Comics

Courtney Crumrin #10

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Courtney Crumrin #10The end of a storyline isn’t usually the best place to jump into a new comic, but that’s what I did Courtney Crumrin #10 from Oni Press which I’d been meaning to check out for some time. The comic, written and drawn by Ted Naifeh, centers around the adolescent Courtney Crumrin who, as this issue begins, has forgotten that she is the most powerful witch in the town thanks to the council of witches’ spell to keep the girl out of the way of their quest for the ultimate power.

A bit off and odd girl, Courtney is forced to deal with bullying at the middle school, the off-and-on attention of her scattered parents, and, in this issue, the impeding death of her Uncle Aloysius who taught the girl witchcraft and, with his last remaining breath, restores Courtney’s memories and power allowing her to stop the council once and for all.

With the main character a little lost, and having to be reintroduced to her world, the issue works well as an introduction to Courtney and her world and delivers a pretty good tale. Worth a look.

[Oni Press, $3.99]

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The Flash #17

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The Flash #17Although the storyline has overstayed its welcome by at least one issue (and maybe two), “Gorilla Warfare” comes to a satisfactory end here as the Flash battles Grodd inside the Speed Force, Iris and the other victims trapped inside finally make it home, the Rogues‘ heroic stand comes to an end, and Barry Allen officially returns to the land of the living (using a similar ruse to bring back Clark Kent after the Death of Superman storyline).

Co-writer/artist Francis Manapul gives us plenty of action for the finale and manages to wrap up quite a few lingering threads in the process. He also foreshadows what’s coming next for the fastest man alive which includes more trouble with Dr. Elias and the first appearance since Flashpoint of the Reverse-Flash (who sadly, like nearly every other DC character, has gotten a thoroughly awful makeover).

The Flash #17 is a good conclusion to an arc that I enjoyed much of but am happy to see end. I’m interested to see what version of the Reverse Flash we’ll be getting, but I can’t be anything other than disappointed by another unnecessary redesign of a classically cool costume. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]

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Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1

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Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1Although the Guardians of the Galaxy make only a cameo appearance at the end of the issue, this .1 reintroduction of Peter Quill is a must-read for any fan of the character. Writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Steve McNiven use the issue to explore the origin of the hero before the series relaunches later this month.

Although I find it humorous that Bendis basically gives Star-Lord the the origin of Christopher Daniel Barnes from the Starman TV-show, it certainly works well as Peter Quill’s mother meets an alien from another world and falls in love, only discovering her pregnancy after he’s returned to the stars.

The majority of the comic is spent on Meredith’s time with the man from the stars and the tragedy involving the adolescent Peter Quill first encounter with that Badoon which would push him to the stars years later. Simply running out of pages, this means we don’t really get any information on how Peter became Star-Lord here. The story we do get is well-told and terrifically illustrated by Steve McNiven.

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The Lone Ranger #13

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The Lone Ranger #13In another stand alone tale, the Lone Ranger and Tonto’s travels take them to the Northern Colorado Territory where the pair take on Melton Coy who makes his money by selling Chinese women to the discerning buyer, for the right price. After scoping out the operation undercover, the Ranger and Tonto ride into town to take down the entire operation.

Before the day is done the women will be freed and on their way with enough silver to begin their new lives far from the town which allowed such wickedness to continue and is burning to the ground behind them.

The issue works well providing a villain that almost makes the Lone Ranger loose his temper. There’s also a couple of nice scenes where the Lone Ranger earns the womens’ trust first through his badge and later through a single silver bullet. That final piece also ties into the issue’s opening scene at an Antiques Roadshow where a woman with family heirloom and a legendary story about her grandmother’s grandmother adventure with a masked man helps set the stage for what follows. For fans.

[Dynamite, $3.99]

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Batman Incorporated #8

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Batman Incorporated #8Let’s get this straight before discussing the awfulness that is Batman Incorporated #8, I’m about as far as you can get from a Grant Morrison fan. The comic writer certainly has his devoted followers, but although I think he can sometimes create something worthwhile completely outside of DC continuity (All-Star Superman), most of the time I’m sick to death of his overly-complex (and at times nearly incomprehensible) stories which force well-established characters into roles that don’t fit them in order to create a “definitive” version of the characters purely to serve the man’s massive ego.

Back in 2006 Grant Morrison introduced the character of Damian Wayne, the offspring of Batman and Talia al Ghul. Rather than use existing Batman stories which laid the groundwork for the character’s existence (and he couldn’t even be bothered to read until his version had been published), Morrison made up his own convoluted tale involving genetic manipulations and clones. And so Damian, the genetic (but not quite biological) offspring of the Dark Knight and the daughter of one of his greatest enemies was born.

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