[RANT] Dave's Capsules & Awards for Sept 17

                    Dave's Unspoilt Capsules and Awards
         The Week's Picks and Pans, plus Awards of Dubious Merit

Standard Disclaimers: Please set appropriate followups.  Recommendation does
not factor in price.  Not all books will have arrived in your area this week.
And summer heat is finally at an end.  Rants, Capsules can be found on my 
             homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants 

     First, a little self-promotion.  }->  I've been writing a monthly column
on superhero stuff (specifically, advice for superhero gaming) for the new
Space Gamer, www.spacegamer.com.  So go subscribe, so they can afford to keep
paying me!  

Capsules:
     The regular Capsule reviews of books I actually buy.  If I get a book
late due to distributor foulups or whatever, I'll put it in the Missing
section.  

     Captain Marvel v4 #14: Marvel - The phrase "from the ridiculous to the
sublime" certainly applies here, as both ends of that spectrum are
well-represented.  Sotomayor's coloring is so dominant that it's hard to tell
what Mike Ryan contributed to the art...but that may be a good thing.
Recommended.  $2.99/$4.75Cn
     The Crew #5 (of 7, sigh): Marvel - This issue is all about Josiah X, his
origins and upbringing.  I do agree with one poster's quibble...nuns do not
take confession, no matter how maverick and crazy they may be.  (It may be
allowed, but I spent 8 years at a Catholic school and never saw it happen.)
Anyway, while I didn't read the series Josiah emerges from, I liked how
Priest managed to sum it up and all the implications without getting preachy
on either side of the issue.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.75Cn
     Outsiders #4: DC - Looks like Winick is going for some inter-book
continuity with Teen Titans here.  Wonder where Mallah's beret went?  Without
it, he can't be Che Gorilla!  Ahem.  Anyway, there's a significant time jump
between #3 and #4, and while it's all explained away adequately, that's all
it is.  Adequate.  Nothing too stunning, almost as if Winick wanted to skip
over a step or two in the storyline he had worked up.  Nice ChrisCross art,
and good quipping, which redeems things somewhat.  Recommended.
$2.50/$3.85Cn 
     Batman Adventures #6: DC - Is it just me, or does the way Slott writes
Matches Malone in this issue make me think the Tick is playing that role in
Batman's place?  Amusing, but weird.  I continue to like the fact that
Slott's being allowed multi-issue stories, unlike previous iterations of this
title that focused on done-in-one.  Recommended.  $2.25/$3.50Cn
     Arrowsmith #3: DC/Wildstorm - The worldbuilding continues without being
intrusive, lots of good atmosphere.  I *am* having a bit of trouble following
characters, although that's to be expected when they're all tall anglos
wearing the same uniform.  And, of course, being that this is WWI, just
because I see someone die doesn't mean it's not the main character.  }->
Recommended.  $2.95/$4.50Cn
     The Agents #5 (of 6): Image - As things are coming together, characters
are finally doing something other than wandering around talking at each
other, which is good.  But still not great, and the fact that the huge
throwdown promised last issue doesn't really even get started this issue
doesn't help.  Mildly recommended.  $2.95/$4.15
     Neotopia v2 #2 (of 5): Antarctic - Lots of really nice backgrounds and
good building of suspense in the action sequences.  The romantic subplot also
moves forward significantly this issue, about time.  }->  Strongly
recommended.  $2.99/$4.80Cn, and I nearly needed to pull out a magnifying
glass to see that.
     The Collected Paleo: Tales of the Late Cretaceous: Empty Sky - I didn't
even notice Paleo when it was coming out in single issue, it's one of those
books that puts the "small" in "small press".  But I'm glad I saw this TPB in
Previews and ordered it.  It not only collects the six issues of the Paleo
series, it starts with a history of dinosaur comics by Steve "Tyrant"
Bissette (with research assist from Sam Kujava) and ends with a silent
silhouette story new for the collection.  Like most dinosaur comics I've
encountered (which, admittedly, ain't many) that have "real" dinosaurs as the
characters, it's heavy on captions and tends to ascribe human-like emotions
to the dinosaurs.  This, of course, is hard to avoid if you want a story
that's not dull.  While some of the classics like Triceratops and T.rex show
up here and there, most of the stories focus on more obscure variants like
Dromeosaur or Stegoceras.  One even focuses on a Cretaceous critter that
isn't even remotely dinosaurid.  Jim Lawson's Paleo is worth looking for.
Strongly recommended.  $12.95/$16.95Cn (about 128 pages, I think...the
stories are paginated, but restart at 1 for each story)

Gone Missing:
     Stuff that came out some places this week and that I wanted to buy, but
couldn't find for whatever reason, so people don't have to email me asking
"Why didn't you review X?"  (If it's neither here nor in the section above,
though, feel free to ask, I might have forgotten about it!)

     Still Killer Princesses #3, Grandmother's Hive, Necrowar #1-2, Laughter
of the Damned #2-3.  And surprise, surprise, Necrowar #3 has joined the ranks
of the missing.  Is this even coming out?

Awards:

Best Comic: Tie between Neotopia v2 #2 and The Collected Paleo

"Sic Transit Vell" Award to Captain Marvel v4 #14

"If Yer Gonna Solve Problems With Fists, Might As Well Be Good At It"
     Award to The Crew #5 (of 7, sigh again)

"Outsider?  I 'Ardly KNOW...Oh, Wait, I Do" Award to Outsiders #4

"I've Got A Match" Award to Batman Adventures #6

"UnterseeAIIEEEE!" Award to Arrowsmith #3

"Does No One Search People Anymore?" Award to The Agents #5 (of 6)

"Bolts From The Blue Usually Go The Other Direction" Award to Neotopia v2 #2

"The Dromeosaur Died Out Because It Could No Longer Carry The Weight Of 
     It's Enormous Cojones" Award to The Collected Paleo  (and the "It's"
     error is part of the award)

     Dave Van Domelen, "And you've got to stop carrying me around."  "You
*love* it."  "No, but I'm *warming* to it and *that's* why I'd like it to
stop." - Arsenal and Grace