Reviews

Yes, Free Comic Book Day was last Saturday, but I’m just getting around to reading the offerings — and most of these are still available, so here we are. Let’s figure that everybody already got the Spider-Man book, and look at some of the free books from other publishers. Starting with those for the youngest readers, maybe 7 or 8 or younger, we have: Owly: Helping Hands — Created by Andy Runton Gumby: Free Comic Book Day Special — writer: Shannon Wheeler; Art: Wheeler, Rick Geary, Mike Hersh and Mark Bode I don’t know if they’re meant to be, but … Continue reading →

52 #52 (of 52) — Writers: Johns, Morrison, Rucka, Waid; Breakdowns: Giffen; Pencils: McCone, Justiniano, Barrows, Batista, Olliffe, Robertson; Inks: Lanning, Wong, Ramos, Geraci, Robertson They did it: finished, with all the stories resolved, and satisfactorily, too. The 52-world multiverse seems a little wonky (instead of “Superboy punched the universe,” the worlds are now different because “Mr. Mind tried to eat us”?) but it’s made up for by all the little grace notes — especially the Dibneys becoming a combination of The Thin Man and Topper. Maybe the best thing about this series, in fact, has been the way the … Continue reading →

Midnighter #7 — Writer: Brian K. Vaughan; Penciller: Darick Robertson; Inker: Karl Story Less than it seems — it looks like an experiment in storytelling, trying to duplicate Midnighter’s ability to see possible futures, but all is does is run the pages backwards, so that we read the “last” page of the story first, and then the next-to-last page, and so on. So, Midnighter sees the future in five-minute chunks, from a situation’s outcome back to the start, exactly like, um, a comic book read backwards? Wow, lucky break for the writer, huh? Readers should do themselves a favor and … Continue reading →

The Punisher Presents: Barracuda #3 (of 4) — Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Goran Parlou You know Ennis is having fun when he starts throwing in everything but the kitchen sink: transvestite commandoes, earless (and clueless) South American dictators, hemophiliacs, ex-porn stars, Mafia bosses — all somehow believeable in the context of the story, and all held together by the amiable, casually violent force of nature that’s the title character. Yes, this is a low-rent, guilty pleasure, but it’s all the more entertaining for that. True Story, Swear to God #5 — Creator: Tom Beland Beland continues his real-life adventures with … Continue reading →

Wonder Woman #8 — Writer: Jodi Picoult; Penciller: Terry Dodson; Inker: Rachel Dodson Picoult’s writing ability probably comes out best in the Wonder Woman/Nemesis scenes, as they engage in a kind of awkward, half-kidding courtship in between fighting the bad guys. The unfortunate part’s the forced plot, as she’s compelled to use Circe to resurrect Mother Hippolyta, for no good reason other than to connect the book to the first issue of Amazons Attack, also out this week (This issue runs parallel to that one, and they end with the same scene. If this is going to go on for … Continue reading →