Marvel Zombies 3 #1(of 4) — Writer: Fred Van Lente; Artist: Kev Walker
Talk about beating an (un)dead horse: after the original Ultimate FF introduction of these characters, the two mini-series, the special, the Army of Darkness crossover mini-series, and who knows what else, this concept has officially been run into the ground. Those first two mini-series worked because of Robert Kirkman’s sly, gleeful scripts, but now he’s gone, and while Van Lente tries mightily (and does throw in one or two effective twists), this just ain’t working no more (it’s fitting that it’s set in a swamp: dark, hard to get through, smelly, and all wet). Additional points off for taking the Warren Ellis version of Aaron Stack/Machine Man, and having no idea how to get his snarky, knowing character and dialogue right.
Ender’s Game #1(of 5) — Script: Christopher Yost; Art: Pasqual Ferry
This was the sf novel that made Orson Scott Card’s reputation, a Heinleinesque surviving-bootcamp-cum-invading-space-aliens story, with the additional wrinkle that the protagonist, at the beginning, is only six years old, but already a master strategist. It’s got a couple of hurdles to get over as a comics adaptation: for one thing, five issues is hardly enough, especially when this first is all setup; for another, most of the novel is inside the title character’s head, and that’s hard to duplicate in a visual medium. Yost does about as well as he can with it, but interested readers would be much better served by going out and buying the actual book instead.
13 Chambers #1 — Writer: Christopher “minl” Morrison; Art: Denis Medri
Weird: it’s a western, but set in 1865 in an alternate-timeline US where the original 13 colonies split up the whole country, not just the Eastern Seaboard. Why? Just because, apparently; the differences are never explained, and they aren’t particularly central to the convoluted plot, which involves one of the 13 territory’s marshals tracking down the others, to take away their super-revolvers because they’ve all been decommissioned by the new President. It’s all kind of murky and half-baked (three of the territories aren’t even named — they just have numbers — apparently because the writer couldn’t come up with anything good for them, and similarly the President isn’t Lincoln or Grant, and vaguely looks like Zachary Taylor, but is never named either). It all comes off like a minor episode of Wild Wild West, but with Clint Eastwood playing the main role, and not even any Artemis Gordons or Dr. Lovelesses to liven things up; I can’t see why anyone would spend $6 for it.
Batman Confidential #22 — Writer: Andrew Kreisberg; Penciller: Scott McDaniel; Inker: Andy Owens
The start of a “new” story, but set right after Batman first meets and captures the Joker, and delivers him to one of Gotham’s precincts. Predictably, he screws around with the cops, ruining the life of one in particular. The annoying thing here is that, while it’s supposedly in the past, the plot depends on there being things like cell phones, so it’s really set in the sort-of present, like the movie. As someone who prefers his first Batman-Joker meeting to have taken place in a Bob Kane-style 1930s, the whole thing makes my head hurt, and the script and art just aren’t distinguished enough to make it feel any better. I get why every writer and artist wants to do the Joker, but have any of these retro-continuity implants ever worked? (OK, maybe The Killing Joke, but go and get Alan Moore and Brian Bolland to do your mini-series, and then we’ll talk….)
Gears of War #1 — Writer: Joshua Ortega; Artist: Liam Sharp
It’s got a cool cover (especially for Hallowe’en), and Sharp is an old pro, but at its core this is just another shoot-’em-up videogame comic, with zombie-like underground creatures versus your standard outnumbered Marine grunts, everyone carrying outsize guns and gritting their teeth and getting their blood splattered everywhere. If that kind of thing excites you, you might as well buy this, although playing one of the hundreds of video games with the same plot would be more exciting, and at least have the advantage of improving your hand-eye coordination.
Deadpool #3 — Writer: Daniel Way; Penciler: Paco Medina; Inker: Juan Vlasco
The conclusion of Wade versus the Skrulls, and it’s actually not bad: Way gets ‘Pool’s schizophrenic internal dialogue and Bugs Bunnyesque sense of humor OK, and Medina’s art, while not spectacular, at least is competent, and tells the story smoothly enough. I just have never gotten the character enough to want to buy this, but if you do I promise I won’t point and laugh, or talk bad about you after you leave the store.
The Amazing Spider-Man Family #2 — John Arcudi/Ramon Bachs; Tom Defalco/Ron Frenz/Sal Buscema; Paul Benjamin/Val Semeiks/Victor Olazaba; Gerry Conway/John Romita
The Defalco/Frenz/Buscema story is set in the Spidergirl timeline, but from when May is a baby — so it’s Peter and Mary Jane, mostly; fans of that book might want to get this, since it’s by the regular creative team there. The other two new stories are set in the current Brand New Day continuity, and are minor efforts; the three Conway/Romita reprints are from Amazing Spider-Man #s 113-115, with Hammerhead and Dr. Octopus having a battle for control of the mobs, and Aunt May caught in the middle; they’re a good example of the kind of early-’70s Spidey vibe that today’s books are trying to get back to. Is it all worth $5? Probably not for the new stories, but maybe if you’ve never read the older stuff.
Phil Mateer
