Crecy — Writer: Warren Ellis; Artwork: Raulo Caceres
This actually came out last week, but I put off reading it, thinking that a historical/Cartoon History of the Universe-type treatment of an English military victory over the French in 1346 would be heavy going. I was wrong — it’s an assured look at life 650 years ago, well-researched and human, narrated by one of the Suffolk longbowmen who helped to slaughter the heart of the French aristocracy and usher in the era of long-distance modern warfare. It’s too bad that all the realistic violence and swearing will keep this out of high school history classes, because it’s the kind of story that makes the past fascinating and immediate — the discussion of different arrowheads, for example, would be torturously dry in a textbook, but here Ellis’s narrator makes us see exactly why each type is critical to his survival on a battlefield. Caceres’s art, detailed and clear, complements it perfectly.
Wormwood #6 (of 6) — Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Jacen Burrows
The idea that God and the devil are both insane bastards isn’t exactly a new theme for Ennis (so much so that I wonder if this series didn’t start out as an unused Hellraiser plot), but he’s still able to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion, with character and friendship rewarded and everyone getting just what they deserve. Points off for the cover, which Avatar uses to try to sell this as some sort of zombies-on-the-rampage book, when that’s only the subject of one here’s-a-possible-future page on the inside.
Fantastic Four #548 — Writer: Dwayne McDuffie; Penciler: Paul Pelletier; Inker: Rick Magyar
Lots of action, as befits the middle of a three-part Frightful Four (er, Five, but then the FF have six, so who’s counting?) story. I’ve been enjoying McDuffie’s run on this title because of the ease with which he’s able to nail all the characters, from the Wizard’s megalomania to the other villains’ “Maybe if we just sneak away fast, we won’t get hit” attitude, to T’Challa’s strategic genius and Ben and Johnny’s comic timing. A good, fun, straight-ahead superhero comic.
Justice League Unlimited #36 — Writer: Simon Spurrier; Penciller: Min S. Ku; Inker: Jeff Albrecht
Watchmen fans should check this out, since it spotlights the Question — who, oddly, is a lot closer to Rorschach in this animated JLA than he is in the regular DC comics. He says “Huhm” instead of “Hurm,” and overdoes his catchphrase (“Obvious, with hindsight” — five times in 20 pages), but it’s still a suitably twisty conspiracy tale, and as close to an R-man solo story as you’re going to get.
Metal Men #1 — Writer/Artist: Duncan Rouleau
This shows potential — I like the way Magnus seems to have picked up Bob Dobbs’s pipe, and the slam-bang all-over-the-place plot; I also like the little facts about the metals, just as in the DC Silver-Age version of this book. (On the other hand, we’re also told that if you wrap copper around iron to magnetize it, and then touch it with lead, you’ll generate a massive electromagnetic pulse that will fry circuit boards. Hmmm… I wouldn’t try to impress your physics teacher with that one, kids.) Rouleau’s design of the robotic characters is both retro and modern, and fluid enough to be appealing — unlike Pat Lee’s clunky version over in Superman-Batman a few months ago — so I’m willing to overlook a few plot quibbles (a meta-Magnus? A connection to ancient gods?), and give this the benefit of the doubt for a few issues.
Punisher #50 — Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Howard Chaykin
Barracuda doesn’t look quite right here — after getting used to him drawn by Parlov in his own recent mini-series, the Chaykin version just seems… off, somehow. Maybe that’s appropriate, though — the mini-series was over-the-top satire, and there, if you squinted just right, Barracuda was the hero (a murdering, amoral hero, but still). Here, back in the Punisher’s own book, he’s just relentlessly evil, and what came off as cheerfulness in the mini-series just seems chilling. It’s hard to come up with a good rogue’s gallery for Frank, since nobody survives more than two rounds with him without getting their heads blown off (Jigsaw? Please…), but this guy might be the exception. Might.
World War Hulk #3 (of 5) — Writer: Greg Pak; Penciler: John Romita, Jr.; Inker: Klaus Janson
Still motoring right along, as Dr. Strange is forced to take Desperate Measures. I still think this is going to resolve itself into (1) Hulk beats everybody, (2) it’s revealed that it was two of the alien Warbound who actually rigged that shuttle to blow up, because they couldn’t stand things being all peaceful, and (3) Hulk, disgusted and betrayed, gives up — but let’s see if Marvel can surprise me instead.
The New Avengers: Illuminati #4 (of 5) — Writers: Brian Michael Bendis and Brian Reed; Penciler: Jim Cheung; Inkers: John Dell, David Melkes and Mark Morales
Dr. Strange having just been dumped by Clea, the Illuminati sit around and talk about women, with diversions like Namor giving Reed advice about Sue, and a discussion of Tony’s inability not to sleep with any woman he meets. Amusing — Bendis’s flair for realistic-guy dialogue serves him well, and the whole thing reads like the kind of nerd thread you’d get over on his message board — which is good, since the actual plot (about persuading the Grant Morrison-rebooted Marvel Boy to buy a clue), doesn’t really accomplish very much.
Jonah Hex #22 — Writers: Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti; Art: Phil Noto
Jonah meets Thomas Edison. At first, I thought he was going to be the bad guy, a steampunk Dr. Loveless, but fortunately Gray and Palmiotti play him straighter than that (unfortunately, the evil-genius role diverts to Tesla, which doesn’t make for particularly good history, either, but at least we don’t actually see him). Good, although Noto, who’s both the artist and the colorist, uses an annoyingly murky palette that makes the action hard to see.
Phil Mateer
