Justice Society of America #12 — Writer: Geoff Johns;  Penciller: Dale Eaglesham;  Inker: Ruy Jose Continuing the “get aspects of Kingdom Come into the mainstream DCU” story. Not a bad read, but the cast of ongoing characters in this book has become huge (there are 18 little character boxes on the splash page, and they add another three or four to the cast this issue), so it’s at the point where I see, say, Damage in his new costume, and spend five minutes thinking, “Now, who the hell is that?”  Add a large “who cares about Kingdom Come?” quotient, and … Continue reading →

Fantastic Four #553 — Writer: Dwayne McDuffie; Penciler: Paul Pelletier; Inker: Rick Magyar McDuffie’s been delivering the best sustained FF since Mark Waid: check out the three-part time-travel tale that concludes here and see, as everyone acts smart and in-character, and the core concepts of the book are attended to with affection and care. Wave goodbye as he makes way for Millar and Hitch (who should hope to do as well), and wish him a long and well-received run on JLA. Death of the New Gods # 5 ( of 8 ) — Writer/Penciller: Jim Starlin; Inks: Matt Banning and … Continue reading →

Y: The Last Man #60 (of 60) — Writer: Brian K. Vaughan; Penciller: Pia Guerra; Inker: Marzan, Jr. By rights, this should be on the “buy” list, but I stopped following this title closely sometime around issue 20; I knew it was good, but just lost interest (a lot of these self-contained Vertigo series sag in the middle — even Preacher was kind of tough sledding for a while there), and so haven’t actually bought it for a few years. I’ve still been flipping through it, though, and can acknowledge that Vaughan and company have kept up the quality, and … Continue reading →

The Punisher #54 — Writer: Garth Ennis;  Artist: Garlan Parlov Concluding Ennis’s penultimate arc, where he explains, without hitting you over the head with it, What It Means to Be the Punisher. Very nicely done, and he’s dead serious, too: the careful connection to earlier stories;  the way the villain, who started out carefree as Bugs Bunny, at the end becomes the monster his father was; the careful combination of grimness, sadness and hope. One line near the end (“Memories…”) kind of pushes things, but the last two pages more than make up for it. Now, let’s watch him cut … Continue reading →

Ultimates 3 #2 — Writer: Jeph Loeb;  Artist: Joe Madureira Marginally less stupid than the first issue, but it still feels like an early- ’90s Image book (not surprising, given the creative team), with lots of characters running around and screaming and punching, and art that’s more concerned about looking kewl and selling on eBay than about telling a smooth story. Much dialogue is spent trying to patch holes from the previous issue (like why Thor’s suddenly speakething like an illiterate Elizabethan) and the overall impression is of a slapdash grab for your money. In fairness, 12-year-old fans will think … Continue reading →