What is a Short Pants Review? While we’d love to give full reviews to everything, there just isn’t enough time in the day. So we’ve come up with Short Pants as a way of providing capsule reviews from our varied review writers, giving quick hits and short capsule thoughts about various comics we’ve read recently.

This time out, Nick covers Blue Beetle #23, The Spirit #13 and Proof #4.

Nick Budd Read and Thought:

Blue Beetle #23
Writer: John Rogers
Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
Company: DC Comics

Not to sound too mean or anything, but lately the majority of comics that have been produced by DC have been slightly underwhelming. In fact that might be putting it mildly. Whatever the case may be, there still manages to be a small handful of books that break through the mediocrity and death-riddled corpses that appear in things like Countdown and Death of the New Gods. One of those books, one that may in fact be the best of the bunch, is Blue Beetle. Smart, action packed and extremely genuine, John Rogers constantly reminds us what a superhero comic can and should be as he elegantly gives us a boatload of three dimensional characters to care about and some snappy dialogue throughout that results in some honest to god laugh out loud moments. With this issue specifically though, while this isn’t a jumping on point for new readers, we still see the currently storyline, which happens to feature Jaime Reyes taking on an alien race bent on the annihilation of the Earth’s inhabitants called the Reach, heat up to a boiling point. Also, even though the action of the issue is front and center, Rogers still takes the time to let the characters, both good and evil, tell the story through some great character interaction. All of this and some energy laden work by artist Rafael Albuquerque and colorist Guy Major makes Blue Beetle something that shouldn’t be missed.

The Spirit #13
Writers: Glen David Gold, Dennis O’Neil & Gail Simone
Artists: Eduardo Risso, Ty Templeton, Phil Hester & Ande Parks
Company: DC Comics

Awhile back when the news hit that Darwyn Cooke was leaving The Spirit, I honestly thought that I would be done with the book. Cooke’s brilliant vision and his unique and true interpretation of Will Eisner’s work was what drew me to the book in the first place. Without it, my notion was that it would feel almost like a cheap imitation. This issue however puts that thought on hiatus, at least for a few more weeks, as it gives us three abbreviated stories that are pretty darn sharp and entertaining. All of them absolutely feel true to The Spirit and capture the lightheartedness that the book needs while at the same time still providing the necessary crime angle as well. I think that mix is hard to get right but these writers hit the nail on the head. Gold’s & O’Neil’s stories are worth the price of admission alone while Simone’s is a bit hit and miss. It’s the more comedic of the trio, something you’d expect from Simone, but the problem that it faces is not that it’s too funny, it’s that it tries to tell the story using pictograms instead of words, which leads to the occasional confusing scene or two. The art across the board however is fantastic. Risso’s work here is drop dead gorgeous, plain and simple. The great work that he does with light and shadow makes every panel pop. Still, both Templeton and the team of Hester and Parks do a phenomenal job as well. I’m still not sure how the book will be as it continues but this issue is definitely worth picking up. Here’s hoping that they put it into the second volume hardcover.

Proof #4
Writer: Alexander Grecian
Artist: Riley Rossmo
Company: Image Comics

To start with, Proof happens to be one of those off the wall books that carries with it an original concept that is flat out addictive once you sink your teeth into it. The first three issues of this quirky, X-Files-esque story were quite good. This fourth chapter of the Goatsucker story however is even better. Why? It’s not because there’s a high amount of action or a forward momentum to the story, though there are both of those things in varying degrees. No, what makes it stand out as one of the best issues is the continued evolution of the cast of characters. Sure, we’ve seen each and every one of these characters before and have been given a quick glimpse at who they are, but Grecian keeps adding layers to them, giving them more depth and interest. The scenes and conversations between Proof and the Goatsucker (dressed in the skin of an old lady) in particular are tremendous and the VH1 Pop Up Video-like cryptoids, while they do take you out of the ongoing story a little, are still amusing bits of information to read. As for the art, Riley Rossmo continues to get stronger. At quick glance, there are a lot of similarities to Leinil Francis Yu’s work but Rossmo’s pencils have a tighter structure and his storytelling has a much more coherent and eye-appealing style to it. Overall, each issue of Proof is jam-packed with entertainment of all kinds and the series continues to get better and better.