Blame it on the rain! It took me a bit to get home today, so the reviews come in just under the wire. You’d think I’d be better at getting to them early…
- X-Men Unlimited #14
- This is the anthology series, right? I hear that the ‘Unlimited’ books are going to turn into something else, but the idea of a bunch of short stories outside of continuity and clean up isn’t that bad an idea. You just need… good writers. And surprisingly, this is a very good issue. Colossus fans, here ya go! Two short, sweet and very dark stories about the metal man, with varying results. CB Cebulse writes a tragic and very touching story regarding Piotr Rasputin and his family, not to mention the bastardish nature of death in the Marvel Universe. David Aja is also a guy I’ve never heard of, but his art brings just the right weight to the story as a gap is fill in from Piotr’s welcome return from Astonishing X-Men. Then there’s the second story, not as good as the first, but not that bad either. Mostly, writers try to write Colossus’s dialogue like he’s reading from a thesaurus sometimes, to get that ‘artistic soul who’s first language isn’t English!’ feel and this one’s no exception. Come on, people, he was a teenager when he came to America, he knows how to use contractions and the odd slang term now and then. But pet peeve aside and moving through the pretense, it’s an artist’s story and kind of cool. Michael Oeming (do we say ‘Avon Oeming’ anymore?) channels some David Mack into Piotr’s sketchbook, a little frightening and the last page is… well, you figure it out. On the whole, a pretty fine issue and worth your $2.99 especially if you like Colossus.
- Ahhh, the quiet beauty of a Jae Lee cover hides the strange and interesting conclusions this book is sneaking past you. Very clever, Mr. Tieri. While you maybe gleefully reading about the front cover story (that is Apocalypse vs. Dracula), watching The First One have to cut down his own Clan ‘Acaba’ (or at least the British chapter) and then prepare for a final showdown, you might not be noticing the powers of various mutants of Apocalypse’s bloodline. Such as the metal skin hinting at a popular Russian, Chamber’s obvious great-great-granddaddy and cult favorite Blink! Yes, stay for the pretty honest battle between two straightforwardly villainy characters, stay for the subtext!
- Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1
- How are we going to file these things? Under Annihilation? Silver Surfer? We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Anyways, skip the toner assault on first few pages and find yourself three pages in with a handy recap, telling you everything you need to know to jump right into things, where I learn that Giffen has personality on a cosmic scale. Now, I’ve said before that some of these ‘Kree-Skrull War’ kind of situations can go right over reader’s heads, mostly because it’s a whole new universe you’re pretty much forced to like to get to the guy on the cover. Look at Planet Hulk. Considering the scope and breadth of this Annihilation thing, I figured it’d be skippable in the face of the onslaught of the Marvel Universe’s BIG EVENTS (no, really, it’s an Onslaught, they’re bringing him back.) But as the flunkies of The Annihilation Wave put the question to not just the Silver Surfer, but all the Heralds of Galacticus, as to what makes them better than the villains of this series, you’re suddenly stuck for an answer. And so is the Silver Surfer. And that becomes the story you want to read.
- New Excalibur #6
- Ah, the stories we’re going to get about ex-mutants we’ve never heard of. This one (right above the rather cheezy story about the team interacting) is about a family of British super-heroes who saw a ‘White Flash’ (making me wonder what the rest of the world remembers about House of M considering all we’ve seen is the side of ‘those who remember’) and suddenly *blip!* no powers. Sucks because they were all in the air at the time on a rescue mission. The lone survivor of this tragedy is furious about how no one else seems to see this mysterious White Flash as a tragedy and blows up a train station. New Excalibur is on the scene for clean-up and gets waylaid by Black Tom, now with even more strange and plot-appropriate plant powers. Meanwhile, Pete Wisdom and Sage deal with the Dark/Shadow X-Men (pick an adjective!) and Sage gets …. something’d by Dark/Shadow Xavier. It’s like I’m waiting for the point to show up, any minute now, or just to let go and let the book do whatever the heck it wants in absence of continuity. At least one thing remains the same: Juggernaut is an idiot under Claremont.
- Book of Lost Souls #6
- Wait, wasn’t this book over with? Straczynski said on Newsarama that this book came out of Joe Q.’s need for a female audience. So, I’m right, it is Sandman Light. We got it all for your Manga-Reading-Gaiman-Spouting-Wicca-Testing audience! We got angels! Who cry! A talking fluffy cat who rebels against God! Mean animals and good animals! I’m pretty sure this issue was built to explain the premise of the book and the characters and that seems, to me at least, to be that between people who conform and people who live in the past are the Special People they call ‘lost’. Because it’s got that romantic fantasy flair that appeals to my demographic. And the kitty and the bishonen on the cover and the angel (who cries!) are there to foster the
pretty peopleThe Lost. The girl who asked the fluffy kitty about what the deal is with this place actually FALLS ASLEEP during the telling of it all and Mr. Kitty gets all smug about it. Me? I envied that chick.- Marvel Team-Up #19
- Reset your head back to the ’90’s, people, it’s on! Wolverine and Jubilee (complete with yellow/pink/blue outfit that’s hard on the eyes) go into a HYDRA base to steal a piece of the Cosmic Cube. Cable’s just there to make sure that Wolverine doesn’t die (since … he’s watches over time?) and the Mandarin shows up to menace the whole damned show. Nice and simple, so much so the fight scenes seem to have that ‘passing across the TV in your living room’ feel. Don’t mind us, we’re just moving plot along, keep reading! I could have personally lived without the ‘Quicksilver/Excess Baggage’ crack, but an old fashioned (to me, at least) story done with interesting results.
- The End: X-Men - Book Three: Men and X-Men #4
- He still didn’t get the memo about the title yet, did he? Ah well. Dr. Maureen Lysznski, the therapist, takes her place as part of Claremont’s favorite supporting human character crew, showing up in this issue for the plot that probably would make a lot more sense if it wasn’t for the absolute mess that’s going on in space. He waxes on and on poetically about Psylocke for a moment that makes me wonder if he even looks at what he’s saying anymore: ‘To know her is to instantly fall in love. And be horrified at having done so.’ Maybe this book’s getting to him, too. Well, it’s got a tattooed and leather panted Xavier on the last page, so I really hope the end is near.
- Justice League Adventures #20
- From an absolute mess to a little bit of heaven. Seriously, go get this issue tomorrow. It’s in with the kids’ books and is only $2.25, so add it in. You’ll be glad you did. Sure, the cover seems to reek of ‘Girl Power!’ but it’s actually not about that at all. May Marvel goes looking for Wonder Woman on advice about being a redundant superhero. She runs into Supergirl instead and they bond, both being the adorable version of a well-known male hero, and decide to go watch Diana at work with an all-chick crew against the ‘New Olympians’. After their foiled, Mary Marvel admits that, yes, girls can be anything they put their minds to in that well-worn fashion, when Supergirl pulls the truth out. You see, the Martian Manhunter put together this team based on their skill and ability, not the ‘girl’ factor at all. ‘He probably didn’t even [notice]‘, notes Supergirl. It all makes sense to Mary. ‘In the end, it’s not the powers that make the hero, it’s the person using them.’ And that is awesome.
- Batman: Secrets #2
- I’m glad to know that I’m not the only one out there thinking of the Conan O’Brian segments. The Joker continues to try and blackmail Batman through the media to seed doubt in Gotham’s public. The artwork is great, Sam Kieth delivers on every page with some off-the wall mood or depth of story where the pictures themselves actually seem more like words than the captions. I’m just not so keen on this premise. I mean, if you let go of the fact that a portion of the Gothamites are willing to watch the Joker on TV and have an iota of belief in this guy, you can also understand the faith people have in American politics these days. So there you go. Good, evocative story and you know those conversations between the Joker and Batman in the dark are going to be stellar.
- Batman and the Monster Men: Dark Moon Rising #6
- Weep with me for this, the last issue. Hand to God, I totally forgot that it was a mini-series, even forgetting the little subtitle on the cover. But trust me, Batman and the Monster Men delivers on every page. I am so glad I committed myself to reading all the Preview Books or I would have never gotten to this fun little gem. Batman using wits, skill and scare tactics, defeats the Monster Men, gets his gal-pal’s dad off the hook with the mob and Hugo Strange is left loose on the streets. Then again, so it Batman. It’s like an episode of the Bruce Timm Animated Adventures. A treat.
- Swamp Thing #26
- A rather beautiful little tale. Joshua Dysart wins a second look in my book as this could almost be a self-contained issue on it’s own, if not a fine place to hook a new reader, based on emotional content alone. Swamp Thing angsts on his current relationship with the woman he loves while the shadowy antagonists call him on it. Going back to people who are still used to him as a god-like character, he learns that in blind rage, the Swamp Thing is responsible for the death of an 8 month old child. The artwork nearly cries with you as the Swamp Thing laments the loss and honors the tragic loss in the only way he can.
- Team Zero #5
- Someone out there loves this book. Someone is following it with great excitement. This book was even pitched with favorable results, so someone has to want this books. It’s just not me. I think I’m not the target audience here and I get that feeling pretty quick. Not to knock Chuck Dixon at all, but… not my bag, baby. Team Zero is heading off the Evil Ruskies in a very macho ‘five men against an army’ kind of way that seems more posturing than actually thought out. Everyone looks really cool, a supporting character dies in a nobly tragic (and very quick) fashion and a rat reveals himself (he thought code names like ‘Deathblow’ and ‘Cowboy’ were ‘queer’). Go read Sgt. Rock.
- Jonah Hex #6
- I like cowboy stories. Quick, bad ass, full of great catchy lines, honestly brutal and just. Call me a sucker for the typical ‘cowboy cool’, but the grit fits. Jonah faces both crazy nun ladies, Apaches and love in this quick and dirty little tale.
- Ex Machina #19
- Sorry, Civil War. Wildstorm’s doing topical fiction better, faster, stronger and less heavy-handedly than you. This issue is chock-full of moral character and topical debate, one following the other fast enough to keep you interested and intent enough to hold your interest as they go. Personal honor and security investigations are debated ferociously, only to end on two poor cops who shoot a man in a moment of terrorist tension, only to find he had drugs instead of weapons. Topical without being preachy about it, it’s even a decent ‘first look through’, enough time is spent on the matters at hand as to drawn the reader i without jogging their memory for last issue’s plot.
Happy Wednesday, everyone.
