More thoughts on this week’s new comics: Death of the New Gods #8, Batman #675, Checkmate #25, Shadowpact #24

April 26th, 2008 | Comics, Writing

Death of the New Gods #8:

I get the impression Grant Morrison didn’t really explain anything about his plans for revamping the New Gods to anyone before this series was written, because other than New Genesis and Apokolips crashing into each other and merging into a single planet there’s really no setup for anything coming next other than some vague expository captions. And didn’t that planets crashing into each other and merging bit already happen once during John Byrne’s Jack Kirby’s New Gods run? Whatever, like most Countdown tie-ins the best one can say about this is that it’s over, which is kind of a shame because I was kind of enjoying its first couple of issues. Overall it’s certainly nothing approaching Jim Starlin’s best work though. It’s also a real cheat that they didn’t really end the story here and held it out so that something would lead back into Countdown. Mostly the feeling I’m left with is just “Man, I’m glad this crap is over.”

Batman #675:

Slightly off, weak fill-in art mars this otherwise sterling Grant Morrison-scripted issue ramping up to the much-ballyhooed “Batman R.I.P.” storyline. Grant really makes the Nightwing-Robin dynamic work well, though I’m not really buying the obviously Spirit-influenced Jezebel Jet character as anything but a plot point necessity so far — god save us from a spotlight issue exploring her inner depths though. Looking forward to seeing where this is going.

Checkmate #25:

I never totally fell in love with this Greg Rucka-scripted (latterly with Eric Trautmann helping out) series, as some issues packed all the excitement and action of a board of directors meeting and the large cast meant a lot of characters were defined by little more than a job description, a nationality, and an ethnicity. I’m sorry to see it effectively ending though, as Bruce Jones coming aboard to write means I’m dropping it like it was Jones’ amazingly awful Nightwing run. It’s a shame, as this series often seemed packed with ideas that Rucka never really got a chance to explore fully and which will now probably lay fallow until the property gets inevitably cancelled and re-revamped. Maybe it’s the fact that Checkmate is fighting Kobra throughout this fairly solid issue that makes me afraid this title is going to immediately turn into G.I. Joe next month, but if nothing else Rucka carved out a nice little niche for secret agent action within the DC Universe, assuming Jones doesn’t screw it all up.

Shadowpact #24:

As this series sputters to a close (I believe next issue is the last) it’s hard not to think that it’s amazing that it lasted this long while managing to do nothing but squander its potential. While the lead-in Day of Vengeance mini-series was surprisingly good, the ongoing has been a real waste of good characters. On paper it seems like it should work — Fables writer Bill Willingham writing (and initially, drawing) a group of magic-based characters within the DC Universe — and as a longtime fan of Willingham’s Elementals work I was hoping for a return to glory. Unfortunately, it seems Bill can’t write superhero-type characters he didn’t have a hand in creating (or defining, in the case of Fables) for shit. The series has been handed off to Willingham’s assistant Matthew Sturges to wrap up, like the turgid Salvation Run mini-series, and if Willingham didn’t have a handle on the book, Sturges’ awful, overly explanatory dialogue makes it clear he doesn’t have any better clue. Character from the past: “I cannot believe I’m in the future!” Character from the future: “Well, it’s the past for me.” No fucking shit. A magical imp says “Peace, out!” Really. Nonsensical plotting is made only slightly clearer by Phil Winslade’s decent art, and it’s nice to see Blue Devil maybe getting back to his proper status quo (though Sturges still manages to throw in completely ridiculous justification for the prototype of Blue Devil suit being more powerful than the second iteration), but it’s far too little to recommend this.