(Spoilers ahead.)
Action Comics 827 (DC) leaves me wondering where writer Gail Simone’s work ends and penciller John Byrne’s begins. The script has some signs of Simone’s customary light touch, but it’s kind of an odd fit with Byrne’s very familiar visual style, and many moments end up seeming like a comic that’s been written by Byrne. (While Marvel hasn’t trademarked the phrase “master of magnetism,” the reference is obvious, and it doesn’t particularly flatter the DC character vying for the title.) The story focuses on Repulse, a magnetic villainess who’s determined to eliminate anyone with the same shtick. She’s enormously powerful and takes full advantage of magnetism as an offensive weapon instead of being content to just “bend girders.” She’s fashioned herself has a flirty bad girl with 1940s hair, evening gloves, and vintage nylons. Superman gets drawn into her schemes when one of her victims makes it to Metropolis to seek the Man of Steel’s aid. The level of threat she poses is appropriate for Superman, but he seems incidental to the story. Any number of DC heroes could have been subbed in to Superman’s slot without much difficulty. And some of the work done to establish Superman’s personality and his supporting cast is more than a little strained. It’s a mixed debut for the new creative team. (In fairness, Superman is a tough sell for me, as I find him really boring.)
Adam Strange 8 (DC) concludes the exciting, well-crafted mini-series and settles the fate of the space-hopping planet Rann. Writer Andy Diggle and artist Pascal Ferry have done wonders reviving a little-used DC C-character, accentuating all the things that work about Adam Strange. His formidable intelligence and decency carry him through a range of escalating perils in fine movie-serial style. I do wish Diggle had resisted the urge to introduce yet another subset of DC’s space-based characters, particularly since they function mostly as cannon fodder in the climactic battle. But overall, the issue draws the mini’s threads together nicely and gives most of its surprisingly large cast nice moments. It ends on a cliffhanger, which seems appropriate, given that every issue has ended on one. But it’s not the kind of cliffhanger that demands a resolution, even though one is available in DC’s Rann-Thanagar War 1. It works just as well as a nod to the chapters that have gone before.
I would have liked Desolation Jones 1 (Wildstorm) much better if they’d called it They Saved Hitler’s Porn. Let’s run through the Warren Ellis comic checklist. Cynical protagonist who’s seen better days? Check. Forced introduction of a bit of contemporary scholarship (supermodernism in this case)? Check. Withered, mostly revolting sybarite in the supporting cast? Check. Sexy punk chick? Check. Seedy, conspiracy-steeped milieu? Check. You either like this sort of thing or you don’t, and you’ve had plenty of opportunities to decide. It’s conceived and executed well, but it’s very, very familiar, even with accomplished visuals from J.H. Williams III.
District X 13 (Marvel) tells the extremely worn story of a young mutant whose powers emerge in destructive and dangerous ways. Anyone with even a passing familiarity with Marvel’s mutant stories will recognize its mechanics instantly. Interesting execution can overcome a trite premise, but writer David Hine and penciller Lan Medina play the story entirely straight. As a result, it seems like a comic you’ve read many times before. I think this will be my last issue of District X. It has a terrific premise and a very promising setting, but it hasn’t made very imaginative use of either since the first arc. There’s also some frankly bizarre characterization (the young mutant’s father views himself as a liberal until the conversation turns to mutants, when he goes full-frontal fascist) and some very shaky art (as characters mention that it’s 10:30 in the morning, the sky is dusky and the street lamps are on; people look at a picture and identify a girl as a mutant, though I have no idea how). It’s another disappointing installment of a series that had a lot of potential to be something special.