Batman and the Outsiders #13 — Writer: Frank Tieri;  Penciller: Fernando Dagnino;  Inker: Raul Fernandez Remember last month, when I said that I had never, ever read a Frank Tieri comic that was any good? Still true. Punisher #64 — Writer: Greg Hurwitz;  Artist: Lawrence Campbell Well, that didn’t take long: we’re four issues into the post-Garth Ennis Punisher era, and already this book has slid completely off the rails. It doesn’t help that, although this issue is part four of the current arc, it’s so disjointed that I thought it was a brand-new storyline; it also didn’t help that … Continue reading →

Batman: Cacophony #1 (of 3) — Writer: Kevin Smith;  Penciller: Walt Flanagan;  Inker: Sandra Hope Jokes about lateness aside, I’m normally a Kevin Smith fan — his ear for dialogue, and for the psychopathology of super-villains, makes bits like the opening scene between an Arkham-dwelling Joker and Deadshot, who’s broken in to kill him, smoothly entertaining. Yes, the Green Arrow bad-guy-who-repeats-sound-effects is annoying, and Smith probably pushes the sex-and-violence envelope too much for this to be an unrated book, but let’s call it a guilty pleasure and acknowledge it for the fun comic that it is. JSA Kingdom Come Special: … Continue reading →

Eternals Annual #1 — Writer: Fred Van Lente;  Artist: Pascal Alixe The one thing going for this book is that it also includes a reprint from the original series (issue #7, not that the editor cared enough to include that information here). That Jack Kirby offering, with its jam-packed action, powerful layouts and awe-struck sense of wonder, blows the modern-day main story (ugly art and an impossible-to-plow-through plot ) completely out of the water; mediocrity looks even worse when it’s lying right next to genius. The Cleaners #1 (of 4) — Writers: Mark Wheaton and Joshua Hale Fialkov;  Art: Rahsan … Continue reading →

Amazing Spider-Man #576 — Writer: Joe Kelly;  Pencils: Chris Bachalo;  Inks: Bachalo, Mendoza, Townsend and Vey So, against all odds, Spidey’s gotten pretty good again, huh?  The Anti-Venom thing, with Romita Jr. and Janson, turned out to be satisfying fun, and here Bachalo and Kelly have delivered a good two-parter, much different in tone but equally entertaining .  This title’s almost-weekly status isn’t so bad when readers can actually look forward to the stories (although I wonder if it had anything to do with the mildly-annoying tag-team inking here. Next issue? The Punisher guest-stars. That’s… kind of ominous, actually, but … Continue reading →

Ultimatum #1 (of 5) — Writer: Jeph Loeb;  Art: David Finch Well, the art’s OK, in its solid, super-heroey way, and a Big Thing happens and characters (maybe) die, and the big mystery villain is revealed on the last page.  Oh, and the Sub-Mariner says, in a moment of anger, “I could care less what you think!”, which of course is the opposite of what he means, and is as good a symbol as any of the general slipshod nature of the writing here, and of why I’m not buying this book. Wolverine: Chop Shop #1 (of 1) — Writer: … Continue reading →