Exiles (2001 Series) #53

October 8, 2004

Quick Rating: Fair
Title: Living Planet Part Two

Ego has come to Earth… and the Celestials follow!

Writer: Tony Bedard
Pencils: Jim Calafiore
Inks: Mark McKenna
Colors: JC
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Mike Marts
Cover Art: Mizuki Sakakibara
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Ego the Living Planet has seeded the Earth that the Exiles “blinked” into last issue. Now, with Reed Richards’ consciousness trying to keep the living Earth in check, the Celestials have come to our neck of the woods to take on Ego.

There’s really nothing wrong with this issue, in and of itself, but the real problem here is that it doesn’t really feel like an Exiles story. The team has a part to play, but it’s not a part that virtually any other superhero team couldn’t have played – even a team from this alternate Earth. Heck, with only a few minor modifications, this story could have taken place in the mainstream Marvel universe with no problems.

There are some good bits, though. For the first time since joining the team, Beak really plays an important role in this issue. (This will no doubt irritate the Beak-haters, but I don’t care, I like the guy.) Also, Bedard throws in some tidbits at the end that finally seem to indicate as to the direction he’s going to take this series in over the coming months. In fact, if you just read the letters page, you’ll find out exactly when the storyline will begin to play out. It just shouldn’t take so long, especially in a title that doesn’t really suffer from the usual problems of a “decompressed” comic.

Jim Calafiore’s artwork is quite good. I still enjoy seeing the alternate versions of regular Marvel heroes and villains, and in fact, wish we could have gotten some more of them this issue. He’s also good with the outer space scenes which are pretty vital to this story. Is this series has to have a “regular” fill-in artist, he’s as good a one as readers could hope for.

The title finally seems to be going somewhere. For some readers, though, that direction may have come a bit too late.

Rating: 6/10

Ghostbusters: The Other Side #3

December 19, 2008

Ghostbusters: The Other Side #3 (IDW Publishing)
By Keith Champagne & Tom Nguyen

In Purgatory, Venkman leads Egon and Ray in battle against the spirits of the dead. Venkman has uncovered an operation to sneak ghosts out of the other side and back to the land of the living, and he’s rounded up an impressive, untouchable squad of assistants to fight back. Winston, meanwhile, may not want to go back at all — he’s found something on the other side that he’s long missed. Back on Earth, the ghost inhabiting Venkman’s body is settling in nicely, and has no intention of going back. This miniseries has been really impressive to me. Champagne is doing a great job with the characters, and there’s some especially good stuff here with Winston (whom I’ve always felt doesn’t get quite the same respect as the other three members of the team). Nguyen‘s art compliments a great script, and the package as a whole is a lot of fun. I hope this is enough to lead to more Ghostbusters projects in the future. If they’re as high-quality as this, they’ll be well worth it.
Rating: 8/10

Image United #1

November 28, 2009

Image United #1 (Image Comics)
By Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Whilce Portacio, Marc Silvestri & Jim Valentino

The long-awaited collaboration between the remaining six Image founders (or even all seven, if you got the Jim Lee variant cover) finally kicks off. The strange new hero, Fortress, is having visions of himself standing side-by-side with Youngblood, Spawn, Shadowhawk, Witchblade, Cyberforce, and the Savage Dragon, facing some terrible threat. As he tries to figure out what’s happening to him, Youngblood and the Dragon team up to face Spawn’s old sparring partner, Overt-Kill, on the streets of Chicago. To be honest, I wouldn’t have even considered getting this book if it weren’t scripted by Robert Kirkman, producer of most of Image’s best titles these days. Even with his stamp, this first issue was a disappointment. I expected things to be a bit cryptic, a bit of a puzzle as to why, exactly, all this disparate heroes are being drawn together, but the story in general and Fortress himself, as the narrator, are so cryptic that I quickly finding myself losing interest. It doesn’t help that, with the exception of Shadowhawk, none of these are characters I’ve ever had any deep affection for to begin with. On the plus side, the bizarre jam-style of the artwork actually succeeds pretty well. Each of the six creators is doing the artwork for their specific characters, meaning you can see up to all six of them working on one page if all the characters are there. The styles don’t clash as much as one would expect, and while you can certainly tell that the artists change frequently, it doesn’t really hurt the story. The trouble is, there isn’t really enough story here yet to be in danger. If that doesn’t change with issue #2, I doubt I’ll be back for issue #3.
Rating: 5/10

Uncle Scrooge #340

March 25, 2005

Quick Rating: Good
Title: The Heedless Horseman and other stories

Uncle Scrooge decides to become King of Duckburg – by winning the year’s biggest derby!

Writers: Carl Barks; Pat & Carol McGreal; Gorm Transgaard, Paul Halas & Jack Sutter
Art: Carl Barks, Nunez & Vicar, Jose Colomer Fonts
Colors: Susan Daigle-Leach, Edgemont, Marie Javins, Scott Rockwell & Pam Rambo
Letters: Susie Lee, Willie Schubert & Travis Seitler
Editor: Arnold T. Blumberg
Cover Art: Daniel Branca
Publisher: Gemstone Comics

This month’s installment of Uncle Scrooge stands out by its averageness. There aren’t any really spectacular stories, but there aren’t any poor ones either. It’s a pretty good issue all around.

The issue starts with a lesser-known Carl Barks tale from 1966, “The Heedless Horseman.” In the hopes of raising his profile among the people of his hometown, Scrooge decides to enter the Great Crystal Orb Derby, the winner of which is named King of Duckburg’s social scene for a full year. Scrooge decides he’ll win the contest by purchasing the fastest horse in town, but a series of mysterious booms and the horse’s erratic reaction to water may prove to be his undoing.

It’s not one of Barks’s classics, but it’s an entertaining story in its own right. Scrooge seems a tad out of character, caring so much about his social standing, until it’s made clear that he wants that status so that he can parlay it into better business deals. Overall, it’s a cute little story.

In “Beagle Brain” by Pat and Carol McGreal, the infamous Beagle Boys stumble upon an invention by Gyro Gearloose that turns one of them into a genius. The greater intellect seems to be the perfect tool to aid their criminal careers, but such a thing can go too far. A fun story with a cute punchline.

In Gorm Transgaard’s “Golden Illusion,” perhaps the strongest story in the collection, a blow scrambles Donald Duck’s brain and makes him believe he’s the legendary “Robin Duck.” Hallucinating, he rounds up the Beagle Boys to help him steal a fortune from the evil “King of Blottingham” and give it to the poor – utterly unaware that the castle he’s preparing to storm is Scrooge’s money bin! This story is just plain fun, and works better than most.

In “The Hardware Hardener,” Scrooge gets fed up with his pilot, Launchpad McQuack, constantly destroying his planes. He refuses to give Launchpad another job until he gets his own aircraft. When he brings the only plane he can afford to Gyro to help fix it up, he finds that a new solution to keep the plane solid may prove more trouble than he thought.

Finally, in “Jumbled Ducks,” the level of the money bin has reached such a point that Scrooge has no more room to put his money. He goes to Gyro for help, and the inventor supplies him with a compressor that will condense his money to one-third the space. The machine causes trouble, however, when Huey, Dewey and Louie accidentally get fused into one duck. This is also one of the better stories in the collection, although it and the other really good story, “Golden Illusion,” both ignore a big part of the way Barks characterizes Scrooge – that the money in his bin is the money he earned personally by the sweat of his brow, the part of his fortune that he never spends.

This is a decent issue, and fun for the Scrooge fan, but it’s not a spectacular issue. It’s just a fun one..

Rating: 7/10

Legion of Super-Villains #1

March 27, 2011

Title: When Evil Calls

Writer: Paul Levitz
Art: Francis Portela
Colorist: Javier Mena
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Cover: Francis Portela
Editor: Brian Cunningham
Publisher: DC Comics

This issue serves as a nice little supplement to the ongoing Legion of Super-Heroes title, kicking things off with a bang. Takron-Galtos, the prison planet, goes insane when Saturn Queen manipulates her way into a breakout. In the midst of the riot, she grabs her old ally Lightning Lord, several other potential members for a new Legion of Super-Villains, and heads out into space. There we find out her real mission, and it’s a doozy.

This issue feels very much like a prologue. It’s setting up a lot of things for the main title, not the least of which is an army of villains planning to, y’know, blow up a few planets. And knowing what their endgame is, we definitely see how all of this can tie into everything Paul Levitz has done since the Legion relaunched last year. The pieces fit together very neatly. Levitz is also developing the characters in the LSV much more than they’ve been in the past. Saturn Queen has always been kind of a stereotypical villainess, Lightning Lord just “Lightning Lad’s evil brother.” They aren’t getting any major depth here, they’re not turning into Magneto or anything, but we do get to see her revel a little bit in her nastiness, we see him bristle at having to take orders from her… friction is remarkably effective at establishing who any given set of characters really is.

Francis Portela steps up with the artwork and gives us a really strong one-shot. The future timeline of the Legion is always a challenge for artists, and he gives us a tableau that feels futuristic, but still has a little variety – the stark, bleak landscape of Takron-Galtos vs. the clean, geometric lines of Colu being a perfect example.

Great one-shot that fits perfectly into the storyline.

Rating: 8/10

PS 238 #19

December 16, 2006

Quick Rating: Great

Tyler leads his team into battle!

Writer: Aaron Williams
Art: Aaron Williams
Cover Art: Aaron Williams
Publisher: Dork Storm/Henchman Publishing

Tyler and his team of kid superheroes has managed to track down Charles Brigman, the bully who’s been teleporting kids away from school and dropping them in a nearby lake. Now the young heroes of PS 238 take a stand against the bully that’s terrorizing their school.

If the setup sounds like a simplistic “kiddie” comic, think again. Granted, this a book that kids could read and enjoy quite easily, but Aaron Williams doesn’t flinch from the ramifications of Charles’ powers. Sure, right now he’s just teleporting kids relatively safely over an open lake, but suppose he teleported them somewhere else? Into traffic? A mile in the air? In the middle of the desert? His powers could be extremely dangerous, and he knows it. But the story really belongs to Tyler (a.k.a. “Moon Shadow”) and his crew. Williams accomplishes a brilliant balancing act in this issue, painting them as genuine children, but at the same time, showing the germs of heroism that many of them possess. Others may have the power, but not the drive, and those possibilities are addressed as well. In the end, he turns out a book that’s very, very funny, but at the same time, one of the best examinations of the super hero currently being published.

As Williams closes off Charles’ story, he begins laying groundwork for later storylines. Zodon, the would-be supervillain neutered by an automatic censoring device (one of the funniest running gags in the book) is plotting something. Zodon is one of the most interesting characters in the book – although he has at times flirted with standing on the side of the heroes, in his heart he’s still got that megalomaniacal urge that propels a would-be Dr. Doom. The resultant character is someone you want to see redeem himself, but at the same time, want to see really let loose to be bad.

All things considered, this is an absolutely magnificent comic book series, and this issue is one of the best yet.

Rating: 9/10

World War Hulk: X-Men #1

June 26, 2007

Quick Rating: Surprisingly Good
Title: Hard Questions
Rating: A

The Hulk hunts Charles Xavier – but he’ll have to go through the New X-Men first!

Writer: Christos Gage
Art: Andrea DiVito
Colors: Laura Villari
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Cover Art: Ed McGuinness
Publisher: Marvel Comics

When the Illuminati voted to blast the Hulk into space, one of their number was missing – Charles Xavier. Now that Xavier has returned to Earth, his powers and ability to walk both restored, the Hulk has a question for him. After issuing his ultimatum to New York, demanding Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic and Dr. Strange be turned over to him, he pays a visit to Xavier’s school, seeking Xavier, and as most of the instructors are absent, it’s up to the New X-Men to hold the line.

It doesn’t hurt that the Beast (my all-time favorite X-Man) is the defacto leader in this issue, but I was totally surprised. I was worried that we’d have another superfluous miniseries that doesn’t really matter or interest me at all, and while the ultimate impact on the overall WWH storyline remains to be seen, taken as a self-contained story, this is actually really good. Gage absolutely nails both Hank McCoy and the students at Xavier’s. In fact, by the time I put this book down, I was ready to start a letter-writing campaign to have him take over writing New X-Men full-time. The only real problem is the question the Hulk asks at the end of the issue. While it’s certainly a valid one, it’s hard to believe that it would be a top priority for him at this point. That doesn’t hurt the book much, though, just adds a nugget of disbelief.

Andrea DiVito’s artwork, naturally, is gorgeous. This is the sort of old-school “Hulk versus the X-Men” brawl that you’ve got to want to see if you bother picking up this issue at all.

This book was a total surprise, and for once, it was a good one.

Rating: 8/10

G.I. Joe: Infestation #1

March 27, 2011

Writer: Mike Raicht
Art: Giovanni Timpano
Colorist: J. Brown
Letterer: Chris Mowry
Cover: John K. Snyder III
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Publisher: IDW Publishing

The most bizarre crossover of the year continues. The Baroness is planning an attack on a ship full of new G.I. Joe members on the cusp of their “final exam.” When she takes one of the heroes into custody she gets an unexpected bonus – a cyber-organic arm that she brings back for study. The arm carries a nasty secret of its own, one that threatens not just Cobra, but the entire world.

While perhaps the most well-written of the three Infestation crossovers so far, this is also the one that seems to have the last direct link to the main storyline. The zombie angle seems secondary, and in fact, this could easily be a story about any number of other threats – hell, even a malignant computer virus would work just as well, the way things are presented. That may change in part two, of course, but as of part one, this almost doesn’t have to have zombies at all. On the other hand, it’s a really solid issue of G.I. Joe. The Baroness is a nasty, manipulative bad guy, and Psyche Out is well cast as the “last Joe standing” in the depths of the Cobra submarine.

Giovanni Timpano puts together a dark, dirty set of pages that works fine as a military thriller, but also will easily acclimate the horror movie aspects of the larger storyline. It’ll be interesting to see if part two brings this miniseries more in line with the overall story thread, but for the time being, it’s pretty good on its own.

Rating: 7/10

Batman #625

March 30, 2004

Quick Rating: Below Average
Title: Broken City Part Six

Azzarello and Risso leave Batman with a cap to the mystery of Angel Lupo.

Writer: Brian Azzarello
Art: Eduardo Risso
Colors: Patricia Mulvihill
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Will Dennis and Bob Schreck
Cover Art: Eduardo Risso
Publisher: DC Comics

And the “Broken City” arc comes to its conclusion, with some fans sorry to see it end and others, myself included, relieved that another creative team will be taking over this title with the next issue. I’m sorry, folks, but “Broken City” just didn’t deliver for me. This issue gives us a clichéd cap to a clichéd “hardboiled” mystery, an inexplicable appearance by the Joker (this isn’t a spoiler, he’s right there on the cover) and an overwhelming feeling that I’m just glad its done.

Aside from the fact that the mystery of the arc never really grabbed me, the sudden inclusion of the Joker feels entirely superfluous, as though he’s only there so that Azzarello can say he wrote a Joker story. Plus, with him running around on the loose over in Batman: Gotham Knights but laced up in Arkham here, it’s no wonder some fans feel intimidated by so many bat-books. I don’t mean we should necessarily keep a chart somewhere showing where villains are at all times, but especially in the Batman books I don’t feel like there’s any effort at reason with them at all anymore – a villain is incarcerated when the writer needs him to be and on the loose when he needs him to be, rarely if ever showing him escape and rarely if ever showing him actually getting captured. There’s no sense there.

Risso for all the skill he’s shown in 100 Bullets, sacrifices more and more of his style to a Frank Miller pastiche in this issue. From body type to facial structure to the weird “chapped lips” look Batman has in come panels, it’s like looking at something Miller drew 20 years ago instead of something Risso drew in the here and now.

I’m sorry to the fans who enjoyed this run, but I simply don’t see what the appeal was. “Broken City” never felt fresh or original to me, it felt like a halfhearted attempt to pay homage to the Miller days and never quite lived up to it.

But at least we’ve probably seen the last of the Killer Croc’s ‘fro.

Rating: 4/10

Chew #1

June 5, 2009

Chew #1 (Image Comics)
By John Layman & Rob Guillory

Image Comics has really been pushing this book with previews and press all over the place, and putting the first few pages in the back of The Walking Dead a few weeks ago was enough to make me check out this first issue. I’m really glad I did. Chew is one of the most original ideas for a comic book I’ve seen in a very long time. Set in a world where bird flu fears have led to the banning of (and subsequent black market in) poultry products, Chew is the tale of Tony Chu, a cop with the bizarre power to absorb psychic impressions of the past of any piece of food he eats. While the potential in this sort of power is there, the problems definitely outweigh it. Can you imagine having to relive the slaughter of the cow that makes up your hamburger — or worse, find out what really went into your hot dog? Chu and his partner are undercover, staking out a poultry speakeasy, when a few clients show up that are about to complicate Tony’s life exponentially. This issue is mostly set-up, getting Chu where he’s probably going to spend the bulk of this series, but it’s great set up. It explains the world in general and Tony Chu’s situation in particular perfectly well, and it sets things up for an intriguing story down the line. Rob Guillory‘s art compliments the story nicely, creating a comic really unlike anything else I’ve ever read. If you think there’s nothing new in comics, think again — you just need to know where to look.
Rating: 10/10