Ferals #1: Mark is dead. The blood strewn around his trailer and the severed forearm, still holding a coffee mug, are proof of that. David Lapham out “Garth Ennises” Garth Ennis as the fowl mouthed, deeply flawed sheriff of Cypress, Minnesota arrives on the scene. In tow are glib coroner Dennis and Mark’s ex-wife, Jackie.
Let’s start with the overt misogyny in this comic. Our cover displays a woman, tears streaming down her face, and blood oozing from her nose, in the clutches of a ravening beast. Jackie is crude and stereotypical of the dysfunctional divorcee. She even discovers the murder scene while attempting to rob Mark’s trailer in lieu of alimony. An explicit sex scene between Sheriff Dale and a mysterious woman passing through the one-horse-town hints that a supernatural beast may be on the loose. The woman is trampy and fierce and likely the very monster herself; a femme fatale, over-grown boy’s fantasy. Dale goes home to make love to his girlfriend who wakes to be torn apart by the beast.
Gabriel Andrade’s art is EXTREMELY graphic and this book should be in a poly bag to keep kids from pawing through it; if not in a kryptonite case reading “ Mature adults only. No really, psychologically mature. We’re serious.”
As much as it pains me to admit, this book does exactly what a good comic should. The words and art bolster each other without competing, neither being sufficient to tell the tale on their own and I genuinely want to know what happens next. If I start loving this book, please put a (silver) bullet in me.
Green Lantern #5:
GL is the new DCU title suffering most from the imprint’s diminished content; at least among the titles I’ve read. But I strongly suspect it’s suffering the most period. I know what you might be thinking: D.C. has lowered the price of its books to $2.99, easily the cheapest comics in the industry right now. How could THEY not cut some pages and toss in a few more ads? I would tend to agree if it WERE a FEW more ads but most DC titles are only about 50% story. The muckety-mucks that own D.C. should be satisfied with the extra books the lower price allows them to sell and not try to bleed fans by getting substantially richer due to a price decrease.
For those of you who haven’t been reading this slowly tarnishing gem, things have pretty much flowed organically from Geoff John’s earlier GL series including Blackest Night and Brightest Day and their aftermaths. Hal has been stripped of his ring, ostensibly because he is too unreliable and chaotic to be a member of the Green Lantern Corps but in reality, because the Guardians have become scared and insular, systematically eliminating any potential threat on the heels of the revelation that they are vulnerable to the lanterns power. (The long-ago banished mad guardian Krona, who attempted to destroy his former fellows for eschewing emotion was killed by Sinestro using a Green Power ring.) Sinestro still has his ring as the Guardians cannot seem to remove it.
Our favorite megalomaniacal mustachioed pink man has sought out the powerless Hal on Earth and given him a ring constructed from his own in order to free his planet of Korugar from the very Sinestro Corps he formed to save and police it.
Sound cool, right? Well, not really. Johns’ greatest talent comes from sweeping nigh-spiritual epics. The Blackest Night mythos is particularly compelling to the point that I would not be surprised if someone in the Haight Ashbury district hasn’t formed a church around it.
But what do we get? Hal proving that he might make a great superhero but he still makes a terrible civilian while Sinestro schemes and snipes smugly with his greatest enemy.
On Korugar, the Sinestro Corps have gone utterly rogue in the absence of their leader who has now been targeted for death for “abandoning” the Yellow Lanterns in favor of the Green. To neutralize his powers, Sinestro has been locked up in a power absorbing prison with several members of Korugar’s indigenous population including Arsona, the female officer who was the first to back Sinetsro in his bid to bring permanent order to his home planet.
Arsona is violently bitter and feels betrayed due to the atrocities the Sinetsro Corps has committed against her people. Even after the day is saved by Hal and Sinetsro, the natives of Korugar are split, some seeing Sinestro as a savior, others as an inexcusable traitor.
This conflict sums up Sinestro’s truest nature. He has the potential to be the greatest of the Green Lanterns save for his mortal flaw. Hal shows a flash of psychoanalytical brilliance when he sums this very concept up. “You mean you want control. You want to control everything as much as you let others think you control yourself.” There’s something intimate between two people who have been utter rivals for so long. Only Hal can see certain things in Sinestro, just as Sinetsro is the only person who can see certain things in Hal.
If only Hal were more perceptive with people that he cares about. When Hal was certain he was going to die on Korugar he used the last wisps of energy in his ring to summon an image of former Star Sapphire and on-again-off-again love, Carol Ferris. Now back on Earth and once again powerless, Hal runs to Carol’s side and apologizes for the oblivious jerk he has been. Normally I would not advocate a woman going back to a guy who’s broken her heart. A girl can only forgive so much before she becomes a push-over and winds up disrespecting herself. But these two have truly been in love since they were children and Hal is one of the most honorable men in the DCU. At least when he asks Ferris for a second chance, she playfully scolds him that technically it’s his tenth chance. Please let this relationship last and if you MUST kill one of them off for a year or two, make it Hal.
So, once again I both praise and condemn a book. So soon into my fledgling blogging career and I’m already becoming painfully predictable. But Geoff has saved a sign of exciting things to come. The last page of the comic has the Guardians in secret talks. They have decided to “free” someone or someTHING called the “First Lantern” to lead “The Third Army” and replace the entire Corps itself. Johns appears to be diving back into sweeping cosmic waters with the ingenious idea that after all this time Guardians are VILLAINS.
Special note: We are graced with an ad for a tattooing competition reality show coming to Spike on the inside back cover. Please remind me not to watch it or I’ll never work up the courage to get that Indigo Tribe tat.
The Defenders #2: Red She-Hulk? Silver Surfer? Doctor Strange? Can you hear me drooling? Well, it must be your bathroom sink leaking again because this comic is a dud. Now really, I loved the idea. Some of Marvel’s best characters coming together even though they have no business teaming up? Brilliant.
Unfortunately, Matt Fraction hasn’t found a coherent voice for his tale. The Incredible Hulk has asked Doc Strange to assemble a team to take out the mysterious “Black Hulk” for him. I surmise that the newest Hulk (who must be getting his own Color Corps by now) must have something to do with all this “Fear Itself” nonsense. So is it an Earth-shattering prevent doomsday book? At times, sorta-kinda.
We have the Silver Surfer and a mad Prestor John babbling about God and the core of the universe. So is it a philosophical, thought provoking piece? At times, sorta-kinda. We have Bettie Banner with her “Big-ass sword”. So is it a high octane action comic? At times, sorta-kinda. We even have some of the worst attempts at comedy I’ve ever been subjected to.
Betty decides that to escape captivity at the hands of Prestor John she needs to be scared in order to change back into her human form and walk between the cell bars. So what happens? Doctor Strange whispers something we are never made privy to into Bettie’s ear and we get a close up of her now wide eye as she says, “I don’t like you. I don’t like you one damn bit. Stay away from me from now on.” Are we to believe that Stephen has told her some esoteric horror? No, we are to believe that Doctor Strange is a perv.
To add to all this, at the bottom of nearly every page we are put through reading twitter-like messages that at absolute best are annoying distractions. “Story interrupted previous page”? “That was a good ad”? Preposterous!
And now, three things I’ve learned from this book:
- Terry Dodson can only draw Red She-Hulk properly out of the books entire cast.
- Iron Fist is an annoying little moron.
3) Secret Avengers #22 starts a whole new story-line with a cover by Arthur Adams. Don’t be surprised if you see that reviewed here in Gonzo’s Dressing Room sometime soon.
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