Amazing Spider-Man #600 — um, I was going to review this (unlike Hulk #600, I bought it — but then, Spidey was my entry drug for comics…), but I seem to have left it at the store; I am lame. Let’s just say we’ll add it to next week’s pile, eh?
Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #5 (of 5) — Writer: Geoff Johns; Pencils: George Perez; Inks: Scott Koblish
Yes, this has been laughably late, but you know what? Otherwise, it’s been a perfect mini-series: I can’t think of a serious Legion fan who wouldn’t be pleased by it. Johns’s knowledge of LSH history is vast; Perez’s art matches it; just about every version of every character gets some face time; many plot points are resolved (including the fates of two characters that Teen Titans fans should be happy about); other new plots are set up; even the annoying Superboy-Prime gets a satisfying (for now) resolution, with a last scene that’s both amusing and foreboding. Very nicely (if tardily) done.
Green Lantern #44 — Writer: Geoff Johns; Pencils: Doug Mahnke; Inks: Christian Alamy, Mahnke, Tom Nguyen and Rodney Ramos
FC: LTW 5 was Johns from last year; here’s this year’s model, with chapter 2 of Blackest Night, and the “return” of J’onn J’onzz, Zombie Manhunter from Mars. I like the way the hero team is the Hal/Barry Gl/Flash, especially since (as Zombie J’onzz points out) they’ve both been “dead” before, too. Mahnke’s a good choice for these dark goings-on, with his solid figures and knack for both the square-jawed heroic and the grotesque, and, even though part of me’s whispering that this is just another manufactured corporate crossover, I think the creative team’s committed enough to make it a little more than that, and I continue to be entertained by it.
Gotham City Sirens #2 — Writer: Paul Dini; Art: Guillem Marcht
Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Catwoman are the title characters — roommates, although that doesn’t stop them from, you know, trying to brainwash one another or anything — and Dini seems a lot more comfortable with these familiar femmes than with the standard bozos he’s writing about over in Streets of Gotham. Points off for still throwing in Hush as the main villain (don’t get me started), and, while I wouldn’t take off points for Marsh’s art, I wouldn’t add any, either; with these characters, you either need to be really good at female faces and anatomy, or go the Bruce Timms cartoony-pizazz route, and he tries to split the difference and ends up doing neither. I’m buying this partly based on having enjoyed previous versions of these characters, and will give the current creative team another issue or two to get up to speed; after that, it’s either produce dazzling entertainment or get culled.
Herogasm #3 (of 6) — Writer: Garth Ennis; Pencils: John McRea with Keith Burns; Inks: Keith Burns with John McRea
This Boys spinoff is pretty much the same deal as the regular title, but with even more sex (if that’s possible); AABC has been bagging these, since there’s enough naughty bits to cause potential trouble (“Mommy, how come the ladies with the superheroes don’t have any clothes on? And what does ‘lube’ mean?”). I’m a Boys fan, so I’m picking it up, but it seems distinctly more minor than the main title, as though there’s less at stake and they’re ramping up the sex and drugs and violence to hide that; too, I’m not sure that McRea’s art is right for the mood — he can nail the comedy and satire, but a certain lushness of form would help with the figures, and he draws them so cartoonily that they look like blowup dolls — but he and Ennis are old pros, and have done so much together that they make a comfortable team.
Wednesday Comics #3 (of 12) — credits: too numerous to list
My interest in this, high with the first issue, has ratcheted down a notch with each subsequent one — maybe it’s because the format seems alien to me, too; it’s hard to keep track of 15 stories when you get a page a week, all jumbled together. I’m not bailing on it — there’s just too much topflight talent here to ignore — but it’ll be interesting, once it’s done, to read everything in sequence and see if any of it hangs together as a successful comics story.
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:
Gold Digger #109 — Writer/Artist: Fred Perry
Phonogram: The Singles Club #4 (of 7) — Writer: Kieron Gillen; Art: Jamie McKelvie with Julia Scheele
Phil Mateer
