There were some pretty dandy comics out this week.
I wasn’t crazy about the art in Birds of Prey 78, but Gail Simone’s meticulous character work is more than adequate compensation. The “supernatural secrets of a rural town” story is engaging enough, and there are some interesting twists to the formula. For me, though, the highlight of the book is the attention Simone pays to the evolving relationships of her leads. It’s nice to see Huntress gradually becoming more engaged with her colleagues, and her bond with Black Canary — one of the first super-types to treat her with anything resembling respect — is unexpectedly moving.
Madrox 5 wraps up this entertaining mutant-noir comedy-thriller with a very strong final chapter. Madrox is a startlingly self-aware protagonist for a comic book. Happily, that doesn’t keep him out of trouble. Writer Peter David blends seamy private eye tropes, mutant mayhem, and musings on identity with real craft, and he’s got a great partner in artist Pablo Raimondi. The thing I liked best about this series is that, despite its high concept (He’s a mutant! Who clones himself! And he’s a P.I.!), it’s driven more by character than plot. That the plot is a well-constructed mystery is a nice bonus.
Manhunter is a title that just keeps getting better, in my opinion. Writer Mark Andreyko has crafted a morally ambiguous lead in Kate Spencer, and it’s interesting to watch the compartmentalized portions of her life slam into each other. That’s the big motif in Manhunter 6, as she prepares to try a criminal she tried to murder in her costumed alter-ego (and to reconnect with her son and mend co-parent fences with her ex). Readers get a glimpse of her history, too, and it’s a bit more unpleasant than you’d expect. This really is the way to explore the darker corners of the DC Universe (with a shiny-bright cameo from the Justice League for contrast). Art by Jesus Saiz nicely captures the contradictions.
I like Powers much better when its cast actually does cop stuff, so this issue (#8) was right up my alley. I think I’m going to have to ask my shop owner to cut out the letter pages (and… shudder… the personal ads) before putting this comic in my files, though.
What a pleasant surprise: Geoff Johns has written an issue of Teen Titans that didn’t make me want to reach for the lithium. That he managed this while dealing with the aftermath of a character’s death is particularly startling. In Teen Titans 20, Robin goes through a few stages of grief, trying and failing to wall the Titans off from one part of his life while using his time with them as an escape. That’s some fairly sophisticated characterization, made moreso because Robin’s coping mechanisms fall apart and get replaced by something healthier. Wait… what’s that? It’s actual uplift! Keep very still, or you’ll scare it!