Supergirl #18 — Writer: Joe Kelly; Pencillers: Adam Archer and Ale Garza; Inker: Sandra Hope
Supergirl vs. an idealized, Silver-Ageish version of herself, which lets Kelly make his case against all the people who’ve been agitating for that version of the character to come back. That part’s good — he gets in some good arguments, after all — but the art is sometimes distracting. The faces, especially, are often distorted, and even ugly, and the ending is a “Hey — what th–?” affair that feels like Kelly is rushing to wrap things up before the next creative team takes over — and it still doesn’t resolve the overall plotline that’s been going on for forever.
New Warriors #1 — Writer: Kevin Grevioux; Penciler: Paco Medina; Inker: Juan Vlasco
This reminded me of the first Young Avengers, in that I wanted to hate it, but kept thinking “Oh, that’s not too bad” and, once, “That’s cool.” Some of the supporting characters seem a little too by-the-numbers, and the art is just OK, but if you’re looking for a young-rebel-heroes-against-the-Initiative book, yo could do worse than this.
Birds of Prey #107 — Writer: Gail Simone; Penciller: Nicola Scott; Inker: Doug Hazelwood
Simone’s mix of the Secret Six and the BOP is a competent juggling act, and the character interactions — Huntress and Catman, Barda and Knockout, etc. — are well-realized and fun. The whole “Ice” thing bothers me, just because it seemed to come so much out of nowhere, but this has actually been a good (last?) arc from Simone, and I’m this close to picking up the last few chapters and moving them all to the “buy” list.
Daredevil: Battlin’ Jack Murdock #1 (of 4) — Writer: Zeb Wells; Art: Carmine Di Giandomenico
Do you want to read a four-issue prestige series about Matt Murdock’s father, as he fights his last fight and reminisces about his and the young Matt’s past? Remember, there won’t be any actual Daredevil in it; it’s an extended boxing match, more On The Waterfront than anything else. The art is a little too slick for the old-time boxing grittiness, though — there’s a lot of blood, obsessively drawn, but it doesn’t seem real, and the color palate is almost monochromatic. Why would Marvel think this was a story that needed to be told again, or that would find an audience?
Iron Man #18 — Writers: Daniel and Charles Knauf; Penciler: Roberto de la Torre; Inkers: Jonathan Sibal and Roberto de la Torre
Trying to make Tony Stark sympathetic at this point is tough, so we have scenes like Dum Dum Dugan saying “Fury …saw the world for what it was. Director Stark sees the world for what it can be.” Oh, please. Plus, the ending is a deus ex extremis, and the storyline is too muddled up in my head to make much sense. Right now,the only creator who can make me buy an Iron Man book is Adam Warren.
Omega Flight #3 (of 5) — Writer: Michael Avon Oeming; Artist: Scott Kolins
The ante gets upped, and in a cosmic/demonic/end-of-the-world way that just seems too over-the-top for this rather modest book to sustain it. The Beta-Ray Bill stuff is nice (Oeming has shown an affinity for that character in the past), but the other characters just are all so dysfunctional and hard to keep track of that they’re no fun. The hitting and punching stuff is OK, but the quiet scenes aren’t that compelling, so overall it’s an easily dismissable book.
Ms. Marvel #16 — Writer: Brian Reed; Penciler: Aaron Lopresti; Inker: Matt Ryan
This book should be more fun than it is — there’s M.O.D.O.K., lots of heroes, and lots of subplots — but somehow there’s not as much oomph to it as there should be, maybe because beyond all the action, there’s nothing there. All the energy’s gone into continuity, but there’s not much of a theme, so readers need a Ph.D. in the Marvel Universe to absorb what’s just empty calories after all.
Welcome to Tranquility #7 — Writer: Gail Simone; Art: Neil Googe
Starting a new storyline, mostly about death — appropriate, given the events of the first story arc; it’s pefectly competent, as always with Simone, but none of the characters, even the policewoman who’s the readers’ stand-in, are compelling enough to make this a keeper.
