Ultimates 3 #3 (of 5) — Writer: Jeph Loeb; ArtJoe Madureira
Still bad — everyone, every single character, is unpleasant, yelling and poking each other (and sometimes shooting holes in one another) like hyperactive kindergardeners. Joe Mad gets to draw dinosaurs and has one good Iron Man moment, but then he does a nude scene that indicates he’s never seen an actual live human breast before. Oh, and Thor, inexplicably, isn’t talking Asgardian again, and we’re told (but not, thank God, shown) that “Pietro found in Wanda…a kind of love… that no one in this room can really understand.” Sure, Jeph, but they can’t understand this comic, either, so it all kind of karmicly balances out, eh?
Hulk #2 — Writer: Jeph Loeb; Penciler: Ed McGuiness; Inker: Dexter Vines
The problem here is that most of this makes no sense, and it’s hard to figure out whether that’s a plot point or just … stuff that doesn’t make sense. Is the Red Hulk supposed to be able to change in size, sometimes with hands bigger than She-Hulk’s head and sometimes not? Is he supposed to be a teleporter, able to sneak on the Shield helicarrier (Which, by the way, crashes. Again.) in New Jersey, and then moments later be in Nevada? Maybe he’s some kind of mental projection of Banner’s, and all the inconsistencies are actually clues? My bet’s on “no sense” — it’ll turn out that there’ve always been Red Hulks and Green Hulks, ever since the founding of Rome, and then all of our heads will explode and that will be that.
Superman/Batman #46 — Writers: Michael Green and Mike Johnson; Penciller: Shane Davis; Inker: Matt Banning
“Magical kryptonite” is not a concept I’m willing to embrace, but the effect on Clark (and the way it makes him see the JLA in chibi style) is almost enough to justify it. Almost. Oh, and Zatanna’s “Ssik ym ttub,” and Batman’s reply, make a good scene; those two really ought to get together, brainwashing and cliched science/magic debates or no.
The Incredible Hercules #114 — Writers: Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente; Penciler: Khoi Pham; Inker: Paul Neary
The Black Widow/Champions callback is kind of fun, but the Amadeus Cho stuff is a little too predictable (Marvel missed a bet in not doing a National Lampoon buy-this-comic-or-we’ll-kill-this-puppy cover), and, dude, it’s still Hercules, you know? Despite the mythology and the Hydra blood and all, he’s just not that interesting a character.
Catwoman #76 — Writer: Will Pfeifer; Penciller: David Lopez; Inker: Alvaro Lopez
Pretty clever, in the way that it plays with the reader’s (and Selina’s) expectations; Pfeifer said in an interview that he’d figured out a way to keep her in the editorially-mandated Salvation Run story and still not have to deal with most of it, and his solution is entertaining enough. There’s still the nagging feeling that he’s just marking time until Final Crisis, and that the character’s fate is out of his hands; that lets some of the air out of an otherwise-OK story.
Countdown to Final Crisis #10 (of -51) — Writers: Paul Dini with Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti (and Keith Giffen); Art: Scott Kolins
Mary gets her Marvel back, and takes Harley and Holly to gods-fueled superheroine land with her; the concept isn’t bad, but the pedestrian art sucks any possible pizzazz out of the presentation (speaking of Harley art, there’s a two-page origin of her drawn by Bruce Timm, too, which may be enough to get some fans to buy this book). Meanwhile, the Piper story defines “anticlimactic” (not to mention “WTF?”), and Brother Eye takes over (Darkseid can cage the entire Greco-Roman pantheon, but can’t stop a computer? Please let this be part of his clever plan — it’s a feature, not a bug! — and not just more careless storytelling…).
Checkmate #23 — Writers: Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann; Penciller: Joe Bennett; Inker: Jack Jackson
Beginning the big showdown with Kobra. I’m on the fence about the use of Superman here (yeah, OK, he’s needed to move the plot along, and at least his power level seems about right, but Rucka seems a lot more comfortable with the non-super espionage-type heroes, like Mademoiselle Marie in the last arc), but of you like these multi-issue Man From U.N.C.L.E./shadowy good guys vs. evil world-dominating bad guys stories, here you go.
Madame Mirage #5 — Writer: Paul Dini; Artist: Kenneth Rocafort
Is this a six-issue series? It doesn’t say, but the way the main character loses control of events, and the last-page cliffhanger, certainly suggest that the next issue will be the last one (or maybe just the end of the origin arc). While the story hasn’t been terrible, the earlier issues, with their near-future setting and now-who-is-she-really? switchbacks, just haven’t developed enough interest in the character for me to care.
Flash #237 — Writer: Keith Champagne; Penciller: Koi Turnbull Inker: Art Thibert
Not too bad for a fill-in; Champagne understands the West family dynamic, and writes the kids OK, and it fits into continuity; if there were no credits, you might think it was Mark Waid knocking out a quick transitional issue between longer arcs. The art isn’t much more than adequate, though; the anatomy’s sometimes off, and Turnbull doesn’t bring much style to the speed stuff. Overall, it’s an easy issue to skip.
Phil Mateer
