Howard the Duck (2007 Series) #1

October 2, 2007

Quick Rating: Average
Title: The Most Dangerous Game Fowl
Rating: A

Is AIM interested in Howard?

Writer: Ty Templeton
Pencils: Juan Bobillo
Inks: Marcelo Sosa
Colors: Nestor Pereyra
Letters: Nate Piekos
Editor: Aubrey Sitterson
Cover Art: Juan Bobillo
Publisher: Marvel Comics

It’s trademark renewal time (or something), and that means it’s time for a new Howard the Duck miniseries. Last we saw Howard (in the Civil War: Choosing Sides one-shot), he was lining up to register despite the fact that he’s about as far from a superhero as you can get. Now he and Beverly are back in Detroit. Bad dreams are plaguing Howard, Bev is getting her big shot as an actress, and some would-be supervillains are planting their flags.

This issue is a mixed bag, to be blunt. The humor is pretty good – there’s a nice bit where Howard pretty much echoes my feelings for Civil War during a talk radio exchange, for instance – and Beverly’s innocence helps drive the plot along. The rating disturbs me, though – there’s a good bit of implied sex in here, which I don’t have a problem with in general, but I don’t really think should be in a comic with an “All Ages” rating. (Considering that Howard’s last miniseries was a MAX book makes it even more ironic.)

The artwork, similarly, is seriously mixed. I have the same problem with Juan Bobillo here that I did on She-Hulk: he draws people and backgrounds wonderfully, but the non-human characters look consistently off-model and unappealing. The Thing, the Man-Thing, the various monsters Howard plays poker with… just don’t work for me. And I don’t like the redesign for Howard himself at all. The rumor mill has it that the redesign is part of a settlement with Disney, who has never been happy with Howard’s superficial similarities to their own Duck family, but that doesn’t make the new Howard, with his narrow beak and bloodshot eyes, look any better. [2011 Note: This was written before Disney bought Marvel comics. Now they own Howard.]

In the end, the good and bad pretty much counteract each other and make this book a wash.

Rating: 5/10

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

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

World War Hulk Aftersmash: Damage Control #2

February 26, 2008

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: The Little House I Used to Live In
Rating: T+

It’s the Thunderbolts versus Damage Control!

Writer: Dwayne McDuffie
Art: Salva Espin
Colors: Guru eFX
Letters: Nate Piekos
Editor: Nathan Crosby
Cover Art: John Romita, Jr. & Klaus Janson
Publisher: Marvel Comics

As Damage Control recruits any available hero (registered or not) to help with the clearing and rebuilding of New York, the Thunderbolts arrive to cause a little trouble.

While not as funny as the old Damage Control series were, there’s still a sharp sense of humor to this title that helps it gain a real sense of purpose in the aftermath of the Hulk’s rampage. What’s more, they whole Marvel Universe seems to be fair game for this particular playground. McDuffie, who of course created Damage Control, is able to have a lot of fun drawing on their past history with Robbie Baldwin here – he has an encounter with some of his former employers that is a bit more serious than this book often is, but still entertains. (It’s interesting – I’ve seen exactly three books where I found Penance interesting, and all three of them are about characters who miss him from when he was Speedball. Draw your own conclusions.)

The artwork here is particularly solid as well – Espin and Guru eFX have a great, clean, sharp style that emulates the more cartoonish look of the old comics while still molding them into a form that doesn’t look too out of place with the current hyper-realistic Marvel house style.

Almost twenty years later, this book still makes me smile. I really hope next issue isn’t the end of the road for Damage Control.

Rating: 8/10

What If? X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #1

December 26, 2006

Quick Rating: Average
Title: What if Legion Had Killed Xavier and Magneto?
Rating: T+

A world with no Xavier or Magneto – a different “Age of Apocalypse.”

Writer: Rick Remender
Art: Dave Wilkins
Colors: Anthony Washington
Letters: Nate Piekos
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Cover Art: Marko Djurdjevic
Publisher: Marvel Comics

The appeal behind a “What If?” project is showing how the Marvel universe would be different had things been changed. In a lot of ways, “Age of Apocalypse” was really just one long “What If?” storyline, so this issue is, in essence, a “What If?” about a “What If?” The Age of Apocalypse was caused when Legion went back in time and killed Charles Xavier. In the universe we visit in this issue, Legion killed not just Xavier, not just Magneto, but countless people. Fear of mutants became widespread and mutants were oppressed, until Apocalypse arrived with his troopers to conquer Earth.

To say this Earth is worse off than that of the original “Age” would be difficult, but it’s definitely different. The battle lines have been drawn quite differently, with the biggest similarity being Nate Gray again being a key player. He joins up with the last dregs of the superhuman resistance, planning to take the fight to Apocalypse.

Some of the little touches in this book are interesting – the identity of this world’s Sorcerer Supreme, for instance, is quite amusing. Others kind of bother me – I can understand the mutant characters being more or less the same, since their powers are hardwired in from birth, but in a world so different from any other, how probable is it that the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man would have evolved in such similar fashions? Remender also litters the book will little in-jokes (like a clone crack) that are amusing, but really serve to wrench you out of the story.

Dave Wilkins art, like the writing, is a mixed bag. It tells the story fairly effectively, but it’s really dark and gritty, and not in a way that necessarily matches the story.

I’ve read worse What If? stories, but I’ve read much better ones too.

Rating: 5/10

Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories TPB

October 11, 2010

Writer: Zach Whedon
Art: Eric Canete, Farel Dalrymple, Jim Rugg, Joelle Jones & Scott Hepburn
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Cover: Kristian Donaldson
Editor: Sierra Hahn
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Spinning out of the online sensation, Dark Horse Comics presents this collection of short stories based on the world of Dr. Horrible, his friends and enemies. We start with a Captain Hammer story (beautifully illustrated by Eric Canete) that features a confrontation between the smug superhero and our favorite villain. Farel Dalrymple illustrates the origin story for Billy’s buddy, the Moist, and it’s a tale about as sad as you’d expect it to be. Jim Rugg, who you may remember for his depiction of actress Felicia Day in the comic based on her series The Guild, tackles her again in Penny’s “origin” story in this book. Scott Hepburn gives us an untold tale of the Evil League of Evil, and finally, Joelle Jones gives us the origin of Dr. Horrible himself.

As many of these stories are seeing print for the first time (having appeared before online), most of this material was brand-new to me, and it was all very entertaining. Having Whedon (one of the co-writers of the show) steering this book no doubt helped considerably when it comes to keeping the characters true to themselves and the stories engaging. The book works very well to flesh out the world that the movie established, and the differing artists were matched to the characters they depicted very well.

Fans of the film will dearly love these stories that help fill out that universe. And if you’ve never seen Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog… well, first of all, what’s up with that? And second, this book will still give you some interesting insight into a world where heroes and villains are never what they appear to be.

Rating: 8/10

X-Men: First Class (2006 Series) #4

December 19, 2006

Quick Rating: Fair
Title: Seeing Red
Rating: A

When Cyclops starts seeing things, the X-Men turn to Dr. Strange for help.

Writer: Jeff Parker
Pencils: Roger Cruz
Inks: Victor Olazaba
Colors: Val Staples
Letters: Nate Piekos
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Cover Art: Marko Djurjevic
Publisher: Marvel Comics

In this tale of the X-Men’s early days, while the team does battle with a rogue Sentinel, Cyclops starts getting glimpses of a monster watching from the shadows. A scan by Professor X reveals that he’s not just “seeing things,” but rather that there are mystical forces at work, and to combat the mystical the X-Men turn to the Sorcerer Supreme, Dr. Strange.

The team-up between Strange and the X-Men is a surprisingly good one – he and Professor X have a similar feel (especially accentuated now that they’ve been retconned into Illuminati teammates) and work well together, and that sort of tutorial figure always works with a young X-Men team. The menace they face this issue is fairly generic, but the story is serviceable.

The only real problem with this issue – and this series as a whole – is that it’s kind of hard to figure out what the purpose of this series is. The X-Men are like Batman – there are so many related titles, spin-offs, specials and miniseries that any side-project has to be really important to feel like it’s worth putting out. There’s nothing wrong with this issue, but it doesn’t feel significant either. The only real logic here seems to be another attempt to tell a few more stories of the X-Men’s early days, which is a fine idea in and of itself, but those stories have to be knockouts to make it worthwhile.

Cruz and Olazaba’s artwork, like the story, is serviceable. Perhaps it’s the retconned uniforms, but the book has something of a 90s feel to it – somewhere between the more classic style of the bronze age and the hyperdetailed artwork that’s so prevalent today. It looks pretty good, and the painted cover is great.

A nice story, but is it worth running out and hunting down? Not really.

Rating: 7/10