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She-Hulk #9
Publisher: Marvel
Comics
Writer: Dan
Slott
Pencils: Paul
Pelletier
Inks: Dave
Kemp
I can’t believe how Dan Slott can fit so many throw away gags
in one title. She-Hulk is one of my constant joys; too bad more people
aren’t reading the book. It’s fun. And it’s going
to go on hiatus for a little while and get re-launched, with hopefully
much deserved fan fair. This book, while definitely on the lighter
side of things, constantly entertains. This issue revolves around
a case involving the hero Hercules being sued by the Constrictor for
physical damages he suffered during a robbery stopped by Hercules.
This title has always embraced in one way or another some of the fringe
characters of the Marvel Universe and done so in a grand way. While
not entirely spotlighting a lot of them, you are constantly reminded
about them still being out there, with either gags or cameos, in fact
on the title page of this issue, there is a Howard the Duck gag that
had me laughing out loud. While the funny stuff is present, this series
also does a nice job of adding to the character of Jen Walters, the
She-Hulk. With the events of the Avengers Storyline “Red Zone”
and “Disassembled” Jen seeks out the help of her adoptive
family the Fantastic Four. She is trying to find a way so that she
does not loose control again. The Four, give her a modified suit that
should help control her strength, but there is something that Reed
Richards, is keeping back about what has been going on with her.
Hopefully we will find out before the hiatus. If you enjoy a little
(OK-a lot) of humor, this is the book for you. Gems like these don’t
come along often enough. This is truly entertaining.
-KEVIN-
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Fantastic Four #520
Writer: Mark Waid
Pencils: Mark
Wieringo
Inks: Karl
Kesel
I’m sad for this book, sad that this issue is the beginning
of the last arc by this creative team, not since the John Byrne run
in the 80’s have I enjoyed this book so much. Granted there
were some bumps in the road but their run will go down as one of the
better ones in the titles history. Last issue, Galactus recruited
a new herald, one with the power to nullify his cloaking shields,
one Johnny Storm? He doesn’t have invisibility powers...or does
he? Last issue in order to save Sue, Reed, hit the two of them with
something that switched their powers and before he could fix them,
Galactus came down and snatched the Torch as his new herald. Now Sue
is trying to deal with getting accustomed to the flame powers while
Johnny is trying to find a bathroom in Galactus’ ship. The guy
eats planets; you would think he had one at least. So the new Fantastic
Three are back on Earth looking for some help in rescuing Johnny,
with an interesting choice of a guest star. There are some nice moments
in this book where Sue and Ben reflect back on some memories of Johnny.
It’s been the nice little touches like this that have reminded
us through Waid’s run that the Fantastic Four are a family first,
an idea that sometimes gets lost. This is a good start for the end
of one of the best runs on this book. Don’t miss it.
-KEVIN-
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Captain America #1
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Steve
Epting
Hey, guess what Marvel is doing another re-launch. Crazy stuff, rather
than continue on but go in another direction, let’s put out
another #1 issue to catch everyone’s attention. Granted that
is me being sarcastic and cynical about Marvel’s tendency to
ditch a title only to re-launch it, and generally that is how I feel
about it, but you know something, if it brings more attention to this
title, then I am actually glad for it. If it works in this instance,
then it will be worth it. This issue takes place a few months after
the whole Avengers fiasco, the Red Skull is still around and trying
to hatch a plot around the fractured Cosmic Cube. He wants to once
and for all take out Captain America and as many people around him
as he can. He has had Steve Rodgers, Captain America, watched while
he was awaiting his escape from captivity. He senses the Captains
inner turmoil, as does Sharon Carter, Agent 13 of Shield and one of
Steve’s confidants. Sharon has been assigned by S.H.E.I.L.D.
as Steve’s personal liaison, and she is worried about him. His
annual evaluations went well but she knows deep down something is
wrong; his actions have become more extreme of late. It’s gotten
worse since the Skulls escape. This issue has a nice little twist
at the end. This being a first issue, does a lot of setting up for
the new tone of the series (I’m looking at it as a continuation),
which provides a very accessible starting point for new readers. It
also brings a little darkness to the Captain America “world”,
but nod so much hard and gritty, it seems just right. Couple the excellent
story with the wonderful art of Steve Epting and this book is going
to quickly become one of my favorites; it has truly (re) started on
the right foot. -KEVIN-
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Teen Titans #18
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Geoff
Johns
Pencils: Mike
McKone
Inks: Marlo
Alquiza
Last issue, the Titans found themselves stranded 10 years in their
future after trying to return from their adventure with the Legion
of Superheroes, and meeting their future counter parts. It seems that
the world 10 years in the future is a much darker place. The future
Titans are a lot grimmer than their younger counterparts. Robin, Tim
Drake, has graduated to become the new Batman, Superboy, Conner Kent,
has taken up the mantle of Superman, Wonder Girl, Cassie Sandsmark,
is the new Wonder Woman and other “graduations” have taken
place. None of them seem like they are happy people, and will dispense
their brand of justice however they seem fit. This comes at odds with
the younger versions of the Team. They see their future selves as
“bad guys”. Another hitch in this story, one of the elder
team’s members seems to be playing both sides of the fence,
so to speak. The younger team decides they need to get away from the
Titan’s Tower to figure out what is going on. To me the best
part of this issue was the conversation between “Batman”
and his younger self, Robin. Batman tells Robin about some of the
things that made him change, but it turns into a fight, where Batman
ultimately gets the upper hand, in a way that regular Batman readers
wouldn’t expect. In light of the events taking place in the
current DC universe, it’s almost easy to see how this chain
of events could take place. After the events that take place in Identity
Crisis and what has happened in the War Games crossover, it gives
added weight to how these things could come to pass. Nice touches
during the whole fight were some of the names on the tombstones (nice
little nods here and there). Ultimately at the end of the issue, the
younger Titans come face to face with their other-other selves. This
is always a solid book. -KEVIN-
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Ultimate Spider-Man #69
Writer: Brian Michael
Bendis
Pencils: Mark
Bagley
Inks: Scott
Hanna
Bendis has a flair for dialog. I’ve said it before and will
probably repeat it again some time in the future. No where is that
more evident than in Ultimate Spider-Man. Granted, I’m a bit
older than the characters in this book, but to me the conversation
seem so natural and that really helps to add to my enjoyment of this
book. This issue is the second part of the Spider-Man/Human Torch
team up. The first part introduced Johnny Storm, the Torch, into Peter
Parkers high school. No super hero stuff, just an interesting way
to bring them together. This issue expands upon that and brings the
two into super hero action at the end, but first it did a very good
job of establishing each of their respective relationships- Peter
and Johnny and Spider-Man and the Torch. It was a nice touch to show
the admiration that the Torch has towards Spider-Man, which in light
of the recent past helps to pump up the loss of confidence that Peter
has exhibited with the recent losses suffered. This book is always
one of the most enjoyable reads each month. It’s amazing that
after this many issues that the quality never seems to wane. -KEVIN-
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Amazing Spider-Man #514
Publisher: Marvel
Comics
Writer: J.
Michael Straczynski
Pencils: Mike
Deodato
Inks: Joe
Pimentel
I hate Straczynski for what he’s done the past few months in
this title; he has in one story line tainted one of the best Spider-Man
story lines. Actually that is what I thought about it a few months
ago. I’ve calmed down a bit, and while I may not agree with
the direction he took, I will admit one thing, JMS knew what he was
doing and he did it well. My first reaction came from the fan boy
in me but now after distancing myself and thinking about it critically,
I think what JMS did was spectacular. Not the story line, but more
that he brought a level of emotion and passion back to this title
that hadn’t been there for quite some time. Fans were arguing
about what he had done, he had got people talking about it again,
not simple this guy could kick that guys tail, but actually talking
about the story and ramifications. While you probably could have figured
out where this story line would have ended up, the passion evoked
by the events kept the readers (at least myself) distracted from what
was going to happen. That is the mark of a good story. Events take
place that take you away from seeing the obvious conclusion of things.
The proverbial curve ball, but this one had impact. Congratulation
JMS, a few months ago, I said that if things didn’t straighten
out, I was done with a hero I have read since I was a boy. Well things
didn’t go the way I wanted but you are going to manage keeping
me around, because of how you did it. In retrospect, this story makes
you re-think what has come before and I think, I would ultimately
call it a success. I may not like what happened, but he made me care
about it. -KEVIN-
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Batman #634
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Andersen
Gabrych
Pencils: Paul
Lee
Inks: Brian
Horton
This issue serves as an epilogue to the War Games crossover that has
been going on in the bat books for the past three months and is the
last issue before the new creative team takes over next month. This
issue does a very good job of summarizing the highlights and events
of the crossover, giving the readers an easy starting place to know
what the new status quo in Gotham is. Overall an excellent way of
catching up if you didn’t care to fall for buying all of the
issues of the crossover. I think it’s a good idea for companies
to do something like this if they are going to produce a story line
that entwines titles that a reader doesn’t normally read, pepper
it with enough information and just a little something that moves
things forward and I think the casual readers are being done a great
service, granted the collectors (“have to get every issue of
the crossover”) may balk at the thought, but if you don’t
draw new readers in somehow, us old fogies are going to move on and
there won’t be a new fan base who can easily embrace the characters
and their history without the opportunity to get caught up. A publisher
has maybe three of four issues to hook a casual reader, that doesn’t
get sucked in by the “hype”, so something like this is
a good idea after a big story line. Bravo DC. -KEVIN-
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Supreme Power #13
Publisher: Marvel
Comics
Writer: J.
Michael Straczynski
Pencils: Gary
Frank
Inks: John
Sibal
This is one of those titles I put at the bottom of my pile for reading.
I consistently expect it to be good and am always surprised at how
good it actually is. Granted the pacing of the story may seem a bit
slow for people but, in this instance, great things come to those
who wait. And the wait each month is well worth it, if not for the
story then at least for Gary Frank’s great art. This issue confirms
what we’ve expected about the serial killer, which is they are
super powered. They are not normal folk, and our tentatively formed
team of Nighthawk, Hyperion and Blur start their first adventure together
in an effort to track the killer down. The newly formed team may not
make it out of their encounter in one piece, and knowing JMS, he will
definitely make it interesting. Word of warning though, this book
is intended for mature audiences. The language and some of the art
really isn’t meant for kids, but I do think that adult readers
would enjoy watching this story unfold. -KEVIN-
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