I'm a little late, but making it up with Quanity Pt 1

Today's first review is the second trade in Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol run, "the Painting that ate Paris".

Doom Patrol: the Painting that ate Paris
Vertigo (DC Comics) - October 1, 2004
Reprints: Doom Patrol 26-34
Written by: Grant Morrison
Drawn by: Richard Case

Plot:
Just as the old Doom Patrol has yielded to its newer and even stranger incarnation, the old Brotherhood of Evil is no more - but what will rise to take its place? Only something that properly reflects the insanity of modern life can hope to fill its shoes - and that something is the Brotherhood of Dada! Mr. Nobody! Sleepwalk! The Fog! Frenzy! The Quiz! Together they will bring a reign of unreason to an unsuspecting world, harnessing the untapped powers of ideas and symbols to transform reality itself into absurdist theater - unless the reconstituted Doom Patrol can find a way to stop them. But will all of existence in danger of being reduced to a nonsensical punch line, can even the World's Strangest Heroes find a happy ending for this lethal farce?

Story:
I absolutely love the first arc. It's one of my favorite mergings of that "Morrison Weirdness" with sequential "superhero" storytelling. Even though I missed the first trade and I am traditionally used to the regular configuration of the Doom Patrol, I could follow along and I didn't mind the marginlization of what I felt was the "Doom Patrol" cast. Crazy Jane and Robotman had some spectacular moments. I hated the second arc alot, it just was too much weird, too fast, with little to no explanation for weird concept A or B. Maybe my familarity with
dadism helped me out with the first arc. I couldn't get into the moment at all, maybe that's what Morrison was going for, since some of the characters are confused as I am. The trade ends with the best Brain and Mallah story ever. It's also in continuity
Art:
Case's art is perfect for the first arc. It's beautifully disorienting for a story that attacks you from all sides. It changes styles gracefully and it has some great images of the Justice League.


I never ever got to reading "Crawling through the Wreckage" for some strange reason and specifically picked up this book since a) it was 50% off at Strand's bookstore and b) I really like Grant Morrison's runs on New X-Men and JLA. I really enjoyed the hell out of The Brotherhood of Dada enough to overlook the things I did not enjoy from from the second arc. Also the love story between Brain and Mallah is nearly worth the price of admission.


Recommended!

FIRST POST!

Starting off with what can be considered what of my favorite guilty pleasures, Here is a review of "Ultimate Adventures"

Ultimate Adventures: One Tin Soldier
Marvel - May 18, 2005
Reprints: Ultimate Adventures 1-6
Genre: Superhero
Written by: Ron Zimmerman
Drawn by: Duncan Fegredo

Plot:
Orphan and all-around Wise Ass, Hank Kipple, is the oldest kid in the Orphanage. No one wants to adopt a boy with such a rude mouth, even if he's insanely talented. Not until Billionaire and Former Orphan Jack Danner visits the orphanage. During a presentation Hank lets off one of his trade mark smart aleck remarks and draws the attention of Jack. Less than an hour later, he's informed that Jack has adopted him and he'll live in the lap of luxury. Hank's life at the mansion is still teneous as he has difficulty adjusting to his new family, which contains a sassy black butler, a crazy great-aunt who swears Jack's parents where murderer and their Asian Chaffeur. It isn't until he discovers the secret lair of Chicago hero Hawk-Owl on top of Jack's Mansion. This leads into a ultimatization of one of comicdom's most familar and favorite characters.

Story:
Ron Zimmerman wrote one of my favorite single issue Spider-man stories in Double Shot. He nails each of the Hawk-Owl Family characters well. Each character has funny lines and you genuninely want to know more about them. They come across as believable and fit well into the ultimatization of Batman. The story is a great read for the first 5 issues and then it decides to have a villian. This is the part of the trade where the story sours a bit. The villian and his sidekick just seem kind of blah. His motivation for his actions is also rather silly, considering how great Jack's motivation for doing the right thing is. However, the story isn't really about the villian, and he exists mostly to create a situation that cements the newly created family. It's something I'm prepared to overlook because it's a minor part of the book.


Art:
Fegerado's art was quiet good in X-Force, Enigma, and the Flowers for Rhino arc from Tangled web and in many places in this trade he hits the mark. His Hawk-Owl is drawn really well. He does a nice job on most of the Ultimates (who make a pop in half way through). His expressions help sell the emotions of the fantastic Characters Zimmerman creates. His storytelling is also top notch. There are several great one page panels in the book where the action flows fantastically. The work may not be everyones cup of tea, but in my opinion Fegerado delivers.

This book pretty much got six issues and was never heard of again. It's a shame since most of the characters in the Ultimate Universe are following pre-destined paths and relationships with other Ultimate characters. It was refreshing to see something totally new in the same sandbox.

Highly Recommended!