Rapid Reviews - 12 May 2004 - Part II

JLA #98: I'm almost scared to ask, but can this book get any worse?

JSA #61: It seemed to me, and I could be mistaken, that this was the first coherent JSA story in ages. There was a beginning, a middle, and a cliffhanger. The characters all seemed to be in the same book. And while it didn't start off great, it rapidly started to make sense and fit together, unlike the last few issues. It was focused. I actually enjoyed it!

I dipped into the now infamous AIT/Planet Lar box and pulled out a whopper of a book. A hardcover collection of the Astronauts in Trouble stories. I confess that this was the item in the box that most blew me away. I've been looking forward to reading it since I got the box, but with a little trepidation. I admit I feared that I was playing it up too much in my mind, and that I'd be disappointed when I read the actual thing. Was I? Read on:

Astronauts in Trouble: Master Flight Plan by Larry Young, Charlie Adlard, and Matt Smith: This book is a collection, and after some thought, I decided to cover it by series instead of all at once. It all hangs together well, and each story supports the others, but I found I had different experiences reading different tales, so my review should reflect that.

First up is Live From The Moon. This was probably the story I enjoyed the least, because I kept missing key bits. That may have something to do with the reduction of the artwork, but more likely is due to my quick reading. With most comic books, reading very quickly is not a liability. With this one... I had to re-read to catch a couple of things. The biggest thing I missed was the final fate of Hayes. I thought Archer was holding part of the robot. Oops. I'm also not sure I understood the whole terrorist angle. This was a bit confusing, and not deeply satisfying.

After the successful completion of the first mission, the story goes back in time to Space: 1959. This one I loved. From start to finish it was a pure thrillride, with characters at the dawn of TV news running around getting themselves into wonderful scrapes. And there is more to establish Channel 7. They were practically the first. And that final haunting image, of the rocket and the man, did a lot for me. A very strong story.

The last full-length tale in the book is One Shot, One Beer, which is set in a bar and involves people telling stories. This is really what Larry Young appears to be the master of: people telling stories. He's a guy telling stories about people telling stories, and he does it well. You get drawn into each little tale, and you want to know the ending. You feel for the other characters as they say, "and then what?" This one fills in some bits of the overall storyline, too, making the whole tale more solid and interesting.

Lastly, there were some short tales and pin-ups in the back. Along with the various essays lauding the books, it all amounted to a pretty good package. No, I don't think my anticipation was disappointed. This is a pretty cool book. For the whole thing, overall, I'll give it a recommendation... Four Solid Starfish.

Still to review: Fallen Angel and H-E-R-O.