Green Hornet #2 — Writer: Kevin Smith; Breakdowns: Phil Hester; Pencils: Jonathan Lau
Dynamite’s sure trying to milk this franchise for all it’s worth: they’ve got ads in this issue for a Kato book, a Green Hornet: Year One, a Kato: Origins, and a Green Hornet Strikes, not to mention the nine covers (four regular, five incentive) that just this one issue has available. That’s a lot of books, and they’re all anchored around a Kevin-Smith-authored relaunch that, after two issues, offers a standard retired-hero, wastrel-son reimagining of the character, has nobody in costume yet, and features none of the witty, Tarentino-like riffs on pop culture that Smith is known for. Here’s a little secret, guys: nobody cares about the Green Hornet. The fans who thrilled to the radio show are all dead, and the fans of the ’60s TV show vaguely remember Bruce Lee, and have no interest in some funny book about it that just doesn’t have enough (wait for it…) buzz to attract them.
She-Hulk Sensational #1 (of 1) — Writer: Peter David; Art: Jonboy Meyers
Someone at Marvel realized that 2010 is the 30th anniversary of Shulkie’s debut, and that she didn’t even have a regular comic anymore: hence this oversized, $4.99 anniversary issue. David’s a good candidate for the lead story; he’s written the character before, and is adept at the breaking-the-fourth-wall banter that’s become her schtick. It’s a standard review-your-life bit, with Stan Lee as the host, and it’s… OK, with Meyers offering appealing, semi-mangaesque art. There’s also a Brian Reed/ Iban Coello team-up with Ms. Marvel and Spider-Woman (it reads like one of those fill-in stories that could have gone in any of their books) and the John Byrne reprint of the second-series She-Hulk issue whose first four pages were full-page splashes of the character jumping rope in the nude… kind of, and featured the return of U.S. 1 to the Marvel Universe (really really good art; not-so-good story).
X-Men: Second Coming #1 (of 1) — Writers: Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost; Pencils: David Finch; Inks: Matt Banning
X-Force #25 — Writers: Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost; Art: Clayton Crain
Wolverine: Origins #46 — Writer: Daniel Way; Pencils: Scott Eaton; Inks: Andrew Hennessy
All the X-books this week are offering either conclusions or beginnings. X-Force concludes the current crossover, the Genosha thing (the “No, we’re not doing zombies just because Blackest Night is selling like crazy; ha ha, what a wacky coincidence!” series), and is just as dim, bloody and depressing as all the X-Force books have been. Its writing team is also responsible for Second Coming, which gets Cable and Hope back to the present day and kicks off the next crossover, a 14-chapter (plus seven tie-in books) epic that’s going to take up the next four months in the X-Universe. True to form, Kyle and Yost offer a half-page splash of X-23 popping her claws through a guy’s brains and out the back, complete with gouts of blood and “Snikt” sound effect. Wheee. Having seen a number of these before, I predict lots of fighting with people you don’t care about (Bastion looks to be playing a prominent role), lots of padding, some “deaths,” some “returns,” some “shocking changes,” and a sigh of relief when it’s over. Wolverine is a beginning, setting up the last arc of this title, the big, no-kidding showdown with Romulus. No, he’s not in this issue; instead, Logan talks with Nightcrawler about Mariko, and we get redraws of a bunch of panels from old X-Men books that rehash their story. The only reason for this book to exist is the last-page splash, which leads into yet another comic and is the actual beginning of the story; if you want to pay $2.99 for that, be my guest.
Detective Comics #863 — Writer: Greg Rucka; Art: Jack and Scott Kolins
After three issues, the answer to the question “Are Greg Rucka Batwoman comics worth reading when they aren’t drawn by J. H. Williams III, and feature some guy with knives all over his body cutting various body parts off of victims in order to perform plastic surgery on some woman for a reason that now escapes me?” is now clear: no.
Outsiders #28 — Writer: Dan Didio; Pencils: Philip Tan; Inks: Jonathan Glapion
It would be so easy to bag on Dan Didio: the not-particularly-well-liked exec who’s been a drag on DC’s otherwise-rising fortunes, and has been dabbling in scripts despite his lack of knowledge of writing or comics because, hey, he’s the boss, and besides, anybody can do it, right? Since this issue features a tedious 23-page fight scene with tone-deaf dialogue, everyone acting like idiots, and cynical manipulation of long-established characters to fit a resolution that manages to be stupid, depressing and boring, all at the same time, then yes: bagging on it is both easy and necessary. Back away slowly from this book, don’t do anything to encourage him, and maybe he’ll lose interest and wander away.
Phil Mateer
