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Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Weekly Comic book Roundup (05/09/12)


 

THE BEST OF DC

 

Green Arrow #0 (writer: Judd Winick; artist: Freddie E. Williams II)

Green Arrow is partying it up on an oil rig to impress his girlfriend and stick it to his old man- so something’s gotta go horribly, horribly wrong. And oh boy, does it ever. Green Arrow messes up so spectacularly that I genuinely gasped. After that, it’s no surprise that he goes into self-imposed exile on the nearest island, or that his old pal Tommy Merlyn might be a little mad at Ollie. But it’s not all doom and gloom, as this comic also covers the first meeting between Ollie and Roy, who’s just as funny and sexy here as he is in Red Hood and the Outlaws. Did I say sexy? That must’ve slipped in there by accident. I meant to say charming. And intelligent. And sexy.

 

Green Lantern #0 (writer: Geoff Johns; artist: Doug Mahnke)

This is intense. It tells the story of Simon Baz, an American Muslim who -as well as having faced persecution his whole life- makes a few poor decisions and gets himself implicated in a terrorism plot. His quick actions ensure nobody is hurt, but he is taken by the feds to an unspecified location for some pretty brutal questioning. The story focuses so well and so completely on Simon’s anger and regret, that I forgot I was reading a Green Lantern comic at all. And then the power ring shows up, apparently by accident (though I would’ve expected a red ring to fly his way) and the rest is history. The only unfortunate thing about this comic was that I would love to see more of him, and that seems unlikely given that this is a prequel issue. Please, DC, please bring back Simon Baz somehow.

 

Swamp Thing #0 (writer: Scott Snyder; artist: Kano)

Swamp Thing has been a good comic so far, but dear god this one is grim. And I mean that in the best possible way. With graphic images of flayed bodies, a baby being killed by a brain on a hand, and Arcane of the Rot wearing and then bursting out of people’s skin, this is not a comic for the faint of heart. Or the faint of stomach. Or the faint of anything, really. This is the best horror comic I’ve seen in a long, long time. Since Sandman #6, in fact. I don’t know whether it’s made less horrible because we know Alec’s going to be OK, or more horrible because we know what the Rot is capable of. Don’t read before bed.

 

The Phantom Stranger #0 (writer: Dan DiDio; artist: Brent Anderson)

Despite having a premise that sounds like a drunken conversation in a bar just outside Comic-Con at 3am -what if Judas was a superhero?- this is a very strong start to what I’m sure will be a great comic series. Like all the best stories, it leaves you with a lot of questions and a burning desire to have them answered, and gives a nod to the rest of the comic mythology without letting itself get bogged down by it. If you’re a Vertigo fan looking to get into the New 52, I would strongly recommend the Phantom Stranger.

 

DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON:

G.I. Combat #0 (writers: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmotti, J.T. Krul; artists: Staz Johnson, Ariel Olivetti)

This comic wobbles nervously on the tightrope between comic-book science and gritty realism, and eventually falls into the murky river of WTF. G.I. Combat, much like the vastly superior Action Comics and Detective Comics, runs two stories in each issue. Sadly, neither of them are particularly worth reading.
‘A Deeper Mystery’ involves a soldier being regressed through what could be his past lives, or could be other people’s lives that just imprinted on him after he died. Either way, he’s being regressed, though I’m not sure why because pretty much as soon as that’s done his handler runs him through a slide show about how American troops have been converted to Islam, and are now potential sleeper terrorists. After the amazing job Green Lantern did with a sympathetic Muslim character, it is very disappointing to have G.I. Combat apply such a ham-fisted “Muslims = terrorists” approach.

Meanwhile, in ‘The War that Time Forgot’, a soldier lost in prehistoric times kills a sabre-tooth tiger and eats its heart because he doesn’t have any photos of his family. I feel ya, bro. That’s always the first thing I do to remind me of home.

 

ALSO

Wanna see Animal Man in a chicken suit? Of course you do! Check out Animal Man #0!

Fairground frolics in ancient Babylon in Dial H #0!

Jenny through the ages! Demon Knights team-up! Stormwatch #0!

Laura Maier
Laura Maier
At the time of character creation, Laura Maier made the mistake of putting all her points in charm. While this was probably an unwise decision, it's served her well so far. Her power animal is the platypus.

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