New Avengers (2010 Series) #3

September 6, 2010

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Stuart Immonen
Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Cover: Stuart Immonen
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics

As Doctor Strange, Doctor Voodoo and Hellstrom try to seal the rift between our world and the chaos dimensions, the Avengers are dealing with the monsters spilling through that rift and wreaking havoc on New York (which, let’s face it, if you live in the New York of the Marvel Universe is probably not that unusual an occurrence). This has quickly become a much stronger and more entertaining title than the core Avengers series, and for a few reasons. First of all, the lineup. Spider-Man and Wolverine fit in with this title much better than the other book, and the back-and-forth between Spidey and the Thing is funny and entertaining. Jessica Jones playing mom works with this story too. (There aren’t that many superheroes who are also parents, but it seems like half the time there’s an event like this they forget about their children entirely while the go about with the fisticuffs.) There’s even a very good cliffhanger as the villain of the piece is revealed, and it’s genuinely somebody I never would have suspected.

Also not hurting things at all: Stuart Immonen. His artwork has always been magnificent, and he does a fantastic job with these characters. His Spider-Man and Ben Grimm are top-notch, and the scenes of Iron Fist trapped in that other dimension are stark and weird, all in a good way. His faces are fantastically expressive, full of life and energy, and the same thing goes for his over-the-top fight scenes.

This isn’t a great comic book, but it’s a good one, and for now, I’ll take it.

Rating: 7/10

Supergirl (2005 Series) #0

August 7, 2005

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: The New Adventures of Supergirl, the Girl of Steel

Superman and Batman check in on the new girl of steel.

Writer: Jeph Loeb
Pencils: Ian Churchill
Inks: Norm Rapmund
Colors: Christina Strain
Letters: Richard Starkings
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Cover Art: Ian Churchill
Publisher: DC Comics

I must admit, I was really surprised to find this book in my DC Comics advance review pack for this week, because it’s nothing more than a reprint of Superman/Batman #19 with a different title in the indicia and a slightly altered cover (Superman and Batman, as well as the background, are whited out, leaving Supergirl by herself). If you’ve already got that first issue, this issue is nothing but a new cover for you. But on the other hand, even when I read that book the first time, my immediate reaction was “This reads like a Supergirl #0.” Looks like I was right.

If you haven’t read the issue, though, this is a nice look at who the character is, setting her up for her solo adventures (also, coincidentally, beginning this week with Supergirl #1). Kara has been on Earth for some time now, and although she has made herself known to much of Earth’s superhuman community, she is keeping her super-deeds a secret from the public at large. What she may or may not be aware of, though, is that she’s being watched – both by Superman and Batman and by the Calculator and his mysterious benefactor.

Ian Churchill handles the artwork here, which is both good and bad. He’s got a really strong style and does some great, dynamic layouts and action scenes. His Batman is very good, and he handles one of Gotham’s dirtier denizens with ease.

His problem is in faces – he doesn’t draw that many of them. If not for costumes and hair color, many of his characters would be virtually indistinguishable from one another. It’s hard to tell at this point how big a problem that will be in the regular title – there’s no telling who will be a regular cast member other than Kara herself.

This issue really exists just for the sake of people who’d like to get the Supergirl series but who don’t read Superman/Batman, which I have to admit, is probably a very small percentage. But if you do fit that profile, go ahead and pick this issue up – it’s a fine place to start.

Rating: 8/10

TransFormers/G.I. Joe #5

January 24, 2004

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Trenches

The Autobots finally find a reason to fight.

Writer: John Ney Rieber
Art: Jae Lee
Colors: June Chung
Letters: Ben Lee
Cover Art: Jae Lee
Publisher: Dreamwave

After a few issues of overly stretched-out fights that just seemed to plod along, this issue seriously picked up in the second half as the Autobots learn enough about the World War II-era Cobra to begin fighting. So what have they been doing the last few issues? Well, protecting themselves, basically, and standing up to the Decepticons. But they’ve tried to stay uninvolved. Involvement, it seems, is what this book needed to pick it up.

The last two and a half issues probably could have been condensed into one without losing any of the story. Rieber is a good writer and has a good grasp of these characters, but he’s just taken too long to get around to it, and one imagines that the problem was taking a story that should have fit into four issues and stretching it into six. It’s unfortunate that this title overshadowed the G.I. Joe Vs. the TransFormers series put out by Devil’s Due, because that story really did fit into the allotted space much better, it had more story to it.

The story we have is good, it’s a lot of fun to see these characters transplanted to a different era, but in this day where comic books cost around three dollars a pop, you do feel cheated when so much of an anticipated miniseries feels like padding.

Jae Lee, as always, does a great job on the artwork. He and June Chung have crafted a world that looks as dark and bleak as World War II must have been, and still makes the sci-fi elements of the TransFormers and the quasi-superhero look of G.I. Joe all fit in very well.

With only one issue left to go, it feels like the setup is finally over that next issue will bring us along to the ultimate slam-bang, action packed finale, a big, massive battle that will settle things once and for all. And with a book like this one, that’s what you really buy it for in the first place. It just should have gotten to it earlier.

Rating: 7/10