4 September 2013 – Comics Fondle

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Ennis doesn’t pull it off. There’s a huge connection to the regular Boys series, which seems rather forced, and the artists screw up the final shot of Annie so it’s unclear what’s going on with her and Hughie.

Highland Laddie ought to be amazing. It ought to be Local Hero as a comic book, with some superhero details and so on, but it’s just a mess instead. McCrea and Burns do an amazing disservice to the great parts of Ennis’s script.

Still, Ennis does a lot of the disservice himself. He’s got to know the good stuff–he filled the first few issues with it–but he doesn’t stick to it. He rushes again here, not even able to do a good reveal with Hughie’s friends’ resolutions.

And the intentional lack of resolution with the parents? It could have worked, but it doesn’t. Just like Hughie’s apologies.

It’s incredibly disappointing.

CREDITS

Made From Girders; writer, Garth Ennis; artists, John McCrea and Keith Burns; colorist, Tony Aviña; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

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I think this issue has to be one of Bendis’s greatest successes with the series so far. It’s Peter and Aunt May talking about him being Spider-Man–is Bendis the first writer to ever do this scene?–and it’s absolutely perfect.

He opens–with Mark Bagley pencilling his final issue–and goes through Peter and May talking about the origin and all the villains. Hennessy’s inks and Justin Ponsor’s colors make the whole thing seem very Americana. Ultimate Spider-Man as Norman Rockwell.

Then, when Stuart Immonen takes over for Peter telling May about his adventure of the day, Bendis has May asking all these questions about the logic of it. It becomes Peter (and Bendis) explaining the lack of reality in comic books. It’s a great move.

Bendis had to tell this one just right for the series to work (it’s been building 110 issues).

And he does.

CREDITS

The Talk; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; pencillers, Mark Bagley and Stuart Immonen; inker, Drew Hennessy; colorist, Justin Ponsor; letterer, Cory Petit; editors, John Barber, Bill Rosemann and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Interesting, very interesting.

Well, sort of interesting. This issue, beginning a sequel arc to the Star Trek Into Darkness film, does feature a return to form for Johnson in some ways. He’s enjoying writing the scenes between the crew, not trying to fit in a bunch of silly new history. The worst he does is tie into the movie prequel comic IDW did, but he also recaps that series’s repercussions in decent expository dialogue.

And there’s the interesting twist to the whole thing… it’s actually “Amok Time.” Spock’s going into Pon Farr for the first time (and I also realized Star Trek III has a big continuity gaff in that regard) but things are different. He’s got a girlfriend now. A human one who can’t relieve the Pon Farr stresses.

It’s a great setup, hopefully Johnson can deliver. There’s political intrigue too, but who cares… it’s “Amok Time” time again.

CREDITS

After Darkness, Part One; writer, Mike Johnson; artist, Erfan Fajar; colorist, Stellar Labs; letterer, Chris Mowry; editor, Scott Dunbier; publisher, IDW Publishing.

Day: September 4, 2013

Highland Laddie 6 (January 2011)

Ultimate Spider-Man 111 (September 2007)

Star Trek 21 (May 2013)

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