Convergence: Nightwing & Oracle#1
Gail Simone/Jan Duursema/Dan Parsons/Wes Dzioba
DC $3.99
DC has done a lot of things to get me to buy their books as of late, but there’s no way I’m buying into a 2 month long event spanning 40 something books. Especially when each of those chapters run $4 a pop. However, I will gladly drop $4 on a Gail Simone penned Nightwing and Oracle mini series, because I go full 16 year old teen on Tumblr when it comes to those characters, especially after Simone’s memorable run writing Barbara Gordon in Birds of Prey.
C: N&O is a event tie in mind you, so there’s some stuff involving Brianiac and evil Hawkpeople (the DC ones, not Clint and Kate) that I’m not exactly sure what the deal with is. All I know is apparently the Gotham city of old (PreFlashpoint) is trapt in a bottle, and Barbarba Gordon is it’s protector. As much as I’ve enjoyed the recent take on Barbara, seeing the Babs I grew up on as a capable badass again is a treat. She’s very much Gotham’s den mother, and Gail writing an incarnation of the character she did so much with once again is great. There are a lot of Simone writing superhero tropes in this issue, but considering this whole event is fan service, it’s not much a deterrent to the book’s quality. It’s very much aiming for a specific audience, and as a member of that audience I am pleased with what I got.
Jan Duursema’s art is serviceable. Starts off strong, but takes a slight hit as the book progresses. A shame, but at least when it’s good it’s good, capturing the last 2000’s all to well. The same can be said of Dan Parsons inks, although it’s worth mentioning his uses of shadowing with the inks remains strong throughout the issue, Wes Dzioba‘s color definitely help the art overall, keeping the book looking clean and vibrant.
While I’m not thrilled about the temporary price increase for my DC pulls, this Convergence mini is off to a fairly strong start. Hopefully the art will be a little more polished come issue two, and do Gail Simone’s fun script the justice it deserves.
Howard the Duck #2
Chip Zdarsky/Joe Quinones/Joe Rivera/Rico Rensi/Rob Guillory
Marvel $3.99
Some of us Older folk may remember way back when it was announced that Disney was going to buy Marvel, there was a certain fear that the House O’ Mouse was going to tone things down at the House O Ideas. And sure, you can use the recent deaths of Wolverine and Deadpool as proof of that happening, but they’re also Fox/ X-men related characters, so there’s that. Howard the Duck #2 on the other hand, is proof that it’s not happening however, which comes as no surprise given that it’s a Chip Zdarsky penned comic.
Howard issue 2 sees Chip and artist Joe Quinones go full James Gunn and bringing the Guardians of the Galaxy, who are possibly mocking DC’s selfie cover month via duck-facing so hard Kelly Sue Deconnick would be proud. Also heh, duck facing, get it? Anywho, for 17 beautifully illustrated pages, we get Howard running around in space, quacking cracking wise and looking amazing while doing so. The other 3 pages are an unrelated stroy drawn by Rob Guillory, dealing with Howard getting sued. It’s on par with the main story in terms of overall quality, despite it’s length. And while both artists couldn’t be any more different in terms of style, they both work well with Zdarsky’s script. Chip being an artist himself probably helps with him write to his collaborator’s strengths.
Howard the Duck continues to impress with only 2 issues out. It’s a geniunely hilarious book that has some weight to it, and it looks fantastic. Zdarsky is clearly using as much of the Marvle Universe as he can in this title, without the book ever feeling overwhelming or suffocating for the reader. Yeah it’s dense enough to make me feel like it’s worth the $4. And again, having a artist of Joe Quinoes (not to mention Rob Guillort as well) draw this book only makes it all the better.