Phil's Reviews: Stuff I Bought #171

Amazing Spider-Man #632 — Writer: Zeb Wells; Pencils: Chris Bachalo and Emma Rios; Inks: Townsend, Mendoza, Olazaba and Bachalo
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #37 — Writer: Karl Kesel; Art: Paulo Siqueira; (Second story): Writer: Kurt Busiek; Art: Pat Olliffe

Another week with two decent Spidey titles — Amazing continues its Gauntlet/make-The-Lizard-a-badass storyline, and the Bachalo art continues to be the main attraction (the Wells script has some good moments, and deserves credit for not “taking back” the death from last issue, although there’s a puzzling moment when Our Hero is surprised that his opponent can talk. Really? He couldn’t always talk in Lizard form?), even though it’s inked by four people and only covers the first 15 pages (Rios does the last seven, both pencils and inks). The Annual has two Untold Tales of Spider-Man, the first covering his first meeting with Captain America, and a fight with the Sandman, while the Busiek/Olliffe contribution has Spidey meeting a young Stan Lee, who naturally wants to cover his adventures for Marvel Comics (amazingly, Lee doesn’t ask for $40 for a photo session, or $50 for an autograph, but then it’s early in his career…).

Justice League: Generation Lost #2 — Writer: Judd Winick; Breakdowns: Keith Giffen; Pencils: Joe Bennett; Inks: Jack Jadson

This is turning into a decent little book, with an intriguing premise — Max Lord has mind-wiped all knowledge of his existence from everyone on Earth, except for Booster, Fire, Ice and Captain Atom, who were all close enough to Ground Zero when he did it to be unaffected. Now, everyone thinks they’re crazy, and they have to try and track and confront Max, who’s outmaneuvering them at every turn.  You have to kind of squint to accept that Max has the Mephisto-level power to do something like that (and what about people who were off-planet, or aliens like Green Lanterns who arrive after the mindwipe, or anyone who’s cosmically aware, or…?), and as a set-up for an ongoing series it’s going to get old after a while, but for now the small-band-against-the-world bit is suspenseful and fun enough to carry the book along.

Secret Avengers #1 — Writer: Ed Brubaker; Art: Mike Deodato

Just what you’d expect from this creative team: super-slick secret-ops super-hero stuff, with Steve Rogers playing Nick Fury, and recruiting various players to try to pro-actively deal with menaces before they get too big (as the cover shows, the current line-up has Valkyrie, Beast, War Machine, Nova, Black Widow and Moon Knight). Naturally, the “before they get too big” part goes south pretty quickly, and before we know it we’re up to our armpits in Serpent Crowns and secret societies and corporate malfeasance, but between Brubaker’s clever plotting and characterization, and Deodato’s smooth, make-it-look-easy art, this book offers everything a mainstream comics fan could ask for.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #2 (of 6) — Writer: Grant Morrison; Art: Frazer Irving

Having time-jumped from prehistoric times to the Salem — er, Gotham — Witch Trials, Bruce keeps running into bat-symbols, all the while struggling against amnesia, local superstition (I kept expecting a “No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!” joke, but sadly, no), and ancestral buttheads.  Of course, this is a Morrison story, so   it’s not that linear or simple; there are also events happening at Vanishing Point, the End of Time, as the Find-Bruce Squad (Rip Hunter and Booster Gold, Green Lantern and Superman) try to do some research and end up in a spot of trouble. Will they escape? Will Bruce inadvertently destroy the 21st century? Probably not, but hey: next issue… pirates!

Ultimate Enemy #4 (of 4) — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis; Pencils: Rafa Sandoval; Inks: Roger Bonet

You know, if you’re going to do an eight- or 12-issue story, it’s only fair to tell readers that, instead of setting them up for a four-issue mini-series that doesn’t so much conclude as stop, with no resolution or explanation, and lead into a new four-issue mini-series in a few months. Just sayin’….

Stuff I liked enough to buy, but don’t have much new to say about, so read earlier posts about the titles in the archives if you’re interested:

Nothing this week — it was a very light week for books that I actually bought, so they’re all covered up above.
Phil Mateer

About Phil

With 40 years of experience in comic reading, collecting and reviewing, English Professor Phil Mateer has an encyclopedic mind for comics. Feel free to ask Phil about storylines, characters, artists or for that matter, any comic book trivia. He will post your questions and answers on the AABC blog. His knowledge is unparalleled! He is also our warehouse manager, so if you are looking for that hard to find comic book, ask Phil!
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