Reviews

Hulk #14 — Writer: Jeph Loeb; Penciler: Ian Churchill; Inks: Mark Farmer Now just about the Red Hulk (with Greg Pak scripting the green one over in the revived Incredible Hulk #601), and it’s becoming increasingly obvious who he must be — a certain pencil-mustached minor player, although, with Loeb, it’s not like logic or linear sense ever figures into the plots, so it could just as easily end up as Betty Ross, or a reanimated Jim Wilson or some damn thing…). Loud, soulless and grating, with characters running everywhere and no one to root for; everyone’s either mean, stupid, … Continue reading →

Daredevil #500 — (Lead story/40 pgs.) — Writer: Ed Brubaker;  Artists: Michael Lark and Stafano Gaudiano with Klaus Janson, Chris Samnee and Paul Azaceta;  (Dark Reign: The List preview/8 pgs.) — Writer: Andy Diggle;  Art: Billy Tan;  (3rd story/14 pgs.) — Writer: Ann Nocenti;  Art: David Aja …plus a pin-up gallery, one of those all-500-covers-in-a-row deals, and a reprint of the Frank Miller-written-and-pencilled Daredevil #191 (the “Play Russian Roulette with Bullseye in a Hospital” story).  Another of the stuffed-full anniversary issues Marvel’s been putting out lately, and a good one — the main story finishes the current storyline, shakes up … Continue reading →

Days Missing #1 (of 5) — Writer: Phil Hester;  Art: Frazer Irving This is an sf series about a guy who’s been around since the dinosaurs, who shows up at moments of disaster, extinction-level events, and tries to prevent them: sometimes directly, and sometimes in a kind of butterfly’s-wings-cause-a-hurricane chain of events. When he’s successful, the crisis rewinds by 24 hours, somehow, and then it’s like the apocalypse of that particular day never happened (hence the series title). It’s all a little too clever by half (it sounds a lot like it started life as a TV pilot), and there … Continue reading →

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: David Lafuente Ultimate Comics Avengers #1 — Writer: Mark Millar;  Penciler: Carlos Pacheco;  Inker: Danny Miki First, a complaint about the trade dress/logos: the “Ultimate” part of each title is so pale that it’s almost invisible. Maybe that’s Marvel acknowledging that the Ultimate brand isn’t a big attraction any more, but it also meant that I was actively looking for “Ultimate Spider-Man,” and “Ultimate Avengers,” and almost didn’t get these because, at first glance, they looked like some regular Spidey or Avengers mini-series. So, how are the books? USM is … Continue reading →

Blackest Night: Batman #1 (of 3) — Writer: Peter J. Tomasi;  Penciller: Ardian Syaf;  Inkers: John Dell and Vicente Cifuentes Green Lantern Corps #39 — Writer: Peter J. Tomasi;  Penciller: Patrick Gleason;  Inkers: Rebecca Buchman and Tom Nguyen I don’t usually bother with spinoffs of main events (actually, anymore, I don’t usually bother with main events, but this one has been so high-concept, so gleeful in its fannish use of character resurrection and destruction, that it’s been impossible to resist), and these two are no exception. However, they’re well done — although they aren’t by Johns, Tomasi, the regular writer … Continue reading →