Luba's Comics and Stories #3
By Gilbert Hernandez
Published by Fantagraphics Books
Gilbert Hernandez is a natural storyteller, one of the best the medium's ever had, and in this issue he tells the decades-long relationship between Ofelia and Luba by way of amusing exposition, half-seen moments and momentous glances.
By now, Luba's world is a fully-formed thing, as real as anything you can touch in your own life. This particular piece of that world that Hernandez dishes up this month is incredibly rich, touching as it does on the meanings of family and friendship and the uneasy balance between the two where they overlap.
It seems like the complex and conflicting character of Luba is always peeling back to reveal new layers, and in this issue we get a truckload of them. As always, it's a supremely satisfying experience, like visiting distant loved ones and catching up on all the gossip. Combine that with Gilbert's sublime cartooning, and it's a heady mixture that will leave you breathless and wanting more. Grade: 5/5
Ultimate Spider-Man #34
By Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley
Published by Marvel Comics
I wasn't interested in Venom as a character when he was new, so imagine my surprise at this late date that Bendis and Bagley have come up with an origin story that honours Spider-Man history and reinvents one of the worst things ever to happen to mainstream superhero comics into something entertaining.
Peter Parker and his childhood friend Eddie Brock go over an invention that their fathers were working on -- a medical technique to repair human tissue. It makes a perfect point of entry for Curt Conners, and a far more reasonable explanation for how Spider-Man ends up in a black costume. Going into space to fight the Secret Wars made little sense (as was true of the entire cynical Secret Wars mini-series), but here Bendis weds the concept to ideas firmly rooted in Stan and Steve's mythology in a way that feels fresh and new.
Thirty-four issues in, I'm pleased to see Bendis still having fun and surprising readers, but even more pleasing is the fact that Mark Bagley is keeping the energy up on the title, doing a fantastic job of illustrating both the action sequences and (more importantly) the human little moments that Bendis so excels at. Grade: 4.5/5
Powers #27
By Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming
Published by Image Comics
Bendis again. It's quite a thing to see, how he can so easily switch gears from the all-ages excitement of Ultimate Spider-Man to the complex machinations at work in his Daredevil, to the delightful, intense and moody Powers. It's rare that a writer this good is also this prolific -- Alan Moore's ABC line is probably the only phenomena in the neighbourhood.
A lot goes down in this issue, from Bendis getting in some not-so-subtle shots at John Byrne to an amusing retro-style sequence amusingly contrasted by some raunchy dialogue, to a cliffhanger ending that will surprise you with its impact. Through it all, as you've come to expect, Bendis delivers compelling dialogue and Oeming shines with his paradoxically simple and affecting artwork.
This Super Friends-meets-Behind the Music storyline is among the best the series has had to offer, in terms of tension, laughs, and always-stunning penwork by Oeming. If you've never read Powers before, or maybe haven't read it in a while, this might be a good time to check back in. With Walker and Pilgrim back together and investigating their biggest case yet, there's never been a better time to be reading the best monthly title around. Grade: 5/5
Batgirl Year One #2
By Scott Beatty, Chuck Dixon and Marcos Martin
Published by DC Comics
A slight but diverting effort, bolstered mainly by the Mazzucchelli/Rude-inspired artwork. Beatty and Dixon's script focuses on the sense of destiny that Barbara Gordon seems infused with, a story element played a bit too cute with the prognostications of Dr. Fate.
The thing missing from this series -- and from pretty much everything I've seen from these two writers lately -- is a sense that they are passionate about the story they are crafting. As a retelling of how Batgirl got into the superhero fraternity (sorority?), it's a serviceable enough vehicle. But as an emulation of Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's transcendent Batman Year One, this is a somewhat pale imitation. Grade: 3.5/5