Author Archives: Phil

DC Universe Special: Justice League of America #1 — Writers: Len Wein; Gerry Conway; Jack Miller; Artists: Dick Dillon/Dick Giordano; Dillin/Frank McLaughlin; Jor Certa Reprints featuring the first appearances of two of the obscure characters that are part of Final Crisis — Libra and the Human Flame — plus the three-part JLA story from #s166-168 where the super-villains switch places with the heroes, and eventually get mind-wiped (the main hook for Identity Crisis, of course). It’s nostalgiac fun to see so much Dick Dillin art (even though some of the reproduction is too shadowy); he was the JLA for many … Continue reading →

DC Universe #0 — Writers: Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns; Artists: George Perez, Doug Mahnke, Tony Daniel, Ivan Reis, Aaron Lopresti, Philip Tan, Ed Benes, Carlos Pacheco, JG Jones Well this is encouraging: a perfect little promo book, only 50 cents, setting up small tastes of Final Crisis and all its spinoffs (Legion of Three Worlds by Johns and Perez; Batman: RIP by Morrison and Daniel; Wonder Woman: Whom the Gods Forsake by Simone and Lopresti; Green Lantern: The Dead Shall Rise by Johns and Reis; Revelations, by Rucka and Tan; and, of course, Final Crisis by Morrison and Jones) … Continue reading →

Ultimate Human #4 (of 4) — Writer: Warren Ellis; Penciler: Cary Nord; Colorist: Dave Stewart This has probably been the least of the Ellis Ultimate mini-series, since it just doesn’t amount to much: having Pete Wisdom as the bad guy, a sort of Ultimate Leader, came off as self-indulgent and too inbred to make much sense, and there was never a feeling of anything being at stake. The best Ellis offers a prickly back-of-the-neck-hairs weirdness, a glimpse of a world that’s simultaneously harder, stranger, and more fun than the one we’re used to, and this title never achieved that: blah … Continue reading →

Death of the New Gods #8 ( of 8 ) — Writer/Penciller: Jim Starlin; Inks: Art Thibert Starlin manages a suitable conclusion, although the cosmic flash and thunder is tempered by (a) the nagging feeling that the Apokolips/New Genesis planet bit has been done before, and (b) the way that the Darkseid-Orion climax isn’t even in this issue, having already taken place in Countdown a week ago. It’s a tribute to Starlin’s skills that this still works at all, but the Countdown thing is just ham-fisted editorial idiocy, and leaves a bad aftertaste after what otherwise was a surprisingly good … Continue reading →

Hulk #3 — Writer: Jeph Loeb; Penciler: Ed McGuinness;  Inker: Dexter Vines Well, it’s a big, sloppy, loud mess, although I suppose if I was 10 years old all the big red and green and blue people punching one another would seem cool. Not being ten, though, and having read a large number of previous Hulk stories, I’d have to argue this is one of the most aggressively stupid comics currently punishing a gullible public (the giant robot Harpies were a particularly surreal, pointless touch). There’s no reason to buy this;  you can flip through it and absorb the little … Continue reading →