Invincible Iron Man #29

August 27, 2010

Title: Stark Resilient Part 4: Predators and Prey in Their Natural Environments

Writer: Matt Fraction
Art: Salvador Larroca
Colorist: Frank D’Armata
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Cover: Salvador Larroca
Editor: Stephen Wacker
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Pepper Pots comes through her surgery well, leaving her free to act as Iron Woma—um – that’s “Rescue.” As Tony continues to build his new company, he sets his sights on the Hammer girls and their Detroit Steel program, while James Rhodes tries to re-establish some old ties.

Matt Fraction has really climbed the all-time ranking of great Iron Man writers. He’s done some fantastic stuff since this title launched, and this new approach to Tony Stark’s business model is among the most interesting of them all. It’s a new way to look at the character, something that really fits this new “Heroic Age” model very well. Although I mock a little, I also like the recreation and re-establishment of Pepper Potts. No doubt this is symptomatic of her high exposure in a couple of movies you may have heard of, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t working. Between those two and War Machine this book does tend to get a little close to becoming “Iron Man Family,” but these characters have always been some of the most important members of Tony Stark’s supporting cast, so it hardly seems fair to complain about using them well. Let’s just all promise not to put Mrs. Arbogast into a suit of armor, okay Fraction?

Salvador Larroca has been doing good artwork here, especially with the armored characters. Some of his non-armored figures can be a bit stiff at times, though, probably symptomatic of his attempts at a more photorealistic style. He’s clearly basing Tony Stark on Lost star Josh Holloway, and while it’s a little distracting, I can forgive that. It’s not nearly as bad as when he did something similar with nearly every character in newuniversal a few years ago.

At any rate, this has been a solid series for some time now, and I’m enjoying the current direction.

Rating: 8/10

Groo 25th Anniversary Special #1

Groo 25th Anniversary Special (Dark Horse Comics)
By Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier, Tom Luth & Stan Sakai

As much as I love Groo, and as happy as I am that he’s back after something of a hiatus, this anniversary special was a little disappointing to me. The main story, “The Plague,” doesn’t really have anything to set it apart as an anniversary tale, it’s just another Groo story. Which would be fine, if it was at least a great Groo story. Instead, it’s just okay. Like many of the best tales of Groo, “The Plague” is a thinly-veiled satire for an issue that is quite prevalent today. Like many of the lesser tales, though, the satire is a bit too on the nose, treading dangerously close to that thin line between satirizying and prothletizing. “Groo For Sale,” the back-up story, is a bit more entertaining. It’s sort of Groo’s “origin,” the tale of how his grandmother inadvertently sent him upon his path of destruction. There’s also a “Groo Alphabet” — an A to Z illustrated verse that introduces virtually the entire cast of the title (handy for newcomers). Strangely, though, the most interesting read in the book is Mark Evanier‘s two-page text piece about the origins of Groo and six of the more persistent “urban legends” about the book (mostly running gags that readers apparently didn’t figure out). This isn’t a bad book by any means (even bad Groo is funnier than 99 percent of all other comics), but one would have hoped for something a little more special for an anniversary issue.

Rating: 7/10

My Faith in Frankie #1

January 7, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Various (Ten Chapters)

Frankie Moxon has lived her whole life with her own personal god watching over her. But what happens when it’s time for her to grow up… find love… and the god gets jealous?

Writer: Mike Carey
Pencils: Sonny Liew
Inks: Sonny Liew & Marc Hempel
Colors: Hi-Fi Design
Letters: John Costanza
Editor: Shelly Bond
Cover Art: Sonny Liew
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

Most people who know Mike Carey’s name know him from his work on Vertigo titles like Hellblazer and Lucifer. In My Faith in Frankie, he continues his rather unique look at religion and faith, but he does it in a very different way. A very funny way. This is a first issue that took me entirely by surprise and has me very eager to read issue #2.

Frankie Moxon has spent her life being completely safe from danger and harm thanks to her god, Jeriven, a young god who selected her because he couldn’t find any other worshippers. Jeriven’s protection, however, is so absolute that Frankie has never been able to have a normal relationship with a boy — her god keeps scaring them all away under the guise of “saving” her. Now that she’s entering college, she warns Jeriven to cool it before she abandons him for another religion, leaving him worshipper-free.

Jeriven is by no means a perfect god – a major screw-up on his part early in Frankie’s life, and the step he took to correct that at her behest, clearly are going to be the major point of conflict in this series. Frankie isn’t perfect either, but she’s a refreshingly normal character considering that she has a god of her own. Unlike most comic book teenagers she’s not tormented or tortured or hopelessly bleak, and while she may be a bit of an outcast, that’s primarily because Jeriven has protected her so completely that she’s never failed a test or lost a game, and as a result other kids were put off as they grew up.

Sonny Liew has a wonderful art style – it’s very lively, very animated. In flashback sequences to Frankie’s childhood, he lapses into a more iconic, almost manga-esque style. For the present day sequences he has a very energetic style. In many scenes where Kay, Frankie’s best friend, talks about their childhood, the drawings of the girls look very much like Terry Moore’s work in Strangers in Paradise – some of the most beautiful, yet most realistic women in comic books.

This title is part romantic comedy, part religious fantasy, and all good. The second issue can’t come quick enough.

Rating: 8/10