Countdown Arena #1 (of 4) — Writer: Keith Champagne; Penciller: Scott McDaniel; Inker: Andy Owens
Surprisingly entertaining, and the first post-52 book that manages to make the alternate-universes deal interesting. Monarch wants to gather an army of super-folks, and so collects a bunch of different versions of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. to battle it out in his arena to see which will make the cut, and which will just end up dead (so, you have the prospect of, say, three Batmen versions simultaneously fighting one another and trying to survive while attempting to outfox their omnipotent host). Since none of these are the “real” heroes, their fates — and those of their Earths — are totally up in the air, which gives their attempts to be (mostly) heroic and work (mostly) together a cool anything-can-happen buzz. So sue me; I thought it was pretty good.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #9 — Writer: Brian K. Vaughan; Pencils: Georges Jeanty; Inks: Andy Owens
End of the four-part Vaughan “Faith” story. Good enough, although the ending was a little disappointing, the fate of the new character both too final and too cliched. He nailed everyones’ voices, though, better than any writer this side of Joss Whedon (who’s returning next issue), and managed to keep both the entertainment and soap-opera elements revved up nicely, so no complaints.
The Ultimates 3 #1 — Writer: Jeph Loeb; Art: Joe Madureira
I bought this, but you shouldn’t. I mean, I just threw it automatically in the pile, and didn’t get around to reading it until a few days later, but hoo boy. We find out that (1) Ultimate Wanda and Pietro’s relationship is incestual, (2) In the Ultimate 1940s, the concept of incest didn’t exist, since Ultimate Cap, the hardened soldier, has no idea what people are talking about when they mention it; he’s befuddled by the concept, (3) Ultimate Hawkeye has changed both his costume and his personality, and is now a grim Deadshot-Punisher-type avenger, because his whole family got horribly killed, (4) Ultimate Hank Pym, out of jail, takes handfuls of pills that make him pass out, foaming at the mouth and with his eyes rolled up in his head, (5) Ultimate bullets are so ultimately-high-tech that they defy basic physical principles, (6) Ultimate Quicksilver, despite a lifetime of using super-speed, isn’t very good at it, (7) Joe Mad still makes it look good, but doesn’t draw very human-looking faces or anatomy, and (8) Dear God, could they be planning to shift the Ultimate Cap over to the “real” oh dear God no
Justice League of America #15 — Writer: Dwayne McDuffie; Penciller: Ed Benes; Inker: Sandra Hope
Um, Ultimates 3 team? Over here: this is how you do a super-team book. People act like grown-ups; both the heroes and the bad guys employ actual strategies and tactics; faces register recognizable human emotions; the anatomy… well, OK, the T&A quotient here is too high (in one panel, each of Wonder Woman’s breasts is as big as her head), but three out of four is still a win. This wasn’t a perfect comic — the ending was a little too fast and convenient, for one thing, maybe because this had to link up with both the GL/BC wedding and the Salvation Run villains series — but it was fast-paced and fun, equal to or better than anything in the Meltzer run, and I’m looking forward to what these guys do next.
Black Summer #4 — Writer: Warren Ellis; Art: Juan Jose Ryp
This is one of those issues that will read better in the trade — lots of the usual lovingly-detailed explosions and high-military-tech, although plotwise it all seems to take about ten minutes in real time, so nothing of import actually happens (which gives the reader time to wonder why everyone’s acting like a character’s dead when that character clearly has no actual possibility of being dead, and you’d think seasoned don’t-believe-it-unless-you-see-the-body super-people wouldn’t be quite that gullible…).
Uncanny X-Men #493 — Writer: Ed Brubaker; Penciler: Billy Tan; Inkers: Danny Miki with Allen Martinez
Competently illustrated and told, but it’s smack in the middle of the big “Messiah Complex” crossover, and there’s so much running around, fighting and yelling, spread out over dozens of characters, that who can tell what’s going on? I bought it, but I didn’t particularly enjoy it.
Lobster Johnson #4 (of 5) — Writer: Mike Mignola; Art: Jason Armstrong
The standard fast-paced ’30s pulp adventure, complete with bulky machinery, mad scientists, mystic apes and dragons, and Nazis. (Amusingly, the Nazis identify one another by making little palm-out salutes to reveal the swastikas they’ve scribbled on their hands; um, guys, wouldn’t a muttered “Heil Hitler” be, I don’t know, more subtle?)
Phil Mateer
