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and has a decent title page, but his first full-page splash of Denny Colt is a little off, and Ebony has apparently been replaced by a Greek chorus of street kids, and there’s a lot of padding, and… eh; like I … Continue reading →

Brightest Day #0 (of 4) — Writers: Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi;  Pencils: Fernando Pasarin; Inks: six people This is worth getting as an epilogue to Darkest Night; it offers more clues about the 12 “resurrected” characters, as Boston Brand (what do we call him now — Liveman?) gets zapped around by his white ring and we see various set-up developments for later comics. Pasarin does a good job making a huge cast, and multiple settings, distinguishable and clear — although the tag-team inking, while understandable, doesn’t help the art. Will I keep reading this as a mini-series? I’m not … Continue reading →

Green Arrow #37 — Writer: J. T. Krull;  Artist: Federico Dallochio I know this is “just” a comic, and applying strict literary standards to it is insane, but geez:  Ollie has “killed” Prometheus, and everyone, including the cops, is now after him for “murder.” Of a genocidal terrorist? Really? Because if some soldier in Afghanistan ran into Bin Laden and killed him, we’d all call him a  criminal? And why a trial in Star City: how, exactly, do they have jurisdiction over a murder of a non-resident of the city that was committed in a pocket dimension, with no body … Continue reading →