Sequential Art - November 10th, 2011

Fewer comics than usual, but I balance that out by by geeking out about a few trades I picked up.

Table of Contents

Comics
Batwoman #3
Resurrection Man #3
Demon Knights #3
The Incredible Hulk #1

Manga
Naruto ch.563
Bleach ch.472
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi ch.451+452
Kuroko no Basket ch.111
Hajime no Ippo ch.955
Kimi no Iru Machi ch.157+158

Volumes
The Unwritten Volume 3
Executive Assistant: Iris Volume 1
Irredeemable Volume 1

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 series has an off week. Haven't lost faith yet.
BENCH = Subpar comic. Doubting its value. Needs to redeem itself.
CUT = Bad comic. Not worth continuing to subscribe.

 Batwoman #3

Man, poor Kate Kane. Some kind of Latina grieving ghost is trying to drown her, a secret government organization is trying to out her superhero identity (she outed her sexual identity years ago), and her former sidekick has abandoned her. This chapter showcases Kate's inner turmoil - nothing seems to go her way and the best she can do is have a good cry about it. The Weeping Woman arc will wrap next month, but thus far the real highlight of Batwoman has been Kate herself and J. H. Williams's stunning artwork. STAR


 Resurrection Man #3

We get hints of what this series is all about thanks a demon in Limbo telling Mitch why everyone seems to want a piece of him: both "Upstairs and Downstairs" want Mitch's soul because he represents a "bookkeeping error" that needs resolving - I have a feeling that there's more to it than just that.... Anyhow, the Body Doubles manage to capture Mitch after an intense fight, but before they can make an exit they're interrupted by an acquaintance of Mitch's father. Sure, why not? This story still has me interested enough to keep with it another month. GLUE


 Demon Knights #3

There is not a single square inch of wasted space in this comic. Writer Paul Cornell has an ensemble of seven heroes, several minor characters with real substance, and a large team of villains to work with, and is able to give each of them enough screen time to evoke real concern from readers (i.e. me) when two characters die and a third is likely incapacitated. The fact that this comic has so many fleshed out characters after only three issues is impressive; that it's adding such rich details to its world in every page as well shows real mastery. I'm looking forward to seeing how Demon Knights connects to the modern DC Universe, and even more so looking forward to what happens next. MVP


 The Incredible Hulk #1

Well, I enjoyed Wolverine & The X-Men so much that I checked around for Marvel reboot events like Regenesis. Turns out there were a few, including Magneto: Not a Hero and a few Captain America comics, but the one that appealed to me the most was the Hulk shenanigans. Hulk has at least three or four titles now, including Incredible Hulks (plural) and Incredible Hulk (singular); Hulks continues the old Incredible series, while about a month ago they rebooted Incredible Hulk back down to #1. Here I am now, giving it a shot.

This issue continues a Hulk story I am totally unfamiliar with, but here's the gist of it: for the first time ever, Hulk and Bruce Banner are separate entities. Hulk is self-aware of his existence as a hunted, hated rage monster, and is more articulate than usual; Bruce Banner is without his Hulk persona for the first time in years, and is searching for a greater purpose. Long story short, Bruce Banner has devolved somewhat into a mad scientist trying to recreate Hulk Dr. Moreau-style and S.H.I.E.L.D. wants the newly independent Hulk to stop him. I can see where this character exploration has potential (for both Hulk and Banner), but this issue has too much exposition to really get rolling. The dialog's not bad and there are a couple of solid HULK SMASH moments, but overall this is an okay start and not a superior comic. I'll keep my Marvel scrips to WatXM. BENCH


 Naruto ch.563

Great chapter. We see all five Kages in some over-the-top action, including some crazy bloodline limit techniques, team attacks, "leave this to us" dialog out of Tsunade (said to Naruto himself), and some hints as to Kabuto's next move. Exactly the kind of fight that fans wanted, no real complaints here. No idea how close Madara is to biting the dust. STAR







 Bleach ch.472

This chapter concluded the Byakuya fight, which hopefully means that Tsukishima is dead and won't be bothering readers any longer. Tsukishima has perfect knowledge of Byakuya's techniques thanks to his bullshit bookmark sword powers, so Byakuya's solution is, well, to improvise. I guess that makes sense. Probably a nice chapter for Byakuya fans, especially since he has to get his hands dirty to win, uncharacteristically. Honestly liked the end of this fight better than I thought I would; smart money is on Rukia vs. Riruka next week. GLUE


History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi ch.451+452

Miu's brainwashing is still creepy, and Kenichi teams up with Sakaki again for an Indonesian adventure. Not bad for setup, and Sakaki is definitely a man and a half (love all five of Kenichi's style-specific masters). My guess is that they'll get involved in the civil war somehow, and Miu will face off against Hongou and get some flashbacks to Kenichi and/or Shou down the line. I guess I'll have to read and find out. GLUE


Kuroko no Basket ch.111

OK start to a training arc. Riko's dad is a basketball player? I guess we'll learn why she hated basketball at the start of the series. Not much else to see here, but I guess we'll see if this training arc is awesome (like PUSHING A GODDAMN TRUCK ACROSS THE DESERT in ES21) or lame (like... chopping wood in the mountains or some shit). I just hope they don't shortchange or rush the Touou match like they have other games in this series. FUNK


Hajime no Ippo ch.955

I think this chapter used its full 16 pages on one jab, then a failed offensive by Itagaki. Ippo always has good match drama, but their match pacing is reliably slow. So far I'm not impressed, but I know this will get good and soon. I always like Itagaki's matches. FUNK


Kimi no Iru Machi ch.157+158

Oh man, all the Haruto hate. Just because he and Yuzuki covered for Rin and picked a bad night to hang out, Yuzuki's dad freaks the fuck out. Dunno where this is going - Yuzuki might straight-up run away from home, Rin or Haruto's neighbor might make a move on Haruto, or hell if I know. GLUE


 The Unwritten Volume 3 (paperback)

Volume 3 gives readers of The Unwritten a better idea of the series' big picture and finally lets Tom Taylor make the transition from unwilling, jaded victim of bizarre circumstances into determined hero with undetermined powers. The “literature cabal” (?) at the center of The Unwritten's mystery has got to be one of the strangest secret organizations I've ever encountered in fiction, but seeing them in action in Volume 3 put the seemingly out of place Rudyard Kipling chapter in Volume 1 into proper perspective. Also, there's an entire chapter told as a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure comic. Seriously. Volume 3 resolves a few of The Unwritten's mysteries and contains some major plot revelations and developments; for that you have to give it some credit. Great series. STAR


 Executive Assistant: Iris Volume 1 (paperback)

This comic is kind of ridiculous. It's also kind of awesome, but... you'll see what I mean. Executive Assistant: Iris is about scantily-clad sexy female spies/assassins working for business executives, doing things like eliminating troublesome officials and rivals in between keeping schedules and serving tea. There's a lot of Kill Bill-esque girl on girl violence; the action and panel transitions are good; and the art is bold and vibrant. If anything, this comic suffers from being a little juvenile and very predictable. Executive Assistant piles on the gratuitous T&A and the plot developments were never surprising - Iris begins to doubt her mission, falls in love, disobeys orders, et cetera. ExAss (heh) is not bad, far from it, but reading it didn't get me hyped, didn't make me think, and didn't get me invested in its characters. I won't pick up Volume 2. GLUE


 Irredeemable Volume 1 (paperback)

“In superhero comics, pretty much everyone who's called upon to put on a cape is, at heart, emotionally equipped for the job. I reject that premise” (Mark Waid). Holy fuck. So begins what might be the most thought-provoking superhero comic book I've ever read not named Watchmen. Irredeemable is a hell of a what-if scenario, in which The Plutonian (a superhero of startling power similar to Superman) loses his shit and starts murdering other superheroes and terrorizing the entire world for reasons unknown.

After reading the first volume, I almost immediately jumped on Amazon.com for the next two. Here's a taste: The Plutonian murders several superheroes and supervillains, compresses space debris into diamonds, and then destroys a small country by launching said diamonds into it like a meteor shower. His former teammates are scrambling to survive and also attempting to track down The Plutonian's associates to try and find a motivation for his change in behavior or, even better, a weakness. If anything, I'm making this not sound as good as it actually is. Irredeemable is FANTASTIC and if you like superheroes even a little then you should at least give it a shot. This will not be my only foray into the work of Waid, either. STAR

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That's all, folks. Time to play more Radiant Historia and Uncharted 3.