X-MEN #200(w. Mike Carey, a. Humberto Ramos & Chris Bachalo)
Well, this was a lot better than the Endangered Species one-shot. The Marauders make themselves known to the X-Men with deadly force, while Mystique reveals herself to be their new leader after getting a quick bang from Iceman. Um, okay. That whole thing hasn't made any sense to me, but the rest of the issue was old-school X-Men fun. Gambit and Sunfire are the other major surprises running around with the Marauders, and their involvement is perfectly plausible. Cable appears to have died? Rogue mortally injured by Mystique? All-in-all a good anniversary issue headed towards what feels like some big things. I know it’s a fine line, and it’s probably a personal one, but Ramos’ art doesn’t always work for me with the more serious X-Men, yet I love Bachalo. I felt that again here, as I wish Bachalo was doing all of the art. The Endangered Species back-up has started too, and it was good for what it was, with a surprise ending of its own, with Beast turning to some major villains for help. Good.
CRIMINAL #7
(w. Ed Brubaker, a. Sean Phillips)
Without a doubt, this is one of the best comics on the stands right now. When books are doing this well, it’s easy to say the same things over and over, but really, the story and art continue to be All-Star. It’s the second issue of the new storyline, and things are heating up for our boy Tracy Lawless. He gets in deeper with his brother’s old crew, after being endorsed by Leo Patterson (our hero from the first arc), and the first complication appears to be a woman, who happens to be the same one his brother was involved with (oooh, this IS noir!). And after they complete a heist, we find out that the bagmen he ripped off on the way into town might be coming back to haunt him. Kick ass comic. My BOOK OF THE WEEK. (Brubaker has now won this four out of the last six weeks for me.)
BOYS #8: Hughie is awesome, and the reason I like this book so much.
X-FACTOR #20: Quicksilver lost the crystals already? Good issue.
DAREDEVIL #98
(w. Ed Brubaker, a. Michael Lark)
This issue picked up right where the last one left off, quality- and plot-wise. I never expected Milla to be in any true danger, but for those that were holding their breath, no worries: Milla is okay. Brubaker and Lark put together a couple of damn good action sequences: Daredevil’s escape from the police while being handcuffed and his bad ass showdown with the Gladiator. Although maybe an odd description on the surface, I really feel like Michael Lark is a “Widescreen” comics artist. He is very cinematic with his camera choices. Another nice issue from the Daredevil crew, in what is a really solid storyline.
WORLD WAR HULK: X-MEN #1
(w. Christos Gage, a. Andrea Divito)
I really hate to say this because I was rooting for Gage, a very promising young writer, but this issue was bad. Reaaally bad. It all went downhill when Tony and Xavier had this horribly written exposition scene:
“Um, what about the Hulk?” Xavier asks.
Tony responds: “Oh crap, I toooooootally forgot to tell you about that. We sent him out into space to die alone, we fucked up, and he is coming back pissed. Oh, and how would you have voted if you would have been here?”
What the fuck, Tony?
Meanwhile, some time later, the Hulk decides to show up and ask Old Cue Ball the same damn thing. Apparently, on his way to
WORLD WAR HULK: FRONTLINE #1
(w. Paul Jenkins, a. Ramon Bachs)
Could this comic fare better than the tie-in above it? Well it's probably not fair that I read it right after the X-Men book, but um, yeah, I guess it was better. But not by much. Things started out really good, with us catching up with Ben and Sally, and we see what they have done between Civil War and now, and how a mysterious benefactor has saved them, and they just need a big story and they'll be okay... and BOOM here comes the Hulk and while everyone is running out of town, they stay and get their big story. Good start. The "take me to your leader" joke even worked, but then the book turned sour in my eyes. In 24 hours, the book suddenly treats the aliens like they’re been there for weeks? Bartenders talking about what good tippers they are? The Warbound come back and integrate? Go to bars and start drinking upon arrival? Huh? And after one of them is killed, Korg takes on a human cop (the same one Sally is banging, of course) to do a bad Alien Nation rip-off. I don’t know. The last Frontline series started strong and became a bit of a mess at the end. The trend hasn't changed that much.
THUNDERBOLTS #115
(w. Warren Ellis, a. Mike Deodato)
This was a good ending to the first Thunderbolt storyline. I just wonder how much legs this concept actually has, especially since
WALKING DEAD #38: Man, Tyrese was an idiot, and I hope he doesn’t get too many of them killed.
INVINCIBLE #43: Things are going almost TOO well for our hero here…
CROSSING MIDNIGHT #8: The Kuato moment with the Demon was fun.
SHE-HULK 2 #19
WONDER WOMAN #10
(w. Jodi Picoult, a. Paco Diaz)
So I went back and bought all of the Jodi Picoult issues (#6-9), and I read them a couple of weeks ago, and now this. I feel bad that Jodi had to come in here and have a run that was upset by an exterior crossover. I know nothing of her writing outside of comics, but it must suck to come in and have your storyline’s last two issues be a tie-in to a crossover that was conceived (as rumor has it) a while before. And Jodi probably knew, I’m not saying she was surprised, I’m just saying that it made the already really short run a bit uneven. For the most part her take was average with some dips above and below that. Wonder Woman herself was handled well, although at times, the fish out of water theme was taken to a goofy level. The much-talked-about gas pumping scene does stand out: I understand Wonder Woman never having pumped gas before, but come on, Diana isn’t a fucking moron: a Justice Leaguer who has been around a while can figure out how to PUMP GAS. So yeah, some good moments in between some sillier ones, but as a whole, the arc never clicked. The art was pretty good throughout, even with the fill-in art on the last two parts. Regardless, I’m around for the two fill-in issues because I’m waiting for Gail Simone’s arc to start.
FALLEN ANGEL #17: I’ve never read or been interested in Shi, so this issue was kind of boring for me.
CABLE/DEADPOOL #42: So is this just Deadpool’s book now?
SILENT WAR #6
(w. David Hine, a. Frazer Irving)
First off, Frazer Irving was awesome. He’s not the best artist in comics, but he is one of the more interesting ones right now. His characters have such a genuinely original look that it is always good times looking at his pages. As for the story, the last issue was executed well, with good action and some family intrigue amongst the royal family: Blackbolt was usurped by his brother. BUUUT-- count me in with those that were a bit let down that there wasn’t some sort of connection between this and World War Hulk. Now, I knew there wasn’t going to be going in, or else Marvel would have let us know. And I even know this is a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t moment for Marvel as far as tie-ins go. It's just that while reading the issue, this one seemed like a perfect place for a crossover. Imagine the Hulk showing up at the end here? Anyway, I guess now we just need some sort of story (somewhere) about how we got from status-quo changing last issue here, to back to normal in World War Hulk #1.
WETWORKS #10
(w. J.M. DeMatteis, a. Joel Gomez)
So, Mike Carey’s run started out iffy, then it got pretty good there in the middle, right before fizzling into the reappearance of the old Wetworks team. And now, they pass the baton to writer J.M. DeMatteis. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, as the story wasn’t bad, but it just wasn’t all that interesting. However, DeMatteis is definitely trying to elevate the conversation here, with characters wondering whether their real lives (as odd as they are) are something worth living. It doesn’t totally work for me, but this Vertigo-esque take was a nice try. I’ll give him a couple of more issues to see where his approach is going. I still enjoy Dane, and I like Ab-Death and the Deadworld as concepts enough to give it a chance. Especially if J.M. continues to throw some character work into an action-horror comic.
JACK OF FABLES #12: The covers will never be James Jean good, but Brian Bolland’s first one is a whole lot of fun. As for what's inside...This book continues to move down my pile.
FANTASTIC FOUR #547
(w. Dwayne McDuffie, a. Paul Pelletier)
I’ve been pretty critical of the recent McDuffie run (even though I may be the only one), but I have to admit that this has been the best one so far. There was some fun “family banter” at home between Johnny & Ben and the visiting Storm & Black Panther, even though Storm caring that much about her hair is silly. Meanwhile, Reed had a scientific mystery to deal with and has a conversation with Yellowjacket, where Hank expresses some distrust in T’Challa. Good use of some of that Civil War stuff. But the stupidest thing Reed ever did was leaving Sue out in space in the Marvel Universe. That was the ballsiest move I’ve ever seen in a superhero comic, since Reed HAD TO KNOW that something was going to go bad. Reed’s a Skrull, Evidence A. Paul’s art was more consistent here too.
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #43: Pasqual Ferry is really turning into a nice little artist. Overall, this was an average comic.
ULTIMATE X-MEN #83: Well, the art here was pretty atrocious and the book is still mostly boring. This needs a serious restart soon.
WOLVERINE ORIGINS #15: This is slowly starting to read better, but Son of Wolverine is still pretty lame. Always the bottom of my pile.
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