Sequential Art - February 2nd, 2012

Not bad this week. None of my suite of regular comics or manga did anything to consider me dropping them, and Irredeemable was its usual impressive self. A few double chapters this week - my guess is that scans were playing catch-up from having a few weeks off around the holidays.

Table of Contents

Comics
Action Comics #6
Batwing #6
Animal Man #6
Swamp Thing #6

Manga
One Piece ch.654
Naruto ch.571
Toriko ch.173+174
Beelzebub ch.141+142
GTO: Shounan 14 Days ch.54+55
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi ch.462

Volumes
Irredeemable Volume 7

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.

 Action Comics #6

Not a bad issue. #6 continues and mostly-resolves the time-travel story involving three members of the Legion of Superheroes (I wouldn't have known if the comic hadn't told me) and the back-up story gives us more of Clark's background story, including a meeting with Lana Lang. I liked the the back-up just fine and the main story had some good moments, but it was really, really confusing. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of this Anti-Superman Army, but this story's brevity sold these characters short and it was all just too weird to be really awesome. GLUE


 Batwing #6

Awesome issue. We see another member of The Kingdom (Steelback) pursued by Massacre, and in flashbacks and conversations with Batman David elucidates his motives for donning the armor; these higher-concept discussions touching upon themes of corruption, redemption, and (of course) vigilantism. Steelback withholds the information Massacre is killing for, but the end of this issue has David and Bruce journeying to Gotham to protect Massacre's next targets. Batwing #7 should have at least four Bat-people teaming up, which sounds cool as hell. MVP


 Animal Man #6

Very interesting change of pace for this issue, and I believe it was successful. As sort of a sideshow to the main story, we see Buddy acting in his only film credit, where he plays an alcoholic has-been superhero who is struggling with staying sober and finding a job. It isn't groundbreaking, but if it was a stand-alone comic it would get pretty good reviews on its own. The end of Animal Man #6 brings us back to reality, and foreshadows the fuck out of a meeting with Swamp Thang. STAR



 Swamp Thing #6

They changed artists for this issue, and it isn't hard to tell. Yannick Paquette's replacement tries to emulate Paquette's dynamic, explosive two-page spreads, but isn't as impactful as the best scenes of Swamp Thing #s 1 through 5. Major plot progression, though, with the Amazon burning, the Parliament of Trees screaming, and Abby losing herself to the Rot. This comic was always in a dark place, but now shit is more serious than ever and I'm wondering how low it can go. Scary. GLUE



 One Piece ch.655

This new locale seems just as crazy as Thriller Bark, if not more. An island half-fire and half-ice with an enormous dragon as its chief denizen? And it's so intense that even Vice-Admiral Smoker won't send his troops in? Now I get why they say the Grand Line is paradise compared to the New World. And, just like Thriller Bark, I'm a little confused at where this manga is going and would appreciate some answers or at least direction. Luckily, if Thriller Bark is any indication, Oda knows exactly what the fuck he's doing. GLUE


 Naruto ch.572

Lots of dialog in this chapter, but it's from pretty much all the remaining Jinchuuriki and it's mostly them marveling at what a great kid Naruto is. I haven't followed Jinchuuriki details perhaps as much as I should have, and there's no way I'm going to remember the names and struggles of all these random characters. The action, when we get it, is fabulous in this chapter, but I want more if I'm going to stay interested. I want YOU, Tobi. FUNK



Toriko ch.173+174

Chapter 173 was weird and weak. Toriko flies around the world with a few of his allies to give food to starving children. It came across as preachy and melodramatic, and only fits in Toriko's world because this manga is so ridiculous that just about anything will. 174 is a little better, kicking off the next arc or two (Toriko is searching for a reclusive fish ingredient in an iced-over lake, and will eventually journey to a sacred food temple) and showing more of Ichiryuu's prowess. Poor Ichiryuu, I'm sure he's a 3rd Hokage waiting to happen. FUNK

Beelzebub ch.141+142

Oh, Beelzebub. This manga balances comedy with action better than just about any shounen manga around nowadays (including One Piece? Maybe.) and this final arc delivered. Right when the series took a few turns for the romantic-comedic and it looked like Oga and Hilda's relationship was going to take center stage, the last few pages of chapter 142 bring it back down to earth with pure ridiculous. I still think we need better pacing in its combat (no real combat in these chapters, though), but Beelzebub is so consistently entertaining that I won't complain much. STAR

GTO: Shounan 14 Days ch.54+55

If these two chapters were as consistently good as the resolution of this two-chapter mini-arc, then they'd win my MVP. However, the unevenness of these two chapters let them down a bit, with certain characters present for no reason at all other than letting fans know they're on Team Onizuka now and a lot of unexplained situations. I'm also not a fan of the Zero-obsessed school principal, who is an obvious Uchiyamada replacement that is not as funny. The last 5-6 pages of chapter 55, though. Wow. Add another amazing, legend-making task to Onizuka's resume. GLUE

History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi ch.462

Well, not much to say here. Miu, Kenichi, and this sword disciple are all beating each other up, and surprisingly one of Jenazad's henchmen is so impressed with Kenichi's mettle that he gives him his bracers back. The end of the chapter gives us a preview of a fight that I'm sure fans have wanted for some time now: Jenazad vs. Hongou. GLUE

 Irredeemable Volume 7 (paperback)

I'm worried about Irredeemable, but definitely not disappointed. Explanation: this comic is consistently great and I'm never let down by its dialog, art, characters, or plot but Irredeemable has been on the brink of spiraling out of control for months now. I wonder how Mark Waid will keep this up, or even better what his plans are for series' end. Plutonian wills his way through a hell of superpowered insane asylum prisoners while Qubit and Modeus show off their superior minds in making their next move (Modeus is the scariest fictional mindworm since Aornis Hades).

I'm still creeped the hell out by Survivor and his twin brother, and in a way I'm more interested in how Survivor will crack than watching Tony post-cracking. Either way, next volume should be a showdown with Plutonian and his newly-recruited band of crazies facing off against Survivor and his army of amnestied villains. I will totally read that. STAR

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I finished Mass Effect 2 a few days ago. Still reeling about it, still playing a few more side missions. I hope to finish its review (which hasn't exactly been started yet...) tomorrow or Saturday. After I've had enough, I'm going to move onto other gaming projects, probably a Japanese RPG or two.