Marvel Apes #1 (of 4) — Writer: Karl Kesel; Artist: Ramon Bachs
In case you really care, this isn’t about the Marvel heroes turning into monkeys; it’s about Marty Blank — The Gibbon — and a female scientist being accidentally transported to an alternate dimension where everybody was an ape to begin with. Thus, we have Iron Mandrill and Spider-Monkey fighting the likes of Doc Ook and Kong the Conqueror. If those names just made you laugh, congratulations — you’re the target audience for this book. For me, while Kesel’s script and Bachs’s art are cute enough (and good at striking the balance between cartoony and serious that’s required here), the concept’s just a tad too silly to, um, monkey around with.
Adam Strange Special #1 — Writer: Jim Starlin; Penciller: Rick Leonardi; Inker: Dan Green
You know a few weeks ago, when Starlin produced a Hawkman special, wherein the character met a mysterious cosmic figure who told him he was part of a group called The Aberrant Six (no, seriously…), and told him everything he knew was wrong, and revealed glimpses of his tragic future to him? Well, this is exactly the same book, but with Adam Strange substituted instead. Presumably, there’ll be four more, with other heroes that DC currently doesn’t know what to do with (Aquaman? Animal Man? Star Hawkins?), all with identical plots. In these tight economic times, presumably that way Starlin gets paid for writing the same thing six times — and we have the perfect excuse to avoid buying them.
Iron Man: Golden Avenger #1 — Story: Fred Van Lente; Script: M. Blankier; Artist: Juan Santacruz
One of those random Marvel one-shots that they seem so fond of lately — the cover looks like a still from the movie, and the plot seems a tad… oversimplified, I guess, as though this started out as a Marvel Adventures-type story, although the art’s more serious (with a painted style) than those kinds of books usually are. It’s not bad for new readers attracted by the film (although, geez, it would have been nice to have it, oh, three months ago, when people were actually going to the thing), but regular fans won’t find much to attract them to it.
Titans #4 — Writer: Judd Winick; Pencils: Joe Benitez; Inks: Victor Llamas with Oliver Nome
Eeesh — unattractive art, clunky (I’d almost say “lazy”) dialogue… this book started out bad, and it’s just not improving; it’s frustrating, too, because there’s actually the outline of a decent story here, but it’s like the creative team couldn’t find the time required to make it work, and just went with the crappy first draft instead. When the best scene involves Beast Boy and Raven talking in the bathroom, as she’s vomiting into the toilet, you know something’s gone horribly wrong with your comic.
Sub-Mariner: The Depths #1 (of 5) — Writer: Peter Milligan; Art: Esad Ribic
A submarine full of researchers searches for Atlantis, and the lead scientist keeps warning his crew not to take all those superstitious myths about a “Sub-Mariner” seriously, even as mysterious events keep occurring in the dark waters just outside the hull…. Moody and claustrophobic, and Ribic’s shadowy, painted art fits the story well, but — well, you know that Silver Surfer series from a few years ago, the one where they went all X-Files on it, and the Surfer barely even appeared until maybe three issues in? This reminds me of that, and I prefer books where the title character actually shows up. In fairness, this’ll probably work much better as a trade, where the set-up stuff doesn’t have to stand alone, but as a single issue it just doesn’t offer much bang for the bucks.
Ms. Marvel Annual #1 — Writer: Brian Reed; Penciler: Mark A. Robinson; Inker: Mark Irwin
Guest-starring Spider-Man (with a focus so much on him, in fact, that it reads like it was originally meant for his annual), as he and Carol team up to fight pesky robots, all the while bickering about who’s on the “real” Avengers, and whether she ought to be arresting him for being unregistered. Solid, and sometimes amusing, but also predictable, and ultimately forgettable.
X-Men: Manifest Destiny #1 (of 4) — (Iceman story): Writer: Mike Carey; Penciler: Michael Ryan; Inker: Victor Olazaba; (Boom-Boom story): Writer: James Asmus; Artist: Chris Burnham; (Karma story): Writer: C. B. Cebulski; Artist: David Yardin
The first eight pages of an Iceman story that could have been part of the regular, pre-Legacy X-Men title, padded with the Boom-Boom/Meltdown/Tabitha episode (where the art’s a little too bigfooty to be effective) and the Karma offering (where the art’s, frankly, too ugly to be effective). For X-completists only.
Phil Mateer
