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January 20, 2005
Subway Reading: Daredevil, BPRD, Wanted, X-Men
Daredevil #69 - The current storyline is solid, and the art by Alex Maleev gets more and more spectacular each month. But for cripes' sake, NOTHING HAPPENS in this issue. Bendis engages in one of his new favorite tricks, which is reproducing scenes from previous issues. Flashbacks fill in some entirely unimportant details about how and why the events of the previous three chapters happened. And then the book ends. Indulgent, crass, and all-around distasteful. Thank heaven for Alex Maleev, because it's on the strength of his effort that I can give this book 2 stars.
BPRD: The Dead #3 - The plot thickens and thickens. I have gotten used to John Arcudi's writing style, which is more straightforward and traditional than Mignola's. I think it works for a story like this, with its ensemble cast and many plotlines. The real stars of this, though, are artist Guy Davis and colorist Dave Stewart. Their work on this book is flat-out amazing. 4.5 stars.
Wanted #6 - This has been a strange series for me, because there is really nobody to root for. The badguys win. I guess that there is nothing inherently wrong with that premise; it makes for an interesting experiment. Just in case you miss the writer's intention, which is to upset the reader, hang on until the last few pages. At that point the Eminem-lookalike protagonist breaks the fourth wall to insult and berate the reader for, among other things, buying the comic book. Like I said, it's an interesting experiment, but not what I would describe as an enjoyable story. JG Jones' artwork will burn the eyes out of your head, though. I mean that in a good way. The guy is a technical wizard.
X-Men #166 - One of my favorite writers, Peter Milligan, takes over with this issue. The story is the sort of stock premise that I have seen a million times before, but it's popular because it works. The B-list X-men show up in the South Pole to investigate a distress signal from some kind of remote "mutant utopia." Surprise, surprise, they get there to find that almost everybody is dead and a mysterious message has been scrawled on the wall in blood. I have not been following the B-list X-Men, so some of the soap opera love triangle stuff went over my head.
The visuals in this issue were not terribly impressive. Penciller Salvador LaRocca has an appealing style, but it was often hard to tell what was going on or who was who. Inker Danny Miki rarely used anything more than the finest fine line and the colors by "Liquid!" were all the same value. These shortcomings only made things less readable. While I'm on the topic of the coloring, I should mention that the special effects that were used on Iceman made him look like more of a ghost than a solid piece of ice.
I got a hearty eye-roll out of the fact that Wolverine is featured prominently on the cover of this issue but is then nowhere to be found inside. Good stuff. All in all, I can't really say that I loved this issue, but out of loyalty to Milligan I am going to hang in there and give the series a chance at redemption. 2 stars.
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at January 20, 2005 01:28 PM
Comments
I think you hit the nail on the head with your comments on Daredevil. I was exasperated enough with the story a few issues ago that showed Matt apologizing to Dr. Strange after the earlier confrontation in the park, but then to have these sorts of flashback play such a central part in this story is annoying. What sets me even more on edge is the upcoming eight (?, ten?) part story that shows what happened during the year Matt cleaned up as the Kingpin. I'd rather see some forward movement from where we are now.
Posted by: Dav at January 20, 2005 07:48 PM
I hear you Dav. A common complaint about the "decompressed" style is the lack of plot movement. I don't necessarily mind the plot stalling a little, as long it is replaced with character development, or setting a tone, or something. This issue just re-heated the events of the last few chapters and killed the momentum of the storyline as a result. I blame the Marvel editorial decisions - either they dictated the length of the story or they used a light editorial hand with Bendis because he is the golden boy. Either way, I would have felt extraordinarily cheated out of my three bucks if it hadn't been for Alex Maleev's artwork.
Posted by: jdonelson_nyc at January 21, 2005 10:22 AM
I really liked the Wanted series, but I agree with you about the breaking of the fourth wall. I liked the whole Matrix-style concept of "the world you live in isn't the real world", and the Fight Club premise that we all have a raving animal inside us that a strict "de-pussification" regime will unleash, but I don't need an "F you" from Mark Millar at the end. His success has gone to his head, I think. You've got quite a few "swing and a miss" books out there amongst your successes, Markie.
Posted by: Peat at January 23, 2005 10:20 AM