Comics from 25/07/2007 : part 2

Catching up...

All-Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder #6 : Is there even a plot to this ? There's far too much guest stars (Batgirl and Black Canary), which destroys any momentum this might have still got. And the "goddamn Batman" joke is wearing very thin. Crap.

Batman #666 : Well, this is certainly a change of pace. Problem is : I still don't care about Damian, and I'm baffled by Morrison's regular use of Batman impersonators, which is more confusing than interesting (especially with Kubert's muddy artwork). Awful.

Black Panther #29 : Guest-starring the Marvel Zombies (and the Fantastic Four, of course). And it's, well, OK. It's not as fun or inspired as its "parent" title, but not bad either.

Blue Beetle #17 : That Bruce Wayne cameo was very contrived, in the sense that hotel receptionist was far too much of a jerk for it to really work. Very low on the supporting cast too, which is a same. Hopefully this title will be back on form next issue. Eh.

Deathblow #6 : I still have no idea what the plot is supposed to be, and the storytelling borders on the incoherent. However, it's insane enough to warrant a Good rating from me.

Fantastic Five #2 (of 5) : Doom defeats everyone but the Thing, and it's very traditional indeed. Exactly what it says on the tin : OK.

Fallen Angel #18 : Part 2 of the story guest-staring Shi, who is heavily snarked upon by Lee. Very fillerish, but OK on the humor's strength.

Heroes for Hire #12 : Everything goes to hell, which will lead to the infamously-covered next issue. I don't care much for the final betrayal, though : it's been as arbitrary as everything else that happened to this character recently. Meanwhile, the Scorpion backup does whatever it can with its low page count : an adequate fight scene without much plot. Eh.

Immortal Iron Fist #7 : Filler issue covering the history of the last female Iron Fist. Very Good, though this title is in danger of losing its momentum.

Invincible #44 : The Eve/Mark reunion scene, and it is very awkward indeed. Not much impressed by the Viltrumites' new move, though. OK.

Marvel Adventures Iron Man #3 : Wow, a fun and interesting Plantman story. Who would have known ? Tony is still a jerk, but he's a fun jerk, and his streamlined supporting cast (goofball Jim Rhodes and hardcore Pepper Potts) works wonderfully. Very Good.

Comics from 25/07/2007 : part 1

And now, this week's comics.

Incredible Hulk #108 (WWH) : A very obvious fill-in story : nothing happens at all, and it is just a comparative recap of Rick Jones and Miek's history with the Hulk. Shame, because I wanted to know where the Amadeus Cho plot was going. This is just time-filling, and very Eh.

Iron Man #20 (WWH) : Now that Tony has been captured, it's up to Dugan to run SHIELD in absentia, and face tough decisions about what to do about WWH. There's a decent amount of plot progression, and Tony's ultimate backup plan is suitably hardcore. I'll go with a low Good.

Annihilation Conquest: Starlord #1 (of 4) : Giffen writes, so of course this quickly becomes an intensive snarkfest. However, he is genuinely funny, and the art shows a suitably deadpan Starlord faced with the increasing absurdity of the plot. This amused me, so Good.

Countdown #40 : I can't even remember if anything significant happened apart for from tiny advancements in each of the subplots. The atrocious Monitor backup is still ongoing, so let's go with Crap.

Wolverine #55 : A disaster. Sabretooth dies in a most undignified fashion, Wild Child does nothing but spout exposition, and I'm apparently supposed to care about this "Romulus" having masterminded Wolverine's whole life up to now. Thankfully this was only 6 issues, but this plot is supposed to continue into 45 further issues of Wolverine:Origins. Crap.

Cable & Deadpool #43 : Well, mostly Deadpool, since the other guy is pushing daisies for the moment. I happen to like Nicieza's Deadpool jokes, so this works for me. Weasel working for Hydra is a joy to read, in a very lowbrow way. Wolverine guests stars and looks like he's completely insane, but then I would too if I was subjected to the writing of his solo titles. Good.

X-Men: First Class #2 : A two-part story, which allows Parker to make the founder X-Men blunder around a death-trap island for a whole issue while not having a clue as to what the heck is happening. Nice, but I hope there's a good explanation next issue. Good.

Mighty Avengers #4 : Still fighting Ultron ? Wake me up when something happens. Eh.

Green Arrow: Year One #2 (of 6 ?) : Is this a 4- or 6-issue mini ? Covers say 4, but 6 have been solicited. Whatever : this is a Very Good retelling of GA's origin, with superb Jock art and a decent enough script.

Amazing Spider-Man #542 : Peter beats off the Kingpin for a whole issue. Color me duly unimpressed : 5 issues, 7 months of build up for just this ? "Behave, or else !" ? This illustrates why the "Angry Spider-Man" angle is such a dead end : Spider-Man cannot cross the line without losing his soul, and any other end comes as an anticlimax. That the "Aunt May may be dead !" plot is still stagnating after half a year makes the whole thing Awful. The relaunch cannot happen early enough.

Comics from 18/07/2007 : part 5

Yeah, so much about daily. A few leftovers from last week :

The Spirit #8 : Cooke's art is as good as ever, but it's his writing that really shines here : a compelling done-in-one story continuing the arcs set-up in earlier issues. It's fun, it's smart, and returning guest star Silk Satin is still awesome. Excellent, and probably the best comic out last week.

Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #26 : A cover version of the Galactus story, and quite a Good one at that. However, Van Lante's top notch script is a bit marred by the not-ready-for-prime-time art.

Giant-Size Marvel Adventures The Avengers #1 : Actually a normal-sized story with two reprints as back-ups. The main story is an old-fashioned time-traveling Kang story, but guest stars Agents of Atlas are tragically underused, and Kirk's art is uncharacteristically rushed and minimalistic. Meanwhile, the reprints of Namora and Venus's first appearances are of historic interest only. An Okay package, on the whole.


There was also that Black Knight oneshot, but I haven't even bothered reading it yet. Maybe this week.

Comics from 18/07/2007 : part 4

Birds of Prey #108 : So, that's it ? More than half a year of build-up of Spy-Smasher, and she's dealt with through just a half-hearted fist-fight and a flimsy "I have a lot of superhero friends" speech ? Admittedly, that double-splash page was impressive, but I can't help thinking that Simone had more ambitious plans for this plot. Anyway, the rest of the issue offers adequate closure for Simone's run, and the Misfit coda is great. On the whole, a high OK.

Wolverine Origins Annual #1 : Or rather, a fill-in issue with a guest artist, as annuals tend to go these days. And Andrews' art certainly is beautiful, but it is marred by a clumsy plot trying to retcon every Wolverine supporting character ever into the Great Conspiracy (tm). And wasn't Tai already dead, anyway ? A low Eh, because I can't even be bothered reacting negatively to it.

Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil #4 (of 4) : This is how Captain Marvel should always be written : whimsical, fantastic, and above all FUN. Smith understands everything about the appeal of the character (though his "the government is eviiiil" vibe with Sivana is a bit much), and delivers a Very Good ending to his tale. It's a bit light on plot for four doublesized issues, but the beautiful art more than makes up for it.

Robin #164 : Dodge goes around recruting lots of wannabe supervillains (Macro and Micro ?), and it works quite well. Okay, it uses some crap concepts of the current run, like Robin's stupid snitch, but it builds the tension adequately. I hope that last assassin is not Cassandra Cain, because it would be really obvious, but so far, so Good.

Comics from 18/07/2007 : part 3

Amazons Attack #4 (of 6) : This does absolutely nothing to regain my interest. Lots of characters act like idiots (Wonder Girl and Supergirl, for example) and most heroes do nothing at all. More fundamentally, there's still no real explanation for this war beyond "Hippolita is crazy", and the Amazons look awfully stupid when they're still going with it four issues in. Pfeifer and Woods do their best to enliven the proceedings, but the plot is Awful (am I really supposed to believe for more than a second that Gotham has been annihilated ?).

Checkmate #16 : Not entirely out of the crossover woods : the Outsiders may be (thankfully) gone from the book, but we're now addressing the plot from the last few months of Birds Of Prey (including this week's issue, which I've not read yet. Oops.) Fortunately, this mainly means Fire and Ice catching up in a great conversation scene, so thumbs up. The remainder of the issue centers on the relationship between Mr Terrific and Sasha Bordeaux that more or less came out of nowhere in One Year Later, and it does the job of fleshing it out decently. More importantly, it finally gives us an insight into Sasha's self-loathing that was cruelly missing until now. A Very Good characterization issue, but it really should have come sooner.

Thunderbolts: Desperate Measures : Basically a glorified fill-in issue centering on Penance, Bullseye and Osborn. Penance is as annoying as ever, but it greatly amuses me that the Thunderbolts are still utter crap at their job, and Osborn's antics are fun. Utter nonsense, but it's not too far a step down from the regular title. OK.

Marvel Adventures - Hulk #1 : This is the obligatory retelling of the Hulk's origin, and quite a Good one at that : the silliest aspects are improved, all the characters are clearly introduced (though Betty Ross' presence is barely explained : is she a scientist now, or something ?). I'm not sure it goes in a direction I'm very interested in, but I'll stick with it for the first arc.

Super-Villain Team-up: Modok's 11 #1 (of 5) : On the one hand, there was no way this could have lived up to all the hype. On the other hand, it's still Very Good : it manages to make me care about lots of crap supervillains (Rocket Racer ? Really ?), and livens up what could have been very dull "gathering of the forces" and "obligatory misunderstanding leading to a fight" scenes. Portella's McNiven-lite art is very pleasing to the eyes, too. Hopefully things can only step up next issue when the actual plot will be revealed.

Black Canary #2 (of 4) : Much better than such a shameless schedule-filling, event anticipation-building mini should have the right to be. The second issue compensates for the few flaws of the first : it dutifully explains who the villain is, what his plan is, how it fits with Sin, and even straightens up the state of the League of Assassins these days (which neither BATMAN nor the various headache-inducing appearances of Batgirl managed to do). Oh, and a very nice action sequence at the end, too. It does not really convince me that a GA/BC marriage would be a good idea, but at least it makes a good attempt at interesting me in it as a subplot. A high Very Good.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #22 : Oh, god, the art. Nauck has seen better days than this, and the green-colored characters in the first few pages are atrocious. As for the plot, well, Arrow is summarily disposed of, in one of those "You've gone too far, and now I, Spider-Man, will be HARDCORE!" scenes that never seem right for the character (see also, Amazing Spider-Man). The Daily Bugle subplot is a bit more promising, but surely it is not the first time JJJ has fired Robertson, right ? I have trouble believing it would be such a big deal. Very Eh, as much as I've enjoyed David's run until now.

Captain America #28 : What happened, again ? Oh, yeah, the next step of the Skull's plan starting (his daughter getting Crossbones out of prison, apparently) and lots of running around confused by the heroes. Not a lot of progress, but entertaining and building the tension adequately. I'll go with a high Good because of the pretty art.


And, that's it for now.

Comics from 18/07/2007 : part 2

Just a few reviews for now...

Ultimate Spider-Man #111 : The transition issue : Bagley handles the present-day scenes, Immonen the flashbacks with the Spot. The latter are very forgettable, with nice art but a very pedestrian fight scene which barely advances the Roxxon plot ; the heart of the issue is in the former scenes, where Peter and May finally have a decent conversation. This being Bendis, it works beautifully, leaving things open for the long-building Miles Warren plot. Very Good, though the left-border narrative dialogue in the flashback was a bit annoying.

Catwoman #69 : And now, Amazons Attack ! Thankfully, no concentration camps or anyone acting like idiots ; Pfeifer keeps it simple (Batman has Catwoman infiltrate a terrorist splinter Amazon group) and the script has a few nice touches. I still don't care about AA, but this is perfectly OK.

Comics from 18/07/2007 : part 1

For lack of a better alternative, I'll be using the Savage Critic appreciation scale for now : Ass, Crap, Awful, Eh, OK, Good, Very Good, Excellent.

And now, reviews !

World War Hulk #2 (of 5) : This is already showing its limits. Last issue, Hulk beat the crap out of Black Bolt and Iron Man. This issue, he beats the crap out of Reed Richards and various heroes standing in the way. It's done very competently, but it quickly becomes repetitive. And for every good moment (how She-Hulk intervenes), we have lots of quicks scenes that will be extended in a crossover issue (without mentionning which, of course). Eh.

World War Hulk: Frontline #2 (of 6) : What is the point of this, again ? There's no story here, except for "Ben and Sally look at events already described in WWH". All it does is expose the plot holes of the current Marvel statu quo : the insanity of the registration act, and the evacuation-but-not-really of Manhattan. In theory I'm all for a book which eschews traditional superheroics for politics and journalism, but this doesn't work. The main mistake seems to be the appending of this slow and talky series to an event which is meant to be fast and furious : it clashed in Civil War, and it clashes even more here, where there's barely any politics to the main event.
Meanwhile, the backup is quickly becoming silly and melodramatic ("oh noes ! the beat cop I don't care about may die if he doesn't solve the murder !"), and the humorous strip is cute but too short to write anything home about. Awful.

World War Hulk: X-Men #2 (of 3) : Good job, Chris Gage. In your first issue, you managed to fool me into thinking this mini may have a point beyond the cash grab. But even with your talent, you can't hide anymore that this will be three issues of pointless fighting. There's no real reason for the Hulk fighting the X-Men, so this is Awful.

Avengers: the Initiative #4 (WWH) : What, you mean this crossover is actually important for the plot ? I didn't see this coming at all. Problem : this is because it isn't clearly explained that Hardball substituted a fake. On the other hand, there are lots of good characterization, I'm starting to care about the characters, and Slott seems to be finding his feet in a more serious tone. A low Good.

Annihilation Conquest: Quasar #1 (of 4) : How many series is Gage writing these days ? He may be stretching himself too thin, or my general apathy to all things cosmic may be kicking in : I couldn't care for what little happened here. Too much recaps, not enough story ? Eh.

Countdown #41 : What an horrible failure. Each subplot is barely advanced, and I don't care about any of them. Also, the "spine of the DC universe" remit isn't helping at all : did they really hold that big funeral for the Flash while the Amazons' Attack was still ongoing ? Shouldn't the heroes have been too busy to attend ? Meanwhile, the Monitor backup manages to be worse than both the main "story" or the similar pointless recap in 52. When is it ending, again ? Crap.

New X-Men #40 : This really should have been the second issue of this arc : the uncaptured characters come to the rescue. Meanwhile, yet more slaughter, and it becomes more and more pointless as most the characters killed last issue are brought back (not that the death of X-23 was likely to stick). Young's pencils remain too melodramatic, and the colouring isn't helping at all. Meanwhile, business as usual in the Endangered Species backup. Nothing really happens, but it's at least more or less entertaining, and thus far better than the main story. Awful.

The Order #1 : This more or less works, despite the quirks : "the Champions" would have been a much better fit, and Pepper's role is a bit jarring from when we last saw her. On the other hand, I like the characterization of the team leader, and the dismissal of most of the team after a drunken binge is a nice twist. The villains for next issue do not look very promising, but for now a tentative high Good.

Okay, this is it.

I've toyed with the idea for months, so here it is, quick and dirty : lots of reviews, daily if possible.

We'll see whether it works...