John Arcudi’s Doom Patrol, James Robinson’s Starman, Static, Action
Philosophers, Street Fighter II, and the newest issue of Blue Beetle.
Employee’s Pick
[DC] Doom Patrol Vol. 3 #7-12
Writer: John Arcudi
Penciler: Tan Eng Huat
Robotman is back again, for the very first time. Issue seven finds Beast Boy and the Doom Patrol – Fast Forward, Fever, Kid Slick, and Freak – digging up the real Cliff Steele’s head in the Smoky Mountains, the site of the previous team’s death. One convenient rendevous with a down-on-his-luck robotics prosthetics engineer later, Robotman has a new body. Beast Boy heads back to Hollywood, where he’s been working as an actor, leaving Robotman to deal with four people he’s never met who have spent the past few months getting to know him.
Along the way, we get to see more of Ted Bruder, aka Fast Forward, as the book’s deepest character gets deeper. We learn more about Ava (Freak), too, as a botched suicide attempt causes her symbiote to break loose and rampage through Doom Patrol HQ. After sorting that out, Robotman sees an article in the paper about an old friend of his – Dorothy Spinner, who featured prominently during Grant Morrison’s time with the team. Turns out the fake Robotman from earlier was brought into being by Dorothy’s power, her ability to bring imaginary friends into being, even while deep in a coma.
Then it’s back to the status quo, or near enough as makes no difference. Robotman officially joins the team, renewing the licensing agreement with Thayer Jost to keep them funded, and they set out to tackle Amazo. That doesn’t happen, as they get sidetracked chasing down the creepy dude responsible for Ava trying to kill herself. With issue ten, Arcudi sends a clear message to the readers about what sort of book this is and will continue to be. The old, familiar Doom Patrol’s not coming back, and this group won’t be taking on big name megabaddies like Amazo. Enjoy it as it is, or read something else.
Click to enlarge.
Along those transparent lines comes issue eleven, where some smoky demon thing messes with the DP’s heads so we can learn more about them. It preys on their fears, taunts them with their hidden weaknesses, attempting to drive them to suicide. That fails, so instead we get a war in Hell, demon vs. demon, as Robotman allies himself with one faction and comes to the DP’s rescue. It’s weird, wild stuff, well worth reading.
New-Type Books
[DC] Blue Beetle Vol. 7 #27
Writer: Will Pfeifer
Penciler: David Baldeon
Mmm, filler. Three kids conjure up some demons for revenge, Jaime and Traci stop them, and that’s that. Aside from making magic a more pronounced weakness for the Blue Beetle and making Jaime doubt himself because of it, this is a throwaway story. That’s to be expected from a guest writer, but there could’ve been more to the journey. Jaime and Traci’s date is broken up by the juvenile mischief, but they weren’t doing anything fun at the time, and I didn’t get the feeling that they’d have a good time if only they could get back together. Everyone’s sort of going through the motions, trying to get to the end of the story without being too obviously in a rush. Last issue was more fun, despite the gimmickry and flat dialogue. That fun carries over to this issue’s cover, but only trickles through to the interior. Next issue figures to be more of the same, Pfeifer’s second and final fill-in before Matthew Sturges takes over.
Back Issues
Just the one new comic this week. Maybe none next week. After that, Fables joins the regular rotation. For now, more back issues.
[DC] Static #22
Writer: Ivan Velez Jr.
Penciler: Wilfred
It’s not getting any better. This issue’s titled "The Dread Chihuahuas of Doom," and that tells you all you need to know. Rick is moping about, rightly feeling guilty for shooting Hotstreak – albeit too guilty considering he didn’t die – when one of the cops who was there shows up to basically say "You just forget about all that now, y’hear? You done good." Not like I want Rick to go to jail or anything, but it’s all too pat. Four pages to sweep it under the carpet. If that’s how you mean to deal with it, why create the conflict in the first place? Oh, and there’s an evil chihuahua. Well, not evil per se, but it’s a dog, so it’s dumb as a rock. It sees threats everywhere, and with a power it doubtless acquired in the Big Bang, turns people into sorta human-dog hybrids to chase the "threats" off. Said chihuahua just happens to show up at the hospital where Virgil’s dad works, giving him more screentime than he’s had in the rest of the series combined. It’s pretty much bad all the way through. Ugly art, bad ideas, poor characterization. Not the same comic it used to be.
[Evil Twin] Action Philosophers #5
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Penciler: Ryan Dunlavy
Edutainment! Van Lente’s an impressive up-and-coming writer getting many projects at Marvel that sound terrible on paper but turn wonderful under his direction. Here, with Dunlavy, he does biographical comics about famous philosophers, combining comedy and historical fact to good result. This issue focuses on French deep thinkers Rene Descartes, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Jacques Derrida. They’re all big into existentialism, so it’s pretty depressing stuff, but the lighthearted approach takes the edge off. I learned, I laughed, and I’d like to read more.
[Udon] Street Fighter II #2
Writers: Ken Siu-Chong, Rey
Pencilers: Alvin Lee, Skottie Young, Rey
Well, it’s boring, idn’t it? I guess I’m beating a dead horse at this point, pointing out that Udon’s Street Fighter was only ever worthwhile as a light actioner, and it doesn’t consistently succeed at that. Ryu fights Sagat, who’d been training with Dhalsim. Duly impressed, Ryu begins training with ‘Sim as Sagat vows to have a proper rematch in the upcoming tournament, which feels a long, long ways off thanks to Chong’s deliberate pacing. The scene with Chun-Li and Gen training is nice, though it’s hard to take Gen seriously as a character with those pupilless eyes. The backup story, with Skottie Young on art, tells of Sagat and Dhalsim’s first meeting and how the latter convinced the former to become his student. It works better than the main story, which isn’t saying much. Everything works better than Rey’s Rival Schools backup, which gives me the impression that I should stay the Hell away from the Rival Schools ongoing.
Trade
[DC] Starman Vol. 1: Sins of the Father
Writer: James Robinson
Penciler: Tony Harris
This, too, came from the 90’s. One of the few times a "hip," new legacy character has been brought in to replace the tired, old original and it worked. It’s hard to believe this takes place in the same world as the forever young adventures of Batman and Superman, where Hal Jordan is deaged and deloused (after being retroactively loused) because change and natural progression are seen as things to be avoided. Starman, the first Starman, Ted Knight… Starman got old and stayed old. He retired, and somehow, the stories endured. They didn’t get worse or stop altogether, they evolved. A new Starman arose. Several, in fact, but they aren’t our focus here. Ours is to see the true legacy, the son of Starman, David Knight- get shot dead on page three. In his place there is no one. The younger son, Jack, aspires only to deal junk. Not as in drugs, as in collectibles. Toys, t-shirts, curios – anything that has value only because someone assigned value to it. Like diamonds, but more niche and far more rare.
Jack doesn’t want to be a superhero, but circumstances conspire against him. His father’s old enemy, The Mist, seeks revenge. Through his own two children, a son and a daughter, he is responsible for David’s death, as well as the destruction of Ted’s laboratory and Jack’s junk shop. Jack nearly dies, relying on one of his father’s old gravity rods to escape. At the hospital he’s lectured by his dad, who calls Jack a coward and bemoans the fact that he lived while heroic Davey died. Jack’s off to an inauspicious start. He barely seems a good sort at all, more interested in beautiful things than people, than family. I don’t blame him, but I have to wonder which is more worth living for. Jack’s father sends him away, but reports of an attack on the museum wing his dead mother bequeathed to the city give Jack a crisis of conscience. Using the gravity rod, he flies off to intervene, to play hero.
"This isn’t the start of anything," Jack tells himself, over and over. But it is. For all he denies it and runs from it, Jack is more a hero than his brother. He relents, he embraces the heritage. Out of love, not guilt. Jack Knight becomes a hero on his own terms, the new Starman. After the four-part origin story, there are two standalone tales. There’s a hunt on for the mystical, mythical Hawaiian shirt upon which Harry Ajax painted the gateway to Heaven, and a mysterious villain is using magic posters to kidnap people. The other is the first "Talking With David" issue, an annual event where Jack meets his dead brother. It’s the trade’s high point, and that’s saying something. Everything but David is in black and white, down to the energy blasts and blood when they fight.
As well as being my introduction to Starman and his corner of the world, this series was the first time I saw the phenomenal pencils of Tony Harris. They’re different here than in Ex Machina, largely due to Gregory Wright’s colors and Wade Von Grawbadger’s inks, but the art stands out clearly amongst average comics. So, too, does the writing. The dialogue is halting and awkward at times, trying a bit too hard to feel natural, but for the most part it’s good. The story is rock solid, a simple revenge plot that gains complexity from the people involved. One action begets another in a natural progression.
Truncation
Doom Patrol – New old Robotman, good as the first/last. These issues clear up the main mystery from the book’s start and firmly establish its direction.
Blue Beetle – Not so bad, but not so good. That’s filler for ya.
Static – Bad, and not in an interesting way.
Action Philosophers – Proof that learning is fun and mental.
Street Fighter II – The art can’t save this poorly-written snoozefest.
Starman – Parts of it remind me why I haven’t so much as considered reading this in years. Most of it reminds me why I loved it once, why I’ll always think well of the 90’s.
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