Morning Glories vol. 1: Nick Spencer has been a rising star in the comic scene for awhile now. His mini-series for Image Comics, Existence 2.0/3.0 and Infinite Vacation, his Jimmy Olsen co-feature and THUNDER Agents for DC Comics, and the just released Iron Man 2.0 all show his talent as a writer. The one book I hadn’t been able to pick up was Morning Glories. All I’d ever heard from people regarding it was how great of a title it was. I have to say, I’m slightly underwhelmed and that’s most likely due to an unfortunate similarity to a popular TV show than weaknesses in Spencer’s writing. See, Morning Glories IS a very well done comic. The story follows six teenage prodigies who are linked by their shared birthday and their current situation of being trapped at the mysterious Morning Glory Academy with no idea how to escape or what the motive behind keeping them prisoners is. The characters are unique, the scripts are well written, and the hook is definitely there to keep me interested as to what the secrets of Morning Glory Academy might be. The problem is that there is no way around ignoring the giant elephant in the room: if it wasn’t for the television show, Lost, this title wouldn’t exist. Flashbacks, hidden rooms and dungeons, characters with surprising secret pasts that you didn’t see coming… It’s all something that I’ve seen before and while it’s currently being done very well here (and hopefully with a better ending in mind than the final season of Lost had), I just can’t shake that Spencer’s other works had less of a striking similarity to RECENT pop culture phenomenons. I’ll keep following the title and I do hope it lives up to the hype generated by critics and fans, but for the most part, I really hope the “purple ghost creature” isn’t the Morning Glories version of the smoke monster.
The Question: Pipeline: I loved the DC Comics character, The Question, the moment I first saw him in a random copy of DC’s Who’s Who back in the 80′s. The blank face, suit and tie, fedora and smoke… All striking visuals coupled with the premise of a character out to find the truth no matter what the cost. This comic, though, is not starring THAT version of The Question. During DC’s maxi-series 52, Vic Sage, The Question’s alter ego, died of cancer. Before his passing, he trained Batman supporting-cast member, Renee Montoya, as his protege and she took up the identity of the faceless avenger. Author Greg Rucka was responsible for brining Montoya from her humble beginnings in Detective Comics to this resulting plot in 52 and he continued to write the new Question in the follow-up mini-series to 52, The Question: The Five Books of Blood and Final Crisis: Revelation. Renee has shaped into a very interesting version of The Question and while she ran the risk of fan backlash typical in comics of, “Not my {insert superhero name here},” the deft hand Rucka used to tell her story and its sequels showed just how engaging she could be in the identity. The Question: Pipeline is the collection of The Question co-feature that Rucka did with the amazing Cully Hamner (Red, Blue Beetle, Firearm) and follows Renee as she is pulled into a complex human trafficking ring and its ties to a larger danger looming from a classic DC villain. The Huntress also appears and is given a welcome costume redesign by Hamner that unfortunately didn’t stick past this series. This is also Rucka’s swan song for the character since he has sworn off DC Comics for the near future to focus on his own characters and novels. His work on Montoya will be missed and I hope someone with the same love of the character continues to show just how great The Question can be with her as the protagonist.
An Elegy for Amelia Johnson HC: I’ve always been a huge fan of independent graphic novels that feel like movies. This is not to say that I enjoy it when screenwriters use failed screenplay pitches to sell a concept as a graphic novel. I mean to say that when an author finds a truly qualified artist and works diligently to compose a visual narrative that has well realized characters and a plot that draws you, the reader, in so tight that it’s almost like the surrounding world has gone dark like a theater. I’ve read a great many graphic novels at this point my life and I’ve got to say that while An Elegy for Amelia Johnson is not one of the best it’s surely one of the most emotionally resonant. The book follows two mutual friends of the title character, Amelia, who are tasked to go out into the world and deliver messages to people from her past. The duo, Henry and Jillian, have known each other as mutual acquaintances, but have never been truly close. Their own lives seem to be missing something personal and the act of examining the life of their mutual friend brings them not only closer together but also closer to finding focus again as artists. Written by Andrew Rostan (who financed the project with his winnings from “Jeopardy.” True Story.) with art by Dave Valeza and Kate Kasenow, An Elegy… has some moments that are riddled with clunky dialogue and poor pacing whereas a climax seems to be missing or hidden within layers of melodrama. While I can tell that Rostan has a desire to tell a very deep tale, those moments where he gets tripped up do have the tendency to make this work less than stellar. Fortunately, Valeza and Kasenow bail out the story whenever these potholes occur. While I’m not sure of the division of duties between the two artists, I’d commend them both equally for their ability to work within Rostan’s story to make the ending invoke an emotional response and be an almost cinematic finale. Another hidden gem from Archaia Press.
Tags: Comics, Purchased on Wednesday, Reviews
