Sequential Art - October 14th, 2011

Here's week 2 of my new blog experiment where I talk about comics and manga a lot. DC put out its "second week" comics on Wednesday, so I have some of those plus some first week comics I didn't review in the first Sequential Art post. I also have even MORE manga to talk about this week, as no series I follow took a week off. I'll probably forget or neglect one or two that I read, just like how I forgot Kuroko last week.

First, a refresher course on my rating system, AFTER MY TABLE OF CONTENTS WHICH CERTAINLY WASN'T EDITED IN TWO WEEKS LATER THAT'S CRAZY TALK:

Table of Contents

Comics
Batwing #2
O.M.A.C. #2
Batwoman #2
Demon Knights #2
Resurrection Man #2
Mr. Terrific #2

Manga
Naruto ch.559
One Piece ch.642
Bleach ch.468
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi ch.448
Fairy Tail ch.254
Kuroko no Basket ch.105
Rosario to Vampire II ch.46
Kimi no Iru Machi ch.154
Beelzebub ch.128

Volumes
Spider-Man: Blue

Rating System
MVP = Most Valuable Pages. Best issue or chapter of my week.
STAR = Good comic being good, makes me want to keep reading it.
GLUE = Not outstanding, but not bad. Could be worth reading.
FUNK = Good comic has an off week. Won't drop it. Haven't lost faith yet.
BENCH = Subpar comic. Doubting its value. Needs to redeem itself.
CUT = Bad comic. Not worth continuing to subscribe.


 Batwing #2

Surprisingly good. This issue gave us a Batman appearance (quite common in the New 52) and more setup for the villain Massacre, who seems to be murdering African policemen AND African superheroes (two groups that include Batwing, David Zambivi, as a member). I'm still a little puzzled/amused that they're setting Batwing in AFRICA and not a real or fictional African nation, but this one has more strengths than weaknesses. I'm not a huge fan of Batwing #2's panel transitions and action choreography, but the art is quite strong otherwise, with a distinctive muddiness to the characters that works well. GLUE


 O.M.A.C. #2

A lot of reviewers, especially the notoriously fickle Linkara, have laughed at or lamented the huge number of secret behind-the-scenes organizations present in DC's New 52. O.M.A.C. is a poster child for that particular excess, as it's about an employee of the cover agency for one of these organizations whose body is hijacked by a powerful A.I. that was created by said organization. Or that's what I think is going on. This comic had a lot of over-the-top action and even a catchphrase that makes it delightfully retro ("OMACTIVATE!"), but it's a shallow read. I think my O.M.A.C. career is over. CUT


 Batwoman #2

Amazing art. J. H. Williams III is probably my favorite artist of all the ones I've sampled these past few weeks, and might be my favorite American comic book artist of all time. Batwoman #2 is even more obviously a follow-up to Batwoman: Elegy than #1 was, with the aftermath of a battle involving were-creatures and a meta-human. It's probably confusing or even a bit alienating if you haven't read Elegy, but I ate up every second of it. Batwoman #2 ups the intrigue on Kate's relationship with Detective Sawyer and puts the pressure on Batwoman with both a final-page hook and the presence of a secret organization (ha!) trying to discover her identity. Bottom line: read Elegy, then start on this new series. It's good. STAR


 Demon Knights #2

This issue didn't have *quite* the awesome dialogue of #1 ("we find the source of the problem, and we throw dragons at it"), but fleshes out the cast with action AND exposition from six of the seven main characters and solid art that conveys good details and total chaos. Vandal Savage steals the show, playing the part of the hedonistic barbarian with a cultured streak, feasting on dragons as he kills them and doling out one-liners. Seriously. The last few pages startle the reader with what this medieval Magnificent Seven is going up against. It's pulpy and far from the understated brilliance of Animal Man or even Aquaman, but I like where this is headed. STAR


 Resurrection Man #2

A weird comic just got weirder. Our hero, Mitch, seems to understand what his powers are but very little else about himself or whatever else is going on. Resurrection Man #2 had less action than #1, but this was for the best as this series had some 'splaining to do. The two random coeds from #1 are teleporting hit-women called the Body Doubles and the mysterious red-marked soul hunters are still mysterious and creepy. Hopefully we'll get more information in #3, because I'm still confused. But not turned off. GLUE


 Mister Terrific #2

I like Michael Holt somewhat, but not enough. Calling him a black Tony Stark is a little unfair, because Stark is more charming and more flawed. The pseudo-science in this issue made me roll my eyes and Mr. Terrific's supporting cast is weak - I couldn't give two shits about the romance subplot, which might or might not involve the New 52's version of Power Girl. The story's villain, Brainstorm, could get interesting later but right now just seems like a typical megalomaniac psychic. Don't think I'll be picking up #3. CUT


 Naruto ch.559

I'm almost embarrassed to say this, but Naruto is finally living up to its first few arcs. Maybe I'm just feeling smug because I'm 99% sure my predictions from more than four years ago are accurate, but this chapter had it all: action on multiple fronts, appearances from several fan-favorite characters, major plot revelations, and a final-page hook. I'm probably exaggerating or overrating this chapter, but I'm gonna roll with it. MVP




 One Piece ch.642

Better than last week, definitely. We see several of the Straw Hat vs. Fish Men fights start up, the current situation with the civilians in the city, and plenty of silly shenanigans. This chapter was necessary after last week's chapter of Luffy struggling and naught else. Zoro's awesome end-chapter line was icing on the cake: "You want to kill me? You couldn't even kill my boredom." STAR





 Bleach ch.468

Last week's Ikkaku chapter was good, and his reappearance in this chapter is one of few highlights. I'm not the biggest Byakuya fan, so watching him mouth off against Tsukishima, a similarly elitist and depressing villain, wasn't much fun. It's easy to hate on Bleach nowadays, but I'll keep reading it since it only steals about 2 minutes of my week, with its slow transitions and massive panels. Welcoming the end of the XCution arc. FUNK




History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi ch.448

Last week's Kenichi was so action-packed and dramatic that I probably should have given it a better rating than I did, but this one comes back down to earth. We see glimpses of Hongou plus nearly every member of the Shinpaku Alliance reacting to the news of Miu's capture. Overall, nothing special. Didn't even blink at Miu's brief appearance at the end. FUNK

Fairy Tail ch.254

When you remove 95% of a manga's core characters, you have a lot of ground to make up. This chapter was flat and a little depressing - I guessed right when I assumed that the teaser character at the end of 253 was Natsu's buddy from the manga's second arc, but that detail was so throw-away that I'm not even proud of it. Hopefully it picks up soon, because I might be shelving it until it does. BENCH

Kuroko no Basket ch.105

I fuckin' love this manga. It's like Slam Dunk, but with a little less heart and more ridiculousness. Hanamiya's the best villain in the series thus far other than Aomine, and his special skills - breaking down defenses with near-precognitive steals and perfectly hiding nasty fouls to injure his opponents' best players - are a perfect combination of effective and straight-up evil. Kuroko's counter-tactic is silly, but inspired. Kind of like this entire manga. STAR

Rosario to Vampire II ch.46

What!? You mean a joke of a cheesecake series is actually good!? Well, it's still a joke of a cheesecake series, but it's been on a shounen kick for the past several months to great effect - popular supporting characters fighting one evil monster lieutenant at a time. The manga's harking to its earlier "monster of the week" days, but now including over-the-top combat that is better-constructed than in RtV I. Only held back by sticking to old jokes in this chapter's Rubi fight. GLUE

Kimi no Iru Machi ch.154

Goddamn filler. Extremely uneventful except for one minor new detail near the end. Just some flirting, nervous talk with girlfriend's parents, and Haruto being a dumbass. FUNK

Beelzebub ch.128

Exposition chapter, but it was necessary. We get some details about Zenjuuro's past with the new trainer character, and a few shots of the weaker characters doing some training and teaming up with the sacked demon nannies. Humor was pretty good - Kunieda can't hold her alcohol. GLUE

Spider-Man: Blue (hardcover)

Kind of a letdown. I was hoping to get an exciting Spider-Man comic from my all-time favorite Batman writer, Jeph Loeb, but what I got was some rushed combat that lacked drama and tons of glamor shots of Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson. If you're a fan of those two characters as pin-up girls, then this is the comic for you. If you wanted a signature Spider-Man experience, then search elsewhere. Oh, and it's framed as Peter Parker's memoir about his first love, which makes it more sad instead of more sentimental. I think this book could have benefited from being longer (it was only 6 or 7 issues), but pacing is not its only problem. BENCH

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That's all, folks! Right now playing some Final Fantasy IV postgame and struggling to finish more shit before Layton lands next week.