Ooooh boy I’m back! After traditional, respectful and insightful reviews from good ol’ Phil the last two weeks, it’s back to fart jokes, fat jokes and everything in between. Let’s do this!
Uncanny Avengers #1 Writer: Rick Remender Artist: John Cassaday
Well, this was a crazy thing, wasn’t it? After the ‘meh’ wrap up of AvX, something big needed to show up and make things all right. This book exceeded expectations, which is what you’re looking for from a flagship title. Cassaday’s art is a guaranteed victory, but it’s the plot that really drives this issue from good to great. Remender builds up a mini-mystery in this issue that gets answered by the end, and it’s such a ridiculous surprise that I’m actually excited to see where the plot goes from here. It’s doofy fun, which is all you can hope for from a big team book from the Marvel company these days.
Batman #13 Writer: Scott Snyder Artist: Greg Capullo
All right folks, if it’s not sold out, this is the best way to get in on the ground floor of Scott Snyder’s Batman run. All you need to know is that Joker’s face was cut off in Detective Comics (blech) and now he’s back. In this issue he decides to re-introduce himself to Jim Gordon, and it is frigging, ahem…, batty. This issue was a return to form for Snyder, who had been letting me down lately with the annual and the “0” issue. Capullo took a break and comes back even sharper. He’s absolutely killed it on this book, and every page is upped in quality with his art on the page. It’s just damn good stuff, and I can’t say that enough.
Point of Impact #1 Writer: Jay Faerber Artist: Koray Kuranel
What a weird comic. It reads almost like a stronger CSI plot, where a lady dies under mysterious circumstances, and it turns out this affects her husband, and her other lover… Ooh… Suspense! Worth noting for it’s black and white coloring, and Kuranel solid linework. Every character is completely distinguishable from one another, making it a book that’s easy to follow. It’s a continuation of the rebirth of Image, and this 4-issue mini series works for fans of mystery and criminal work. Faerber’s writing is solid and polished, and it’s an enjoyable debut issue that keeps the reader interested.
Space Punisher #4 Writer: Frank Tieri Artist: Mark Texeira
Holy Moses this story was quite possibly the weirdest mini-series for Marvel to release in a while, and I hate myself for how much I loved it. Space Punisher had to beat up a bunch of Watchers by cutting off his arm, and throwing it to them, thus attracting the six-armed Hulk that was teleported in, and causing him to attack. What in the world did I just type? My personal favorite part has to be the open ending, setting up a potential ‘Space Avengers’ mini-series that could be just as freaking weird. And no, I have no idea why old-man Jarvis is floating in space, I just love this; that’s all there is to it.
Iron Man #526 Writer: Matt Fraction Artist: Salvador Larroca
Remember how I’ve been saying this storyline is going to come to a head? Well here it is. Cars crashing into people, four different Iron-type fighters assaulting the Mandarin as he tries to launch nuclear missiles, and a shock ending that closes everything out in a nice little bow. When I say ‘nice little bow’ I mean that someone gets a repulsor blast through the head. It’s a culmination of about five years worth of work, and the quality is absolutely amazing. This is immediately re-readable (similar to the next review), and I absolutely love it. Don’t forget, there’s still one more issue!
Fantastic Four #611 Writer: Jonathan Hickman Artist: Ryan Stegman
Hickman’s run heads toward it’s conclusion, and pieces from past issues get picked up to come to a close. I feel like this whole run was written for TPB market, so it should be better read as a whole, and that’s kind of disappointing. But you can’t fault the guy for putting together a long-form high-quality piece. This issue picks up on where we left Dr. Doom, or ‘how I spent my summer vacation building my own reality and subsequently blowing it up.’ Doom as always is powerful and calculated. Hickman has a fantastic grasp of his character, and that makes this a fun book. Great stuff.
And now some quick hits!
Marvel Universe Vs. The Avengers #1 Writer Jonathan Maberry Artist: Leandro Fernandez: The latest in this line of “Marvel dies from cannibalism” line of stories is just as good as ever.
Transfusion #1 Writer: Steve Niles Artist: Menton3: This is a weird book. It’s exactly what it says, Vampires vs. Robots, but it’s kinda hard to see through the art and the concept feels forced. Meh.
AvX Consequences #1 Writer: Kieron Gillen Artist: Tom Raney: Ugh, at this point I’m just not sure I care, and based on how this book sold, neither do you. Zing!
Bloodshot #4 Writer: Duane Swierczynski Artist: Manuel Garcia: This whole Valiant reboot has been completely amazing, and Bloodshot is the craziest of the lot. It’s so very good.
Stumptown #2 Writer: Greg Rucka Artist: Matthew Southworth: This just in, Rucka writes good mystery noir story with a strong female protagonist! Big freaking surprise. Just buy this. No, shut up, don’t argue, just buy it.
Phantom Stranger #1 Writer: Dan Didio Artist: Brent Anderson: I wanted to enjoy this a lot more than I did. It’s setting up some weird things that I’m afraid will be important later. But I just can’t quite commit to it. Another Meh.
And that’s the week! I’m back in action, so I’ll see you guys again in two weeks.
“The” Dan Jacka
