Well, this is odd. I know that a bunch of ALL IN books came out this past week, but it was second issues (or, in the case of Action Comics, fourth or fifth issues?), and I’m committed to getting the first issues of these, because despite the fact that I’m feeling a bit nostalgic for single issues as I’m buying these DC books (and the ones from Marvel that I’m getting, which I am trying to write about!), I’m sticking with trades, so if I want to get the trade of, say, Absolute Batman, I will and I won’t buy the single issues. That’s just how I roll, yo! What that means, of course, is that this week, we only have one (1) issue that fits the criteria I have set for myself. Let’s take a look!
Black Lightning #1 (“The Standard Chapter 1”) by Brandon Thomas, Fico Ossio, Ulises Arreola, and Lucas Gattoni. $3.99, 20 pgs.
I was reminded recently that I first saw Brandon Thomas’s name on The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury, which came out in 2008. Dang, tempus fugit. Thomas seems like a good guy – I’ve met him once and we’re friends on Facebook, so I don’t really know him, but he seems like a good dude, so I’m glad he’s working on one of these high-profile books. And hey! it’s a pretty good comic, too!
Like some of these books (and unlike others), Thomas does a good job introducing Jefferson Pierce without being obnoxious about it, which is nice. Yes, we get some caption tags to let us know who his kids are, but that’s not a bad thing, given that they’re relatively new characters (or at least new superhero-type characters), and there’s a page with a LOT of exposition, but overall, Thomas does a good job balancing that exposition with allowing the characters to talk amongst themselves to give us information. On the first few pages, Jefferson is talking to Lynn, his ex-wife, and he’s reminiscing about Absolute Power, where his daughters were in some kind of danger and he feels bad that he couldn’t save them. It’s kind of a weird sequence, because it’s clear that his daughters aren’t dead, so why is he so upset about it? I mean, in the moment, sure, but it seems like he’s a bit gloomier than he should be, although he snaps out of it pretty quickly. It’s not a bad way to introduce the characters, and it does tie in to something that happens later in the book, but it feels a bit odd. Thomas introduces a new character who has powers and is having issues with them, which is where we get the exposition about what happened with Amanda Waller and what she was doing. I mean, it certainly sounds nothing like what’s going on in the mutant books right now or, you know, what happened at the end of Invasion! back in the late 1980s – DC would never just repeat a plot point like that! (I’m just kidding, honestly. I don’t mind when plot points get repeated, but I do like to point it out. Plus, I love referencing Invasion! – with the obligatory exclamation point – and I don’t know why. I just do.) Isaac’s predicament allows us to see Jefferson in the context of the new, super-inclusive Justice League, which is nice. Thomas is implying (or outright stating?) that this new version of the League is Jefferson’s idea, which is interesting because, I mean, being more proactive in solving problems isn’t the most original idea in the world, but it seems like that’s positioning Jefferson as a more important part of the DCU (granted, he’s not in the big splash advert in the center of the book for the new initiative, so there’s that). More power to him, I guess!
I guess the biggest problem with this issue is that lack of a villain. I mean, yes, we don’t definitely need a villain, so it’s not too big a deal, but it feels a bit … less serious, I guess? The ending lacks a bit of a punch, because, like far too many comics, it relies on our knowledge of a comic that you might not have read. It’s apparently something we’ve seen before, but because it doesn’t happen in this comic, it doesn’t hit as hard. Again, I get that this initiative is coming out of a big event that we as good DC readers should have read, but it’s still frustrating, because it’s definitely something about which we’re supposed to think, “Oh NOOOOESSSSS!” when it happens, but it’s just not that powerful. The odd thing is, Thomas could have altered the dialogue just a bit and it might have hit harder because it doesn’t imply that we should have read another comic to understand it. Anyway, it’s not the worst thing in the world, it’s just a bit frustrating, because Thomas does a nice job creating this family dynamic with Jefferson and his daughters, and he doesn’t wreck that, of course, but it does feel like he rushes into what is supposed to be a powerful moment without building enough to it. Of course, that’s just me because I didn’t read Absolute Power. Maybe those people who did read it think the ending is awesome. Good for them!
Ossio does nice work with the artwork, although it’s bugging me because it looks like someone that I can’t quite put my finger on. Oh well. Ossio’s work is a bit angular, but he still handles the action quite well, and he does some nice work on the layouts, placing an interesting array of panels over a larger one set in the background, which is always interesting if it works. The final “fight” is done well, with Ossio using the vertiginous setting very well. The lightning effects, which are both Ossio and Arreola, look very neat, so that’s cool. It’s a good-looking superhero book, and because Ossio uses somewhat harder and rougher lines, it looks a bit more “realistic,” I suppose, than some of the other, smoother art we’ve seen recently. It looks nice.
This is a pretty good comic. I’m certainly happy for Thomas, but it’s nice that it’s pretty decent, too!
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ½ ☆ ☆
One totally Airwolf panel:
Well, that’s it for this week! Have a nice day, everyone!
