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Review Date: Sunday, August 14, 2011
Here in Bongo Congo
Good King Leonardo is back from a great vacation and
has decreed that we review this week three new comic
books, one that features Captain America and Bucky along
with two that star Batman. So let's see how these comics
stack-up for some August summertime comic book reading:
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Captain
America & Bucky #620
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Ed Brubaker & Marc Andreyko: Writers
Chris Samnee: Art
Bettie Breitweiser: Colors
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The long-running Captain
America title is up to issue #620 this month; in
its current incarnation, the series is emphasizing
the Captain America/Bucky partnership by publishing
under the full "Captain America & Bucky" title.
The latest multi-issue story arc is scripted by
the team of Ed Brubaker and Marc Andreyko, with
art by Chris Samnee and colors by Bettie Breitweiser.
Issue #620 begins a fresh
five-issue story arc entitled "Masks." The first
issue in this story is a retelling of the well-known
origin of Cap's sidekick Bucky. The spin here is
a fresh narrative of the tale, using the concept
of a costumed hero's facemask as a metaphor for
Bucky's tough childhood experiences. We learn page-by-page
the details of Bucky's early life and how he ultimately
wore three different masks at different stages of
his life: an emotional mask of indifference as a
shield against family tragedy, a mask of toughness
as he trains to ultimately become eligible as Cap's
sidekick, and finally an actual costumed hero facemask
as Bucky, thereby allowing him to drop the emotional
masks and function as more of a normal human being
in his civilian identity.
Given the summertime popularity
of Marvel's Captain America movie (a great movie,
by the way!), a fresh comic book revisit to Cap
and Bucky's World War II origin days couldn't be
timed any better. The writing team of Ed Brubaker
and Mark Andreyko are at the peak of their narrative
skills here, giving us a storyline that balances
moving personal emotion with building action that
will obviously explore the heroic duo's early wartime
adventures in the next four issues of this multi-issue
story arc. The biggest plus here is Chris Samnee's
wonderful artistic presentation. Samnee developed
a wide fan folllowing (myself included) with his
top notch work in last year's eight-issue "Thor,
The Mighty Avenger" title. As I mentioned in a review
of that series, Samnee is similar to well-known
artist/writer Tim Sale both in graphic style and
a highly skilled ability to convey heartfelt emotion
through both his character's facial expressions
and style of panel lay-out. The result here is to
add a valuable new interpretation to the many tales
of the early days of the Cap/Bucky partnership,
one that should only increase in emotional impact
and old-fashioned action-adventure with each further
issue of this five-part storyline.
So do yourself a favor and give yourself a double
treat this week by seeing the Captain America movie
at the cinema and getting-in on the ground floor with
the first issue of this very entertaining new Captain
America and Bucky storyline!
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Batman
Beyond #8
Publisher: D.C. Comics
Adam Beechen: Writer
Chris Batista: Pencils
Rich Perrotta: Inks
David Baron: Colors
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DC's Batman Beyond title
is up to issue #8 this month. For the uninitiated,
this is a futuristic Batman title in which teenager
Terry McGinnis fights crime in a very high tech
future Gotham City, mentored by an elderly Bruce
Wayne. The current monthly series is a follow-up
to the animated television series and a previous
Batman Beyond mini-series. The comic book is scripted
by Adam Beechen with pencils by Chris Batista, inks
by Rich Perrotta and colors by David Baron.
The issue #8 storyline
is entitled "Inque," (pronounced "ink") and interweaves
two storythreads. One is a detailed flashback personal
history, filling-in the origin of the supposed supervillain
Inque, a woman who turns to a life of high tech
supervillain crime in follow-up to medical experimentation
that gave her the ability to transform into a rubbery,
inky slinky-like creature tough to stop or control.
Without being a detail spoiler, we learn some very
personal details of why this woman chose to follow
a path of crime instead of the superhero life. A
second plotthread is more high action-oriented,
as our young futuristic Batman does battle with
Inque. The issue climaxes as the past and present
storythreads nicely blend together into a very personal
moment in Inque's battered life, dealing with love
and family ties.
I've enjoyed every issue
of both of the Batman Beyond comic book titles and
this current issue is no exception. The personal
backstory of Inque is both heartbreaking and very
relevant to today's real-world situation of poor
folk in third world countries trying to survive
while being exploited in human trafficking situations.
While the young Terry/Batman is almost a secondary
character behind the main Inque origin story sequences,
this is still a credible Batman tale that adds well
to the wide-ranging Batman story and family universe
in both an emotionally moving and entertaining manner.
An editor's note at the end of the story announces
that within the upcoming September DC publishing
title shake-up, "Batman Beyond" will return in a
comic entitled "10,000 Clouds," coming soon from
DC.
So a definite thumbs-up positive review recommendation
to round-out the current Batman Beyond eight-issue
title run with this month's issue and keep an eye
out for the continuing entertaining adventures of
our futuristic Bat-Boy within this Fall's revamped
DC comic book title publishing structure.
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Flashpoint:
Batman Knight Of Vengeance #1
Publisher: D.C. Comics
Brian Azzarello: Writer
Eduardo Risso: Art
Patricia Mulvihill: Colors
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Yet another among the many
DC Comics Flashpoint mega-event mini-series is the
three-issue "Flashpoint: Knight Of Vengeance" title.
Since all three issues of this short series are
currently on the new issues shelves at That's Entertainment,
I decided to review the kick-off issue #1. The series
is scripted by veteran comic book scribe Brian Azzarello
with art by Eduardo Risso and colors by Patricia
Mulvihill. For those very few readers not familiar
with the very popular Flashpoint series, the various
titles present a DC universe altered by a foe of
The Flash, to the point where we literally have
an alternate reality in which the backstories and
present-day roles of most DC heroes and villains
are significantly altered. The Flashpoint universe
also is experiencing a world war in which Wonder
Woman and Aquaman lead their respective empires
in a brutal war against mankind, with the main battlefield
in Western Europe.
Issue #1 of the Batman
mini-series constructs for the reader the basics
of the altered Batman portion of the Flashpoint
universe. In the Flashpoint reality, the young boy
Bruce Wayne died in his family's robbery, leaving
the father Thomas Wayne to evolve into an angry,
violent and extremely bitter version of Batman.
The family business empire rests upon Wayne Casinos,
run by Wayne's chief flunky Oswald Cobblepot, who
never becomes The Penguin. The plot focuses on Wayne
and Police Commissioner Gordon beginning to investigate
the kidnapping of Gotham Judge Harvey Dent's twin
toddlers by who else, The Joker. Action ensues as
clues lead Batman into a confrontation with a very
different, alternate version of Swamp Thing. Without
being a detail spoiler, the Swamp Thing confrontation
gets wrapped-up by issue's end, leaving the final
page of issue #1 as a prequel to issue #2's expected
Batman/Joker confrontation.
I have a mixed reaction to issue #1 of this mini-series.
On the plus side, in the capable hands of the creative
team this is a very entertaining reinterpretation
of the Batman legend. As with the other Flashpoint
series titles that I've read and reviewed, its a real
fun kick to absorb the many alternate universe adjustments
to our familiar DC universe friends and foes. My particular
favorite here was a major alteration regarding Police
Commissioner Gordon and the Gotham Police Department,
which I won't reveal in this review. On the negative
side, there's no connection in this plot to the events
of the wider Flashpoint series (i.e., the world war).
The plot seemed to drag with this disconnection. As
such, I'm giving this comic book title a conditional
thumbs-up positive recommendation. As a stand-alone
Batman story, it is fun and worth reading. However,
there's a disconnect with the bigger Flashpoint universe,
to the point that leads me to place this title toward
the bottom of the Flashpoint reading list. As such,
I'd recommend reading most of the other Flashpoint
titles first if you wish to stay up-to-date on the
story progression of this DC mega-event.
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Contest Winner Announcement!!!
Our latest contest challenge was
for you to correctly tell us which nearby U.S. state was
originally part of Massachusetts before gaining its independent
statehood. And our contest winner selected via a roll of
the dice from among the correct entries is (drumroll, please)...David
Ruiz, who correctly identified Maine. A few folks assumed
the correct answer was one of the states physically bordering
Massachusetts, but Maine was an "exclave," which is a territory
physically separated and noncontiguous from the remainder
of the same territory. In 1820, as a result of a growing
population and a political deal regarding slavery, Maine
became the 23rd state under the Missouri Compromise. Congratulations
to David as the winner of our first prize $10.00 gift certificate
to That's Entertainment! And a worthy shout-out to two other
correct entrants, Stan Hosmer who tells us that he's descended
from either the first or second Maine Governor and Keith
Martin, who tells us that he's a former Maine resident.
New Contest Announcement!
Since we had a lot of interest
in last week's question, before we offer another comic book-related
contest, let's try one more geography trivia contest. Now
that you all know what an exclave is from the answer above,
your challenge this week is to e-mail us at Gordon_A@msn.com
and identify to us at least one existing exclave that exists
somewhere in the U.S., today. Believe it or not, there are
a few locations in the U.S. considered territory of specific
states but completely surrounded by land of other states,
thereby totally separated from the rest of their home state.
As always, in the event of more than one correct entry,
the winner of the first prize $10.00 gift certificate to
That's Entertainment will be selected via a roll of the
dice.
That's all for now, so have
a great summertime comic book reading week and see you again
next week Here In Bongo Congo!
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