Fables #81 — Writer: Bill Willingham; Penciller: Mark Buckingham; Inker: Andrew Pepoy
The death of Boy Blue — not giving much away, considering the cover (the last by James Jean, who writes a purplish-prose farewell on the inside that demonstrates that he’s much better at pictures than words). Eighty-one issues, and this continues to be a very smooth, very well-constructed and vast tapestry: look at all the subplots here, at how clearly the characters’ actions depend on their pasts, and at how confidently the creative team delivers another installment of their lives, and be glad at how dependably entertaining it’s been every month for almost seven years now.
Thor #600 — (Lead story): Writer: J. Michael Straczynski; Pencillers: Olivier Coipel with Marco Djurdjevic; Inkers: Mark Morales with Marco Djurdjevic; (Second story): Writer: Stan Lee; Art: David Aja
It’s hard to resist this package: the lead story offers a major turning point, and a conclusion of sorts to the first major story arc of the relaunch — plus, there’s the 11-page new Stan Lee piece (with this and that Last Fantastic Four story, he seems to have moved away from the jokey, self-referential stuff he’d been doing, and is now back to serious stories with actual themes: a welcome development); a seven page Mini-Marvels tale from Chris Girrusso that offers a very funny recap of what’s been going on with Thor since the hammer fell back to Earth; a handful of Lee-Kirby Tales of Asgard reprints, and a gallery of all 600 covers to date (including the 82 Journey Into Mystery pre-superhero ones). With all that, it would be mean to point out that the main story still (still!) relies on Asgardians being total blockheads when it comes to Loki, but even that’s an old tradition — in the Silver Age issues, after all, the supposedly-omnipotent Odin was frequently clueless about similar machinations. Maybe Asgardians just aren’t that bright….
Batman #686 — Writer: Neil Gaiman; Penciller: Andy Kubert; Inks: Scott Williams
This tale of Batman’s funeral (with a disembodied Bruce Wayne trying to figure out what’s going on, as a series of characters each claim to have been the one to kill him, and tell a story to illustrate what happened) is, obviously, well written — and boasts very nice art from Kubert — but, through no fault of its own, is a victim of event fatigue: after two ultra-hyped Batman deaths in the last two months, it’s like trying to eat a third entree during the same meal. Later, there’ll be time to appreciate it as a stand-alone creation, but right now it’s too hard to digest.
Amazing Spider-Man #586 — Writer: Marc Guggenheim; Pencils: Barry Kitson; Inks: Karl Kesel
No actual Spidey in this issue (he’s presumably being carted off to jail after the end of the previous issue); instead, we get the origin of Menace. Given that the world didn’t exactly need another Goblin-derived villain flying around, it’s still a workable story, especially in how neatly it dovetails into previous issues, explaining how all the clues added up and showing that the Spider-creators have had a Clever Plan in place all along (it also depends too heavily on one awfully-conveniently placed beaker, but you can’t have everything, and it’s probably best to just mutter “Goblin curse” about it and move forward). Kitson and Kesel do a good job on the art (although it’s hard not to miss Romita, Jr. and Palmer), and overall this is another entertaining issue, in a title that’s had an impressive number of them lately.
Incognito #2 — Writer: Ed Brubaker; Art: Sean Phillips
Still good — I’m tempted to complain that the superhero parts are too much a distraction from the grittier noir stuff that’s this creative team’s true strength, but that’s not precisely true: they’re integral to the plot, and to the relationships that are being developed, so it’s easy to see why this wouldn’t have worked as an arc in the regular Criminal title. Best to just stop thinking and enjoy the ride, even knowing that everyone’s sure to come to a bad end (and that that’s part of the genre, and part of the fun).
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:
B.P.R.D.: The Black Goddess #2 (of 5) — Story: Mike Mignola and John Arcudi; Art: Guy Davis
DMZ #39 — Writer: Brian Wood; Art: Richard Burchielli
Hellboy: The Wild Hunt #3 ( of 8 ) — Story: Mike Mignola; Art: Duncan Fegredo (with a backup story by Guy Davis)
Gold Digger #102 — Writer/Artist: Fred Perry
Phil Mateer
