Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 9/24

Harley Quinn: Futures End
Story: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti
Art: Chad Hardin

A year into it's publication, I realized I haven't talked about the new series starring Harley Quinn. From her first appearance in the New 52, I had a lot of problems with the new Harley, from her awful costume to her completely violently psychotic attitude. But with this ongoing being written by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, I gave it a shot. And it is, far and away, the most fun comic coming out from DC. It's DC's answer to Deadpool: wacky, over the top cartoony violence, quirky protagonist. The series began by moving Harley to Brooklyn, giving her a new supporting cast, and removed it pretty much from the mainstream of the New 52, and it works beautifully. The Futures End issue is similarly removed from the downright dark and brooding event, and its a story of Harley flying on vacation to Barbados only to crash on an island that her Mr. J, The Joker, is using to hide out, and where he is worshiped as a god king by the natives. It's a great introduction to Conner and Palmiotti's take on Harley, since she spends a lot of time on her own, thinking (and talking to Bernie, the taxidermy beaver that is sort of Jiminey Cricket for her throughout the series). There are plenty of sight gags, especially once you realize what the Joker has been doing to the natives. And the writers get the way Joker and Harley are supposed to interact, with Harley growing a spine around him, only to have him say one thing that gets her to melt, and him simply having fun manipulating her (I feel the way Joker deals with his subjects is just how he feels about Harley written large, and the end would be what we wish Harley could do to the Joker. Read the issue and you'll see what I mean). The issue is drawn by regular series artist Chad Hardin, so you get the full Harley Quinn experience, and he draws the issue with the same manic verve that he does every issue. If you're looking for a comic that has that Itchy & Scratchy vibe, while still capturing the voice of both Joker and Harley, this is the comic for you to try.

Lumberjanes #6
Story: Grace Ellis & Noelle Stevenson
Artist: Brooke Allen

Ah, capture the flag. Nothing says camp like capture the flag (I think. I never went to to camp, but it's one of those things that I see every time there's story about camp, so I feel like that). Of course, since this is Lumberjanes, things have a slightly more supernatural bent. This issue we get a bit more with Diane, the somewhat standoffish camper who has been around a couple issues, and we see most of what her deal is, a lot of which has to do with Jo, the most grounded Lumberjane. After the bear woman made reference to Jo being supernatural, the other girls aren't sure what to make of it, but this issue we get answers to that and exactly what Diane is and is up to. Frankly, Diane's identity makes perfect sense, and it makes me want to go back and reread her previous appearances to see if there were clues there that I missed. But while there is mystery and the supernatural, the thing that still gives Lumberjanes it's charm and it's warmth is the relationships between the leads. Before you know exactly what's going on , the first two pages make it seem like there's dire trouble at hand, and the way the girls stick together, the way they care for the wounded Molly, the way they depend on Jo's planning, is all wonderful. I also get a kick out of a scene later, when Mal is coming up with her crazy plan to save the captured Jo and Ripley, only for them to have escaped and see Mal's disappointment that she yet again didn't get to enact one of her plans. It all reminds us that, as much as the series is about the Supernatural, it's more about these five characters, their friendship, and what a unique group of characters they are. A couple of final notes, I like how the events of earlier issues are staring to pay off in these issues. While Lumberjanes is now an ongoing, it was originally planned for an eight issue run, so I'm curious to see if everything gets answered at issue eight with a new set of mysteries appearing after that or if the creators had enough advance notice of the extension to build subplots forward. I also love the continued development of Jen, the councilor. She could have been the strict authoritarian character who was the girls' nemesis in camp, but she has grown, wondering what she brings to a camp that battle monsters and trying to help keep her girls safe by going off on their adventures. I connect a lot with Jen's mindset, being a rule follower and the kind of person who doesn't chase monsters, so I like seeing that growth in her.

Saga #23
Story: Brian K. Vaughan
Art: Fiona Staples

The end of last issue of Saga was heartbreaking, and this issue is the fallout from Alana and Marko's confrontation (SPOILERS if you're reading the series in trades). With our lead couple now on the outs, Alana goes into the treehouse while Marko makes what might be the dumbest move ever and goes to Ginny's. We see exactly what each of them are feeling, and frankly a month later I'm still torn up about whose side to take. Marko's throwing something in a fit of rage at Alana is unforgivable, but I will say that Alana being under the influence while being with Hazel is something that is utterly wrong as well. Vaughan has done a great job of fashioning a situation where everyone is as right as they are wrong. Still, as we see the two of them deal with where they are now, Alana has the breakdown that has been coming since the beginning of this arc, and Marko does something that affirms his commitment to his family. Izabel, the ghost girl babysitter, also gets some more character development. Vaughan uses her to speak about the pointlessness of war in a way that is far more effective to me than our leads usual wistful discussions of love being stronger than war, more in line with Oswald Heist's story of his son and less with the stories he wrote in flowery prose. And I absolutely love Klara, Marko's mom, once again proving she is far and away the toughest member of the cast; this is a grandma you don't want to mess with. It does seem that Alana's time with the Open Circuit is over, and the events have me unsure of how I feel about Yuma. I mean, I don't think there's been much redeeming the drug dealing costumer to begin with, and seeing her interactions with Dengo makes her seem even more despicable. But she seems to have a moment of realization, even if it seems to be one of those deathbed conversions that will only mean anything if she does survive. Vaughan ends the issue with his trademark cliffhanger, with the meeting of two characters who haven't crossed paths yet who have been in each other's orbit since the series began. There's one more issue in this arc before the next hiatus, and as ever, I don't know where this is going, but I'm along for the ride.

The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror #20
Art: Various
Story: Various

In previous years, the annual Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror comic has brought in creators from all around comic to tell various comedy/horror themed stories set in Springfield. This year, the stories are from Bongo Comics stable of regular creators, but are all themed towards today's leading horror trend: zombies. The lead is a mashup of two of the biggest pop culture events with "Zombinado." Yes, it's a tornado full of zombies, and only Homer Simpson's capacious gullet can save Springfield. "The Walking Ned" casts Homer as the Governor-esque leader of a post-apocalyptic Springfield and Ned Flanders as the man who must stop him from getting everyone killed . And the special ends with a parody of zombie classic "Dawn of the Dead" and Bart and Homer unleashing nuclear zombies during a bring-your-kids-to-work day. These are all entertaining stories, perfect if you're looking for a little Halloween laugh.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 9/26

Batman Incorporated #0
Story: Grant Morrison & Chris Burnham
Art: Frazier Irving

As #0 issues go, I think Batman Incorporated got one of the best. Many of the zero issues were really out to try to smooth over some continuity issues created by the New 52 or to detail brand new origins for existing characters. But Batman Incorporated #0 really works to not only set the stage for the ingoing, but to flesh out some of the existing characters. If you were a reader who came into this series fresh with the New 52, you now have met many of Batman Incorporated's members, seen how Batman recruited them, and gotten a feel for their different attitudes. Especially important was sare the scenes with Batman recruiting the new Dark Ranger, the Batman of Australia. This is a new character, one who hasn't really appeared in more than a panel or two before this, so getting to know him means, I assume, he will play an important role later. I liked watching his burgeoning relationship, albeit a long distance one, with Squire, the partner of England's Knight. Squire is a spitfire, a great character, and she provides a great sounding board for Dark Ranger. Frazier Irving is an outstanding artist, and his style, with it's heavy shadows and beautiful darkness, is well suited for Batman. The only thing I didn't get but was hoping for was an appearance by Cassandra Cain as Black Bat, Batman of Hong Kong; but I figured it was a long shot. A guy can hope that she might pop up before the series is out though.

Happy! #1
Story: Grant Morrison
Art: Darick Robertson

It's been a while since Grant Morrison stepped back into the kind of comics that made him famous. He's been working on Batman and Superman for so long, you can forget this is the guy who made his bones writing The Invisibles, Flex Mentallo, and the trippiest run on Doom Patrol probably ever. Happy! is is new creator owned series from Image, teaming with Transmetropolitan and The Boys artist Darick Robertson. What starts out as a noir, with four mobster brothers looking to take out ex-cop-turned-hitman Nick Sax, quickly turns into something very different as, after waking up from near fatal gunshots, Nick starts seeing a flying blue horse named Happy who claims to be an imaginary friend and needs Nick's help to save his master (owner? maker? You get the idea). Morrison is clearly working tongue in cheek with both the noir genre and the gritty comics of today. The two brothers who are talking at the beginning curse so liberally that they are a parody of the profane mobster. Happy stands out so much against the dark world that Nick exhibits that it's jarring, and I think it's supposed to be that way, similarly to how Batmite stands out against the world of Batman in Morrison's run there, although even more striking. Darick Robertson is an artist whose style is realistic, but who does a wonderful job of peppering in bits of sheer unreality, be they the sci-fi elements of Transmet or the supes in The Boys. Happy the horse is charming and amusing, and looks really out of place surrounded by mobsters in a hospital. Choosing to set the story at Christmas makes for certain overtones that come with all Christmas stories; ideas of hope and redemption most prominently, even if the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is never portrayed quite as cute as Happy. I don't know if this story is going to wind up being a tale of Nick's redemption by saving the girl from whatever danger she's in, but I'm along for the ride no matter what.

Justice League Dark #0
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Lee Garbett

Justice League Dark came out of the gate as a solid comic, despite its somewhat awkward title. But when writer Jeff Lemire took over with its second arc, the series really started firing on all cylinders, not only having a great supernatural feel but a wicked sense of humor. This zero issue details the New 52 history of John Constantine and Zatanna, and introduces a new character, their mentor Nick Necro. Necro is clearly a proto-Constantine, the man John models his eventual behavior after, for good or ill. Ok, this is Constantine we're talking about; it's mostly ill. John and Zee study under Nick, and watch his eventual descent into madness hunting for the fabled Books of Magic; that Nick will turn out to be the Big Bad of the current arc of Justice League Dark will probably surprise no one when it's revealed. Seeing Constantine, a character who has existed solely in the Vertigo side of things for so long, interacting with the DCU has taken some getting used to, but I've come to really enjoy it, and to see a young Constantine giving in to some of the instincts that an older one would deny, like the urge to run and help a clearly unbalanced mentor who, shock of shocks, betrays him, is something the older Constantine of Hellblazer of even JLD would never do. But a Constantine, no matter the age, is the bastard of all bastards, and anyone who gets close to him is probably on their way to a messy death. The lessons learned by Constantine in this issue, ones about control and about who really has power, are things that are key to his character, and it was a great ride to see him learn them. Consider it, "The Portrait of the Mage as a Young Bastard."

The Punisher #16
Story: Greg Rucka
Art: Marco Checchetto

Writer Greg Rucka's tenure on The Punisher ongoing comes to a close, and it does so in a way that nicely ties up all the loose ends. I'm not a huge Punisher fan, but I am a huge Rucka fan, and read the series with quite a bit of interest. I wrote a piece about Batman and his use as a plot device in Batman: The Animated Series, and I feel like Rucka has pretty much been doing that this entire run. Garth Ennis did that for much of his run on the MAX Punisher series, where the mobsters, victims, and other characters were the focus, but Rucka's Punisher is a force of nature, who spoke fewer lines over the course of the run than most lead characters do in a single issue. This series has really be the story of Rachel Cole-Alves, a marine whose family was killed in a mob scuffle and has become a sort of apprentice Punisher. Rachel's story wraps up this issue, with her finally reaching a breaking point, and realizing she isn't the force of nature that Rucka's Punisher is. It's a heartbreaking scene, Rachel guilt ridden over the death of an innocent during the final battle between her, the Punisher, and the super crime syndicate The Exchange, and watching Punisher quietly taking the police out of the equation to allow her the chance to live. One of Rucka's other supporting characters, Detective Ozzy Clemons, factors in to the end of Rachel's story, and he is given his own satisfying ending. In October, Rucka's Punisher: War Zone mini-series begins, which promises to be much less intimate, and more over the top crazy. But I think someday, this will be looked at as one of the best Punisher runs ever, and I'm glad I read it.

The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror #18
Story: various
Art: various

Ah, it's that wonderful time of year again. The leaves are changing, there's a cool breeze, and Homer is going on a killing spree. Yes, just like the TV series, Bongo Comics releases a Simpsons Halloween annual each year, collecting various short pieces. This year's is chock full of some great horro/comedy. The first story, an Evil Dead/Cabin in the Woods parody, comes from The Houghton Brothers, creators of Reed Gunther. Gerry Dugan and Phil Noto riff on Rosemary's Baby. Jim Valentino does a Rashaman-esque take of the regulars at Moe's trying to remember how the Bride of Frankenstein makes her entrance. And Chris Yambar tells a tale of Bartman entering Springfield Asylum in a tale neatly parodying the Arkham Asylum video game. There's nothing heavy here, nothing to sit around and contemplate. But if you like The Simpsons or a comic that's going to give you a good chuckle, give this one a shot. Oh, and on a side note, if anyone out there has, or knows where to get, a Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror #1, let me know. I've been looking for that for, well, eighteen years now.

Talon #0
Story: Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV
Art: Guillem March

The first title in the new DCU to feature a completely new character began this week, and I was pleased to see it. The lack of new characters headlining books was something I was surprised by with the New 52, and although the concept of Talon comes from Scott Snyder's "Court of Owls" story in Batman, Calvin Rose makes his first appearance here. The reader gets everything they need to know about Calvin in these pages: his history before coming to Haly's Circus, his training with the Court of Owls, and his abandonment of his duties. There are mysteries left about his past, but they seem to be flavor more than essential, which is fine, although who knows what might be important later on. What we see is a character with a certain set of skills, an escape artist who now must use those skills to escape not just from a strait jacket, but from the men who are hunting him. Snyder and Tynion have proven how well they work together in the back-ups on Batman, and this issue only further cements it. Calvin has a great voice; he doesn't sound like a recycled Bat character. I do have a feeling we'll get a similar vibe to the early issues of the Azrael series, a mixture of adventure and secret societies, which I'm looking forward to; the first two years or so of the Denny O'Neil Azrael ongoing were great comics. But whether I'm right or not, I think the Bat-family has an interesting new addition.

Wolverine & the X-Men #17
Story: Jason Aaron
Art: Mike and Laura Allred

Oh, Doop. Nothing quite like a floating green potato man to save the day. This issue of Wolverine and the X-Men steps back from the ongoing plots of X-Men fighting Avengers and the machinations of the new Hellfire Club to tell a one off story of exactly why Wolverine has recruited Doop, former X-Force/X-Statix member, to hang around The Jean Grey School. Doop is Wolverine's secret weapon, to look for threats against the school and stop them before they can attack. This includes dealing with zoning, Nazi bowling clubs, teaming up with Howard the Duck, and internet trolls. It's a hilarious issue, with each predicament Doop gets himself involved in seeming to be more ludicrous than the last. The scenes of Wolverine recruiting him, including Wolverine having to put on a one man show of what he thinks Cyclops would be like with a claw in his head were unreal and amusing, and Doop's dinner with Sabretooth ends about as well as you would expect. Doop co-creator Mike Allred is on art duties this issue, and I could think of no one more perfect for the job. Allred's sense of the absurd is second to none, and he draws all these bizarre scenes with a straight face, for want of a better term, while still making it seem odd and off kilter. Even if you're not an X-Men person, this is a great comic, one that plays with all the weirdness that this medium does so well.