New Comics

World War Hulk #4 (of 5) — Writer: Greg Pak;  Penciller: John Romita Jr.;  Inker: Klaus Janson You have to admire how old-school this series has been — it doesn’t waste time trying to integrate or link to all the crossovers or related mini-series; it doesn’t care whether you’ve read them or not. Instead, it just bulls straight ahead, telling its tale and giving you all the action you need, as The Hulk sets up his Death Arena and rubs the Illuminati’s nose in exactly what they did to him. Great art, lots of punching, a sense of an actual … Continue reading →

Batman/Lobo: Deadly Serious #2 (of 2) — Writer/Artist: Sam Kieth As if to balance last issue’s parade of cheesecake shots, this issue is tilted more toward beefcake, with lots of full-panel Batman and Lobo poses. Kieth seems to be pushing the art, too, exaggerating even more than normal and letting design dominate any attempt at realism (exhibit A: look at the cover). As for the story, the plot aspects that were confusing in the first issue now, in the conclusion… make no sense at all. I’m sure that if I reread both books and thought about it, I could figure … Continue reading →

Justice League of America Wedding Special #1 — Writer: Dwayne McDuffie;  Penciller: Mike McKone;  Inker: Andy Lanning I thought this would be a piece of fluff like last week’s Black Canary Special, but with McDuffie handling the script after years of shepherding the cartoon through its paces, it’s a lot more than that. It turns out to be the first shot in a big fight between the Injustice League and the JLA, continuing into the next regular JLA book, and it’s very good. From the opening, an echo of the first Meltzer JLA except with Luthor, Joker and Cheeta dealing … Continue reading →

Moon Knight #12 — Writer: Charlie Huston; Penciler: Mico Suayan The climax to the second big arc, and you know, I’ve been reading this all along, and I have no idea what’s going on. Between all the flashbacks and the confusing narrative and the art (which is sometimes nice to look at, but always hard to follow), and the erratic publishing schedule, I can’t remember any of this. Wait — the girl’s a robot? The guy’s a robot? A cyborg? He was the sidekick, right? No, wait… ah, it’s not worth it. Maybe this is one of those books that … Continue reading →

Amazing Spider-Man #544 — Writer: J. Michael Straczynski; Penciler: Joe Quesada; Inker: Danny Miki Actually pretty good, thank God — the last few issues have felt like molasses, with everyone marking time and waiting for this Big Event to kick off. Now that it finally has, Peter can start doing logical things like going to Iron Man, having a fight, and asking for help for his aunt; then, he can start thinking about how to save her. Here’s my guess on the big resolution: we know he’s going to see Dr. Strange, right? Dr. Strange owes Pete a big favor … Continue reading →