Secret Avengers #12.1

June 1, 2011

Title: Funny Stuff                                                                                            

Writer: Nick Spencer
Pencils: Scot Eaton
Inks: Jaime Mendoza
Colorist: Frank D’Armata
Letterer: Dave Lanphear
Cover: Mike Deodato & Rain Beredo
Editor: Tom Brevoort                 
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Marvel’s “.1” comics haven’t entirely lived up to their promise. Billed as a jumping-on point for new readers, many of them have interrupted story arcs, served as backdoor pilots for other series, and otherwise failed to give a proper entryway into the series. Secret Avengers #12.1 seems to be a rare exception. In this done-in-one story, former Captain America Steve Rogers comes to his team of covert Avengers with terrible news: the terrorist group AIM has gotten their hands on a manifest of spies and informants the Avengers have been using for years. Knowing there’s no time to save them all, Rogers selects the one most worthy of being rescued, and the Avengers go into action.

Nick Spencer has proven himself adept as stories full of espionage and covert ops, and thus he’s a good fit for this title. (More’s the pity, than, that he’s only writing it for one story arc before moving aside for Warren Ellis.) He does a nice job of getting into the different Avengers, showing the personalities and tactics of Beast, Ant-Man, War Machine and Black Widow in particular, and showing how this group works together. If you read any of the other Avengers books, it also is quickly obvious exactly what sets this group apart from the others.

Scot Eaton’s artwork is clean, and Frank D’Armata’s darkened color palette works very well for the type of story we get here. Spencer also manages to work in one of his trademark twists that fits the story and still takes it into a new direction. It’s a great point to try this series if you haven’t already.

Rating: 8/10

Uncle Scrooge #343

June 24, 2005

Quick Rating: Fair
Title: Pudding it Straight and other stories

Duckberg is awash in pudding! Can the ducks save the day?

Writers: William Van Horn, Pat & Carol McGreal, Terry Laban, Tony Isabella, Gail Renard, Olaf Solstrand, Pat & Shelly Block
Art: William Van Horn, Jose Massaroli, Romano Scarpa, Jose Maria Manrique, Maria Jose Sanchez Nunez, Marcal Abella Bresco
Colors: Susan Daigle-Leach, Egmont, Marie Javins, Pamela Rambo, Michael Kraiger & Sue Kolberg
Letters: Jon Babcock, Susie Lee, Travis Seitler & Willie Schubert
Editor: Arnold T. Blumberg
Cover Art: Daniel Branca
Publisher: Gemstone Comics

Before we go into the review, I’d like to take a moment to pay tribute to not one, but three individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to Disney comics, all of whom recently passed away. Bruce Hamilton, the longtime publisher of Gladstone comics, artist Romano Scarpa, who contributed a story this issue, and artist Daniel Branca, who has done some of the finest covers since Carl Barks. All will be missed.

Moving on to the actual comic book, we start with William Van Horn’s “Pudding it Straight.” Scrooge’s little-seen brother Rumpus is in town, and under attack by (wait for it) a sentient wave of tapioca pudding. In a panic, he goes to Scrooge and his nephews for help. The ending is a classic Van Horn twist. It’s an okay story, but I don’t really care for any tale with Rumpus in it – the character doesn’t fit into any family tree whipped up by Scrooge’s creator, Carl Barks, and he doesn’t seem right in the stories either.

The McGreals and Massaroli contribute this story’s the best story, the two-part “A Knight to Remember.” When a young woman comes to Scrooge to bargain for an ancient window in his collection, he finds a clue to find the treasure of the “Knights Simplar.” It’s a cute a enough story, but placing it in this issue, just one issue after Don Rosa’s similarly-themed “The Castle’s Other Secret” is a really bad move. The other story is a real masterpiece of the form, and an unfavorable comparison is inevitable.

In “Security,” by Laban and Scarpa, a con man tries to get his hands on a giant ruby in Scrooge’s possession by turning the billionaire against some of his loyalist employees. It’s a nice little tale that shows Scrooge’s more human side. This story is followed up by “Gyro 2.0” by Renard and Manrique (with dialogue by Tony Isabella – Gyro Gearloose decides to up his efficiency by creating robot duplicates of himself – with predictably disastrous results.

“Being Donald Duck” by Solstrand and Nunez is a surprisingly strong story in this issue. The Beagle Boys swipe a mind-switching device from Gyro and use it to replace Donald with one of their own. The fake duck waltzes into the money bin to try to find a way to steal his fortune. This is a nice, funny tale that fits the characters involved better than the others in this issue.

Finally, we have “Golden Slumbers” by the Blocks and Bresco, a short, wordless tale of Scrooge prospecting in the Klondike. A story like this is dependent on the art to carry it, and it does it well.

Overall, though, this is a rather disappointing issue of Uncle Scrooge, with no anchor tale, and a strong point that suffers because it’s just not as good as another story that happens to use the same elements that we just read last issue.

Rating: 6/10

Superman: Birthright #12

July 25, 2004

Quick Rating: Excellent
Title: Birthright Chapter Twelve

Superman stands against Lex Luthor’s fake Kryptonian invasion… and a Man of Steel is reborn!

Writer: Mark Waid
Pencils: Leinil Francis Yu
Inks: Gerry Alanguilan
Colors: Dave McCaig
Letters: Comicraft
Editors: Tom Palmer Jr. & Eddie Berganza
Cover Art: Yu & Alanguilan
Publisher: DC Comics

Wow.

It is not an exaggeration to say I have been waiting two years to read this comic book. Ever since it was announced at the Wizard World Chicago Con in 2002, I have been anxious to see exactly how Mark Waid was going to reimagine the origins of my favorite hero. Honestly, I never really thought it needed reimagining – I was a fan of the John Byrne Man of Steel version. Along the way, though, this storyline has filled in the gaps, created a bridge to the most popular media property currently featuring the character (namely Smallville), and told an absolutely fantastic story.

Superman, wounded by not out, has gathered his strength to confront Lex Luthor’s fake Kryptonian invasion of Metropolis. Lois Lane, meanwhile, has confronted the villain in his own den, putting herself right in the line of fire to get out the truth.

This is an almost all-action issue, a massive battle scene between Superman and Luthor (or Luthor’s forces). This is your classic “final battle,” which of course is given an interesting perspective since we all know this is really the first “final battle” between these two legendary foes.

Waid adds a few nice little twists in this book, little boosts to the classic origin that make it his own and make it work beautifully. Luthor’s Kryptonite has juiced him up and powered Superman down, evening things out nicely for this really epic fight. The full scheme is exposed, and the depth of Luthor’s knowledge about Krypton really comes to light. It all works wonderfully, fitting together like a perfect jigsaw puzzle.

Leinil Yu and Gerry Alanguilan’s version of Superman is really unique. There are very few artists who can do a “grittier” version of the character without making him seem totally out of place, but they’ve pulled it off perfectly. The fights are well-staged and the sci-fi effects are fantastic.

All in all, I have absolutely loved this miniseries. Fantastic writing, fantastic art – it all came together here, letting Superman finally shine the way he deserves. Comic books, movies, television… this may well be the greatest interpretation of Superman’s origin ever told.

Rating: 10/10