Tensions at Camp Hammond come to a boil in this week's installment of Avengers: The Initiative. Somebody has given resident drill sergeant Gauntlet a beating worthy of the goddamn Batman, inscribing the insignia of the hated New Warriors on his chest in his own blood. But whodunnit? Slott pens a tightly-wound mystery tale in issue #6, complete with Rashomon-style speculation of how each suspect might've done the deed. But the real treat, as always, are the characterizations. Gyrich gets sleazier and sleazier, while the attack on Gauntlet gives Slott a chance to turn the character into something more than R. Lee Ermey with a big hand. And this ish lets us take a closer look at what I'd call the Initiative's "B-team", with prominent roles for Slapstick, Rage, and Ultragirl. Plus, romance blooms!
I was skeptical to see that Steve Uy had taken over art duties from Stefano Caselli, whose dazzling style had helped make the first five issues so outstanding. But Uy's starting to win me over already; it's tough not to enjoy touches like the spit flying out of Gauntlet's mouth, or Cloud 9 floating glumly in the weight room. I'm not completely sold yet, but I'm not crestfallen either—which is saying something, considering how gorgeous Caselli's art is.
To say that Frank Miller and Jim Lee's All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder has been controversial amongst comic book fans is like saying that Hitler was kind of a dick. And as the above scan indicates, the latest issue will no doubt cause more than a few computer monitors to burst into flames after being overloaded with fanboy ire. The first half of this issue is like a giant, caped middle finger to all of Miller's critics, as Batman and Black Canary behave more like supercharged Dark Age caricatures than ever before: after having sex in costume (making explicit the ambiguously sexual thrill that Miller's characters get out of pummeling bad guys), BC even suggests that the goddamn Batman see a therapist. You can imagine his response.
But the series has its defenders, and I'm among them. The rage over ASBARTBW (what an acronym!) has taken its usual shape, with arguments that Miller has made a mockery of the character. What a lot of comic book fans still don't seem to understand is that superhero comics have always been driven by revision, since long before The Dark Knight Returns. Read the Depression-era Superman stories and see if they bear any resemblance to the Last Son of Krypton you know and love. Miller has actually said it best himself:
"There are certain characters that just talk to you. I regard Batman as unusual in that I really don’t believe in any single interpretation of him as being carved in stone. I see Batman as a piece of folklore – a huge jewel that you can throw against any wall, and it won’t break, but will show you another way of looking at him. There are at the very least, a dozen different ways to do Batman, and they all work."
I read "the goddamn Batman" as Miller's particular take on a particular character at a particular time in his life. Miller's work has become more and more self-aware over time (someday, I'll post an apologia for The Dark Knight Strikes Again) and ASBARTBW represents the epitome of this, as the goddamn Batman plunges deeper and deeper into some bizarre postmodern abyss. But I for one am excited to see where Miller's going with all this. And more to the point, the book absolutely crackles with energy in a way that few series do. Every issue feels breathless, and every panel nearly jumps off the page (even if it's only to brain you with the most mind-numbingly deranged dialogue ever). I've never been a huge fan of Jim Lee, but he draws a fantastic Batman and seems to get better at doing so with every issue.
I'm sad to say that the closing of Book Two of Astro City: The Dark Age has left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the story does a terrific riff on the superhero genre's Bronze Age, particularly the "urban avenger" archetype—echoes of classic Marvel characters like Luke Cage, Misty Knight, and Iron Fist abound in this book. In a lot of ways, the letters page is the most interesting part of the issue, as readers chime in on the way Astro City reflects the superhero genre's history (a key element of the comic since its beginning).
But that's part of the problem. I feel like in the current arc, and with Book Two in particular, Busiek is more interested in coming up with new characters than fleshing them out and telling a good story. Of course, a big part of Astro City has also been its in media res style, letting us get acquainted with characters by watching them in action rather than through exposition (a letter in the new issue even alludes to this). But Astro City has historically struck a perfect balance between an intellectualized examination of superhero tropes and first-rate storytelling, but this latest arc falls flat when it comes to hooking the reader. It's hard to care about the dramatic death of Black Velvet in this issue, since the character seems like little more than a two-dimensional Cloak & Dagger pastiche. And she's one of the most interesting characters in this arc! It's telling that the best moments in the story come from characters we've seen before, like the Silver Agent and the Deacon. And Charles and Royal's story is still a pretty good one: the revelation on the last page sets the stage for Book Three very nicely.
"The Dark Age" is only 2/3 finished, so maybe it'll all look different by the time Book Three wraps. But right now I'm skeptical, and it hurts because I love this comic. That said, the next issue will apparently be a one-shot character spotlight on Beautie, which sounds promising.
A lot more stuff came out this week, but as any fan knows, you can only buy so many comics! I might do a Part II of today's load later this week, once I pick up some of the other cool new releases. It's not a superhero book, but the Friday the 13th trade looks particularly alluring...
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