4/24/12

Here in Gonzo’s Dressing Room we try to walk a fine line between giving the mainstream comic fan reviews of titles that they will enjoy as well as eschewing popularity for popularity’s sake. (Here in the Dressing Room we delight in the off-beat, the small-press and the over-looked. We also love using the word “eschewing”.)

In this review we’ve given ourselves over to equal time for some commercially successful books. (Perhaps against our better judgement...) 

 Avengers vs. X-Men #0

In our prologue, appropriately titled “Prologue”, we have two separate stories highlighting the two characters who in all probability will be central in the upcoming massive crossover event.

We begin on the streets of Washington D.C. where M.O.D.O.K. and a handful of other bizarre villains are running amok. I didn’t expect M.O.D.O.K. to be rocking the bald look but it somehow comes off less silly than his original do. Who comes to the rescue? The Scarlet Witch. If you’ve been following the X-Men and the Avengers for the past few years, you realize what a giant can of worms this is. If not, I have no where enough space to put you up to speed here. You could shell out hundreds of dollars for back issues trying to understand the full impact. (I suppose there is always Wikipedia).

Spider Woman and Ms. Marvel fly in for the assist. Scarlet Witch is very uncomfortable seeing her ex team-mates whom she has wronged so many times. The women insist that she return to the Avengers’ mansion as a lost friend and equal.

Most of the boys seem to be warily happy to see her. Except her husband the android, Vision. He summarily throws her out, turns his back on her and begins to cry. 

Next we have Hope Summers at the X-Men’s home of Utopia feeling restless. Cyclops plays the overbearing father and tries to badger her for her own protection. Of course, this fails and she flies off in a jet pack to foil a bank robbery. She more than holds her own against the entire Serpent Society. Cyclops and Emma Frost arrive just in time to keep Hope from beating one of the villains, Cottonmouth, to death.

We are reminded of Hope’s huge potential to be either the savior or destroyer of mutant-kind. From off in space, the Phoenix Force is coming for Hope. 

Frank Cho is the artist for both stories. His usual stunning work comes off very patchy. We have extremely low points, such as Hope mimicking Puff Adder’s powers to ridiculous highs such as the close-up of the Scarlet Witch about to cast a spell.

I need to make two more notes about the art work. One, why does Thor have to look EXACTLY like movie Thor? Two, yes a woman with gills for sideburns can be attractive.

The Scarlet Witch story is written by Brian Michael Bendis. His writing is very strong as well as is his cinematic scripting. Unfortunately, the two merge a little roughly. 

Jason Aaron has writing duty for the Hope story. Again, the quiet moments and the action don’t flow together as well as they could. There has been a tendency since the latest death of Jean Grey to portray Cyclops as a jerk. Aaron does a good job of maintaining the status quo.

A major comic crossover centered on two women? Somehow I don’t think this fact will do anything to lessen the testosterone fueled slug-fest this “event” will likely be. We could probably at least cut the issue count in half with a little superhero group therapy. (I wonder if Night Nurse knows any social workers?) 

Batman the Dark Knight #7

This issue is the stunning conclusion of this title’s premier story arc. The baleful Bane seeks to finish the job he started by breaking Batman’s back so many years ago. While Bane brandishes a boulder, Batman slips off into a bunker where Poison Ivy is being held in a tank to produce a new brand of the super villain steroid Venom. How a comic depicting White Rabbit manages to tastefully deal with the fact that Ivy is nude in the tank is beyond me. 

Ivy informs Bats that Bane must swallow a conveniently present antidote in order to be stopped. 

Eight pages of pommeling ensue, broken only by an odd interchange between Superman and the Flash. I may be missing something but isn’t Superman’s advise the exact opposite of what Batman told him? And it somehow works? Flash wants to get back to help Batman but Supes demands he goes to a hospital. (It’s as if he’s trying to foil Batman.) 

Just when all seems lost, and that Bane has battered Batman to his breaking point, the Flash arrives and tosses the antidote to Batman who throws it down Bane’s gullet. Bane is temporarily dispatched and is washed out with the tide. 

We learn of the mysterious connection between Bruce Wayne’s would-be-girlfriend from the first issue and the mysterious White Rabbit. The last two pages of this comic are about as anti-feminist as you can get. We are promised (perhaps warned)that the next story arc will be all about the buxom bunny. God have mercy on our souls.(Please excuse the frequent alliteration. I couldn’t help myself.)

Will we be witness to another tiresome tale of Batman’s “edgy” exploits here in Gonzo’s dressing room? The brevity of this review seems to say “no” but then again I haven’t the time to catch up on any of the other thirteen thousand Bat-titles out there so you’ll just have to wait and see.

3/6/12

New comics come out tomorrow and I haven’t even reviewed anything from a week ago? To properly express my feelings, I have, at great personal expense, brought in the Mighty Thor. Thor, if you would:

“I SAY THEE NEIGH!”

Thank you Odinson, that was splendid. Now on to the reviews.

Victorian Secret, Girls of Steampunk: Winter Wardrobe #1:

How, one might ask, does one review an art comic? Or, for that matter, why would someone who has repeatedly decried the sexist portrayal of women in comics even want to? The answer: I’ll do my best to explain.

Let’s begin with the second question about my motives: I was curious. I thought, “It can’t be THAT bad, right?” I mean, the woman on the cover may technically be topless but she has beautiful green eyes and chic black lipstick. At worst, I’ll give my hormones a little treat and regret shelling out $3.99 for garbage pin-up art and be able to immortalize the mistake in this blog.

The girls are really a mixed bag; everywhere from classy to slutty, well-executed to amateurish, very steampunk to “why is she in here anyway?” I will show you the best and worst out of 27 pieces. Let’s pray you can tell which is which.

My recommendation? This is a decent primer for steampunk fan art. The Steampunk Glamour Review does a better job of immersing you in the real culture but it’s a bit less accessible. With the genre staying red hot and gaining mainstream recognition, this might not be as bad a buy as it first appears to be.

Batman the Dark Knight #6:

In the issues leading up to this one, Batman has been encountering a large cross section of his rogue’s gallery hopped up on a fear-based chemical that gives them enormous strength and reduces them to rage-filled simpletons. And yet, I never suspected Bane. I know, this was a rather open-and-shut case and being the greatest detective of all time, Bruce Wayne should have had this figured out in six pages not have it sprung on him in six issues. And everyone reading should have gotten it too. I freely admit to getting too absorbed in a comic that I never see ANYTHING coming. I feel the emotive minutia and miss the forest for the trees. And David Finch’s story is miles away from the beauty and sophistication of Neil Gaiman’s Death of Bruce Wayne.

The comic opens with Superman having beat the daylights out of Batman. (Hey, haven’t we seen these guys fight enough? Batman is brains, Sups is brawn. Given enough time to prepare, Bats wins, if he doesn’t he looses, end of story, try something new D.C.) Batman has been infected with the power toxin and somehow getting his butt handed to him worked the juice out. So all you fans who wanted to see Bruce die in issue six and never wanted to read any more of this hot hot title will be disappointed.

Flash has also been exposed and is trying to run the toxin out of his system by circling the globe full tilt. Bruce tells Clark that Flash’s efforts are counterproductive and that he has essentially become a bomb. Sups arrives at Flash’s side and tells him...to keep running? Either Finch is being intentionally confusing or he’s cooking something sinister up.

Paul Jenkins’ art is gritty and detailed and pleasing to the eye. The lingerie decked White Rabbit is a adolescent testosterone fueled fever dream and could, and probably should, have been done away with entirely.

For my money, the real story in this title is the political turmoil Commissioner Gordon has found himself in. Gotham is swarming with villains, mob-bosses and corrupt officials. One of Gordon’s lieutenants has been given a taste of power and is gunning for his boss’ job. LT. Forbes is cozying up to the mayor and painting Gordon as an out of control maverick who is entirely too comfortable with the “menace” Batman.

Dark Knight doesn’t quite make the cut for top five of the new 52 but it definitely has its high points. I know 90% of my male readers will be scratching their heads as to why I’m not gaga over this book. But hey, I’m the critic, baffling criticism is in the job description.

And now, let me leave you with a little reminder that your local comic shop has lots of cool stuff besides comics and that there is never a wrong time for combat boots.