Archie #622

July 17, 2011

Title: Prisoners of the Prehistoric (King of the Los Land Part Two)

Writer: Tom DeFalco
Pencils: Fernando Ruiz
Inks: Rich Koslowski
Colorist: Digikore Studios
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Cover: Fernando Ruiz
Editor: Victor Gorelick     
Publisher: Archie Comics

Archie and the gang have taken a trip with Mr. Lodge to the mountains of San Montana. As the archeological expedition began, though, the kids fall into a mysterious lost land full of rampaging dinosaurs and Amazon women. Archie, as you can imagine, is pretty happy about this. Betty and Veronica, not so much. The girls get separated, make a discover of their own, and… well… there’s an implication here of some decidedly un-Archie behavior. I’ve been impressed lately with the ways that Archie Comics have been working to create new, different comics that push the boundaries of what you expect from them… but man. The end of this issue feels like it’s virtually handing things over to fanfic waiting to be written. Aside from that rather shocking finale, it’s a pretty standard Archie comic. Tom DeFalco understands these characters very well. The one thing he’s not doing is pushing the envelope with them. For the most part, this is the sort of stuff we always get out of Archie, and while there’s nothing wrong with it by itself, I’m kind of reaching the point where I want to see more. That’s a compliment for the rest of the line than it is an indictment of this fair-to-middlin’ issue.

Rating: 7/10

Marvel Zombies 2 #2

November 26, 2007

Quick Rating: Very Good
Rating: Parental Advisory

The zombies return to Earth, where the Black Panther is going through some changes…

Writer: Robert Kirkman
Art: Sean Phillips
Colors: June Chung
Letters: Rus Wooton
Editor: Bill Rosemann
Cover Art: Arthur Suydam (After Frank L. Paul)
Publisher: Marvel Comics

In space, the Marvel Zombies continue their trek back to Earth, but Spider-Man’s incessant jokes finally begin getting the best of Giant-Man. Driven to madness from forty years of wandering the universe devouring every living thing they can find, the strain is showing on these once-heroes, and in the end, their alliance may not be as strong as it seemed. Back on Earth, after Malcolm tried to have the Black Panther assassinated, the Wasp turned him into a zombie to save him. Jan shares a secret with him – if the zombie can go long enough without feeding, the hunger that compels them fades away, and their minds again become their own.

This little twist, that of the hunger wearing off, has really given this book a whole new dimension. We now have a functionally immortal (and, for all appearances, safe) zombie Panther fighting to keep control of his country in a battle against the man that tried to kill him. In space, some of the zombies are beginning to free themselves from the hunger, while others are just going madder. The first miniseries was basically about overrunning the world and destroying it. This one, against all expectations, seems to be about a new fight for the future. Never saw it coming, but man, is it making for a good read.

Sean Phillips art isn’t quite as good as usual, but I’m not really sure how much of that is due to him and how much is because of story demands. Seeing the aged Reynolds and Forge in spandex is just kinda silly, and when you add that to Hawkeye’s disembodied head being attached to one of the Wasp’s spare – female – robot bodies, the art started to remind me of an episode of Futurama. This book has a dark humor to it, but some of the visuals are just too goofy to fit.

Very strong issue. This series has gone in a really unexpected direction.

Rating: 8/10

Aquaman (2003 Series) #18

May 8, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: American Tidal Part Four

Aquaman tracks down the man who created the creature beneath the sea – what does he know about the destruction of San Diego?

Writer: Will Pfeifer
Pencils: Patrick Gleason
Inks: Christian Alamy
Colors: Nathan Eyring
Letters: Phil Balsman
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Cover Art: Alan Davis & Mark Farmer
Publisher: DC Comics

Will Pfiefer’s run on Aquaman continues, and it’s still one of the best stories featuring the character I’ve ever read. This issue we learn that it wasn’t just the people of San Diego that were transformed into water-breathers when the city sank beneath the ocean. All of the dogs wake up and begin to paddle towards shore in desperation, not realizing that the air will kill them now, and people and marine mammals together begin trying to toss them back into the water before they all die on the beach.

Meanwhile Aquaman and Lorena investigate the strange creature they found at the end of last issue, a bizarre amalgam of sea life and machines that is somehow tied in to the destruction of the city. Pfiefer really shows off how versatile Aquaman’s powers are with the right creator behind him. Have you ever wondered what good it is to “talk to fish”? Find out this issue.

Other writers, over time, have painted Aquaman as a superhero, a monarch and occasionally as a warrior. Pieffer’s take uses elements of each of these to create a character that, in essence, is an aquatic crimefighter. Aquaman is using his powers to look for clues and solve a mystery that only he can. I’ve never seen him written this way before, but it works beautifully. With storytelling this good, maybe the character will finally be taken seriously.

Gleason’s artwork is an interesting blend as well. His human characters look like they fell from a crime comic, but his monsters are good and gross. The funky creature Aquaman fights looks just great, and the action scene works really well. The underwater scenes carry the sort of grandeur and majesty that you want in a story that takes place beneath the waves, and it all looks wonderful.

Peter David had a great, fabled run with this character not so long ago, but Pfiefer’s interpretation is even more accessible and just as exciting. It’s incredible, after all these years, that we finally have an Aquaman worth reading.

Rating: 8/10