Somebody’s First Comic Book-Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier #1

Wondering what Somebody’s First Comic Book is all about? The explanation is on this page!

CREDITS:

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Art: Dale Eaglesham
Colors: Andy Troy
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover Art: Carlos Pacheco, Tim Townsend & Frank D’Armata
Publisher: Marvel Comics

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Dude definitely has a “Captain America” vibe to him… hey, wasn’t his name “Steve” in the movie?

IMPRESSIONS: Ah, he is Captain America. Or… he was. But he’s not now… looks like he’s a super-spy, and the grandson of the guy who turned him into Captain America in the first place is in some sort of trouble, so he has to save him.

Okay, I can work with this.

The book actually gives us just about everything we need to know. It recaps Captain – um… Steve’s origin pretty succinctly, and it shows us why that’s relevant today, as there are evidently enemy spies trying to recreate the experiment that made Steve a super-soldier in the first place. The fighting is cool – whether he’s wearing the mask or not, Rogers kicks a lot of butt in this issue. It’s a trifle confusing why he’s not Captain America anymore, or why he’s just going around with no mask on and everyone knows who he is, but there’s enough to go on to make the story comprehensible and enjoyable.

But man… “Steve Rogers” has got to be the worst superhero name ever.

Really? There was somebody called “Maggot” in the X-Men?

Never mind.

GRADE: B

Wolverine and the X-Men #1

November 6, 2011

Title: Welcome to the X-Men! Now Die!

Writer: Jason Aaron
Pencils: Chris Bachalo
Inks: Tim Townsend, Jaime Mendoza, Al Vey
Colorist: Chris Bachalo
Letterer: Rob Steen
Cover Artist: Chris Bachalo
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics

With the Schism over, it’s time for the different X-Men factions to begin moving forward, and that’s just what we get here with Wolverine and the X-Men #1. Back in Westchester, Wolverine is overseeing the re-opening of the old school, now named for the late Jean Grey. But even though it’s a private institution, they’re going to have to prove themselves to the board of education, or they’ll be shut down. Not easy to do when both your faculty and student body have the power to shatter mountains. I liked this book a lot more than I expected to, to be frank. The title seems a bit pandering, but the idea of Wolverine trying to run the school to uphold Xavier’s legacy is a clever one. In tone, the book reminds me a bit of Avengers Academy, in that it seems to be about both the faculty and the students. That may not remain the case, but one would certainly hope that, having such a large cast, Jason Aaron will be able to play with everybody and not just the “senior” members. This doesn’t really feel like “the” X-Men book, but more like a spiritual successor to the original New Mutants and the New X-Men: Academy X class. The other books we’ve had in the last few years haven’t really given us this feel, so if we can get that in this title, I’ll be okay with it.

Rating: 8/10

X-Men: Regenesis #1

October 17, 2011

Title: Regenesis

Writer: Kieron Gillen
Art: Billy Tan
Colorist: Andres Mossa
Letterer: Rob Steen
Cover Artist: Chris Bachalo, Tim Townsend
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics

After the interesting-but-not-outstanding X-Men: Schism miniseries, Marvel’s mutants are going to a place we’ve never really seen them before, split right down the middle. This one-shot is based entirely on showing which characters are falling on each side of the divide. The trouble is, this issue gives us almost nothing new. The final issue of Schism told us where most of the characters would go and the teaser images for the upcoming X-titles told us the rest, so there was already no mystery to begin with. Explaining why most of the characters chose either Wolverine or Cyclops’s side is rather pointless, as anyone who has a passing familiarity with most of the character can probably figure out in each case why they chose as they did. The characters whose allegiance may be a bit of a surprise would be better served by examining their choices in the respective titles they’ll be appearing in. Add all of this to a truly pointless framing sequence showing Scott Summers and Logan dressed up like cavemen and fighting by a fire, and you get a book that’s really not worth the time or the money it takes. Whether you loved Schism, whether you’re deeply invested in Regenesis, this book is a pass.

Rating: 4/10

X-Men (1991 Series) #197

March 19, 2007

Quick Rating: Average
Title: Condition Critical Part 1
Rating: A

An infected Rogue is brought to the country where Cable is king.

Writer: Mike Carey
Pencils: Chris Bachalo
Inks: Tim Townsend
Colors: Antonio Fabela
Letters: Cory Petit
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Cover Art: Chris Bachalo
Publisher: Marvel Comics

I have to say, I’m sort of disappointed in Mike Carey. On his past work, I’ve always thought it was either sublime or incomprehensible, but either way, it evoked a strong response. This issue – and in fact, his whole X-Men run – has been pretty “blah.”

Rogue, infected with the virus called Strain 88, is clinging to life, so Cable brings her to the nearest refuge – his own island nation of Providence. While the doctors there go to work, the rest of the team sets about pondering the implications of Cable running his own country, the fact that they’re really worried about Rogue, or wonder what Sabretooth is ostensibly doing on the team.

I think the biggest problem here is that this doesn’t really feel like an X-Men team. Over half the roster is comprised of former villains or total neophytes, plus Cable, who has sort of let his messiah complex go to his head. That leaves us with Iceman, Cannonball and Rogue (one of whom spends the issue comatose) as real relatable characters. Honestly, it’s not enough.

Chris Bachalo’s artwork on this issue is okay, but it’s not spectacular. Honestly, I think the colors are more to blame for some of the art problems – the book is overly dark in most cases, and many of the characters have weird “auras” around them that disrupt the flow of the artwork.

I just can’t bring myself to care too much about this book, and from what I hear, that’s a sentiment shared by many an X-Fan.

Rating: 5/10

X-Men (2010 Series) #7

February 20, 2011

Title: To Serve and Protect Part One
Writer: Victor Gishler
Pencils: Chris Bachalo
Inks: Tim Townsend
Colorist: Chris Bachalo
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Cover: Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson
Editors: Daniel Ketchum & Axel Alonso
Publisher: Marvel Comics

The next arc of X-Men kicks off with the X-Men deciding to branch out and become more public in their roles as superheroes. To help facilitate this, as Angel, Iceman and Pixie are busy cleaning up San Francisco, Cyclops leads a team back to New York to hunt for a monster in the sewers – a monster that has previously run afoul of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

Victor Gishler is giving me really the only thing I want in an X-Men comic. While most of the other books are spending their time in incestuous crossovers and plotlines that get so complicated that you pretty much need a PhD in X-Menology to understand what’s going on, this title is giving us a very straightforward superhero story with an unorthodox group of heroes, and he’s using the entire Marvel universe as his playground. Guest stars like Spider-Man in this arc, and Blade and Namor in the previous one, help us feel like the book is part of a greater community, while the avoidance of mutant enemies does the same thing. That’s not to say that this book will never touch on the greater X-Men universe, but as long as it remains largely self-contained, it’s giving me what I want.

It also helps that Gishler is a witty writer, one that can keep the book lighthearted while still exciting, and best of all, he writes Cyclops as a leader instead of a chump, something that even Wolverine has to accept in this issue. Hell, Gishler can even use Gambit in the story without making me hate him. Do you have any idea how rare that is?

The cover, by the Dodsons, is a great, clean rendition of our heroes, and Chris Bachalo’s interiors are a lot better than he did back in the 90s. It’s funny – he was the hot new thing back then, but I find I like his artwork a lot more now.

I’m really enjoying this title.

Rating: 8/10

Captain America (2002 Series) #26

May 16, 2004

Quick Rating: Average
Title: The Bucky Issue

Captain America reflects on life with his old partner, Bucky.

Writer: Robert Morales
Pencils: Chris Bachalo
Inks: Tim Townsend & Al Vey
Colors: Brian Reber
Letters: Randy Gentile
Editor: Axel Alonso
Cover Art: Dave Johnson
Publisher: Marvel Knights

When a potential plane crash reminds Captain America of the demise of his old partner, he steps up to save the aircraft, remembering Bucky’s life on the way down. I’ve been a fan of Captain America for about as long as I’ve been reading comic books, so this issue was more than a little repetitive. It’s an okay done-in-one issue, and probably a good character study for someone who isn’t really familiar with Captain America, but for anyone who’s read the series for any length of time, there’s really nothing in here that we haven’t seen a thousand times before. Bucky was brave. Bucky was tough. Bucky was a great kid. But Bucky’s been dead for 60 years. Why are we reflecting on his death again?

Don’t misunderstand, it’s not that there’s anything bad in this issue, there’s just nothing new. It feels very much like a filler, and what’s worse, it’s a filler we’ve seen hundreds of times since Cap got thawed out.

Chris Bachalo’s art did impress me, however. He’s got a very good take on Captain America, detailing the chain mail of his uniform, the bulky stature that makes him stand heads and shoulders above most superheroes, and the plane crash in the issue looks great as well.

Dave Johnson’s cover is fine as well, but it suffers from Marvel cover-itis – in other words, it’s a generic pin up with absolutely no relevance or connection to the issue.

With this title shifting back to the regular Marvel line when the Avengers reboot happens, I hope it manages to find a new identity. The Marvel Knights relaunch started out great, but lost its place the minute John Ney Rieber left the book, and it hasn’t been able to reclaim it since. The title is more or less marking time until the new creative team comes on. Hopefully they’ll find something a bit more original to do with one of Marvel’s greatest heroes.

Rating: 5/10

(2010 note: There’s some serious irony in this review, when you look at what’s gone on in Captain America for the past six years, isn’t there?)