We’re at the halfway point of
WEDNESDAY COMICS and it’s a good time to check in, starting with the namesake of this website...
BATMAN.
“The heart wants what the heart wants.”
Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso have immersed Batman deep into a film noir scenario. Wealthy, elderly, investment banker Franklin Glass has been murdered. And Bruce Wayne has fallen for his young, beautiful widow Luna Glass. But is she what she appears to be?
Brian Azzarello has decided to tell a story that focuses as much on Bruce Wayne as it does on Batman, although this issue has a very memorable scene as Batman stalks his prime suspect and grins evilly while doing so. It’s easy to sit back and note that Luna Glass is a femme fatale from the reader’s distance. But, let’s look at it from Bruce’s perspective.
So far, Bruce has seen a beautiful young woman who’s life has become a victim of violence. And he’s saved her from being shot by a thug, something subconsciously he’d like to do with his own mother. He’s also seen her being threatened by violence from her own stepson. Bruce is riding to her rescue like a knight in not so shiny armor. It’s a story point that rings true to the character.
Michael Fleisher in The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Batman volume noted that Batman is torn between two types of women. “Good” and “Bad” who represent conflicting aspects of his mother. The good woman who undoubtedly pampered and loved Bruce selflessly, as the string of Julie Madison, Linda Page, Vicki Vale, etc. attests. And the bad mother who “deserted” him, represented mostly by Catwoman. Brian Azzarello seems to have conflated both into Luna Glass, just depending on your perception. Azzarello has also pared down the story to its essentials. Each installment has been a key scene of the story telling us something important, but he’s wisely skipped any transitional scenes. It’s all meet.
And, Azuela’s 100 BULLETS partner Risso is obviously right at home in a film noir world. Lots of black and shadows. A big, beefy Bruce Wayne. A very attractive Luna Glass. And rock solid storytelling.
So far, I think this is a real winner of a Batman story and worth a read by any Batman fan.
As for the other features…
KAMANDI by Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook has been running a scenario very similar to the recent BRAVE AND THE BOLD episode. The gorilla army has captured tiger leader Caesar and it’s up to Kamandi and Dr. Canus to lead a rescue. This feature is gorgeously illustrated by Sook in an homage to Prince Valiant.
SUPERMAN by John Arcudi and Lee Bermejo has been off to a rough start. Four of the first six episodes have basically had Superman moping around. Issue 6 is the first indication that the strip will have action. Bermejo’s art has been rock solid throughout, although his realistic illustrative style perhaps has been limiting when the action was slow.
DEADMAN by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck has sent Boston Brand on a journey into the netherworld. Where he’s been given a body and made vulnerable. The pages always have great layouts and a ton of black has been used to make it stand out. Issue 6 promises the first hint of what’s going on with the central serial killer mystery, if Deadman “lives” long enough to find out.
GREEN LANTERN by Kurt Busiek and Joe Quinones has been painstakingly setting up the background of the story for 6 issues. Perhaps not the best structure for a weekly project. That said, the art is terrific, the personal stakes are laid out, and Busiek has set up a science fiction scenario straight out of Nigel Kneale’s THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT.
METAMORPHO by Neil Gaiman and Mike Allred is a pure evocation of the Silver Age and, particularly, Bob Haney. There was perhaps a slight misstep with the decision to devote two weeks to a double page spread, but things are moving at a good clip now and there’s honest invention going on now. The latter part of the page is taken up by an honest to goodness playable version of Snakes and Ladders. It’s wacky, high adventure, humorous, inventive fun with a dose of chemistry.
TEEN TITANS by Eddie Berganza and Sean Galloway has been a misfire. The coloring has been muddy and dull and, frankly, so has the story. Berganza has forgotten to give us any reason to care about these characters.
STRANGE ADVENTURES by Paul Pope has been a tour de force. It’s been evocative of pulp science fiction of the 30s and Edgar Rice Burroughs as well as more modern science fiction as you would find in HEAVY METAL. Every page has been well laid out and full of action. To me, it’s the stand out strip in WEDNESDAY COMICS.
SUPERGIRL by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor has aimed to be incredibly adorable and light and has hit the mark. Even Aquaman is presented with great humor in this issue. It’s fun to watch the body language of the super pets throughout this series. I bet 8 year old girls would love this strip and the art is terrific enough to be appreciated by adults.
METAL MEN by Dan Didio, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, and Kevin Nowlan has been well illustrated throughout. The story has been a little slow to develop, the Metal Men have spent the first half of the story in a bank foiling a robbery, but the story promises to pick up this week with the unveiling of the mystery villain’s threat.
WONDER WOMAN by Ben Caldwell has been a problem strip. He’s been trying to fit a huge amount of story, which consists of Diana going on dream quests to gather artifacts related to her costume before going to Man’s World on her initial mission, into each page and, unfortunately, it’s often comes off as muddled. Wonder Woman’s world has also been given a subtle modern makeover, invoking Disney Princess and Miyazaki fantasy as well as traditional elements. There are good story ideas here and issue 6 reads as well as any strip to date so it appears to be improving, but the first half has certainly been a muddled slog at times. Ambitious, but only partly successful.
SGT. ROCK AND EASY COMPANY by Adam and Joe Kubert has been a mixed bag. For the most part, Rock has spent the first six episodes tied up in a chair being used as a punching bag. Joe Kubert has been his reliable self on art, still draws poverty and violence great, but has limited himself to a standard 9 panel page which seems not to take real advantage of the format. Things pick up in this issue as the second half of the story promises a simultaneous escape attempt and rescue operation.
FLASH COMICS by Karl Kerschl has been a pure Silver Age high concept blast. It’s really used the format well, being split into two features, Flash and the romance strip Iris West. This issue takes an even stranger turn as the second feature turns into a Gorilla Grodd comic. Pure imaginative fun.
THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN by Walt Simonson and Brian Stelfreeze has been slightly schizophrenic. It’s been more “THE DEMON OR CATWOMAN” than the teamup the title implies. At this point, it’s clearly been a Demon story as Etrigan confronts the villain of the story, Morgaine le Fay who’s attempting to resurrect herself in all her power and glory. It’s been well illustrated, but expectations have only been intermittently met to date.
HAWKMAN by Kyle Baker has been an action packed, no holds barred, badass blast basically from the second issue. Baker’s continuing to raise the stakes which he’s illustrating with great energy. The plot, when looked at from a distance, is perhaps a little silly, skyjackers are actually alien crab invaders with designs on Earth, but each episode has stood on itself and it has run with the concept at high speed.
Definitely not perfect. But, WEDNESDAY COMICS is living up to its promise and obviously exciting the imaginations of the creators. It really is like nothing else currently on the stands and easily accessible to everyone.
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: "WEDNESDAY COMICS, DC's spectacular 12-issue weekly series, continues to offer a comics experience unlike any other this August."
