Sequential Art - January 26th, 2012

Eh, this week seemed a little weak to be honest. A few story wraps and setup chapters, but not exactly shite. First-time MVP as well.

Table of Contents

Comics
Aquaman #5
Flash #5
Justice League #5

Manga
One Piece ch.653
Naruto ch.570
Toriko ch.172
Hajime no Ippo ch.963+964
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi ch.461
Kimi no Iru Machi ch.167

Volumes
Animal Man Book 3: Deus Ex Machina

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.

 Aquaman #5

I really liked the premise of this issue (Aquaman dropped in the middle of the Sahara desert), and wished it lasted longer. Instead we get a little bit of setup, a little bit of flashback, and a little bit of naked Mera in bed. Word. The next arc is going to bring Atlantis into the forefront, and the transition to this new chapter in the new Aquaman was well-executed enough. Aquaman #6 should feature Mera prominently as a fish out of water (har), which I can't wait to read. GLUE




 Flash #5

Flash #5 is emblematic of this book's strengths and weaknesses: the art looks great and the lightning and blur effects really pop, and it is an extremely entertaining exploration of the nature of Flash's powers. However, I wasn't terribly interested in the character of Manuel or the central conflict of Mob Rule, and Flash's supporting cast is fair at best. The end hook introduces another major aspect to the Speed Force and sets up a new arc that will likely concern either time travel or Captain Cold. I dig it. STAR



 Justice League #5

A few great single images in this comic, but then a few strange turns with mixed success. Green Lantern and Flash take center stage in #5, which also features some great shots of Darkseid doing big damage. Batman does some really puzzling moves, including revealing his true identity to Green Lantern before leaving the battlefield to search for Superman. I wasn't in love with this chapter, but next month we'll get some Darkseid-smashing and some Batman exploring Apokalips. I'll buy it, but I'm a little less hyped than I should be. FUNK



 One Piece ch.653

Not a bad chapter for comedy, but a weird chapter for developments. The crew of the Thousand Sunny gets caught in a current, travels with a pod of whales, and successfully fishes for a giant eel that's about the size of several large buildings. They get dropped off at a largely random point in the New World, and goodness knows what happens next. This chapter wasn't exactly up to par, but I'm sure it will pay off in the long run, as One Piece always does. FUNK



 Naruto ch.570

Pretty good chapter for combat. Naruto, Kurama, and Narama (Kuruto?) show off some pretty sweet new powers and designs in some great action shots, and the final pages are a spread that wouldn't be out of place in a Dragonball Z dual of opposing energy beams. I'm okay with this. I don't think this is the final confrontation in the Naruto manga, but we have to be getting close. The story is running out of final boss-caliber characters to fight short of Sasuke and Tobi. I'm also okay with this. STAR



Toriko ch.172

Not a bad chapter, but not a great one either. Really, all it does is give us more appearances by upcoming villains, including the best candidate for Series Big Bad. Ichiryuu is seen in action for the first time, and he seems a little bored and amused by the attacks of characters probably above Toriko's present level. Anyhow, decent glimpses for the future, but little real substance. GLUE

Hajime no Ippo ch.963+964

Great pair of chapters. Kuroda, who is absolutely one of the best little-seen characters of Hajime no Ippo, forgoes normal ring tactics and just plays a word game with Itagaki during the break to get his young charge's spirits up again. With Itagaki back to his carefree self, he unleashes a famous boxing move (Ali Shuffle!?) to goad Saeki and manages to dodge Saeki's offensives with a preternatural dodging ability that creates a few stunning panels.

This is really Hajime no Ippo at its best. We see awesomely detailed art and fight scenes with impossible / breathtaking boxing moves, with a hefty dose of both comedy and drama. These two chapters reminded me why I love reading Itagaki fights and got me more excited than ever for next week. MVP

History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi ch.461

Eh, I'm okay with what went on, but it isn't what I would've done. Miu proves that Jenazad's brainwashing is incomplete by sparing Kenichi at the last moment, so Jenazad sics another brainwashed disciple on her. Kenichi gets up to try and save her, and next week will probably be Miu coming back to her senses followed by a master battle. That I'll want to see. GLUE

Kimi no Iru Machi ch.167

Better chapter than last week. The original gang all hangs out together for the first time in nearly a year in storyline-time, and they bring up the interesting (and totally true) scenario of a friend's girlfriend hating your girlfriend. Overall a good re-introduction chapter for Haruto's two friends from back home, and a great final panel of their old series-defining photograph. GLUE

 Animal Man Book 3: Deus Ex Machina (Paperback)

This comic wraps up just about every loose end that existed in these Animal Man books. Buddy travels through time and space, has a nice conversation with Jason Blood and a few other immortals of the DC Universe, and combats Psycho Pirate, who has the totally wackadoodle power of summoning characters that have been erased from reality due to comic book continuity retcons. Oh, and Animal Man also wanders the space in between comics panels and tries his hand at serial murder. And that's just the first two-thirds of this book.

Grant Morrison does a great deal of experimentation in the final volume of his Animal Man run. He explores the concepts of time travel, the reality and immortality of fictional characters, and the power a writer has over the world of his creation. For the last two issues or so, Grant Morrison (personified in the comic by... Grant Morrison) even directly acknowledges criticisms of his writing style and admits that his writing had gotten too preachy. I don't know how to express my full opinion of Grant Morrison's Animal Man without writing a fuckin' thesis, but it's definitely true that it alternately made me happy, made me sad, and made me think. That's pretty much the ultimate. STAR

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My gaming time is still dominated by Mass Effect 2. I'm going to try and finish that one before January runs out, and start on a new game from my list of targets right after. It's simple: I finish one target game each month, and I finish with twelve in twelve months of 2012. I'm thinking PS2 RPG. I also have a few comics projects mapped out for the next month or two, and it's a lot of Grant Morrison and a little of Scott Snyder.