The Hulk #4 — Writer: Jeph Loeb; Penciler: Ed McGuinness; Inker: Dexter Vines
The Ultimates 3 #4 (of 5) — Writer: Jeph Loeb; Art: Joe Madureira
Not to be a Loeb hater, but geez. He seems to have completed his transformation into a Chuck Austen-level target of fan vitriol, and it’s his own fault, with plot developments that are either mind-bogglingly wrongheaded (the Watcher scene that opens the Hulk book doesn’t even work as parody; it’s just stupid, in a giggling Beavis-and-Butthead sort of way), or incomprehensible (I defy anyone to explain, in one sentence, just what’s going on in Ultimates 3, and why we should care). Avoid these books, unless you’re the sort of person who can’t help slowing down to examine the details of horrible traffic accidents.
Wolverine: Origins #26 — Writer: Daniel Way; Artist: Stephen Segovia
The actually-kind-of-fun Deadpool crossover having concluded, we revert to grim, with flashbacks to Logan as a repulsive, murderous blackops guy during W.W.II, without even any Steve Dillon art to leaven the boredom. Wake me when the maudlin cure-the-son stuff is finished, and something interesting happens again.
Green Lantern #32 — Writer: Geoff Johns; Pencils: Ivan Reis; Inks: Oclair Albert with Julio Ferreira
The origin retelling continues. Points for getting rid of the Hal-as-drunk-in-prison Emerald Dawn retcon (and it’s interesting that the Sinestro dialogue from that mini-series stays almost exactly the same), but Johns makes the mistake of trying to load too much current continuity into the story (Hector Hammond and Black Hand?), making it sag under its own weight.
Pigeons From Hell #3 (of 4) — Writer: Joe R. Lansdale; Artist: Nathan Fox
This sequel to the Robert E. Howard haunted-plantation story continues to be entertaining, especially in the moody, Paul Popish art. This third act is mostly backstory, supplied by the helpful Old Creepy Guy In The Woods so that our heroes can get ready for the big confrontation in the final issue. OK, although it’s B-movie predictable (for a man who’s fended off evil for 150 years, you’d think he’d be a little more careful about warning visitors not to break his magic barrier…).
Alibi #1 — Writer: Joshua Hale Fialkov; Art: Jeremy Haun
Part of Top Cow’s Pilot Season contest, where the company rolls out six first issues, and invites readers to vote on which two to make into regular series. Probably not this one; it’s an international-assassin tale with decent art, but its title gimmick makes no sense (even if all the authorities are idiots), and it’s hard to see where it can go from here.
Young Avengers Presents: Hawkeye #6 (of 6) — Writer: Matt Fraction; Pencils: Alan Davis; Inks: Mark Farmer
The spotlight’s on the girl Hawkeye (as the title tells you), and her conversations with Clint Barton. Davis’s Neal Adamsesque art is both as solid and as derivative as always, and the story is effective at mining the same generational themes as the rest of this series. I’ve never quite been able to get into this title or its characters, but if you’re a fan this shouldn’t disappoint you.
Ms. Marvel #28 — Writer: Brian Reed; Pencils: Adriana Melo; Inks: Mariah Benes
Avengers: The Initiative #14 — Writers: Dan Slott and Christos N. Gage; Artist: Stefano Caselli
Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #1 (of 3) — Writer: Chris Yost; Artist: Takeshi Miyazawa
This week’s Secret Invasion crossovers; Both the Ms. Marvel and the Young Avengers/Runaways books are set in the middle of the Skrull now-not-so-secret invasion of New York City, while the Initiative title follows the 3D Man, whose goggles are one of the few working Skrull detectors, as he finds out that the 50-State Initiative’s real goal wasn’t quite as nobel as everyone thought. The way the “good” characters are working at cross purposes is clever, although the explanation for why those goggles work, when Dr. Strange’s magic and Reed Richards’ genius don’t — “they’re old school” — leaves, let’s say, a lot to be desired. Anyway, these are all solid tie-ins, with major connections to the main story, so both regular readers of the titles and crossover completists should give them a look.
Phil Mateer
