War Heroes #2 (of 6) — Writer: Mark Millar; Art: Tony Harris
For a book that’s supposed to be about super-powered soldiers, we get very little actual super-powers here; instead, it’s a standard basic-training, sadistic-drill-sergeant riff, crossed with a caper-driven plot involving a group of recruits who’ve entered the program for nefarious purposes. Oh, and there’s a half-page splash of an erect penis, forecast only by a tiny “mature readers” label on the cover. Thanks, Image and Mark Millar: that’s just the kind of juvenile, gratuitous, stupid gesture that’s sure to get scores of unsuspecting retailers in trouble — and all in the service of a boring and cynical comic.
Star Trek: Assignment: Earth #5 (of 5) — Writer/Artist: John Byrne
Quite a bit of fun, actually, with a plot involving a Communist attempt to replace President Richard Nixon with a surgically-altered duplicate (and a great cover featuring the two Dicks glaring at each other, five o’clock shadows and all). The actual story suffers, as most issues in this series have, from being too wedded to its late-’60s cheesy-TV-show roots (the too-convenient, mind-wiping Toinger is as annoying as ever), but the art’s sharp, and it’s an enjoyable read, as long as you don’t stop to think too much about it.
Rann-Thanagar: Holy War #5 (of 8) — Writer: Jim Starlin; Pencils: Ron Lim; Inks: Rob Hunter
Pretty much the same cosmic goulash Starlin’s been serving up for 30 years — not necessarily a bad thing, although his nigh-omnipotent bad guys with portentious names (“Synnar,” in this case), galaxy-spanning fundamentalist religious movements, and plucky-but-flawed heroes all start to run together after a while. Readers who can tolerate Lim’s decent-enough Starlin imitations in the art, and are able to keep DC’s many space heroes straight, should find it entertaining.
War Machine: Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D #33 — Writer: Christos N. Gage; Penciler: Sean Chen; Inker: Sandu Florea
Since they’ve got a new Iron Man book, Marvel’s turning this one over to the more-second-string War Machine, in hopes of generating a built-in audience the way they were able to do with the Incredible Hulk/Hercules switch last year. It’s OK — inevitably, it’s a Secret Invasion tie-in, and the idea that Rhodey is Tony Stark’s failsafe, his armor tech the only one not compromised by a Skrull-induced virus, gives it some oomph — but otherwise it’s competent-but-generic superhero fare, worth buying if you’re a fan of the characters but otherwise dismissable.
Scalped #21 — Writer: Jason Aaron; Artist: R. M. Guera
Just a shout-out to this series, which has managed to last 21 issues so far, and to deliver an entertaining-enough 100 Bullets-style noir look at the corruptions and compromises inherent in living on the rez, casino income or not. Aaron manages to avoid the obvious stereotypes and keep the plot boiling, manipulating his scruffy, dangerous cast of bosses and losers well enough to be worth checking out.
Marvel Apes #2 (of 4) — Writer: Karl Kesel; Artist: Ramon Bachs
Compliments to Kesel and Bachs for making this high-concept, low-resolution series even semi-readable — and for exerting a lot of effort, down to a fake Bullpen Bulletins page — but, geez, it’s an alternate world of monkey-analogues to the regular Marvel Universe, you know? It pretty much defines the “disposable publicity stunt” concept. We’re all to blame for this, because we were amused enough by Marvel Zombies to buy it, but if this one sells you just know they’ve got more in the wings (the Marvel Aquaverse, with Captain Amerifish and Guppy!), so it’s probably best to stamp it out now.
Greatest Hits #1 — Writer: David Tischman; Art: Glenn Fabrey
What if The Beatles had been a British team of super-heroes, instead of musicians? Well, the comic chronicling their adventures would have some decent Fabrey art, but not much else. A writer like Garth Ennis or Warren Ellis might have been able to amp up the characterization and satire enough to make this interesting, and someone like (God help us) Mark Millar might have made it just outrageous enough to be fun, but Tischman, outside of a couple of good throwaway bits, offers only about what you’d expect from the concept; give it a look, but don’t expect it to generate enough interest to survive.
Phil Mateer
