Action Comics #8 – Grant Morrison completes the first story arc of his Action Comics run, but we know that he rarely tells stories that have no bearing on his run's greater scheme. The question is, how much will his next phase call back to it? Obviously, a good bit of the issue's second half is laying the groundwork for the rest of Morrison's time on the book. Of course, one of the biggest unanswered questions is: who the heck is the little guy that has appeared in several issues so far? He was the bartender in Metropolis five years ago and met with the assembled Superman villains in the present day mid-arc tangent. The obvious answer is Mister Myxlplyx but that seems too simple for a Morrison story. I believe Morrison stories are better on the second or third read so, while the individual issues might be solid, the real genius comes in the long game. The art in Action Comics was a fairly pleasing hodgepodge with Rags Morales, Brad Walker, Rick Bryant and Bob McLeod. I am never a huge fan of multiple pencilers on one issue, but it worked pretty well. They split the main story from the epilogues, giving each artist their own mini-tale to tell.
Age of Apocalypse #2 – Can an
alternate universe story be any fun if you aren't familiar with the
cannon that is being altered? Honestly, I don't know the answer. I
wouldn't say I'm not enjoying Age of Apocalypse, and Dave Lapham
works incredibly hard filling in the backstory. It's well written
and the art is solid but it's just not a comic book for me. I mean,
I bet there's a whole stack of DC's Elseworld books that would leave
a Marvel Zombie feeling the same way. The thing that makes stories
like this tick is a working knowledge of how things are different and
I just don't have it. To be fair, AoA is a book with some fun ideas.
The human superhero team being hunted down in a world full of
mutants turns the X-canon on it's ear with a nice symmetry. The
clockwork nature of the Exterminated's battle strategies and
contingency plans is so tight that it's like reading a book where the
entire team is made up of Batmans. There's enough here to keep me
buying the book for now. Perhaps, my forays into Marvel will convert
me before I drop it.
Animal Man #8 – Buddy and family are
on still on the family vacation from hell. Cornered by the
Rot-infested animals, father and daughter take turns fighting—to
very different results. Jeff Lemire uses some dramatic symmetry to
show just how much more powerful Maxine is than Buddy making for an
intriguing cliffhanger. Travel Foreman and Steve Pugh share the
artist duties again this month as the latter transitions off of the
book. While their artistic styles are dissimilar, they both have the
propensity for a kind of unsettling air. This is an absolute nitpick
but both artists drew the Baker family's talking cat differently.
Foreman, who helped create the cat gave it a hairless, Siamese look,
while Pugh portrays Socks as a more traditional house cat. It's not
a complaint, it just seems like the kind of thing that would be
simple to coordinate.
Danger Club #1 – As I was trying to
check out at my local comic book shop, the guy behind the counter
convinced me to give this new Image ongoing a try. After one issue,
I have to say it was three dollars well spent. The premise, while
doled out in little snippets seems to be something along the lines of
“What would happen to a world if all of the superheroes died
leaving behind their sidekicks?” The book features a ton of
superpowered progeny with nothing better to do than beat each other
up and wrestle over who will lead the protection of earth. The
script by Landry Walker was strong and the art by Eric Jones and
Micheal “Rusty” Drake was perfect for the feel of the book. I'll
give this book the highest compliment I can—I am eagerly awaiting
issue two.
Daredevil #10.1 – The month of
Daredevil begins! A crossover with Avenging Spider-man and Punisher
ensures that each week of April, the “Man Without Fear” will
appear in at least one book. This issue was one that Marvel touted as
a jumping on place for new readers. They do this occasionally with
so-called “point one” issues. It's a neat idea, but I get the
feeling that the strange number scheme is not as “new reader
friendly” as they think it is. Of course, I could be wrong.
Regardless, this was my first “point one” issue and it was a
pretty solid book. Mark Waid, Khoi Pham and Javier Rodriguez crafted
a nice little story that gets everyone up to speed and ready for the
big crossover. Pham's art is a nice touch because it fits the
series' overall aesthetic. I have been really impressed with the
artists that Marvel has been able to find to keep the look of the
book intact.
Men of War #8 – Gueststars Jeff
Lemire and Frankenstein arrive with a fun tale to end the series. I
haven't read everything Lemire has ever written but, based on what
I've seen, Men of War issue eight was probably the weakest. That's
not exactly a dig—I am a huge fan of his work. The issue was
co-written by Lemire and soon-to-be Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.
scribe Matt Kindt with solid art by series regular Tom Derenick. Men
of War eight was the final issue on a series that Lemire was not the
original writer on, so it's not as if there was a ton of material for
him to work with. Aside from that, it was an issue about the DC
Universe version of a literary monster fighting a giant
American-made, Japanese-brainwashed robot during World War II. The
quality of the issue gets quite a bit of credit on premise alone.
Even if the Men of War eight was a shallow monster mash, there were a
couple of truly amazing moments that were good enough to carry the
book. In particular, the double splash page with Frankenstein
dogfighting in a fighter with the Bride of Frankenstein painted on
its nose is especially awesome.
Swamp Thing #8 – The old Swamp Thing
is dead! Long live the new and improved Swamp Thing! After seven
issues of “will he or wont he” Alec Holland's acceptance of the
Green's powers gives him an array of abilities that were worth the
wait. Single-handly, he fights back Seethe and the armies of The Rot
trying to save Abigail Arcane, his death-powered romantic interest
(oh, and the world...yeah, save the world, too). Most of the issue
is powered by Yannick Paquette and Marco Ruby's pencils. While
Paquette has the more polished look, they are a good pair whose art
works well together. It's a fast-paced issue with a ton of immersive
art and scary rotten monsters. What more can you really ask for?
Wolverine and the X-men #8 – A
familiar sight arrives on the Jean Grey School...with a twist.
That's right, a wheelchair bound headmaster is back but it's not
Xavier! It's Wolverine! Somehow (using comic book science!) alien
casino owners broke his legs. (I am not making this up.) Much of the
issue is taken up by Sabertooth and Beast fighting in Spaaaaaaaace.
It's always nice to see Hank go feral, but it's awfully similar to a
plot point involving Broo from the previous issue. Maybe Jason Aaron
will connect the two threads. I like Chris Bachalo's style but it can
be a bit cluttered and busy. The subplot about Warren Worthington
leading a group of students to the casino to get the device that
broke Wolverine's legs is quite fun and we get to see some character
development in several of the field trip's participants.
Wolverine and the X-men: Alpha and
Omega #4 – Alpha and Omega is an interesting series. I'm not
exactly sure where it fits into the overall Jean Grey School story.
Even though it's a mini-series that is almost entirely about Quentin
Quire and Wolverine, I think that there is more character development
and moments in the main Wolverine and the X-men series. Maybe I
should sit and read all four of the issues and see what I think, but
my inclination is to say that the story thread got kind of lost
somewhere along the way. There's just not much substance in the execution of a pretty
intriguing idea. For all the talk about psychic warfare between
Quire and Logan, there isn't enough time or development spent inside
the construct to make it interesting.
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