down to watch something specific as it goes out since the last Doctor Who. But that doesn't mean I don't watch things regularly.

I still watch Heroes but not for entertainment purposes – it's more a fact of seeing superheroes on television is something needs to be viewed. The series seems to suffer from the overly complex continuity eating itself, something that works in comic books but doesn't survive on screen. Also, as Steven Grant said, hearing people call themselves 'heroes' and 'villains' in real life sounds really, really stupid. There are still some moments that bring a smile to my face, but they are rare.

Talking of superheroes on screen, I have started watching Smallville on a regular basis. It's not because of Mike Sterling talking about it for three long posts but because it looks like it might be the last season. I've tried Smallville before, but the early stuff put me off with their kryptonite-based monster of the week. However, with the incorporating of wider-ranging aspects of the DC universe, particularly the Justice League, means that I'm much more interested in seeing what they do with it. If I could watch only the episodes which appeal to this deranged side of my personality, then I would. As for the current stuff – well, poor Tom Welling still seems a blank robot while everyone else seems to be enjoying themselves around him. It seems to be building up to the Superman/Lois basis of the mythology, something they've obviously been avoiding for the previous seven series, but I'm sufficiently intrigued to keep plugging away.

Not actually superheroes but I can definitely see a connection is Apparitions, the new BBC series by Joe Ahearne (who created Ultraviolet, the great series about a modern day unit tackling vampires, and has directed Doctor Who and the horror/fantasy drama Strange). In it, Martin Shaw is an exorcist but the series in the same low-key and atmospheric manner as Ultraviolet. I was rather surprised by how enjoyable it is – Shaw is perfect for the role – and it isn't over the top or silly. The superhero allusion is that the character is effectively a superhero – he has a costume and a power (exorcism is a power) and he acts heroically while others doubt or mock him in the face of overwhelming odds. Seeing that Ahearne is planning a proper superhero series for BBC, called Superpower, it certainly bodes well.

Onto comedy now. Outnumbered sounds like a very traditional sitcom – a middle-class family and their three young children and their antics – but it the best comedy on BBC1 at the moment because it is horrific. Horrific in that it is what families are like – scary, loud, nonsensical, angry, stupid, petty, unbelievable and, occasionally, hilariously funny. It works by having the kids improvising ideas from the writers, rather than standing still and intoning fake lines. I come from a large family, so I completely recognise it, but it also works for me because I don't want kids and this is a confirmation of that – it would make a great contraceptive documentary. Brilliant stuff.

The IT Crowd is back for a third series and it's settled into its groove – the characters are comfortable and the situations are wonderfully surreal. The geek credential is high (even Warren Ellis mentions the Diesel Sweeties t-shirt that Roy wore on the show) and the absurdity and humour are great – the episode Are We Not Men? had Moss talking in 'football speak' (learned phrases from bluffball.co.uk) so that he could interact with the postman, which led to them being involved with an armed robbery and kissing Roy to disguise themselves from the police. Deliriously, wonderfully, insanely funny.

Finally, catching up with something old: I've been watching the first series of Flight of the Conchords on BBC4. The sitcom situation is unnecessary because the songs are so funny on their own but it does allow for the comedy folk duo to interact with each other, which is the other great aspect of their partnership. The songs stick in your head for days afterwards (Mutha Ukka, Business Time, Alby the Racist Dragon, Hiphopopotamus vs Rhymenoceros) – check them out on youtube – and it also means that I retroactively liked them before I thought I did: Wikipedia informed me that they were responsible for the good Phones4U commercial from 2004, which had the great line: This is for my friends in the alien zoo, minganingaminganamoo. Well, I loved it. I didn't know it was them at the time obviously, but I really liked the ad at the time but hated the fact that I enjoyed the music from an advert – thank goodness they turned out to be so good.

And that's enough television stuff from me. Tomorrow some comic book reviews, I hope.

Miscellaneous Distracted Thoughts

My brain isn't very focussed at the moment – it could be the winter months and the early nights – so this post will be a little disjointed, and it could explain why I haven't posted since Saturday (I try to post every week day).

First off, a big congratulations to Comics Should Be Good! on their four-year anniversary. The guys over there have been providing positivity in the comic blogging world, and their the most enjoyable group blog out there who still have the real non-professional feel that is very endearing.

Second, go to CBR to see a preview for Incognito, the new series from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, about a supervillain in witness protection (which is a great high concept, and it's amazing it hasn't been done before). Even though it means no Criminal while they do this book, I'm looking forward to another book by this great creative team. Below is a sampler page from the preview:


Talking of previews, CBR has 50 previews of comic books on sale this week – fifty different samples of new comic books from a variety of different publishers (DC, Marvel, Image, Dynamite, Boom! Studios, Oni Press, Aspen, IDW). That's a hell of a lot of comic book previews (I feel bad that there are only two I'll be buying on Thursday). The question is – do previews actually work? Especially with comics in the middle of lengthy runs or stories. The internet only accounts for a percentage of the people who read comic books, so I can't see that it would do any good. I know it doesn't cost anything for the companies to provide these images to the news sites, I would be amazed that there is any return on it. Perhaps a new series might get some readers from a preview (such as Incognito above) but the only reason it seems to occur is that everyone does it so all the companies feel they have to keep doing it. Unless they expect comic book shop workers to print out copies to entice people, then I really don't see the point.

When it comes to buying comic books, the future is shaky – with the advent of the $3.99 'regular' comic book, when does the price turn an impulse buy into a luxury item? I know I'm old, so I can remember when comic books cost 30 pence, and I understand that the quality of the colouring and the printing are so much better (and I would say the writing and art as well), but the balance between the worth and pleasure derived is tilting into the negative. And, with the strength of the pound as it is, it means that the $3.99 comic book will cost £3.50 – over ten times more expensive than when I first started buying them. I've been opting towards trade paperbacks a lot more in recent times, and the number of floppies I buy regularly is quite small if you look at my new comic book purchase posts, and not to mention the amount of comic book reading I do via the library, but I can't justify spending £3.50 on 22 pages of words and pictures. I did it for Secret Invasion, because it was supposed to be a special series, but I don't want to do it for monthly series. And I don't need to buy them just to be able to post topical reviews on my seriously behind-the-curve blog. I feel rather sad that I won't be buying lots of individual comic books in the future – does this mean I'm not allowed to write a comic blog any more?

And now you see why I tend to write specific review-based posts. I hope to be more concise and concentrated in my next posts.

Comics I Bought 4 December

Secret Invasion #8
And so we reach the end of latest Marvel crossover, years in the planning and months in the execution. And the result? It turns out to be the set up for another crossover – sorry, 'story'. This is annoying; in post-crossover interviews, Bendis has talked about the influence of Stan Lee and how this is Marvel so the stories must keeping going. Excuse me, Mr Bendis, but that's bollocks – a mini-series should tell a complete story: beginning, middle and end, with the end being most important. It's not a trailer for your next thing; if it was an ongoing series, this would not be a problem, but this is supposed to be a mini-series with a purpose.

The Secret Invasion crossover has been excellent in its build-up: all the way from the start of New Avengers, it is has been a strong idea that has been developed well, explained well in the ongoing series, and the organisation of the crossover with all the other comics that have tied in with it has been impeccable. Also, the series has kept a schedule and the same artist, something DC could learn a thing or two from – Leinil Yu has provided consistently excellent art throughout, including this issue. And the concept behind the story itself was a great one, which worked well within in the Marvel universe with the Skrulls. And the majority of the mini-series itself has been very enjoyable, with a solid mix of character work and superhero action.

With the final issue, however, we get a story told in flashback (which reduces the impact of the climax of the story, even with the big moments that occur), an improbable turning of Norman Osborn into a hero because he was the one who shot the Queen Skrull, and a last page that is the first page in a new series. I'm still intrigued by what Bendis has in store, because he I believe he writes good stories, but I feel a little cheated by the way he did this. I read his Ultimate Origins series in the comic shop and it did a similar thing with the story not finishing in the comic book; rather it was a lead in to Ultimatum. With the price of comic books going up, Bendis shouldn't be providing us with reasons to stop buying them.

New Avengers #47
Recent issues of New Avengers and Mighty Avengers have been back story for Secret Invasion; this issue goes even further back still, being a flashback to the days of Alias – the excellent series by Bendis and Michael Gaydos which introduced us (in a Max style) to Jessica Jones – and a story of Jessica and Luke Cage. It's great seeing Gaydos on art duties again – it's a contrast to Billy Tan's hyper-realised artwork, harking back to the 1990s in some places – and it's nice to see the old Alias magic back again. It's another contrast in the two Cages – the current version doesn't seem as genuine as the older version, the new guy being scared of baby poo and angsting. Maybe that's character development but it seems a little ... off somehow. The story then ends with essentially the same scene that was in Secret Invasion #8 (a technique Bendis uses a lot) – the new story has to continue.

Criminal 2 #7
From a continuing story, to the final part of a story that actually finishes. This is fourth part of Bad Night and the story of the cartoonist Jacob, and it gets as bad as you expect. Brubaker and Phillips break our hearts with further information on the cop and how Jacob ended up a widower and what happens to him and his relationship with the nurse. Usually I need some redemption in my noir to help with all the bleakness but not with Criminal – it is simply too damn good. The excellence of the writing and the art makes this a book worth all the heartache; it's a shame that it will be on hiatus but at least Brubaker and Phillips will be giving us monthly instalments of some supervillain noir, in the form of Incognito. I look forward to it and to more Criminal.

The Boys #25
After the first few pages of corporate politeness and skulduggery, Ennis starts ripping into the X-Men with 'Critter', who has hammers instead of hands and seems to be on the verge of going mental. Sounds familiar ... Even though this is a very unsubtle parody, Ennis still writes a good story, with interesting character moments and comedy moments (like Hughie walking in on the wannabe G-Men jerking each other off to straight porn), and it all plays into the overall story concerning Vought-American, the conglomerate responsible for all the superheroes in this world. Robertson does his usual top-notch job on art – he can do superhero art and the humour/realism necessary for this book.

Finally, I just wanted to congratulate Mike Sterling on five years of daily blogging about comic books – an inspiration and an continuously entertaining read. Thanks for all the blogging, Mike.

Some Gorram Serenity Comic Books

Serenity: Those Left Behind and Serenity: Better Days by Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews and Will Conrad

Before I left the US in September 2002, I saw the first episode of Firefly (not the pilot – in their infinite wisdom, Fox had decided not to show that first). I didn't see the remaining episodes until I bought the DVD box set a couple of years after that, but it was a great purchase and worth the wait. I really enjoyed this Western-meets-Sci-Fi series and was delighted when it was revived as a film (although I've never been a Browncoat). It seemed the logical extension to pick up the series in comic book form.

Serenity: Those Left Behind is a three-issue series that acts as a prequel to the film. The story is by Whedon & Matthews, with a script by Matthews (Whedon's former assistant on his television shows) and art by Brazilian artist Conrad, whose work I'd never seen before. The crew are on a job, as usual, and then things get tricky with two men with blue hands are on their tale as well as Agent Dobson (a call back to the TV series, who I thought was dead, rather than just having his eye shot out). It also involves a battle during the war (a cameo from mobster Badger), and ends the story with Inara and Shepherd Book off Serenity and the securing of River by the Alliance has been given to another agent, who looks familiar if you've seen the film.

The story isn't as special as one would hope for the connecting tale between the series and the film, and feels more like positioning of pieces. The dialogue is okay, with the occasional glimpse of the magic from the show (and Chinese characters for the Mandarin), but it doesn't sing like it should – perhaps because Matthews scripted. The art is okay, competent but nothing special; the only trouble I have is that the likenesses aren't great – it's kind of important in a book that is derived from a television source (much like my thoughts on Buffy).

This first book has a purpose, which is more than can be said for the second trade. Better Days is a story set within the time frame of the television series – as such, it doesn't have a specific purpose to exist. There is a nice idea in this story – what would happen if the crew actually got all the money they would need on a job? - but it gets submerged in a story about Alliance hunting for a Dust Devil (a radical within the Independent ranks, considered as terrorists by the Alliance), which isn't quite as interesting as perhaps they thought. The story also ends quite weakly, with the money being lost and Mal and Inara having a discussion that perhaps needs the actors emoting and using pauses to suggest the subtext – unfortunately, the art and the speech balloons don't quite do the job.

The art is slightly uneven, especially after the first book – some scenes are sharply delineated and focussed, whereas other pages are softer and looser without purpose. This is particularly noticeable compared with the fantastic triptych cover by Adam Hughes, which is absolutely fabulous (the covers for the first series were very good, with artists such as Hughes, Tim Bradstreet, John Cassaday, Leinil Yu, Jo Chen and Sean Phillips). I would love to see Hughes drawing the Serenity book – his likenesses are perfect and he brings the characters through in the emotion on the faces.

Better Days does have one thing going for it – the second issue has the dreams of the crew if they had all the money in the universe, which are very funny and spot-on, and made me want the series to be back on our screens. The same issue also has the hilarious line from Jane: '... and then I stick it in?' So it's not all bad, but there's not much to recommend. In summary: Those Left Behind, good; Better Days, not so good. And perhaps Whedon could have more input. I'll leave you with the best thing about the series: Adam Hughes' triptych cover.

From A Library: Hush Vol 1 & 2

Batman #608–612 and 613–619 by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee

My love of Jim Lee's art overcomes the lack of enjoyment I get from stories written by Jeph Loeb (my apologies if I bore you with how much I don't get the big deal with Loeb – I'll stop doing it soon I promise). I will read pretty much anything if Lee's drawn it; I just wish he'd work with a writer I like – such a shame that the Wildcats with Grant Morrison didn't work out ...

The thing about Loeb and Batman is he thinks that he has to do these BIG and IMPORTANT; after The Long Halloween (and Dark Victory, which I haven't read because of how much I disliked The Long Halloween), he feels that everything to do with Batman has to be incorporated into the story, just to prove that it MEANS something. So, in this story, we have: Killer Croc, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Huntress, Superman, Lois Lane, Talia Ra's, Krypto, Harley Quinn, Joker, Oracle (even a flashback to Batgirl), Nightwing, Jim Gordon, Two Face, Ra's al Ghul, Lady Shiva, Scarecrow, Clayface, The Riddler, Tim Drake Robin, and even Jason Todd (sort of). That shows you how important this story is (although you have to feel sorry for the Penguin).

The best aspect of this is at least we get to see Lee drawing all these characters. Lee draws superheroes well, and he has a ball with all these heroes and villains. The opening scene does a nice POV as Batman attacks some well-trained thugs, and he keeps up the sharpness of the action throughout. His Batman is perhaps a little too muscular for my personal tastes – Batman has to be extremely athletic to do what he does but too much steroidal bulk and he wouldn't be able to move – but everyone else looks exactly as they should, with the women sexy and the details correct. Even the different style he employs for the black and white flashbacks looks good, so I got my (library) money's worth out of looking at the pretty pictures.

The difficulty in reading this is the portentous nature of everything, from the overly serious nature of the titles of the chapters ('The Beast', 'The Friend', 'The Battle', etc.), the heaviness of the narrative captions, the 'bandaged man' quoting bloody poetry all the time, the silliness of the childhood best friend of Bruce Wayne never mentioned before, the sub-plot about Batman and Catwoman kissing, but particularly the overly complicated plotting required to keep us guessing as to the villain of the piece, even throwing in a Jason Todd red herring. It's just so tiring – and the explanation for who Hush is and how he came to be is exhausting, as well as fatuous. Loeb just seems a little full of his own self-importance, especially when it comes to the Batman. So, unless it's an artist I really, really like, I shall not read any more books written by Jeph Loeb, and you can hold me to that, all right? I've learnt my lesson. Now, I'll just go back and look at the pretty Jim Lee pictures before I return these books ...

From A Library – Gamekeeper: Tooth and Claw

Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper #1–5
Story by Guy Ritchie, script by Andy Diggle, art by Mukeshi Singh

Poor Virgin Comics. Grand plans, big names, glossy books – but did they ever stand a chance? I liked John Woo's 7 Brothers (mostly because it was written by Garth Ennis), but I didn't have any particular affinity for the rest of the line of comics – especially when they appear to be glorified film pitches that we are paying the privilege to read.

Which brings me to Gamekeeper. Despite my dislike of Revolver, I like the early films of Guy Ritchie. Also, Andy Diggle wrote The Losers, so he gets the trust required to read something he writes. Also, it's from the library, so I didn't have to pay for it ... Guy Ritchie admits that he doesn't care from comics (he says 'I admire the likes of Frank Miller's Sin City and Zach Snyder's cinematic version of 300') and used the comic as a visual aid for an idiot executive in a pitch meeting. Fortunately, the book is enjoyable (and you can see it as a film ...)

The story is straightforward and cinematic – on an isolated estate in Scotland, some professional soldiers attack and kill the owner for a piece of paper, and the only person who can do anything about it is the gamekeeper, an enigmatic and brooding Chechen called Brock. He saves the rest of the people on the estate and then travels to Amsterdam to ensure that there will be no more trouble. There are some excellent action set pieces for a director to sink his teeth into, the dialogue is minimal, the Macguffin simple and the hero gets to be heroic (as well as having a sympathetic back story, here told in black and white flashbacks; after all, he does kill a lot of people in this book). The ending is a little weak in comparison to the rest of the story, but it is a gripping and taut action thriller.

Diggle was the right choice for this – it's very much in the same vein as The Losers – and he provides good narration and dialogue. I've never seen Mukesh Singh's art before but he's got a very moody and atmospheric art style, which looks equally good in colour and black and white, and a nice angular approach to his figure work. His composition and camera choices are very good and the action is captivating. Now, how will it look when it's transferred to the big screen ...?

From A Library: Pride Of Baghdad

By Brian K Vaughan and Niko Henrichon

Even though it is based on a true story, the concept of four lions escaping from Baghdad Zoo during the recent war in Iraq is a strange starting point for a graphic novel, even if it is written by the man who bought us Y The Last Man, about the after effects of a world in which all but one man is dead, and Ex Machina, the former superhero who is now mayor of New York. What is even more strange is that Pride Of Baghdad is a moving and absorbing tale.

We meet four lions in the zoo: Zill, the male; Safa, an old female with one good eye and half an ear missing; Noor, a young female; and Ali, Noor's cub. In a short amount of time, Vaughan gives each identifiable characteristics to the lions (Zill is lazy and seeks the quiet life; Noor yearns for freedom; Safa remembers what 'freedom' was like and doesn't mind the captivity), each of which responds differently to the concept of freedom when bombs from planes allows them to escape and their journey of hardship and difficulty.

The book obviously has a tricky balance to find – all the animals talk, in English for that matter, and have a knowledge of life outside of the norm considered for animals. Fortunately, Henrichon's art (which it took a year for him to do) has enough of a mix of the cartoony and the realistic to be able to convey the world in which the story inhabits. His lush visuals and ability to convey the emotions of the pride (and other animals) really make the story come alive, and there are some glorious double-page spreads (such as all the animals fleeing the zoo or the pride as when exit the main entrance). This book is truly a joy to look at as well as read.

It's not completely perfect from a storytelling side – Vaughan has all the animals talking in a very vernacular English that occasionally takes you out of the story because it doesn't feel right for these creatures in Iraq. For example, a turtle says 'Get the hell away from my Tigris!', to which Safa responds 'I'm not a tigress, I'm a lion.' That only works in English because of the play on words – to have everything so detailed and then allow a pun to appear for no reason seems an odd choice. Not to mention that all animals can understand each other and have a knowledge of the country in which they live and its history (the turtle talks about being hatched during the first war, back when Iraq was an Empire – that's an odd bit of editorialising from a turtle, isn't it?), and they all understand the concept of a zoo. The part with the bear, although using part of the Hussein personal history to goo use, seems a little odd, even if it is a very exciting and dramatic part of the story. But I'm being picky about a book with talking animals – this is a very good story with an actual point and with something to say, about the nature of freedom and war. Highly recommended.