Notes about this comic review: As an amateur script
writer, cartoonist, and Sunday School teacher, I grade against the
curve I know. You may ask what the Sunday School teacher grades
against. I’m not trying to be the CCA. As a Sunday School teacher I
use metaphors to bridge the gap in our understanding of God.
My Sunday School grade is based on how good of
a Sunday School lesson I could pull out of the story.
COVER GRADE: C-
Penciler:
Nick Cardy
After a good showing last month, Nick Cardy went back to the overly crowded storytelling cover. There’s
just too much going on here. If I look at it long enough it starts to make me curious of the narrative inside, but I think the primary goal of a cover is to catch your attention immediately. I’m not a fan of the real
photograph of the buildings seen through the window. Maybe they’re trying to
recapture the cool effect from the cover of 419, but because it’s such a small
portion of the image as a whole it feels more like they got lazy and didn’t
want to draw any buildings. And now the more I look at it, the more the color
scheme hurts my eyes, so let’s just move on…
STORYTELLER'S
GRADE for "The TV Show that Menaced Metropolis": A+
Writer:
Cary Bates
We
flash back a several years to the birth of baby Woodrow to Herbert and Kerry
Nescott. Unfortunately, lil’ Woody was born with an abnormality...
As
Woody grows up, he lives every mother’s worst nightmare…Woodrow Nescott watches
too much TV!
Of course right as Clark Kent goes off the air, the real news starts to happen…
The
resolution comes as no surprise…
…but
wait…
Now
it just so happens that Woody’s favorite show is “The Runaway” staring Mac
Nelson as Rolf Kimb with Dan Marz as his pursuer, police agent Y-6.
The
problem for Woody is that, since he’s never left the house, he has trouble
figuring out what on TV is real and what is made up. One day, Young Woody sees
Superman right outside his window (see more details in EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE)
proving that Superman is indeed real. Now if Superman is real, what about everything else on TV?
I
just want to take a moment to say that this was the first time in my Action
Comics reading that I actually caught myself saying “Oh? I wonder what happens
next?!?” I’ve read the previous issues with mild interest and average entertainment,
but for the first time, I’m actually excited to keep reading!
The
next day, Clark Kent is interviewing Mac Nelson after filming his final episode
of The Runaway.
But
just outside Mac’s apartment is a strange white blob attacking the city! This
looks like a job for Superman!
So
how do you stop an unstoppable blob? Like this…
At
that very moment…(too often those words don’t really mean anything in comics,
but here it’s a clue so it a refreshing proper use!)
An
now the pieces just start falling into place…
…and
the truth starts to come out…
…and
it starts to get interesting…
...bad guys get their comeuppance...
...good guys are saved just in time...
…and
it’s all happening so fast!
Wait…what?!
The
end?
Already?
Like
a rollercoaster coming to a screeching halt back at the station, the ride is
over all too soon. If you would have told me on page 14 that the story would be
satisfyingly wrapped up in 4 panels I could never have imagined how. And yet
Cary Bates wrote it up to near perfection. And it isn’t just the ending. It was
difficult for me to pick which panels to use for this story synopsis because,
quite frankly, every panel took the story one neat little step forward. No
filler, just good storytelling. In an run where the quality super-villains
have yet to appear, this story let you enjoy something entirely new.
I guess if I have to complain about something then it would have been nice to
have one more page in there to clean up the ending a little with Superman
reconciling Young Woodrow Nescott to poor, bed-ridden, confused Dan “Y-6” Marz.
But really that’s not necessary because it would just be a page of Superman
explaining to Dan everything that the reader already knows. Perhaps you could
also put in a little more to explain Superman’s spare time hobby of
interstellar herbology but really that might just get uglier than it’s worth just like last issue taking almost a full page to explain interstellar seaweed.
So what if this one panel is full of more deus than you can fit it your ex machina. How ‘bout
you come up with a better solution, disgruntled reader, in one panel…using 40
words or less! Go! Oh and if you don’t mind could it be a panel with a heartwarming boy and his dog moment too?
I
thought not.
Cary
Bates 1. Disgruntled reader 0.
STORYTELLER
GRADE for "The Shadows-of-Yesterday Contract": C+
Writer:
Len Wein
Moving along, the obvious scenario happens where poor ol' Mr. Chance loses all the money and it's time to pay the piper, or in this case, Dancer. Dancer is a strange name for a hitman, and I can't find any easy information as to if it's a last name, nickname, or personal skill.
Now this is where we have a big divergence from the alleyway in which Bruce Wayne watched his father die. From most accounts Thomas Wayne died protecting his family while Bruce was stunned in fear. In this account we have the reversal. As Christopher Chance recalls, "Who can say what fear will do to a man? Some will use it as a tool to triumph -- others... Well, my father was one of the others..." It is instead lil' Chris that jumps to action and he turns into a wild man.
ARTIST
GRADE for Superman: C-
Penciler:
Curt Swan, Inker: Murphy Anderson
I’m
not gonna lie…the art is pretty rough. It was good enough to provide a nice flow to the story, but there were lots of problems especially with faces.
Superman, have you had some work done? But I do love the mascara! But the biggest distraction was poor little/teenage/boy/girl Woody Nescott. Well at least for me it was difficult to nail down the child's age and gender.
Good thing he was always wearing that yellow shirt otherwise I would have been confused.
ARTIST
GRADE for Human Target: B
Artist:
Dick Giordano
What do you do when you need to perform a life time of training as quickly as possible? A montage!
When I first saw this panel I laughed at how cheesy it was. Montages are so overused! But then I realized that this issue came out 3 years before Rocky ran the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Still think it's cheesy? Well yes, but at least at the time hopefully it was less of a cliché. Looking past these preconceived feelings, the art is still pretty good with a neat aging path from left to right. And the disguises in the upper right corner have a few fun connection to the previous two Human Target stories.
As I've come to expect, Giordano's art aids the story with interesting pacing and action that stretches beyond the limits of the panel boarders. Why only a B grade then? Because he didn't "wow" me.
SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER GRADE: B
I had pretty much settled on an angle to look at how both stories deal with a person's past and how it affects your future, but then I was hit a more obvious theme: fear...or in this case, lack thereof.
So in this edition of the Human Target we find out that Christopher Chance's "superpower" is that he can't feel fear. Well that's pretty lame. I mean first off that's not really a superpower and second off it's not very realistic. Who doesn't feel fear? Even Superman seems to be afraid sometimes and he's got every superpower there is! Sure some people don't fear the things that most of us do such as running into a burning building to save people, but everyone has fears.
There's a quote on fear I like from the movie After Earth staring Will Smith and his son Jaden. While the movie isn't a "must see", I love science fiction movies because they have a way of sneaking truth in your life without you knowing it. In this one scene Will Smith's character, Cypher, is telling his son how he has conquered his fear and explains an ultimate truth about fear. "Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist. That is near insanity...Do not misunderstand me, danger is very real, but fear is a choice. We are all telling ourselves a story and that day mine changed."
So the question then is should we have fear? Don't the Human Target and Cypher have an ability that all Christians should possess? Check this out:
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6
"The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7
So how do you obtain this superpower? By knowing the only thing you should fear. "Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment." (Proverbs 9:10) So this may seem like a contradiction because doesn't God love us? Why should we be afraid of Him? Well maybe because He's all-powerful. Anytime anyone in the Bible came into contact with any being from heaven they basically crapped their pants. Jesus put it this way. "Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28) God is in total control so you should definitely give Him some respectful fear. The cool thing is that Jesus died so you could be reconciled to God."For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship." (Romans 8:15a) Once you have been reconciled with God there is nothing left to fear. Placing all your trust in a God who is all-powerful means that there is nothing to be afraid of. You will face many dangers, but there is no more fear. Time to start practicing your superpower!
So in this edition of the Human Target we find out that Christopher Chance's "superpower" is that he can't feel fear. Well that's pretty lame. I mean first off that's not really a superpower and second off it's not very realistic. Who doesn't feel fear? Even Superman seems to be afraid sometimes and he's got every superpower there is! Sure some people don't fear the things that most of us do such as running into a burning building to save people, but everyone has fears.
There's a quote on fear I like from the movie After Earth staring Will Smith and his son Jaden. While the movie isn't a "must see", I love science fiction movies because they have a way of sneaking truth in your life without you knowing it. In this one scene Will Smith's character, Cypher, is telling his son how he has conquered his fear and explains an ultimate truth about fear. "Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist. That is near insanity...Do not misunderstand me, danger is very real, but fear is a choice. We are all telling ourselves a story and that day mine changed."
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6
"The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7
So how do you obtain this superpower? By knowing the only thing you should fear. "Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment." (Proverbs 9:10) So this may seem like a contradiction because doesn't God love us? Why should we be afraid of Him? Well maybe because He's all-powerful. Anytime anyone in the Bible came into contact with any being from heaven they basically crapped their pants. Jesus put it this way. "Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28) God is in total control so you should definitely give Him some respectful fear. The cool thing is that Jesus died so you could be reconciled to God."For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship." (Romans 8:15a) Once you have been reconciled with God there is nothing left to fear. Placing all your trust in a God who is all-powerful means that there is nothing to be afraid of. You will face many dangers, but there is no more fear. Time to start practicing your superpower!
CLARK
KENT’S MONTHLY GOOF:
Pa Kent must not have had time to teach you how to throw.
EXCESSIVE
USE OF FORCE:
Let’s
go back to the helicopter picture on page 1.
This quite odd. Is Superman not strong enough to lift helicopter? I think not! We saw him lifting 747s not too long ago! So he could just pick it up, but what does
he do instead? He spins the blade! And not the “easy” way from the middle like
you wind the propeller on the little balsa wood airplanes. He spins it from the
outside edge! Granted we saw Iron Man do this in the Avengers movie, but there
it was the only option. Here Superman could just lift the helicopter but
instead seems like he’s just messing around or, as the writer states, it’s
“nothing more than a morning exercise for the greatest hero of them all...”
Dear Editor (seen in #426)
Dear Editor (seen in #426)