Fury Max #2 Writer: Garth Ennis Artist: Goran Parlov

Hey! Remember all those reasons you like Garth Ennis comics? And remember how you think when he resorts to fart jokes you find yourself just a little disappointed cuz’ you know he can do better? Well, this right here is where he does better. It’s Ennis telling a straight-up war story, with Nick Fury acting as any of a million different war characters you’ve seen him work before. Don’t forget that Parlov is cranking out solid line-work to make this a super compelling title. I’m not sure if this is a mini or an ongoing, but either way it’s a wonderful investment for anyone with a passing interest in Marvel characters or war comics. Great stuff.

Winter Soldier #5 Writer: Ed Brubaker Artist: Butch Guice

This issue kinda-sorta wraps up the first storyline, and what more can be said about the Brubaker comics that involve Captain America characters? This guy has single handedly been responsible for Bucky’s reintegration into the Marvel Universe, and almost every piece of it has been pitch perfect (ignoring the fact that his Cap uniform was a Cuban flag, but I blame Alex Ross). This latest Winter Soldier story has been no different, encompassing all the craziness you want from a monkey with a machine gun, and an embracing of the past while mixing it with whatever’s next. Guice’s art is a bit rushed, but I’m still digging it. Totally worth it.

Adventure Time #4 Writer: Ryan North Artist: Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb

Speaking of ending story lines, the adventures of Finn and Jake come to their sand princess conclusion (and yes, that makes sense if you read it). The art style on this book is completely faithful to the source material, and it’s probably the most fun children’s book that’s come out since the ridiculousness that was DC superheroes. The absolute best part of this has to be the asides that are running through the bottom of the page. They either make absolutely no sense at all, or put even more puns into place than there already are in the main story. It’s a damn good comic, and yes, I used the word “damn” to talk about a kids book!

Avengers vs X-Men #4 Writer: Jonathan Hickman Artist: John Romita Jr.

So at this point, four of the five ‘architects’ have scripted an issue of this book, and the best was clearly Brubaker. Hickman takes the reigns here and the plot moves along through his traditional text-heavy style. It’s just that this storyline is doing absolutely nothing to make me care. I sit through each issue wondering when they’re going to do something to make me care, and it’s just not coming around. Maybe it’s the Romita Jr. art.  While he has been pushed as the main man for Marvel art, his style is absolutely not working for me on this book. I just don’t see a reason to care in all of this, and this week’s issue is no different.

Manhattan Projects 3 Writer: Jonathan Hickman Artist: Nick Pitarra

I can’t explain quite why I love this book so very, very much. The basic concept is that after completing the atomic bomb, the entire team of scientists stuck together and have made more projects. FDR is dead, but they’ve revived him underground, Truman is a member of the Freemasons who is essentially ignored, and the entire team of scientists have completely separate problems all their own. Hickman’s interpretation of Oppenheimer has me the most entertained, cuz’ that is insane, but don’t overlook Einstein or Harry Daghlian. Every character is fascinating, much like the book. It’s absolutely fantastic stuff. Pitarra puts in wonderful art making each character distinguished from one another. LOVE it.

Annnnnnnnnnnnd now, some quick hits!

Conan #4 Writer: Brian Wood Artist: James Harren: Even without Becky Cloonan, this comic is basically awesome. Great story that still looks good.

Catwoman #9 Writer: Judd Winick Artist: Guillem March: Possibly the best Night of the Owls tie-in as CW has to help save the Penguin. Giving the unfrozen Owls personalities and back stories is a good idea that I’ve liked in every issue.

Batwoman #9 Writer: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman Artist: Trevor McCarthy: New artist comes in and things get a little better. I’m still jonesing for the next Williams-art issue, but aren’t you too?

DC Universe Presents #9 Writer: James Robinson Artist: Bernard Chang: The latest story from this anthology series gives Vandal Savage a new daughter. It gives you Silence of the Lambs meets Daddy Day Care, so there’s that.

Wonder Woman #9 Writer: Brian Azzarello Artist: Tony Akins: Wonder Woman’s wedding! This book has still been very interesting, and I’m happy it hasn’t been tied into anything else. A great self-containted story.

The Shade #8 Writer: James Robinson Artist: Jill Thompson: Another flashback issue giving more and more info about Shade. It’s great to see how easily Robinson can go back to the quality of his past. Great.

Hellblazer #291 Writer: Peter Milligan Artist: Gael Bertrand: More good Hellblazer stories from Milligan; what did you expect?

Glory #26 Writer: Joe Keatings Artist: Ross Campbell: Man, I’m sure this isn’t what Rob Liefeld envisioned, and I don’t care. I’ve really enjoyed every issue of this reboot, and it’s been keeping the same quality for the entire time.

Saga #3 Writer: Brian K. Vaughan Artist: Fiona Staples: The end of this issue made me burst out laughing, as the main character makes quite the death bed confession. This book is fun, and perfect for any casual reader.

Iron Man #517 Writer: Matt Fraction Artist: Salvador Larroca: Things just keep building and building, and I hope that Fraction can make this as epic as it is building too. I love this book.

Thunderbolts 174 Writer: Jeff Parker Artist: Declan Shalvey: So Fixer from the future killed himself in the past, and now both Thunderbolts teams have to solve that problem. They get clever, and then erase some memories. It’s a fun book that’s about to go through a huge change.

Reset #2 Writer/Artist: Peter Bagge: The story moves along, but I’m still not sure of the point. I feel like we’ll have to check back when it’s over and see as opposed to judging the set-up.

And that’s the week! Hopefully the Professor will have returned from his vacation, and we’ll be back to normal next week!

“The” Dan Jacka

Batman #9 Writer: Scott Snyder Artist: Greg Capullo

This is exactly what a crossover should be. Every story is tied into the main story, and so far every tie-in has been better because of the main story. This is probably the first time I can say that tie-ins actually work with this type of story. Basically,  the Court of Owls is set to destroy Gotham City and all the main people that help keep it going. Important people die, pieces are put in place, and everything is set for Batman to seriously  kick some ass starting next month. This week also has tie-ins to Batgirl and Batman & Robin that focus on how each character deals with what’s going on. I’ve seriously been overwhelmed by how good this entire story is. Just… just read it. It’ll remind you why you like superhero  comics.

Fatale #5 Writer: Ed Brubaker Artist: Sean Phillips

What’s left to say about Fatale? What’s left to say about Brubaker and Phillips? The end of “Book One” hits with this issue, and I still can’t quite tell you what in the world is going on. It’s still absolutely beautiful to look at, and it is probably one of the best books artwise that you can find in this market. The pieces moved into some kind of end point place with this issue, and in Brubaker’s back matter (a short half page at the end of this issue) he thanks everyone for making this the highest selling book he’s ever written. What a difference being published by Image over Icon can make, huh? I’m totally the type of guy to try to sell you more, so don’t forget to check out Sleeper, Criminal, and Incognito. Those are all better than this book, at least so far, but I’m still completely invested.

Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #9 Writer: Jeff Lemire Artist: Alberto Ponticelli

What a difference an inker makes. The last 3 issues of this book have looked drastically cleaner, and I don’t know how I feel about that. The story has still been pretty good, but I believe Lemire is done after this issue. He’s put a bunch of things in place for Matt Kindt to take care of, and I’m excited to see where he goes with it. This issue very, very loosely ties into the story that happened with Animal Man. If you wondered “what happened to that police officer that got infected by the Rot and became all puffy?” then this is the book for you. It was good stuff, and Frankenstein is still probably the biggest surprise of the New 52.

Deathstroke #9 Writer/Artist: Rob Liefeld

Grifter#9 Writer: Liefeld and Rob Tieri Artist: Scott Clark

Hoo boy. So changes have been made to the new 52 books, and I can’t say that they’ve all been made for the better. The funny thing is that it’s not like either of these books were very good to begin with, so I’m pretty sure that their sales are going to go up with a Liefeld bump. Liefeld takes this opportunity to introduce more of the Wildstorm characters back into the New 52, and I can honestly say that I do not care. Hooray. Deathblow is back. If that’s a selling point for you, then so be it. I just figured I’d point out that this comic exists, and that’s all I have to say about that.

Mystery in Space #1 Writer/Artist: Various

Man, this is a damn strange comic book! It’s another eight dollar one-shot like The Unexpected from several months ago. They’ve been very smart about this by hiring higher-end talent to get things moving right along. It’s good quality sci-fi stories told by people who know what they’re doing. It switches in tone from Twilight Zone twists, to hyper serious, to odd comedy. It gets high brow when Ann Nocenti starts talking about cats; it’s pretty to look at when you get Kaluta art, you get Kyle Baker just being Kyle Baker… and it’s all topped off with Mike Allred drawing a story about conception. I’m not making that up. What’s not to love?

Uncanny X-Force 25 Writer: Rick Remender Artist: Mike McKone

Uncanny X-Force is a strange beast. The story is always solid, but it relies heavily on the art. The last story didn’t quite hit the mark, and a couple times I had no idea what was happening. This special overpriced 25th ‘anniversary’ issue moves a couple of characters around and uses McKone art. Now I personally love Mike McKone, but this all seems a little bit rushed. There’s also two extra stories in the back that are the first time that Remender and Opena worked together to do Wolverine and Deadpool. It’s a story that reads  just fine, but I expect better from this title.

And now, the quick hits!

Wolverine and the X-men #10 Writer: Jason Aaron Artist: Chris Bachalo: Plots move along, but I can honestly say I have no idea how this fits into the main story. Much like…

New Avengers #26 Writer: Brian Bendis Artist: Mike Deodato: Which establishes how some redhead is kind of Iron Fist, and all those SHIELD stories I’m reading are being destroyed by Bendis and I can’t stand this crossover and I’m writing a run-on sentence cause I’m so angry…

Green Lantern 9 Writer: Geoff Johns Artist: Doug Mahnke: Hmm, it appears that Mahnke is needing a lot of inkers, it’s still good stuff, but you never know what you’re gunna get on each page.

The Punisher #11 Writer: Greg Rucka Artist: Mirko Colak: This is a weird book that I find myself enjoying just enough to mention it. It’s good, but not quite great yet;  it’s improving.

Crossed Badlands #5 Writer: Jamie Delano Aritst: Leandro Rizzo: Well, this is pretty dark and weird, isn’t it? You know what you’re getting with Crossed, and this is most certainly no different.

The Ultimates #10 Writers: Jonathan Hickman & Sam Humphries Artist: Luke Ross: I love everything about this book, and I’m bummed for when Hickman leaves. Good stuff.

And that’s the week! With the Professor out of town I’ll be back again next week, so ya know, get excited!

“The” Dan Jacka

Avengers Movie Review first:  go see it.  A small series of misadventures left us walking into the theater halfway into the previews (so I missed the Dark Knight trailer), and meant we had to sit in the second row — but it was a 3D movie, and it turns out that’s the perfect spot for me; I’m nearsighted in one eye, and farsighted in the other, so 3D effects don’t work well, but when it’s that close they work fine. Even better, Harkins is wise enough to invest in good theater seats with comfortable headrests that lean back easily, so no stiff neck, and the movie engulfed me; the 2.5 hours just whizzed by happily, in a perfect summer movie rush. Who would have thought the Hulk, who’s on screen very little, would get most of the best bits (“Puny god”) ? Halfway through the credits is a scene that reveals the Master Bad Guy, whom long-time Marvel fans will recognize and have to explain to their seatmates; at the very end of the credits, there’s yet another small scene that plays off of an earlier line, silent and quick but note-perfect, and it’s worth staying for (only about a fifth of the theater I was in stayed for that one). The 12-year-old me would be very pleased that the world has progressed to the point where a movie like this can be made, and so believably and enjoyably that the whole world’s going to see it.

Free Comic Book Day Comics

I’ll mostly do the big main-company stuff, some of which is still out there, with a smattering of the smaller-press stuff that you had to brave the FCBD crowds to score….

Avengers: Age of Ultron – Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Pencils: Bryan Hitch;  Inks: Paul Neary

It’s a reprint of Avengers #12.1, but it’s a free 31-page Avengers comic by Bendis, Hitch and Neary, which means it looks and feels great; Spider-Woman tracks an alien artifact to a cave, but runs into some bad guys, and one thing leads to another and before you know it, there’s a big Avengers/Intelligentsia fight, and then there’s Ultron. It’s a set-up for Bendis’s swan song on the Avengers, one he’s been teasing for well over a year now; Marvel’s marketing of this shows they learned some lessons from DC and Darkest Night, which  offered a similar slow, simmering build-up. As a way of goosing interest in an upcoming event, this book does its job very well.

Spider-Man: Season One – Writer: Cullen Bunn;  Pencils: Neil Edwards;  Inks: Karl Kesel

This one only offers 20 pages, reprinted from the graphic novel of the same name and showing Peter getting bit by the spider and starting to discover his powers, with the rest of the pages house ads and hype. It’s fine, but an often-told story, and one that it’s not clear needed to be told again;  in the competition for best modern retelling of the Spidey myth, it doesn’t look like it’s going to make Ultimate Spider-Man worry too much.

The New 52 — Writer: Geoff Johns; Art: Ivan Reis and Joe Prado; Kenneth Rocafort;  Gene Ha; Jim Lee

The first 11 pages, by the first three art teams, are the origin of Pandora, the hooded woman who’s been lurking in the background of most of DC’s books since their relaunch (yes, she’s that Pandora). That’s followed by an intro page from Lee, plus a four-page foldout, hyping the next big JLA event next year, “The Trinity War,” which presumably involves Pandora too, and looks to involve everyone fighting against Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The rest of the comic is two-page previews for four or five of DC’s other upcoming books. That makes it more nakedly commercial than the Marvel books, although a four-page Lee foldout is nothing to sneeze at, especially for free.

DC Nation FCBD Super Sampler/Superman Family Adventures Flip Book

I swear, that’s how it’s listed in the indicia. This “Super Sampler” offers Green Lantern and Young Justice stories for younger readers, based on the TV cartoons; the GL is a 10-pager written by Art Balthazar and Franco, and illustrated by Dario Brizuela, and involves Hal Jordan and the GLC against Myrwhydden, a silver-age era space wizard. The Young Justice is just a 5-page promo of the YJ book, not enough to make an impression — but the flip side of the comic, the Superman Family Adventures, is by Balthazar and Franco in the style of their Tiny Titans; it’s a promo of a new monthly comic by that same team. Imagine the charm of TT, transferred to Superman, complete with Clark, Lois, the Daily Planet, Supergirl, Superboy and Krypto, and you can see why, even at just 5 pages too, this is the most welcome part of the giveaway.

Barnaby and Mr. O’Malley — Creator: Crockett Johnson

Fantagraphics’ FCBD entry touts their new reprint project. Barnaby lasted for ten years as a newspaper strip; the title character is a 5-year-old boy, and Mr. O’Malley is his fairy godfather, a cigar-chomping, amiable W.C. Fields-ish sprite who finds it hard to do much real magic, but knows so many ghosts, elves and other denizens of the fantasy world that he makes a great companion. The strip is a lost classic, and well worth a try; see if the free offer here doesn’t addict you to its quirky and endearing appeal, and make you pick up the expertly-packeged first volume of the book collection this summer.

FCBD: Star Wars/Serenity

The first Dark Horse FCBD entry starts with a Star Wars 10-pager starring Hans and Chewie, with a script by Zach Whedon and art by Davide Fabbri and Christian Della Vecchia; the Serenity tale, also 10 pages, has another script by Whedon (this one executive-produced by his father Joss, the creator of the characters), and art by Fabio Moon. There’s also the first two pages of a (very) short story involving the new teen-girl-fights-monsters fantasy series Alabaster, one that’s concluded in….

FCBD: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine/The Guild

Dark Horse’s second entry offers an 8-page Buffy-in-space story (courtesy of Spike’s alien ship), written by Andrew Chambliss and with art by Georges Jeanty and Dexter Vines; it’s also another flip book, with the other side being an episode of Felicia Day’s gamer-centric The Guild, drawn by Jonathan Case (and, nestled snugly in the middle, are the last two pages of the Alabaster story).  Dark Horse does licensed properties about as well as anybody ever has, and their comics-only stuff always offers well-constructed, imaginative alternatives to the same old superhero genres that Marvel, DC and Image have mined so thoroughly, so these two giveaways are worth picking up just because they’ll expose you to some entertaining books you might otherwise have missed (the whole point of this exercise for publishers, after all).

Yo Gabba Gabba

Oni Press offers four stories based on (obviously) the TV show; comics fans will want this because one’s an 8-pager with art by Michael Allred, and another’s 5 pages from Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer (who’ve also contributed scripts to the show itself).

Dinosaurs Vs. Aliens

This is a high-concept creation from Barry Sonnenfeld, the director of Men in Black, and would be unremarkable except for the fact that he somehow corralled Grant Morrison to write the thing; this FCBD book has seven pages from the graphic novel by Morrison due out this summer, with reasonably cool-looking dino art by Mukesh Singh, padded with a bunch of sketches and Morrison’s script.

My Favorite Martian

This wins the award for weirdest FCBD entry: it’s a reprint of the Dell first issue from 1964, a tie-in to the TV series starring Ray Walston and a very pre-Hulk Bill Bixby; apparently, Hermes is doing this to tout a hardcover volume reprinting the first five issues of the comic’s run. I mean, OK, the art in the first issue is by Dan Spiegel, and a later issue features Russ Manning, but… really? There’s a market for this? For $49.95? Take the free book, which offers 20% of the hardcover, and let’s call it a day.

Earth 2

Worlds’ Finest #1 — Writer: Paul Levitz;  Pencils: George Perez;  Inks: Scott Koblish

These books are inter-related, with Earth 2 best read first; as its name implies, it’s setting up the alternate DC Earth that contains a modern-day version of the Justice Society. The first issue, though, focuses on death instead of birth: it shows a world where the only super-heroes who exist are Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman — plus a Supergirl, and a Robin who’s Batman’s daughter. That turns out not to be enough to hold off an invasion from Apokalips (we see parademons and Steppenwolf, but Darkseid is never mentioned) — at least, not without the ultimate sacrifice from all three heroes, leaving a world without superpowers — until the last page, when recent college grad Jay Garrick gets a visit…. Robinson does a good job with this, hitting all the emotional buttons well (this is much closer to the quality of Shade than that horrible Justice League mini-series from a few years ago) and the Scotts handle the (literally) apocalyptic battles and quiet spots with equal elan.

Even better is Worlds’ Finest, because Levitz and Perez are about the best old-school team DC has to offer. Levitz is a subtle and expert writer (note the apostrophe placement in the title, making “worlds” plural), and this is the tale of the Earth 2 Supergirl and Robin, who end up stranded on the main DC earth after the events in Earth 2 #1, and become Power Girl and the Huntress. Perez, of course, is stellar as always, and there’s the added attraction of Kevin Maguire, who supplies the art for the Earth 2 flashbacks. Pick up both of these books; they’re entertaining and effective, and give a hopeful start to the next wave of DC’s lineup.

Daredevil #12 — Writer: Mark Waid;  Art: Chris Samnee

After the excitement of last issue’s Spidey/Punisher crossover, this is mostly a quieter issue, as Matt Murdock goes on a date with assistant DA Kirsten McDuffie, and tells her a story about how he and Foggy bested a law professor in their college days. The Samnee art is a treat, well-suited to the quiet humor of most of the book; it’s a sign of Waid’s talent as a scripter that he’s been able to lure so many letter-perfect artists to this book.

Action Comics #9 — Writer: Grant Morrison; Art: Gene Ha

A one-shot tale of the Superman of Earth-23, who’s… well, not exactly Barack Obama, but an African-American who’s also President of the US, so the comparisons are inevitable. Morrison eschews most of the obvious political commentary, though, and instead concentrates on world-building, showing how this character got where he is, and making us care about him and his supporting cast. It’s a nice change-of-pace issue, without the multi-episode complications of the regular book (although, Morrison being Morrison, I’m sure these characters will show up as part of some uber-plot somewhere down the road…).

Skeleton Key #1 (of 1) — Creator: Andi Watson

Schoolgirl Tamsin and her companion, the fox spirit Kitsune, have the magical key of the title, which opens doors to different worlds and eras; they’re lost and trying to find the right path home, and have various adventures along the way. This comic reprints three of their recent stories, from Dark Horse Presents #5-7, involving a graveyard dance troupe, a hotel haunted by a ghost, and an infinite museum. Imaginative and charming, these are wonderful little tales, and if you missed these because you were too cheap to drop $8 an issue on the DHP anthology (although that book is totally worth it, too), then spend the $3.50 to get them here.

Fury #1 (of 6) — Writer: Garth Ennis;  Art: Goran Parlov

The team responsible for the best and longest run in Punisher history returns for a Nick Fury mini-series, as the old warrior dictates his memoirs. This issue is set in Indo-China in 1954, and has all the political intrigue, grizzled war veterans, femme fatales and cynical maneuvering you could want; it’s like Terry and the Pirates, but with more swearing and all the innosence bleached out, and as with all of the best Ennis, it’s a lot of nasty fun.

Avengers Vs. X-Men #3 — Writer: Ed Brubaker;  Pencils: John Romita, Jr.;  Inks: Scott Hanna

Everybody’s trying to track down Hope, and Wolverine has a polite disagreement with the Avengers — not because he wants to sympathize with the X-Men, but because he wants to solve the Phoenix problem in a way neither team wants. Brubaker’s scripting somehow makes it work better than in the first two issues (the puppet strings over the characters, as they all do what the plot requires of them, are much less visible here), and the Romita Jr. art, as always, makes it all go down easy.

Garfield #1 — Writer: Mark Evanier;  Art: Gary Barker

Worth noting because comics that are kid-friendly and smart are rare, and because Evanier, who’s been the director of the Garfield cartoons since… well, forever, is the perfect choice to add sly comics-related satire, and get all the characters’ voices and personalities just right. Barker has been an assistant on the Garfield newspaper strip for a long time, too, and probably draws the fat cat and his supporting cast better than Jim Davies at this point, so this is a perfect package, whether you’re a fan yourself or want to buy something cool for a younger reader you know.

Stuff I bought but don’t have anything new to say about, so go look up earlier reviews in the archives if you’re interested:

Amazing Spider-Man #685 — Writer: Dan Slott;  Pencils: Humberto Ramos; Inks: Victor Olazaba

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #10 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: David Marquez

Defenders #6 — Writer: Matt Fraction;  Art: Victor Ibanez;  Finishes: Tom Palmer and Terry Pallot

Invincible Iron Man #516 — Writer: Matt Fraction;  Art: Salvador Larroca

The Boys #66 — Writer: Garth Ennis;  Art: Russ Braun

Popeye

Snarked #7 — Writer/Artist: Roger Langridge

Back in the ’70s, when I was first discovering America’s long, rich history of newspaper comics, E. C. Segar’s Thimble Theater, the strip that birthed Popeye in 1928, was one of my first encounters, and it was a revelation: tough, funny, adventurous and told with a sureness of line and vision that puts it in the top ten of everybody’s best-of lists. This new comic doesn’t reach that peak, but it comes closer than anyone else has since Segar’s death in 1938: Ozella gets the scruffiness of the characters right, and while he can’t quite match Segar’s fluidity, he handles both slapstick and suspense with equal skill (and gets bonus points for doing his own lettering, and nailing it, to add a retro charm to the words). Speaking of words, the bigger strength here is Langridge, an inspired choice for writer: he knows his history (Popeye’s first words here echo those of his first appearance in Segar’s strip, and the next panel name-checks Bill Blackbeard, the comics historian who wrote the introduction to that first book reprinting the one-eyed sailor’s adventures that I bought 40 years ago), and he gets everybody’s dialogue just right; he even duplicates Segar’s habit of breaking the speech into a series of small, self-contained balloons. Langridge also publishes his own series, Snarked, the charming Lewis Carroll-inspired adventure that owes something to Segar in its combination of comedy and adventure, and that’s out this week, too, but I’ve sung its praises before; if you’re going to try one new book this week, make it Popeye — just a look at that cover, and the careful way it pays tribute to Action Comics #1 while still being quintessentially Popeye (and, in addition, managing to get the colors and the logo exactly right), should be enough to seal the deal.

The Goon #39 — Writer/Artist: Eric Powell

Speaking of good covers… this one promises exactly what the book delivers: a takedown of mainstream superhero comics. OK, as a topic of parody that’s easy pickin’s, and a little ’90s to boot, but then so are superhero comics right now, in their endless crossover events and attempts to goose sales, and Powell is just the guy to cheerfully, and scatologically, eviscerate them.

AVX: Vs. #1 (of 6) — Creators: Jason Aaron/Adam Kubert and Kathryn Immonen/Stuart Immonen/Wade von Grawbadger

Uncanny X-Men #11 — Writer: Kieron Gillen;  Art: Greg Land;  Inks: Jay Leisten

New Avengers #25 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: Mike Deodato and Will Conrad

Speaking of crossovers… here we have three Avengers vs. X-Men books. AVX: Vs. confused me at first, because I thought it was a reprint of the actual Avengers Vs. X-Men #1 (the logo makes it look like they did it on purpose to increase sales; if so, it backfired, because I almost didn’t pick this up at all). This is new material, though, and it’s actually a lot of fun: its purpose is to present two expanded fights per issue, ones the “real” story doesn’t have space to show; as the first page tells us, “This book is about AWESOME BRAWLING! You want PLOT? LOOK ELSEWHERE, CHUM. You want a KNOCK-DOWN, DRAG-OUT WHUPPIN’? WE GOT YOU COVERED.” The joke is that the creative teams are actually better than that — the Magneto/Iron Man fight in the first half is all action, but it’s not mindless; Aaron and Kubert make it clever and sympathetic to both sides. The Namor/Thing battle, while not as clever (and suffering from a “win” that doesn’t even last beyond the final panel), has the Immonens providing enough good dialogue and cool undersea art to zip it along nicely. If you’re enough of a fan to be following the main series, you’ll definitely want this too.

Of the other two tie-ins, Uncanny X-Men is the most connected to the main story. Gillen seems to be trying mightily to avoid the mistake of Civil War (for that story to work, the main heroes on the “government” side, Tony Stark and Reed Richards, had to act like complete buttheads, and then Marvel had to spend years fixing them, especially Stark) by showing Cyclops’ position as inevitable, given his responsibilities to his people — although when the Sub-Mariner spends the first few pages admiring your negotiating technique, you know you’ve left diplomacy far behind. At the same time, there’s a big Red Hulk/Colossus-as-Juggernaut fight, so the AVX: Vs readers have something to enjoy, too.

There’s no fight at all in New Avengers — instead, we get a lot of backstory connecting Iron Fist’s ancient city, K’un Lun, to the Phoenix Force and its propensity for red-headed females as avatars. This would be boring except for the intriguing connections it suggests, especially given the intricate, cool-looking art by Deodato — and if you’re tired of all the punching in the other two crossovers, it offers a good palate cleanser.

Daredevil #11 — Writer: Mark Waid;  Art: Marco Checchetto

The conclusion to the three-part connected story between this book, Spider-Man and the Punisher. Kind of annoying, in that at the end the status remains quo, but it’s fun to see the interaction between the three main characters, given their long histories with each other, and Waid delivers a good story as always. The art isn’t quite as good as it’s been, but the letters page says that Chris Samnee’s coming on board next issue, and that Paolo Rivera’s coming back, too, so there’s plenty of reason to continue buying this comic.

Super Crooks #2 (of 4) — Writer: Mark Millar;  Art: Leinil Yu

This looks like it’s evolving into a caper story — Ocean’s Eleven with super-powers — which is fine by me; Millar’s clever enough to make something like that work, although his propensity for cynical shock endings might screw it up, and with only two issues to go the gimmicks can’t be that elaborate. Yu’s turned into a good match for Millar’s style — see Superior — and the advantage of only two issues left is that it’s easy for readers to commit and see what happens, so I’m still on board.

Moon Knight #12 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: Alex Maleev

The end of the book, and of Bendis and Maleev’s attempt to make MK popular — the multiple-personality hook kept me around, as did the gritty LA locale and the power imbalance between the hero and the main villain, but apparently not enough readers agreed. In retrospect, this will probably be most remembered for its death of a minor Avengers character and for its maguffin: the head of an Ultron, which looks like it’s helped to lay the seeds for Bendis’s Age of Ultron, his swan song for his run on the Avengers, coming… next year? With AVX in full swing, no one wants to hear about future events right now, but stay tuned….

Stuff I bought but don’t have anything new to say about, so read earlier reviews in the archives if you want to know why it’s good:

Mighty Thor #13 — Writer: Matt Fraction;  Art: Pepe Larraz

All Star Western #8 — Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray;  Art: Moritat

Aquaman #8 — Writer: Geoff Johns;  Pencils: Ivan Reis; Inks: Joe Prado and Reis

Captain America #10 — Writer: Ed Brubaker;  Pencils: Alan Davis;  Inks: Mark Farmer

Spaceman #6 (of 9) — Writer: Brain Azzarello;  Eduardo Risso

Captain Confederacy

Published by Steeldragon Press, this came out in 1986, and was part of the black-and-white explosion of the mid-’80s — appropriate, since, as the title should make clear, it’s an alternate-earth book about a world where the South never lost the Civil War, and the Confederacy still exists. The title character’s part of “Project Hero,” a pr-driven effort to create a white media hero to keep the “colored” agitators in their place. The art, by Vince Stone, is semi-professional at best, but the script, by Will Shetterly, manages to avoid most of the obvious potholes in the concept, and offers a couple of intriguing characters to whet the reader’s interest (Shetterly’s still around, and has had a modest career as an sf novelist, although he never returned to comics; I have no idea what happened to Stone). The comic published 12 issues, a decent run for an indy title, and in 1991 managed a four-issue mini-series at Marvel’s Epic Comics line, so its profile’s a bit higher than most of its peer books from this period.

Captain Harlock

Harlock is a noble space pirate, a Japanese manga/anime character who’s been around since the ’50s. He was created by the manga master Leija Matsumoto, but these comics aren’t translations; they’re new stories, written by Robert Gibson and drawn mostly by Ben Dunn, who’s managed a long career with his simplified, slightly-Americanized Japanese style (he’s probably best known for Ninja High School, although superhero fans may remember him as the creative force behind the first Marvel Mangaverse books, in 2002). Captain Harlock was published by Eternity Comics  starting in 1989, and lasted until 1992 — according to Wikipedia, it ended, not because of sales, but because it turned out Eternity didn’t have the rights to it (the guy they’d purchased them from turned out to be an impostor, who’d then disappeared into the Japanese night). The comics are interesting as examples of the second Great Manga Wave in the US, prompted by the success of the Robotech cartoons on TV (the first wave was in the ’60s, prompted by Astro Boy and Speed Racer, but that’s a subject for another post…).

Captain Victory

This is the most well-known of the indy “Captain” books, because it’s by the most well-known creator: King Kirby himself, who, always on the cutting edge of comics publishing, saw the possibilities in Pacific Comics and its early-’80s push to create a non-Big Two comics market; lending his name and prestige to the fledgling company helped to establish them as major players. This is energetic space opera, typical Kirby in the way it shows an American small town coping with “Galactic Rangers,” who arrive to protect it (and Earth) from an invasion of “Insectons,” a hive-like race bent on colonizing the planet. There’s lots of action, musings about the role of the soldier, and inappropriately bold-faced type; although the book wasn’t a huge hit when it appeared, it’s aged well, and is definitely worth a look today, especially with the issues available at a buck each.

Cheval Noir

This is a Dark Horse anthology from 1989 through 1993, very Heavy Metal-ish; it ran for 48 issues, and they’re 68 black-and-white pages by a slew of fantasy and sf-related European and American artists, existing together in happy collaboration (look at the first issue: an ultra-sexy Dave Stephens cover, a frontispiece and spot illos by Geoff Darrow, interior stories by Phillipe Druilett (“Lone Sloan”) and Tardi (“Adele”), plus “Angel Fusion,” a manga work by Hiroyuki Kato and Keisuke Goto, and a few other stories too). The emphasis is on beautiful linework, and any connoisseur of comics art can pick up an issue at random and be impressed: here, there’s a Moebius story; over there, something by Brian Bolland… or Michael Kaluta… or John Bolton… or Kelley Jones… or Mike Mignola… or… well, there’s a lot to occupy your eyeballs, most of it stuff you’ve never seen before, and all a treat.

Concrete

This is Paul Chadwick’s creation, a former speechwriter named Ron Lithgow who gets captured by aliens and has his brain transplanted into a 1200-pound stone body. He escapes them and survives; the good news is that he has extraordinary sight and stamina, while the bad news is that he’s trapped in a massive body with almost no sensation. Given the pulpy origin, the stories are surprisingly human and smart, with a lot of philosophical musing and an interesting and attractive supporting cast. Early appearances of the character were in Dark Horse Presents in the late ’80s; in 1987 he got his own book, won a slew of Eisner awards, and has appeared in occasional mini-series ever since, the most recent being The Human Dilemma, in 2005. The awards are well-deserved, and the comics are a revelation, with both art and script working together seamlessly to tell compelling, carefully-constructed stories that refuse to accept easy plot twists or resolutions. Check these out; they’re exactly the kind of cheap-thrill hidden gems that the cover-price racks are meant to provide.

Cosmic Guard

Typical Jim Starlin cosmic stuff (as if the title didn’t already reveal that), about an orphan kid who gets fantastic mystical powers and is pulled into an intergalactic war. Starlin’s an old hand at this space-opera stuff, and the polished art and script offer a professional, if familiar, ride.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

These are from IDW, and mostly from the show’s heyday in the early and mid-2000s; the high point is the Dying in the Gutters mini-series, wherein there’s a murder at a Los Vegas comic book convention. The hook is that all the characters are actual comic pros (the victim is online rumor-monger Rich Johnston, of Bleeding Cool News, and the prime suspect at first is Joe Quesada, although Ed Brubaker, Peter David, the Kubert brothers, Greg Rucka and others all make appearances). The art’s just OK, but the story’s clever, and the photo covers involving the show’s cast are perfect for fans of the series.

The Crow

James O’Barr’s Goth-flavored revenge fantasy, from 1989, probably would have slipped quietly into obscurity, except that it got optioned as a movie, and Bruce Lee’s son Brandon died in an accident during filming in 1993. Ala Heath Ledger, that gave the film enough publicity to make it a cult hit, and the comic managed a number of mini-series (and a ten-issue Image ongoing series) throughout the ’90s. The ones with O’Barr scripts have an interesting, morosely poetic vision, and the Wild Justice mini-series has art by Charlie Adlard, of Walking Dead fame; otherwise, one’s pretty much like the other, but if you wore out a lot of black eyeliners during high school, these are worth a nostalgiac look.

Critters

A funny-animal anthology from Fantagraphics that lasted for 50 issues in the mid-to-late ’80s. As with Cheval Noir, there’s a lot of unexpected pleasure here — chief among them a number of Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo stories in the early issues, but there’s also work by Sam Kieth, Scott Shaw!, Freddie Milton, and others; the high point is probably issue #23, which has an Alan Moore story and a Flexi-disc with music from his band on it (of course, you need an actual record player to be able to hear it…).

Criminal Macabre

This series features Cal McDonald, a Steve Niles creation who’s a hard-boiled occult detective, and he’s been around in various mini-series for about ten years now (he’s currently being serialized in Dark Horse Presents, and just had a one-shot published, too). The early issues have art by Ben Templesmith, and later artists include Kelley Jones, so there’s almost always interesting art to go with the note-perfect scripts.

That’s it for this week, but a final note: these books will only be on the discount racks for a week, until Friday, May 4, because the store will be putting out Free Comic Book Day books on those racks on Saturday the 5th. The “C” stuff will be back the week after that, though, so if you don’t get a chance to look them over in the next few days, just be patient.

The Shadow #1 Writer: Garth Ennis Artist: Aaron Campbell

At times violent, at times dark, and at times funny, this new iteration of the Shadow hits all the style you’d expect from a Garth Ennis comic. However… you don’t quite get the traditional Ennis-isms that have become “the type” that you would expect from him. It’s a straightforward reboot of the Shadow franchise, introducing the character for new audiences effectively. I haven’t really had much access to Shadow stories, so I don’t know where it normally goes, but if the whole “predicting death” while shooting the hell out of bad guys thing is about right, then maybe I need to look back on it. There’s also about 47 covers for you to choose from, so how can you not love it?

3 Story: Secret Files of the Giant Man Writer/Artist: Matt Kindt

I have an especially large bias toward Matt Kindt and his water-color styling, so I absolutely love this. It’s a collection of MySpace Dark Horse Presents (do you kids remember MySpace?) that expands on his 3 Story book about the world’s tallest man. It’s just a few extra experiences about the heartbreaking life of the Giant Man, and it’s just as good as the original book. If you want to read more Kindt, check out SuperSpy, Revolver, a three-issue stint on Sweet Tooth, and his coming as the writer of Frankenstein. This book also has a preview for his new ongoing series “Mind MGMT” which I cannot wait for. It’s a good example of the type of writer/artist you’re dealing with.

Batman #8 Writer: Scott Snyder Artist: Greg Capullo

Nightwing #8 Writer: Kyle Higgins Artist: Eddy Barrows

Red Hood & The Outlaws #8 Writer: Scott Lobdell Artist: Kenneth Rocafort

Catwoman #8 Writer: Judd Winick Artist: Adriana Melo

So this whole Court of Owls storyline really gets rolling this week, as you can tell from the sheer number of titles coming out that are tied into it. Batman is the one that actually directly starts the whole story with Bruce Wayne having to start the huge fight with the entire Court. Interesting things happen and a slight twist showing what the Owls don’t know. Batman is now priced at $3.99, with an extra back-up story drawn by Rafael Albuquerque that kind of sets everything in motion for the rest of the stories.

Nightwing takes its entire story to set up more of the Court of Owls. Since we’ve established that Dick Grayson is involved, it all makes sense. There’s several good fights and it’s a solid set-up to a tie-in.

Catwoman and Red Hood are both in the process of wrapping up a piece of their stories. Red Hood does it more effectively than Catwoman, but both of them end up with some kind of tie-in to get their Court of Owls involvement rolling. I’m going to spoil it just to help you decide what to buy. Catwoman is going to have to protect Penguin, and Red Hood is going to save Mr. Freeze. For some reason, the Red Hood story struck me as being surprisingly enjoyable, but I’ll believe it when I see it. These four titles were a good start to what will hopefully be a solid Bat-Crossover.

AVX #2 Writer: Jason Aaron Artist: John Romita Jr.

Wolverine & The X-Men #9 Writer: Jason Aaron Artist: Chris Bachalo

Avengers #25 Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Artist: Walt Simonson

And this is the other side of the crossover story. These books are doing almost nothing for me. Avengers vs. X-men actually starts fighting it up, and Jason Aaron is pretty good at dealing a consistent, fun fight scene for however many pages this went for. His ability to understand the character does cross over into Wolverine which is still an incredibly fun title. Bachalo’s stylized art completely works for me. The Avengers book is completely forgettable, but nice to look at with Simonson art. This whole crossover just isn’t working for me. It gets a resounding “Meh.”

Manhattan Projects #2 Writer: Jonathan Hickman Artist: Nick Pitarra

Hmm. I completely missed the first issue of this title. But I must not have missed much because I completely understand what’s going on. The people that helped create the Atomic Bomb are still working together to make something else. But this time, they’re also time-travelling and using Nazis for help! It’s very much the traditional high-concept Hickman book and it’s plenty fun to look at with solid Pitarra art making every character distinguishable. I know who everyone is, and Hickman effectively gives them all a motivation in one page. It’s very, very good stuff.

Reset #1 Writer/Artist: Peter Bagge

This is the latest work from dark-comedy Indy God Peter Bagge, and it’s a strange concept. A washed-up jerk of an actor is forced to result to lab-rat experiments to make any kind of money. This experiment makes him relive his life starting at a very unfortunate point at the end of his high school career. Any time he wants, he can press a reset button and start over again, but he has to start from that crappy point. It’s an interesting concept, like a darker-comedy version of the movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” Everyone is manipulating the main character and I’m interested in seeing where this goes. Bagge is a style you either love or hate, and I personally enjoy every page.

Now let’s do some quick hits!

Iron Man #515 Writer: Matt Fraction Artist: Salvador LaRocca: Did they just kill War Machine? You’ll have to read this fantastic book to find out.

Propher #24 Writer: Brandon Graham Artist: Farel Dalrymple: Oh, this just got even weirder didn’t it? I have no idea what’s happening, but I love it.

Punisher #10 Writer: Greg Rucka Artist: Marco Checchetto: The next part of the crossover between Spidey/Punisher/Daredevil and Rucka is nailing it. This is a nice little three-part story that’s going to end up being the best crossover of the year, isn’t it?

Venom #16 Writer: Rick Remender Artist: Kev Walker: This one-off story really gives you a mind mess to work with. Venom tries to save The Fly from Hobgoblin and nobody wins. Simple as that.

Hellblazer #290 Writer: Peter Milligan Artist: Giuseppe Camuncoli: Milligan seems to have a grand plan for Hellblazer, and pieces keep coming together. This is an absolutely fantastic run of this series, and I have loved every issue.

Resident Alien #1 Writer: Peter Hogan Artist: Steve Parkhouse: A collection of the story from Dark Horse Presents. It’s good stuff, so if you missed it the first time, check it out now.

And that’s the week! Every week of comics lately has had something worth reading, so get to All About Books and Comics and do it!

“The” Dan Jacka

America’s Got Powers

Ross is the former British talk-show host who’s a big comics geek, and has dabbled in writing them before (Turf, about Prohibition-era vampires, came out a year or two ago). Here, he’s snagged Bryan Hitch as artist, which helps his cause considerably. The comic itself is nakedly commercial: it’s a mashup of J. Michael Straczynski’s  Rising Stars (radiation from a mysterious meteor causes a bunch of kids whose mothers are exposed to it to be born with super-powers), America’s Got Talent (there’s a reality show wherein the kids compete, and the winners get to be on a JLA-like super-team) and The Hunger Games (the show is manipulated by evil government and political types, who make it deadly because they’d prefer the kids with powers all either die or get used for their own nefarious purposes). Tommy, the viewpoint character, is the only kid exposed who apparently didn’t get any powers. Apparently….  Anyway, all of this is the occasion for both media social satire and arena-style super-powered combat and adventure, and at 36 pages for $2.99 it’s a bargain: the Hitch art is expansive, detailed and cool to look at,and there’s a buzz of snarky energy that runs through the book, making it a fun, solid read that ought to become a hit.

Alabaster: Wolves #1 (of 5) — Writer: Caitlin R. Kiernan;  Art: Steve Lieber

The Secret Service #1 (of 7) — Writer: Mark Millar;  Art: Dave Gibbons

Two other first issues of limited series this week: Alabaster is about an albino girl who’s a monster-killer, prompted by an angel of vengeance to seek out and put down vampires, werewolves and the like. Here, she encounters another girl at a South Carolina bus stop; they talk and, eventually, fight, since the girl turns out to be more than she seems. There’s a riddle contest first, and both the script and the art deliver a Southern Gothic folk-tale flavor that’s both spooky and compelling.

Secret Service is standard Millar, about an aimless British teen whose uncle recruits him into a super-espionage agency. It’s just what you’d expect from Millar (the opening sequence, involving a kidnapped Mark Hamill and a botched James Bondian rescue, especially so).  While the main plot doesn’t move forward much in this first issue, the big attraction is the Gibbons art, and it’s as precise, clear and well-constructed as always; the scenes of the teen, trapped in his British lower-class life, are especially good.

Fantastic Four #605 — Writer: Jonathan Hickman;  Art: Ron Garney

Secret #1 — Writer: Jonathan Hickman;  Art: Ryan Bodenheim

Two from Hickman: the FF is a one-shot tale of Reed and his father time-traveling into the future to observe the long history of the FF (long as in the next 4000 years), but it really turns out to be about the Reed/Ben relationship, and it’s quiet, imaginative and just about perfect. Secret is one of his new creator-owned books for Image, and it begins a twisty, complicated and high-stakes game of industrial spying and global power and intrigue. The art is just OK — it’s got some nice panel layouts, but suffers from having most of its characters look too much alike (they’re all middle-aged, upper-class businessmen in suits) — but the story itself is right up Hickman’s alley, and looks like it’ll provide a lot of nasty fun.

Saga #2 — Writer: Brian K. Vaughan;  Art: Fiona Staples

This second issue continues its sf/fantasy tale about two Romeo-and-Juliet lovers and their baby girl, whom everyone in the galaxy wants for some shadowy reason — which means they’re moving from planet to planet, dodging bounty hunters and the like. Vaughan makes their bickering-but-loving relationship both attracrtive and realistic, and Staples continues to develop imaginative alien creatures and tender parental moments with equal ease; between Secrets, America’s Got Powers, Prophet, Supreme, and this (not to mention older titles like Chew and Walking Dead), Image is making a big creative splash this year, and if you aren’t looking at any of their books, you’re missing out on some of the best comics on the stands.

Journey Into Mystery #636 — Writer: Kieron Gillen;  Art: Richard Elson

The Mighty Thor #12.1 — Writer: Matt Fraction;  Pencils: Barry Kitson;  Inks: Kitson and Jay Leisten

These books are linked because they’re both mostly about the retro-teened Loki, who continues to be one of the best and most complicated characters in the Marvel Universe.  JIM is really Loki’s book, and Gillen, who has a real knack for combining humor, angst and myth, is never boring (as a plot point, he provides a double-page centerfold D&D-type board game here that’s an unexpected delight). For his “.1″ issue of Mighty Thor, Fraction looks into the childhood history of Thor and his Asgardian half-brother, via a long conversation between Volstagg and Sif; you’d think that would be boring, but not so; it turns out Kitson gets a lot to do, not the least of which involves the story of how Volstagg became so voluminous. Add in the way Loki’s motivations are left unresolved (is he a hero now? The same old villain? Something in between?), and you can see why he’s such a far cry from the generic, Shakespearean-dialogued bad guy created by Lee and Kirby all those years ago.

Conan the Barbarian #3 — Writer: Brian Wood;  Art: Becky Cloonan

There’s not much to note here, except a recommendation to buy: Conan, and its story of his meeting with Belit, the pirate queen, and their hot-and-heavy relationship continues to benefit from Cloonan’s unusual-but-somehow-perfect art, and even someone who’s read a couple of hundred Conan comics (like me) finds it hard to resist.

Avenging Spider-Man #6 — Writers: Greg Rucka and Mark Waid;  Art: Marco Checchetto

Fans of the current Daredevil or Punisher series should get this, since it’s by the writers of those two books, and is the first part of a three-comic crossover. DD fans know that Matt Murdock has possession of an unstable-molecule data disk with incriminating information on all the bad-guy shadow organizations of the Marvel universe — Hydra, AIM, etc. — and that they’ve been teaming up against him to get it back, without much success. That’s the starting point for this story, and with those two writers involved, it promises to be a gritty, witty and brainy ride.

Crossed: Badlands #3 — Writer: Garth Ennis;  Art: Jacen Burrows

The end of Ennis’s arc on this ongoing series about a world overrun by psychotic… well, not zombies, but close enough. Just as downbeat as you’d expect, with the reader-centric attraction of all zombie apocalypse tales: what would you do in similar circumstances? Would you survive, or end up fodder for the other side?

Avengers: Assemble #2 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Pencils: Mark Bagley;  Inks: Danny Miki

New Avengers #24 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: Mike Deodato, Jr. and Will Conrad

Two Avengers books by Bendis: Assemble has the team fighting a reformed Zodiac, who think they’re the good guys (although they’re pretty clearly getting suckered), and are chasing after a bunch of standard Marvel mega-powerful maguffins (there’s an Ultimate Nullifier involved in this issue, so there’s probably Cosmic Cubes and similar hardware close behind). Bagley and Bendis are a smooth team, after all those years on Ultimate Spider-Man, so both the action and the exposition click along smoothly and entertainingly. So too for New Avengers, where the Deodato art is similarly expressive and fun to watch. This is billed as an Avengers Vs. X-Men crossover, although it works a lot like those Avengers issues of the “Siege” and other crossover stories, not covering the main action but filling in the spaces between big battles; here, it’s a lot of Jessica and Luke Cage discussing what to do about their baby, since living with it at Avengers Mansion has turned into an increasingly hazardous idea. Should Jessica leave? Will Luke come with her? Will fate keep these two crazy kids together, or apart? It’s pretty sudsy soap opera, but with characters that Bendis has written (and, in Jessica’s case, created) over a lot of years, so it has more emotional impact than you might expect.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #8 — Writers: Andrew Chambliss and Scott Allie;  Pencils: Cliff Richards;  Inks: Andy Owen

Winter Soldier #4 — Writer: Ed Brubaker;  Pencils: Butch Guice;  Inks: Stefano Gaudiano, Guice and Brian Thies

Uncanny X-Men #10 — Writer: Kieron Gillen;  Pencils: Calos Pacheco and Paco Diaz;  Inks: Cam Smith

Shade #7 — Writer: James Robinson;  Art: Javier Pulido

All four of these books are under the “not much to say that I haven’t said before, but I bought ‘em and liked ‘em” category. BTVS builds on its shocker from last issue (Buffy’s a robot? But with her brain?); Winter Soldier has typical smooth Brubaker/Guice action involving Bucky, the Black Widow, Soviet sleeper agents, Dr. Doom, the Red Ghost, a rogue Doombot and probably a few more pieces I’ve forgotten — you’d think it would be confusing, but instead it’s suspenseful fun; Uncanny X-Men has nice-looking art and Gillen, although it suffers from one of those the-bad-guy’s-so-powerful-he-can-do-anything plots; finally, Shade wraps up its current story-within-the-story featuring Shade’s daughter, and while it also suffers from a too-powerful character (Shade himself, who resolves things all too easily once he decides to lend a hand), the art is so nice-looking, and the dialogue and narrative so engaging, that it’s easy to forgive it.

Daredevil

Frank Miller, whether writing or drawing or both, is a hard act to follow, but we’re picking up this week right after the “Born Again” story arc in DD #227-233. Issue #234 is a fill-in written by Mark Gruenwald that introduces the D-list villain Madcap, which is no big deal — but the artist is Steve Ditko, so it’s worth a look. Ditko does the breakdowns for #235, too, featuring Mr. Hyde as the bad guy, but the better news is in #236, because that one features the art of Barry Windsor-Smith, and guest-stars the Black Widow; it’s written by Ann Nocenti, who returns as regular scripter with #238, drawn by Sal Buscema and featuring a DD/Sabretooth battle that ties into the then-current “Mutant Massacre” X-crossover. Nocenti then settles in for a long, interesting run: she’s got a keen sense of character, and an offbeat rhythm to her plots and themes that’s a little off-putting at first, but grows on you as you get used to it. There are musical artists for a while at first — Todd McFarlane on #241 the most notable, but a Keith Giffen job on #247 is interesting, too, as is a two-part Wolverine crossover in the next two issues with art by Rick Leonardi and the great inker Al Williamson. Things really settle in with #250, though, and the introduction of John Romita, Jr. as regular penciller — especially since Williamson stays on as inker.

They and Nocenti end up making a good team — their knack at drawing regular guys, cool-looking mobsters and sexy women serves them well over the first few issues, as Typhoid Mary, the schizo-pyrokinetic hit woman, gets introduced in #254 and becomes the Kingpin’s enforcer in one personality, and a love interest for DD in another. Her battles with Our Hero continue all the way through issue #266, with a Punisher guest-shot in #257 (and a skippable fill-in in #258), a climactic fight in #261 which sees a badly-beaten DD left unconscious under a bridge, and an “Inferno” crossover that sees DD battling demons in New York City from issue #262-266 (there’s another Ditko fill-in to interrupt things in #264), and which ends with a Christmas issue in #266 that sees DD and Mephisto having a drink together in a New York bar. Great, addictive stuff, and Nocenti apparently likes the occult stories that emphasize the latter part of DD’s name, because in #270 she introduces Mephisto’s son, Blackheart (which sees Romita Jr. getting to draw Spider-Man as a guest star), and in issues #278-282 offers a long story guest-starring the Inhumans and Black Bolt’s son that also features Blackheart, Mephisto, and a trip through hell that’s resolved by a Silver Surfer appearance at the end; all of this is by Romita Jr. and Williamson (except for the fill-ins), and is quite a bit of weird fun.

Romita Jr. leaves with #282, though, and things begin to flatten out, although Nocenti sticks around for one more offbeat arc, as she chronicles a disoriented Matt Murdock ending up back in New York City from hell, suffering from amnesia and getting work as a boxer in a gym (no one, including him, realizes that he’s blind), and somehow, eventually, fighting a Bullseye who’s been donning the Daredevil costume — which means that Matt’s in Bullseye’s regular outfit. The art here is mostly Lee Weeks (although Greg Capullo does #286), while Kieron Dwyer pencils the last two issues of the story, ending in #290. Nocenti’s gone, too, with issue #291, and new writer D.G. Chichester comes aboard with issue #292. Thus begins a new, very ’90s-ish era of DD, one that goes by smoothly but with very little staying power: there are Punisher and Spider-Man crossovers, and lots of different artists, and nothing that sticks in the memory. The next item of note occurs a few years later, in issue #319, when Marvel, through Chichester and artist Scott McDaniel, tries to duplicate the “Born Again” buzz by deconstructing DD, causing him lots of problems and, eventually, giving him a brand-new costume, in the “Fall From Grace” arc. Issue #319 is hot for a while, but the story itself is pedestrian and tired, and by issue #331 Chichester and McDaniels are gone, replaced by Gregory Wright and Tom Grindberg, people that you need at least a master’s degree in comcis history to have ever heard of (this seems to happen a lot in ’90s Marvel books, all the “name” artists having, at that point, run off to form Image Comics). Chichester is back from #239-242, but writing under “Alan Smithee,” the pseudonym famously used by Hollywood screenwriters when they want to disown a script after it’s been butchered by others; you can draw your own conclusions about that. There’s a welcome hiccup of quality in #343, thanks to a Warren Ellis script, and DD gets his familiar red costume back in #345 (to no one’s surprise); J.M. DeMatteis does the writing chores for a while, but there’s little to remark on until Karl Kesel takes over story-writing chores with #353, and brings at least some interesting characterization back to the book, helped along by artist Cary Nord (and, in issues #363, 366-368 and 370, old DD hand Gene Colan). Kelly leaves with #375, and the first volume of Daredevil follows a few issues later, with #380, cover-dated October, 1998.

Not to worry, though, since volume 2 begins the next month, with a big splash supplied by then-rookie writer (but already hot geek-centric director) Kevin Smith, whose first eight-issue arc, with art by Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti, was hot then, and still hard to find in the original issues even today. David Mack writes issues #9-11, still with art by Quesada and Palmiotti, which introduces Echo to the Marvel Universe (although she just “died” over in Moon Knight).  Brian Michael Bendis contributes his first DD story in issues #16-19, while Mack puts down the word processor and picks up the art chores; by issue #26, Bendis is back, and the art is handled by Alex Mallev, a collaboration that will become one of the longer-running and more influential ones in DD history (it’s both startling and a little sad to realize that it began over ten years ago). By issue #32, the team has shaken up the book by revealing Matt Murdock’s secret identity to the public, a move that echoes through the title even today; from there through the end of their tenure, with issue #80, it’s one well-drawn and interesting five-issue arc after another, as Daredevil remains one of the most consistently-entertaining and unpredictable books on the stands, culminating with Murdock’s eventual arrest and imprisonment in Rykers (where the Kingpin and many other bad guys lurk), awaiting his trial on federal charges because of the many laws he broke while walking the tightrope between his lawyer and costumed identities.

Fortunately, while Bendis and Maleev have left, the new team consists of hardboiled-fiction master Ed Brubaker, Micheal Lark and Stefano Gaudiano, and they pick up the challenge left by Bendis with aplomb, beginning yet another long quality run on the title, all the way through issue #119 of volume #2, and its renumbering back to volume one with DD’s 500th issue after that — a little over 40 issues in all.

The next year on the title, #s 501-512, can’t live up to the quality of its predecessors — writer Andy Diggle isn’t bad, but he’s saddled with yet another tear-DD-down assignment culminating in the unfortunate and stupid “Shadowland” crossover — but the good news is that the title’s rebirth last year, with issue #1 of volume 3, has been one of the better books on the stands, thanks to Mark Waid’s scripts and very nice-looking art by Paulo and Joe Rivera and Marcos Martin. As ever, Matt Murdock’s swashbuckling alter ego has found it easy to shrug off a few bad stories, and come out ahead with a decent and sympathetic creative team — between the Lee-Thomas-Conway/Colan years, the Miller era, and the Nocenti/Romita Jr. run (let alone the more-recent Smith/Quesada arc, followed by the Bendis/Maleev and Brubaker/Lark/Gaudiano runs), he’s had a lot better luck with creative teams than almost any other Marvel hero.

The Boys #65 Writer: Garth Ennis Artist: Russ Braun

Holy moses.. this comic! Ennis took about six pages to explain everything you needed to know about the situation between Hughie, Black Noir, Homelander and Butcher. Six pages! And it all made perfect sense; it made we want to re-read 64 other issues, and it basically blew me away. Not to mention the fact that Russ Braun has really made his mark on this title. I’m still a bit bummed that Darick Robertson wasn’t around to do the entire thing, but Braun has done a helluva job putting it all together. It’s weird, because this could have been a completely unsatisfying final issue, and I would have been totally OK with that. Absolutely Fantastic.

Avengers Vs. X-men #1 Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Artist: John Romita Jr.

Then there’s this. The next big Marvel event starts with a resounding thud. I feel like they’ve been forcing this version of Cyclops that wants complete control down our throats for a few years now and it just doesn’t quite work. The plot is overly aggressive, and doesn’t give me any reason to really root for the X-Men in any way. The art is pretty much the standard fare for Romita Jr. these days, except it feels slightly rushed. I keep wondering just how strong these four writers and 47 artists approach is going to be, and so far I haven’t been that wowed. I expected more, and so far it’s not delivering.

Wolverine and the X-men #8 Writer: Jason Aaron Artist: Chris Bachalo

Ah, the X-men title that’s working despite an art style I don’t like! Bachalo is so stylized that it’s never quite worked for me. I can understand why others would love it, but I just can’t quite get there. But Aaron is absolutely killing on this book so it’s impossible not to like everything about it. This issue is fairly Beast-centric, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s an interesting idea to get Sabretooth involved in all these different areas (he’s been popping up in several x-books) as if he’s planning something huge. I’d like to see something actually happen, but because of the AVX stuff, I guess right now it’s more of a wait and see. So… We wait. Good stuff for now though.

Whispers #2 Writer/Artist: Joshua Luna

So this is kind of an odd statement, but I think I’d like this book better if it was both Lunas together. They work for me like the Coen brothers do for movies. I don’t wanna separate them, and you shouldn’t either. This tale of a guy who leaps from his body when he sleeps and can tell others what to do while in an astral state feels like it’s been delayed in coming out, and that’s never a good thing with the Luna brothers. They are kings of the slow burn, but delays won’t make that work any better. I find myself wondering what the big reveal is going to be, or what twist is going to keep me around, but so far the “random evil person might be whispering” riff isn’t really putting it all together for me. I will give it time, but not too much, and delays on this book won’t make me want to keep reading it at all.

Chew #25 Writer: John Layman Artist: Rob Guillory

Man this book is really awesome! I remember when the whole hubbub over this started and I couldn’t care less, but Image comics have really been working their way into being the alternative comics publisher, and it all started with Chew. This whole storyline has had the main character completely incapacitated for the entire time and it’s still absolutely fantastic. The art itself is full of one-shot gags and jokes that only work when you’re really paying attention. To know that Layman has a 60 issue plan is awesome, and that he’s thought out pieces of it (there’s a clip from Issue #60 in here), is even more fun. Check back with me in 35 issues (Three YEARS LATER), and we’ll see if it still hold up. But for now? Great stuff.

Men of War #8 Writers: Jeff Lemire & Matt Kindt Art: Tom Derenick

So this is the official wrap up month for six of the New 52 titles, Static Shock, OMAC, and Hawk and Dove all ended this week as well. Men of War never really hit it’s stride, and didn’t appear to have any idea what it wanted to be. HOWEVER, this 8th issue finally had a solid story, but what would you expect from the writing team? If this had been the way the book was for the first seven issues, I think it would still be around. This story of Frankenstein and J.A.K.E. fighting in World War II would have been totally awesome to read about, but nobody thought of it until now. This is also worth noting, as it’s Kindt’s first work with Frankenstein, a title he’ll be taking over soon. If it’s anything like this, don’t expect any drop in quality. It’s good stuff.

Swamp Thing #8 Writer: Scott Snyder Artist: Yanick Paquette and Marco Rudy

Animal Man #8 Writer: Jeff Lemire Artist: Steve Pugh & Travel Foreman

These books tie together just loosely enough to make me happy. You don’t have to read either of them to enjoy the other, but they work together to give you a more complete story. Swamp Thing is the highlight with Paquette drawing some of the craziest dead buffalo heads you will ever see. It’s an extremely intense book that does it’s job keeping me invested. Animal Man is transitioning artists, and Pugh is absolutely killing it in his first work on the title since a run many moons ago. I like everything about both of these books, and based on sales, it seem like you guys are too, so do I really need to say any more?

Now some quick hits!

Fatale #4 Writer: Ed Brubaker Artist: Sean Phillips: Still awesome; still pretty to look at. Still basically incredible. The End.

Casanova: Avaritia III Writer: Matt Fraction Artist: Gabriel Ba: Fraction’s ramblings are absolutely priceless on this title, and Ba’s surreal art makes it even better. This book is the craziest, most entertaining comic book on the market right now.

Detective Comics #8 Writer/Artist: Tony Daniel: I wish I could just write a review making vomit sounds for five sentences, but Alan wouldn’t be happy. (On the contrary, it does sound amusing!…editor Alan) Just know this is still really, really, REALLY bad. That is all.

Daredevil 10.1 Writer: Mark Waid Artist: Khoi Pham: The perfect jumping-on point for the five of you that aren’t already reading this. Pham is trying to ape the style of Marcos Martin, and it works. This book is amazing, and there’s only been 11 issues of it? Crazy.

Age of Apocalypse #2 Writer: David Lapham Artist: Roberto De La Torre: I’m still enjoying this latest drop into the alternate reality story way more than I should be. It’s fun stuff and worth checking out so far.

Sweet Tooth #32 Writer/Artist: Jeff Lemire: You should be reading Sweet Tooth. That is all.

And that’s the week! We’ll be back as soon as we feel like it, so enjoy what you get!

“The” Dan Jacka