All-New Iron Manual One-Shot — Writer/Artists: Various
This is an “Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe” book for Iron Man, and it’s a dense background compilation for new fans of the character drawn in by the movie, with entries on all the major (and many minor) characters, diagrams of various pieces of equipment, etc. At $4.99 it’s a trifle pricey, but still the kind of thing that a 12-year-old would pore over for hours, so it’s worth the cost for those wanting to catch up on Tony Stark, his cast, and his current world.
Guardians of the Galaxy #1 — Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning; Penciler: Paul Pelletier; Inker: Rick Magyar
This offers a continuation of the Annihilation franchise, with a team made up of Starlord, Warlock, Rocket Raccoon, Drax, Mantis, and Quasar (and a tiny potted Groot). The set-up is very Lovecraftian, as the good guys travel the galaxy trying to repair “weak spots” in its fabric that would otherwise rupture and offer an opportunity to “things that would like to get in… things that have never blinked at the light of our days.” If you liked the previous Annihilation mini-series, or are a fan of Marvel space stuff in general, it’s worth checking out.
Giant-Size Incredible Hulk #1 — Writer: Roger Stern; Artists: Zach Howard and Cory Hamscher
The lead story’s new, and it’s nice to see Stern still writing, although he’s not particularly well-served by the art, which is OK with the action scenes but not particularly good at everyday faces, conversations, backgrounds, etc. The story involves a minor character from the Hulk’s past traveling around gathering material for a book about him, so it recaps his origin and offers some insight into his 1970s dumb-Hulk psyche. The back-up reprint might be of more interest; it’s by Stern, too, from Hulk Annual #7, and offers 35 pages of John Byrne art from 1978, just as he was making his reputation on X-Men as the Next Big Thing. Looking at the penciling (which, in addition to the Hulk, features Angel, Iceman and Doc Samson), what’s impressive is how solid it is, how every character and object is well-designed and firmly anchored in each panel, giving a sense of a real world; it makes the lead story’s environment look wispy and insubstantial. If you’ve never read it, it’s worth the $3.99 price of the book by itself.
Booster Gold #9 — Writers: Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz; Penciler: Dan Jurgens; Finishes: Norm Rapmund
Guest-starring the 1980s Justice League International (the bwah-ha-ha team), as Booster and Blue Beetle try to “fix” the Max Lord/Omac timeline that led to Ted Kord’s death, with predictably frustrating results. Johns is about the only writer I’d trust to actually do something with this and make it stick (well, Keith Giffen, too), and for fans who thought psycho-Max was a horrible trashing of their childhood comics experience, it at least offers some hope, but I still think it’s all going to end badly, with a noble sacrifice and a return to the dead-Ted status quo, so it’s hard to muster much enthusiasm for it.
Batman Confidential #17 — Writer: Fabian Nicieza; Art: Kevin Maguire
First of three parts detailing the first fight between Catwoman and a very rookie Barbara Gordon Batgirl. Nicieza offers a story that’s true to the characters, even as it plays to the strengths of artist Kevin Maguire, who’s an expert at making fanboy hearts race in situations like, oh, Barbara trying to chase Selina into an exclusive bar where everyone’s, um… nude. It’s not a “mature readers” book, so expect lots of conveniently-placed plants and smoke, but still….
Fantastic Four: Secret Invasion #1 (of 3) — Writer: Robert Aguirre-Sacasa; Penciler: Barry Kitson; Inkers: Mick Carey; Scott Hanna; Barry Kitson and Paul Neary
Not bad for a crossover tie-in, as this first issue involves the Skrulls removing the FF from the board and stranding Ben, Johnny and the Baxter Building in the Negative Zone, with a last-page reveal that has some kick to it for long-time fans. To work as a tie-in to the main event, the bad guys have to get their initial win a little too conveniently (Sue gets taken out way too easily), but it’s not embarrassing, and feels like a legitimate part of the main Secret Invasion story instead of just a quick add-on.
Titans #2 — Writer: Judd Winnick; Pencils: Joe Benitez; Inks: Victor Llamas
Better than the first issue, in that it doesn’t feel like an actual train wreck, and the bits with Trigon are unexpectedly good (Winnick often has a knack with bad guys), but Garth is drawn more annoyingly than usual, and the big revelation on the final page falls flat. “Mediocre” is a definite step up from “disastrously bad,” though, so there’s some hope.
GeNext #1 — Writer: Chris Claremont; Penciler: Patrick Scherberger; Inker: Norman Lee
This is kind of an Amazing Spider-Girl version of the X-Men, as we’re offered a what-if-they’d-aged-in-real-time story where the “New Mutant” trainees at the Xavier Institute are the son of Rogue and Gambit, Colossus’s grandson, Storm’s daughter, etc. All the typical Claremont strengths and weaknesses; it’s kind of nice to see him playing in this universe, actually, although these alternate-timeline stories never seem quite “real” enough to have as much at stake as the regular books do — and that title is unfortunate (there are at least three possible ways to pronounce it, and no clue which is right).
Phil Mateer
