300 Comics in 2008 Challenge Part 2

I am pursuing two reading challenges in 2008. I've set up a group where you can follow the efforts of myself and other to read 50 books in one year. I also have a goal of reading and reviewing 300 comics this year. I'm posting the reviews in sets of ten. This is the second.

Once again, this selection features a wide variety in terms of dates, publishers, and styles.

Here are the reviews: 

Barbarossa & The Lost Corsairs #2 (Kandora Publishing, 2005): The pirate Barbarossa, fleeing Italy with his kidnapped "victim", Lady Julia (who actually ordered the pirate at swordpoint to abduct her as an escape from her sheltered life and overbearing family), sails through a strange storm and emerges in a world of airships and sea monsters. The follow-up to this series' promising debut does not disappoint. Hizir Barbarossa is a great swashbuckling hero, and Countess Julia continues to be witty and capable. Minor characters get considerable development, something that is all the more impressive because the first half of the issue is non-stop action. Writer Brian Augustyn is clearly having fun here. There is nothing all that groundbreaking about the plot, although having a Muslim lead character in a book where his religion is not the central focus is certainly refreshing. The story transitions nicely from straight-up action to political intrigue about midway through this issue and there is plenty of depth of story to be plumbed as things move forward. The art team of H.S. Park and Y.C. Yang do a nice job, especially in the opening sea monster sequence. All in all, this continues to be a very entertaining series. [7.5 out of 10].

Superman #260 (DC Comics, 1973): This is from the 1970's-era storylines that had Clark Kent working for Galaxy Communications, owned by TV mogul Morgan Edge (who always struck me as a pretty interesting villain who never quite got the development he needed). Edge sends Kent on a babysitting mission to keep spoiled rich stockholder's son Percy Bratton out of Edge's hair. They travel to Maine to interview potato farmers about government subsidies, and Clark ends up stumbling on a magical valley inhabited by vikings, and protected by a super-powered warrior riding a giant eagle and armed with a magical sword. Standard misunderstand-fight-make-peace routine follows, and Clark makes sure the hidden village remains undisturbed. Written by Elliot Maggin with art by the classic team of Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson, and edited by the late great Julius Schwartz. Elliot Maggin also penned the backup story, a Kryptonian history piece with art by Bob Brown and Dave Cockrum. It's a pretty well conceived story about two young warriors raised from birth to fight a duel to the death for the destiny of their tribes. The emotional impact of the story is dampened a bit by their ludicrous weaponry and an ending that throws the laws of physics so far out the window that Superman couldn't find them with his telescopic vision. Still it was more interesting than the straightforward formula of the opening story. [5.5 out of 10].

Green Arrow And Black Canary #4 (DC Comics, 2008): Connor has been shot by an unknown weapon wielded by an unknown shooter, and Ollie calls in some high-powered help but it may still be too late for Connor. There are two levels of story going on here. First, there is the DCU continuity stuff, which is cleverly constructed but suffers from a similar problem that Identity Crisis did: When so much power is concentrated on one task (saving Connor's life in this case), the plot needs to jump through more and more implausible hoops just to convince the reader why the likes of the Justice League can't just instantly heal Connor. This is really more a fault of the established power level of the universe than of this particular storyline, but it is still distracting. The second story going on here is the story of Ollie as a father, facing the loss of a son who he was never really a parent to. This aspect of the story is handled brilliantly, not only by Judd Winick's script ("Please Play Where Daddy Can See You"), but also by Cliff Chiang's artwork, in which the wordless panels tell much of the story. Once the disbelief has been suspended, this is a powerful piece of storytelling. [7 out of 10].

The Question #19 (DC Comics, 1988): Myra is faced with a difficult decision as her campaign for mayor moves forward and she is offered help from a plastics tycoon with some shady connections. When a not-quite-sane cab driver turns up with incriminating information, Vic finds himself in a race to get to him before a hired hitman does. All of this is wrapped in a recurring examination of the role of plastics in our society, and it raises an whole range of moral and environmental issues. Good quirky characters and smart dialogue from writer Dennis O'Neil backed up by gritty artwork by Denys Cowan and Rick Maygar. The Question also features one of the best lettercolumns in comics. Excellent issue. [8.5 out of 10].

All Star Superman #9 (DC Comics, 2007): Superman returns to Earth from Bizarro-World to find that he's been gone for two months Earth-time, and that his job of protector of Earth has been taken over by a pair of Kryptonian explorers. Unfortunately, they have some very different ideas about how a Kryptonian should relate to Earthlings, and they are not pleased to see that Kal-El has "gone native". This issue, and the entire series, is visually stunning thanks to the art team of Frank Quitely and Jamie Grant. The pacing on Grant Morrison's story seems a bit off, though. The ending is too abrupt to really have the emotional punch that it should, and the story has a generally choppy feel to it. I did like the characters of Bar-El and Lilo, who share a very strong love for each other in spite of acting like pompous jerks toward everyone else. [6 out of 10].

Zot! #2 (Eclipse Comics, 1984): Zot shows Jenny more of his home dimension, eventually taking her to the home of his Uncle, an eccentric inventor who might have a way of restoring Jenny's brother to human form. From there, they visit a futuristic arcade, and Zot engages in a battle inside a VR game for the key to the Doorway at the Edge of the Universe. The action here is fast-paced with a fair bit of humor, and the plot has plenty of twists and turns. It's the character of Jenny, that really makes this story work, however. Jenny is presented with a great mix of wonder and sympathy, allowing her to come off as refreshing and realistic at the same time. Scott McCloud's brilliant writing and his colorful fun art style are in evidence even this early in this classic series. [7.5 out of 10].

Detective Comics #840 (DC Comics, 2008): This episode is the epilogue to "The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul". The Batman takes on a thief of antique maps, known as The Globe, only to discover that Ra's Al Ghul has taken up residence in Gotham . Big mistake on the part of Ra's. He ends up on the receiving end of a nasty lesson in why you don't want to mess with the Batman on his home turf. The ending had me sympathizing with Ra's. This was smart, brutal story, but perhaps a too quick a job of writing out one of the most enduring villains in the Batman Rogues Gallery. Ra's will be back, of course, but I still felt this needed a bit more emotional punch for it to really be effective. Writing was by Paul Dini, and this issue debuts the new art team of Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs for Detective Comics, who provide a great cover and some nice detail work on the fight sequences. [6 out of 10].

Marvel Comics Presents Spider-Man (Marvel Comics,1988): Quarter-sized full-color minicomic reprinting two classic tales involving Spider-Man's early rivalry with the Fantastic Four from 1963 and 1964. Both of these lean pretty heavily on the comic relief, although one must realize that in '63 the concept of super-heroes who didn't get along like old pals was pretty novel. The action is fast-paced and both stories are fun to read. Stan Lee is the writer on both of these. Steve Ditko handles the art chores in the first story, and he inks the pencil work of Jack Kirby in the second. Both of these stories have been reprinted in plenty of places, and this minicomic version isn't the best way to appreciate them, but they are classics in any format. [7 out of 10].

Lenore #13 (Slave Labor Graphics, 2007): Roman Dirge's tale of a little dead girl is now in full color (I'm not actually sure which issue is the first color issue). Pooty flees to Mexico and leaves Lenore with only the company of Ragamuffin and Pooty's cousin Wicket Willowbean, who may just be Pooty doing some shapeshifting. Lenore then gets invited to a birthday party, and mayhem ensues. There is also a very cute three-page play on "Ten Little Indians" as well as a guest page by Dwight L. McPherson and Mathieu Benoit, and Roman Dirge's bibliographic strip "Things Involving Me". The artwork is clever in a lot of places, and some of the dialogue is quite good. The "gross slapstick" style of humor gets tired fast, though, and there really isn't much plot. Loved the "Indians" bit. The rest was a mixed bag. [5.5 out of 10].

Sandman: Gallery of Dreams (Vertigo, 1994): A treat for Vertigo fans, this book consists of 31 pinups of Dream each by a different artist or art team (plus a gorgeous cover by Dave McKean. The list is pretty much a who's who of artists from the mid 1990's: Matt Wagner, Barron Storey, George Pratt, Terry Moore & Terri S. Wood, Brian Bolland, Shane Oakley, Paul Lee, Craig Hamilton, Eddie Campbell, Rick Berry, Michael Zulli, Geof Darrow (who does a truly surreal two-page spread), Simon Bisley, Jamie Hewlett, Mark Chiarello, Alex Ross, Bill Koeb, Mike Mignola, Malcolm Jones III, Kelley Jones, Jon J. Muth, Jeff Smith, Tony Harris, Colleen Doran, Gahan Wilson, Alison Seiffer, Tom Taggart, Jill Karla Schwarz, Greg Spalenka, Moebius, and Charles Vess. Neil Gaiman provides an introduction discussion some of the earliest visual concepts for the character. Absolutely beautiful art book and some very interesting interpretations of the Sandman concept by the artists who participated. [8 out of 10].

These comics represent #'s 11-20 in my goal of reading 300 comics in 2008.