Comics I Read This Week 4: 10/01/08

It's New Comics Day! And I'm doing a Comics I Read This Week! Am I actually updating on time?

No.

These are all comics I read last week, minus the new Mark Millar/Bryan Hitch FANTASTIC FOUR issue I wanted which was sold out the store. Booooo.

I'm listening to the New York indie rock quartet The Forms sing about making plans and other mundane subjects and making it sound so good.

First up!

1. IMMORTAL IRON FIST: ORSON RANDALL AND THE DEATH QUEEN OF CALIFORNIA
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Artist: Giuseppe Camuncoli

I wish I could say this was awesome. Or at least as awesome as ORSON RANDALL AND THE GREEN MIST OF DEATH from Matt Fraction's run was.

The story's of a seedy noir sort and set in Hollywood in the 20's. Unfortunately, the plot is rather dull and predictable. None of this seems to really tie into the current Iron Fist story arc, either, which isn't really a problem in and of itself. It's just that if the story's boring, what's the point?

2. RUNAWAYS #2
Writer: Terry Moore
Artist: Humberto Ramos
I am SO surprised at how little I'm liking this book.

I figured it was a shoe-in. A great concept, great characters, and a great creator handling the scripting duties that most likely has an editorial carte blanche with the story.

But what do we get?

Some kind of confusing story about alien lineages. Does anybody REALLY care? I always thought people read the book because it was a well-written adventure story that featured kids that actually act like kids for a change.

I'm not sure about what every Runaways reader wants, but this one doesn't want big sci-fi or a Secret Invasion tie-in. I want what Terry Moore does best - writing engaging characters that feel like realy people.

3. DEADPOOL #2
Writer: Daniel Way
Artist: Paco Medina
This one was fun. Much more fun than the last one, at least. We're seeing what this book is really about:

Shenanigans!

There's still no "Dear Deadpool" at the end, but hey - as long as this book can make me laugh, I'm going to keep buying it.

4. SUPERMAN #680
Writer: James Robinson
Artist: Renato Guedes
Was this really written by the same James Robinson that did the acclaimed run on STARMAN?

Is there another James Robinson in comics?

Or by chance did he employ writers of the ghost variety on his critically acclaimed books?

The reason I'm asking is because man, did this book blow.

This is the closing issue of a 4 issue story arc that was almost entirely Superman and Atlas punching each other in the face. Through the first three issues, Atlas beats Superman to a pulp without Superman being able to do much in response at all. The question that lingered was how a pretty strong, but not EXTRAORDINARLY strong guy could so easily take on the big guy in blue.

So what was the reason revealed in this issue?

Atlas has magic.

Oh boy. I'm so glad I kept on reading.

There's also some lame shots of Krypto the Wonder Dog fighting Atlas while giving silly narration in the process like "BAD MAN, STOP BAD MAN".

Colossal multi-issue fights tend to be boring in superhero comics. Give us some plot. Give us some dialogue. Give us some character development. This was boring enough when the X-Men slugged it out for 5 or 6 issues in Messiah Complex. This ESPECIALLY doesn't work in a Superman comic.

Mr. Robinson, please consult Mr. Morrison on how to write a fun and engaging Superman comic. Thank you.

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Post-script:

Is it kind of bizarre that I mentioned in my Kirkman rant that most books I read are creator-owned, and these are entirely in the big-two? Yes, it is. In my defense, what I read in the floppies and what I read in the trades are two very different things. I'll post some reviews of collected creator-owned work pretty shortly.