Final Crisis: Rogue’s Revenge #1 (of 3) — Writer: Geoff Johns; Artist: Scott Kolins
This isn’t bad, but it’s basically an issue of the old Johns-Kolins Flash series, with the old-school Rogues against the newer, more bloodthirsty ones, and no actual Flashes in sight. Johns’s intimate, by-now-instinctive knowledge of the characters, and Kolins’s detailed art, make it readable, but it feels more like an echo of past good stories than a self-contained new one, and the connection to Final Crisis is tenuous; you get the feeling you could skip all of this, and the bigger mini-series would roll right along, unaffected. Still, if you enjoyed Johns’s earlier Flash run, this will feel familiar and enjoyable, and that’s enough to move it to the top of this week’s read-but-not-bought list.
Universal War One: Book One: The Genesis #1 — Writer/Artist: Denis Bajram
The second of Marvel’s American productions of work from the European publisher Soliel — and, like Sky Doll, it’s got that continental Heavy Metal feel. Instead of that title’s lighter, sexier tone, though, it’s gritty space-war drama, with its gritty, squabbling squadron of space scientists recalling elements of 2001, The Dirty Dozen, and any number of other, more minor war and sf movies. Interesting, and the science and universe-building show a lot of effort, but it’s just the first chapter in what feels like a long, massive story, so readers are going to have to commit to a long-term relationship if they want to get involved with this book.
X-Factor #33 — Writer: Peter David; Penciler: Larry Stroman; Inker: Jon Sibal
The team’s relocated to Detroit, and this issue crosses over with both Secret Invasion and David’s other Marvel series, She-Hulk; that’s a lot of plot sloshing around, and while there’s David’s trademark humor and solid storytelling, there’s also Stroman’s scratchy, often-ugly art (he has a knack for the grotesque, which is effective with the supporting characters, but not so attractive when it comes to the main heroes). Enjoyable enough, but too easily forgettable.
Batgirl #1 — Writer: Adam Beechen; Penciller: J. Calafiore; Inkers: Mark McKenna and Jonathan Glapion
Beechen has the unenviable task of trying to make Cassie’s complicated, inconsistent backstory accessible to new readers, and although he pulls in splashes of Nightwing and Batman and Robin, working the connection to the Bat-family, he can’t quite pull it off, at one point resorting to a two-page spread with over 500 words of info-dump. In fairness, given the stupid choices made by previous writers (She’s a flawed hero trying to redeem her past! Wait, now she’s a murderer! Wait, she was actually brainwashed! Wait…), it’s practically impossible to give this character a clear narrative; the bottom line, unfortunately, is that after reading this first issue there’s no compelling reason to come back to read a second one.
Moon Knight #20 — Writer: Mike Benson; Artist: Mike Deodato, Jr.
MK stumbles upon a werewolf-fighting ring, where the bad guys are injecting homeless people with essence-of-werewolf from a captured Jack Russell (Marvel’s Werewolf By Night), and betting on the outcome. Deodato goes for an impressionistic, Bill Sienkiewicz-like take on the character, making him inexplicably huge, and while it’s nice to see a done-in-one-issue story, the plot’s predictable, and depends on the hero winning the big fight against the monster because… well, just because, apparently. Marvel adds an extra buck to the price of the book and throws in the first two Moon Knight appearances, from Werewolf By Night #s 32 and 33; these serve mostly to illustrate how even a ’70s comic which seemed solidly-entertaining at the time looks cheesy now, in the cold, hard light of the ’00s.
Foolkiller #1 (of 5) — Writer: Greg Hurwitz; Penciler: Paul Azaceta
Cartoonishly, inanely evil bad guys; an unsympathetic main “hero” who comes off as a poor man’s Punisher; murky art that synchs nicely with the murky plotting: This comic offers no good reason for the casual reader to ever pick it up again. Given the low circulation and generally poor reception of the previous mini-series — it strained to attract 12,000 readers — Marvel’s decision to offer more of the exact same thing is puzzling (and more than a little frustrating, given all the more-deserving characters that could have been given a chance in place of this one).
Phil Mateer
