It was a really big (18 titles, 12 Marvel and four DC and two indies) and a really good week. There were two spectacular books, five really good books and no dogs in the bunch. The Marvel Man retrospective may not be for everyone, but if you can’t wait to see the big MM in the Marvel U, here’s your chance. The big winners of the week is the Young Avenger’s Children’s Crusade and X-Force #28, the penultimate chapter of Second Coming.
The Score Card
ACTION COMICS #890 ★★★★☆
BRIGHTEST DAY #5 ★★★☆☆
BATMAN AND ROBIN #13 ★★★★☆
RED ROBIN #14 ★★★★☆
MARVELMAN: FAMILY’S FINEST #1 ★★★☆☆
AMAZING SPIDERMAN #636 ★★★★☆
YOUNG ALLIES #2 ★★★☆☆
STEVE ROGERS: SUPER-SOLDIER #1 ★★★☆☆
SCARLET #1 ★★★☆☆
RAWHIDE KID # 2 ★★★★☆
X-FORCE #28 ★★★★★
HAWKEYE AND MOCKINGBIRD #2 ★★★☆☆
AVENGER’S ORIGIN # 4 ★★★★☆
X-MEN #1 ★★★★★
X-WOMEN #1 ★★★☆☆
AVENGERS: CHILDREN’S CRUSADE #1 ★★★★★
Unread
DUST WARS # 2
IRREDEEMABLE #15
GREAT TEN #9
★★★★★ = Really, really good.
★★★★☆ = Better than average.
★★★☆☆ = Average.
★★☆☆☆ = Below average.
★☆☆☆☆ = Not good.
☢ = Unreadable.
Pick of the Week
AVENGERS: CHILDREN’S CRUSADE #1
w: Allan Heinberg/a: Jim Cheung
Story: ★★★★★
Art: ★★★★★
Cover: ★★★★★
Overall Rating: ★★★★★
Heinberg & Cheung return to the Young Avengers and start a story arc that promises to have ramifications on the Marvel Universe for years to come. Or if nothing else, will have a lot of small, significant tremors that will have great effects on the characters directly involved. Not since the House of M have we seen hide nor hair of the Scarlet Witch. Now, with Wiccan and Speed’s long-surmised lineage brought to the forefront, the question of her whereabouts becomes a burning concern. Heinberg & Cheung tell Young Avengers stories like no one else, making more out of these characters than anyone would ever think possible. They break boundaries and develop the individuals as well as the group synergy effortlessly, all the while carving out the Young Avengers place in the Marvel Universe. This little-hyped series (nine issues), could be one of the best of the year.
The Rest of the Pack
ACTION COMICS #890 (from 6/30/2010)
w: Paul Cornell/a: Pete Woods
Story: ★★★★☆
Art: ★★★★☆
Cover: ★★★★☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆
If you have been away from Action for awhile, or had grown tired of the New Krypton storyline, then Action #890 is a real treat. Cornell & Woods begin their “villain-centric” story-arc by starting a very good Lex Luthor story-arc. There’s something in this issue for everyone, whether you’re new to the S-mythology or if you’ve been around for a long time. Cornell does a good job sinking this plot into Luthor’s participation in Blackest Night and also demonstrates with a very over-the-top central plot, but also excercises Luthor’s base villainy in a cursory act of despicable evil, while Woods artwork was better than expected. But hold on to your hats for the shocking (more surprising than shocking really) ending!
BRIGHTEST DAY #5
w: Geoff Johns & Peter Tomasi/a: Ivan Reis, Ardian Syaf, Joe Prado
Story:★★★☆☆
Art: ★★★☆☆
Cover:★★☆☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆
It would be really easy for Brightest Day to teeter into a really bad (unreadable) place, but with each issue, it manages to precariously balance the inane Brightest Day (White Lantern) story with some decent storytelling. The Hawks are still a really bad story and Aquaman is quickly going that direction. On the other hand, Boston Brand’s tale (which started as the worst of the lot) has found new life (pun intended) by crossing paths with the remaining Hawk & Dove. Sorely missing from this issue were updates on the Firestorm and the Martian Manhunter story-arcs. One of the interesting aspects of this series has been the artwork. With three artists you might expect a distracting disconnect between the switch of story-arcs (and artists), but there isn’t. That sounds, on the surface like a good thing, but instead of rising to the level of the best (most recognizable) talent (Reis), the art has instead settled somewhere in middle (slight better) ground.
BATMAN AND ROBIN #13
w: Grant Morrison/a: Frazer Irving
Story: ★★★☆☆
Art: ★★★★☆
Cover: ★★★☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆
This is an excellent story, despite Grant Morrison. Morrison’s Lost-esque present-tense/flash-back storytelling doesn’t make the story better, just harder to follow. That being said, the architecture that Morrison has put in place since B&R #1 is absolutely remarkable storytelling. On one level, it equates the complex, multi-faceted Batman against his straight forward All-Star Superman. While AS-Supes was an iconic Supes Tale for the ages, B&R is a complicated, mystery-laden and subtle story that has evolved over the course of the year. Following the huge revelation of last issue, B&R #13 jumps right into the “we’re here now – we’re in the past now – we’re here now” storytelling that is frankly beneath Morrison. It is still a very good story and Frazer Irving’s art is very satisfying.
RED ROBIN #14
w: Favian Nicieza/a: Marcus To
Story: ★★★☆☆
Art: ★★★★☆
Cover: ★★★☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆
It isn’t a spoiler, if it is pictured on the cover. The long awaited confrontation between Robin (Damian) and Red Robin (Tim Drake) takes center stage in RR #14. What the RR series has been missing is the depth of character that we had come to expect from Tim Drake. After Bruce died, the character kind of took a left-turn and became (inexplicably) two-dimensionally obsessed with Bruce’s survival and inexplicably roped into cahoots with Ras al Ghul. Throughout “Batman: Reborn” or whatever they’re calling Grayson’s (2nd) stint as Batman, Drake has been the odd-man out. It has been better since he returned to Gotham and BR #14 takes it up a notch, pitting young Tim against the new Robin and his duties as the Wayne-heir. After reading BR #14, one thing is clear: there are too many has-been, would-be, should-be Robins running around. Hopefully the actual Return of Bruce Wayne will do something about that (without killing Dick Grayson).
MARVELMAN: FAMILY’S FINEST #1 ★★★☆☆
Story: ★★★☆☆
Art: ★★★☆☆
Cover: ★★★★☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆
I have to admit, when I heard Marvel had acquired the rights to Miracle (Marvel) Man, I was overwhelmed with the idea of the 80’s Moore/Gaiman character. Of course, I hadn’t given any thought to how that character fit into the Marvel U, I was just excited that there would be more MM stories.
Almost a year later, the first MM stories are hitting the shelves and reality has begun to set in. The Moore/Gaiman MM really doesn’t have any place in ANY continuity, as great as it was. On the other hand, it makes sense that the acquisition of the MM franchise would spell the inevitable (thank goodness) doom of the Sentry.
One of the problems Sentry suffered was that he was “ret-con’ed” into the Marvel Universe. “Oh yeah, you just forgot that we never actually told you these stories before…” On the other hand, MM has an actual history (albeit apart from the Marvel U) that is now being (re) told. And that’s where the Marvel Man Family’s Finest stories come in.
Almost a year later, the first MM stories are hitting the shelves and reality has begun to set in. The Moore/Gaiman MM really doesn’t have any place in ANY continuity, as great as it was. On the other hand, it makes sense that the acquisition of the MM franchise would spell the inevitable (thank goodness) doom of the Sentry.
One of the problems Sentry suffered was that he was “ret-con’ed” into the Marvel Universe. “Oh yeah, you just forgot that we never actually told you these stories before…” On the other hand, MM has an actual history (albeit apart from the Marvel U) that is now being (re) told. And that’s where the Marvel Man Family’s Finest stories come in.
On the surface they aren’t exciting, they aren’t deep or complex and they aren’t even in color. But Marvel Man is coming. And hopefully, we won’t be disappointed.
Oh yeah, the actual review. The stories themselves were originally published between 1954 and 1957 and are representative samples of that era. If these aren’t your cup of tea, you might want to avoid the next five issues of this mini-series.
AMAZING SPIDERMAN #636
w: Joe Kelly & Zeb Wells/a: Marco Checchetto, Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano
Story: ★★★★☆
Art: ★★★★☆
Cover: ★★★★☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆
The Grim Hunt is quickly becoming “the real deal”. While the Gauntlet was well-written (and nicely drawn) it was disappointing as a contiguous story-arc. The Gauntlet seemed more like a really long prologue that was driven by the on-going subplot, rather than one story arc. The Grim Hunt on the other hand is capitalizing not only on the long set-up story, but is also drawing from related historical arcs (“Kraven’s Last Hunt” and the early JMS run) to spin a very strong story. Thematically, the entire “feel” to Grim Hunt is tangibly darker than the previous run, the story is more sinister and the art work has transformed from the lighter-comic fare to a more cast in shadows and texture for a more “realistic feel.” Even the two back-up features have been well done.
YOUNG ALLIES #2
w: Sean McKeever/a: David Baldeon
Story: ★★★☆☆
Art: ★★★★☆
Cover: ★★★☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆
The Young Allies is a good book, but somehow seems to lack any real teeth or depth, and that is despite a very powerful and shocking first issue. The team is interesting and the on-going plot is better than average, but there’s just something that seems to be missing. On one hand it’s kind of refreshing that the characters (who do have colorful histories) aren’t weighed down by a ton of baggage. Still, it’s almost like there is just something missing, like the book is only two and a half dimensional, instead of 3D. On the other, Young Allies feels just this side of a kid’s book. That isn’t really a bad thing, McKeever’s young adult tale, Gravity, was like that too and it was a pretty good series. Baledon’s artwork, while fine, adds to the same almost-not serious (Archie-like?!?) quality of Young Allies.
STEVE ROGERS: SUPER-SOLDIER #1
w: Ed Brubaker/a: Dale Eagelsham
Story: ★★★☆☆
Art: ★★★☆☆
Cover: ★★★★☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆
What Steve Rogers needs these days is more Life Model Decoys or to appear in fewer series. It is hard to imagine that anything really good is going to come from the Super-Solider mini-series. Perhaps he is just making up for lost time (pun intended) after being sort-of dead for so long. Now, it is hard to knock anything Brubaker does with former-Cap too hard, but with everything else that is going on right now (isn’t Steve Rogers fighting for Kang? No, he’s on Mars… no, he’s…) it is a hard pill to swallow that the U.S.’ Top Super-Cop has time to rush around the globe to pursuit some personal investigation. Super Soldier isn’t a bad story (though it could easily go that way), it just seems like “one Steve Rogers story too many” in a rack (or in this case stack) of comics that already feature his adventures.
SCARLET #1
w: Brian Michael Bendis/a: Alex Maleev
Story: ★★★☆☆
Art: ★★★★☆
Cover: ★★★★☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆
Scarlet lives up to the hype of being in the same vein as Bendis’ run on “Alias”, kind of a gritty, down-to-earth adventure-drama. Scarlet has almost a “Wanted” (w: Mark Millar) narrative-feel, even if it lacks the hyper intense, pulse-pounding action of that series. The real win in Scarlet #1 is Maleev’s artwork which perfectly suits the gritty-adventure-drama feel. True to form (for Bendis), there are a lot of words and a lot of panels of people doing things that normal people do (hanging out, sitting around, walking, etc.), but there is a surprising amount of action (e.g., violence) to round out this introductory offering. Scarlet is kind of like “Felicity” meets Daredevil. In a good way, somehow. If you’ve read any of Bendis’ female-led characters (Spider-Woman comes to mind of late, but Alias was really a stand-out), Scarlet promises to be a book that will increase in intensity as the complexity of the character (and plot) increases.
RAWHIDE KID # 2
w: Ron Zimmerman/a: Howard Chaykin
Story: ★★★★☆
Art: ★★★★★
Cover: ★★★☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆
The Rawhide Kid is, without question, a guilty-pleasure. It is one-part spaghetti-Western, one-part satire, one-part tribute to Marvel’s seldom-used pantheon of Western comics. It really is hard to tell a good Western tale and even harder to tell one in comics. Zimmerman & Chaykin tell an amusing story, while recruiting a handful of “historical” and Marvel-fictional Western fixtures to the Kid’s cause. The tongue-in-cheek (sometimes naked) innuendo is fantastic and blends smoothly with otherwise quick and dynamic dialogue. The story doesn’t advance much beyond the Kid’s recruiting efforts, but along with a quick vignette of Earps and the villain, this issue packs plenty of action. Chaykin, too, is a guilty pleasure and his work in the `Kid series is probably the best that he’s done since American Flagg. Overall, the Rawhide Kid is a well-written, sharply drawn story that captures a diversity of characters in a Western setting, without making the story feel like it is a modern-day tale just being told around wooden buildings and horses.
X-FORCE #28
w: Craig Kyle & Chris Yost/a: Mike Choi
Story: ★★★★☆
Art: ★★★★☆
Cover: ★★★★☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★★
X-Force #28 is the penultimate chapter of Second Coming and the culmination of so many story arcs that it is greater than the sum of its parts. This is the issue that we’ve all been waiting for! Second Coming has been a fantastic event-series that echoes back to the very early days of X-crossovers. The weakest “chapters” in this series have still been excellent chapters, but fell short of being remarkable as “stand-alone” issues. X-Force #28 sort of falls into the former category as well, being more a part of the Second Coming, than an X-Force story (albeit a very, very pivotal part of the event). Action, drama and surprises, X-Force #28 has them all. Choi’s artwork has almost a painted feel and is good enough – sometimes bordering on really good.
HAWKEYE AND MOCKINGBIRD #2
w: Jim McCann/a: David Lopez
Story: ★★★☆☆
Art: ★★★☆☆
Cover: ★★★★☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆
Hawkeye & Mockingbird should be a really bad book, but isn’t. Let’s face it, Mockingbird was a throw-away character until she hooked up with Hawkeye in the early 90’s (late 80s?) and was all-but forgotten until she came back in Secret Invasion. Clint Barton, on the other hand, has always been a fan-favorite, but has spent the last few years dead or not being Hawkeye so well that he kind of became part of the background (maybe the Ronin-ninja suit was working too well). He was such an afterthought, that his return to being Hawkeye almost went entirely without ceremony (I don’t even remember where it happened!). That being said, Hawkeye and Mockingbird has (through two issues) been a decent story. Hawkeye does take center stage, the re-introduction of Mockingbird has left her a kind of a cross between Sharon Carter and the Black Widow – which is better than leaving her bland. The series has introduced us to a new spy-agency (because we clearly need more super-powered spy agencies), which provides the duo with a small, but clever supporting cast. They’re kind of cute in an NCIS sort of way. Hawkeye & Mockingbird doesn’t rest on its laurels and really hits its stride in issue two, with plenty of character development (for both the good guys and bad guys) and some genuine action! In case you’re wondering why this book didn’t score higher, mostly because we’re still getting to know the characters and while the story is good, it really isn’t great (yet). But it has potential.
AVENGER’S ORIGIN # 4
w: Joe Casey/a: Phil Noto
Story: ★★★★☆
Art: ★★★★★
Cover: ★★★★☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆
The re-telling of the Avengers’ origin continues to be done in such a way that it is more of a respectful update than a re-imagining. It has been fun to follow Carey & Noto as they expand a very short first Avenger’s issue into this five-issue treat. Noto’s artwork and Casey’s characterization of these all-too familiar characters highlight the series. The Hulk, who is so often forgotten as a founding Avenger, has been utilized very nicely throughout the series and really takes center ring in Avenger’s Origins #4. Meanwhile, Loki and Thor set the stage for the climatic final issue and the inevitable founding of the Avengers. Oops, was that a spoiler?
X-MEN #1
w: Victor Gischler/ a: Paco Medina
Story: ★★★★☆
Art: ★★★★★
Cover: ★★★★☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★★
When the previews for the “Curse of the Mutants” started coming out, I have to admit I cringed in anticipation of dropping the Mutants off the pull-list again. Because, obviously, what the world needs right now is more vampire stories. Probably not. Then a friend read X-Men #1 and convinced me to pick it up. Wow. X-Men #1 was really good. The vampires are used in an innovative fashion and the X-men just roll smoothly right into the story. It has been a long time, but this is not the first time the X-men have run into vampires, or Dracula in particular. And that story didn’t suck. So far, neither does this one. There are elements of the story that harkens back to Kindred: the Embraced (remember that TV series?) or the Underworld movies, again in a good way. It will be hard to follow Second Coming, but Curse of the Mutants is off to a tremendous start.
X-WOMEN #1
w: Chris Claremont/a: Milo Manara
Story: ★★★☆☆
Art: ★★★★★
Cover: ★★★★☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆
X-Women #1 is a Milo Manara vehicle, plain and simple. The plot/story is abominable, as in really bad. The art, Manara, is fantastic. Those not familiar with Manara may find that their mileage may vary. Manara is an Italian artist, who hit his peak of popularity (in the States) in the early 80’s with his erotic (adult) graphic novels. Claremont’s story is as scantily thin as the X-Women’s wardrobe throughout the issue. Suffice it to say, there is plenty of sexual innuendo and not-so subtle sexual situations. This issue is definitely not for all ages.
