Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #4

February 20, 2011

Writer: Allan Heinberg
Pencils: Jim Cheung
Inks: Mark Morales & Jim Cheung
Colorist: Justin Ponsor
Letterer: Cory Petit
Cover: Jim Cheung
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics

The Young Avengers, tied up with Quicksilver and Magneto, have continued their hunt for the Scarlet Witch. Nobody expected it to take them to Latveria, though, only to find Wanda Maximoff without her memories, engaged to marry Dr. Doom! As has always been the case, Allan Heinberg proves that he’s the perfect person to shepherd these characters. True, he created most of them, but nobody else who has used them has been nearly as effective. Wiccan’s quest to find his mother has propelled this story from the beginning, delving into not only the Young Avengers characters themselves, but the entire extended (and twisted) Magneto/Scarlet Witch/Vision/Wonder Man family tree, which (let’s face it) has got to be at least as messed up as that of the Summers family at this point. The core Avengers are used sparingly this issue, not showing up until the end, and still acting very much as the antagonists of this book. The things they do, while clearly well-intentioned, are really acting against the best interests of our heroes. And the surprise return on the last page is only going to make things more complicated. Wonderful, powerful story, fantastic artwork. This miniseries is an excellent read. I just wish it wasn’t taking so long between issues.

Rating: 9/10

Serenity: Better Days #2

April 11, 2008
Serenity: Better Days #2 (Dark Horse Comics)
By Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, Will Conrad & Adam Hughes

Fresh from the biggest score in Serenity‘s history, the members of the crew each begin to imagine what they’re going to do with their share of the loot. As their fantasies run wild, they’re none too wiser that an Alliance crew is hot on their heels. This issue is a pretty good direction to go in — since the miniseries takes place before the climactic motion picture, it’s pretty hard to build up any real suspense here. Building up character is a better way to go, and showing how they’d spend a sudden windfall is a highly entertaining way to do it. The dream sequences are nice little windows into the characters we fell in love with during the TV show, and at least in the case of someone no longer with us, a bittersweet window as well. Will Conrad‘s art is good — evocative of the actors from the show but not too beholden to them, not so much that it makes the book wooden. Solid, and definitely an improvement on the first issue.
Rating: 8/10

Lucifer #46

January 18, 2004

Quick Rating: Fair
Title: The Weaving (Stitchglass Slide Part I)

A young boy meets a creature that takes emotions and weaves remarkable things.

Writer: Mike Carey
Art: Peter Gross & Ryan Kelly
Colors: Daniel Vozzo
Letters: Jared Fletcher
Editor: Shelly Bond
Cover Art: Christopher Moeller
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

While this is billed as the first issue of a new storyline, it’s still a book that could be somewhat daunting to new readers. The only word to describe this comic book is “bizarre,” but (public servant that I am), I did my best to decipher it. What I think I got was this: Lucifer, at some point in the previous 45 issues, created a new world of his own. In this world is a creature named Thole, who can take emotions and spin them into glass, weaving magnificent constructs that have a mystifying effect on those who come into contact with them based on whatever emotions they are built from. Thole’s purpose, as is the life-cycles of the Spinners, is to attract a mate with his weaving. When he has refuse emotions, things he does not need and cannot use, he discards them into a “slophole” into our own universe, which happens to lead to the attic of a very unhappy little boy in a very unhappy family.

The boy befriends Thole, and were it not for the ominous prologue of this issue one would suspect the title of heading to a classic children’s book formula where a child is whisked away to a magical land, meets strange and fascinating creatures, and has marvelous adventures before being returned home. This is a Vertigo book, though. This is a book named after Lucifer, of all people. It’s hard to imagine a happy ending.

This is a perplexing book, especially since the title character is reduced to what appears to be a subplot in this issue. People picking up this issue looking for the fallen angel will wonder why on Earth this book has his name on it – he’s barely there. For those panels he is there, he is endeavoring to eliminate immortals from his realm… does this apply to Thole? What do the two stories have to do with one another? No answers here – but then, this is just the first issue in the story.

Gross and Kelly do a wonderful job on the artwork in this issue. Thole’s world has a very fanciful, classical feel to it, and his weavings look like the works of magic they really are.

This is a fascinating story. The weak part is that Thole, thus far, is a much more fascinating character than Lucifer himself. Fortunately, there’s still time to turn that around.

Rating: 6/10