Herc #10

December 11, 2011

Title: Storybook Ending

Writers: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Pencils: David Hahn
Inks: Roy Richardson & Rebecca Buchman
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov & Antonio Fabela
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Cover Artist: Carlo Pagulayan
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publisher: Marvel Comics

With his father on Earth and powerless, Hercules decides to teach him a lesson in humanity – something that becomes a bit more difficult after a confrontation with the Kingpin leads them into battle with the ancient witch Baba Yaga and the assassin Elektra. Once again, I’m watching as a book I’ve really enjoyed comes to a premature end, although considering that these two writers did have a pretty substantial run with the character before this title, it’s not quite as premature as it seems. Still, the adventures of the non-powered Hercules have been really entertaining. Which makes it even sadder that this last issue is so weak. It feels rushed (and probably was) and ends in a way that ties up some of the outstanding plot threads, but doesn’t really satisfy in the way you would hope. The artwork is, sadly, even weaker. I really like David Hahn in general, and I’ve been a fan of his on many projects, so I have to wonder if this issue’s visual problems aren’t the result of weak inks. The characters aren’t often defined very well, and the expressions on their faces aren’t… well… expressive enough. The Baba Yaga house looks nice, but not spectacular, and Zeus doesn’t carry a powerful look to him at all – which, even on-powered, you’d expect to see in his frame and his attitude. As much as I’ve loved the run of these writers on Hercules ever since they took him into the fold during World War Hulk, and as sorry as I am to see their tenure with him end, this isn’t the way I wanted them to go out.

Rating: 6/10

Heroes For Hire (2006 Series) #10

May 22, 2007

Quick Rating: Average
Rating: T+

Lost in the Savage Land!

Writer: Zeb Wells
Pencils: Clay Mann
Inks: Terry Pallot
Colors: Brad Anderson
Letters: Cory Petit
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Cover Art: Michael Golden
Publisher: Marvel Comics

The Heroes For Hire team has been thrown to the Savage Land and split up. Humbug has been carted off by giant insects, with Misty and Colleen trying to find him. Tarantula and Shang-Chi are having a little tryst by a waterfall, while Paladin has to patch up an unconscious Black Cat. And unbeknownst to anyone, Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur are lurking nearby.

All of these disparate elements, ultimately, add up to one great big “meh.” So much of this story is pretty much just pieced together from other stories – everything from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids to Jurassic Park. The characters, meanwhile, are running true to stereotype, with chunks of the book being given up to such concepts as Shang-Chi beating himself up for betraying his “honor” to Black Cat automatically assuming Paladin was up to no good while she was unconscious (because pretty much everyone else could bandage a chest wound without removing a person’s clothes, right?).

The artwork by Clay Mann isn’t bad – his layouts are very good, although his figures are a bit sketchy at times.

It’s not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with this issue, it’s just that there’s nothing exciting about it either. Soap operas in comics can work. Books full of B-listers (or even C- and D-listers) can be fantastic if they’re written well. It’s just that the strong writing just isn’t applying here. This is a book that, to succeed, has to be a lot greater than the sum of its parts, and frankly, it just isn’t.

Rating: 5/10

Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter-Guilty Pleasures #7

January 2, 2008

Quick Rating: Good
Rating: Parental Advisory

Still undercover with Phillip, Anita may be forced to prove her skills as an animator.

Writer: Laurell K. Hamilton
Adaptation: Jess Ruffner-Booth
Art: Brett Booth
Colors: June Chung
Letters: Bill Tortolini
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Cover Art: Brett Booth
Publisher: Marvel Comics

After a hiatus and an interim fill-in miniseries, Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter returns to part seven of Guilty Pleasures. When we left her, Anita has gone undercover at a freak party with the vampire named Phillip, pretending to be his lover to protect herself. As she tries to keep him at arms’ length, she finds herself encountering an animator (like herself) who seems unable to perform the simple task of turning a corpse into a zombie.

There’s been a big change in this title since the last issue – Dabel Brothers ended their relationship with Marvel Comics, leaving behind those titles which had already launched. So how does the first all-Marvel issue compare to the books put out by the Dabels? Really, the only change is cosmetic – there’s no more Dabel stamp on the book. The story is essentially the same, the artwork hasn’t changed at all… really, the only appreciable difference is that everyone working on the book is probably getting paid on time now.

As the story goes, as it continues, it’s just fine. We get to see some of what Anita is really capable of this issue, something that has been neglected in the first half of this storyline, and we see her demonstrating some genuine fortitude as well. It would be disingenuous not to admit that the lapse in publishing has hurt the flow of the story, but when you read the two collected volumes, it should read okay.

It’s a little later, and minus the old imprint, but this title hasn’t changed much. If you liked the first six issues, this is more of what you’re looking for. If not, you won’t want to read this either… but then, you wouldn’t have read it anyway.

Rating: 7/10

Incredible Hercules #114

February 19, 2008

Quick Rating: Great
Title: Walls of Troy (Part Three of The Incredible Herc)
Rating: A

As Ares goes on the offensive, a crazed Hercules tears up what’s left of New York!

Writers: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Pencils: Khoi Pham
Inks: Paul Neary
Colors: Stephane Peru
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Cover Art: Arthur Adams
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Last issue, Ares poisoned his brother with the blood of the fearsome Hydra, sending him into a fit of violent delusions. As Wonder Man searches for Ares, hurled away in the battle, Hercules’ old friend the Black Widow may be the only thing between him and a Hulk-level rampage.

As I’ve come to expect from Greg Pak, this was a highly entertaining, truly exciting issue. He and Fred Van Lente have managed to seamlessly blend Hercules’ classical origins with his status of a superhero, with flashes from everything from a pre-Illiad Troy to Herc’s stint with the Champions of Los Angeles. As he continues his rampage, Amadeus Cho puts another of his own crazy schemes into motion. There’s an interesting bit in this issue where we’re reminded of how Cho doesn’t really have much of a moral compass. He’s loyal to his friends – he demonstrated that during World War Hulk, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to a true sense of right and wrong, and that moral ambiguity makes him a far more interesting character than he was before.

Khoi Pham’s artwork is nice, and I especially appreciate some of the panels that pay homage to the 70s style with the Champions sequence. Arthur Adams, of course, draws a beautiful cover, which is about as obvious as statement as pointing out that the sun is rising in the east tomorrow morning.

I feel like a broken record, but I’ve got to say it again – I’ve quickly fallen in love with this book. It’s one of Marvel’s best.

Rating: 9/10

Heroes For Hire (2007 Series) #13

September 11, 2007

Quick Rating: Below Average
Title: Incarceration (A World War Hulk tie-in)
Rating: T+

Captured by the Warbound – betrayed by Humbug!

Writer: Zeb Wells & Fred Van Lente
Pencils: Clay Mann & John Bosco
Inks: Terry Pallot
Colors: Brad Anderson
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Cover Art: Sana Takeda
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Well, here we are. The infamous “tentacle rape” cover of Heroes For Hire. Is it tacky? Is it tasteless? Maybe. But one thing’s for sure – they’d better be grateful for it, because without that cover, there’d be nothing about this issue interesting enough to talk about.

The Heroes For Hire (in a move so ludicrous that one of them even points it out) followed their member Humbug into the Hulk-occupied Manhattan, where Colleen evidently slew an infant and covered the team in its blood to help them evade detection. Somehow, the aliens took offense to this and now have the team captured. They spend virtually the entire issue debating what to do with them – with each other, with the treacherous Humbug, and the team debates what to do amongst each other. I’ve got no problem with a talking heads issue, provided the heads in question are interesting. These aren’t.

The characters here are lifeless, and the fact that even they recognize they’ve got no business being involved with the Hulk’s storyline doesn’t make this any better.

Fred Van Lente and John Bosco bring us a back-up story – essentially, a sort of initiation of the Scorpion pre-World War Hulk. It’s a decent enough little story, although it feels somewhat out of place, as the only link to the main title is that it co-stars Paladin (and not in such a fashion that it feels like his story or his book). The art on this one isn’t as good as the main title, though – a little too angular for my tastes.

This issue falls short pretty much all over.

Rating: 4/10

Fear Itself: Fearsome Four #2

August 2, 2011

Title: Stranger Bedfellows

Writer: Brandon Montclare
Art: Simon Bisley, Ryan Bodenheim, Ray-Anthony Height, Don Ho
Colorist: Simon Bisley, Tony Avina
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Cover Artist: Michael William Kaluta
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publisher: Marvel Comics

She-Hulk, Nighthawk, and Frankenstein’s Monster have teamed up with Howard the Duck to stop the rampaging Man-Thing, being fed by the copious amounts of fear floating around thanks to that whole thing that’s happening over in those other comics. After being temporarily swapped with alternate reality versions of themselves, the team gets a recap of Frankenstein’s origin for some reason, then stroll off to face the enemy responsible for Man-Thing’s rampage: Psycho-Man.

And it’s just… a… mess.

The story is all over the lace, the heroes are together for the thinnest of reasons, and the chain of logic is virtually nonexistent. The frequent artistic changes don’t help. While all of the artists working on this book are perfectly competent, their styles are so different from one another that you keep feeling live you’ve spiraled into an entirely different comic book. With the love I have for many of the characters in this book, I was really looking forward to sort of an offbeat Fear Itself tie-in. Halfway through, I’ve felt nothing but disappointment.

Rating: 6/10

Herc #5

August 1, 2011

Title: Lost City

Writer: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Pencils: Neil Edwards
Inks: Cory Hamscher
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Cover Artist: Ale Garza & Christina Strain
Editor: Mark Paniccia       
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Hercules and his unlikely allies, Man-Bull and Basilisk, find themselves going into battle against the worshippers of Kyknos. Battle is nothing new for Hercules, of course, but now he finds himself powerless, overwhelmed by the prayers of his own worshippers, fighting giant insects in the middle of Manhattan while his more powerful allies are busy beating the hell out of each other elsewhere in the Fear Itself crossover. As formidable a warrior as Hercules is, this time he may have to swallow his pride and turn to the one place he never wanted to go again: his father, Zeus. This new angle for Hercules has really made the new series a joy to read. Pak and Van Lente haven’t decreased the level of the threats our former Prince of Power has to deal with, but with that power gone, he’s had to change his entire approach to battling the creatures. The result is a way of looking at Hercules that nobody has ever done before. Entertaining, different, and exciting – this is some great work.

Rating: 8/10

Heroes For Hire (2006 Series) #8

March 26, 2007

Quick Rating: Average
Rating: T+

The team faces off with the Headsmen – and Paladin ponders a new offer.

Writer: Zeb Wells
Pencils: Al Rio
Inks: Scott Koblish
Colors: Brad Anderson
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Cover Art: Billy Tucci, Mark Sparaccio, A. Crossley
Publisher: Marvel Comics

This issue the Heroes For Hire face off against some of the goofiest villains in Marvel Comics’ history (and for a company that produced the Hypno Hustler, that’s saying something). The trouble is, I’m not sure anyone told writer Zeb Wells that these villains aren’t exactly menacing, and he plays them far too heavily. The Headsmen are four villains with a single gimmick – wacky heads – and one of them has decided to transfer his head onto Humbug’s body. Shang-Chi and Orka are trying to stop the plot, but the headsmen have a convenient Doombot on their side.

The resulting scene is played entirely too heavily for a group with a member who has a mad scientist’s head grafted to a gorilla’s body and another member named “Ruby Thursday.” Shang-Chi loses it, the rest of the team pops in just a little too late and we’re drenched in schmaltz as one character professes his deep feelings for another. To a degree, I can appreciate the idea of using this title as a sort of nostalgia book for some of Marvel’s forgotten characters from the 70s – the concept is straight from that time period and many of the characters involved have an inherent goofiness to them — but in matters of tone and mood, the book is played completely, consistently wrong, and falls totally flat.

The artwork is a step up. Al Rio is quite competent in his storytelling and skilled with his fight scenes. Visually, the only real issue I have with this title is Misty’s costume and hairstyle, which go beyond the ugly right into the stereotypical, but I don’t think he’s to blame for that.

In a nutshell, uninteresting characters and poor execution – I blame no one who passes on this issue.

Rating: 5/10

X-Men: First Class (2006 Series) #7

March 19, 2007

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Who Wants to Date a Millionaire?
Rating: A

Warren is missing… so is the Scarlet Witch… is there a love connection?

Writer: Jeff Parker
Art: Roger Cruz
Colors: Val Staples
Letters: Nate Piekos
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Cover Art: Marko Djurdjevic
Publisher: Marvel Comics

The latest journey into the early days of the X-Men brings us to a point shortly after Magneto and the Brotherhood of (Evil) Mutants’ first major defeat, when he was whisked away into space by the Stranger and Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch left his cause. Pietro pays the X-Men a visit, seeking his sister, who has gone missing. Coincidentally enough, Angel has been disappearing lately as well. Is there a connection?

Well of course there is, it’s a comic book, and there are always connections between such things. The purpose of this issue, interestingly, seems to be to flesh out the Scarlet Witch’s character in a way we haven’t seen before. In her early appearances, Wanda was a very quiet, submissive character. Even when she followed Magneto, it was mostly because Pietro decided that’s what they should do. This issue, Parker tries to give a little bit of an explanation to her behavior, making her seem a little less primitive. I’m not entirely sure that’s a necessary change, though. To be sure, Wanda’s early attitude isn’t exactly PC, but when you consider the culture in which she was raised, that’s acceptable to me.

Still, the stuff we see here works quite well and fits both her character and Warren’s, so it’s hard to be too disturbed by it. It’s a good story, and fits perfectly in the tone this series has established. Parker has done a great job of updating the old-fashioned versions of these characters, and it’s obviously paid of.

Roger Cruz is equally well-suited for the book – his style is classic, but doesn’t look out of place among modern comics. I’m still not wild about the costume retcons, but I can live with it. This has been a simple, fun book, and it’s being rewarded with an ongoing soon. A wise choice on Marvel’s part.

Rating: 8/10

Herc #4

June 11, 2011

Title: All Versus All

Writers: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Pencils: Neil Edwards
Inks: Scott Hanna
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Cover: Michael Kaluta & Jim Charalampidis
Editor: Mark Paniccia       
Publisher: Marvel Comics

A powerless Hercules has found himself helping defend a group of escaping supervillains against the son of Ares, Kyknos. But when the people of Brooklyn see Herc fighting on the side of known villains like the Basilisk, they turn on the hero, forcing him into a fight he didn’t want.

Herc has been de-powered for this entire series, but this is the first time we really see the sort of toll it can take on the former Prince of Power. We see Hercules not just hurt (he’s been hurt before), but worse than that: weary, exhausted and worn-down. It’s clear, both from the writing and some great artwork, that he’s not used to feeling that way. It’s also kind of stressful for him to have to worry about PR, of all things, but it puts a nice, different kind of spin on the book.

The whole Fear Itself thing has felt pretty tenuous. I’m still not getting just how or why this book ties into that main crossover, except for some vague sensation that “fear” is spreading across the Marvel Universe, but the writing team of Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente are at least making the most out of what’s been handed to them. The book is exciting, well-written, well-illustrated, and full of real character drama and development in the midst of all the action. That’s how Herc has always been at his best with this creative team, and this arc is no different.

Rating: 8/10