Fear Itself #3

June 2, 2011

Title: The Hammer That Fell on Yancy Street

Writer: Matt Fraction
Pencils: Stuart Immonen
Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger
Colorist: Laura Martin with Larry Molinar
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Tom Brevoort       
Cover Art: Steve McNiven
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Earth is being showered by Asgardian Hammers sent down by the Serpent and Sin, daughter of the Red Skull. So far the Juggernaut, Absorbing Man, Titania, the Hulk, and Attuma have each grasped a hammer, turning them into unstoppable juggernauts. This month, Captain America leads the Avengers into battle against Sin, while the Thing finds yet another Hammer, and Thor tries to return to Earth before it’s too late.

This series has been kind of scattershot. The hammer story doesn’t really seem to have anything to do with “fears,” which are ostensibly the driving force behind the storyline. The action scenes help the issue considerably, really. The scene with Red She-Hulk throwing down with the Hulk in his transformed state looks just very good, and the reimagined version of the Thing is cool as hell. (For an evil Ben Grimm, that is.) Bucky’s throwdown with Sin is pretty powerful, and while the last page is the kind of thing that you expect to see in a crossover of this nature, it’s handled well. Stuart Immonen is carrying the comic at this point. It looks fantastic, but although Matt Fraction is a good artist, I don’t necessarily feel like this comic is telling the story it set out to tell.

Rating: 7/10

Green Lantern: Rebirth #3

December 24, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Yellow

The truth about Parallax – and the Green Lantern Corps!

Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Ethan Van Sciver
Inks: Prentis Rollins
Colors: Moose Baumann
Letters: Rob Leigh
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Cover Art: Ethan Van Sciver
Publisher: DC Comics

A lesser writer than Geoff Johns would have me fuming right now, because of the various theories regarding Hal Jordan’s return as Green Lantern, he seems to have gone with one that I liked the least. However, he’s executing it extremely well, to the point where I find I’m actually accepting of an explanation that I thought would cheapen the character himself and years of stories.

Kyle Rayner and Ganthet find themselves battling maddened members of the Green Lantern Corps, even as the Justice League is battered by brave men who should be their allies. A desperate Kyle heads to the JLA Watchtower for help, only to find the place leveled and only one hero standing – Hal’s best friend, Green Arrow. There, Kyle tells what he found at the edge of the universe, the truth about Parallax, the truth about Hal Jordan, and the truth about the Green Lantern Corps.

This issue, I must admit, really surprised me. We’ve only hit the halfway point of this series, and it seems like Johns has already laid all his cards on the table. All the revelations, all the surprises, all of it is already right here. That seems to leave three issues for an extended fight scene. I hope Johns has more up his sleeve than that.

I’ve also got to deduct points for the last-page surprise appearance by a character that’s died twice already (at least), and who seemed dead for good last time out. He’s apparently going to start trying to rival Magneto in the resurrection category.

Ethan Van Sciver’s artwork is phenomenal. With Moose Baumann giving the entire book a green tinge, this book looks more like a Green Lantern comic than any issue in years. He does a fantastic job not just on the GLs, but on the various other heroes herein. This is a guy who could easy have a spot illustrating the big DC team books – JLA or JSA – they’d be in great hands.

I am enjoying this series. Johns is probably telling the best story about Hal’s return that anyone could, and while I may not be crazy about all of the nuances of the tale, he’s executing it better than anyone in comics could.

Rating: 8/10

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (2001 Series) #33

August 20, 2004

Quick Rating: Great
Title: The Road Less Traveled & Fathom Part Three

General Hawk lingers on the brink of death, and no matter what happens, the Joe team will never be the same.

Writer: Brandon Jerwa
Pencils: Tim Seeley & Talent Caldwell
Backgrounds: Jason Millet
Inks: Cory Hamscher & Jason Gorder
Colors: Jeremy Roberts & Christina Strain
Letters: Dreamer Design
Editor: Mark Powers
Cover Art: Tommy Castillo (Cover A); Michael Turner (Cover B)
Publisher: Devil’s Due

Last issue the G.I. Joe team stopped Cobra from rescuing the captured Destro… but at what cost? In the closing pages, General Hawk was shot in the back by Cobra Commander, who in turn was shot by the treacherous Baroness.

This issue, Hawk wakes up from his coma to find that things have been very different in his absence. Jerwa walks us through how the team has been cleaning things up while he healed, and how he prepares for a world where G.I. Joe is not needed… but something is haunting him.

I knew where this story was going by the third page. By page 15 I was certain, and I was just marking time waiting for Brandon Jerwa to pull the big last-page switcheroo I knew was coming. Well, he pulled it all right, but the switch was not what I was expecting at all – it was something that took me totally by surprise, and that’s about the highest praise I can give. Plus, it’s about all I can say without spoiling a great ending.

The “Fathom” storyline by Jerwa and Talent Caldwell comes to its conclusion this issue as well and, frankly, it was a little disappointing. This last chapter, just four short pages, is a quick attempt to give the character an origin, establish his place in the G.I. Joe universe and show how tough he is before Caldwell finishes up.

Tim Seeley does a nice job on the artwork on the main story, including some particularly creepy sequences that work very well and tie in beautifully with Cover A, by Tommy Castillo. It evokes the feel of an old EC horror comic, and while that may seem an odd choice for G.I. Joe, it works wonderfully.

This was an excellent issue, an incredible epilogue to the “Players and Pawns” storyline that sets up the new status quo for the series in a big way. The solicitations for issue #34 say “everything changes” – and it’s not hard to believe. Not hard at all.

Rating: 9/10