This isn’t completely up to date, but these are the last new comic books I purchased, so that’s good enough for me. It feels good to be, if not topical, then at least as current as I can be.
Batman, Incorporated #1
Now this is a good comic book. Grant Morrison works well with a good idea, and the idea of Batmen around the world is a strong concept. He’s matched on this issue with Yanick Paquette, a really good artist – he draws a strong Batman (I’m sure I can detect hints of Kevin Nowlan in the face) and a very sexy Catwoman, and his action scenes are dynamic and interesting, which is necessary for this compelling first issue of a new series. Bruce Wayne wants to recruit Mr Unknown, a Japanese crimefighter, but someone has beat him to it and he’s after the villain known as Lord Death Man. It makes me smile just to write it. A strong start.
Batman: The Return
This book slightly taints the splash of the return of Bruce Wayne. Morrison sets out his stall for his latest chapter of his story on Batman, and there are some good moments of story and dialogue between the characters. However, the book is muddied with some overly dark art from David Finch; I quite like his style even while I recognise some of his weaknesses, and this work highlights some of flaws. It reduces the impact of the story, as Morrison takes in the ‘bat through the window’ sequence from Frank Miller and lays the foundation for Batman, Incorporated. There is also a sour taste in mouth after you realise that you have paid extra for poor filler material at the back – fifteen pages, including another identical rendition of the front cover, the draft and finished version of the variant cover, some sketch stuff and several pages of Morrison’s script. That sort of stuff should be in a special version of the book, not the regular book with the story. If it wasn’t for Morrison …
Morning Glory #4
This issue of Morning Glory is slight on story development; essentially, it is Casey getting the others together for her plan, only to get ratted out at the end. Therefore, the book is mostly conversation, something which Nick Spencer does well enough. Joe Eisma’s art is good enough, which I guess means that it’s growing on me, but it doesn’t have the stuff for the big leagues as yet. The central mystery isn’t advanced but I’m still intrigued enough to come back for more, so a successful job.
X-Factor #211
This is a fight-and-banter issue of X-Factor, with lovely art from Emanuela Lupacchino (she draws an excessively sexy and voluptuous Hela, but everyone else is pretty as well); the dialogue is fun while the team have to deal with undead Viking henchmen in Las Vegas – ahh, comics – with a literal deus ex machina to arrive at the end, when Thor turns up to decide if he’s going to help (with a particularly funny moment when Shatterstar has to be stopped from hitting on Thor by Madrox). It’s a solid issue of X-Factor, which is a good thing.
