Bad Dog #1 — Writer: Joe Kelly; Art: Diego Greco
Joe Kelly’s been watching a lot of TV lately — this week’s other book by him, Bang! Tango, reads like a cross between The Sopranos and Dancing With The Stars, and for this one you can just see him sitting eating Cheetoes during Dog, the Bounty Hunter and thinking “What if…?” So, the “if” is we’ve got two bounty hunters, one a cheerfully profane, Danny Devito-like little guy, and one a… well, not a dog, exactly: a werewolf. Amazingly, it works — the R- (even X-) rated dialog crackles and brings the funny; the werewolf is smart, cynical and deeply sad, and the supporting cast is sharply drawn and cool-looking (and it gets bonus points for being the second book this week to be set in Arizona). I was all set to read and dismiss this, but ended up liking it enough to buy it; let’s hope enough other readers do the same to keep it around for a while.
30 Days of Night #3 (of 4) — Writer/Artist: David Lapham
This continues to impress — like Bad Dog, it walks the tightrope by throwing in loads of sly humor while still making us care about the characters. The idea of a typically-suburban-looking family who all happen to be vampires (and the slow burns they cause in their harried relation, who just wants to live a quiet life, blending in and occasionally succumbing to his cravings) is, in Lapham’s hands, inspired and horrific lunacy, and his best work since Stray Bullets.
Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #3 (of 5) — Writer: Geoff Johns; Pencils: George Perez; Inks: Scott Koblish
Another book that I’ve already praised — and one that’s appallingly late, showing up to the Final Crisis party after all the guests have left and even the caterers have gone home — and it’s not like that series was exactly on time itself. Doesn’t matter, though, because Johns and Perez are masterful at juggling a cast of hundreds (if not thousands), bringing something for every fan of every incarnation of the Legion, with a last-page reveal that made me think (1) “That didn’t take too long,” and (b) “I’m glad he’s back.” For those of you who found Final Crisis too self-consciously intellectual, or weighted down with too much subtext, this is the perfect slam-bang action chaser to cleanse your palate and make you glad to be reading superhero comics again.
Agents of Atlas #1 — Writer: Jeff Parker; Penciler: Carlo Pagulayan; Inker: Jason Paz
An encouraging little Dark Reign-related launch, after the critically-well-received mini-series from a year or two ago. Parker’s very good at setting up his cast of relatively-new characters and filling the readers in on their relationships (he’s deft at communicating personality through dialog), and this is a fun, action-filled book with lots of nods to longtime Marvel readers; it doesn’t reinvent the wheel or impress the hell out of you, but in its own modest way it’s worth a look. I may not buy it forever, but I’m on board for now, and that’s a good start.
Comic Book Comics #3 — Writer: Fred Van Lente; Art: Ryan Dunlavey
Continuing Van Lente and Dunleavy’s cheerful comic-book history of comics, covering the ’50s and Dr. Wertham, and ending with Kirby’s return to Marvel in 1960 — although there are detours to slightly-more-recent developments involving Pop creators (and their penchant for ripping off comics panels and calling it Art) and the Batman TV show. It’s well-traveled ground for some of us, but there were things in here I didn’t know, and if you’re not familiar with your Comics History 101, it’s a breezy and effective (if opinion-filled) primer.
Madman #13 — Writer/Artist: Michael Allred
The current storyline ends, with almost all the subplots wrapped up — too easily, in fact, and so quickly that it had me flipping to the letters page, to see if the book had been cancelled. Fortunately not; maybe Allred just wanted to give his cast a happy ending for a change, and leave them in a good place before revving things up again next month. That’s OK: this has been such a decent series for so long, with its willingness to experiment, its bright primary covers and its weird hippy headtrips, that I can’t begrudge it an occasional lighter touch.
Invincible Iron Man #10 — Writer: Matt Fraction; Artist: Salvador Larroca
You know, I don’t have a lot new to say about this book, except that somehow it’s crept near the top of my read-it-first pile during the weeks when it comes out: it’s one of the best regular-series superhero titles currently being published, and if you’re ignoring it you’re missing a classic Stark-in-peril arc, one that’s doing a lot to redeem that bad taste left by the way his character was written during Civil War.
Stuff I read and liked enough to buy, but don’t have much to say about, so read previous reviews in the archives if you’re interested:
The Boys #27 — Writer: Garth Ennis; Art: Darick Robertson
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #22 — Writer: Steven S. DeKnight; Pencils: Georges Jeanty; Inks: Andy Owens
Amazing Spider-Man #585 — Writer: Marc Guggenheim; Pencils: John Romita, Jr.; Inks: Tom Palmer
Secret Six #6 — Writer: Gail Simone; Pencillers: Nicola Scott and Javi Pina; Inkers: Doug Hazelwood and Javi Pina
Phil Mateer
