Ultimate Spider-Man #9 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis; Art: David Lafuente
This has settled nicely into a Spidey and his Amazing Friends-type high school niche, part boarding-house comedy (with Bobby Drake and Johnny Storm rooming at Peter’s house, not to mention Kitty, Gwen and Mary Jane, who hijack him at school for an impromptu sartorial makeover), and partly serious stuff (growing anti-mutant hysteria that catches up with Kitty). It’s an effective, potent combination, and makes this title as entertaining as it’s been in quite some time.
Ultimate Avengers #6 — Writer: Mark Millar; Pencils: Carlos Pacheco; Inks: Dexter Vines
Millar typically has a problem with endings, and this issue it’s made worse by being a Cosmic Cube story, since those always have trouble with endings, too — the bad guy is omnipotent, so something stupid has to happen to beat him. Here, that involves extremely convenient coordinates and a plane the Ultimate Red Skull is too, yes, stupid to disable (there’s also one of those typically cynical Millar denouements that ruins Nick Fury as a character, but nobody considers Millar stories in continuity anyway, so whatever). And yet: I bought this — the little moments, the warped humor, the art, and the whole what-the-hell attitude are somehow irresistible. Curse you for being so guiltily entertaining, Mark Millar!
Battlefields #5 (of 9) — Writer: Garth Ennis; Pencils: Carlos Ezquerra; Inks: Hector Ezquerra
Ennis war comics are (almost) always good, and this tale of dueling tank crews in Germany during the waning days of WWII is no exception. Both sides are treated with insight and compassion, especially the Germans — there are no evil Nazis at this level of the battlefield, only weary professionals doing their job, as their country collapses around them — and most of the comedy is reserved for the Allied crew, particularly the Scottish commander, whose nigh-incomprehensible brogue conceals a tough, wily fighter. If the excesses of, say, The Boys or Crossed sometimes seem too cartoony, these well-researched, more realistic books show just how good a storyteller Ennis can be.
Joe the Barbarian #4 ( of 8 ) — Writer: Grant Morrison; Art: Sean Murphy
Halfway through, and this story of a kid alone in a big house, slowly slipping into diabetic shock and battling hallucinations — or are they? — continues to be entertaining, classically-constructed fantasy. Both Morrison and Murphy are good at toggling between the realistic and the bizarre, and, like Ennis in Battlefields, this book provides a showcase for Morrison’s creative abilities when he’s not dealing with corporate superhero characters or their avatars.
X-Men: Legacy #235 — Writer: Mike Carey; Pencils: Greg Land; Inks: Jay Leisten
The Second Coming crossover stuff doesn’t help — it’s hard to craft a good story when you’ve got an editorially-mandated series of plot points to check off the list — but Carey knows and likes these characters by now, and that helps. Land gets off some nice panels, including a full-page Warlock splash — he can’t fall back on porn-mag poses with a character like that, and left to his own devices he shows that he can actually be a decent artist.
Amazing Spider-Man #628 — Writer: Roger Stern; Art: Lee Weeks; (Second Story): Writers: Mark Waid and Tom Peyer; Art: Todd Nauck
Part two of Stern’s sort-of sequel to Spidey vs. the Juggernaut, with Captain Universe thrown in for good measure. Solid, straight-down-the-middle superhero stuff; the eight-page backup is Peter trying to find a job and getting sidetracked by the Absorbing Man, with events unfolding just about exactly the way you’d expect.
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:
Nothing this week… there just weren’t that many books worth buying, so I dealt with all of them up above.
Phil Mateer
