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...