Heroes for Hire #12 — (Main Story): Writer: Zeb Wells; Penciller: Clay Mann; Inker: Terry Pallot; (Back-up Story): Writer: Fred Van Lente; Penciler: John Bosco; Inker: Terry Pallot
A World War Hulk tie-in. Only 16 pages to the main story, as the team gets in way, way over their heads (Humbug, particularly). Nice splash page at the end, but the art is otherwise undistinguished, and the back-up story, featuring Paladin and the new female Scorpion, has no compelling reason to exist; it presents unpleasant people doing unpleasant things in an unpleasant way.
The Chemist #1 — Writer/Artist: Jay Boose
The main woman character smokes like she’s in a ’40s noir film. So does the guy, and he’s supposed to be the title character. (What, an expert chemist finds the most effective self-medication delivery system to be smoking? What’s in those cigarettes?) They have a complicated (but effectively presented) relationship, equal parts attraction and self-preservation, and they’re outlaws. My first impression is that someone’s been studying a lot of Ed Brubaker, particularly Criminal and Sleeper — that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it makes this all a little too derivative to keep my interest.
Tank Girl: The Gifting #2 — Writer: Alan Martin; Art: Ashley Wood
I didn’t like the first issue, but I almost bought this one — Martin’s got the voices of all the characters back, and interesting things happen in sequence, and Wood’s art seems a lot more assured about being in Tank Girl’s world. If the next issue’s this good, I’ll probably back up and buy the whole thing.
Wolverine #55 — Writer: Jeph Loeb; Pencils: Simone Bianchi; Ink & “Washed Halftones” — Bianchi & Andrea Sylvestri
Eeesh. I don’t think this is going to get a lot of good reviews. What is it about some storylines that some critics react so negatively to? Is it the plot elements? Here, the “big event” is that Wolverine kills a major character, but I bet everybody reading this can think of two or three easy ways to bring the character back, so it has no impact. Worse, in a textbook example of bad timing, many readers will have already seen the convenient-sword-out-of-nowhere ploy earlier this week, in a certain fantasy novel, making it seem like, um, old hat here. Finally, this whole Roman mythology Romulus/Remus origin thing (so now all of Marvel’s feral characters are… what? Going to be connected to the primal Wolf Force or something? ) does not seem like a cause for optimism.
Silver Surfer: Requiem #3 (of 4) — Writer: J. Michael Straczynski; Art: Esad Ribic
Speaking of characters that everyone knows aren’t really going to die…. Straczynski’s aware of the problem, at least, and tries to solve it by playing the Surfer-as-savior card, but it’s with a two-planets-eternally-at-war plot that I’d swear I’ve seen before as a Star Trek episode, so it doesn’t work for me. Does anyone out there want to bet that, say, five years from now, the Silver Surfer won’t be part of regular Marvel continuity?
Countdown #40 — Writers: Paul Dini with Tony Bedard; Breakdowns: Keith Giffen; Pencils: Manuel Garcia; Inks: Mark McKenna
Very little movement or interest in the Ray Palmer, Jimmy Olsen, Mary Marvel or Holly plots; the Piper/Trickster thread doesn’t go far, either, but promises to perk up next issue. That leaves only the Darkseid section to carry the weight, and it’s hampered because that super-annoying eight-page Ballpark Franks ad centerfold (the one with all the Mad artists drawing hunger as a third hand rising phallically from your navel and holding a hot dog) is right in the middle of it. At this point, the idea of 39 (40?) more issues to go still seems more threat than promise….
Hawkgirl #66 — Story: Walt Simonson; Art: Renato Arlem
Final issue, Simonson having at least managed to resolve and simplify the characters’ backstory and relationship, and leave them better off (and more easily explained) than he found them. If he’d been drawing this, too, it would have felt a lot like his underappreciated Orion series, and I probably would have bought it. Now it’s been cancelled; maybe too many other readers felt the same?
JSA Classified #28 — Writer: Fabian Nicieza; Art: Steve Uy
The art keeps your attention: Uy’s got a simplified, direct manga-influenced style that sticks in the memory (although it sometimes veers into the overly cartoony, which makes the panel layouts too flat). The story is serviceable, as Jakeem wrestles with the “If I can do anything, why can’t I help more people?” riddle; it’s helped by Nicieza’s treatment of it as a rite of passage that all the heroes with serious powers have to deal with, but hampered, at least for me, by its sheer familiarity.
Phil Mateer
