The Green Team #1

DC’s new companion comic for the crimefighting 99%-ers series “The Movement” is this story about crimefighting 1%-ers. It’s written by Art Baltazar and Franco, who are of course best known for their brilliant “Tiny Titans” series. So now we get to see how they do writing (but not drawing — Ig Guara handles the art chores) a more non-all-ages, mainstream superhero title.

We first meet up with Prince Mohammed Qahtanii, the son of one of the richest men on the planet. Mohammed wants to prove he’s fit to take over for his father by proving that he can increase the family’s wealth, so he’s traveled to New York City to meet the members of the Green Team — mega-wealthy teen technology fanatic Commodore (yeah, that’s his first name) Murphy, mega-wealthy teen actress Cecilia Sunbeam (and her pet wildcat Bubbles), mega-wealthy teen oil tycoon J.P. Houston, and his sister L.L. Houston. The Green Team runs periodic technology expos where genius inventors show off their newest gizmos and Comm gives them money to develop their tech into something he can use. Unfortunately, Mo tweets a pic of Comm, which alerts his many enemies to his location, and they all get attacked by a masked loon called Riot Act. Comm has a power suit he’s bought, but he really doesn’t know how to use it yet. Is the entire Green Team going to get wiped out in their first issue?

Verdict: Ehh, I dunno yet. It’s not particularly bad. But I’m not sure if there’s a real focus yet. They say money is the best superpower, but if that’s the case, these guys have kinda boring superpowers. Comm has his power suit, Mo has a bodyguard, Cecilia has a pet wildcat, and that’s really about it. There’s a heck of a lot of talking, a heck of a lot of people spending money on fancy inventions, but not a whole lot else. I’m sure we’ll see the characters, plotline, and focus develop some more over the next few issues, but I sure hope it doesn’t take too long to shake out.

Young Avengers #5

The whole team is in deep trouble, under attack by a bunch of shapeshifting New Yorkers being controlled by Mother, an interdimensional parasite who wants to eat all of the Young Avengers. Kid Loki has gotten access to Wiccan’s powers and promptly vanished, leaving Wiccan fearing that the only way to deprive Mother of her powers will be to kill himself. But has Loki really abandoned them? (And is Loki really Loki? I couldn’t really figure that part out.) Do they stand a chance of defeating Mother and her forces?

Verdict: Ehh, it’s alright, I guess. As good as the previous issues were, the conclusion of this initial storyarc ends up falling a bit flat. There’s no solid resolution — Mother is still out there and can reappear if any of the Young Avengers ever go near New York again. Even the humor and action kinda feel stifled.

Batman: Li’l Gotham #2

More completely ridiculous awesomeness from Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs. Batman and Nightwing spend Christmas rescuing a bunch of kids from Mr. Freeze, who is mostly motivated by a desire to keep the kids young and innocent forever. Can kindness win the day against the morose iceman? And on New Year’s Eve, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn recruit Catwoman to help them pull some socially relevant crimes, as well as some very socially irrelevant crimes…

Verdict: A very enthusiastic thumbs up. The cutest, cleverest Batman series you ever will see. Even Arkham Asylum looks adorable and cuddly. The stories are perfect for kids and adults alike, and you’ll really enjoy paying attention to all the funny details in the background.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Here’s a fantastic essay about challenging the role of women in history and narrative fiction.
• We should all read more stories by James Tiptree Jr./Alice Sheldon.
• Any time we talk about comics creators who got screwed by the publishers, the first name we think of should be Bill Finger.
• Wrong number? Or the rightest number?
• This kid is ready to play in the big leagues.

Young Avengers #4

Hulkling, Wiccan, Miss America, and Kid Loki have all been captured by Mother, an interdimensional, mind-controlling, reality-warping parasite accidentally summoned by Wiccan. Luckily, Hawkeye and Noh-Varr show up to save the day. And save the day they do, in entirely spectacular fashion — but they immediately run into problems when Noh-Varr’s long-deceased parents show up, like everyone else’s parents, all under Mother’s control. In the rush to escape, Loki sows some doubt in Hulkling’s mind that Wiccan’s reality-warping powers may be why he’s in love with him. Loki also points out that they have two possible solutions to the problem: either Loki gets Wiccan’s powers for ten minutes, or Wiccan has to die.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Great to finally see the entire group together. Noh-Varr really does shine here — his page of effortless ass-whoopin’, followed by the amazing “Come with me if you want to be awesome” line, are just phenomenal, and we get some great scenes with Kate Bishop, too. Kid Loki is grand fun as well. Excellent action, suspense, characterization, and art. I’m getting lots of enjoyment from this series so far.

The Manhattan Projects #11

I picked up the first two trade paperbacks of this series and really enjoyed ’em. So I’m going to try the single issues from here on out.

Here’s the general pitch: We go back to 1940s Los Alamos, full of scientific geniuses, we stuff ’em full of weird science lunacy, and we watch them take over the world. We have comic versions of real people, like Einstein, Oppenheimer, Richard Feynman, Enrico Fermi, Wernher von Braun, Gen. Leslie Groves, Yuri Gagarin, Laika, FDR, et cetera… and for the most part, they’re all psychotics. Think of it as “Atomic Robo” with a lot more murderous sociopathy.

This issue focuses on Harry Daghlian, a physicist who, in the real world, accidentally exposed himself to plutonium in 1945 and died of radiation poisoning 25 days later. In the comic, however, Daghlian’s radiation exposure merely turned him into a dangerously radioactive skeleton in a containment suit. Harry feels isolated at the Projects — he’s a core member of the leadership team, but everyone is afraid of him because he’s so blasted dangerous. His only real friend is Enrico Fermi, a guy who is similarly mistrusted because he’s not really human.

Alongside the character focus on Harry, we also learn that, while the scientists have won and basically control the world, they’re now having to deal with the specifics of how to control the world. Dr. Oppenheimer shares some of his plans for humanity’s future — travel to Mars, increasing human lifespan, improving the planet’s energy situation — oh, and of course, he’s got his own secret, more deadly plans, as well…

Verdict: Thumbs up. Really wonderful characterization in this one — Daghlian and Fermi have been, for the most part, cyphers, so it’s nice to see more of their backgrounds. If you haven’t read this series before, I would advise you to read the first couple of trades, just to get caught up on the characters, their secrets, and the backstory. I really do see this series as the bizarro version of Atomic Robo — they’re both high-concept pulp sci-fi character studies, they’re both great fun to read, but “Manhattan Projects” definitely gives you more of the bad crazy, contrasting with Atomic Robo’s good crazy.

If I’ve got to thumbs any portion of this down, it’s got to be the covers. All of the covers look like that. I’m sure they’re very nice examples of fine graphic design… But don’t try to tell me these completely abstract covers do much to sell the comics, a’ight? This series would be better served by covers that give some sort of hint about the stories and characters inside…

Today’s Cool Links:

• Kid-friendly Hellboy comics? By the same guys who created the Tiny Titans? Listen, just take all my money, okay?
• Yes, the Flash is one of the DCU’s most important characters — and Wally West was the most important Flash.
• Parents, I expect all of you to protect your infants and toddlers with the power of Batman.

Young Avengers #3

Hulkling, Wiccan, and Kid Loki are being attacked by Loki’s father, the frost giant Laufey — who has been dead for a long, long time. They’re soon rescued by the newest version of Miss America, but they’re quickly confronted by her mothers, who have also been corrupted by the interdimensional parasite masquerading as Hulkling’s mother. Loki teleports all of them to a New York City nightclub, which gives them some time to compare notes. They learn that Wiccan’s power has been depleted by the spell he cast to summon the parasite, and he needs stronger finesse to dispel her. Loki has the finesse, but not the power — but he offers to borrow Wiccan’s power to boost his power, but Wiccan, possibly sensibly, figures it’d be unwise to lend the God of Mischief any extra power. Unfortunately, all this arguing isn’t getting them any closer to getting rid of the bad guys…

Verdict: Thumbs up. Good story, art, action, humor, characterization, you name it. And we don’t even have the full cast on stage yet…

Finding Gossamyr #4

Denny, Jenna, and the other friends they’ve met in the math-focused fantasy world of Gossamyr have finally arrived at a safe zone — the city where the Roughhew live. Unfortunately, the Roughhew have decided that Denny is too powerful a mathemagician to be left with Jenna, and they hold a trial to have him separated from her care. And even worse — the Roughhew may not be as trustworthy and loyal as they like to pretend…

Verdict: Thumbs up. Beautiful artwork, and an amazingly fun story where being able to do high-level math gives you the power to do high-level magic. Hopefully, we’ll see this series continue sometime soon…

Today’s Cool Links:

• Superheroines in costumes that don’t bare a lot of flesh? Most of them seem to work out pretty well…
• Please tip your server.
• Remember Glorp Gum? That was the best gum, wasn’t it?

Young Avengers #1

I heard lots of folks recommend this one recently, so I’m gonna give it a try.

Most of this is focused on getting everyone re-acquainted with the characters from the original Young Avengers series. Kate “Hawkeye” Bishop wakes up in Noh-Varr’s spaceship, and they almost immediately have to fight off a Skrull attack. Hulkling and Wiccan are living together — well, living together in separate rooms in Wiccan’s parents’ house. Hulkling is fighting crime behind Wiccan’s back, and Wiccan decides to go surfing the multiverse to try to save Hulkling’s mother. Kid Loki, meanwhile, wants to keep Wiccan from doing anything in the multiverse, but ends up tangling with Miss America. Wiccan ends up finding Hulkling’s mom — but it may not be the mom anyone was expecting to find…

Verdict: Thumbs up. A lot of this is really grand — Noh-Varr’s enthusiasm for ’60s girl groups is fairly awesome. Hulkling and Wiccan’s affection is well-handled. Kid Loki is darn funny. And Kate’s all-giant-font monologue before going out to fight the Skrulls is one of the greatest mission statements about superheroism I’ve seen in years.

Young Avengers #2

While Teddy is glad that his mother is back, he gets considerably less glad about it when it becomes clear that she’s controlling Wiccan’s parents’ minds — or has replaced them entirely! All that plus she can defuse Wiccan’s spells and reshape reality! Hulkling and Wiccan run off to get help from the Avengers, but get a nasty surprise when the heroes turn them back over the Hulkling’s mom — somehow she’s controlling the Avengers, too. Heck, she’s controlling almost everyone. She stuffs both of them into an empty, featureless limbo, but Kid Loki pulls them out and reveals that Hulkling’s mom is actually an interdimensional parasite of some sort. But they suspect that Loki may be behind the whole thing somehow, so they drag him off to Asgard — and that’s when things go from bad to worse…

Verdict: Thumbs up. Nicely done desperation, and Kid Loki continues to be wonderfully hilarious. I do hope we see the rest of the team soon — they’re completely absent in this issue…