In a pedestrian week of comics, is it possible that one can rise up as a diamond in the rough? Will it be Green Arrow? Of course it'll be Green Arrow.
Go Go Power Rangers #10
Writer: Ryan Parrott / Artist: Dan Mora / Colors: Raul Angulo / Letters: Ed Dukeshire
The "Shattered Grid" tie-in continues by tangentially involving the characters from the event itself and continuing to focus on the alternate-future Kimberly assaulting the young Power Rangers, proving she is truly an enemy to be feared. In a way she's like a precursor to the Green Ranger; strong, smart, working with Rita, and knowing where and how to hit the Rangers were it hurts them. She's a pretty effective antagonist and comes with her own awesome Megazord to boot. Kimberly fans all over must be rejoicing since this Power Rangers comics renaissance: she's awesome in the main series, she's showing two great sides here, and she got her own awesome solo series.
But beyond the second-best Pink Ranger (sorry Kim, but, Jen's my girl) and her dynamism, we also get some pretty cool stuff with Billy, Trini, and Jason, really delving into their characters and relationships. There's also this guy Matt that seems pretty interesting but since I haven't read the book prior to the "Shattered Grid" stuff I kind of don't know who he is or why he's that way. But where there's strange characters there is good action, and since there's plenty of one, there's plenty of the other.
Dan Mora's art is still great, fitting the tone and style of the book and reboot of the "Power Rangers" franchise into comics. It's distinguishable from the artists on the main title while still keeping with the aesthetic that BOOM! Studios clearly wants to establish with the universe. Also he draws a great evil Pink Ranger outfit, that thing is legit. Also the Gravezord? Super cool, can't wait to see more of it.
Green Arrow #41
Writer: Mairghread Scott / Pencils: Matthew Clark / Inks: Sean Parsons / Colors: Jason Wright / Letters: Deron Bennett
At first glance, like looking at the solicitation, this basically seems like it would be fan-fiction: Green Arrow has to fight countless other super villains that aren't his own and has to do it in a prison lockdown. Seems like a power trip for the guy, but you know what I've been really curious to see how this team handles this premise and I got EXACTLY what I wanted: showcasing that Green Arrow is probably the most unpredictable superhero in the DCU and far and away one of the best non-powered combatants in the DCU to boot. We see him clean house here, but it isn't as if he's doing it without getting some serious injuries. He goes most of the comic with a dislocated shoulder and just has to make stuff up as he goes.
Mairghread Scott nails the voice of Oliver Queen as well as anyone, and clearly understands his rationale as a fighter and as a hero. While I'm not the biggest fan of a ton of voiceover in a comic (since it's a visual medium), it's done in such a strong Green Arrow voice that it feels less like someone narrating and more like someone just thinking to themselves to stay calm. Sometimes in superhero comics heroes go on these great internal soliloquies to themselves that feel just so weird. Nobody thinks like that, they think like how it's represented here.
Matthew Clark draws a fantastic Green Arrow, perfectly capturing the new "Rebirth" design and putting it in action right away. The action here also flows very well, better than it has in some recent Green Arrow issues. Sean Parsons also serves a great complement to Clark by adding an extra layer and depth to the comic. Jason Wright's colors don't start to really pop and standout until the end, when the lighting gets noticeably different due to an environmental change. Also he colors a darn fine emerald. Man is that a nice color on Green Arrow.
Infinity Countdown #4
Writer: Gerry Duggan / Pencils: Aaron Kuder, Mike Hawthorne / Inks: Aaron Kuder, Terry Pallot & Jose Marzan Jr. / Colors: Jordie Bellaire / Letters: VC's Cory Petit
The lead-in comic to Infinity Wars continues along here and we get basically more of the same, only at a slower pace and with a much larger pay off at the end. We again do a lot of focusing in on the Guardians of the Galaxy as they deliberate what to do with the Power Stone and get some interesting resolution to Silver Surfer asking Galactus to become a World Eater just one more time, and the end of the book definitely leaves things in an interesting place for the two (though I'm a bit disraught at what it means, as a fan of the recent Ultimates 2 stuff).
Hawthorne's art dominates most of the comic, since most of the comic is dominated by the Guardians stuff, and it remains pretty solid stuff, especially complemented by Jordie Bellaire's colors and the myriad inkers on the book. Marvel certainly isn't sparing any expenses in making sure the people reading this comic are liking how it looks visually. I certainly like the stuff with Kuder, who I believe does the material for Silver Surfer, Adam Warlock, and Ultron. That remains my favorite part of the comic, and it's arguably the best stuff. While the most intriguing may be what's going down with the dwarf at the beginning (and the person that is probably Requiem), I still really like getting to see Adam and Ultron throw down. Gotta love Pymtron, man.
Justice League #1
Writer: Scott Snyder / Pencils: Jim Cheung / Inks: Mark Morales / Colors: Tomeu Morey / Letters: Tom Napolitano
The long-awaited Scott Snyder Justice League comic is here! Man, people have been asking for this dude to be on this comic since "Rebirth" started, so, was it worth the wait? Tough to tell after just one issue. He's certainly keeping the focus off the core group, though, as this issue has a ton to deal with regarding Martian Manhunter and his relationship with the team and world at large. Wisely, the book does not overlook the major absence that Manhunter had from the DCU proper and it deals with that in interesting ways.
It also fulfills the promise that there wouldn't just be the core roster, that there would be others who fight alongside the Justice League as the whole broken-Source-Wall deal gets dealt with. We get to see Plastic Man, Green Arrow, Zatanna, and a whole bunch of others fight alongside the League while they deal with an attack by Vandal Savage. However, while there's a ton of action, there's also a lot of talking, and it can get pretty boring at times. The book feels like it has an odd pace to it while it sets up J'onn's relationships, the Legion of Doom, and whatever the thing is that's coming from the Source Wall to Earth.
Cheung's art is still phenomenal, but for my money he did a better job over on Marvel 2-in-1. Maybe that has to do with the people he has with him; maybe Mark Morales just doesn't ink Cheung as well as the others. Tomeu Morey does great with the coloring work, so, it's not that. This could also be my expectations being way too high for this after seeing what he could really do last week. I suppose it does do a great job of establishing character designs and a tone for the book moving forward.
The Man of Steel #2
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis / Artists: Doc Shaner, Steve Rude, Jason Fabok / Colors: Alex Sinclair / Letters: Josh Reed
Strange how fast we went from Rogol Zaar being the main mystery to "what's going on with Clark and Lois," but, honestly, I much prefer that mystery. I don't really care for Rogol Zaar as much as I do the Kent family. What did happen with them? It seems more and more likely that they were kidnapped, but, was it by Zaar? Was it by someone else? We've seen that scene twice now (both times excellently drawn by Jason Fabok, by the way) and it still doesn't give many clues.
Also, give propers to BMB for continuing to make the Guardians of the Universe the most useless, arrogant, and selfish beings in existence. Thumbs-up for consistency, those guys are a bunch of punks. But also give props to BMB for nailing the characterizaiton of Perry White and Jimmy Olsen, those two are a hoot every time they're on the page and feel right at home in Metropolis. I also really liked the Green Lantern cameo we got this issue, it was nice to see Superman and Hal hanging out even for a little bit, and showing the respect but off-putting awkardness that exists between the two.
Doc Shaner does an excellent job with the front half of the book, continuing to show us the stuff on Earth and getting us familiar with some of the new characters as well as throwing in some good-looking action in the big fight of the comic. Steve Rude does well in the second half as he has to get a little more creative with the alien character designs and he draws those final scenes very well.
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