The Muppet Show Comic Book #4 — Writer: Roger Langridge; Art: Amy Mebberson
Boom! continues to make this a very solid comic: the colors that just pop, the slick paper and production values, the elaborate, well-designed and true-to-Henson art, and especially Langridge’s stories, which showcase a keen understanding of the characters and what makes them work. There’s no pandering, either: the book is as much for 40-somethings with fond memories of the British TV show as for younger readers. This issue, with everyone back in the theater and a new character showing up, doesn’t have the slapstick energy of the last few “on the road” ones, but its gentle humor, sly asides and knowing treatment of human… er, Muppet nature make it worth a look.
Cinderella #6 (of 6) — Writer: Chris Roberson; Art: Shawn McManus
This mini-series, a spy adventure set in the Fables universe, ended up being OK — McManus, whose style can get annoying when he’s drawing straight superhero stuff, is very good at navigating the junctures between fairy-tale fantasy and the real world (with a Cindy who’s capable of being sexy, smart and super-competent), and Roberson’s story, while not quite up to Willingham standards, had enough twists and surprise appearances to keep the pages turning. Special mention to Chrissie Zullo, whose stunning, poster-worthy cover offers a lesson in how to attract readers, and sums up the story without giving anything away — a rare ability, these days.
The New Avengers: Luke Cage #1 (of 3) — Writer: John Arcudi; Art: Eric Canete
Meh. Luke goes to Philadelphia to help an old friend, and runs into Hammerhead and Mr. Negative. It’s not bad — Arcudi knows how to construct a solid story — but it offers little excitement, and Canete’s angular art doesn’t help: the fight scenes are listless and hard to follow, and the street scenes are just there. I can’t imagine a casual reader picking this up and flipping through it, and finding any single page or scene to convince him to spend $3.99 (for the standard 23 pages of story, too) on it.
World War Hulks #1 (of 1) — Writers: Jeff Parker, Harrison Wilcox, Scott Reed, Paul Tobin; Art: Zach Howard and Mark Irwin; Ben Oliver; Aluir Amancio and Terry Austin; Ramon Rosanas; Ryan Stegman and Michael Babinski; Ig Guara
See, this is what drives me crazy about Marvel’s pricing strategies: this book offers 48 pages of story — more than twice what Luke Cage has — for the exact same $3.99 price. Not that this means you should run out and buy it, since it’s largely filler: six stories about the likes of Glenn Talbot and A-Bomb, set around the edges of current Hulk continuity and offering no particular insights or necessary information. There’s an eight-page Deadpool story at the end that changes him into Hulkpool, and leads into next week’s nonessential one-shot, Hulked-Out Heroes, but otherwise this looks like an excuse to give largely-novice creators some work.
Marvel Zombies 5 #1 (of 5) — Writer: Fred Van Lente; Penciler: Kano; Inker: Tom Palmer
Wisely, Van Lente isn’t focusing much on the continuity of previous versions of this shambling franchise, instead opting for an Exiles-like team of operatives (in this issue, Aaron Stack and Howard the Duck, which leads to some admirably snarky dialogue), who travel through the Marvel multiverse researching outbreaks of the undead. Here, they’re in Marvel Western territory, and pick up a new teammate; the next-issue blurb promises Killraven and his Martian-ruled Earth. The bloom is long off the rotting rose of this concept, but this actually looks better than 3 and 4 were; it’s nowhere near the fun of the original, but it chugs right along and doesn’t take itself too seriously — and it’s nice to see an old pro like Palmer still working.
Invincible Returns #1 — Writer: Robert Kirkman; Penciler: Ryan Ottley; Inker: Cliff Rathburn
Returns? Who knew that he left? This is just another episode of Kirkman’s long-running superhero title, with the numbering reset to one; the good news is that this gives them an excuse to add pages and make it a convenient jump-on point for new readers, as they gear up for the big outer-space multi-part Viltrumite War that’s going to start next issue and take up the next year or so. If you’ve read a lot of superhero books, you’ll find nothing new here, but both the art and story are crystal-clear and enthusiastic, with enough soap-opera elements stirred in to keep the pot boiling and the readers coming back for more.
Turf #1 — Writer: Jonathan Ross; Art: Tommy Lee Edwards
Well, you can’t accuse this book of thinking small: it starts out as a 1920s NYC mobster tale, with gangland massacres and nosy reporters and hardboiled cops, but then it starts mixing in the vampires and the aliens, and by the end there are three or four storylines ricocheting along at once. Too many, I think: noir works as a gritty, grubby mirror of the real world, and mixing in the fantasy stuff is like pouring chocolate in your coffee — too rich, too confusing, and much too hard to swallow.
Phil Mateer
