Sunday Splash Page #240

 

"Legend", in H-E-R-O #11, by Will Pfeifer (writer), Kano (artist), JD Mettler (colorist), Ken Lopez (letterer)

In 2003, Will Pfeifer and Kano dusted off the Dial H for Hero concept for the first time in. . . a while. Late '80s, maybe? After the initial, four-issue story focused on a young man in a decaying Rust Belt town who stumbles across the dial, Pfeifer and Kano spend the rest of the first issue on short, one or two-issue stories, as the dial bounces from one person to another. People discard it, people lose it, but there's always another curious person sooner or later who finds it and presses the buttons in the right order.

Rather than a phone dial as it was in the original stories and in China Mieville's version, Kano draws it as a metal disc with four buttons: "H" "E" "R" "O". Press them in that order, become a hero. Reverse the order, revert to normal. Some of the hero designs are fairly generic, blocky colors and masks, but there are some more creative designs. A young schoolgirl is able to dial up a woman with illusion powers that has a nifty hooded robe design, some guys who essentially use the dial to do Jackass stunt dial up a big metal dude at one point.

There's no sense that the dial responds to the desires or interests of its user in terms of which hero they become. Unlike with Mieville's Dial H, there's also no sense these heroes exist somewhere else. If one is dialed up, the dialer knows their codename, and may know their powers, but may not. The first guy makes the mistake of assuming he's invulnerable and tries to stop a moving car by standing in the way. It does not go well. There's also no apparent time limit, as the caveman above dialed in a hero and remained that way until his death.

The dial also doesn't seem to care how someone might use it. In Dial H, The Centipede couldn't use the dial, because he ultimately was not a hero. We already briefly mentioned the guys using it for dumb stunts, and there's one issue where a low-level henchguy in Gotham gets it and tries to go big time. But from the point when Dale Eaglesham takes over as series artist is spent on what happens if the wrong person gets the dial, and hits what Robby Reed calls, "the jackpot". Superman-level powers, in this case in the hands of a serial killer.

So the second year of the book shifts from shorter stories to a long arc as Reed, the original Dial H for Hero lead, gathers up some of the people who used the dial over the first year, to try and prevent a mess he foresaw with a hero he dialed years ago. This would seem hard to manage, but this version of the dial leaves people with a hint of the powers they gained from using it, even without dialing. Seems to be a feature unique to this version, although Mieville's had dialers retain memories of the heroes, which was more a problem than an advantage.

Sunday Splash Page #155

 

"There's a Void Inside Me. Outside Me, Too," in Dial H #3, by China Mieville (writer), Mateus Santolouco (artist), Tanya and Richard Horie (colorists), Steve Wands (letterer)

I wouldn't describe DC's New 52 as a success. That they abandoned it at least partially by summer of 2015 with the "DC You" branding (and then entirely with "DC Rebirth" a year after that), less than four years in, would suggest they agreed.

There were a lot of factors. DC throwing out their history and legacies, but even more half-assedly than they did after Crisis on the Infinite Earths. So Batman could still have four Robins (in 5 years, apparently), but there could only be one Batgirl (Barbara, naturally). Four Earth Green Lanterns (and Geoff Johns just kept doing the same stories he already had going), but only one Flash (Barry, naturally). 

The Jim Lee redesigned costumes, were to put it politely, too busy. To put it bluntly, they sucked. The claim that things were going to be new, but the majority of the books were helmed by guys who had been writing comics for decades didn't help. I've enjoyed Tom DeFalco's work, but he's not a writer I'd turn to for something new. Then editorial kept driving creative talent off books with heavy-handed oversight. Not much point to putting George Perez on Superman, only to piss him off in less than 6 issues.

Saying all that, it did give me 16 issues of China Mieville's Dial H series, so it wasn't a complete loss. DC canceled some titles 8 months in, and Dial H was one of the replacements. It's one of the few real examples of DC trying to get outside the box, in the sense they brought in a published, award-winning novelist with, to my knowledge, no prior comic writing experience. If you're looking for something "new" and attention-getting to be done with your characters, that's a better bet than handing them to Scott Lobdell.

Mieville dives into the concept of the dials, how they were made, how they work, how they end up where they end up. Gives them an air of body and especially psychological horror. The toll it takes on the person who uses it, to have another entire personality and memory super-imposed over their own, especially one that seems so much greater than them. One of the two main characters (Nelson) struggles to keep track of who he is and what he planned to use the powers to do when he dials, while the other (Roxie) hides whatever identity she dials behind her own mask, costume, and codename, as a way to keep her mind clear.

There was also an entire issue based around the idea some of the dialed heroes are just too culturally offensive to go out as in public unless there's no other option, which was pretty hilarious, and a fair point, given comics' questionable history when it comes to depicting races, cultural trends, sexual preferences, so on.

As far as the designs for the dialed characters, I don't know where the breakdown is between Mieville and his artists (Mateus Santolouco for issues 0-5, David Lapham for issues 6 and 7, Alberto Ponticelli for 8-15), but the designs are great. From the creepy Boy Chimney, to the ridiculous Cock-a-Hoop, to the Glimpse (who is drawn so you only ever see a small bit of him in the panels). There's an essentially sentient mass of plankton that beats the crap out of a whale. Like I said, I don't know who gets credit, but all parties involved did a great job coming up with some interesting designs and powers to go with them.

Lapham's work is probably the closest to a realistic looking, and the two issues he draws involve the least action by dialed heroes, focused more on a Canadian secret agent with powers. Who is basically a guy in a suit, so it works. Santolouco's art is heavier on shadows, characters look more shell-shocked or freaked out by what's going on. By the time Ponticelli takes over as artist, most of the characters are ones used to this dial stuff, and they just looked kind of tired. His art has a grimy texture, and everybody looks older. His linework's also busier than the other two, a lot more extra shading and scratch mark lines, to the point of overdoing it at times. 

Some of that might have been deadlines, because things clearly get rushed at the end. Mieville had a big, universe-hopping arc going, with Nelson and Roxie teaming up with a crew called The Dial Bunch to chase a dangerous "Operator". Unfortunately, DC canceled the book at issue 15, and you can tell Mieville and Ponticelli were scrambling hard to cram enough in to make some sort of a coherent ending. Which they managed, at times quite well. Mieville ends up just alluding to several worlds they've visited along the way, making it seem as though they may have been at this for years. But if they had even another five issues, it could have been so much better.

There was a post-script of sorts, when DC did a "Villains Month", called Dial E (but it was an issue of Justice League, #23.3). It was one of those jam comics, where each page is by a different artist, and it's as much a mess as those usually are. But it did provide a little bit about the fate of at least a couple of the characters.

What I Bought 8/31/2019 - Part 1

The last week of August was the biggest of the month for me in terms of comics. Which, granted, means 4 books, but combined with 2 comics from earlier in the month, equals a decent haul. So let's get to business.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11, by Tom Taylor (writer), Juann Cabal (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - So is that one of Peter's regular costumes, or did MJ have one specially made? I feel like one Peter's been wearing wouldn't fit her that well.

While Peter sleeps off fighting a damn troll, Mary Jane goes about her business of helping people out. Which means taking May shopping for wigs, I'm assuming her hair fell out from chemotherapy. Then the subway train she's riding crashes into another troll. One dressed like a refugee from an '80s aerobics video. OK, sure. One of the backup dancer, er, aerobics people in Volstagg's Sweatin' to the Oldies, no doubt.

That is not a pleasant image. Frickin' brain.

MJ remains calm, helps people evacuate, keeps the troll occupied until Miles Morales Spider-Man shows up, distracts it long enough he can deck it, and then brings Peter some pizza for when he wakes up. A simple done-in-one, which is why I picked it up, since that was what I enjoyed most in the first six issues. And I liked this. I like Mary Jane being calm under fire, because she's had to deal with a lot of crap, and that she encourages May to buy lots of wigs, rather than just one. Although I agree with peter, why does someone need more than one hairstyle? At this point, I'd be content having enough hair to consider having more than one.

Cabal gives MJ some interesting expressions, in a good way. Really good at capturing that way people will hold their mouth in an odd position while they're concentrating on something. I feel like he overplays her cheekbones about half the time. Like you could scrape cheese on those things. Still not a huge fan of his fight scenes, not that he has much of a chance to do anything for this one. It's really more about what she's doing while Miles is dodging around the troll, but I find the action kind of flat until the knockout punch. That was a decent full-page splash.

Dial H for Hero #6, by Sam Humphries (writer), Joe Quinones (artist), Scott Hanna (inker), Jordan Gibson (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer) - I've never received a "new phone, who dis?" text message.

Lots of people in Metropolis dialed "H" for hero and now there are tons of people with superpowers just running around like headless chickens. Summer transformed into LoLo Kick You again - looking more Mike Allred-ish most of the time - trying to keep things under control, but is hopelessly outnumbered. Also, there's a plane full of superpeople about to crash. There's always a plane about to crash in Metropolis.

Meanwhile, in the Heroverse, Miguel won't dial H on a damn blue - sorry cyan - dial to become an inspirational hero who can show those others how it's done. Because he thinks he can't inspire. But he can and does, and the plane is saved. But Mr. Thunderbolt's still on the loose with the red (magenta?) H-dial, and there are three more in total he needs to do something to the multiverse. Goddamnit, this is the fucking power ring emotional spectrum rainbow all over again.

Yes, I know, yellow, cyan, and magenta are the three real primary colors used in printing, but man, I did not need this story getting even more meta.

Miguel's arc gets a bit of resolution here, in that he stops worrying so much about whether the dial or other people think he can be a hero, or if it's even worth trying, and just does it. Of course, there's still the part where Mr. Thunderbolt tricked him and got the dial, but he's hopefully begun to address the underlying problem Thunderbolt exploited in the first place. Summer, I'm less sure about. She seems to be looking for a place where she can figure out what she wants, instead of carrying the weight of other's failures and disappointments. Not sure that's been resolved, other than Miguel doesn't seem to do that.

Quinones is playing at a lot of different styles, as basically every hero is done in a different one. I can't even begin to recognize them all, or even most. It works so that the characters feel like they're sharing the same space and interacting, rather than feeling posed around each other. And the part where the pages of Miguel's internal struggle are overlaid on what Summer's dealing with, so that we only get hints of the insanity she's facing, was a nice touch. Even if watching Miguel angst is not the most fascinating experience.

What I Bought 8/3/2019 - Part 1

It's weird seeing people on Twitter going on about feral hogs all of the sudden. They were becoming unpleasantly common down in the boonies where I worked a few years back, and killing them all is no easy task since they breed a lot and they're fairly smart.

Last month's books, last month's books! For today, we're looking at a couple of books on their 5th issue, both of them might be in danger of falling off my buy list.

Magnificent Ms. Marvel #5, by Saladin Ahmed (writer), Minkyu Jung (penciler/inker), Juan Vlasco (inker), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I initially thought that symbol on her knee was a gear of some kind, and I couldn't figure why they'd go steampunk with her costume design.

Kamala and both sides of the civil war have united to fight the Beast Legions, but they're going to lose unless Kamala can get inside the Great Machine (which none of the locals can manage) and use it to turn the tide. The Machine is left over from the original savior of the world, who was some roaming Kree soldier. She decided the planet wasn't fit for colonizing, but didn't slaughter the natives anyway, which is unusually generous for the Kree. Since Kamala's sort of Kree, she can use it to destroy the uninhabited spaceship that creates the Beast Legions. And she gets a new nanotech costume that responds to her thoughts. Yes, like a symbiote. No way that goes badly.

She and her parents are returned home, and the guy who does it goes ahead and pulls the old mindwipe on her parents, so they don't remember the trip or that Kamala is a superhero. Well, hell, Wilson never did anything with that reveal anyway, and I guess Ahmed doesn't want to, either. But since it seemed like a big part of this story was both Kamala's parents knowing, and getting to see their daughter in action first hand, wiping the information from their minds makes the whole thing seem like a waste of time. Which is not really the impression you want me to have coming off your opening story arc?

The new costume is. . . OK, I guess. I wouldn't call it good, or an improvement by any stretch, but it's not eye-searingly bad. There are unnecessary lines on it, in the red V-neck part, and on the blue where extends down her upper leg. Reminds me unpleasantly of all those redesigns Jim Lee did for the Justice League back when the New 52 started. Superman with the high collar and the Flash with visible seams all over his outfit. I don't think her costume needed more pointless detail. And the scarf now appears to have daggers on the ends? I hope we're not going to see her start stabbing people with them. I don't need Kamala putting in her resume for the Savage Avengers.

Dial H for Hero #5, by Sam Humphries (writer), Joe Quinones (artist), Scott Hanna (inker), Jordan Gibson (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer) - That is the weirdest eye booger I've ever seen. He might want some eyedrops.

Miguel chases after Mr. Thunderbolt through the origin stories of several heroes, until they encounter The Operator. Thunderbolt gives them both the slip, and Operator (who is Robby Reed) explains how he got here, trying to find the source of the H-Dial's powers. Which exists beyond the Speed Force Wall, which is a thing, apparently? While the Operator wastes time trying to explain to Miguel what a hero's origin really is, Mr. Thunderbolt is busy using the dial to give every person in Metropolis the chance to have powers, which he believes is only proper and right. This happens just as Summer arrives - in the Supermobile - hoping to get Superman's help.

Summer getting lost and ending up in Gotham while trying to reach Metropolis was the funniest part of the issue. I'm not even sure where Metropolis is in relation to Gotham these days. Across the bay from each other, or is Metropolis back out in the Midwest while Gotham's on the coast? No wonder she got lost.

Miguel's second meeting with Superman is touching, and I liked the detail that the wheel on Miguel's bike bent when he threw it at Superman, and that Superman asks him to be careful or he'll hurt himself.

I think Miguel's right about the Dial drawing from a "Powerverse" more than a Heroverse, if a person's origin is what they choose to do with the powers, then unless the dial actually gives someone heroic impulses, which this story doesn't suggest it does, then yeah, it's just handing out powers. You can use them for evil if you want. The cop lady that turned into a Vertigo character might have thought she was doing good, but I kind of doubt it. The guy that turned into an Akira Toriyama character lost himself in the joy of fighting. They just wanted power, being a hero didn't seem to factor in.

But maybe the point is the person already has made a decision before they dial and that informs what they get. I don't know.

Mr. Thunderbolt still looks ridiculous to me with that massive chin, but most characters that come out of the H-Dial look ridiculous, so that tracks. The two-page spread of Miguel and Robby walking the dividing line between the two sides of the Powerverse was lovely. The way the sides mirror each other in some ways, but not all, and I really like the colors. They're bright and noticeable, but not overwhelming. You can still follow Miguel and Robby without getting lost. They're still the focus, but you can pause to enjoy the scenery if you want.

It's the Place to Dump Snapper if You Want to Ignore Him

One of the odder parts of Dial H for Hero #4 was that Snapper Carr had been allowed to take up residence in the Justice League Detroit Headquarters. He says he's there as sort of a caretaker, but Batman built all those creepy robots that do all the work, so what's Snapper there for? No indication the place has been turned into a museum where you might want a human tour guide. And even if it had been, Snapper wasn't associated with the Detroit era. Wouldn't he be at the old Happy Harbor location*?

Which does raise the question of how many of the Justice League's old bases are still intact, and what they do with them. I feel like the original Satellite got destroyed at one point, and I know the one they were using prior to Morrison' JLA run burned up on reentry after the Martians trashed it. I feel like the various JLI/JLE spots are still in place, since I see characters using the old teleporters from time-to-time.

But still, the question of Snapper in Detroit. And what's odder, he says Green Arrow is the one who hooked him up with the gig. It's not hard for me to see Oliver Queen trying to look after Snapper. He certainly wouldn't want another teen (even though I assume Snapper's at least in his mid-20s in the comic) to fall onto the wrong path, possibly get hooked on the smack. Plus, I could see Green Arrow not holding a grudge about that time the Joker tricked Snapper into betraying the League. Oliver is absolutely the sort of guy who would yell about how it was the wake-up call the team needed, and blah, blah, someone punches him in the kisser. Probably Hal, before Canary or one of the team with super-strength does it. Hal's a good friend like.

Of course Ollie, so far as I know, also had no contact with the Detroit years. He was in the middle of his Mike Grell "wearing an actual hood and just using regular pointy arrows" phase at that time, wasn't he? So I wouldn't expect he'd get to have a say in it, other than Green Arrow probably insists of giving his two cents on everything.

I could see Arrow going to one of the team with actual connections to that era and just haranguing them until they agree, just to shut him up. It would have to be Aquaman, wouldn't it? Steel's dead, Vibe's dead, I don't know where Gypsy or Vixen are. or Elongated Man. Zatanna's probably running around with Justice League Dark. If Ollie shows up there running his yap, he's not likely to survive. J'onn is a possibility, assuming the Detroit era is still part of his continuity. I have less idea what's in and what isn't for various DC characters these days than I do for Marvel. I could see J'onn patiently letting Ollie bluster, because he already knows what he wants and why, and then calmly agreeing and offering to help set things up so Snapper can't accidentally cause too much trouble. He's a reasonable fellow like that.

*It's a little odd to me when I think about it that the Justice League's original HQ was a cave. Maybe with Batman involved that makes sense. Easier to go along with his aesthetic demands than fight them, and the coastline location made it easier for Aquaman. But a cave still feels more like a Doom Patrol thing.

What I Bought 6/26/2018 - Part 1

Picked up this week's comics while retrieving my vehicle from the repair shop. Which was only two days ago, but feels like a hundred years. I was half-convinced before I started typing this I bought them over a week ago. Everything is out of whack in my head right now. If things will just remain calm and stable for a few weeks. . .

Dial H for Hero #4, by Sam Humphries (writer), Joe Quinones (artist), Tom Fowler (inker), Jordan Gibson (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer) - Miguel has become a hero with the power of having a smartphone screen on his chest! Upgraded Arnim Zola, basically.

Summer and Miguel reach the Detroit Justice League HQ, where they find a bunch of Justice League robots and. . . Snapper Carr. Crap. Snapper insists they hand over the H-Dial to him, but then they're attacked by the robots, which have been modified by Mr. Thunderbolt's spirit, so everyone dials at the same time. Summer ends up as a gorilla filtered through Sin City, Snapper is some Moebius thing, I don't fuckin' know, and Miguel ends up as various newspaper comic strip versions of some kid running around in his underwear pretending to be a hero. Which makes him pretty angry, and leaves him vulnerable to Thunderbolt's suggestions, and everything goes wrong.

Snapper's meant to be a cautionary tale for Miguel, I think. Although Snapper's problem seems to be he doesn't think who he is, is good enough. Miguel seemed to act more like he was owed something. He'd been protecting the H-Dial, why did he get the crappy powers? Although he never tried to do anything, so who knows what his abilities were. Maybe it is a matter of thinking he's not good enough as he is.

Real mix of Justice League-bots there, but other than Vibe-bot, I didn't see many from the Detroit era. I guess Zatanna, although she was Satellite League, too. There's at least 5 of the Giffen/DeMatteis League. Including a Guy Gardner bot, complete with bowl cut! He didn't speak, so I can't determine if he's based off seriously brain-damaged Guy, or regular Guy (who is only a little brain-damaged). For a lot of them, Quinones seems to be using the Timmverse Justice League cartoon look, especially the Flash and Hawkgirl. Which is fine, those are good versions, design-wise. I wonder if Humphries specified any characters, or Quinones just drew whoever he felt like?

Ghost Tree #4, by Bobby Curnow (writer), Simon Gane (artist), Ian Herring and Decka Kinzie (colorists), Chris Mowry (letterer) - I thought initially they were sitting on big balls of yarn, but at least some of them are skulls. Still cute, in an Adams Family way.

Brandt and Arami reminisce, and we learn a little more about the current state of Brandt's marriage. Meanwhile, his grandfather is realizing how badly he handled things in his marriage, and tells Brandt to leave and return to his wife. Brandt's fully aware that he's running from his problems, but doesn't care. Then the demon returns, and tears the guardian spirit in two, before continuing towards the house.

The end of the issue tells us Arami's unfinished business is to be the successor to the guardian spirit. Maybe it burns out a spirit after a time, I don't know, but it seems like she's expected to step up. Was that fate, or just chance? Was she tagged for that purpose from the moment of death (or before it), or she's just the most suitable person who happened to be dead at the time? Can she refuse, and would that leave her trapped as a ghost forever?

And then there's Brandt. His avoiding his problems with his wife. Contrary to what he tells his grandfather, I'm not sure how much he really tried, since it sounds like the two of them never really hashed out their problems. Takes two for that, but typically someone has to make the first step. That said, is what he's doing here that terrible? He has the ability to see these ghosts, maybe it's a fluke, maybe it's for a reason. If he can help them find peace, even while avoiding his own problems, is that a bad thing? You could argue he's choosing to live as a ghost, avoiding his unfinished business, but the assumption seems to be the two of them can and should work things out. His grandfather ignored his wife to interact with ghosts, and that wrong. But if Brandt and his wife don't work together, why try to make it work?

It's a sad issue, but Curnow and Gane still manage to work in a few jokes, plus the gag about the one ghost wanting some noodles. I laughed. Gane draws the little spirits or lights that float around Zero's head as having facial expressions sometimes, which is kind of cute. Zero's little ghost friends. Like the demon's previous appearance, Herring and Kinzie shift the color scheme to more reds and oranges. But the colors don't shift when Zero arrives, because Zero is no longer enough to repel the demon. Zero's color scheme is mostly green and white, so it really stands out against the backgrounds in those panels. Heightens the sense of vulnerability.

What I Bought 5/29/2019 - Part 1

Regular life update: A new apartment has been located, but I can't move in until the end of next week. Which would mean more commuting, but I'm out of town on a training this whole week. So that helps.

In the meantime, let's look at some comics from last month. Both on their third issue. Unfortunately, we're going old school with these reviews. No, I'm not going back to handing out a score on a 5-point scale. That was pointless and by the time I'm handing out 3.78/5, entirely meaningless. What I mean is, we're going without any scanned panels. Sorry! Maybe I'll come back and add some in later.

Dial H for Hero #3, by Sam Humphries (writer), Joe Quinones and Arist Deyn (artists), Jordan Gibson and Arist Deyn (colorists), Dave Sharpe (letterer) - It looks like the bottom of Mr. Thunderbolt's hood projects out from his jaw like a couple of horns. Or a goatee, maybe.

Miguel and Summer have reached Central City, hoping to find the cop who took the H-Dial. Or, enlist the aid of the Flash to help them. The second one proves more difficult than you'd expect. That's Barry Allen for ya, never around when needed. The cop, despite (because of?) some encouraging from the The Operator, uses the dial to become some Vertigo imprint-style character. Miguel falls prey to her power of nostalgia, but Summer hates her past, and uses the dial to turn into an angry punk teen character and they fight it out.

So Robby Reed's the Operator, but he considers Mr. Thunderbolt his responsibility. So I'm still not sure if he's good, per se, because I feel like he's still kind of manipulating Summer and Miguel to deal with this for him. He encouraged the officer to not feel bad about wanting to use the Dial again. Which could just be him being an understanding fellow, because he's been there. Or it could be him wanting her to use it so the teens could track her down and retrieve the dial.

I'm guessing the "Bluebird" portions were drawn by Quinones, imitating artwork from, I don't know, Morrison's Doom Patrol, maybe? Vertigo stuff is outside my wheelhouse. Deyn drew and colored the flashbacks to Summer's past as a child dragged into the pageant scene by her domineering mother. The art feels more manga inspired in the faces at least, and the coloring is lower contrast than in the sections Gibson colors. The memory flattening out over time, losing the smaller details maybe.

I don't know which of them drew the parts where she transforms into a hero, Lo Lo Kick You (the first K is backwards). The style reminds me of Jamie Hewlett, in that Lo Lo looks a bit like a character from Gorillaz. The sections where Bluebird has the upper hand, the panel borders are wavier, and the layouts are more all over the place. Lo Lo's pages have more straightforward layouts, and sharp, thin lines for borders.

Magnificent Ms. Marvel #3, by Saladin Ahmed (writer), Minkyu Jung (artist), Juan Vlasco (inker), Ian Herring (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - The tubes are an odd touch. Like pieces of some machine, but also the border of a classical painting.

Kamala and her parents are transported to the alien world, into the castle of the "Rightly Ruling King". As you might expect, anyone who has to proclaim they are the rightful ruler, really isn't. Kamala goes exploring, and finds a prisoner being tortured in the dungeon. She rescues him, and they and her parents attempt to flee in some aircraft, which then gets blown up.

It looks like, if the legend is accurate, the one who originally saved the planet was Carol Danvers at some point. Unless there are time travel hijinks involved. Especially considering the pictures show the hero flying off, which isn't in Kamala's repertoire. Question is, did these guys make a legitimate mistake, going strictly by the symbol on Kamala's uniform and not noticing she and Carol don't look much alike? Or is this a deliberate thing? The King not wanting the people looking to anyone other than him for salvation or leadership. So he gets the "wrong" hero, she fails, the populace dismisses the legend. Cast off your old gods for the new.

Other than that, I'm curious to see what happens when Kamala's parents are actually mixed up in all this. So far, they've warned her she was getting to enjoy the hero treatment too much (accurate), and became extremely worried about her rushing back into their quarters with a shirtless alien boy. I did laugh when Kamala's mom insists they'll ride next to each other, and Abu can ride next to the alien boy.

But, we're three issues in, and it feels like this particular story has barely gotten off the ground. They finally made it to the oh-so-important alien world, and immediately figured out something isn't right, but I have no idea where anything is going from there. Which could be bad, could be good. I just can't say I'm terribly impressed at this point.

Jung seems to be taking a different approach with Kamala's shapeshifting than past artists. Usually when she gets bigger, her overall proportions remain the same (except if she makes one fist or foot really big). Jung seems to have Kamala trying to bulk up more. There's two different times in this this issue where she gets a bit taller, but a lot broader in the shoulders and the torso. I don't know if there's meant to be a reason for that. Does it make Kamala stronger to do that? Is she actually increasing her available muscle mass?

What I Bought 5/8/2019 - Part 2

For today's selection, the second issue of a mini-series, and a Free Comic Book Day version of the first issue of another book. Both of them dealing with young people getting superpowers in unconventional ways.

Punchline FCBD, by Bill Williams (writer), Matthew Weldon (artist), Neeraj Menon and Tiago Barsa (colorists), Thom Zahler (letterer) - I'm trying to think if I've ever seen a person wear a pen around their neck on a string, other than in fiction.

Mel was a hero, given power by some person or group. They wanted her to pick a successor, she refused, they tried to kill her. She's bleeding out on a bench in a cemetery and meets Jessie, who offers to be a successor, since that might somehow take care of Mel bleeding to death. It does, and the remainder of the issue is Mel starting to teach Jessie the ropes of being a hero. Teaching equating to "you can fly, so go fly around and find a crime to stop." Little vague on instructions, but I guess she follows the philosophy of learn by doing.

The series is already four issues in now, so I'm guessing there's still elements of the mentor/trainee relationship, which Jessie being extremely eager but having little clue what she's doing, and Mel being the veteran that can be a little gruff, but is mostly nice. Which is fine, it gives the book a good starting point to play them off each other. There are a few mysteries, things hinted at for both Mel and Jessie, that can be expanded on as they go.

Weldon's art is kind of interesting because it's mostly what I'd call a more realistic style, but he'll occasionally do something like give Jessie stars for eyes when she's excited, or simply empty circles when she's stunned. It's an exaggerated touch that doesn't seem to fit with the rest of his style. It still works, you understand what he's going for, just surprising. He does seem to have a bit of trouble with eyes, one being smaller than the other, or one being too high or low on the face compared to the other. Since so much of the issue is talking and reliant on expression work to carry it off, it ends up being noticeable. I'm also not sure about asymmetrical costumes. One leg of the costume runs all the way to the boot, the other stops where a swimsuit would. Not sure why someone would go with that.

I don't know if this issue was enough to convince me to start picking up the series.

Dial H for Hero #2, by Sam Humphries (writer), Joe Quinones (artist), Jordan Gibson (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer) - The answer to who will catch them first is Sheriff Buford T. Justice. Nobody drives a lady across state lines in a stolen mayo truck on his watch!

Miguel keeps refusing to answer the phone. And to eat eggs for breakfast. He feels out of his depth and throws the phone in the river, where it is found and used by someone working for Mr. Thunder. Which gives Quinones a chance to do an Akira Toriyama homage. Which is certainly more pleasant to look at than the '90s pastiche last issue. There's also a cop working for Mr. Thunder who gets involved, giving Miguel a chance to use the phone after all, turning into some '80s mech anime thing. Then there's a fight, Miguel wins, decides they should take the phone to Metropolis, but the cop is taking it to Central City.

I enjoyed the hero bits a lot more this issue, since they went with source material I feel more fondness towards. The other characters around the heroes ended up being drawn and colored in the same style as said hero. I would have liked it for the contrast if they'd remained as they had been, but you could probably make a theory about it being a result of how the dial works.

That and Miguel actually acted to save lives, rather than just destroying a used car lot. Miguel's internal monologue being completely confused by what his transformed body is doing was funny. I'm concerned Mr. Thunder is going to end up being the kid from the '60s Dial H series, since he makes people say "Sockamagee" as a way of swearing to do something. The "actually this child character from a simpler age is a horrible lunatic" bit is fucking tired.

One thing I do want to see next issue, is we learn Miguel and Summer went back to the diner, ordered the omelette, and Miguel was right to be wary of eggs. Sometimes a bad food experience is just bad luck, and sometimes it means you really shouldn't eat that thing. Alex told me he's only eaten shrimp twice, and he got really sick both times. So now he doesn't eat shrimp. Why take the risk? There's a million other things in the world you can eat, you know?

What I Bought 3/27/2019

I'm going to be out of town for the rest of the week. I may or may not have the chance to get on the Internet. Posts are set to go, but if you comment and I don't respond, that's why.

Today we've got two new books to look at. One's a first issue, and the other is the first issue of a new story arc on a book I haven't bought previously.

Dial H for Hero #1, by Sam Humphries (writer), Joe Quinones (artist), Dave Sharpe (letterer) - Do kids today even know how to use a rotary phone? is this one of those Youtube pranks like "watch a 5-year old react to a Game Boy"?

Young boy became a thrill-seeker after being rescued by Superman, but is stuck in dead end life with his uncle's mayo-themed food truck. Tries to jump Springfield Gorge on his bike, and as he falls to his death, a phone appears. He turns into a '90s hero, saves nothing and causes a lot of destruction. Then he and a girl he met earlier in the issue steal the food truck and leave town. Also, anyone who has used the dial before can sense when it's being used, so there are going to be people on the lookout. People like Lobo, Alfred, and Snapper Carr.

Might take my chances with Lobo. Nah, I can beat up Snapper with or without powers.

Quinones' art is nice, the colors are bright, the characters expressive. Although I've always thought his shading emphasizes cheeks too much. But it's a consistent thing so I get used to it. He does a good job mimicking the outward trappings of '90s art for the hero sequence, but he needs to be more inconsistent in terms of human proportions and anatomy from panel-to-panel. I like the white jacket Miguel wears when he's thrill-seeking. It comes off as brighter, more vividly colored than all the other clothes he and the everyday folks he interacts with do. The same is true of Superman when he appears, so it's like the jacket is Miguel's costume, the little bit of that world he's chasing he's able to get.

Humphries decides the first time his main character uses the dial he just smashes a bunch of cars, rather than doing anything actually heroic or useful. Interesting choice. Would certainly explain the reactions of all the costumed types who sense the dial being used. And there wasn't any indication Miguel wants to be a hero like Superman, he just wants the thrills at this point. So we'll see if that relates to what hero the H-Dial calls forth, and if Miguel can or even will want to try and use the dial more constructively. Hard to believe he's gonna be able to help save anyone at this point.

Infinity 8 #10, by Lewis Trondheim and Kris (writers), Martin Trystram (artist/color artist), Hubert (color artist) - Those earrings seem like they'd get caught on a lot of stuff.

Patty there on the cover is working undercover within a group called the Symbolic Guerrillas, actually trying to get info on a sentient talking fish's trafficking operations. But the spaceship they're on has run into trouble, and she's called in to investigate the problem in an alternate timeline. If she can produce a good result, they'll stay with that timeline. If not, they'll try another (this series is apparently a bunch of 3-issue arcs exploring the different timelines and agents they keep sending). The problem is a massive space graveyard, including at least one thing that glows green, and that someone planted a tracker on here. Is it the captain of the ship, the leader of the Symbolic Guerrillas, the talking fish?

There's a lot happening here. The weird space graveyard is the sort of thing that would normally command my attention, but I'm more curious about the Symbolic Guerrillas and what they're up to. Are they a weird artist movement, or a terrorist group, or what? There's a lot of drugs and free love, and Patty's outfit definitely looks like mid-to-late '70s, so I could see a Jonestown vibe. A mass suicide in a space graveyard would be. . . something, I guess. Also wondering how Patty's bad past experiences as some kind of an operative are going to factor in. Getting used by scumbags to enrich themselves under the illusion of nobler means.

I don't think I've ever seen Martin Trystram's art before, but they way he draws one character's eyes when he's out of his head on drugs is really familiar somehow. Most of the aliens fall into a basic bipedal shape, other than the captain of the ship, but there's a wide variety of designs. Every different part of the ship has its own color scheme, from the green in the fish guy's office, the the soft purple in the Guerrillas base thing, to a deep blue in the ship's command section. The parts where Patty is out in space have a deep blue/purple vibe going. Makes everything distinct, even if I'm not at all sure what effect Trystram's going for with each one.

What I Bought 11/12/2013

I put in an order as part of the never ending back issue hunt. It really is maddening, that even as I finish up three series, I can think of three other things I might want to start, not counting the 4 series I'm still working on (Rom and the Ostrander/Mandrake Spectre are coming along well), or the three others I haven't even started yet. Along with all that, I went ahead and picked up the one book from the Villain Month thing I was moderately curious about.

Justice League #23.3: Dial E, by China Mieville (writer), You Don't Actually Expect Me To List All Those Artists Do You? Fine. Mateus Santolouco, Carla Berrocal, Riccardo Burchelli, Liam Sharp, Jock, Tula Lotay, Marley Zarcone, Brendan McCarthy, Emma Rios, Emi Lenox, Jeff Lemire, Frazier Irving, David Lapham, Carmen Carnero, Sloane Leong, Kelsey Wroten, Michelle Farran, Annie Wu, Zak Smith, Albert Ponticelli and Dan Green, Eva De La Cruz (colorist), Taylor Esposito (letterer) - I got the 2-D cover. No way was I shelling out extra cash for some stupid special cover. Oh yeah, Irving, Wu, and Smith did their own coloring, too, if you care. Right now, I'm mostly just pissed DC thought this was a good idea.

So these 4 kids swiped a dial from some wannabe big-shot crook, and once they start using it, they attract lots of attention. First the cops, then the hood himself, and then things get real bad, because the Centipede claws his way back into the universe somehow. The kids haven't got a chance, and soon enough the Centipede gets his dial back. But you know how it goes with villains, they can't resist gloating, and he gets taken down by, I think it's Roxie. Maybe. The hair's the wrong color. Roxie and Nelson couldn't have had a kid, could they? I thought she was a bit old for that, but hell, I don't know how long it's been for them. Who else would know about Nelson briefly calling himself "Rescue Jack"? There's always the possibility that in some universe, there really was a Rescue Jill, or perhaps Nelson creating that identity caused one to come into being, somehow?

In theory, this could be a good issue. We got at least some resolution with the Centipede - it did my heart good to see him finally shut up, he'd been insufferable since he struck out on his own - and at least a hint of the fates of the heroes we last saw at the Exchange. At least one of them made it home safely. Some closure, but some things left open in case Mieville gets a chance to come back to it some day, or if some other writer wants to use the concept. The former seems unlikely, and the latter, I'm not sure who DC has writing for them I'd trust to do a good job with that. It'd be a short list.

Note that I said, in theory. The artist shuffle does not help the book. It's a cute idea, letting each artist draw a different villain on their page, but it doesn't make for a visually coherent book. The 4 kids don't always look terribly similar from one page to the next, to say nothing of the hood, Tibbs, or his lackey. Liam Sharp and Tula Lotay (pages 4 and 6, respectively) draw them at completely different sizes relative to each other, for example, and I think Jock added a third guy to the mix on his page in between them. Some of the artists are good, some of them have styles I hate,  it turns into a mess. I would have much preferred they let Ponticelli draw the whole thing, or failing that, divvy it up between Santolouco, Lapham, and Ponticelli. They were the three guys who did basically the entire series (except for the 0 issue), so that would have been fine. You telling me those guys couldn't find the time to do 6-7 pages each?

Ultimately, not exactly the conclusion I would have wanted, but the conclusion I wanted wouldn't have come for quite some time, when Mieville was ready to end the book. Say 2 or 3 years from now?

It Might Explain How Everything Ends Up There

I had a thought while I was doing that Dial H post two days ago. I was thinking about how odd it would be that so many dials wound up on Earth: Roxie's, Nelson's, the Canadian's S-Dial, Yabba's dial, and now the E-Dial wound up there. Plus, there was O's observations that if he were to use his Doom Dial, he'd more than likely dial an Apocalypse from Nelson's Earth.

You know those representations of the curve of space time? Like this one here? Where the mass of the object - star, planet, what have you - is causing a depression in the fabric of space time, and that's the representation of its gravitational effect.

At the end of Flashpoint, as Barry tries to make it back to the present and fix everything he fouled up, a woman speaks to him, Pandora. She tells him the problem is bigger than he thinks. There are three universes that were once one, and need to be again. And that's how we wound up with the new 52.

Here's what I was thinking. Could combining three universes into one produce a similar effect in the multiverse? Make the resulting universe a super-dense universe, a larger-scale neutron star? You can travel between them - we saw it in Dial H, and we've seen it with both Power Girl and Huntress, and with Mr. Terrific. The universes don't exist entirely separately from each other, they are in the same, I don't know, super-universe, meta-reality, whatever the term is. So the universes themselves could exert a pull on each other, or things that move between. The universes do contain matter, which has mass. So if there's one that's three times larger than the others, it would exert a greater effect on the others, draw things to it more readily.

Like dials, for example.

At The Tone, The Time Will Be. . .

One thing I've been wondering about with the conclusion of Dial H is how long the Dial Bunch spent trying to reach the Exchange once they left DC-Earth.

Until they reached the world of Meta-Castle and were given a J-Dial, they were reliant on all the winding, backwoods routes the Dial Fixer used, and didn't have any clear idea of where they were going. They just tried following his back trail and hoped it would lead them to where he started from.

It was long enough for Roxie to learn more about fixing dials from Bansa, for Nelson to learn more about using them from Yabba. It took them longer than it did Fixer and the Centipede, and they took a fair amount of time themselves, judging by the Fixer's story of how Centipede finally convinced him they should work together. And then they both had enough time to convince O they should all work together, and he should make a special dial for the Centipede.

But time is kind of screwy anyway in this book. I mentioned this in the review of the last issue, but the theft of Bumper Carla's powers (as highlighted in #0) is suggested as one of the incidents that spurred the other realities into war against the Exchange. But the fact her powers were stolen, rather than copied, suggests it was the result of using of the defective, junk dials that was blown across space and time (along with O) near the end of the war. It landed in Laodice's time and altered reality around it, disguising itself as a sundial (just as Nelson's first dial disguised itself as a phone booth).

Another thing. Bansa sought out Open Window Man to apologize for the death of his ally, Boy Chimney, caused because Bansa's H-Dial always steals powers. They went on to form the Dial Bunch and pursue the Fixer. This would seem like something that happened some time ago. Yet Nelson's first hero dialed was Boy Chimney. We know time moves at different paces in the different realities (the Squid mentioned falling through a reality that was very tiny, where the lives of the inhabitants played out in instants from his perspective), so that could be the case here. It can't have been more than a few months, maybe a year between Nelson finding the dial, and the Dial Bunch finding him and Roxie. But could it have been years for the Dial Bunch?

It's that Villains Month issue that's got all this rattling around in my head. The E-Dial. My guess is still it's the Centipede's custom dial, blown across realities when Roxie crossed the Exchange's wires to defeat O. And it just so happened to land on DC-Earth. We know Nelson dialed the Flash's powers the same day he and Roxie left with the Dial Bunch. And he didn't dial away Barry's powers from the past or future. When Nelson had the powers, then Barry didn't. In theory, we'd know how long it's been since then on DC-Earth when Villains Month/Forever Evil kicks off. My guess, considering how slowly stories move these days - is that we're talking a matter of weeks, at best. Which wouldn't seem to jibe with the lengthy trip the Bunch took through all those realities. So it could be a matter of time moving more slowly on DC-Earth than everywhere else, or the explosion Roxie triggered was like a second Time Bomb, a repeat of O's first defeat, and it blew things backwards through time (and possibly forwards? Could the Centipede's helmet show up randomly some time in the future?).

Time moving at different rates seems likely, but the Dial Bunch didn't react as if it was the case in any of the worlds they reached. And if time passes faster in all the other realities, wouldn't the memories the populace had of the dial-wielding thieves have faded, become legends and myths largely dismissed by the locals? Because for everyone they met, the memories of the Exchange were plenty fresh in their minds.

What I Bought 8/8/2013

Look at that, two books from last week! I was in town for various other reasons, and I stopped by to check with my comic guy, because I'd told him I needed the wrong July issue of Daredevil. Wanted to get that straightened out. Figured while I was there, I might as well get what came in.

Atomic Robo: The Savage Sword of Dr. Dinosaur #2, by Brian Clevinger (words), Scott Wegener (art), Nick Filardi (colors), Jeff Powell (letters) - Dr. Dinosaur attempts to explain how he wound up as God King of a subterranean civilization. It involves crystals and a giant immortal magma worm. Robo suspects the lava men are instead remnants of an attempt in the '60s to revive the science city. But how does he explain that knocking the crystal off Dr. D's head made the lava men go inert? He doesn't, because he didn't see it, because he and the team were too busy escaping and trying to come up with a plan to recover the nukes from Dinosaur's Time Bomb. I guess we can excuse it. Meanwhile, Majestic-12 is about to assault Tesladyne Island, just as Jenkins and the others realize the point of the smear campaign against Robo.

My assumptions after the first issue that something might be up with Robo himself were obviously way off. Now it's a question of whether Majestic is using Dr. Dinosaur or vice versa. Dr. D seems to have the other missing nukes (minus the one that arrived on Robo's doorstep), which I can't see Majestic simply handing to him. But they were certainly prepared to take advantage of the opportunity that one nuke provided, so I don't know. I could see them having created Dr. Dinosaur as some long-term strategy to distract and torment Robo.

I love the color scheme. Every part has its own background color. The underground section have pink, the climbers a bronzed orange, Tesladyne is a silvery grey, which makes sense with the seemingly fluorescent lighting. You'd think Robo might use more friendly lighting to put employees at ease. I understand relying solely on natural light is out, because some of those experiments can't take place in rooms with windows, but still. Where was I? Right,the colors. Each has a different mood. Tesladyne is stark and grim, very sterile. The pink is soft, not what you might expect, but the oddness of it works with the oddball villain in question, and it has an otherwordly quality to it, also appropriate.

Dial H #15, by China Mieville and Alberto Ponticelli, Dan Green (inker), Tanya & Richard Horie (colorists), Taylor Esposito (letterer) - Nelson stuck sitting in a world of madness. Or, Nelson struggling with all those identities he's dialed that are fighting it out with the Centipede.

What remains of the Dial Bunch has reached the Exchange, where they find Centipede and the Fixer waiting and working together. And both of them are working with O himself, as he works to perfect his Doom Dial. Turns out there were two wars in the Exchange. One between those who lived there and devised dials against the realities whose powers they (mostly) borrowed. The other between O and his brethren, who refused to condone his use of an Apocalypse Dial. He wasn't exiled so much as blown across time and space, along with all those dials the Bunch have been using, which are really discarded junk. The Fixer was one sent to remove those dangerous dials, and had no idea his home fell to the outside attackers while he was away. O wasn't working to bring the knowledge of dials to others to spite those who exiled him. he was just using their resources to try and cobble together a J-Dial so he could get home. Now he's there, and ready to finish his revenge on those who destroyed his home.

It's interesting that both of today's books involve a time bomb. As in, a bomb that would destroy time, or erase it. That's what O was going to use as a last ditch when his brothers drove him away from his early D-Dial.

Nelson convinces the Fixer to switch sides again, but O's the real master of the dials, and his abilities combined with Centipede and his new (I"m guessing) E-Dial are quite the challenge. But for all that O scorns the junk dials, working with them has taught Roxie a few things, and she fixes up one for Nelson with crossed dials, so he gets Amalgam-style heroes that O can't shut off. Which isn't enough to stop the Operator on his own, but it keeps him occupied long enough to do something similar to the Exchange, defeating O, and sending the Centipede and his dial somewhere, and leaving what's left of the Dial Bunch to decide what to do next.

Nice touch making the two armies that stormed the Exchange the Material Protection Alterity Army, and the Rapid Interreality Assault Alliance. The MPAA and the RIAA, two groups determined not to have their stuff stolen by a bunch of people tapping into their worlds (without permission) via wires that connect everything. I don't quite understand the real world version of harmless copying versus actual theft, though. I'm also not clear on how Bumper Carla's powers were stolen by the primitive dial if it happened before the war, which the flashback suggests is the case. Unless when O and the junks dials were blown across time and space, they landed in the past, bringing about the thefts that so terrified the donor realities to begin with. Which means the war in essence created itself?

I'm going to move on before I get a time travel headache. You can tell Ponticelli was rushed, but he drew 38 pages for this issue so, I'll cut him slack. Some of the faces are rushed, and sketchy looking, but I like the mash-ups of heroes, and I love how draws the Exchange. This towering, crumbling edifice, with frayed or broken wires sticking out, sparking all manner of things. It just looks neat, the sort of place I'd look to stumble across one day, recognizing I'd have no idea what to do with it when I found it.

I hate that this book is ending, but this is a pretty good one. I can always hope DC will give Mieville a chance to go forward with it later, since I highly doubt that Villains Month issue is going to wrap up everything. It's too bad, he'd built up so much, there were so many more things he didn't have a chance to fully explore. Nelson and Roxie's relationship kind of got shelved the last few months, because there was just too much to cover in too little time.

What I Bought 8/3/2013 - Part 1

Did some checking and Internet access is going to be limited, and thus posting will be, hopefully spotty as opposed to nonexistent. Which is why I'm typing this one up ahead of time while I have the chance.

Dial H #14, by China Mieville (writer) Alberto Ponticelli (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Tanya and Richard Horie (colorists), Taylor Esposito (letterer) - Bolland needs to stop drawing things that look so creepy, or I'm going to start getting nightmares.

As it turns out, Roxie and Bansa can't fix the jump-dial they found on the graffiti world, so the team is stuck trying to find the same weak spots in dimensions to travel through they were using before. This is taking its toll. The team is losing members, as Ejad the robot is killed, and Yabba, Unbled, and Nem get separated from the rest. It's worse than that even, because all the worlds they visit now recognize dials and aren't happy to see them. They remember the war for the Exchange, and so does someone else: O. He's gotten his hands on one heck of a dial, one that can call down apocalypses, and he's turning it against all the dimensions he despises. Fortunately, the last world the Dial Bunch reaches has someone who knows how to fix the J-Dial, and is willing to give it back to them, after they help fend off a zombie infestation. Which brings the 4 heroes to the Exchange, where they find destruction. . . and the Centipede.

My perception of the history here keeps changing. I thought the war in the Exchange was between rival factions of those who lived there, but it seems more likely it was between the residents of the Exchange, and the people of all the dimensions that were having their powers dialed away and were sick of it. I had thought O was running from the Exchange for giving dials to "lesser" beings, Prometheus trying to evade the gods' wrath. But he seems to be angry not at the Exchange, but everyone else. I'm guessing it was his handing out dials that clued those people in to the existence of the Exchange, explained the death of some of their heroes, and that's what triggered the war. I'm not sure. You can feel Mieville having to speed things up to beat the cancellation clock. I doubt the Dial Bunch was supposed to lose half its members in one issue, especially since we'd still only gotten to know a couple of them. It's still an entertaining story, but I'm frustrated thinking how much better it would be if Mieville and Ponticelli had the time to build it up properly

Ponticelli draws the frog people as simply frogs wearing clothes, rather than the hybrid human-frogs Bolland went with. Fine with me, Ponticelli's version is much less freaky looking. The heroes are still suitably strange looking. A moving pipe cleaner? I don't understand SuperOmi, Queen of Soho, though.

I don't know how the finale is going to play out, though I'm hoping my schedule will give me the chance to find out this week.

Hawkeye #12, by Matt Fraction (writer), Francesco Francavilla (artist), Chris Eliopoulos (letterer) - You figure it's significant that Hawkeye isn't positioned over the dead center of the bullseye in the background?

I was only vaguely aware Clint even had a brother, had no idea he tried to play at being Hawkeye, or that Clint stole his money. At any rate, Barney Barton's in town to look up his brother. He makes an appointment to meet with Clint, and when that falls through, tries to bum some change from the bros watching the apartment building. They agree to pay him 5 bucks if they can punch him in the face, then welch on the bet. This makes Barney the guy Lucky tried rescuing from a beating the previous issue because he thought it was Clint. The bros return in force later with a roll of bills in exchange for five minutes of Barney playing punching bag. They try to welch again, Barney beats them up and claims his money. He confirms Clint was too vague in when they were supposed to meet, but they do meet up at the end of the issue. Barney even uses a line from Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

Oh, and there are some flashbacks to his and Clint's family life growing up.

I really like the color work Francavilla does. There's always a sort of pattern to the page. Take page 4, 9 panel grid. The top row and the center column are all reds, oranges and blacks. Forms a nice "T" of stupid bros and violence, and the red is more intense in the panels with actual punching. It gets deeper the farther down the page you go. The other panels are mostly yellow backgrounds and a grey violet color for Barney, except for the last panel, where Lucky comes in and the background flips to a light blue.

There's the fight between Clint and on pages 7 and 8, where Clint and Barney are in yellows while they're goofing around, and in the final panel of page 7, everything is yellow, except their booze guzzling, about to explode father, who's in red (and whose face is completely in shadow, in contrast to everyone else). On the next page, pops starts in yellow, then shifts to red as his anger begins to spill out, and Clint shifts to red to match. His mother is still in yellow, except for the red on the napkin she's dabbing at her bloody nose with.

That's followed up with Barney teaching Clint how to punch later than night. That whole sequence is in deep blues and blacks, and as the story shifts back to the present (where Barney sleeps in an alley as the bros doth approach), the blue persists around him, even as the yellow of the present (a more pure yellow, less orange than in the flashbacks) intrudes on the scene. The blue stays on Barney even after the bros start hitting him and the background shifts to pure red. Like he's stuck in the past, remembering Clint taking on their dad or something.

What I Bought 6/29/2013 - Part 6

Alright, back to comics. I'm looking at some DC books today. Won't be long before DC's down to one book a month for me. It's the Curse of 4 Ongoings. I get to 4 DC ongoings, it drops back to 3 within 6 months, and a year after that, it's down to 1. This'll be the third time now.

Dial H #13, by China Mieville (writer), Alberto Ponticelli (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Tanya & Richard Horie (colorists), Taylor Esposito (letterer) - The title of this issue is "Tekel Upharsin". Hey, a reference I recognize! I don't know if it's what Mieville was going for but "Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin" was supposedly a phrase found scribbled all over the walls of Babylon prior to its being conquered by the Persians. It translates to, "You have been weighed and found wanting by the Pharsi (i.e., the Persians)." Thank you Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Universe Volume 6!

This is largely an exposition issue. Mieville recognizes he's out of time, so if he's going to bring any sort of resolution, he has to lay out what's happening quick as possible. Thus Open-Window Man describes a little about each member of the Dial Bunch, and what the group's goal is, both in the larger sense, and in the immediate sense of why they're in a world of living graffiti. I love that, because it's so odd once you start to think about it. If Open-Window Man and the rest are standing there as their normal selves, looking at this wall and talking to the people on it, where are they in relation to the graffiti people's world? Are they in the equivalent of outer space, or another world? Or simply another dimension? Is it a play on Flatland, the story by Edwin Abbott Abbott about life in a 2-dimensional universe that is periodically visited by a 3-dimensional being? I don't know.

I like what Ponticelli does with it. the way he uses all the different walls to build a Graffiti City, and he makes the child remarkably expressive for being little more than a stick figure. The enthusiasm on the child's face as he decides he understands O-PM's mission is heartwarming, only to be kicked in the teeth by the hero in question's glare. That contrast is very interesting, the fact that Open-Window Man claims not to understand this world. It feels like a conflict between how we like to perceive a hero's motivations and goals, versus what they actually turn out to be. Making Things Better vs. Hurting Bad Guys. But then there's the end of the issue and maybe it's a repudiation of the whole idea of superheroics? No, I don't think that's it, more likely it's about rejecting the idea in comics that tragedy should push people towards that, rather than some other constructive path.

I think Open-Window Man is Miller's Batman (or maybe the jerk everyone started writing because they like Miller's Batman so much). He has a short temper, is impatient, arrogant. he seems largely interested in violence, and has an extremely narrow worldview, incapable of seeing responses to trauma or setback other than "punch crime". Which is strange, for someone who supposedly understands windows and their potential as entryways to other worlds to have such restricted vision. He's too wrapped up in his own pain, ego, and mythology. Which is why the bit where he enters the Graffiti World and tries to adjust is hilarious, if only for how readily it punctures his self-importance.

'Damnit, my thoughts are legible. Think mysteriously. . .'

As I said, it feels like an exposition issue, laying the groundwork so the last two issues can handle the final conflict. But Mieville handles it deftly by weaving all that in with Open-Window Man's attempt to help the kid, and the view it gives us into both characters, so I loved it.

Katana #5, by Ann Nocenti (writer), Alex Sanchez (penciler, pgs 1-15), Cliff Richards (penciler, pgs 16-20), Art Thibert (inker), Matt Yackey (colorist), Taylor Esposito (letterer) - The cover says the guy leaping down towards Katana is Coil, but the sword clearly marks him a Sickle, so who messed up there? The person who lettered it, the person who drew it, the person handing out instructions to both?

Practically everyone in here is trying to dissuade Katana in one form or another. The elderly swordsmith - the only one who might be able to fix the Soultaker - thinks her foolish for trying to remove corruption from a centuries old group, and for focusing only on what she wants. The swordsmith's grandson disagrees with Katana's approach to dealing with an unwanted legacy. Sickle thinks her one-woman crusade is futile, and that she's dumb enough to fall for his "white knight" routine. The Creeper still wants to stop the sword being fixed. This new foe, Swagger, wants the sword, either to finish destroying it, or use its power herself. Even Tatsu's dead husband questions her judgment.

There are two ways to look at that. One, this is a test of her resolve. With the whole world telling her she's wrong in one way or the other, can she remain firm in her quest? The other possibility is that when so many people are telling you you're nuts, maybe they're on to something. That can lead to a couple of different results, so I'm curious. The contradictory ass in me wants Katana to going forward and screw all the haters, even as I recognize it's not cool that she wants to fix the sword specifically so it'll bring her dead husband's soul back to her, after he already told her he hated being stuck in that sword. Is it worth it if it confines the Creeper, though?

So Alex Sanchez handles the art chores for the first three-quarters of the book, and it's not really a good thing. When a swordsmith at the convention dies on page 2, it looks like something hit him in the chest, but on the next page, the shuriken appears embedded in the neck (and Tatsu even notes in lodged in the 'spinal nerve'). When Swagger first attacks Katana, the fight concludes with this very nice panel of them fighting amongst a field of cherry blossoms. I wish I could draw a field of trees, grass, and flowers that well. But the actual fighting is confined to a small portion in the dead center of the panel, where you can hardly tell what's going on. The sound effect and dialogue suggest Katana impaled Swagger with a sword, but the art makes it look like she missed. You have to wait for the close up in the next panel to see where the sword hit, and it's not easy to tell there because the focus is more on Swagger sheathing her own swords, and her arm partially obscures the one she's been stabbed with. Sanchez also uses one of those short, wide panels of someone flying right at us, so that their face is very large and the rest of them is almost entirely hidden by their head. I think he's used that at least once in every fight scene so far in the series, and I don't get it because it looks so awkward to attack of defend from. Not to mention the questionable decision to lead with your ahead against people using swords (something I'd think you want to keep away from your head).

Sanchez can draw very nice settings and some good facial expressions at times, but fights are not his forte, and I question the things he chooses to emphasize in panels sometimes.

What I Bought 5/27/2013 - Part 5

Dial R for reviews! Or, what would R dial, if S is for sidekick and G is for gear? Romantic interest? Rebeliion? Eh, let Mieville figure that out.

Dial H #11 & 12, by China Mieville (writer), Alberto Ponticelli (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Tanya & Richard Horie, Allen Passalaqua (colorists), Taylor Esposito (letterer) - The drapery as a cape is a nice touch there on Open Window Man.

The Centipede has hooked the padre up to some device to use the padre's faith as a way to contact the Dial Fixer. I hadn't realized the Fixer had left Earth after stopping Ex Nihilo, but I guess he had. They make the connection, and the Centipede agrees to help the Fixer find more dials. Meanwhile, Nelson is not handling the previous night's dialed-up make out session with Roxie well. I'm not clear on if he's bothered because he wasn't in control of himself, or because he had sex with a much older woman. Roxie seems to be handling it well, even after Nelson grabs the dial and ends up as The Flash.

Yep, the Flash. Which means Barry Allen has no powers. Which freaks Nelson right the hell out, especially when Roxie explains the story we saw in Dial H #0 (she'd left out the part where the killer from the other world was the hero who had been dialed in the first place). Nelson is now really irate, because how many times have the stolen the powers of some hero when they needed them? There's not much time to address that because the Fixer and the Centipede have found them, and Nelson's stint as The Fastest Man Alive is just about up. The S-Dial buys them some time, but they're really saved by the intervention of Open-Window Man and his allies, the Dial Bunch. Between the lot of them, they manage to boot the Fixer and the Centipede back through the portal the Fixer emerged from. Except, that's exactly where the Centipede wanted to go. Ooops.

Things are happening pretty fast and furious now. I'm hoping Mieville's going to be able to fit everything in coherently before the end. I'm honestly having trouble matching the names of the Dial Bunch to the characters, but hopefully that'll clear up with more interaction. I'm curious about Nelson's description that he'd never felt as powerful as he did as the Flash. What accounts for the difference? Are some of the heroes real, and others imaginary? And the real ones are the ones with the serious juice? Or was Mieville simply referencing how powerful the Flash is?

I'm starting to think O is a Prometheus figure. The Fixer and the others at the "Exchange" use the powers of "lesser" beings for their own purposes, but O decided to give the lesser beings something to balance the playing field: their own dials. It's just that so far, he's avoided being chained to a rock and having his entrails ripped out daily by vultures. Good for him.

Early in issue 11, Nelson's digging around under the bed trying to find his shoe, and grabs the H-dial instead. What's funny is Ponticelli drew him with one shoe in his hand, and the other already partially on his foot. I'm not sure if that's a miscommunication, or a deliberate attempt to show how shook Nelson is. Ponticelli does seem rushed. Some of the character's faces don't maintain shape. Roxie's typically pretty thin, not quite sunken cheeks, but there are few shots where she's a lot puffier, including one where she reminds me of Edward G. Robinson (panel 1, page 10). That being said, at least he didn't draw the Flash costume with all those stupid seams Jim Lee messed things up with. Also, he draws the Centipede's "Multiple Man" shtick well, that page where he's fending off a horde of soldiers especially.

What I Bought 2/25/2013 - Part 2

I keep promising myself I'll stop reading comments sections on major websites, and I keep breaking that promise, and I always regret it.

Batman Beyond Unlimited #12, by J.T. Krul (writer), Howard Porter (pencils), Livesay (inks), Carrie Strachan (colors), Saida Temofonte (letterer) for "War Crimes"; Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen (writers), Fiona Staples (artist), Saida Temofonte (letterer) for "Beyond Origin: Micron"; Adam Beechen (writer), Norm Breyfogle (artist), Andrew Elder (colorist), Saida Temofonte (letterer) for "10,000 Clowns: No Future" - Is that supposed to be something wrapped around Lobo's arm? Or is it just a random scrap of fabric? I could see him wrapping part of a Green Lantern uniform around his arm, just to show off, but otherwise.

Superman visits J'onn in his current civilian identity, and the Martian helps him remember why the Trillians want him dead. Then Lobo attacks, and the two heroes team-up to fight. Seems to be going well until the Trillians catch J'onn by surprise and Superman folds his tent. Really, he basically just gives up. He's captured, and brought to the Trillians' homeworld to be tried for what he did. Maybe I'm to infer Supes surrendered to protect J'onn. As far as this thing with the Trillians goes, I want to hear from the Mangals, the ones Superman freed. Or at least see what they're up to, because while I'm inclined to believe Superman, given the way things go in comics these days, it's possible he really did screw up. I doubt it. More likely he'll face a kangaroo court situation, but it's possible.

Over in Gotham, Terry narrowly avoids strangulation, and escapes, pondering what the hell he's doing this for as he passes out. Which leaves Dick Grayson to do a Frank Miller Batman impression as he squares off with the Joker King. And Max learns the truth about Undercloud, which is disappointing, but not surprising. It's like Payback said, you go up high enough, there's always one guy. I like how Breyfogle managed to draw Grayson in silhouette as he swung in so that his jacket looked like a short cape, ala his Robin costume.

There's also an origin for Micron, which was pretty good. I'm impressed his mother could afford to keep moving on a paramedic's salary, especially if his size-changing kept wrecking the places they were living. Not getting the security deposit back from that. It's nice she's his inspiration, and that using his powers to help people is how he found himself, without a bunch of missteps along the way.

Dial H #9, by China Mieville (writer), Alberto Ponticelli (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Tanay & Richard Horie (colorists), Steve Wands (letterer) - I saw that cover and just assumed it was some play on the Human Centipede's name and nature. That he was a predatory, insect-like mind. Either that, or the dial picked up on it when he used it. Wrong on both counts. As with most things, the correct answer was focus group testing.

For some reason, the dial won't work for the Centipede. Which gives Roxie time to tase him and dial up a hero herself, allowing her and Nelson to escape. In the aftermath, we get a look at what the department Centipede works for looks like, what they know (a lot, and different stuff from Roxie), and the problems they're facing. Namely, their chosen dial user can't seem to retain control out in the field. Centipede has theories, but as we've seen, he has plans of his own and keeps mum. Making him wear that helmet didn't make him any more inclined to share, I imagine. Nelson dials up The Glimpse and sneaks into the headquarters in hopes of finding the Canadians' dial. He locates it, but Centipede suckers the user into dialing up to fight him, which is where it ends.

Is Ponticelli the new regular artist? That'd be fine, if he could make Roxie a little less weathered. I know she's supposed to be an older lady, and normally, no concerns. But there were a couple of panels where she started to resemble Aunt May at her most wrinkly, and I don't know if that's quite what Mieville's looking for. That may just be an aspect of Ponticelli's style I'll adjust to. It's not a big enough deal to detract from the rest. Somehow, he's able to draw a lady minotaur in such a way that it looks strange, but not absurd, but get across how ridiculous the Centipede looks with the bug head. Maybe that's the juxtaposition with his suit, but he looks as silly as I imagine he feels.

"Whiny Eagle" as the Canadian designation for the U.S. is great. It's interesting to me that Nelson and Roxie seem relatively able to function when they dial, but have a hard time getting a hero they feel will fit the task at hand. Personally, I think Cloud Herd would have worked fine, but they disagree. meanwhile, the Canadian soldier can't control himself in the field, but his dial brought up a hero perfectly suited for confronting The Glimpse on the first try. Is it just a sign of how imperfect all the dials are, that each is deficient in their own way?