Sunday Splash Page #293

 

"Outer Demons," in Katana #3, by Ann Nocenti (writer), Cliff Richards (penciller), Rebecca Buchman, Juan Castro, Le Beau Underwood and Phyllis Novin (inkers), Pete Pantazis (colorist), Taylor Esposito (letterer)

I've discussed before that DC's New 52 didn't do a lot for me, China Mieville's Dial H being a notable exception (both in terms of my enjoying it, and it actually qualifying as something new.) But I was glad DC brought Ann Nocenti in to write some books. None of those runs lasted very long - the 10 issues Katana got was the most of any I read, but I don't know how long she wrote Catwoman - and none of them got much of a proper ending, but I've learned to take what I can get.

Nocenti keeps what I think was Katana's original deal, in that her sword houses her deceased husband's soul, and she's after his killers. Which she thinks is his old friend, now a big wheel in one of the criminal "Weapon" clans. Katana figures she might as well bring all the Weapons down at once, but finds that more difficult than expected.

In large part because she's not really thought much of it through. Nocenti's version of Katana is impulsive, confident bordering on arrogant, sharp-tongued and generally unwilling to concede. She gets her ass kicked more than once for pressing a fight she was better off abandoning. Even when she wins, she's often cut up or scarred, but she's determined to take vengeance, as a way of avoiding dealing with loss. She keeps pushing forward until she gets the truth, and has to decide who she's going to be.

Vengeance and grief, desire and power keep circling around. The people without power try to play by the rules of the ones with power, hoping they'll be able to live that way. Except the ones with power can change the rules whenever it suits them. Some people give in to despair, some lash out, some act to change things. It's all about how people handle it.

The book suffers from inconsistent art. Alex Sanchez is the initial artist, and ends up drawing around 6 issues' worth of the book (he and Cliff Richards share art duties on a few issues), and some of the page layout choices are just peculiar. Sanchez seems fond of a pages with a large central panel, almost a splash page, with postage stamp-sized panels scattered on top. The central panel often makes for a striking image, but most of the important action is relegated to the smaller panels, where it's difficult to parse. I don't think it's an issue of Nocenti's scripts, because the problem disappears when Richards is the artist. Richards has some interesting layouts, too, but they're usually easier to follow. Sliding diagonally across two pages as the battle goes first up, then down a tree. Things like that.

The book ends with several unresolved plot threads I'm 99.9% certain no one else ever followed up, but Nocenti at least has Katana come to a realization of what type of person she wants to be and how she wants to do things. A little closure in that regard, at least.

Random Back Issues #60 - Katana #2

Katana's smack talk is still a work in progress.

I think Ann Nocenti's Katana series is the only other New 52 title I still have besides Dial H. Oh wait, no, I bought the tpb of that Giffen and Didio OMAC series a few years back. Nevermind. Anyway, Katana! I haven't read it in a few years at least, so trying to remember what the heck is going on's a treat. There's a bunch of clans based around what weapons they favor, and Katana's after the Sword Clan, who she holds responsible for her husband's death. She tangled with a guy named Coil, who uses a sword like whip in the first issue, but he's got a lot of reinforcements, and it ends with her refusing an offer to join and everyone scattering.

Katana catches up to one of them, the guy up above, who doesn't want to fight her. Instead, he'd rather parley, even agrees to help her infiltrate his family and bring them down. Which involves her attending a social function in disguise as his date. First though, she visits a woman with tattoos over all of her body, Shun the Untouchable. If I remember right, the tattoos can tell you important stuff, but it costs money for a peek and Tatsu's out of cash, so all she gets is a glimpse of a dragon on the foot and a riddle or proverb.

 

While she's trying to make a plan, she gets harassed by your typical drunk-ass bum martial arts master, who throws candy at her, calls her a twit, then kicks her butt when she fights him. He tells her she's got to learn how to disguise herself. He also explains the riddle that if one is past and two is present, then third is the future. Meaning what Tatsu saw is a glimpse of a future?

The big party has a bunch of ladies with double-ended swords putting on a demonstration. Their boss Sickle steps out and asks if anyone wants to accept a challenge, so Katana jumps in and fights the lot of them. She wins, but her sword acts on its own near the end. And since Sickle is her dead husband's brother and someone else who tried to win her heart, he knows who's under the mask. When he tells her to join up or he'll blow her secret identity, she agrees. The better to get close to her enemy.

 

But that'll have to wait because as she exits the party she's accosted by Steve Trevor, who wants to recruit her for that other Justice League. The one that had Vibe in it. Maybe Hawkman? I can't remember. I more surprised that she apologizes for putting her sword to his throat when he introduces himself. Maybe he was the League's public liaison, but I can't picture him being a well-known figure. 

And meanwhile, Killer Croc of all people has taken an interest in her, because her sword was said to have killed the last dragon, and I think Croc wants to level up. From what was sometime interpreted as a dragon, to the real thing.

[6th longbox, 90th comic. Katana #2, by Ann Nocenti (writer), Alex Sanchez (penciler), Claude St. Aubin (inker), Matt Yackey (colorist), Taylor Esposito (letterer)]

What I Bought 12/16/2013 - Part 4

I tried watching the NBA quintuple-header yesterday, but ESPN's signal kept fritzing out during the first game. I first thought it was the TV, but that was the only channel having problems. My theory is ESPN was warned by some federal regulatory agency they would be criminally liable if their viewers contracted eye cancer from watching Bulls/Nets, and the Worldwide Leader decided not to take chances.

Katana #9 and 10, by Ann Nocenti (writer), Chriscross (penciler/inker, #9), Cliff Richards (penciler/inker, #9 & 10), Alex Sanchez (penciler, #10), Wayne Faucher (inker, #9), Keith Champagne & Prentiss Rollins (inkers, #10), Matt Yackey (colorist), Taylor Esposito (letterer, #9), Dezi Sienty (letterer, #10) - Look at that mess of credits. Yeesh. And on that cover, that seems an odd angle for Katana's arm to be bent at. I'd expect it to be flung out to the side. I guess it does convey the awkwardness that would come with being surprised.

Since the book was abruptly canceled, there's a lot that has to be crammed into this. Katana has to go after Mona Shard, the ghost of a vicious killer running around in the body of a little girl. Which is a problem, since Katana isn't going to kill a kid, no matter how much Sickle and Coil insist she must. Shun has decided to strike back against the poeple who covered her body with tattoos and scars, leading ultimately to that smug scumbag Coil. I greatly enjoyed watching him get kneecapped. The Mad Samurai that possessed the sumo has to make his move (to take Soultaker for himself), Tatsu has another conversation with the Falconer, learns the truth about Junko (not what I expected), and has a reconciliation of sorts with Maseo, her husband. Which would have been a lot more touching if it hadn't been done in one page.

This book wasn't nearly as good as Dial H, but I'm still frustrated by the abrupt ending, as I was with Mieville and Ponticelli's book. This was worse in some ways, because Mieville at least got to start some things, then had to rush them. Here, Nocenti hadn't even gotten to really get going. Like, she introduced the idea that the Daggers are mostly lower income class crooks, while the Sword Clans are more high roller types, who enjoy keeping the Daggers under their boot. So there's a class aspect to it, with Katana in the midst of it as an apparent lady of privilege in the middle. It's something Nocenti's touched on before, the idea that running around punching bad guys only does so much to address problems, but Tatsu's situation is different from Matt Murdock or Oliver Queen's, and I would have liked to see where it went. No such luck now. The storyline with the Mad Samurai had barely gotten started, Katana was going to have to go after the Creeper at some point, not to mention that dragon, Shun's arc might have been better if given more time to slowly boil over.

Cliff Richards is still the best artist this book had, and he handles the last few pages of each issue, Those are, incidentally, the best looking pages. He's really fond of slanted panels, plus he has his own inking style. Heavy on shadows around characters, but not in a way that it clouds everything. Used instead just for nice effect, to allow for contrast, and he's good at maintaining the continuity from panel-to-panel. Maybe a small thing, but there are a lot of artists that don't seem to manage that. Anyway, the shift to slanted panels was how I could tell where Chriscross' art ended in issue 9, and Richards' began. Chriscross was sticking to grids. Sometimes only three panels, sometimes up to 7, but nice, straight squares and rectangles, all neat and level. I wasn't so fond of his faces. There's a 3-panel sequence where we see Tatsu from the side and she looks pretty different in all 3 panels, especially her nose.

Alex Sanchez draws most of issue 10, with two inkers (I'm guessing Richards just inked his own work, but I could be wrong) - so the style shifts a lot from one page to another. Not a fan. On page 5, I can't tell quite what the point of the two panels of the toys floating in the air is. Katana trying to reconstruct the fight? Her freaking out because of the weight of everything she's done and where she's found herself?  I'm really not sure.

The book never got far enough along to be more than potential, but I believed in that potential. Too bad for me, I guess.

What I Bought 10/31/2013 - Part 5

From a book that's yet to fulfill its potential, to one that's dead man walking.

Katana #8, by Ann Nocenti (writer), Cliff Richards (artist), Matt Yackey (colorist), Taylor Esposito (letterer) - That's a nice action-packed cover, but the characters are almost too active. It's like Katana and Coil are each trying three different attacks at the seam time. You've got a kick, maybe an elbow strike, plus whatever they're trying to manage with their swords. Can you put any sort of force into an attack when the body is trying to do that much stuff all at once?

Katana's still trying to get into the Sword Clans, and one of the trials is beating a master with his own weapon. Thus, the fight against Coil with one of those whip swords. It's a bit of back and forth, Katana dealing with his greater experience, his mouth, and her own emotions, but she comes out on top eventually. Still, there are other trials, and one of them is to track down the young girl that escaped from her sword and took Shun's foot.  The spirit in question, Mona Shard, is busy possessing a little bully and training her body in to a weapon that can drag her old Dagger Clan to the top. Katana receives some helpful advice from the fellow with the Falcon, though whether it's more applicable to dealing with her sword, or the Sword Clans, I'm not sure. Either way, she has doubts about whether she really needs to kill Mona. I'm not sure myself. She seems vicious, but anymore so than Coil, and Katana spared him, so who knows.

Cliff Richards handles the art chores for the entire issue, so I consider this a real step up from the previous issues. He doesn't do anything spectacular, but he knows how to keep everything clear. When he wants to give one panel a lot of space for a cool moment, he still leaves enough room for the other panels on the page. The action looks good, and I like the panel of Katana and Shun walking through town together. They look so relaxed and confident, each wearing the marks Coil tried carving into them, not giving a damn who sees them.

It fits nicely with what I think is one of the themes Nocenti's been working with in this title, the whole aspect of men trying to keep women down, to dictate what they can and can't do. Coil's a perfect example because he spends the entire fight running down Tatsu, criticizing her for getting emotional, laughing about things her husband (allegedly, though I wouldn't doubt it, Maseo seems like kind of a hypocritical dick) said about her behind her back. When he tries to tell her that she's accomplished nothing with all her scrambling about, she takes control of the fight, rebuffs his argument, and says she's enjoyed every minute of it, regardless of whether it got her anywhere. Then he tries to undercut that by claiming she's "sick", but she blows him off, and leaves, head high, Shun at her side.

I also don't think it was a coincidence the billboard the two fought in front of was showing some ad for women's perfume, and emphasizing what I'd guess were the sort of traditional limitations we impose on women. Look pretty, smell nice, wear heels so a guy will want to kiss you, because otherwise there wouldn't be any point, right? And Katana's rejecting all that, she'll decide what she enjoys, why and for what she fights, and anyone who tries to dictate her life without her asking them to first, is going to learn just how bad an idea that is. Shun's a part of this, since she didn't choose to be covered in these tattoos, they were put there on the orders on 'officials', who I would guess were guys, and given that, it really makes me question the one about Katana. A prophecy that says if a woman takes power, it will ruin everything. Gee, what a shock. I think that's part of why Tatsu's unsure about killing Mona. She recognizes Mona probably isn't any worse that Coil or Sickle, so why does Mona have to die. Besides the part where she's already dead, but you don't see the boys telling her to go after Maseo, the samurai, or the Creeper. Possibly because none of them have demonstrated their intent to upset the current status among the different clans.

See, this book makes me think in a way a lot of the other titles don't. I'm gonna miss that when it's gone. That being said, I did think that during the fight between Katana and Coil, things turned awfully quickly. Some thoughts balloons allowing us to track Tatsu's thoughts might have helped. The way it played out, I think Coil's attempt to deride her efforts at cleaning up the Outsiders, triggered a realization, or helped coalesce her thoughts, and that gave her a clarity that let her turn the tables, start mocking Coil, rather than let his taunts goad her. But with no peer inside her mind, it just looks like she decided to start fighting better all of the sudden. I do miss thought bubbles, but everybody loves those caption boxes now, assuming you even get that.

I Should Have Discussed Why I LIke Katana Sooner

I mentioned Monday that DC announced Katana ends in December. As I said then, I'm not surprised, except I thought it would have a couple more months, which would presumably give Nocenti a little more time for some sort of satisfying resolution, although I have a hard time picturing what that would be. She's only begun delving into the various Sword Clans, to save nothing of all the other ones out there, so having Tatsu take over would be pretty rushed, if that was ever Nocenti's plan. It could be a matter of her realizing the task she's presented herself isn't achievable, and altering her goals. Since there's a real question of whether she was doing this solely for revenge, or out of some genuine desire to reform the Clans, she could have a moment of clarity that makes her choose a different path.

As it is, I expect the last issue will feel very rushed, and probably only provide a sense of resolution on the surface levels, if the last issue of Dial H was anything to go by.

I know I'm in the minority on it - just as I was on Nocenti's Green Arrow run - but I enjoyed Katana. It wasn't perfect, wasn't likely to make my Top 3 Ongoing for 2013, but I lay much of the blame for that on the art. Alex Sanchez couldn't lay a page out sensibly to save his life, and would trained fighters really keep lunging (unprotected) face first at their enemies, because he certainly enjoys drawing them that way. Beyond that, yes the book feels a little scattershot, but it also feels like Nocenti is trying to say something with it. I'm not always clear on what she's trying to say, but I appreciate the fact there's something there, beyond a surface of cool moments. Hey, I like cool moments for characters, too, but something extra is appreciated.

Also, Katana has a sense of momentum to it. That momentum is out of control at times, or somewhat unfocused, but I haven't felt like things were being dragged out for the trade. There are fights, revelations, setbacks, new paths opening in the face of new information, new challenges. I recognize that "things happen" is the bare minimum we should expect from a story, but there are some writers out there I think could use a reminder. But the nice thing with Katana is that all these things happening help keep me on my toes. I don't know what's going to happen next, where the story might go. Every issue can bring new surprises, characters impressing or disappointing me, but Nocenti's developed them in a such a way that either reaction is possible. These characters are going to make bad decisions, or irrational ones sometimes, because that happens in times of heightened emotions, or when you only have a moment. I enjoy the unpredictability, and also the sense that the characters are more rounded, not all straight archetypes.

I would understand a distaste for her dialogue, it's a bit stilted, but I suppose I grew up reading comics written like that, so I don't mind. I'm primarily concerned with whether the dialogue is telling you anything, how realistic it sounds is less relevant. People talk in many different ways, after all, but most of them are trying to say something when they open their mouths.

Easy come easy go, another title I enjoyed on the "quickly canceled" pile.

That Sword Can't Cut Through This Mess

I'm not certain where this post is going exactly. I'd been thinking about all the different themes Nocenti seems to be working into Katana, and I wanted to go over them, hopefully sort the thoughts into something useful.

There's a lot of deception, usually with a healthy dose of sexism involved. Tatsu regularly pretending to be something she isn't, taking advantage of men's tendencies to underestimate a woman with blonde hair, a lot of jewelry and a pretty dress (not realizing all those things are designed to be weapons). Junko pretends to be some worthless, annoying lush, and maybe it isn't totally a deception, because he does like his sake, and he can be annoying, but he's more than that under the surface. What, I'm not entirely sure. A swordsmith, perhaps.

Katana's supposed to be trying to infiltrate the Sword Clans to clean them out, but absolutely no one seems to be buying it. Maybe because she's been fooling herself. She was operating from a stance that Maseo was murdered by them, and she should remove those elements, avenging Maseo in the process. But she's somewhat responsible for Maseo's death, more than the Swords, so what's the point? There's rot in the Outsiders, no doubt of that, but Maseo was as much a symptom of it as Sickle, Coil, or the others. He was killing innocent people for money, and using his wife as an accomplice. He drew a sword first when Sickle called him on it, he's hardly a victim.

Maseo's probably been duping himself as well. He told Katana he wants her to be happy, to find someone else, then he's bothered when that turns out to be Sickle. Even though he died believing she liked his brother more than him, it somehow surprises him she might turn to Sickle, and him to her. He handled the Soultaker, was trapped inside it, but seemed shocked when the swordsmith told him the sword might end up killing Tatsu.

But that's the bit about obsession. Katana's seems all too willing to change who she is to accomplish her goals. She was willing to play the obedient for Maseo, because he might have liked her, but not as she was. So she became what he expected. Now she's willing to use a sword that steals souls, and pretend to ally with people she despises, to take revenge on people for something they didn't do. To remove corruption, she deceives, she pretends, and innocent people around her suffer. The elderly swordsmith dies, Nori and Yoko's businesses are destroyed, Shun loses a foot, and gets scarred by Coil (for kicks, far as I can tell). So far Tatsu's not done a great job protecting innocents. And she seems to have driven away her husband's spirit, making him lost to her, possibly forever.

I feel like part of her problem is the expectations. She tried to be the dutiful wife for Maseo, in part because that's what was expected of her. I think that's why she chose him. He was the safer boy, the sensible one you marry, and that's why she chose him over Sickle, even if she may have loved Sickle more. And now she's struggling with how to honor his memory. She thought she should be avenging him, destroying the group that destroyed him, but Maseo says he wanted her to find happiness instead. That may have been because he knew the truth of his death that she'd suppressed, but either way, she's caught. Does she move forward with what she thinks is right, or abandon that in favor of someone else's hopes for her? Of course, Maseo's expectations may not be based on an accurate understanding of her personality. He seems to think the woman she was when they were married is the true her, but the tomboy she was as a child might be more true.

I may revisit this sometime. I didn't cover everything yet.

What I Bought 8/30/2013 - Part 4

Down the road from here there's a ranch. Or a farm. Probably a farm in this part of the country. They have cows and goats, and this spring, they also had a donkey and a horse. Those two hung out together all the time. If the donkey wandered off somewhere, the horse would follow. Now they've added another horse, and those two hang out. The donkey is left all alone. I caught it staring at the goats, and I imagine it's contemplating whether it really wants to hang out with them, or hope its old friend comes back.

Katana #6, 7, by Ann Nocenti (writer), Alex Sanchez (artist), Cliff Richards (artist, #6), Fabrizio Fiorentino (artist, inker, #7), Art Thibert (inker, #6), Wayne Faucher (inker, #7), Matt Yackey and Guy Major (colorists), Taylor Esposito (letterer) - I couldn't place the artist for that cover without looking at the credits, but it looked familiar. Once I saw it was Pasqual Ferry, I realized the effect he's using for the spirits reminds me of stuff from his Ultimate Fantastic Four run.

The Creeper's giving Katana some trouble, but he has to bail at the rising of the sun. But he killed the only one who could fix the Soultaker, so that's enough, right? Wrong. Maseo - somehow as an effect of living in the sword - can possess the old woman and get her up and moving. Not that she's too happy about it. And Maseo's not too happy about how close Sickle and Katana are getting. Swagger and her goons take their best shot at killing them, but it's a no go, and the sword is reforged.

But the souls don't return, and Maseo has some harsh words for Katana. By the next issue, we're back in Frisco, and Tatsu's trying to get a look at some of Shun's other tattoos. The ones that weren't on the foot lopped off by a ghost girl. The ones she sees hint at other clans besides the sword (like the Arrow clan), and some falconer has her in his sights, though he isn't attacking just yet. Probably for the best, if he thinks a sword can't kill a falcon. Pretty sure falcons aren't invulnerable against pointy things. Turns out that while Katana was in Japan, the swords clans were busy destroying the lives of everyone who helped her. Well, all the women, anyway. Coil scarred Shun's face severely, for kicks, I assume.

The big surprise comes at the end, during a test to see whether Katana can join the Swords. Turns out Maseo always feared she loved his brother - Sickle - more, and that Maseo wasn't perhaps the swell guy Tatsu's made him out to be. And depending how you look at it, Katana killed Maseo. But he's the one waving a sword around like a fool. Getting stabbed with it is an occupational hazard. The issue ends with Coil showing himself and challenging Katana, but not until after we get to see the last tattoo Shun showed her. The one that says Katana taking over the Swords will destroy the world. Hell, based on what Shun's said, all her tattoos describe the Apocalypse. They can't all be the end of the world, so why believe any of them?

That is a lot of stuff for two issues. Katana coming face-to-face with some truth about herself, which also explains some of Maseo's attitude towards her. If he thinks she always favored his brother, and believes that's why she killed him, then it would be a form of hell for her to jam him back into that sword to watch it happen. We also had Katana realizing the risk she poses to people around her (it makes me question Junko, since he's been more helpful than anyone else, but was left alone), and how it's changed her thinking (contemplating how getting close to Sickle will get her further in the Swords). There's the contrast between Shun's drive for revenge and Katana's claim that she's out to avenge Maseo, when he rightly pointed out she was supposed to be cleaning up the Swords. There's Grandma Jin's desire for death, versus everyone else's desire to live. Maseo's temporary possession of Jin's body, and his disinterest in doing so later, versus the Creeper's more difficult situation with Jack Ryder.

Honestly, it almost too much. Like a song with too many beats or instruments, I can't single out any one theme or arc and focus on it properly. Which is a little frustrating.

I haven't said much about the art, because it's still a chore. Sanchez still makes some curious choices in page layout. Take page 3 of issue 6. The first panel suggests Katana slashes the Creeper across the gut, while Sickle barely sneaks into the side of it, even though I imagine his breaking the chains around Katana was fairly important. Most of the page is taken up by an image of the Creeper standing up screaming at the sky about how pissed he is at Jack Ryder. Shouldn't that mean Katana knows who it is Creeper's riding around in? He hadn't flown off yet, she was right there, and Creeper said, 'Jack Ryder, I'm gonna kill you!' I guess that isn't proof Ryder's the host, though I can't imagine what other reason he might scream that particular name out. Either way, there's no need for that panel to be that large. The other three all have more going on in them, but all are relegated to much less space. Cliff Richards work is a step up, though some of his faces (especially Swagger's) look strange. But it's always clear what's happening on the page, which is a major step up.

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 8

I feel like I should say something about Man of Steel, but I haven't seen it, and I'm not planning to. Dangers of the Internet. I'm not a big fan of Superman to start with, and very little of what I've seen and read about it makes me think I'd much enjoy it. I'd like them to downplay Jor-El more. He got Clark off Krypton and that's great, his jobs over. None of this "Holographic Space Dad hands out edicts" crap, Clark is Superman (as opposed to just another super-powered being) because of how the Kents raised him, full stop.

Katana #3 & 4, by Ann Nocenti (writer), Cliff Richards (penciler #3), Alex Sanchez (penciler #4), Rebecca Buchman, Juan Castro, Le Beau Underwood, Phyllis Novin (inkers, #3), Art Thibert (inker #4), Pete Pantazis (colorist, #3 & 4), Matt Yackey, Gary Major (colorists, #4), Taylor Esposito (letterer, #3 & 4) - Because nothing says a consistent vision for a title like two pencilers, 5 inkers, and 3 colorists in the span of two issues! Cripes. There have got to be more artists who can stick to a monthly schedule and produce quality work out there somewhere. But why would they want to work in comics?

Katana gets wind of some big deal involving the Dagger Clan down at the boat graveyard. Which just so happens to be where Killer Croc had a taxi drop him off earlier that day. Yeah, it's a trap, and Tatsu suspects as much, but she lets her confidence and obsession get the best of her. Which is how she ends up in a fight with Croc, and he ends up breaking her sword, releasing all the souls within, including the Creeper, and her husband. The spirits scatter. Croc follows the dragon he was after, the Creeper dashes off to find a body to ride, a young girl of the Dagger Clan visits Shun, the girl with the tattoos, and removes her foot. She couldn't have simply taken a picture? And Maseo wonders what the hell is up with his wife, that she sleeps with her sword.

That particular conversation seems to break Katana for a bit. She sleeps a lot, brushes off Junko's advice to find someone to reforge her sword, quits her job as a waitress. I'm not sure if it's the thought that anyone she's killed is condemned to a Purgatory within the sword, or if it's what Maseo said about her. Either way, the Creeper showed up for a rematch, which may have lit the spark in her again. Frankly, if he's so worried about being trapped once she reforges the sword, just point out it would draw Maseo back in as well. I have to think that would stop her in her tracks.

That fight at the end of issue 4 ended abruptly. The Creeper lunged at her, she sidestepped, he went over the roof, she remarked it's not going to be easy killing her. But there's no sign of him. Is he unconscious, landing safely and getting ready to strike back? Did he just leave because he lost the element of surprise? There's a sound effect as he goes off the roof, "KRAK" which makes no sense at all. It doesn't look like Tatsu hit him, he didn't hit her or anything else, it doesn't represent thunder, I don't know what it's about.

This is one of my issues with Sanchez. For a book that is presumably going to feature a lot of martial arts style fighting, he's not real good at fight scenes. The posing looks awkward, and it's not always evident how a character got from one position to another. I'm not sure about how things are emphasized, either. Most of page 6 is devoted to the Creeper releasing sickles and chains from his cloak, but I feel like the beginning of Tatsu's conversation with Maseo probably should have gotten more attention. But it's wedged in at the bottom fifth of the page.

I preferred Richards' artwork on issue 3, at least the first three quarters of it. Whoever took over inking on the last 5 pages used too heavy of a line. It weighed things down, and  cost the art some of it's fluid nature. A lot of the sense of movement was lost, and the faces didn't look as strong, either. Prior to that, though, it was looking pretty good. The exchange between Junko and Tatsu, I like how even when she's standing on the roof above him, seemingly in the position of authority, the focus is on him and his relaxed smile. She stole his jug of wine, but he still has her hat, and she hasn't really gotten anything from him. The fight with the Daggers a few pages later has a nice shot where she swings low, cutting people at the shins, and the next panel is angled so it follows along the underside of the swing. The fighters changing up in response to what just happened.

I'm surprised Junko is pushing Tatsu to go to Japan. She just got here, we've just started to get to know this supporting cast, and she might leave? But it could be she's not going to do it. She'll keep trucking on with her other weapons, and the foreseeable future will be her trying to track down these other spirits and decide whether to try and imprison them again. Or she could help them settle their business and move on. We'll see.

What I Bought 4/2/2013 - Part 8

One of these days, I'll end these reviews. This isn't that day. In other news, it's raining again, which means the ceiling is dripping again. Hopefully it stops before I try to sleep.

Katana #1 & 2, by Ann Nocenti (writer), Alex Sanchez (artist), Claude St. Aubin (inker #2), Matt Vackey (colorist), Taylor Esposito (letterer) - I have nothing to say about either of the covers.

So Tatsu/Katana has this nifty sword, the Soultaker. Near I can tell, her husband used to wield it, but he died under somewhat vague circumstances, involving fire. And blood. As far as Tatsu's concerned, his soul is within the sword, which means they'll be taking vengeance on his killers together. That would seem to be the Sword Clan, and to that end, Tatsu's set up shop in the Japantown section of San Francisco. Her initial attempts aren't entirely successful. She managed to overcome Coil - narrowly - but the fact he knows more about her and the sword than she does seems to give him an upper hand. Her attempt to call out Sickle didn't quite work, either. She trounced all his followers, but he didn't actually fight her. Instead, he threatened to leak her identity if she didn't work with them. Tatsu figures you have to be close to someone to stab them, so she agrees.

You have to say this for Nocenti: She doesn't waste time. She's already introduced at least 5 characters I expect to be regular members of the supporting cast, from a potential boss (Nori, her landlady), to a mole (who names their son Thrust? Unless it's Gatotsu, and he just used the English translation), a couple of elder sorts, and Shun the Untouchable. Not sure if she and Tatsu will ever get any time to actually converse, but it ought to be interesting when they do.

As for Tatsu herself, she's on this interesting line between confidence and false bravado. I honestly can't tell which it is sometimes. When she attacks Thrust and harries him, insults him, that's fake. That's her trying out Batman's "scare people into talking" stuff. But when she leaps out of the crowd to challenge Sickle and his ladies, I think that's genuine. She's honestly that sure of herself, even when she knows how far she has to go. So she's overconfident, but I can't tell if that's because she doesn't realize the difficulty of the task ahead of her, or if she just doesn't care. She may figure this is something she has to do, whatever the risks to herself. So she ignores them.

As for Sanchez' art, I prefer it with St. Aubin inking. When Sanchez inks himself, he goes overboard, too many small lines, and things get muddled. The details can get buried under the shadows, especially on things at a distance, such as faces. St. Aubin smooths things out, the shadows there are go deeper, but they aren't as prevalent, so they don't threaten to overwhelm everything.

One other credit, for whomever is responsible, the sound effects. In issue 2, they seem to hang around the borders of the panels, either at the top or bottom. The laughter in the panel where Tatsu gets her second glimpse of Shun, the "swoosh" as Junko leg sweeps Tatsu, the applause when Tatsu first leaps onto the stage with Sickle, and again when the fight ends. There are very few effects in the center of panels. Maybe that's deliberate, or just chance. I like that the applause is set against a narrow line of curtains, as though they're rising on the show and the start, and descending at the end.