Sequential Art - December 22nd, 2011

This is what a normal Sequential Art post should be sized, but the content is a little different due to the lack of early Shounen Jump this week and the surprise extra comic. I want to keep most of these posts to about a dozen reviews, but I need to do some paring down before I can get down to that number. Anyhow, read on. Not only is Week 3 is my favorite DC Comics week, but my one Marvel series got bumped down thanks to the DC off-week awhile back.

Table of Contents

Comics
Justice League #4
Batman #4
Wonder Woman #4
Supergirl #4
Wolverine & the X-Men #3

Manga
Beelzebub ch.137
Toriko ch.169
Kuroko no Basket ch.117
Hajime no Ippo ch.959
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi ch.457
Liar Game ch.142

Volumes
Irredeemable Volume 5

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.

 Justice League #4

Busy chapter. Not a whole lot happened time-wise, but PLENTY happened in terms of major events. Cyborg comes to life and is following some kind of programming; he seems to be able to communicate with the invaders. The assembled heroes squabble a little, and we get a scene of Batman laughing (off-panel). The last few pages show one of DC's most legendary villains entering the fray. Justice League has consistently good banter and some fabulous spreads and action art, but it's not next-level-awesome like some of the other New 52. GLUE


 Batman #4

FANTASTIC background details in this issue. Batman has the best third-person narration of any DC series, and we get some quality dialog between Bruce, Alfred, and Dick talking about Bruce making this case too personal. Wayne relates part of his childhood (it's a helluva flashback) and does some detective work that only proves that the Court of Owls the coolest fucking conspiracy in the DCnU. Next issue should be some straight-up Batman vs. The Court and I'm 100% on board. STAR


 Wonder Woman #4

Wow. Some heavy shit. We get Apollo chatting with Ares, who's surprisingly taking a backseat in this conflict, and Diana retreating back to her adopted home of London, in a bit of a funk due to her newfound daddy issues (a plot point I approve of thus far). So, Hera visits Paradise Island and shit gets real. Then Apollo and Ares finish their conversation, and shit gets realer. This Wonder Woman issue was light on action, but oh man did it set a scene and drop some bombs. STAR



 Supergirl #4

Dammit Supergirl, I just don't know how to quit you. Supergirl #4 has a lot going for it - we see her new nemesis for the crazed, driven mad engineer that he is, but even better we see Supergirl's opinion of humans improve somewhat and escape the facility in spectacular fashion. The end pages indicate that Kara is free and much more in control, but evil guy manages to salvage a personal victory anyhow. I think that Supergirl's comic is going to be a series of self-discovery mixed with CRAZY SPACE BATTLE, and that sounds like a good time. GLUE


 Wolverine & The X-Men

Great finish. We get some action and background from Kid Omega, who's been a manipulative villain in recent-ish X-Men stories, but seems to be treading the path of reluctant anti-hero for this story (he also features on a hell of a cover). Not only do I fuckin' LOVE the addition to this series' cast at the end of the issue, I liked the borderline-ridiculous resolution to this opening salvo of a storyline. I think I picked the right Marvel comic to follow. MVP



Beelzebub ch.137

Pretty good action-packed chapter. Toujou and Oga team up to take on Jabberwock, who shrugs off their attacks, praises their improvement, and then begins to kick their asses. Oga's getting up for a second round, but I'm a little disappointed that they completely abandoned the supporting cast battles I thought we were getting. Anyhowever, this is a classic shounen big boss confrontation in a good shounen manga, make no mistake. GLUE

Toriko ch.169

Not a bad ending, but I'm a little disappointed. The trick Koko used to defeat the evil gambler chef was a good plot point, but the off-screen victory in battle against the black market chefs was something that they could have spent at least a few pages on. Somehow Toriko gets stronger by eating deadly poison, and pretty soon we'll have a chapter with nothing but characters drooling over how delicious some weirdo food is - in Toriko, this is the equivalent of a post-fight celebration. I've read better Toriko. FUNK

Kuroko no Basket ch.117

Kagami and Aomine have a non-confrontation that's analyzed by the peanut gallery - it's handled in about the most intelligent way I could have hoped. We won't get our mighty clash of the aces just yet, but it's coming. We see Hyuuga's new skills in action, and they're pretty ballin'. Sorry, had to. This match is living up to my high expectations thus far. STAR

Hajime no Ippo ch.959

Break chapter between rounds. Saeki's been holding back, and Itagaki knows it (what a pair of loveable cocky bastards). We get a flashback as to why Saeki has a grudge against Itagaki, and my guess is that Itagaki gets taken down a peg in round 2. This chapter had good info and details, but ultimately there was no action and little drama. FUNK

History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi ch.457

We see some really great action panels of Hongou and Sakaki teaming up and then a few more of Miu and Kenichi clashing. I dunno if this arc will end with Kenichi rescuing Miu and working to get her back to normal of if Miu will descend into darkness and become of the series' Big Bads. It could go either way. Anyhow, Miu still remembers Kenichi despite all her brainwashing, and shit is getting real. Pumped to see how it ends up. GLUE

GTO: Shounan 14 Days ch.52

I really wish this series had regular updates, because it's so solid that it fits right in with GTO's main universe - maybe not as good as the best parts of GTA (which for my money are the Tomoko arc, the last Kanzaki arc, and the Yuuji arc), but definitely good and definitely Onizuka. This chapter was a little unusual - it's about the blonde hairdresser character from Shounan Jun'ai Gumi (the manga to which GTO is a sequel) and her lifelong crush on Onizuka. Poor woman has to compete with Kanzaki, which doesn't work out so well for her (or really, anyone trying to cross Kanzaki). I'll read GTO whenever I see it on the list. STAR

Liar Game ch.142

OK, this wasn't exactly a bad chapter, but I probably shouldn't be reading this series every week. Liar Game is 100% about payoff - to see how a game ends and the turnabout / final play taking place. Why am I subjecting myself to week-to-week filler when I should be waiting for arcs to end, then read them through one at a time? Couldn't tell you, but now's the time to start. This week was nothing but characters reacting to the rules of the game, but I'm going to give Liar Game a few months before I catch up in a binge. BENCH

 Irredeemable Volume 5 (paperback)

Volume 5 starts with great moments from supporting characters Qubit and Kaidan, and then delivers the best flashbacks I've ever seen in a comic book. The first pages of Volume 1 were of Tony murdering Hornet, one of his former teammates. If Tony's an analogue of Superman, Hornet is Batman. Hornet has no powers, but is all aces in cunning and specialized skills. Batman has a contingency plan for Superman going rogue (naturally), so by extension so would Hornet for The Plutonian. And holy shit, is it a hell of a plan.

Volume 5 not only turns a forgettable plot point of a character from four volumes ago into someone amazing, it does so in such a way that justifies Tony killing Hornet so early - I think Hornet was Tony's second target after his own sidekick, but by then it was too late. Even better - Hornet's plan is completely unthinkable and sort of horrible, but totally makes sense in the context of a superhero comic. Sometimes, Irredeemable a high-quality superhero character study, sometimes it turns superhero conventions upside-down, and sometimes it does something so new and cool you wish you had thought of it yourself. STAR

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Shounen Jump's doing a holiday issue, so (I think) we'll have the big three SJ manga land in the next few days, then none until the second week of January. Whatever, I'll read it after I get it and write it after I read it. And holy fuck, now my week 3 has WatXM in it as well? It was my favorite before, but now it's whatever word's better than favorite.

Oh, and videogames? Ocarina. Nothing but Ocarina until it's done. I have a quest to complete.