Hello! My name is Lenny Schwartz and I’m a playwright from Rhode Island and New York.
This week I am writing my reviews from a cell phone waiting for the judge to appear in traffic court for a ticket I already paid for long ago.
But enough about me, let’s talk comics!!
Superman: The Coming of The Supermen #1
Written by Neal Adams and Tony Bedard and illustrated by Neal Adams.
Published by DC Comics
Neal Adams is a legendary artist.
There is no disputing that. His work at DC Comics in the 60s and 70s changed the way we looked at comic books. Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Batman, Deadman…these were books Adams excelled on. I give Adams a lot of credit. This is going on his sixth decade of being in the field. He’s still going.
But is that a good thing?
In recent years Adams created Batman: Odyssey…a much reviled take on Batman. I’m sad to say that this comic book is actually kind of worse. Here is the plot as much as I can surmise. Superman finds out there is a planet of Supermen out there and it involves The New Gods and time travel and Egypt.
Oy vey.
The story is pretty much as convoluted as it gets. It’s pretty bad. Bedard (a writer I’ve always liked) does what he can but it hurts to look at. The art is passable for what Adams cranks out these days…but it lacks the luster of what he used to be able to do.
Again, Adams has been working in the field for so long you’ve got to give him credit. However, this stinks on ice. Adams has said in recent interviews this is his bid to get the New Gods onto movie screens. He shouldn’t have bothered as he’s doing them no favors. Adams is a legendary creator for sure. But this book?
Rating: F
The Pitiful Human Lizard Volume 1
Written and Illustrated by Jason Loo
Published by Chapterhouse Comics
My editor sends me the best titles and god I love him for it. Up next is another comic funded initially by Kickstarter that I have never heard about til now…The Pitiful Human Lizard…a collection. I can’t make this stuff up.
Here’s the story: Toronto’s got a new superhero! And he’s pitiful!Lucas Barrett is a 9-5 office lackey during the day and a struggling superhero on evenings and weekends. He’s also broke.
While his job salary is not enough to support his crime-fighting hobby, Lucas finds an alternate plan that may heighten his superhero status.
I liked this book! It’s nutty, fun, and it’s got great characters. The action is well done and very thought out. It’s a decent enough book.
Jason Loo reminds me of Mike Allred and even Dean Haspiel and I mean that in the best of ways. The only drawback is some of the art and dialogue is stilted…especially in some of the scenes of two people talking. Still there is a lot of heart in this. I commend that. Give it a read as I did enjoy a lot of it.
Rating: B-
A & A: The Adventures of Archer & Armstrong #1
Written by Rafer Roberts and Illustrated by David LaFluente
Published by Valiant Comics
I love Archer & Armstrong.
From their initial offering in the 90s to the most recent series, the two never seem to fail to entertain. The last series by Fred Van Lente was pretty much a classic for me. How does this new series fare?
Well, it’s actually not bad. It’s just a different look at what I typically love. And it’s only the first issue so it might turn out amazing but I’m not sure I see that yet.
For the uninitiated Archer & Armstrong is the following:
Meet Armstrong: Since the ancient city of Ur, this immortal adventurer has spent the last 7,000 years drinking and carousing his way through history alongside some of the greatest merrymakers the world has ever known.
Meet Archer: A sheltered teenage martial arts master and expert marksman that was raised for a single purpose – to kill the devil incarnate. Little did he know that this undying evil was actually Armstrong (he’s actually a pretty good guy…once you get to know him) and, since hitting the road together, the two have become great friends and even better partners.
Now: Archer is about to set off on his most dangerous mission yet – a quest into the mystic reaches of Armstrong’s bottomless satchel to liberate his friend and comrade from the clutches of the mad god Bacchus! (Okay, so, Armstrong went into the satchel himself to get a bottle of whiskey that he kinda misplaced and got stuck. It’s like the Amazon warehouse of arcane treasures in there…and he doesn’t exactly have a maid service.)
To be honest, the story was a little cartoony for me. LaFluente is an artist I generally love but it doesn’t quite fit in this universe. And the story for this is a little out there. I’ll read it maybe it’ll improve, but it lacks the magic of the two other series. And I know exactly why.
Archer & Armstrong is a buddy comedy. It’s silly, it’s fun but there should always be something that grounds it in reality. Roberts doesn’t seem to have put that in his story opting instead for comedy and hijinks. Some of it works. Most of it doesn’t.
This is a shame as I really wanted to like the series. And hey it’s only the first issue…but for now it’s being rated as the following:
Rating: C
The Walking Dead #152
Written by Robert Kirkman and Illustrated by by Charlie Aldard
Published by Image Comics
Well, we all know The Walking Dead television show has taken off and is one of the hottest things on. I haven’t been that much of a fan however. Why? Well, besides season three, the comic book is actually infinitely better. I put the current issue down as the one I’m reviewing but it’s tough to do without spoilers. Instead I’ll just talk about the series as a whole.
Kirkman is kind of what we were all hoping M. Night Shamalayan would be…someone who redefines a genre (see also Outcast). The Walking Dead comic is 152 issues in and man, it’s impressive he has kept the quality up.
My only problem is that the book gets damn boring sometimes. Kirkman can write, but man can he overwrite. Sometimes it can be a bit dull. But Aldard’s art is superb and always fitting…and nobody draws the dead like him.
I do miss original series artist Tony Moore (one of the greats), but give Adlard a hand…he’s drawn the book for almost 150 issues and never phones it in.
This comic was called “United in Fear” as a title and it has some great events…the keeper though is the character of Negan. He is soon to be part of the tv series. And hopefully that will pick the series up from boring the hell out of me to something great. The show pales in comparison to the comic book. And the comic is always consistent…which is hard to do on a monthly basis.
Rating: B
Archie: Volume One
Written by Mark Waid with Art by Fiona Staples, Annie Wu and Veronica Fish
Published by Archie Comic Publications
Since I started, my editor sends me a list of upcoming Archie releases. And truth be told I have never been an Archie fan. Yet, recently they’ve been doing some cool things over there. Afterlife with Archie was actually a ton of fun when I read the first few issues. And then this came along…and I like Mark Waid but why the heck should I read it?
Then I saw Fiona Staples name. I’m obsessed with her work. Her comic Saga is brilliant and she is just brilliant. So I decided to give it a chance. I’m glad I did. Waid does top notch work here writing. I couldn’t put it down. The first three issues have Staples art and all three are great. But honestly they are all great.
This is not a reboot at all. Waid tells us a story we already know (Archie and Jughead and Betty and Veronica in high school in Riverdale) but it does something unique…it tells a story. And it does it without irony. It’s wonderful.
Staples kills on the art on the first three issues. She does a magnificent job of not only getting us into the world we are used to…but showing us new places in it. Bravo. Wu and Fish both prove capable as well. I missed Staples but the story is compelling and the whole thing feels fresh. I’m glad I gave this a chance.
Rating: A-
BURIED TREASURE PICK
El Borbah
Written and Illustrated by Charles Burns
Published by Fantagraphics Books
Before he created Black Hole, Charles Burns created this gem. One of my favorite books ever to be released from one of my favorite creators, El Borbah is one of his first masterpieces. You’ll see his work pop on here from time to time. That’s because in my book? Burns is a genius.
The tag line is as such: “Meet El Borbah, a 400-pound private eye who wears a Mexican wrestler’s tights and an eerie mask. Subsisting entirely on junk food and beer, El Borbah conducts his investigations with tough talk and a short temper. He smashes through doors and skulls as he stalks a perfectly realized film-noir city filled with punks, geeks, business-suited creeps and mad scientists.”
El Borbah is Burns’ earliest work, created in the early 1980s, though the work remains eerily contemporary. Steeped in a “sci-fi-noir” aesthetic informed by Burns’ steadily childhood diet of B-movies and comic books, but with a sophisticated sense of humor that is often as disturbing as it is funny, El Borbah is comics as its most entertaining.
The book is funny, sweet, oddly sentimental, and just plain original. Burns just hits all the right notes and hits them perfectly. The writing, the art…it’s a complete package. It’s not much to get a copy on Amazon…so do it. This is top notch, top shelf work.
Put that crappy Spider-Man comic down and enjoy something real. You won’t be disappointed.
Rating: A
And that’s it for this week! I made it out of traffic court with a $4.25 random fee…but that’s a story for another time.
Thank you all and until next week, I remain….
Lenny Schwartz
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