Comic Roundup: Generation Hope, Bakuman, & More

This time in The Comic Roundup, we look at the new Steel one shot, the latest book in the X-Men family Generation Hope and the new manga from the creators of Death Note, Bakuman.

Steel #1
By Steve Lyons and Ed Benes

Steel #1 is kind of an odd comic. It is supposed to serve as part one of the new Reign of Doomsday storyline which revisits elements of the Death/Return of Superman event from 1992. But instead of an actual story, we get a 20 some odd page battle between Steel and Doomsday and… that’s about it. There is no set up, no explanation, no nothing.

In a way, it is very similar to the original Doomsday story that launched the Death of Superman arc. Doomsday shows up, creates havoc and kills Superman. Here it is pretty much the same thing, just with Steel. On the one hand I did enjoy the comic, but on the other, I can’t really say why.

The writing by Lyons is solid and enjoyable. He writes a great John Henry Irons and the pace of the comic is brisk. The art by Benes, while not his best, is pleasant enough. He went with a less detailed art style than we are used to seeing and the result, while a bit bland, is good. Doomsday looks especially great, the best I have seen since when Dan Jurgens drew him.

As I said, this is an odd comic. If you remember the Death of Superman fondly, you will probably get a kick out of the story. If it is enough to keep me reading the Reign of Doomsday into The Outsiders next month, we’ll have to wait and see.

Final Grade: B-

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Generation Hope #3
By Kieron Gillen and Salvador Espin with Scott Koblish

I loved the recent Second Coming story arc than ran through the X-Men books last summer. It was a classic crossover that worked well, had great writing and art and most importantly, really meant something to the X-Men universe and its characters. So I anxiously looked forward to the book that spun out of that event, Generation Hope. But after three issues, I can say this series lacks everything that made Second Coming so good.

The writing by Gillen is just plain bad. Every bit of dialogue sounds hackneyed and canned and Wolverine makes a “Hey look! Wolverine is in another book!” appearance. We do get to see what direction Hope and her new team are going, but the characters that have been introduced are unimaginative and, worst of all, boring. The art by Espin is a bit better than the writing, but that is not saying much. He evokes a kind of Mike Allred vibe and has potential, but for now is just not that good an artist.

To put it simply, this is not a good comic. I hope it will get better, but if it maintains this low level of creativity, you’ll find this series in the quarter bins by next year.

Final Grade: D

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Bakuman: Volume 1
By Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

The new manga series from the creators of Death Note is not what you might expect. There are no demons, magic notebooks or characters with a single letter for a name. Instead we get a story about a pair of teenage boys who want to create manga.

The incredible part is that the two pull it off very well. This is a solid story that is one part coming of age tale and another part manual on how to create manga. The story moves smoothly from main character Moritaka’s feelings for his classmate that drive him to become a manga artist in the first place to exactly how that is going to happen. You find yourself cheering for him in the end and waiting anxiously for the next volume.

The writing by Ohba is typical of the style of shonen manga, with bold proclamations by the characters and awkward dialogue. Thankfully the interesting plot makes up for any shortcomings in the script. Some of the “how to make manga” sequences can be a bit dry if you’re not into that type of thing, but if you are like me and enjoyed manga like Comic Party, you will find it fascinating reading. The art is some of the best I have seen from Obata. I always enjoyed his work from Hikaru no Go much more than Death Note and his style here is in a similar vein.

If manga is your thing, give Bakuman a try. It is definitely something different from the rest of the manga on the shelf.

Final Grade: B+