While conceptually I enjoyed many aspects of the conclusion to this story, the execution of it in within this specific issue was piss-poor. After eleven damn issues of Reed Richards being this unstoppable, unimaginable evil genius, Tony Stark gets lucky with a sentient tumor and, in one fell swoop, saves the day. What? A brain tumor with a mind of its own that can control technology? That is the best solution Jonathan Hickman and Sam Humphries could come up with? Richards and his City made for some of the boldest, most compelling new supervillains I've come across in ages, and the key to defeating them ends up being...a fluke. A health problem made into a power. Dues ex machina taking the form of intelligent cancer.
Boooooooooooooo.
I understand and agree with the idea that the City might see Richards' recent behavior as counter to its own goals and then turn against him. These are the parts that worked for me. And visually, I admit it was pretty great to watch a giant Iron Man and Hulk duke it out over a Mr. Fantastic who was stretched to his limits. Luke Ross actually brought some of his strongest work to this issue, I thought, and that fight in particular looked great. But come on, one of the guys who happens to be on the Ultimates also happens to have an undetectable secret weapon growing in his brain? I call foul.
This rushed, half-assed story isn't helped by two jarring artist changes. When Ron Garney takes over on page 14, all the credit Ross managed to earn up to that point is quickly undone and replaced by smudgy, sloppy imagery. And then the final two pages by Butch Guice, while actually quite strong, are so stylistically distinct from Ross or Garney that you feel like you're reading a preview for another series. And, in some ways, you are, since Guice's pages are a lead-in to the impending "Divided We Fall" crossover, and have literally nothing to do with the Children of Tomorrow story which gets wrapped up in the rest of the issue.
I've been singing this book's praises for the better part of a year now, and it had everything to do with the strength of Reed as a bad guy and the City as a concept. To have it all so briskly and unsatisfactorily brushed aside is a tremendous bummer. I guess the City remains in the Ultimate Universe, so perhaps we'll see more of it in the future, but I'd almost rather not. It's been tainted now, spoiled somewhat by the godawful handling of Richards' defeat. This title seems to be on a steady downward slide in quality. I hope it can bounce back before I'm forced to bail entirely.
4.0/10
Showing posts with label Ultimates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ultimates. Show all posts
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Pull List Reviews 05/31/2012
Light week, this fifth Wednesday of the month, made even lighter by my shop somehow including only the Batman Annual but not the Animal Man one in my folder before selling out of both. I love them because they give a generous discount, but they've got to get more consistent or I'm switching back to the old place. Just another mostly empty threat made online. Anyway...
Batman Annual #1: It claims to be a part of "Night of the Owls", but for me, the only thing about this story that didn't work was it's unnecessary attempt to be connected to the crossover. That's a mild complaint, though, because mostly I like this even-crazier Mr. Freeze. He doesn't seem to veer too far from the classic interpretation, except that the unreasonableness of his obsession has been beefed up a little. And I'm almost always in favor of making an insane character even less stable. This annual is 100% an origin story for the New 52 version of Freeze, and it succeeds inasmuch as I look forward to the character's future exploits. The biggest strength of this first new Batman Annual, though, is Jason Fabok, colored by Peter Steigerwald. Everything has a sort of elevated realism, an inherent drama that fits Mr. Freeze's extreme personality. Particularly the Wayne-Fries scenes, where Bruce is a stark and impending black figure in the midst of Victor's spacious white lab. And of course the opening and closing pages of a young Victor and his mother, which were practically a complete short story all their own. A gorgeous one.
8.0/10
Monocyte #4: From the very beginning, Monocyte has been, as a title and a character, a sort of non-stop engine of forward momentum and insane imagery. The finale is no exception. Monocyte, aka Augustus, has been killing off all the major players one by one, and once his final target dies in this issue, he heads back to his master to sacrifice himself, as he was always meant to do. Now, to be honest, I don't recall exactly who the winged woman is or why she wants to save Monocyte, because it's been kind of a while since the last issue came out, but she manages to convince Grod, who up to now has seemed quite the villain, to lend a hand, and so the "hero" of the story is saved. I think. Truth is, this title is far more fun to just stare at than to read, and even though I always take my time with it, ultimately it is Menton3's mad, unsettling artwork that sticks long after the words and plot details have faded. This issue, there are also eight pages by Chris Newman, and even though at times they are a bit more confusing than Menton3's, they fit in nicely overall. Then we get a two-page spread from Ben Templesmith which depicts a scene of obscure, bloody chaos that I'm not even sure is part of the story, but I enjoyed nevertheless. I always enjoy the look and feel of Monocyte, which is singular and fully-realized and creepy but in a comforting way. But as I read through this issue, I found myself feeling glad it was ending. I've had my fill of these bleak, verbose characters and their blackened world. Not a bad ride, but a simple and, in the end, fairly repetitive one.
5.5/10
Rachel Rising #8: I think of Rachel Rising as always being quiet and eerie, but this issue was especially so. Usually, there's one or more major acts of violence involved, or at least some extreme, insane moment somehow connected to death. But in Rachel Rising #8, the only real violence lasts for one brief panel, and we never see its results. Other than that, the closest thing is a wordless, inscrutable scene of wolves being guided through eating a corpse by the silent woman who has been a powerful presence since the beginning. Rather than greatly up the ante here, Terry Moore more simply checks in with numerous members of his ever-growing cast, giving each one of them an individualized moment. From the first page with Dr. Siemen and his beloved dead woman to the last one with the terrified young girl. It may not be as drastic or intense as previous chapters, but it feels good to have this brief calm, to let things simmer rather than boil for a minute. Then, of course, central to all this is the ever-more-endearing relationship between Jet and Earl. Watching that blossom is my new favorite thing about this series, and watching it grow, in whatever direction it takes, is the thing I am most looking forward to. Because there's no telling exactly where anyone is headed in this story yet, but I already know it'll be bizarre and compelling, so I want to follow them there.
8.0/10
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #11: Penciled by four different artists and colored by two others, on top of being scripted by two different writers, Ultimates #11 is a little bit jumpy all around. The art more or less transitions naturally, with the biggest exception probably being Butch Guice's two pages. They're very good, but distinctly different in style than the others. Honestly, though, it's hard not to notice all the art changes, and they come in rapid succession, each one meaning a new location. The story is a tad uneven as well. It takes a long time for Stark and Thor to talk to the President, then we don't even see most of that conversation, and it's all set-up anyway for what we really want: Stark making his move against The City. Alas, that is not to come until (fingers crossed) next issue. Meanwhile, the rest of the Ultimates get their asses handed to them, which is an alright fight scene but not particualry great and, again, a lot of it happens off-camera, so what the reader gets is more of a highlights reel. Finally, there's a very weak ending, which I won't "spoil" here, but it's such an obvious reveal I'm not sure why they bothered saving it for the last page. This title seems to be sliding a bit as the creative team switches, so here's hoping they can get their footing and tell a stronger, surer story soon.
5.5/10
Wolverine and the X-Men #11: This series seems to be spinning its wheels a bit under the Avengers vs. X-Men banner. For the first two-thirds of the issue, we get an awful lot of fighting that doesn't conclude, is jarringly brief, and serves no narrative purpose. Except toward the very end when, once again, Hope goes all Phoenix on everybody, and Wolverine is forced to face the fact that he'll never be able to kill her. That, right there, is more or less the only actual bit of significant story or character development which takes place. It supposedly justifies Wolverine's behavior in Avengers vs. X-Men #4, but it does so kind of weakly and in an oversimplified way. The one thing Jason Aaron is doing in Wolverine and the X-Men during this event that I do really like is the Kid Gladiator stuff. He's been a fun part of the cast since the title started, and had all the best moments in this issue. Nick Bradshaw's art is a little bulky for my taste, especially when drawing Wolverine. His head looks like a big weird block. The same is true for Red Hulk in several panels, actually. Still, generally Bradshaw handles the fight scenes well, even if they are pointless space-fillers in a pointless, space-filler issue.
4.0/10
Batman Annual #1: It claims to be a part of "Night of the Owls", but for me, the only thing about this story that didn't work was it's unnecessary attempt to be connected to the crossover. That's a mild complaint, though, because mostly I like this even-crazier Mr. Freeze. He doesn't seem to veer too far from the classic interpretation, except that the unreasonableness of his obsession has been beefed up a little. And I'm almost always in favor of making an insane character even less stable. This annual is 100% an origin story for the New 52 version of Freeze, and it succeeds inasmuch as I look forward to the character's future exploits. The biggest strength of this first new Batman Annual, though, is Jason Fabok, colored by Peter Steigerwald. Everything has a sort of elevated realism, an inherent drama that fits Mr. Freeze's extreme personality. Particularly the Wayne-Fries scenes, where Bruce is a stark and impending black figure in the midst of Victor's spacious white lab. And of course the opening and closing pages of a young Victor and his mother, which were practically a complete short story all their own. A gorgeous one.
8.0/10
Monocyte #4: From the very beginning, Monocyte has been, as a title and a character, a sort of non-stop engine of forward momentum and insane imagery. The finale is no exception. Monocyte, aka Augustus, has been killing off all the major players one by one, and once his final target dies in this issue, he heads back to his master to sacrifice himself, as he was always meant to do. Now, to be honest, I don't recall exactly who the winged woman is or why she wants to save Monocyte, because it's been kind of a while since the last issue came out, but she manages to convince Grod, who up to now has seemed quite the villain, to lend a hand, and so the "hero" of the story is saved. I think. Truth is, this title is far more fun to just stare at than to read, and even though I always take my time with it, ultimately it is Menton3's mad, unsettling artwork that sticks long after the words and plot details have faded. This issue, there are also eight pages by Chris Newman, and even though at times they are a bit more confusing than Menton3's, they fit in nicely overall. Then we get a two-page spread from Ben Templesmith which depicts a scene of obscure, bloody chaos that I'm not even sure is part of the story, but I enjoyed nevertheless. I always enjoy the look and feel of Monocyte, which is singular and fully-realized and creepy but in a comforting way. But as I read through this issue, I found myself feeling glad it was ending. I've had my fill of these bleak, verbose characters and their blackened world. Not a bad ride, but a simple and, in the end, fairly repetitive one.
5.5/10
Rachel Rising #8: I think of Rachel Rising as always being quiet and eerie, but this issue was especially so. Usually, there's one or more major acts of violence involved, or at least some extreme, insane moment somehow connected to death. But in Rachel Rising #8, the only real violence lasts for one brief panel, and we never see its results. Other than that, the closest thing is a wordless, inscrutable scene of wolves being guided through eating a corpse by the silent woman who has been a powerful presence since the beginning. Rather than greatly up the ante here, Terry Moore more simply checks in with numerous members of his ever-growing cast, giving each one of them an individualized moment. From the first page with Dr. Siemen and his beloved dead woman to the last one with the terrified young girl. It may not be as drastic or intense as previous chapters, but it feels good to have this brief calm, to let things simmer rather than boil for a minute. Then, of course, central to all this is the ever-more-endearing relationship between Jet and Earl. Watching that blossom is my new favorite thing about this series, and watching it grow, in whatever direction it takes, is the thing I am most looking forward to. Because there's no telling exactly where anyone is headed in this story yet, but I already know it'll be bizarre and compelling, so I want to follow them there.
8.0/10
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #11: Penciled by four different artists and colored by two others, on top of being scripted by two different writers, Ultimates #11 is a little bit jumpy all around. The art more or less transitions naturally, with the biggest exception probably being Butch Guice's two pages. They're very good, but distinctly different in style than the others. Honestly, though, it's hard not to notice all the art changes, and they come in rapid succession, each one meaning a new location. The story is a tad uneven as well. It takes a long time for Stark and Thor to talk to the President, then we don't even see most of that conversation, and it's all set-up anyway for what we really want: Stark making his move against The City. Alas, that is not to come until (fingers crossed) next issue. Meanwhile, the rest of the Ultimates get their asses handed to them, which is an alright fight scene but not particualry great and, again, a lot of it happens off-camera, so what the reader gets is more of a highlights reel. Finally, there's a very weak ending, which I won't "spoil" here, but it's such an obvious reveal I'm not sure why they bothered saving it for the last page. This title seems to be sliding a bit as the creative team switches, so here's hoping they can get their footing and tell a stronger, surer story soon.
5.5/10
Wolverine and the X-Men #11: This series seems to be spinning its wheels a bit under the Avengers vs. X-Men banner. For the first two-thirds of the issue, we get an awful lot of fighting that doesn't conclude, is jarringly brief, and serves no narrative purpose. Except toward the very end when, once again, Hope goes all Phoenix on everybody, and Wolverine is forced to face the fact that he'll never be able to kill her. That, right there, is more or less the only actual bit of significant story or character development which takes place. It supposedly justifies Wolverine's behavior in Avengers vs. X-Men #4, but it does so kind of weakly and in an oversimplified way. The one thing Jason Aaron is doing in Wolverine and the X-Men during this event that I do really like is the Kid Gladiator stuff. He's been a fun part of the cast since the title started, and had all the best moments in this issue. Nick Bradshaw's art is a little bulky for my taste, especially when drawing Wolverine. His head looks like a big weird block. The same is true for Red Hulk in several panels, actually. Still, generally Bradshaw handles the fight scenes well, even if they are pointless space-fillers in a pointless, space-filler issue.
4.0/10
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Superb Heroes: Ultimate Comics Ultimates
Superb Heroes is a semi-regular column celebrating comics that are exemplary and/or exceptional in their treatment of superoheroism.
NOTE: What I am discussing here begins and ends with the Jonathan Hickman/Esad Ribic/Dean White era of the Ultimates (issues 1-9). I realize that within those issues there were several guest artists and colorists, but for simplicity's sake I'm only talking about the three primary creators.
To me, superheroes are all about stakes. Because they have such incredible powers, they get to deal with problems far beyond the capabilities of regular people. Yes, there are many excellent superhero tales which focus on characters dealing with things of a more personal, even mundane nature, but generally speaking, what makes superheroes so much fun (and part of the reason, I'm sure, they became so popular in the first place) is that more often than not they are fighting on such a grand scale. They save the entire city, the world, the universe, or even the very fabric of existence. And at their best, superhero stories reflect humanity's real-world potential and problems even while relating these fantastic adventures.Ultimate Comics Ultimates (henceforth referred to as "Ultimates") wholeheartedly embraces this philosophy, telling a high-stakes, high-powered narrative which simultaneously holds a mirror up to the modern world. These days, we all seem to be worried about which threat will wipe us out first: nuclear war, the Large Hadron Collider, the Mayan gods, a random asteroid, etc. Elevate this fear of the end to a superhuman level, along with the threats which might bring that end about, and what you get is Ultimates.
The first time I read Ultimates #1, when I that saw pages two and three were both devoted to nothing but an action-movie-style title card, I remember mentally scoffing at the spectacle of it and the waste of space. But had I known then what I know now, I would've realized the title card was a perfect introduction to the what would follow. The bombastic, blockbuster story promised by those two pages is delivered before the first issue ends, and the series has never let up or slowed down since. Right off the bat, several giant shits hit an even bigger fan: a nuclear device goes off in South America, the citizens of the SEAR gain superpowers and assemble the floating kingdom of Tian, and most terrifying of all, The City arrives and starts to mercilessly and efficiently gobble up Germany. These are epic threats, even for a superhero book, as evidenced by the fact that we have yet to see our heroes truly claim a victory for themselves. They strike out against their opponents with everything they've got, but with each passing moment the good guys lose more footing, control, and hope. They become fractured and scattered, yet every one of them keeps the fight alive. Losing repeatedly on multiple fronts, the Ultimates still refuse to accept defeat, even when we as readers would probably forgive them for doing so. If this bravery in the face of the unbeatable isn't classic superherosim, I don't know what is.
There's actually a whole mess of classic ideas, plot points, and character moments contained within Ultimates. The hero who loses his family, making the conflict personal (Thor). The depowered hero who keeps fighting in spite of his loss (Thor). The martyr who attempts to sacrifice himself in order to defeat the villains once and for all (Thor again, also Zorn). The hero manipulated by the villains and tricked into helping them (not Thor this time, but Iron Man and Hulk). This list goes on indefinitely, and it's true on the bad guy side of things as well. Reed Richards is the mad scientist, world conqueror, and thinks-he-is-really-the-misunderstood-good-guy archetypes all rolled into one glorious megalomaniac. Each of these elements of his character is heightened and made more extreme because of the others, which is why he is such a frightening and convincing foe. There are scenes, even entire issues, where the reader is practically rooting for Reed and The City. What he says often makes a lot of sense, even when he's arguing in favor of humanity's extinction, and that makes him one of the most compelling and dangerous supervillains around.
Richards is also, in many ways, a template for the entire book: concepts that've been used and reused countless times in the superhero genre (and other places) being pushed to their extremes. This is, I guess, the supposed goal of the entirety of Marvel's Ultimate line of comics, but Ultimates does an especially excellent job of it. When an assault on Asgard goes down in this series, the corpses of former gods rain from the sky. The President isn't just assassinated, he's eviscerated, along with a significant chunk of the rest of the U.S. government. Whatever we expect to see next, we get the biggest, most intense version of it.Ultimates is a series of constant escalation. Even though the stakes were set remarkably high from the get go, writer Jonathan Hickman keeps finding new ways to expand and exacerbate the situation, steadily ratcheting up the levels of power and danger in the story. And still, in spite of it all, our heroes valiantly keep at it. As Tony Stark points out in issue #8, during times like these there are only a select few who are both willing and able to save the day. The Ultimates know that if they aren't up to the task, no one will be, and so their desperate, noble sturggle continues.
I've mostly been discussing the narrative strategies that Hickman brings to Ultimates, but I'd be ever so remiss if I didn't take time to point out Esad Ribic and Dean White's excellent artwork as well. Because all the insane villainy and selfless heroism and superpowered excitement in the world doesn't mean jack for a comicbook if the art lets it down. Luckily, Ribic's drawings perfectly capture the scale of this series. He's at his strongest when drawing The City itself, like the breathtaking double-page spread in issue #3, but Ribic does a great job across the board. His designs for The City's Children of Tomorrow mix scary futuristic technology with just the right amount of a strange kind of innocence. Yes, they are the primary villains of the title, but aside from their leader Reed Richards, there's not a lot of hate or even really evil motivating them. Instead, what they posses is curiosity and a genuine desire to find new opportunities for growth, and their external appearance expresses this. But of course, Ribic's impressiveness doesn't end with the Children. His Thor is every bit the hardened warrior, his Iron Man a perfect blend of smug and thoughtful. And Nick Fury, the real star of Ultimates, exudes all the intelligence and anger you want in a general, barking orders when needed but equally capable of a careful, reflective pause. I mention these three because we see the most of them, but honestly Ribic nails the entire cast. His Hulk-Richards scenes underline the differences between those men beautifully, and for the few moments we've seen him Captain Britain has projected an entertaining swagger and arrogance. As for women in the cast, only really Black Widow gets any significant stage time, but her directness, confidence, and strength all come through, and for a nice change of pace in the superhero realm, she has a realistic build and outfit. Ribic has put together an intimidating, formidable cast, which makes all the intimidating, formidable events in their lives that much meatier and more fun.
While Ribic highlights the larger-than-life elements, Dean White's colors act as a sort of counterbalance, adding a soft richness to the title that helps to bring it a step or two back down to Earth. Ribic may build the cast and set pieces, but it is White who transforms them into a cohesive world, adding a consistent tone and texture to everything. When appropriate, White can amplify things, too, able to make his palette pop or explode if needed. Whenever Thor uses his hammer, for example, there is a brilliant wash of blue light involved. Generally, however, what White offers is a touch of realism in an otherwise fantastic tale. Because Hickman and Ribic both move so forcefully in the other direction, White's colors are the perfect final component, enlivening the art and enriching the narrative, both.
It's a damn fine comicbook, Ultimates, and an especially fine superhero one, set on a stage that covers the globe and telling a story about the fight for humanity's future. It's the kind of narrative the very concept of superhero yearns for, and with the Ribic-White combination, it utilizes the comicbook medium to the fullest. Hickman, Ribic, and White have all either left the title or will be departing shortly, which is a real shame, because during their run they set the bar incredibly high.
Ultimates Comics Ultimates #1-9 were published by Marvel Comics and are dated October 2011-June 2012
NOTE: What I am discussing here begins and ends with the Jonathan Hickman/Esad Ribic/Dean White era of the Ultimates (issues 1-9). I realize that within those issues there were several guest artists and colorists, but for simplicity's sake I'm only talking about the three primary creators.
To me, superheroes are all about stakes. Because they have such incredible powers, they get to deal with problems far beyond the capabilities of regular people. Yes, there are many excellent superhero tales which focus on characters dealing with things of a more personal, even mundane nature, but generally speaking, what makes superheroes so much fun (and part of the reason, I'm sure, they became so popular in the first place) is that more often than not they are fighting on such a grand scale. They save the entire city, the world, the universe, or even the very fabric of existence. And at their best, superhero stories reflect humanity's real-world potential and problems even while relating these fantastic adventures.Ultimate Comics Ultimates (henceforth referred to as "Ultimates") wholeheartedly embraces this philosophy, telling a high-stakes, high-powered narrative which simultaneously holds a mirror up to the modern world. These days, we all seem to be worried about which threat will wipe us out first: nuclear war, the Large Hadron Collider, the Mayan gods, a random asteroid, etc. Elevate this fear of the end to a superhuman level, along with the threats which might bring that end about, and what you get is Ultimates.
The first time I read Ultimates #1, when I that saw pages two and three were both devoted to nothing but an action-movie-style title card, I remember mentally scoffing at the spectacle of it and the waste of space. But had I known then what I know now, I would've realized the title card was a perfect introduction to the what would follow. The bombastic, blockbuster story promised by those two pages is delivered before the first issue ends, and the series has never let up or slowed down since. Right off the bat, several giant shits hit an even bigger fan: a nuclear device goes off in South America, the citizens of the SEAR gain superpowers and assemble the floating kingdom of Tian, and most terrifying of all, The City arrives and starts to mercilessly and efficiently gobble up Germany. These are epic threats, even for a superhero book, as evidenced by the fact that we have yet to see our heroes truly claim a victory for themselves. They strike out against their opponents with everything they've got, but with each passing moment the good guys lose more footing, control, and hope. They become fractured and scattered, yet every one of them keeps the fight alive. Losing repeatedly on multiple fronts, the Ultimates still refuse to accept defeat, even when we as readers would probably forgive them for doing so. If this bravery in the face of the unbeatable isn't classic superherosim, I don't know what is.
There's actually a whole mess of classic ideas, plot points, and character moments contained within Ultimates. The hero who loses his family, making the conflict personal (Thor). The depowered hero who keeps fighting in spite of his loss (Thor). The martyr who attempts to sacrifice himself in order to defeat the villains once and for all (Thor again, also Zorn). The hero manipulated by the villains and tricked into helping them (not Thor this time, but Iron Man and Hulk). This list goes on indefinitely, and it's true on the bad guy side of things as well. Reed Richards is the mad scientist, world conqueror, and thinks-he-is-really-the-misunderstood-good-guy archetypes all rolled into one glorious megalomaniac. Each of these elements of his character is heightened and made more extreme because of the others, which is why he is such a frightening and convincing foe. There are scenes, even entire issues, where the reader is practically rooting for Reed and The City. What he says often makes a lot of sense, even when he's arguing in favor of humanity's extinction, and that makes him one of the most compelling and dangerous supervillains around.
Richards is also, in many ways, a template for the entire book: concepts that've been used and reused countless times in the superhero genre (and other places) being pushed to their extremes. This is, I guess, the supposed goal of the entirety of Marvel's Ultimate line of comics, but Ultimates does an especially excellent job of it. When an assault on Asgard goes down in this series, the corpses of former gods rain from the sky. The President isn't just assassinated, he's eviscerated, along with a significant chunk of the rest of the U.S. government. Whatever we expect to see next, we get the biggest, most intense version of it.Ultimates is a series of constant escalation. Even though the stakes were set remarkably high from the get go, writer Jonathan Hickman keeps finding new ways to expand and exacerbate the situation, steadily ratcheting up the levels of power and danger in the story. And still, in spite of it all, our heroes valiantly keep at it. As Tony Stark points out in issue #8, during times like these there are only a select few who are both willing and able to save the day. The Ultimates know that if they aren't up to the task, no one will be, and so their desperate, noble sturggle continues.
I've mostly been discussing the narrative strategies that Hickman brings to Ultimates, but I'd be ever so remiss if I didn't take time to point out Esad Ribic and Dean White's excellent artwork as well. Because all the insane villainy and selfless heroism and superpowered excitement in the world doesn't mean jack for a comicbook if the art lets it down. Luckily, Ribic's drawings perfectly capture the scale of this series. He's at his strongest when drawing The City itself, like the breathtaking double-page spread in issue #3, but Ribic does a great job across the board. His designs for The City's Children of Tomorrow mix scary futuristic technology with just the right amount of a strange kind of innocence. Yes, they are the primary villains of the title, but aside from their leader Reed Richards, there's not a lot of hate or even really evil motivating them. Instead, what they posses is curiosity and a genuine desire to find new opportunities for growth, and their external appearance expresses this. But of course, Ribic's impressiveness doesn't end with the Children. His Thor is every bit the hardened warrior, his Iron Man a perfect blend of smug and thoughtful. And Nick Fury, the real star of Ultimates, exudes all the intelligence and anger you want in a general, barking orders when needed but equally capable of a careful, reflective pause. I mention these three because we see the most of them, but honestly Ribic nails the entire cast. His Hulk-Richards scenes underline the differences between those men beautifully, and for the few moments we've seen him Captain Britain has projected an entertaining swagger and arrogance. As for women in the cast, only really Black Widow gets any significant stage time, but her directness, confidence, and strength all come through, and for a nice change of pace in the superhero realm, she has a realistic build and outfit. Ribic has put together an intimidating, formidable cast, which makes all the intimidating, formidable events in their lives that much meatier and more fun.
While Ribic highlights the larger-than-life elements, Dean White's colors act as a sort of counterbalance, adding a soft richness to the title that helps to bring it a step or two back down to Earth. Ribic may build the cast and set pieces, but it is White who transforms them into a cohesive world, adding a consistent tone and texture to everything. When appropriate, White can amplify things, too, able to make his palette pop or explode if needed. Whenever Thor uses his hammer, for example, there is a brilliant wash of blue light involved. Generally, however, what White offers is a touch of realism in an otherwise fantastic tale. Because Hickman and Ribic both move so forcefully in the other direction, White's colors are the perfect final component, enlivening the art and enriching the narrative, both.
It's a damn fine comicbook, Ultimates, and an especially fine superhero one, set on a stage that covers the globe and telling a story about the fight for humanity's future. It's the kind of narrative the very concept of superhero yearns for, and with the Ribic-White combination, it utilizes the comicbook medium to the fullest. Hickman, Ribic, and White have all either left the title or will be departing shortly, which is a real shame, because during their run they set the bar incredibly high.
Ultimates Comics Ultimates #1-9 were published by Marvel Comics and are dated October 2011-June 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Pull List Reviews 05/10/2012
Batman #9: Well, the giant bat-armor from last month was sort of a bust, huh? I was really hoping Bruce had some kind of awesome contingency plan in place that involved the awkward metal suit, but, alas, it was just an awkward metal suit to fight in. Still, it was nice to see Batman's rage unleashed, and to finally give him some useful knowledge about the Court of Owls. Now maybe he can kick some ass and lay this story to rest for a while. Greg Capullo's art was actually somewhat more contained/restrained this month, which was interesting since Scott Snyder's script was mostly about Batman cutting loose and tearing mercilessly into the Talons. I'm not complaining about the art, because there's still a lot of great imagery, like the bat swarm or the dinosaur foot stomp, but if there was ever a time for Capullo to let his line work go a bit crazy, it seems like it would have been this issue. The backup feature I enjoyed a bit more than the main story, perhaps just because I love Alfred so much that any insight into his personal or familial history is welcome. And that final image of the Talon in the rain is stunning. Rafael Albuquerque continues t be an ideal Batman artist, highlighting the shadow and fear inherent in that world.
6.5/10
Fairest #3: I find Fairest #3 to be particularly challenging to review as a whole. As has been the norm with this title for all three installments, we have here an example of some truly excellent artwork that is telling just a dreadfully boring story. We have no reason to care about any of the characters, and in the case of the guy who does the most talking (a bottle imp named, I believe, Panghammer), we don't even have a convincing reason to like him. Even he knows he's a pain in the ass, and the story he's narrating to the rest of the cast would only be interesting if it wasn't being pointlessly drawn out. A series full of misfires from Bill Willingham so far, and if I didn't already know he'd be leaving the title fairly soon (along with his dumb, dumb crop of characters) I might well be dropping Fairest from my pull list. However, the saving grace continues to be Phil Jimenez's pencils, as well as the ink and coloring work by Andy Lanning, Mark Farmer, and Andrew Dalhouse. Whether it's a sentient flying boat, a royal hall filled with a bright and blustering party, or just The Snow Queen and Panghammer surrounded by whites and blues in her palace, every single page has art worth a second (or third or fourth) look. It's sort of astonishing how far from each other the story and the art are in terms of quality. How, exactly, did a script so bland inspire such lovely visuals? Anyway, that seems to be par for the course on this title.
4.5/10
Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #9: I have complained a couple of times about the change that took place when this title started using Walden Wong to ink Alberto Ponticelli. This month, we have a new inker, Wayne Faucher, and I think with him we've found a happy medium that (hopefully) we can all agree on. Not quite as wild as when Ponticelli inks himself, but without muting the energy which his pencils always bring to the table.
Now that that's out of the way, I'll say that this was an exceptionally fine issue of Frankenstein all over. The title has always been a string of monster battles for Frank to fight, with each new enemy causing him to question/examine himself in some new light. This issue is no exception, and tells a tidy little tale of Frank and Dr. Mazursky battling against the forces of The Rot (from Animal Man and Swamp Thing). Unable to simply kill his foes in the usual fashion, Frank goes to an extreme measure, calling in a "blackbomb" which only targets living things and therefore does not hurt him. However, this causes him further frustration/sadness, because he is forced to admit that he is not really "alive" in, at least, the scientific sense. It's a quick but effective tale, and it serves to advance Frank's relationship with himself, S.H.A.D.E., and Mazursky all. And the Ponticell-Faucher-Villarruba art team comes through as well, like I mentioned. Particularly the splash where Frank and Nina find the corpse of the cop they're looking for. I want that as a wall-sized poster.
7.5/10
Higher Earth #1: If the concept behind Higher Earth interests you---a whole bunch of Earths in different universes that each have their place in a hierarchy of Earths---then you'll no doubt enjoy this first issue, since most of what it does is to introduce that concept. Luckily, it does interest me, and Sam Humphries makes the intelligent decision to have one of his main characters, Heidi, know as little about the details of the book's reality as the reader. She stands in for us, and like he is for Heidi, the nameless man who comes to save her from her Earth is an intriguing enigma, yet somehow easy to trust with his mater-of-fact attitude and battle-readiness. Francesco Biagini's artwork is similarly direct, always expressive and effective, but never especially impressive. He does some cool stuff with the edges of his panels and other kinds of layout moves, but otherwise it's fairly middle-of-the-line work. I'm excited to see this series develop, assuming it lasts long enough to do so, but Higher Earth #1 is no more than a simple, clean, clear introduction to the key players and ideas that will move the story forward.
6.0/10
Morning Glories #18: My aggravation over the snail's pace at which this series drags on is well-documented, and Morning Glories #18 is no exception. Virtually ignoring the previous issues of this arc (and, by the way, wasn't "P.E." supposed to conclude this issue, not the next one, originally? Am I making that up?), Nick Spencer decides to instead switch focus back over to Jun. I have long thought of Jun as the most interesting of the Glories, and I really liked his interactions and the development of his romance with Guillaume, but at the end of the day it was mostly more cryptic nonsense, spouting of meaningless mottos, and characters with unclear motives. Plus I get especially annoyed by Spencer when he actually has a character talk about the lack of answers in Morning Glories, which he's done several times, and does with Abraham here. Stop making excuses for yourself, jerk, and just tell your damn story already! Joe Eisma is Joe Eisma, reliably turning in consistent work on this title since the beginning. It never gets any worse or any better, it's just what Morning Glories looks like. At this point if another artist came in or if Eisma changed his style too much, I feel like it would be jarring, because the look of this book is so firmly established now. As is the narrative style, and it happens to be one which drives me kind of crazy.
4.5/10
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #10: Sam Humphries joins Jonathan Hickman on writing duties with this issue, but it's not an obvious shift in tone. I suppose there's slightly less action this issue than in many of the preceding nine, but that has more to do with where we are in the story, I suspect, than because of the addition to the writing team. Either way, a thoroughly entertaining issue. It took time at the beginning to bring home the full effect of the attack on D.C., and still managed to advance each of its characters and plots point forward, however slightly. And it's fun to watch the Ultimates battle against S.H.I.E.L.D. on top of everything else, especially now that they are so fractured. The City continues to be a unique threat, provoking bold reactions from our heroes that make for great superhero fare. Luke Ross, on the other hand, was somewhat uneven on art, mostly struggling with figures who were in motion. It wasn't a huge detriment here, and it's not like he messed it up every time, but there were several awkward or impossible poses, and in an issue with heavier action I'm nervous about how Ross will perform. Hopefully Ultimates #10 will be the exception, rather than the rule. Beyond those specific things, though, totally serviceable artwork and a fun, logical chapter in this grand tale.
6.0/10
Ultimate Comics X-Men #11: Here, we have a similar waste of story space from Spencer as in Morning Glories above, but with a slightly stronger showing from Paco Medina on art. Not a lot of new information here, or any real character insights or developments. Primarily just a series of checking in scenes for each bundle of characters, watching them each react in turn to the horrendous Sentinel attacks. It's an alright story, just lacking in meat or even much flavor. Nothing unexpected happens, we hear about the Southwest United States getting jacked up way more times than we need to, and then we get an ending that seems pretty mundane considering the work the Sentinels do in the rest of the issue. Medina, however, draws the crap out of those Sentinels, from their two-page spread at Camp Angel to those creepy pages where we see shots of several cities burning, to the reveal on the final page. He doesn't do a remarkable job with the rest of the issue, nor does he do a bad one, but for some reason I really enjoyed his Sentinel-based pages. Otherwise a bland offering.
5.0/10
Uncanny X-Force #25: A fascinating and well-written examination of the motives of each member of X-Force. Even Deadpool, in his own warped way. For a title that is clearly ramping up for something big---notice Genesis and Angel returned in this issue, and whoever's behind this White Sky/Omega Clan situation is bound to have other things in play, plus Rick Remender has been saying so in interviews---it's a smart move to take a minute and remind the readers why these characters are on this team. Or in some cases, why they're not on the team anymore (for now). Remender, as he has from the beginning, knows exactly how to handle his cast, and gives each of them a moment to shine. Fantomex gets the least of it, but his few lines and final action speak volumes. Wolverine, the leader and only remaining founder of the team, as well as the most direct connection to the new Omega Clan, gets the most time in the spotlight, and it is time well used. He deeply but quickly examines the many complicated reasons he has for keeping X-Force alive, and they all make sense and ring true in his voice. It's compelling stuff, aided in no small way by Mike McKone's drawings and Dean White's colors. Their best moment as an artistic team has got to be the two-page spread of the White Sky Showroom, but they also knock it out of the park on the introduction of the Omega Clan and Nightcrawler's flashback panels. There is one terrible drawing of Beast, but otherwise a strong performance across the board. And then, if McKone doesn't do it for you, there are some twenty extra pages of Jerome Opeña art as well, his and Remender's first Wolverine and Deadpool stories. Opeña's art is less stylized here than it has been on Uncanny X-Force, though that may have something to do with the coloring. But it's still quite good, and the stories are fun if simple, as any comicbook shorts are bound to be. Overall, a fitting anniversary issue, and one that excites me for the future of this title in a way I haven't felt for a while.
7.5/10
Wolverine and the X-Men #10: Two unexpected things happened for me while reading this: I loved Chris Bachalo art, and I agreed with Cyclops. The Bachalo thing was a pleasant surprise, as more often than not I find his style confusing and/or off-putting. But Krakoa rising up, that super-complicated two-page spread with like a dozen tiny panels and a couple huge ones, and especially the very opening page were all great. As for agreeing with Cyclops, I still mostly just feel like, "Why can't they all just work together? Why wouldn't they want to?" But Scott's arguments to Logan sounded far more reasonable and well-thought-out than anything he's said in a while. Not all of it, mind you, but enough of it that by the time Wolverine was losing staff members to the other side, I was totally rooting for them over him. Here's a question, though: when does this issue take place? After the fight on Utopia, but before Wolverine is thrown from a plane? Hardly seems like he had time to do all of this in between those two events. And also that would make Rachel Grey's role in AvX #3 confusing as hell. But if this after he gets back from the plane...why isn't he more pissed off at the Avengers for throwing him from a plane? Right? I also don't understand when, exactly, Cyclops had the time to make this visit, but I'm hoping AvX #4 can shed some light. I don't know if I expect it, but I'm hoping. Aside from that bit of confusion, though, I was impressed by Jason Aaron's script for it's take on the mutant side of things, and impressed by Bachalo's art for not bothering me for once. So...impressive issue.
7.0/10
6.5/10
Fairest #3: I find Fairest #3 to be particularly challenging to review as a whole. As has been the norm with this title for all three installments, we have here an example of some truly excellent artwork that is telling just a dreadfully boring story. We have no reason to care about any of the characters, and in the case of the guy who does the most talking (a bottle imp named, I believe, Panghammer), we don't even have a convincing reason to like him. Even he knows he's a pain in the ass, and the story he's narrating to the rest of the cast would only be interesting if it wasn't being pointlessly drawn out. A series full of misfires from Bill Willingham so far, and if I didn't already know he'd be leaving the title fairly soon (along with his dumb, dumb crop of characters) I might well be dropping Fairest from my pull list. However, the saving grace continues to be Phil Jimenez's pencils, as well as the ink and coloring work by Andy Lanning, Mark Farmer, and Andrew Dalhouse. Whether it's a sentient flying boat, a royal hall filled with a bright and blustering party, or just The Snow Queen and Panghammer surrounded by whites and blues in her palace, every single page has art worth a second (or third or fourth) look. It's sort of astonishing how far from each other the story and the art are in terms of quality. How, exactly, did a script so bland inspire such lovely visuals? Anyway, that seems to be par for the course on this title.
4.5/10
Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #9: I have complained a couple of times about the change that took place when this title started using Walden Wong to ink Alberto Ponticelli. This month, we have a new inker, Wayne Faucher, and I think with him we've found a happy medium that (hopefully) we can all agree on. Not quite as wild as when Ponticelli inks himself, but without muting the energy which his pencils always bring to the table.
Now that that's out of the way, I'll say that this was an exceptionally fine issue of Frankenstein all over. The title has always been a string of monster battles for Frank to fight, with each new enemy causing him to question/examine himself in some new light. This issue is no exception, and tells a tidy little tale of Frank and Dr. Mazursky battling against the forces of The Rot (from Animal Man and Swamp Thing). Unable to simply kill his foes in the usual fashion, Frank goes to an extreme measure, calling in a "blackbomb" which only targets living things and therefore does not hurt him. However, this causes him further frustration/sadness, because he is forced to admit that he is not really "alive" in, at least, the scientific sense. It's a quick but effective tale, and it serves to advance Frank's relationship with himself, S.H.A.D.E., and Mazursky all. And the Ponticell-Faucher-Villarruba art team comes through as well, like I mentioned. Particularly the splash where Frank and Nina find the corpse of the cop they're looking for. I want that as a wall-sized poster.
7.5/10
Higher Earth #1: If the concept behind Higher Earth interests you---a whole bunch of Earths in different universes that each have their place in a hierarchy of Earths---then you'll no doubt enjoy this first issue, since most of what it does is to introduce that concept. Luckily, it does interest me, and Sam Humphries makes the intelligent decision to have one of his main characters, Heidi, know as little about the details of the book's reality as the reader. She stands in for us, and like he is for Heidi, the nameless man who comes to save her from her Earth is an intriguing enigma, yet somehow easy to trust with his mater-of-fact attitude and battle-readiness. Francesco Biagini's artwork is similarly direct, always expressive and effective, but never especially impressive. He does some cool stuff with the edges of his panels and other kinds of layout moves, but otherwise it's fairly middle-of-the-line work. I'm excited to see this series develop, assuming it lasts long enough to do so, but Higher Earth #1 is no more than a simple, clean, clear introduction to the key players and ideas that will move the story forward.
6.0/10
Morning Glories #18: My aggravation over the snail's pace at which this series drags on is well-documented, and Morning Glories #18 is no exception. Virtually ignoring the previous issues of this arc (and, by the way, wasn't "P.E." supposed to conclude this issue, not the next one, originally? Am I making that up?), Nick Spencer decides to instead switch focus back over to Jun. I have long thought of Jun as the most interesting of the Glories, and I really liked his interactions and the development of his romance with Guillaume, but at the end of the day it was mostly more cryptic nonsense, spouting of meaningless mottos, and characters with unclear motives. Plus I get especially annoyed by Spencer when he actually has a character talk about the lack of answers in Morning Glories, which he's done several times, and does with Abraham here. Stop making excuses for yourself, jerk, and just tell your damn story already! Joe Eisma is Joe Eisma, reliably turning in consistent work on this title since the beginning. It never gets any worse or any better, it's just what Morning Glories looks like. At this point if another artist came in or if Eisma changed his style too much, I feel like it would be jarring, because the look of this book is so firmly established now. As is the narrative style, and it happens to be one which drives me kind of crazy.
4.5/10
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #10: Sam Humphries joins Jonathan Hickman on writing duties with this issue, but it's not an obvious shift in tone. I suppose there's slightly less action this issue than in many of the preceding nine, but that has more to do with where we are in the story, I suspect, than because of the addition to the writing team. Either way, a thoroughly entertaining issue. It took time at the beginning to bring home the full effect of the attack on D.C., and still managed to advance each of its characters and plots point forward, however slightly. And it's fun to watch the Ultimates battle against S.H.I.E.L.D. on top of everything else, especially now that they are so fractured. The City continues to be a unique threat, provoking bold reactions from our heroes that make for great superhero fare. Luke Ross, on the other hand, was somewhat uneven on art, mostly struggling with figures who were in motion. It wasn't a huge detriment here, and it's not like he messed it up every time, but there were several awkward or impossible poses, and in an issue with heavier action I'm nervous about how Ross will perform. Hopefully Ultimates #10 will be the exception, rather than the rule. Beyond those specific things, though, totally serviceable artwork and a fun, logical chapter in this grand tale.
6.0/10
Ultimate Comics X-Men #11: Here, we have a similar waste of story space from Spencer as in Morning Glories above, but with a slightly stronger showing from Paco Medina on art. Not a lot of new information here, or any real character insights or developments. Primarily just a series of checking in scenes for each bundle of characters, watching them each react in turn to the horrendous Sentinel attacks. It's an alright story, just lacking in meat or even much flavor. Nothing unexpected happens, we hear about the Southwest United States getting jacked up way more times than we need to, and then we get an ending that seems pretty mundane considering the work the Sentinels do in the rest of the issue. Medina, however, draws the crap out of those Sentinels, from their two-page spread at Camp Angel to those creepy pages where we see shots of several cities burning, to the reveal on the final page. He doesn't do a remarkable job with the rest of the issue, nor does he do a bad one, but for some reason I really enjoyed his Sentinel-based pages. Otherwise a bland offering.
5.0/10
Uncanny X-Force #25: A fascinating and well-written examination of the motives of each member of X-Force. Even Deadpool, in his own warped way. For a title that is clearly ramping up for something big---notice Genesis and Angel returned in this issue, and whoever's behind this White Sky/Omega Clan situation is bound to have other things in play, plus Rick Remender has been saying so in interviews---it's a smart move to take a minute and remind the readers why these characters are on this team. Or in some cases, why they're not on the team anymore (for now). Remender, as he has from the beginning, knows exactly how to handle his cast, and gives each of them a moment to shine. Fantomex gets the least of it, but his few lines and final action speak volumes. Wolverine, the leader and only remaining founder of the team, as well as the most direct connection to the new Omega Clan, gets the most time in the spotlight, and it is time well used. He deeply but quickly examines the many complicated reasons he has for keeping X-Force alive, and they all make sense and ring true in his voice. It's compelling stuff, aided in no small way by Mike McKone's drawings and Dean White's colors. Their best moment as an artistic team has got to be the two-page spread of the White Sky Showroom, but they also knock it out of the park on the introduction of the Omega Clan and Nightcrawler's flashback panels. There is one terrible drawing of Beast, but otherwise a strong performance across the board. And then, if McKone doesn't do it for you, there are some twenty extra pages of Jerome Opeña art as well, his and Remender's first Wolverine and Deadpool stories. Opeña's art is less stylized here than it has been on Uncanny X-Force, though that may have something to do with the coloring. But it's still quite good, and the stories are fun if simple, as any comicbook shorts are bound to be. Overall, a fitting anniversary issue, and one that excites me for the future of this title in a way I haven't felt for a while.
7.5/10
Wolverine and the X-Men #10: Two unexpected things happened for me while reading this: I loved Chris Bachalo art, and I agreed with Cyclops. The Bachalo thing was a pleasant surprise, as more often than not I find his style confusing and/or off-putting. But Krakoa rising up, that super-complicated two-page spread with like a dozen tiny panels and a couple huge ones, and especially the very opening page were all great. As for agreeing with Cyclops, I still mostly just feel like, "Why can't they all just work together? Why wouldn't they want to?" But Scott's arguments to Logan sounded far more reasonable and well-thought-out than anything he's said in a while. Not all of it, mind you, but enough of it that by the time Wolverine was losing staff members to the other side, I was totally rooting for them over him. Here's a question, though: when does this issue take place? After the fight on Utopia, but before Wolverine is thrown from a plane? Hardly seems like he had time to do all of this in between those two events. And also that would make Rachel Grey's role in AvX #3 confusing as hell. But if this after he gets back from the plane...why isn't he more pissed off at the Avengers for throwing him from a plane? Right? I also don't understand when, exactly, Cyclops had the time to make this visit, but I'm hoping AvX #4 can shed some light. I don't know if I expect it, but I'm hoping. Aside from that bit of confusion, though, I was impressed by Jason Aaron's script for it's take on the mutant side of things, and impressed by Bachalo's art for not bothering me for once. So...impressive issue.
7.0/10
Friday, April 27, 2012
Pull List Reviews 04/27/2012
So...I don't know whether or not Monocyte #4 came out this week. I thought it was supposed to, but they didn't have it at my local store, and the Internet isn't being helpful so I'm not certain if it was pushed back again or if my place just failed to order it. But other than that (and being late a day) pretty fair haul this week:
Astonishing X-Men #49: Some really nice moments here between Kyle and Northstar---a very well-written and emotionally resonant romance. Other than those few pages, though, nothing really stands out. A pretty boring fight with an even more boring and somewhat cliched resolution, which leads us to an even MORE cliched and totally obvious conclusion to the issue. I appreciate that Marjorie Liu gave most of her cast something to do, and there wasn't anything especially bad about this story, but there wasn't anything especially good, either. The same is true of Mike Perkins' art, which is rough and sloppy in places (like the horribly jumbled splash page in the middle of the fight) but generally serviceable if not impressive. And hey, am I supposed to know who the woman revealed on the final page is? Because I do not, and it weakened the effect of the ending, to my mind. Overall I walked away from Astonishing X-Men #49 feeling unenthusiastic about the future of the title. Not a bad read, but not one that particularly makes you want to come back for more.
5.0/10
Daredevil #11: Well, it's official. "The Omega Effect" was a bust. I read all three parts, and while none of them were spectacular, this finale was especially disappointing because it made the entire crossover feel totally pointless. What happened? Plenty, I guess. But what changed? Nothing. The Omega Drive is still in DD's hands, and now he has a "new plan" to deal with it, but based on how much of a waste of time his first plan was (meaning this issue right here) I find myself none-too-excited to learn what comes next. To be fair to Daredevil #11, Marco Checchetto delivered some incredible art, and the first third of the issue was pretty solid in terms of story: fun action with solid characterization of Spidey, DD, and Punisher all. And for just a second it seemed like this whole Omega Drive situation might actually be developed in an unexpected way. But as soon as Murdock took off after Alves---I use the name she prefers, and I honestly don't understand why no one else will---it got boring, everything was undone, and the status quo returned. Congratulations, Marvel, you tricked me into buying two extra comics this month for no reason. Four, arguably, because I probably could have just gone straight from Daredevil #10 to Daredevil #12 without feeling like I missed a thing (and there was that stupid ass .1 issue before TOE really kicked off). It's a bummer, because TOE had massive potential and awesome talent behind it, but alas, it ended with a fizzle rather than a bang.
3.5/10
Justice League Dark #8: I'm not sure how much needs to be said about this issue, which is Peter Milligan's last as writer of Justice League Dark, and you can feel him not giving a shit about it on every page. The super-forced exit of Shade, the Changing Man felt like it might have been the comicbook representation of Milligan's own exit from the title: the chaos of this thing he is supposed to be controlling becomes too much for him to handle, and so he just gives in to it and leaves. Next month we get a shift in the lineup of the team, a new writer, and, fingers crossed, a believable and compelling reason for these characters to even work together in the first place. That lack of focus or motive has been a problem for Justice League Dark since its debut, a fact that has never been more apparent than in this choppy, lackluster crossover issue.
2.0/10
Moon Knight #12: I know there were some naysayers, but I have been enjoying the story of Moon Knight vs. Count Nefaria in spite of their obvious power imbalance. There were definitely a few moments in some of their encounters where it seemed like Nefaria was holding back for no real reason, but in general I thought Brian Michael Bendis did a good job of keeping it believable and interesting. So going into Moon Knight #12, knowing it was going to be the conclusion to that tale, I had my hopes set pretty high. So maybe it's partially my fault for being so excited up front, but this issue was a massive letdown. He calls in the Avengers? Seriously, Bendis? That's the solution you came up with? After a year of Moon Knight steadfastly fighting this battle on his own terms, in his own city, with his own resources, he dials the superhero emergency line and lets somebody else finish the job. In one hit, might I add. Weak. But don't worry, there's a reason for it: Tony Stark gets to tease the upcoming Age of Ultron for two whole pages. WEAK! Don't plug your new project in the final throws of your old one, Bendis, ya schmuck. That's just classless all over. And now we'll never get the innovative, inventive, awesome finale this series deserved. Instead we're stuck with this forever. A cop out closing with below-the-bar art from Alex Maleev, less-badass-than-usual behavior from our title character, and what basically amounts to a commercial for a new title at the end. Nasty.
3.0/10
Rebel Blood #2: Though not quite as strong as its opening issue, Rebel Blood #2 continues to tell a singularly entertaining story of one man trying to cope with unimaginable horror all on his own. Chuck is a great blend of improvised action hero and terrified victim, responding to each new development with a combination of stunned shock and survivalist violence. And the brief trips we take into his unstable psyche in the midst of all this madness help to add both realism and surrealism to the book, grounding it in human fears, memories, and desires while at the same time building an uncertain reality and history for Chuck. As he is swept up by the unthinkable situation that surrounds him, the reader is carried right along with him by the fluid, restless storytelling and artwork from Alex Link and Riley Rossmo. It seems like the primary goal of Rebel Blood is to make the reader and Chuck one-and-the-same as much as possible, as far as our emotional and mental states while the narrative advances. And more often than not, that's exactly what happens. All of his disgust and anxieties are shared by the reader as the issue powers forward, never settling down long enough to let us or our protagonist get too solid a grip on anything. But even with that pacing, because this isn't a typical "group of survivors" story, we are able to fully experience what Chuck goes through, externally and internally, and that's precisely what makes Rebel Blood so good. Well, that and Rossmo's kinetic, brilliant artwork, which highlights the horrific elements of the story perfectly and is just rough enough around the edges to add to the surreality of the comic without detracting any clarity. In fact, in some places, like the flashback sequence, the art tells us more of the story than the letters do. We're already halfway through this series, and while it feels like it'll end too soon, I'd probably also be more than satisfied if the two issues we've seen so far were all that ever came out.
8.5/10
Secret Avengers #26: As far as event tie-ins go, Secret Avengers #26 is an exemplary comicbook. The story it tells, while spinning directly out of the main AvX narrative, stands largely on its own and could easily be enjoyed by someone who isn't following the event proper. It is, perhaps, a bit simplistic---a team of Avengers fight and fail to contain the Phoenix Force in space---but Rick Remender has a good handle on the voices of every single character (and there are quite a few), and gives each of them something to do without ever seeming like he's forcing it in. Each of their roles is logical and natural, and it gives the issue a real "team book" feel that Secret Avengers has been missing since Remender took the helm. And it felt for a while like Noh-Varr and Ms. Marvel were going to be ignored, but turns out they actually have pivotal roles to play in by the end of the issue (or, at any rate, they most likely will have said roles in the next issue). It's a fun and well-orchestrated story, but what really pushes Secret Avengers #26 over the edge is the team of artsit Renato Guedes, and colorists Bettie Breitweiser, and Matthew Wilson. I name all three because the soft yet vibrant colors are a major part of the overall affect, but Guedes is the champion, from his two-page Phoenix spread to his close-up on Captain Britain's nose bleed and everything Remender asks of him in between. As loathe as I am to say it, this tie-in has been my favorite of Remender's issues on Secret Avengers. Best art, best lineup, best story.
8.5/10
Spaceman #6: Losing a bit of momentum this time out, Spaceman #6 had a lot of characters communicating information to each other that we already knew. The scenes that took place on Mars were still good, but even they felt a little more by-the-numbers than they have in previous issues, merely moving the story of the space mission forward a step or two without offering any new insights. The moment where we see The Fence and all that surrounds it was important and well-done, but I wouldn't use those words to describe very much else in the issue. I mean, Eduardo Risso kills it as always, packing detail and emotion into every panel, but so much of what he draws is people standing around and talking that even the art deflates a little. And Brian Azzarello's script is the least interesting or original of this series so far. It's still a cut above any number of other titles, but the progress made in Spaceman #6 is so small that it felt like filler, which you don't want in a nine-issue limited series.
5.5/10
Teen Titans #8: Scott Lobdell clearly knows his cast, and their distinct voices and viewpoints have been a highlight of this title so far, but in Teen Titans #8 the one-by-one characterization was laid on a bit thick. It's still a fun read, but its only real purpose is to lead us into the upcoming "The Culling" crossover, and so that's all we get. I'm not complaining, really, just saying this issue was a tad light. One at a time, the Teen Titans are prepared for whatever Harvest and his followers have in store for them next, which is the main event, presumably, that Teen Titans has been ramping up to for some time. I'm excited for "The Culling" because Harvest is a pretty interesting villain (as are his lackeys Omen and Leash) and Lobdell has been doing good work with this cast. This prelude issue made me a little impatient since not a lot actually happened, but Solstice's dialogue with Bunker made the impending final confrontation between the Titans and N.O.W.H.E.R.E. seem even scarier and more exciting, and nothing here actively dampened my enthusiasm for "The Culling" so I guess, really, it was a solid prologue. Fluffy, maybe, but as good for new readers as old, and a probably necessary first step before leaping into the crossover.
6.0/10
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #9: I like Esad Ribic's art a lot, and he has been a major part of why Ultimates has been such an entertaining title, but I always find myself irked by the way he draws widely opened eyes or mouths. Any time anyone is yelling or surprised, and even sometimes in battle scenes, Ribic makes their eyes bug so much you expect them to pop out in the next panel, and their mouths take up half of their faces. Normally, this is a small complaint, but in Ultimate Comics Ultimates #9, for some reason, it happened an inordinate number of times. I'm nitpicking, because the rest of his art was at its typical high standard, but it was something I couldn't help but notice.
Aside from that, a middle-of-the-line kind of issue. Jonathan Hickman advances all of his numerous plot threads, but only a little bit, and not in any truly surprising ways. No one expected Zorn to be the solution to the City, but it was also not shocking when he did have the power to do some actual damage to it. And Reed Richards' retaliation against the U.S., while it looked cool, was pretty much to be expected. A shade decompressed for my taste, but no less high energy or interesting for it.
6.5/10
Uncanny X-Men #11: Kieron Gillen deals with the obligation of doing an AvX tie-in by showing us some scenes which we've already seen in the main title through the eyes and inner monologues of three characters from Uncanny X-Men. It's a fine enough approach, although I doubt it would be the least bit enjoyable for any Uncanny fans not following the event. And while Namor and Colossus both have strong voices here, neither of them says anything that felt all that new. I get why Namor likes mutants, and I get why Colossus struggles with being Cyttorak's avatar, so even though I didn't dislike their scenes, they were very much non-essential reading. Hope's part actually did teach me a thing or two, like Hope and Logan making a deal for him to kill her, or that she has an actual plan in her mind for dealing with the Phoenix (although how much do you wanna bet it doesn't go the way she wants?) but it was an extremely brief section of the issue, plus it's probably information we'll get somewhere else in another month or two, anyway. Greg Land's art was inconsistent at best. He seems to have difficulty with smaller panels, as many of his close-ups look unnatural and stagnant, but he nails most of the fight moments that take up a larger portion of the page.
The press release at the end was just stupid, and I choose to pretend those two pages don't exist.
5.0/10
Astonishing X-Men #49: Some really nice moments here between Kyle and Northstar---a very well-written and emotionally resonant romance. Other than those few pages, though, nothing really stands out. A pretty boring fight with an even more boring and somewhat cliched resolution, which leads us to an even MORE cliched and totally obvious conclusion to the issue. I appreciate that Marjorie Liu gave most of her cast something to do, and there wasn't anything especially bad about this story, but there wasn't anything especially good, either. The same is true of Mike Perkins' art, which is rough and sloppy in places (like the horribly jumbled splash page in the middle of the fight) but generally serviceable if not impressive. And hey, am I supposed to know who the woman revealed on the final page is? Because I do not, and it weakened the effect of the ending, to my mind. Overall I walked away from Astonishing X-Men #49 feeling unenthusiastic about the future of the title. Not a bad read, but not one that particularly makes you want to come back for more.
5.0/10
Daredevil #11: Well, it's official. "The Omega Effect" was a bust. I read all three parts, and while none of them were spectacular, this finale was especially disappointing because it made the entire crossover feel totally pointless. What happened? Plenty, I guess. But what changed? Nothing. The Omega Drive is still in DD's hands, and now he has a "new plan" to deal with it, but based on how much of a waste of time his first plan was (meaning this issue right here) I find myself none-too-excited to learn what comes next. To be fair to Daredevil #11, Marco Checchetto delivered some incredible art, and the first third of the issue was pretty solid in terms of story: fun action with solid characterization of Spidey, DD, and Punisher all. And for just a second it seemed like this whole Omega Drive situation might actually be developed in an unexpected way. But as soon as Murdock took off after Alves---I use the name she prefers, and I honestly don't understand why no one else will---it got boring, everything was undone, and the status quo returned. Congratulations, Marvel, you tricked me into buying two extra comics this month for no reason. Four, arguably, because I probably could have just gone straight from Daredevil #10 to Daredevil #12 without feeling like I missed a thing (and there was that stupid ass .1 issue before TOE really kicked off). It's a bummer, because TOE had massive potential and awesome talent behind it, but alas, it ended with a fizzle rather than a bang.
3.5/10
Justice League Dark #8: I'm not sure how much needs to be said about this issue, which is Peter Milligan's last as writer of Justice League Dark, and you can feel him not giving a shit about it on every page. The super-forced exit of Shade, the Changing Man felt like it might have been the comicbook representation of Milligan's own exit from the title: the chaos of this thing he is supposed to be controlling becomes too much for him to handle, and so he just gives in to it and leaves. Next month we get a shift in the lineup of the team, a new writer, and, fingers crossed, a believable and compelling reason for these characters to even work together in the first place. That lack of focus or motive has been a problem for Justice League Dark since its debut, a fact that has never been more apparent than in this choppy, lackluster crossover issue.
2.0/10
Moon Knight #12: I know there were some naysayers, but I have been enjoying the story of Moon Knight vs. Count Nefaria in spite of their obvious power imbalance. There were definitely a few moments in some of their encounters where it seemed like Nefaria was holding back for no real reason, but in general I thought Brian Michael Bendis did a good job of keeping it believable and interesting. So going into Moon Knight #12, knowing it was going to be the conclusion to that tale, I had my hopes set pretty high. So maybe it's partially my fault for being so excited up front, but this issue was a massive letdown. He calls in the Avengers? Seriously, Bendis? That's the solution you came up with? After a year of Moon Knight steadfastly fighting this battle on his own terms, in his own city, with his own resources, he dials the superhero emergency line and lets somebody else finish the job. In one hit, might I add. Weak. But don't worry, there's a reason for it: Tony Stark gets to tease the upcoming Age of Ultron for two whole pages. WEAK! Don't plug your new project in the final throws of your old one, Bendis, ya schmuck. That's just classless all over. And now we'll never get the innovative, inventive, awesome finale this series deserved. Instead we're stuck with this forever. A cop out closing with below-the-bar art from Alex Maleev, less-badass-than-usual behavior from our title character, and what basically amounts to a commercial for a new title at the end. Nasty.
3.0/10
Rebel Blood #2: Though not quite as strong as its opening issue, Rebel Blood #2 continues to tell a singularly entertaining story of one man trying to cope with unimaginable horror all on his own. Chuck is a great blend of improvised action hero and terrified victim, responding to each new development with a combination of stunned shock and survivalist violence. And the brief trips we take into his unstable psyche in the midst of all this madness help to add both realism and surrealism to the book, grounding it in human fears, memories, and desires while at the same time building an uncertain reality and history for Chuck. As he is swept up by the unthinkable situation that surrounds him, the reader is carried right along with him by the fluid, restless storytelling and artwork from Alex Link and Riley Rossmo. It seems like the primary goal of Rebel Blood is to make the reader and Chuck one-and-the-same as much as possible, as far as our emotional and mental states while the narrative advances. And more often than not, that's exactly what happens. All of his disgust and anxieties are shared by the reader as the issue powers forward, never settling down long enough to let us or our protagonist get too solid a grip on anything. But even with that pacing, because this isn't a typical "group of survivors" story, we are able to fully experience what Chuck goes through, externally and internally, and that's precisely what makes Rebel Blood so good. Well, that and Rossmo's kinetic, brilliant artwork, which highlights the horrific elements of the story perfectly and is just rough enough around the edges to add to the surreality of the comic without detracting any clarity. In fact, in some places, like the flashback sequence, the art tells us more of the story than the letters do. We're already halfway through this series, and while it feels like it'll end too soon, I'd probably also be more than satisfied if the two issues we've seen so far were all that ever came out.
8.5/10
Secret Avengers #26: As far as event tie-ins go, Secret Avengers #26 is an exemplary comicbook. The story it tells, while spinning directly out of the main AvX narrative, stands largely on its own and could easily be enjoyed by someone who isn't following the event proper. It is, perhaps, a bit simplistic---a team of Avengers fight and fail to contain the Phoenix Force in space---but Rick Remender has a good handle on the voices of every single character (and there are quite a few), and gives each of them something to do without ever seeming like he's forcing it in. Each of their roles is logical and natural, and it gives the issue a real "team book" feel that Secret Avengers has been missing since Remender took the helm. And it felt for a while like Noh-Varr and Ms. Marvel were going to be ignored, but turns out they actually have pivotal roles to play in by the end of the issue (or, at any rate, they most likely will have said roles in the next issue). It's a fun and well-orchestrated story, but what really pushes Secret Avengers #26 over the edge is the team of artsit Renato Guedes, and colorists Bettie Breitweiser, and Matthew Wilson. I name all three because the soft yet vibrant colors are a major part of the overall affect, but Guedes is the champion, from his two-page Phoenix spread to his close-up on Captain Britain's nose bleed and everything Remender asks of him in between. As loathe as I am to say it, this tie-in has been my favorite of Remender's issues on Secret Avengers. Best art, best lineup, best story.
8.5/10
Spaceman #6: Losing a bit of momentum this time out, Spaceman #6 had a lot of characters communicating information to each other that we already knew. The scenes that took place on Mars were still good, but even they felt a little more by-the-numbers than they have in previous issues, merely moving the story of the space mission forward a step or two without offering any new insights. The moment where we see The Fence and all that surrounds it was important and well-done, but I wouldn't use those words to describe very much else in the issue. I mean, Eduardo Risso kills it as always, packing detail and emotion into every panel, but so much of what he draws is people standing around and talking that even the art deflates a little. And Brian Azzarello's script is the least interesting or original of this series so far. It's still a cut above any number of other titles, but the progress made in Spaceman #6 is so small that it felt like filler, which you don't want in a nine-issue limited series.
5.5/10
Teen Titans #8: Scott Lobdell clearly knows his cast, and their distinct voices and viewpoints have been a highlight of this title so far, but in Teen Titans #8 the one-by-one characterization was laid on a bit thick. It's still a fun read, but its only real purpose is to lead us into the upcoming "The Culling" crossover, and so that's all we get. I'm not complaining, really, just saying this issue was a tad light. One at a time, the Teen Titans are prepared for whatever Harvest and his followers have in store for them next, which is the main event, presumably, that Teen Titans has been ramping up to for some time. I'm excited for "The Culling" because Harvest is a pretty interesting villain (as are his lackeys Omen and Leash) and Lobdell has been doing good work with this cast. This prelude issue made me a little impatient since not a lot actually happened, but Solstice's dialogue with Bunker made the impending final confrontation between the Titans and N.O.W.H.E.R.E. seem even scarier and more exciting, and nothing here actively dampened my enthusiasm for "The Culling" so I guess, really, it was a solid prologue. Fluffy, maybe, but as good for new readers as old, and a probably necessary first step before leaping into the crossover.
6.0/10
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #9: I like Esad Ribic's art a lot, and he has been a major part of why Ultimates has been such an entertaining title, but I always find myself irked by the way he draws widely opened eyes or mouths. Any time anyone is yelling or surprised, and even sometimes in battle scenes, Ribic makes their eyes bug so much you expect them to pop out in the next panel, and their mouths take up half of their faces. Normally, this is a small complaint, but in Ultimate Comics Ultimates #9, for some reason, it happened an inordinate number of times. I'm nitpicking, because the rest of his art was at its typical high standard, but it was something I couldn't help but notice.
Aside from that, a middle-of-the-line kind of issue. Jonathan Hickman advances all of his numerous plot threads, but only a little bit, and not in any truly surprising ways. No one expected Zorn to be the solution to the City, but it was also not shocking when he did have the power to do some actual damage to it. And Reed Richards' retaliation against the U.S., while it looked cool, was pretty much to be expected. A shade decompressed for my taste, but no less high energy or interesting for it.
6.5/10
Uncanny X-Men #11: Kieron Gillen deals with the obligation of doing an AvX tie-in by showing us some scenes which we've already seen in the main title through the eyes and inner monologues of three characters from Uncanny X-Men. It's a fine enough approach, although I doubt it would be the least bit enjoyable for any Uncanny fans not following the event. And while Namor and Colossus both have strong voices here, neither of them says anything that felt all that new. I get why Namor likes mutants, and I get why Colossus struggles with being Cyttorak's avatar, so even though I didn't dislike their scenes, they were very much non-essential reading. Hope's part actually did teach me a thing or two, like Hope and Logan making a deal for him to kill her, or that she has an actual plan in her mind for dealing with the Phoenix (although how much do you wanna bet it doesn't go the way she wants?) but it was an extremely brief section of the issue, plus it's probably information we'll get somewhere else in another month or two, anyway. Greg Land's art was inconsistent at best. He seems to have difficulty with smaller panels, as many of his close-ups look unnatural and stagnant, but he nails most of the fight moments that take up a larger portion of the page.
The press release at the end was just stupid, and I choose to pretend those two pages don't exist.
5.0/10
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Pull List Reviews 04/05/2012
So, still no Astonishing X-Men #48 at my store. I'll probably just have to pick it up somewhere else, but won't bother reviewing it at this point. However, I did get my other missing comic from last week...
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #8: For the first time since the Ultimate line hit restart several months ago, Ultimates was actually kind of dull. Last issue, we were promised both Hulk smashing and Zorn revenging, but neither paid off this week. After a few pages, Reed handily calmed and won over Banner, and Zorn was in transit the entire time. While both of these things made for stunning visuals from Esad Ribic---particularly the Hulk-Reed scenes which I hope we get a few more of before this storyline concludes---neither were especially interesting plot beats. The stuff with the President is certainly in keeping with the spirit of the title so far, by which I mean it's high-power and batshit insane, but it only inches forward this issue. A decision made early on is only officially announced on the final page, and there's not quite a satisfying portion of meat in between.
Even the scene where the announcement is finally made loses weight because of the ridiculous facial expressions. In fact, my one quibble with Ribic's art in general is that his surprised faces are all laughable. Stark, Hulk, Congress...it's the same look every time and it is not flattering. Otherwise a beautiful if low calorie read.
5.5/10
Animal Man #8: In terms of actual story progression, not a lot happens, but several significant character turns take place that I enjoyed. Buddy finally whole-heartedly leaps into the fray. Maxine discovers some impressive if frightening new powers, and then promises to put an end to that sort of behavior while her father is away. And Ellen and her mother each reach their respective breaking points in the face of all the horror they've seen. A new chapter begins here, even more so than in this arc's official first chapter, for nearly every member of the Baker family (Cliff no so much) and it keeps me excited to see where they all end up.
On the art side of things, while Travel Foreman does a fine enough job with his portion, Steve Pugh really has all the best moments, including his first two pages (6 and 7) and his final one. As much as Foreman was one of the best parts of this series at the beginning, Pugh is a very welcome addition (and no stranger to the character). Plus I'm excited to see Foreman on Birds of Prey.
I do have one burning question, though, and it applies to Swamp Thing #8, below, as well: If the Rot has become such a worldwide problem, and the military are showing up en masse and everything, then where the hell are all the other superheroes? I mean...I'm glad the Justice League isn't showing up awkwardly in these titles, but if I am supposed to believe they exist in this world, why would I believe they choose to sit this one out? Did I miss an explanation at some point as to why they wouldn't try to take on The Rot themselves? Just something that popped into my brain while reading this week.
But other than that long, disconnected question, a solid issue throughout.
7.0/10
Avengers vs. X-Men #1: The page with the line ups of both teams really makes things look bleak for the X-Men, huh? I'm just talking numbers (even though, of course, there are TONS of Utopians not mentioned...but why?) And I also thought that, basically, this issue was exactly what everyone expected it to be in the most disappointing ways possible. A long, long set up that leads to the first blow in the fight we've been told for months is coming. Pretty boring stuff, really. Bendis does a good job with his dialogue and Romita, Jr. is serviceable if not impressive on pencils. Really nice colors by Laura Martin, but otherwise nothing to write home about. This whole Marvel-wide fight basically starts because Cyclops and Captain America decide to be dicks to each other immediately. Especially Scott, who seems like he walks into that conversation looking to pick exactly the fight he picks. Namor says that things are already ramped up, and he's 100% on the nose with that call, but why things get so ramped to quickly is sort of unclear and sort of dumb.
Other dumb thing: the Marvel AR tags all over the place. Like roaches in a TV set.
And we hear a lot of talk about fans choosing sides in this fight, but I'll tell ya...so far, the fight seems to be about whether protective custody or mutant boot camp is the best way to handle the Phoenix Force, and I just simply do not care or even see why those two sides are necessarily at odds with one another. Fairly weak sauce beginning to the year's blockbuster event.
3.0/10
Casanova: Avaritia #3: Matt Fraction can catch you up on the story so far and confuse the shit out of you in the same panel. It's really an amazing style and voice he brings to every chapter of Casanova, and this one is no different. While the primary Casanova-Xeno-Sasa threesome/escape plan was totally interesting and bananas, the best parts of this issue focussed on other characters. Suki Boutique gets a nice bit of spotlight, Seychelle re-dons the creepy villain cap quite naturally, and Kaito just generally kicks ass. I have missed the shit out of him, and his return to the title this week is more awesome and terrifying than I could have imagined. And of course, Gabriel Bá and Cris Peter go to town every page, Peter more noticeably than Bá this time, keeping the red foundation of "Avaritia" but also generous and intelligent with greens and using the blues of "Gula" for Kaito's split-second flashbacks. Entertaining, fast-paced, high-concept comicbookery for all (as long as you don't mind sex and violence and swearing and whatnot.)
8.5/10
Daredevil #10.1: The last six pages are pretty good, but everything before that is sort of a dud. A no-stakes flashback fight and a recapping Daredevil's long-term and short-term history, since this is meant to be an issue where new readers might jump on. Murdock goes to see a potential client who was put in prison by Daredevil after trying to assassinate Murdock. Not a bad idea, not even a BAD story, but most definitely not that interesting in execution. And Koi Pham's is quite underwhelming. Again, in the final scene where Daredevil and the megacrime stooges have their little scuffle, things really come to life, but in the Murdock scenes Pham's faces often lack detail or shape, and sometimes his bodies as well. He puts very little detail into anything, and it gives a real sense of the art being rushed or maybe just sloppily finished. Check out the part where fat Daredevil takes on two even fatter bank robbers. Weird stuff.
Art that felt rushed, a story that felt stretched. Meh.
4.5/10
Fairest #2: If I thought some of the other titles this week were boring, Fairest #2 gives a whole new meaning to the word. To be fair, if you ignored all the words, Phil Jimenez, Andy Lanning, and Andrew Dalhouse offer a really soothing and stunning visual trip. The Ice Queen and all of her minions look gorgeous and foreboding at once, and in the Sleepy Beauty backstory sequence, we get a great splash page of the fairy godmothers, followed by an even greater and more detailed double spread of an incredible royal hall.
That sequence, though, as far as story? Really, really lame. And why doesn't Sleeping Beauty know about it? Yeah she was young, but she's grown now. She's lived in our world. Wouldn't she have heard some version of this story? But none of that is the real problem, the real problem is that all three of the heroes (Ali Baba, Sleeping Beauty, and Panghammer) are obnoxious as hell and won't shut up. Am I rooting for them? Hell no! The Ice Queen looks the coolest, acts the coolest, and has friends who know how to keep their mouths shut. THAT is who I root for, every time.
4.0/10
Green Arrow #8: Uh...what? Seriously...???
1.5/10
Swamp Thing #8: Scott Snyder does an interesting thing in this issue, filling it to the brim with combat and filth, letting Yanick Paquette and Marco Rudy pretty much run things (despite an abundance of captions for some pages). It all feels very deliberate. The art highlights the violence, the violence highlights the art, and plot more or less stands aside to let that take place. We get a big development for Abby at the end, but not an unexpected one, and beyond that little really happens. It's almost like an alternative first issue for all the naysayers who were upset at the amount of Holland and lack of Swamp Thing this series had in the previous seven installments. So now it's all Swamp Thing all the time, at least for one month, and even if it's perhaps overly simple in its narrative, you could study the panels of Swamp Thing vs. The Rot for hours without boredom. Plus this new design for Swamp Thing is balling.
7.5/10
Thunderbolts #172: I have no strong feelings about this issue either way. The Thunderbolts vs. Thunderbolts concept is a perfect ending to both the time travel story that has been running through the title for a while now, and for Thunderbolts as a title at all, since once this arc wraps it will become Dark Avengers. As cool as the idea is, though, this opening chapter is less than thrilling. All of Jeff Parker's usual humor is there (especially with Boomerang, who is always my favorite part of the book) and the fight that makes up the last half of the issue is fun and in a cool setting and generally well-drawn by Declan Shalvey, but it's all a little straightforward for my taste. I'm very excited to see if Fixer's foreshadowing pans out (or, I should say, HOW it pans out), and the cliffhanger ending definitely makes me excited for whatever comes next with Moonstone, but nothing exceptional in-and-of itself here.
5.5/10
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #9: Three extremely well-done scenes. Admittedly, my experience with the Ultimate line before its recent reboot is extremely limited, so I do not know if Captain Frank Quaid is a new or returning character, but it hardly matters because Brian Michael Bendis so succinctly introduces him here. I really hope he's going to be a recurring character now, because Miles could use somebody like that in his corner, and also because I just like the guy.
The main event of the issue is Prowler vs. Scorpion. Both characters slowly reveal to each other, and therefore to the reader, the scope of their abilities. Prowler expects to disarm and surprise Scorpion with his new toys, but Scorpion clearly has some older, scarier, innate abilities that make him one hell of a foe. It's a fun escalation to watch, and it's also satisfying to see Uncle Aaron gradually go from arrogant to terrified. He's a pretty despicable dude (seeing as he blackmails his nephew into helping him deal with a supervillain), which makes the panels where all he can do is panic and run are some of the best in the issue, with David Marquez evoking Aaron's stunned horror perfectly.
Marquez continues to be an excellent substitute for Sara Pichelli all around, brining all the attention to detail and character and expression she always did. And all of this seems to be tumbling toward a Spidey-Scorpion meeting, which I can't wait to see.
8.0/10
Wolverine & the X-Men #8: Beast fighting Sabretooth in space is a great goddamn idea that misses the mark here. I mostly blame Chris Bachalo, who's art is unclear everywhere, but particularly during the climatic final moments of that fight. I'm sure Bachalo's style is appreciated by many, but I have always found it a little too bizarre and inconsistent to really enjoy. And he gives his characters such animal-like faces. I know Beast and Sabretooth are meant to resemble cats, but why Angel and Kilgore, and why only sometimes?
Jason Aaron's script has its highs and lows. Again, conceptually, Beast vs. Sabretooth on S.W.O.R.D. HQ is sweet, but it feels sort of cramped in the same space of the other story. The same is true of that story, wherein the students go back to Planet Sin to get a cure for Wolverine. Even though the exchange between Angel and Genesis is a highlight of not just this issue but the series to date, the rest of that mission goes by in such a blur its hard to get invested in it before they're already returning home. Between that frantic pace and Bachalo's sloppy pencils, Wolverine & the X-Men #8 just fell short for me this time.
4.0/10
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #8: For the first time since the Ultimate line hit restart several months ago, Ultimates was actually kind of dull. Last issue, we were promised both Hulk smashing and Zorn revenging, but neither paid off this week. After a few pages, Reed handily calmed and won over Banner, and Zorn was in transit the entire time. While both of these things made for stunning visuals from Esad Ribic---particularly the Hulk-Reed scenes which I hope we get a few more of before this storyline concludes---neither were especially interesting plot beats. The stuff with the President is certainly in keeping with the spirit of the title so far, by which I mean it's high-power and batshit insane, but it only inches forward this issue. A decision made early on is only officially announced on the final page, and there's not quite a satisfying portion of meat in between.
Even the scene where the announcement is finally made loses weight because of the ridiculous facial expressions. In fact, my one quibble with Ribic's art in general is that his surprised faces are all laughable. Stark, Hulk, Congress...it's the same look every time and it is not flattering. Otherwise a beautiful if low calorie read.
5.5/10
Animal Man #8: In terms of actual story progression, not a lot happens, but several significant character turns take place that I enjoyed. Buddy finally whole-heartedly leaps into the fray. Maxine discovers some impressive if frightening new powers, and then promises to put an end to that sort of behavior while her father is away. And Ellen and her mother each reach their respective breaking points in the face of all the horror they've seen. A new chapter begins here, even more so than in this arc's official first chapter, for nearly every member of the Baker family (Cliff no so much) and it keeps me excited to see where they all end up.
On the art side of things, while Travel Foreman does a fine enough job with his portion, Steve Pugh really has all the best moments, including his first two pages (6 and 7) and his final one. As much as Foreman was one of the best parts of this series at the beginning, Pugh is a very welcome addition (and no stranger to the character). Plus I'm excited to see Foreman on Birds of Prey.
I do have one burning question, though, and it applies to Swamp Thing #8, below, as well: If the Rot has become such a worldwide problem, and the military are showing up en masse and everything, then where the hell are all the other superheroes? I mean...I'm glad the Justice League isn't showing up awkwardly in these titles, but if I am supposed to believe they exist in this world, why would I believe they choose to sit this one out? Did I miss an explanation at some point as to why they wouldn't try to take on The Rot themselves? Just something that popped into my brain while reading this week.
But other than that long, disconnected question, a solid issue throughout.
7.0/10
Avengers vs. X-Men #1: The page with the line ups of both teams really makes things look bleak for the X-Men, huh? I'm just talking numbers (even though, of course, there are TONS of Utopians not mentioned...but why?) And I also thought that, basically, this issue was exactly what everyone expected it to be in the most disappointing ways possible. A long, long set up that leads to the first blow in the fight we've been told for months is coming. Pretty boring stuff, really. Bendis does a good job with his dialogue and Romita, Jr. is serviceable if not impressive on pencils. Really nice colors by Laura Martin, but otherwise nothing to write home about. This whole Marvel-wide fight basically starts because Cyclops and Captain America decide to be dicks to each other immediately. Especially Scott, who seems like he walks into that conversation looking to pick exactly the fight he picks. Namor says that things are already ramped up, and he's 100% on the nose with that call, but why things get so ramped to quickly is sort of unclear and sort of dumb.
Other dumb thing: the Marvel AR tags all over the place. Like roaches in a TV set.
And we hear a lot of talk about fans choosing sides in this fight, but I'll tell ya...so far, the fight seems to be about whether protective custody or mutant boot camp is the best way to handle the Phoenix Force, and I just simply do not care or even see why those two sides are necessarily at odds with one another. Fairly weak sauce beginning to the year's blockbuster event.
3.0/10
Casanova: Avaritia #3: Matt Fraction can catch you up on the story so far and confuse the shit out of you in the same panel. It's really an amazing style and voice he brings to every chapter of Casanova, and this one is no different. While the primary Casanova-Xeno-Sasa threesome/escape plan was totally interesting and bananas, the best parts of this issue focussed on other characters. Suki Boutique gets a nice bit of spotlight, Seychelle re-dons the creepy villain cap quite naturally, and Kaito just generally kicks ass. I have missed the shit out of him, and his return to the title this week is more awesome and terrifying than I could have imagined. And of course, Gabriel Bá and Cris Peter go to town every page, Peter more noticeably than Bá this time, keeping the red foundation of "Avaritia" but also generous and intelligent with greens and using the blues of "Gula" for Kaito's split-second flashbacks. Entertaining, fast-paced, high-concept comicbookery for all (as long as you don't mind sex and violence and swearing and whatnot.)
8.5/10
Daredevil #10.1: The last six pages are pretty good, but everything before that is sort of a dud. A no-stakes flashback fight and a recapping Daredevil's long-term and short-term history, since this is meant to be an issue where new readers might jump on. Murdock goes to see a potential client who was put in prison by Daredevil after trying to assassinate Murdock. Not a bad idea, not even a BAD story, but most definitely not that interesting in execution. And Koi Pham's is quite underwhelming. Again, in the final scene where Daredevil and the megacrime stooges have their little scuffle, things really come to life, but in the Murdock scenes Pham's faces often lack detail or shape, and sometimes his bodies as well. He puts very little detail into anything, and it gives a real sense of the art being rushed or maybe just sloppily finished. Check out the part where fat Daredevil takes on two even fatter bank robbers. Weird stuff.
Art that felt rushed, a story that felt stretched. Meh.
4.5/10
Fairest #2: If I thought some of the other titles this week were boring, Fairest #2 gives a whole new meaning to the word. To be fair, if you ignored all the words, Phil Jimenez, Andy Lanning, and Andrew Dalhouse offer a really soothing and stunning visual trip. The Ice Queen and all of her minions look gorgeous and foreboding at once, and in the Sleepy Beauty backstory sequence, we get a great splash page of the fairy godmothers, followed by an even greater and more detailed double spread of an incredible royal hall.
That sequence, though, as far as story? Really, really lame. And why doesn't Sleeping Beauty know about it? Yeah she was young, but she's grown now. She's lived in our world. Wouldn't she have heard some version of this story? But none of that is the real problem, the real problem is that all three of the heroes (Ali Baba, Sleeping Beauty, and Panghammer) are obnoxious as hell and won't shut up. Am I rooting for them? Hell no! The Ice Queen looks the coolest, acts the coolest, and has friends who know how to keep their mouths shut. THAT is who I root for, every time.
4.0/10
Green Arrow #8: Uh...what? Seriously...???
1.5/10
Swamp Thing #8: Scott Snyder does an interesting thing in this issue, filling it to the brim with combat and filth, letting Yanick Paquette and Marco Rudy pretty much run things (despite an abundance of captions for some pages). It all feels very deliberate. The art highlights the violence, the violence highlights the art, and plot more or less stands aside to let that take place. We get a big development for Abby at the end, but not an unexpected one, and beyond that little really happens. It's almost like an alternative first issue for all the naysayers who were upset at the amount of Holland and lack of Swamp Thing this series had in the previous seven installments. So now it's all Swamp Thing all the time, at least for one month, and even if it's perhaps overly simple in its narrative, you could study the panels of Swamp Thing vs. The Rot for hours without boredom. Plus this new design for Swamp Thing is balling.
7.5/10
Thunderbolts #172: I have no strong feelings about this issue either way. The Thunderbolts vs. Thunderbolts concept is a perfect ending to both the time travel story that has been running through the title for a while now, and for Thunderbolts as a title at all, since once this arc wraps it will become Dark Avengers. As cool as the idea is, though, this opening chapter is less than thrilling. All of Jeff Parker's usual humor is there (especially with Boomerang, who is always my favorite part of the book) and the fight that makes up the last half of the issue is fun and in a cool setting and generally well-drawn by Declan Shalvey, but it's all a little straightforward for my taste. I'm very excited to see if Fixer's foreshadowing pans out (or, I should say, HOW it pans out), and the cliffhanger ending definitely makes me excited for whatever comes next with Moonstone, but nothing exceptional in-and-of itself here.
5.5/10
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #9: Three extremely well-done scenes. Admittedly, my experience with the Ultimate line before its recent reboot is extremely limited, so I do not know if Captain Frank Quaid is a new or returning character, but it hardly matters because Brian Michael Bendis so succinctly introduces him here. I really hope he's going to be a recurring character now, because Miles could use somebody like that in his corner, and also because I just like the guy.
The main event of the issue is Prowler vs. Scorpion. Both characters slowly reveal to each other, and therefore to the reader, the scope of their abilities. Prowler expects to disarm and surprise Scorpion with his new toys, but Scorpion clearly has some older, scarier, innate abilities that make him one hell of a foe. It's a fun escalation to watch, and it's also satisfying to see Uncle Aaron gradually go from arrogant to terrified. He's a pretty despicable dude (seeing as he blackmails his nephew into helping him deal with a supervillain), which makes the panels where all he can do is panic and run are some of the best in the issue, with David Marquez evoking Aaron's stunned horror perfectly.
Marquez continues to be an excellent substitute for Sara Pichelli all around, brining all the attention to detail and character and expression she always did. And all of this seems to be tumbling toward a Spidey-Scorpion meeting, which I can't wait to see.
8.0/10
Wolverine & the X-Men #8: Beast fighting Sabretooth in space is a great goddamn idea that misses the mark here. I mostly blame Chris Bachalo, who's art is unclear everywhere, but particularly during the climatic final moments of that fight. I'm sure Bachalo's style is appreciated by many, but I have always found it a little too bizarre and inconsistent to really enjoy. And he gives his characters such animal-like faces. I know Beast and Sabretooth are meant to resemble cats, but why Angel and Kilgore, and why only sometimes?
Jason Aaron's script has its highs and lows. Again, conceptually, Beast vs. Sabretooth on S.W.O.R.D. HQ is sweet, but it feels sort of cramped in the same space of the other story. The same is true of that story, wherein the students go back to Planet Sin to get a cure for Wolverine. Even though the exchange between Angel and Genesis is a highlight of not just this issue but the series to date, the rest of that mission goes by in such a blur its hard to get invested in it before they're already returning home. Between that frantic pace and Bachalo's sloppy pencils, Wolverine & the X-Men #8 just fell short for me this time.
4.0/10
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