CBR: Splash Page: Wednesday Comics Week Two

[CBR News]

Each week, comic pundits Timothy Callahan and Chad Nevett discuss the style and substance of DC's "Wednesday Comics." The conversation continues this week with an exploration of the best and the worst of issue #2.


Full article here.

[Bevbos]

God, strange, I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks Baker's Hawkman (and I am not a Baker fan per se, this is literally my first exposure to his work) just blows everything else out of the water, and who also is really enjoying the Superman we have here, moreso than Batman and certainly more so than Sgt. Rock, which is decompressed to the point of pointlessness, for me... what the hell has happened in this first two issues with that? He's getting tortured or something? So far, I'm left with the question, "Who cares?" Too decompressed. If this pace continues, I think Sgt. Rock will probably end up with the least action of any of them.

All in all I'm loving Wednesday comics, but I don't get the hate against the straight-forward, simple, but enjoyable Superman when The Flash (also quite enjoyable) also comes off as just a fun simple romp. Neither hit all the plot points as powerfully and directly as Hawkman though... this and Kamandi seem to be the ones that are taking advantage of the one-page format the most effectively, delivering dramatic beats within the single page, in addition to over the general story arc.

Third-up, after Hawkman and Kamandi, I would put Pope's excellent Strange, which leaves me wanting more for the coming week. I wouldn't say the Batman really leaves me any more of that feeling that the Superman, though. And overlooked is the Catwoman/Demon comic, which is still opening up but has a simple and understandable hook whose resolution I look forward to. This one has a little more steam than the Supergirl, which is aesthetically cute but perhaps a bit decompressed to really work. Couldn't she have gotten to this scene of pet-devastation withing the first page (WC #1)?

[Chad Nevett]

One thing that jumped out at me about "Catwoman/Demon" is that the Demon doesn't speak in rhymes. Every time I've seen the character, he rhymes -- is this a normal requirement or can it go back and forth? That distracted me a bit this week.

Otherwise, I like "Sgt. Rock" for the art, but the pacing/writing doesn't wow me. The first page of "Supergirl" worked really well for me along with this page. The first page, actually, worked very well on its own -- to the point where it was almost self-contained.

[Karl O'Neill]

As I keep saying. Kamandi has my heart. greart strip.
Hawkman is very epic.

Good article lads.

[Reptisaurus!]

[color=blue]One thing that jumped out at me about "Catwoman/Demon" is that the Demon doesn't speak in rhymes. Every time I've seen the character, he rhymes -- is this a normal requirement or can it go back and forth? That distracted me a bit this week.

Goes back and forth. The original Kirby version didn't rhyme. I BELIEVE (but ain't sure) that it was Alan Moore circa Swamp Thing that originated the rhyming.

[Thok]

For what it's worth the Batman strip this week didn't work for me at all, and it's almost all about the art. You sort of touched on the issue in question with your pondering about whether Bruce saved the woman; Risso's Wayne doesn't seem to look like common portrayals of Bruce Wayne, which makes it harder to read the strip because you're wondering who the characters are when you shouldn't be. Frankly, I had less issues following the Wonder Woman strip then the Batman strip.

I do agree that Flash is by far the strongest page, and seems to have the best use of form of the 15 comics so far.

You did mention the Metal Men, but I'm curious who you think the guy in the hat is (he's been featured prominently in a panel on both pages so far in such a way to suggest he's important.)

[40footwolf]

I sort of loved the Superman one, actually. The whole "You a bitch" thing from Batman made me laugh out loud.

The Flash, Strange Adventures, Kamandi and Hawkman are my definite favs.

[Chad Nevett]

No idea about the man in the "Metal Men" strip -- but my knowledge of those characters and their history is limited. I imagine it's a known character from their adventures.

[Scott Taylor]

Thing is, this comic is a joy to read. The art is truly wonderful and the huge format just is so unique. Loved it more this week than last week, and I'm ready to subscribe to something like this for a whole year!