I'm not reviewing Superman 684 - it was great, but most issues written by James Robinson are great; a post-New Krypton story it featured a teasing focus on the Parasite (I think he's pining for his time as Lex Luthor's loving Lois), a rallying call from the Guardian and the eschewing of grammatical contractions by Mon-El.The art by Jesus Merino was a particular treat, with the creepiest-looking Parasite ever. But what really drew my attention was his art on the closing sequence, featuring Trusting Fool Superman visiting Wicked Aunt Alura on New Krypton (click for a non shrink-ray view).
Now, I'm no expert, and I'm not positing any deliberate swiping here, but boy, is Merino channeling his inner Keith Giffen or what? WAA could easily fit in with the Five Year Gap Legionnaires below.* I doubt KG would be upset, given his Marvel days homaging Kirby and later acknowledged debt to Jose Munoz.
* Ayla, Andromeda and Kono borrowed from Mike Jozic's Keith Giffen Resource Page - go visit! http://www.mikejozic.com/giffrespage/index.html
I never could figure out if I liked Giffen's art or not. It's the kind of thing where you have to immerse yourself into it to appreciate it, but once you emerge, look around and blink a few times, well...
ReplyDeleteSo is this the first Mon-El ish? I've told myself I'd start collecting Superman or Action or whatever again on a regular basis when Mon started appearing.
He's been in the odd panel, but a house ad in this week's Adventure Comics 0 says the Mon-El and co storyline properly kicks off in Superman 686 and Action 875.
ReplyDeleteAs for Giffen, so long as he doesn't give us loads of multiple panels and faces swamped in shadow - and I think he's well over that phase - I'm good with his experimentation. But he was never better than under Larry Mahlstedt.