New comics day.
So, on that cover of Justice League of America #1, who’s holding up the invitation? I’m guessing Snapper Carr. Pal Corey guessed that it’s the zombie corpse of Max Lord.
Some other new releases:
Swamp Thing #29 – The last issue of the current series, which I already sorta eulogized a while back, leaves Swampy at the same point he was at in Alan Moore’s last issue way back when…just a monster living in a swamp, shacked up with Abby. And, like I’ve said once or twice, I’d like to see Swamp Thing return to the general DC universe. Moore’s work on the character casts a long shadow…in fact, this last issue features the return of Woodrue, following up on his appearance in Moore’s first storyline from over twenty years ago. Throwing Swamp Thing back into the DCU may be one way to gain a little more distance from Moore, and quite frankly, I’m kind of Vertigoed-out on the character. However, we have a new Vertigo Un-Men book to get past before that can happen….
Elephantmen #2 – I noted about the last issue that I was pleasantly surprised by it, with its lush art and emotionally-affecting story. This issue isn’t quite as satisfying, which isn’t to say it’s not good. One story features the Crocodileman, Elijah, being interviewed by a very, very (i.e. “not at all”) thinly-veiled Howard Stern parody. Effective in presenting the common man’s perception of the Elephantmen, but the creepy payoff when the Stern parody pushes Elijah too far makes the fairly thin story worthwhile. The other story features hippo detective Hip Flask in a nasty fight with Elijah, with the only text being captions quoting the Bible’s Book of Job. Kinda high-falutin’ for what’s essentially two anthropomorphized animals beating the tar out of each other, and, frankly, I would have preferred some actual dialogue to quotations. But the art’s nice, the fight is brutal, and seeing these beings behave like the animals they’re based on is unnerving.
Batman #656 – Grant Morrison’s second issue is very ’60s Batman TV show-ish, with the amusing conceit of the word balloons in the pop art decorating the story’s gallery setting commenting on the action in the panels in which they appear. (Example: pop art painting with a character saying “Look, up in the sky” in a panel where Batman is about to be attacked from above.) The occasional painting with a large sound effect is very evocative of the Batman TV show’s giant “POW! BAM!” effects that would be inserted into the action. Almost guaranteed to annoy somebody.
Sorry, not much in a weblogging mood today…to make up for it, please enjoy this computer-generated fan-made trailer for Charles Burns’ Black Hole:
Sort of looks like a Black Hole video game, doesn’t it? Good Lord, what a nightmare that would be.
