Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #84

Hellboy: The Crooked Man #2 (of 3) — Story: Mike Mignola;  Art: Richard Corben
That last panel’s absolutely chilling;  the comic, even just two-thirds through the run, is a candidate for story of the year — and you don’t have to know a thing about the characters going in to be able to follow it easily, either.

Action #868 — Writer: Geoff Johns;  Penciller: Gary Frank;  Inker: Jon Sibal
Another book with a chilling last panel; Frank’s been getting better and better on this title, and now it’s just a pleasure to look at.  The characters in this episode spend a little too much time attacking one another ineffectually (Superman punches Brainiac, who shrugs it off and punches Supermen, who…), but otherwise Johns moves them around well, and he has an enthusiasm that must be infectious; the store’s selling more copies of Action now than we were a few months ago, and it has to be because it’s finally got a worthy, dependable creative team..

The Punisher #60 — Writer: Garth Ennis;  Artist: Goran Parlov
Final chapter of Ennis’s run, and it’s more of a curtain call; you have to go back to that last Barracuda story to find the emotional conclusion. Nice elegy, but if you’ve never read any of it, don’t start here — Ennis produced at least 10 or 15 good arcs during his tenure, and trade or back-issue collections of them are the way to go.

Secret Invasion #5 ( of 8 ) — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Penciler: Leonil Francis Yu;  Inker: Mark Morales
The low point having been reached, the heroes begin to turn it around. Very well put together, with just enough rattlely places to make it a good ride. I suspect this will read better as a trade, too, with all the chapters arranged chronologically and all the information available at once.

Batman #679 — Writer: Grant Morrison;  Penciller: Tony Daniel;  Inker: Sandu Florea
Rounding into shape — this is the first issue that feels confident, like it knows where it’s going, instead of being all half-hints and moody setup.  Let’s see how Morrison does with the Joker next issue before we start to make any permanent value judgments, though.

The Goon #27 — Writer/Artist: Eric Powell (1st Story);  Kyle Hotz (2nd Story);  Rebecca Sugar (3rd Story)
A fill-in issue of sorts, as only the first eight-pager is from Powell.  Hotz is a good match for him, though, with an early-Mad-style offering that channels the same lush inking; Sugar’s three-page Dr. Alloy vignette looks positively sunny by comparison.

Astonishing X-Men #26 — Writer: Warren Ellis;  Pencils: Simone Bianchi;  Ink Washes: Bianchi and Andrea Silvestri
Just the second issue, so it’s too early to tell much. The spaceship-graveyard thing seemed to work out better in concept than in execution, and Scott’s “We don’t like to kill, but we won’t lose any sleep over it if we have to” feels a trifle off, but, eh, I’m willing to give it some slack and see what develops; Ellis has earned that, ‘way more than most writers.

Stuff I liked enough to buy, but don’t have anything new to say about, so read past reviews in the archives if you really want to know:

Young Liars #6 — Writer/Artist: David Lapham

Fantastic Four #559 — Writer: Mark Millar;  Art: Bryan Hitch and Andrew Currie

Amazing Spider-Man #567 — Writer: Marc Guggenheim;  Breakdowns: Phil Jimenez;  Finishes: Andy Lanning

Punisher War Journal # 22 — Writers: Matt Fraction and Rick Remender;  Art: Howard Chaykin

Phil Mateer