Amazing Spider-Man #614 — Writer: Mark Waid; Art: Paul Azaceta
Invincible Iron Man #21 — Writer: Matt Fraction; Art: Salvador Larroca
New Avengers Annual #3 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis; Art: Mike Mayhew
Your readable mainstream superhero books for the week, linked because the artists on each are solo, doing both pencils and inks. This gives them a consistent, unique style, unlike so many current DC and Marvel books, which use a tag-team inking process that discourages individual flourishes, and reduces the art to a mediocre corporate sameness. Here, though, Azeceta’s indy-influenced work, Larroca’s careful page construction (lots of narrow horizontal panels to carry the main narrative, which give the occasional splashes a feeling of liberation), and Mayhew’s more painterly, Alex Ross-flavored style all get to come through unscathed, and enhance their respective comics. Amazing features the end of an Electro story, and the destruction of a major piece of Spidey history; Iron Man continues Fraction’s rehabilitation of a now-comatose Tony Stark, with guest appearances galore, and Avengers gets Jessica Cage (I assume she took her husband’s name…) back into costume for a rescue of Clint Barton, with a last-panel splash featuring the return of a major character, and signaling the start of the Dark Reign/Seige endgame. All of these are solid chapters in their titles’ current continuity, and worth checking out if you’re a fan of the Marvel Universe.
Daytripper #1 — Writers/Artists: Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon
The Brazilian brothers renowned for Umbrella Academy (and, most recently, B.P.R.D.: 1947) offer a stand-along story that starts out as quiet slice-of-life, and ends up reading like a softer-edged, South American version of 100 Bullets. Carefully written (you don’t realize how much until you read it twice), and very well drawn; there aren’t any showy splash pages, but the careful details in the street scenes and the people’s faces put a reader right in the middle of Sao Paulo. This realistic, instead of fantastic, side of Ba and Moon, gives their art a different perspective — this issue had a number of panels that recall William Moesner-Loebs, for example, and I’d never recognized him as one of their influences before. The one weakness is Vertigo’s: there’s no explanatory text page, no bio of Ba and Moon, no editorial information whatever. OK, the work’s strong enough to stand on its own, but a little introduction for new readers wouldn’t have killed the editors….
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:
Groo: The Hogs of Horder #2 (of 4) — Writer: Mark Evanier; Art: Sergio Aragones
The usual cartoony, but stunningly well-drawn adventures of comics’ long-running barbarian mendicant, coupled with a clearer, more reasonable analysis of last year’s economic meltdown than you’d find in most economic journals or textbooks: how can you go wrong?
Secret Six #16 — Writer: Gail Simone; Penciller: Peter Nguyen; Inkers: Doug Hazelwood and Mark McKenna
Black Alice auditions for a spot with the group.
PunisherMax #2 — Writer: Jason Aaron; Art: Steve Dillon
Part two of the Kingpin’s origin and first encounter with Frank Castle.
Phonogram: The Singles Club #5 (of 6) — Writer: Kieron Gillen; Art: Jamie McKelvie
Spotlight on Lloyd this time, and Gillen’s editorial, glossary and side pieces continue to make this book a wonderful little fan letter to great music everywhere.
DMZ #48 — Writer: Brian Woods; Art: Riccardo Burchielli
Matty gets beaten up, and sets some dominoes in motion that are going to be very hard to stop.
Phil Mateer
