Hulk #14 — Writer: Jeph Loeb; Penciler: Ian Churchill; Inks: Mark Farmer
Now just about the Red Hulk (with Greg Pak scripting the green one over in the revived Incredible Hulk #601), and it’s becoming increasingly obvious who he must be — a certain pencil-mustached minor player, although, with Loeb, it’s not like logic or linear sense ever figures into the plots, so it could just as easily end up as Betty Ross, or a reanimated Jim Wilson or some damn thing…). Loud, soulless and grating, with characters running everywhere and no one to root for; everyone’s either mean, stupid, evil or all of the above, and this comic, as always, doesn’t have a brain in its head.
Blackest Night: Titans #1 (of 3) — Writer: J. T. Krul; Penciller: Ed Benes; Inks: Rob Hunter, Jon Sibal and J. P. Mayer
Following the pattern of all the other BN crossovers: figure out who’s dead that the “live” characters cared about, and get ’em a black ring and bring ’em back (Not that logic should figure into a zombie superhero story, but: how many of these rings are there? Enough for every dead person in the universe? How are they deciding whom to target, anyway? Johns, this had better all make sense in the end…). If you want pretty much the same story as all those other books, here it is.
Gotham City Sirens #3 — Writer: Scott Lobdell; Art: Guillem March
This gets the bait-and-switch award for the month: except for a page or two, there are no “sirens”; instead, it’s a Riddler-the-Detective story. What’s it doing in this comic? Where’s Paul Dini? Why did they add four floating question marks to a cover that otherwise had nothing to do with the story, and think that would make it all right? And, most importantly: Is there anyone at DC actually running the editorial department, or managing these books, right now?
Fantastic Four #570 — Writer: Jonathan Hickman; Art: Dale Eaglesham
Hickman’s no stranger to the FF, and storywise this is comparable in quality to Millar — not that much of a compliment, frankly; its “Council of Reeds” conceit strives for cosmic splash, but feels old and already-done. Millar, of course, had Hitch, and here Eaglesham can’t match up — his art is unimaginative, a deadly flaw in an FF story. In an issue that focuses on Reed, Mr. Fantastic, he draws him like a football player, all broad shoulders and muscular arms, and except for a few panels at the beginning never shows him stretching. Reed’s a skinny scientist; he’s had his plastic powers for at least 10 or 20 years, Marvel time, and should be in constant elastic motion, fingers and ears and toes stretching casually all over his lab and equipment — and yet, for the whole issue, he just stands there, lumplike. Unless that’s a deliberate plot device for later (which seems unlikely), it’s laziness by the artist, and makes this a boring, and easily disposable, comic.
The Red Circle: The Shield #1 (of 1) — Writer: J. Michael Straczynski; Penciller: Scott McDaniel; Inker: Andy Owens
Speaking of boring… this fourth and final issue of the Red Circle revamp is just dull, all narrow small panels (except for two splashes where the main character is posed like Generic Captain America) and muddy brown and blue coloring schemes, and a story piggybacking off the previous issues that I couldn’t even muster the energy to read; I flipped through the pages, found nothing of interest, and put it back on the rack. In the ’40s, these Archie heroes had the raw energy of the new, and in their ’60s revival a camp (if sometimes cynical) wackiness, but this current version is humorless and disappointing, especially from a writer of Straczynski’s talent; expect the two ongoing series, Shield and Web, to die of low sales within a year or less.
Deadpool #14 — Writer: Daniel Way; Penciler: Shawn Crystal; Inker: John Lucas
Dark Wolverine #77 — Writer: Daniel Way; Penciler: Giuseppe Camuncoli; Inks: Onofrio Catacchio
Way’s earlier issues of Deadpool have had their moments, especially with guest-stars like Wolverine or Bullseye to goose things along and give the proceedings a Looney-Tunes-like pizzazz, but now he’s just coasting (Pirates? Really?), and without Steve Dillon doing the pencils we’re left with some unknown who makes everybody look ugly and stupid (OK, there are a couple of OK panels of the guy in the parrot suit, but that’s it). The real test for Deadpool artists is how they draw him unmasked, and Crystal flunks; Wade’s pupil-less eyes and sketchy features make him look like a bald, zombified Little Orphan Annie.
Dark Wolverine seems to be getting more of Way’s energy; Daken’s a blank slate, and his close-to-the-chest, Machiavellian maneuverings can be fun to watch — but again the book is undone by the art: everybody’s all gritted teeth and slitted eyes (and again with the no pupils; what is this, a new style? Harold Gray’s the big template for up-and-coming superhero artists now?), and their craggy, unattractive faces make this an impossible book to warm up to.
Guardians of the Galaxy #17 — Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning; Penciler: Brad Walker; Inkers: Victor Olazaba and Scott Hanna
Nova #28 — Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning; Artist: Andrea Divito
The War of Kings creative team uses these two ongoing series issues to (mostly) finish off the event. Smoothly done, with all the plot points clicking into place in both surprising and satisfying ways. Guardians should be read first, chronologically, and it’s the better comic just because of its casual cosmic mayhem (See characters live! See characters die! See Maximus and Groot start a bromance!) and affectionate mid-’70s Marvel callbacks (Jim Starlin Warlock fans, especially, should like the last few pages). Nova‘s comparatively more low-key, but it’s satisfying, too, as it ties up the loose ends of the current arc. Abnett and Lanning are this era’s Mark Gruenwald: they’re usually under the radar, but they know their continuity, respect their characters, and know how to deliver decent, well-constructed space opera; fans of that kind of thing should be grateful for their work.
Phil Mateer
