New Comics

Final Crisis #2 (of 7) — Writer: Grant Morrison;  Art: J. G. Jones It feels better than the first one, partly because of lowered expectations and partly because Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern has already introduced the Alpha Lantern characters used here, so Morrison’s script doesn’t feel so disconnected.  As for the story, it doesn’t have the simple who-can-you-trust flash and bang of, say, Secret Invasion, but a more subtle psychological intensity — the gradual realization that the enemy has taken out the JLA’s two tactical experts first, and so easily, creates an air of dread, a certainty that this first … Continue reading →

The Hulk #4 — Writer: Jeph Loeb;  Penciler: Ed McGuinness;  Inker: Dexter Vines The Ultimates 3 #4 (of 5) — Writer: Jeph Loeb;  Art: Joe Madureira Not to be a Loeb hater, but geez. He seems to have completed his transformation into a Chuck Austen-level target of fan vitriol, and it’s his own fault, with plot developments that are either mind-bogglingly wrongheaded (the Watcher scene that opens the Hulk book doesn’t even work as parody; it’s just stupid, in a giggling Beavis-and-Butthead sort of way), or incomprehensible (I defy anyone to explain, in one sentence, just what’s going on in … Continue reading →

RASL #2 — Writer/Artist: Jeff Smith All about the bodily fluids, as our protagonist sweats, drinks, has sex, sweats some more, drinks some more, and encounters a murder victim. Also included: advice about how to navigate parallel universes, with emphasis on the usefulness of maze architectural theory as a totem. Only the second piece of a much bigger story, obviously, but compelling and cool so far. Wolverine #66 — Writer: Mark Millar; Penciler: Steve McNiven; Inker: Dexter Vines With Kick-Ass, 1984 and FF currently on the stands, I’m not sure we need quite this much Mark Millar, although it’s OK, … Continue reading →

Genius #1 — Writers: Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman;  Art: Afua Richardson Interesting premise — one of the greatest military/strategic minds in history turns out to belong to a young girl in south-central LA, who doesn’t like cops and decides to do something about it.  The ebonics-flavored dialect walks a tightrope, but the writers are smart enough to acknowledge that, and it’s phonetically close enough that it never quite falls over the edge into offense. The painted-looking art isn’t bad, either; it’s equally good at both the human/expressive stuff and the action scenes, and Richardon knows how to set up … Continue reading →

Young Liars #4 — Writer/Artist: David Lapham If Lapham has a weakness, it’s plot — I kept waiting for Stray Bullets to coalesce into one huge, overarching, satisfying story, and it kept acting like it was about to, but the bits and pieces never came together. What made that book, though, were the moments —  the ways the characters talked, and the surprising things they did. As there, so here: the omnipotent-Pinkerton thing is already getting annoying, and their explanation is going to be an inevitable disappointment, but the characters make the comic. Stacie, the girl with no impulse control, … Continue reading →