Even in my jaded old-age, there is still nothing better than new comic day and a weekly trip down to my local comic shop.  The only real difference between now and when I was younger is my tendency to hit the shop later in the day in order to avoid the inane chatter that goes on Comic Book Guy style fans and counter clerks.  If I see one more overweight comic geek with a fedora and a vest or trenchcoat, I may wind up on a killing spree.

This week’s damage came to a bit over $35 and I walked a way with a big ol’ stack of stuff.  Some good, some bad and some just kind of so-so.  Here’s the list:

1. FX #2 by Wayne Osborne and John Byrne
2. Titans #1 by Judd Winick and Ian Churchill
3. Number of the Beast #1 by Scott Beatty and Chris Sprouse
4. Justice Society of America #14 by Geoff Johns and Dale Eaglesham
5. Wild Cards: The Hard Call #1 by Daniel Abraham and Eric Battle
6. Justice League Unlimited “Ties that Bind” trade paperback by Adam Beechen, Paul D. Storrie and a host of artists

First up this week is FX #2 from IDW, written by Wayne Osborne and drawn by John Byrne.  I was surprised when I saw FX #1 last month because it kind of seemed to come out of nowhere from IDW.  The book is a very 1970s/80s style superhero book about a teenager who winds up with superpowers and what he does with them.  What does he do, you ask?  He does what I’d do — he puts on a costume and heads out to become a superhero.  The story itself is a lot of fun and the storytelling is very solid, but it isn’t anything a regular comic book reader hasn’t seen before.  And, to tell the truth, the week spot is Byrne’s artwork.  Byrne seems to be almost on autopilot with this book — you see the same 4 or 5 standard “Byrne faces,” a lack of backgrounds and very weak inking…the positive side is that even an autopilot John Byrne is far ahead of 90% of what is out on the market.

I’ll stick with FX and would recommend it as a great book for someone interested in getting in to comics.  Also, while there is some violence against giant insect monsters, it is suitable for all age readers. 

The second book in my pile is Titans #1, with words by Judd Winnick and art by Ian Churchill.  I’m going to come clean with this book: I picked it up because I wanted something I knew was going to make for a good “crappy comic” review.  Thankfully, Winnick didn’t let me down.  Now, even though this is the first issue in the new Titans series, it is actually the second part of a story which began in the truly dreadful, Titans East Special from a couple of months ago — you remember the one where Winnick killed off or tortured a bunch of characters no one ever cared about.  Winnick is kind of like a modern version of Marvel’s “Scourge of the Underworld” character, killing off D-list characters in an emotionless story.

In reading Titans #1 I was left with a feeling I had read this story before somewhere…and that it was in a Titans comic.  Then I remember the  fantastic “Judas Contract” storyline from the New Teen Titans series by Wolfman and Perez in the mid 1980s.  Winnick is obviously a fan of that story and decided to “borrow” the plot for his new series.  The books even start off almost the same way, with Dick Grayson (Nightwing) being ambushed and falling from a tall building, saving himself by grabbing onto a flag that tears, leaving Dick with a hard landing.  Okay, in the “Judas Contract” Dick saved himself with his jacket, which tears and leaves him with a hard landing.  Even the narrative balloons are very remaniscant of the original story.  I have to say, I look forward to seeing what classic comics Winnick steals from for his next story!

I do have to say that I didn’t hate Churchill’s art as much as I thought I would.  He’s very much a pinup artist and doesn’t seem to be able to do much more than very static, posed shots, and has a very limited grasp on human anatomy, but it was at least as good as the “story” he was illustrating.  This book was most definitely a waste of the $3.50 I paid for it. 

Third up is Number of the Beast from Wildstory, by Scott Beatty and Chris Sprouse.  The only worthwhile thing to say about this book is that Chris Sprouse is one of the most underrated aritsts in comics these days.  His pencils, especially when paired with an excellent inker like Karl Story, are just plain fantastic.  It’s a shame he’s being given such dreck to work with at Wildstorm…come on, DC, isn’t there something good you can get this man on?  Sheesh.  The writing of Scott Beatty is so heavy handed and over done that it comes across as a bad parody of a bad comic from the 1960s.  The characters all feel the need to announce their names and a few lines of motive..and even the characters themselves feel like something the author created as a kid and just had to bring back in a comic.  What is this, an issue of Savage Dragon?  Beatty seems to be doing his worst impression of a bad Alan Moore comic.  Move along…there’s nothing to see.

Next, I picked up issue 14 of Justice Society of Amercia, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Dale Eaglesham.  There is also a “story by” credit for Alex Ross which I totally dismiss.  I’m not completely sure Ross knows what “story” is and his contribution probably came about from Johns wanting to continue to tie the current DC Universe with that of Squadron Supre…er…Kingdom Come and Ross’ ego demanding a credit for it. 

Anyway, JSA issue 14 is the second part of a story wherein the Justice Society faces off against the “God-Killer” known as Gog.  The book flowed very well and Eaglesham’s artwork is great, as always.  Be warned, tho, this book is not for new readers, even with the new storyline.  You really need to be intimately familiar with who the Justice Society is from previous issues (there are a lot of characters with no real recap or characterization to show who they are) as well as be familiar with the Squandron Supre…er..Kingdom Come (I keep getting them confused) comic from the mid-90s.  Without that familiarity you’re not going to know or care who everyone is or what they are doing.  I enjoyed the book but it is going to be completely inaccessible to new readers.

The fifth comic book sitting here in front of me is Wild Cards: The Hard Call #1, written by Daniel Abraham and drawn by Eric Battle.  I was a monster fan of the Wild Cards novels by George R. R. Martin (and friends), and stuck with it through 12 or so novels.  It was a great prose series dealing with an alternate look at superheroes in the “real world.”  The Dabels Brothers version gets almost the exact opposite of my “Number of the Beast” review.  In issue #1, I enjoyed the writing by Daniel Abraham and what he did with the characters, but the art by Eric Battle looked very much like something drawn by a first year art student.  The work was almost painfully bad and very difficult to follow.  It was a shame to have a well-written book like this tied down with poor artwork.  I hope the Dabel Brothers get smart and put a better on Wild Cards: The Hard Call before dropping the book becomes an “easy call” for its readers.

Last up, and probably the best of the bunch this week, is the Justice League Unlimited: The Ties That Bind trade paperback.  Collecting issues 16-22 of the ongoing Justice League Unlimited series, the trade is made up of a bunch of stand alone stories involving different members of the league.  I can’t say enough good things about this book and the Justice League Unlimited series in general.  This is absolutely the best version of the Justice League that has been done in a long, long time and I wish there were more books like this on the market. 

One of the sad things about the current comic industry is that the old mantra of “comics aren’t JUST for kids” has really become “comics AREN’T for kids.”  Most modern comics are unreadable by outsiders and don’t do much to bring in or develop new readership for the books.  Luckily DC has the sense to continue to put out one of the best superhero books on the market long after its cartoon tie in has gone off the air.  I wish DC would develop an entire line of books based on the Justice League Unlimited universe and give creators a chance to do some solid, exciting books that can be read by kids or anyone interested in getting into comics.  This trade and the previous ones in the JLU series all get a huge recommendation from me to anyone I find who wants to give comic books a try.

That does it for this episode of Comics That Piss Me Off.  Check back next week for a new episode and new comics. 

-Mat N., the Nifty Nerd
http://www.TheNiftyNerd.com