Author Archives: Phil

War of the Supermen #1 (of 4) — Writers: James Robinson and Sterling Gates;  Pencils: Jamal Igle;  Inks: Jon Sibal DC, having spent a year trying to interest us with a planetful of Kryptonians on their version of Counter-Earth (and, in one of the most puzzling editorial decisions in recent memory, no Superman in its Superman titles), now starts moving all of the scattered toys back into their boxes, so that in a few issues it will be like none of it ever happened: planets explode and are invaded; lives are shattered; fans yawn. New Ultimates #2 — Writer: Jeph … Continue reading →

The Invincible Iron Man #25 — Writer: Matt Fraction;  Art: Salvador Larroca Fraction’s starting his third year with this title, and he’s made it into one of Marvel’s best superhero books; now, after the “Most Wanted”/Dark Reign storylines are over, we’ve got a 39-page new beginning. There’s probably more technobabble than absolutely needed (Tony to Reed Richards: “If the Iron Man was the app… extremis was the O.S…. and I was the hardware.” And there’s three more pages of that), but that’s been a function of the character since the beginning, and it’s made up for by the little set … Continue reading →

Scalped #37 — Writer: Jason Aaron;  Art: Davide Furno Northlanders #27 — Writer: Brian Wood;  Art: Leandro Fernandez These are linked because they’re both the books-good-enough-to-buy this week; both are well-written, gritty noir efforts, the former set on a Native American reservation/casino, and the latter set in the Viking era, offering stories of Norse culture from roughly between 0 and 1200 A.D.  Both also have good art; Furno’s is more expressive, with a gritty grasp of caricature, while Fernandez’s is cleaner and better-composed, with an effective grasp of white space that works well with its wintery setting; both are also … Continue reading →

Ultimate Spider-Man #9 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: David Lafuente This has settled nicely into a Spidey and his Amazing Friends-type high school niche, part boarding-house comedy (with Bobby Drake and Johnny Storm rooming at Peter’s house, not to mention Kitty, Gwen and Mary Jane, who hijack him at school for an impromptu sartorial makeover), and partly serious stuff (growing anti-mutant hysteria that catches up with Kitty). It’s an effective, potent combination, and makes this title as entertaining as it’s been in quite some time. Ultimate Avengers #6 — Writer: Mark Millar;  Pencils: Carlos Pacheco;  Inks: Dexter Vines Millar … Continue reading →

The Spirit #1 — Writer: Mark Schultz;  Art: Moritat; (Second story: Writer: Denny O’Neil;  Art:  Bill Sienkiewicz) There’s a prevailing critical opinion that Spirit stories more than ten pages long don’t work, and this 23-page effort doesn’t do a lot to disprove it. It’s about as good as it’s going to get, too — Moritat can draw femme fatales, and has a decent title page, but his first full-page splash of Denny Colt is a little off, and Ebony has apparently been replaced by a Greek chorus of street kids, and there’s a lot of padding, and… eh; like I … Continue reading →