Today I came to the realisation that it’s closer to two years than one since I last got a Piece of fiction, a review, an article or an essay past the rough draft/ideas stage. So here is some stuff what I thought about some comics what I bought yesterday. It will be cathartic.
Doom Patrol #2
Adding this to my pull was the biggest risk I’ve taken in a long time. The only Doom Patrol I’ve read after Rachel Pollack’s run, is the Infinite Crisis stuff that took place in Teen Titans, and as is usual for DC comics of that period, I remember shit all about it.
But thankfully, Kieth Giffen made it clear in his first issue that I shouldn’t really have been paying attention anyway, by dramatically getting rid of half the team. Leaving a core cast that, while different than I’ve ever seen them, really feel like a Doom Patrol. Three damaged individuals leaping head first into SCIENCE MYSTERY at the behest of a weird old wanker who wants them all dead.
The rest of the comic, outside of the Adventures, hasn’t really cohered for me. I’m not entirely sure who anyone is, and I’m unclear as to where Giffen is ultimately taking these threads. (This maybe because I was totally wankered when I read issue #1)
The info dump captions taking the form of journal excerpts and scientific papers etc. Are so far all interesting and informative, giving insight into both plot and cahracter, but they’ll quickly get me irritated if they don’t get a more concrete link to the Text soon. They’re haphazard and random.
I haven’t mentioned the art yet. It’s the best I’ve seen Michael Clark draw to date. It’s boring and generic, but I don’t hate it. Definite plus.
Adventure Comics #2
I would utterly love if a genuine plot never arose here, it could just be the UTTERLY CHARMING adventures of Superboy for a dozen issues or more and I’d be onboard. So it’s disheartening to discover that it ends at #6, and #4 and 5 are MELODRAMA AND GORE crossover issues.
The scenes between Kon-El and Wonder Girl that form the bulk of this issue are wonderful. It’s very nice to see Teenage Romance depicted without any of the shrill histrionics that usually signify the genre in comics, DC’s Titans characters in particular. It all feels emotionally honest and realistic.
I’m loving the core concept of the series, Superboy’s desire to how much of his past and his future is determined be his genetics. It’s not a new idea, but John’s has a new take on it in Kon-El’s simplistic but organized scheme of self-critique. IT’S ALL JUST SO GODDAM CHARMING.
Beasts of Burden #1
This book is fucking gorgeous. I’ve been a fan of Jill Thompson for years, and this is top drawer stuff. It’s a nice one shot about a group of dogs and cats taht solve mysteries. This issues mystery: Frogs that fall from the sky and eat each other until they’re big enough to eat other things.
According to the Editor’s essay at the end of the issue, this is the actually the fifth Beasts of Burden story, which explained why I was so lost throughout. The plot itself is simple and clear, but there’s quite a large cast, and introducing each member, giving a snapshot of their personalities, AND referencing past events and setting them up for future arcs is quite overwhelming. I don’t think Evan Dorkin did a bad job, particularly, but he aimed to achieve a lot, and didn’t quite pull it off smoothly or organically.
Essentially Dazzling 