USAGI YOJIMBO #121 Review

THE HIDDEN FORTRESS
Created, Written and Illustrated by: Stan Sakai
Front Cover Colors: Tom Luth

I first remember this character as an action figure that was attached to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toyline back in the 1980s. He always stuck with me as something special, almost a tragic yet noble figure. He remains that way today.

This series has always been well remembered yet under appreciated at the same time. I rarely pick up an iassue but when I do I'm always left feeling like it was worth it and this story is no expection.

The book picks up with Usagi running across a failed attempt by some bounty hunters to capture a powerful, local bandit. Usagi finds a lone survivor and offers his assistance. It turns out though, that things aren't quite what they seem.

The joy of this book for me comes in its simplicity and how easy it is to pick up. While the character is steeped in continuity and a rich history, Sakai always allows for new readers to jump on. This trait is certainly a positive but it does hurt the book, by keeping it from being memorable. The art is wonderful as always with clean, strong lines and suspenseful action. Nothing is lost in the translation from written word to the printed page.

Regardless of its quick story this is a great read and one that I would suggest picking up every month.

B+

Action Comics #878 Review

Action Comics #878
Sleepers Part Four

Written by: Greg Rucka
Art by: Diego Olmos
Colorist: Rod Reis
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Cover by: Andrew Robinson

“Sleepers Part Four,” which is part of the “World Without Superman” arc also falls in as part twenty-nine of the overall New Krypton story. That’s a lot of numbers, continuity and characters to keep up with, even for Superman.

The basic through-line for this book follows Nightwing and Flamebird as they hunt down Kryptonian sleeper agents placed there, perhaps by General Zod, but even they don’t seem to be sure. All the while, General Lane, is hunting them and the sleeper agents. This issue focuses a “Bonnie and Clyde” type Kryptonian couple. Unlike, their historical counterparts they don’t rob banks and they don’t seem to have a clear agenda, just pure mayhem.

All this makes for a pretty muddled book. Not enough time has been given to developing the protagonists or shaping the goals of the villains. The one sleeper they captured earlier was killed in the last issue, without divulging any information. These new Kryptonians don’t seem to be sleeper agents, which makes me wonder why they’re being shoved in the middle of a storyline that doesn’t appear to involve them.

Greg Rucka’s best work remains “Queen and Country,” which I highly recommend, but this on the other hand won’t be fondly remembered. There just isn’t enough time given to character, instead there’s a misguided focus on action. This book usually always involves some kind of fighting, otherwise everyone is resting from the last fight in anticipation of the next one. The sudden romance between Flamebird and Nigthwing feels thrown together, in some kind of effort to make the characters a tad more relatable. It doesn’t work.

Another bit of convenience comes when the Kryptonian couple attacks a house in the middle of nowhere that just happens to be owned by a congressman. This immediately brings out the police, who discover some gratuitous semi-nudity and quick deaths. How many times do you need to show how strong Kryptonians are? It seems unnecessary to show them killing a few police officers. We already know they‘re bad and we already know they‘re strong. Those few pages could have been better used to develop characters or expand on the sleeper storyline.

I’m looking forward to the Annual in hopes that it will explain a lot of what’s going on. On the other hand, I don’t feel that I should have to wait for an Annual to tell me what’s going on in the monthly book.

The art in this issue feels rushed at times and lacks a strong focus much like the rest of the book. Nothing about it stands out. Everything is very poorly defined and half-done. I also didn’t like all the Kryptonian subtitles. They’re hard to read and don’t add much to the story. Couldn’t they have just made some notation at the beginning of the book letting us know that certain portions (perhaps surrounded by parenthetical) are translated from Kryptonian to English? It’s funny that they speak it on Earth but not on New Krypton. Is it because they know Superman can’t speak it and they’re trying to help him out?

Overall, there’s no reason to buy this unless you absolutely need to. If it weren’t connected to the “World Without Superman” story I would have left it on the shelf.

C-