Jonathan Hickman's Secret Warriors is in my opinion, one of the best titles Marvel is putting out right now. Rich with characters layered with plots and masterfully planned so that each story moves all the pieces forward towards a definitive ending. With each issue so tightly controlled, there is little room for Nick Fury and his crew of caterpillars to interact with the rest of the Marvel Universe, which makes these one shot opportunities so crucial, giving us a chance to hit the pause button and explore the characters in a more significant way.
With the Siege: Young Avengers issue that came out a week earlier, the bar was set high for this issue of Secret Warriors. Although discredited for not moving the plot forward in any significant way and not really doing a whole lot with the team, the issue was still fantastic for what it was, an occasion to spend time with characters who are not currently in an on-going comic, and getting to see them respond to a catastrophe that is way out of their league. It is fair to say that expectations were high this issue would be similar, especially with the questions surrounding how Phobos, one of the title's important characters, is the son of the God of War, who was murdered earlier in the event would respond.
Hickman addresses these, but in a way no one really anticipated. Framing the issue with a moment between Ares and Phobos, that reflects on the nature and requirement of revenge, the issue focuses primarily on Phobos's quest to hunt down the President of the United States, who appointed Osborn the head of SHIELD and then HAMMER. Periodic moments of Nick Fury comedy allow us moments of pause from the Kill Bill antics of the comic, but aside from two characters featured in a single panel, the rest of the team is not even featured in the issue.
To say this one-shot was a disappointment is an understatement. My initial unhappiness came firstly, from the perceived pointlessness of taking the action away from Asgard, to focus on The White House, the character with arguably with some responsibility, but the least importance to the Siege storyline. However, after re-reading Dark Avengers #9, and reflecting on the perception Phobos has been written with, I can understand the going after the President bit a bit better, as it jives more with his going after the root of the problem attitude. What I'm still conflicted over is that everyone involved with the story knew what Osborn was, Ares especially, and yet he continued to serve with the Dark Avengers, only finally turning on them when they dared to threaten sibling gods. In truth, Ares got himself killed and it was really his own fault, how does this require any type of revenge aside from that against The Sentry, his murderer?
I also take issue with Phobos's sudden choice to murder a number of innocent Secret Servicemen. His whole reason for joining Fury's crusade and the Secret Warriors was to become a hero/good guy/make a difference in the world, his bedroom at home is a shrine to the superheroes of the Marvel universe, and yet he just cuts through a number of these guys on his way to see Obama.
While I did agree with the plot and direction of the issue, Hickman continues to prove his writing excellence. The dialogue is fun and he continues to work Nick Fury's voice effortlessly, while also capturing the sophistication of the young God of Fear, expressing his eloquence and wisdom beyond his years that he possesses.
Artistically, this issue is just a mess, as Vitti's pencils look rushed if not grotesque in some areas. Backgrounds look sparse and undetailed, and at time the characters border on bizarre in appearance. Even the action seems choppy and lifeless, which is the chief failure, given how much of the issue relies on it. There were probably time constraints that went into this book, but even then, that isn't an acceptable excuse.
I can't fault anyone for liking this issue, but unless I see some kind of fallout from what is essentially a terrorist attack on the President, or a reflective Phobos in later issues, I can only label this issue a loss. What should have been a fantastic companion piece to the Secret Warriors main series is only a trailer piece for the upcoming Last Ride of the Howling Commandos arc.
D-
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
In The Defense of Loeb and the Millar Ascension
A year ago, Jeph Loeb was one of the most criticized men in comics. After turning out such gems like "Ultimatum" and "Red Hulk sucker punches The Watcher," more than a few people were calling for his retirement, declaring him the worst writer in the genre and dumbfounded at how he continued to sell books and work with such prized talent. But now with Kick-Ass receiving so much media praise and Loeb's decent work on New Ultimates and Ultimate X, he has been able to escape back into the reader's unconscious as the spotlight shines on Mark Millar.
It is no surprise that Millar sells comics. Free for the most part write anything he wants and partnered with any number of superstar artists, Millar continues to crank out hit after hit. And you can't blame him, he has quite a knack for turning off the wall ideas into fun and entertaining things for both pencillers to draw, and fans to look at. On a Millar book, an artist has no time schedule, able to take as much as required to complete the project, which is perfect because they are truly the engines of Millar's success, making his comics much more of a visual experience than an actual blend of image and words.
For example, let's break down today's (04/21/2010) issue of Ultimate Comics Avengers #6. In a comic with 24 story pages, 3 of them are single spread pages with no extra panels on them and 2 pages are a double page spread with a singular extra panel. Of the 24 pages, 5 of them have less than 4 bubbles of dialogue and throughout the issue and all the sound effects that have made books like Incredible Hercules shine, have been replaced by the victimized character vocalizing their pain. Combined with a majority of the pages having three panels and toss in one pop culture reference that will eventually become an anachronism, and you have a rather typical Mark Millar script.
That isn't to say the issue isn't enjoyable however. It is certainly the Avengers story that Millar promised us, though months late, and failing to live up to "Event Book of the Marvel U" tag line, Ultimate Comics Avengers delivers Captain America badassery, Nick Fury espionage and everything you'd expect from a "Nerd Hulk."
What will be interesting is where Millar goes from here. Having walked a similar path to Loeb, they have both contributed a number of fantastic standalone stories that will be remembered for both companies of the Big Two. Unlike Loeb, who seems to be more interested in adding something important to the legacy of a character or franchise as he continues to work with the Hulk alongside Greg Pak, Millar appears to be ready to strike out on his own. Rumor has it that he has almost completed his agreed upon 18 issues of "Ultimate Events" for Marvel, and with his exclusivity contract almost up, a majority of people are expecting him to go entirely independent. I anticipate however that Mark will probably remain with Marvel but only putting out books through their Icon line. Where Jeph Loeb offers artists the chance to draw whatever characters they want, with the success of Kick-Ass, Millar can now offer them something better, the chance to make a boatload of cash. I don't know how contracts with Marvel work, but I highly doubt that Millar is going to bail on the chance to mine talent like John Romita Jr., Steve McNiven and Leinil Yu for his future works.
It is no surprise that Millar sells comics. Free for the most part write anything he wants and partnered with any number of superstar artists, Millar continues to crank out hit after hit. And you can't blame him, he has quite a knack for turning off the wall ideas into fun and entertaining things for both pencillers to draw, and fans to look at. On a Millar book, an artist has no time schedule, able to take as much as required to complete the project, which is perfect because they are truly the engines of Millar's success, making his comics much more of a visual experience than an actual blend of image and words.
For example, let's break down today's (04/21/2010) issue of Ultimate Comics Avengers #6. In a comic with 24 story pages, 3 of them are single spread pages with no extra panels on them and 2 pages are a double page spread with a singular extra panel. Of the 24 pages, 5 of them have less than 4 bubbles of dialogue and throughout the issue and all the sound effects that have made books like Incredible Hercules shine, have been replaced by the victimized character vocalizing their pain. Combined with a majority of the pages having three panels and toss in one pop culture reference that will eventually become an anachronism, and you have a rather typical Mark Millar script.
That isn't to say the issue isn't enjoyable however. It is certainly the Avengers story that Millar promised us, though months late, and failing to live up to "Event Book of the Marvel U" tag line, Ultimate Comics Avengers delivers Captain America badassery, Nick Fury espionage and everything you'd expect from a "Nerd Hulk."
What will be interesting is where Millar goes from here. Having walked a similar path to Loeb, they have both contributed a number of fantastic standalone stories that will be remembered for both companies of the Big Two. Unlike Loeb, who seems to be more interested in adding something important to the legacy of a character or franchise as he continues to work with the Hulk alongside Greg Pak, Millar appears to be ready to strike out on his own. Rumor has it that he has almost completed his agreed upon 18 issues of "Ultimate Events" for Marvel, and with his exclusivity contract almost up, a majority of people are expecting him to go entirely independent. I anticipate however that Mark will probably remain with Marvel but only putting out books through their Icon line. Where Jeph Loeb offers artists the chance to draw whatever characters they want, with the success of Kick-Ass, Millar can now offer them something better, the chance to make a boatload of cash. I don't know how contracts with Marvel work, but I highly doubt that Millar is going to bail on the chance to mine talent like John Romita Jr., Steve McNiven and Leinil Yu for his future works.
Some Bought, Some Sought, Some Thought (Reviews for 04/21/2010)
Green Lantern #53: Hot off the conclusion of Blackest Night, Green Lantern dives right into the Brightest Day with the beginning of the "New Guardians" arc that introduces the next big threat to the universe. With Green Lantern Corps and the Guy Gardner book on the way, it looks like Green Lantern is going to become the Light Spectrum ensemble book, as this particular issue continues to follow plot threads involving Larfleeze, Hal, Atrocitus and the rest of the Light brigade. Johns has hinted that this story will revolve around the emotional entities explored briefly in Blackest Night and begins to nurture those seeds by showing us where exactly Parallax was taken after Green Lantern #51. Mahnke continues to absolutely dominate with his pencils, immediately capturing the alien feel of our new hidden enemy, re-defining the grotesque Hector Hammond and of course giving us some fantastic action sequences, both with planes and with Lanterns. While his portrayal of Sayd's new situation may be the most difficult thing to cope with that Johns has presented us yet. Brightest Day is off to a fantastic start. A+
Siege - Spider-Man: Once a year I take a risk and buy a Brian Reed comic and once a year I am disappointed. While I can't fault the guy for being a fan, he has once again managed to get his hands on the character and proceeds to shoe-horn everything he has written recently into the issue, which means a supporting role for Ms. Marvel, making Venom the enemy of the book, and constant references to stories he has written for each, including his push for Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel to date. Toss in some internet one-liners and you have the makings of a fairly mediocre comic that does absolutely nothing to tie into Siege, and doesn't really touch on anything not related to "The Sinister Spider-Man. The real hero of the issue is Santucci who doesn't have a lot to work with, but certainly puts in the effort, doing a fair job of keeping up with the constant kinetics that Reed's script calls for. I didn't buy Siege: Captain America, so I'm not sure why I felt obligated to pick this up, I'm sort of unhappy I did. C
Hercules - Fall of an Avenger #2: Pak and FvL continue to put out one of Marvel's best books. Funny, full of wit and incredibly well written, Incredible Hercules has been one of the most under celebrated long runs in comics over the last few years. Continuing on with it large cast, Herc this week carries forward the transition of Amadeus Cho from nerd to Prince of Power while including some references and plots from other comics in a non-obtrusive manner, providing a highly entertaining read that although feels a bit shallow, is necessary to carry the story to the next step. Even Ariel Olivetti, with his usual computer-painted style, turns in a fairly solid issue, carrying the story quite well and keeping the goofy faces and animations to a minimum. If you have any interest in the character, I highly recommend starting at the beginning and following the journey of Amadeus and Hercules to what feels like a fairly natural conclusion. B+
Ultimate Comics Avengers #6: I've prepared a piece to discuss what I feel hypothesize is the next step in comics for Mark Millar, and this issue was very much the catalyst for that. Incredibly shallow plot wise, UC Avengers continues Mark's tradition of delivering some explosive summer action movie fun on one page, and then making you palm your face on the next. What was supposed to be the event book for the Ultimate Universe has been anything but that. Pachco of course does all of the heavy lifting in this issue and while his work is beautiful, it isn't anything impressive. I don't know why I'm surprised, but at 3.99 a pop, I expect a lot more than I've been getting. Hopefully volume 2 with Leinil Yu delivers. D
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #9: On the other hand, Bendis's Ultimate Spider-Man has been quite solid since the Ultimatum re-launch, but this issue really takes things to the next level, primarily with the help of David Lafuente. I have to admit, I was amongst those who were absolutely scathing in my critique of Lafuente's art early on, but the tweaks to his style make things more streamline, slim and less round and it flows incredibly. One of Bendis's strongest scripts in awhile, combined with some imaginative layouts and panels make this one of the best books of the week. A+
X-Men Legacy #235: One of the primary reasons I hopped off the Uncanny X-Men bandwagon was the absolutely horrible art from Greg Land. Land of course is a topic of constant controversy for various tracings, swaps and such that he has performed over the years, and turned me off from the book quite quickly, so you can imagine my horror as I picked up Chapter 4 of Second Coming this week and saw his name on the cover. Thankfully, everyone involved with the project so far has upped their game in a significant fashion, and even Greg has managed to control himself, pulling his art from "goddammit" to "serviceable." Mike Carey continues the great writing by the X-Staff, although constantly writing Rogue's accent wore on me after the first few pages. I'm sure that is normal for her, I just haven't read a comic with her in sometime. Plot wise, Second Coming has started to ramp up in a serious fashion with the X-Men of course having survived the initial onslaught and now get ready for their counter attack. There is still a long way to go, so while anything can happen, I'll wait patiently for Nightcrawler to eat it. B+
Amazing Spider-Man #628: Normally I would be thrilled for a week where I buy three Spidey comics, but this issue of ASM just doesn't do it for me. With Michael Lark and Chris Bachalo coming up to run out "The Gauntlet" and "The Grim Hunt," I know those guys needed some breathing room, but this "Something Can Stop The Juggernaut" story isn't it. Almost completely abandoning the dark and overwhelming feel of The Gauntlet stories that have come before, Stern taps into the older days of thought balloons and Spider-Man constantly webbing guys in the face for a not quite light-hearted, but neutral toned story. After two issues I'm still not certain why these dudes are feuding, and this issue felt like little more than an extended and drawn out chase scene for no reason other than filler. Luckily, Lee Weeks and Dean White put together an absolutely gorgeous book for us to look at, almost channeling JRjr at times and White reminds us of why he is one of the best. The extra story from Mark Waid was entertaining enough, but nothing really special or worthwhile unless you needed a reminder that Peter is unemployed, broke and webbing costs a lot of money. I'll sigh and grit my teeth here, but only because I've guaranteed to people that the upcoming Lizard story is going to be absolutely fantastic. C+
Guardians of the Galaxy #25: For two years now has been one of my favorite team books. DnA have put together one of the most fun groups of characters in Marvel's stable right now and while the story is often in flux due to the constant stream of cosmic events, it has never wavered in its quality. The lead in to the upcoming Thanos Imperative, this week's Guardians continues to explore the damage being done to the universal time line, as well as reuniting the team after the split of recent events and getting everything into place. Artistically the book has always been shaky, but Brad Walker does some solid work, although there are some inconsistencies that stood out fairly easily. It would be fantastic if DnA would lock down a singular art team though. My chief problem with this book however is that even after 25 issues, the book is so swamped down by events that it may be impossible to read this book on its own, something I hope will be corrected as Marvel Cosmic heads into the Heroic Age and all the cosmic books go on hold for The Thanos Imperative, a perfect time to iron everything out and let the Guardians start to flourish on their own as a standalone title. If you aren't reading this yet, wait a month and check out The Imperative, if you are, I think you may agree with everything I've said so far. B
Siege - Spider-Man: Once a year I take a risk and buy a Brian Reed comic and once a year I am disappointed. While I can't fault the guy for being a fan, he has once again managed to get his hands on the character and proceeds to shoe-horn everything he has written recently into the issue, which means a supporting role for Ms. Marvel, making Venom the enemy of the book, and constant references to stories he has written for each, including his push for Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel to date. Toss in some internet one-liners and you have the makings of a fairly mediocre comic that does absolutely nothing to tie into Siege, and doesn't really touch on anything not related to "The Sinister Spider-Man. The real hero of the issue is Santucci who doesn't have a lot to work with, but certainly puts in the effort, doing a fair job of keeping up with the constant kinetics that Reed's script calls for. I didn't buy Siege: Captain America, so I'm not sure why I felt obligated to pick this up, I'm sort of unhappy I did. C
Hercules - Fall of an Avenger #2: Pak and FvL continue to put out one of Marvel's best books. Funny, full of wit and incredibly well written, Incredible Hercules has been one of the most under celebrated long runs in comics over the last few years. Continuing on with it large cast, Herc this week carries forward the transition of Amadeus Cho from nerd to Prince of Power while including some references and plots from other comics in a non-obtrusive manner, providing a highly entertaining read that although feels a bit shallow, is necessary to carry the story to the next step. Even Ariel Olivetti, with his usual computer-painted style, turns in a fairly solid issue, carrying the story quite well and keeping the goofy faces and animations to a minimum. If you have any interest in the character, I highly recommend starting at the beginning and following the journey of Amadeus and Hercules to what feels like a fairly natural conclusion. B+
Ultimate Comics Avengers #6: I've prepared a piece to discuss what I feel hypothesize is the next step in comics for Mark Millar, and this issue was very much the catalyst for that. Incredibly shallow plot wise, UC Avengers continues Mark's tradition of delivering some explosive summer action movie fun on one page, and then making you palm your face on the next. What was supposed to be the event book for the Ultimate Universe has been anything but that. Pachco of course does all of the heavy lifting in this issue and while his work is beautiful, it isn't anything impressive. I don't know why I'm surprised, but at 3.99 a pop, I expect a lot more than I've been getting. Hopefully volume 2 with Leinil Yu delivers. D
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #9: On the other hand, Bendis's Ultimate Spider-Man has been quite solid since the Ultimatum re-launch, but this issue really takes things to the next level, primarily with the help of David Lafuente. I have to admit, I was amongst those who were absolutely scathing in my critique of Lafuente's art early on, but the tweaks to his style make things more streamline, slim and less round and it flows incredibly. One of Bendis's strongest scripts in awhile, combined with some imaginative layouts and panels make this one of the best books of the week. A+
X-Men Legacy #235: One of the primary reasons I hopped off the Uncanny X-Men bandwagon was the absolutely horrible art from Greg Land. Land of course is a topic of constant controversy for various tracings, swaps and such that he has performed over the years, and turned me off from the book quite quickly, so you can imagine my horror as I picked up Chapter 4 of Second Coming this week and saw his name on the cover. Thankfully, everyone involved with the project so far has upped their game in a significant fashion, and even Greg has managed to control himself, pulling his art from "goddammit" to "serviceable." Mike Carey continues the great writing by the X-Staff, although constantly writing Rogue's accent wore on me after the first few pages. I'm sure that is normal for her, I just haven't read a comic with her in sometime. Plot wise, Second Coming has started to ramp up in a serious fashion with the X-Men of course having survived the initial onslaught and now get ready for their counter attack. There is still a long way to go, so while anything can happen, I'll wait patiently for Nightcrawler to eat it. B+
Amazing Spider-Man #628: Normally I would be thrilled for a week where I buy three Spidey comics, but this issue of ASM just doesn't do it for me. With Michael Lark and Chris Bachalo coming up to run out "The Gauntlet" and "The Grim Hunt," I know those guys needed some breathing room, but this "Something Can Stop The Juggernaut" story isn't it. Almost completely abandoning the dark and overwhelming feel of The Gauntlet stories that have come before, Stern taps into the older days of thought balloons and Spider-Man constantly webbing guys in the face for a not quite light-hearted, but neutral toned story. After two issues I'm still not certain why these dudes are feuding, and this issue felt like little more than an extended and drawn out chase scene for no reason other than filler. Luckily, Lee Weeks and Dean White put together an absolutely gorgeous book for us to look at, almost channeling JRjr at times and White reminds us of why he is one of the best. The extra story from Mark Waid was entertaining enough, but nothing really special or worthwhile unless you needed a reminder that Peter is unemployed, broke and webbing costs a lot of money. I'll sigh and grit my teeth here, but only because I've guaranteed to people that the upcoming Lizard story is going to be absolutely fantastic. C+
Guardians of the Galaxy #25: For two years now has been one of my favorite team books. DnA have put together one of the most fun groups of characters in Marvel's stable right now and while the story is often in flux due to the constant stream of cosmic events, it has never wavered in its quality. The lead in to the upcoming Thanos Imperative, this week's Guardians continues to explore the damage being done to the universal time line, as well as reuniting the team after the split of recent events and getting everything into place. Artistically the book has always been shaky, but Brad Walker does some solid work, although there are some inconsistencies that stood out fairly easily. It would be fantastic if DnA would lock down a singular art team though. My chief problem with this book however is that even after 25 issues, the book is so swamped down by events that it may be impossible to read this book on its own, something I hope will be corrected as Marvel Cosmic heads into the Heroic Age and all the cosmic books go on hold for The Thanos Imperative, a perfect time to iron everything out and let the Guardians start to flourish on their own as a standalone title. If you aren't reading this yet, wait a month and check out The Imperative, if you are, I think you may agree with everything I've said so far. B
Front of the Book, Back of the Line
Eisner time is here and everyone has their own opinions on who should or should not have been nominated in each particular category. The talent in comics is certainly diverse and while the Eisners do have a history of favorites and long time streaks, the most interesting contest this year in my opinion is for Best Cover Artist.
With James Jean stepping down from Fables, his six year lock on the award has come to a close and the pool of nominees has never run deeper. With the vacuum caused by Jean's absence, the field has opened up considerably with nominees coming from almost every publisher and genre. While Salvador Larocca continued his tenure as the artist for Iron Man, JHW3 took superhero comics to yet another level with his work on Detective Comics. Sean Phillips continued to produce outstanding painted work for Incognito and Criminal with Ed Brubaker and handling cover duties for some of the 28 Days Later issues. Meanwhile the ever powerful Alex Ross and John Cassady likewise went outside of the Big 2, producing quality covers for budding publishers Boom and Dynamite. But while these five are some of the most talented men doing covers in the industry, I can't help but feel like the biggest snub for a nomination this year was Marvel artist Marko Djurdjevic.
Chances are high that if you purchased a Marvel comic last year, Marko either did the cover or a variant cover for the issue. Looking at the numbers, Djurdjevic did roughly fifty different covers for Marvel in 2009, including a stint on Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark's celebrated Daredevil run, the wrap-around covers for both Daredevil #500 and Thor #600, and a collection of variant covers for Marvel's 75th anniversary. A number of his covers were also recycled to serve as covers for various trades and collections put together and released throughout the year.
While not a medium changer like JHW3 and lacking some of the ability to generate a truly iconic cover like Cassady, Marko brings a flexibility and talent to his covers that sometimes outshine even the interior artists within. Working on over fifteen different books across the year, Djurdjevic brought his paints and skill to team books like Mighty Avengers, to Asgardian Space Horse Beta Ray Bill, to even the Amazing Spider-Man, providing the first three covers for the well received "The Gauntlet" storyline that is still on-going.
With covers ranging from simple to packed full of life, (anywhere from 2 to 30 characters on them at any one time) Marko remains the most prolific and consistent cover artist in the business. With his mastery of color and ability to convey both action and emotion, it is no surprise that he has quickly become Marvel's go to artist for their big name projects, already providing all five covers for the collection of Siege One-Shots that are filling the Siege skip month, a gorgeous wrap around cover for Marvel's high profile Secret Avengers, and an absolutely stunning collection of 6 interlocking variant covers that will cover the Avengers family of books in the coming months.
Having been left out of the nominations this year, I am confident that it is only a matter of time until the awards spotlight begins to shine on his work in a serious fashion.
With James Jean stepping down from Fables, his six year lock on the award has come to a close and the pool of nominees has never run deeper. With the vacuum caused by Jean's absence, the field has opened up considerably with nominees coming from almost every publisher and genre. While Salvador Larocca continued his tenure as the artist for Iron Man, JHW3 took superhero comics to yet another level with his work on Detective Comics. Sean Phillips continued to produce outstanding painted work for Incognito and Criminal with Ed Brubaker and handling cover duties for some of the 28 Days Later issues. Meanwhile the ever powerful Alex Ross and John Cassady likewise went outside of the Big 2, producing quality covers for budding publishers Boom and Dynamite. But while these five are some of the most talented men doing covers in the industry, I can't help but feel like the biggest snub for a nomination this year was Marvel artist Marko Djurdjevic.
Chances are high that if you purchased a Marvel comic last year, Marko either did the cover or a variant cover for the issue. Looking at the numbers, Djurdjevic did roughly fifty different covers for Marvel in 2009, including a stint on Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark's celebrated Daredevil run, the wrap-around covers for both Daredevil #500 and Thor #600, and a collection of variant covers for Marvel's 75th anniversary. A number of his covers were also recycled to serve as covers for various trades and collections put together and released throughout the year.
While not a medium changer like JHW3 and lacking some of the ability to generate a truly iconic cover like Cassady, Marko brings a flexibility and talent to his covers that sometimes outshine even the interior artists within. Working on over fifteen different books across the year, Djurdjevic brought his paints and skill to team books like Mighty Avengers, to Asgardian Space Horse Beta Ray Bill, to even the Amazing Spider-Man, providing the first three covers for the well received "The Gauntlet" storyline that is still on-going.
With covers ranging from simple to packed full of life, (anywhere from 2 to 30 characters on them at any one time) Marko remains the most prolific and consistent cover artist in the business. With his mastery of color and ability to convey both action and emotion, it is no surprise that he has quickly become Marvel's go to artist for their big name projects, already providing all five covers for the collection of Siege One-Shots that are filling the Siege skip month, a gorgeous wrap around cover for Marvel's high profile Secret Avengers, and an absolutely stunning collection of 6 interlocking variant covers that will cover the Avengers family of books in the coming months.
Having been left out of the nominations this year, I am confident that it is only a matter of time until the awards spotlight begins to shine on his work in a serious fashion.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
If I get a letter from Barry Allen, is that a Flash Fax?
PunisherMAX #6: Jason Aaron makes Garth Ennis look like Walt Disney. A+++
New Mutants #12: Second Coming Chapter 3, the weakest chapter so far, but also the most action packed. Zeb Wells has a harder task than Matt Fraction did last week, as his bit here is to choreograph two major fights and plant some seeds for the Hellbound mini series. Wells is a talented writer and hits all the beats, but from a reviewers note, this issue just doesn't have a lot of meat. We're still building some tension, but Second Coming needs to pick up the pace significantly. B
Ultimate Enemy #3: Ultimate Enemy is going to be hard to judge until we get all 3 pieces of the trilogy. Typical Bendis fare, but it is hard to guess at what comes next when we are getting absolutely no clues. Luckily Sandoval is rocking the art, plenty of great characters to work with and tons of action, he is certainly upping his game to the task. But as a fan, how are we suppose to chat and hypothesize for a month about a villain that literally says nothing? Good dialogue but poor pacing, only the standard Ultimate Spider-Man excellence is keeping me buying this. C+
The Flash #1: Regardless of your feelings about Geoff Johns, it feels fantastic to be buying The Flash again, especially with the absolutely gorgeous art of Fran Man and he just wrecks it. Tons of fabulous splashes, and fantastic panels, the WANTED layout was especially great. I could probably rant for awhile on that. Everything else is what you'd expect from Johns as he returns to the city that made him famous. Plenty of seeds being dropped from the upcoming Flashpoint story, I'm just glad the Speeders and back. A+
Siege: Loki: Kieron Gillen should have just become the new ongoing writer for Thor. The dude has such a grasp on the dialogue, the characters, the mythology, everything that JMS used to bring writers into the world of Asgard, KG continues to utilize the further extrapolate on the Siege story. Writing from Loki's perspective we get a glimpse at some of the motives into the God of Mischief and can begin to understand the real reasons behind the Siege of Asgard, as well as visiting some of the scenes from Siege: The Cabal and last weeks New Mutants tie-in. Joining KG on art is the always splendid Jamie McKelvie who continues to turn fantastic work. For those uninitiated to Phonogram, I would probably compare McKelvie's art to Steve Dillion, before Garth Ennis perverted those pencils into tools of violence. A
Deadpool Team-Up #894: Deadpool Team-Up has been hit and miss, with FVL turning out a pretty great Herc/Deadpool issue but the rest have been just alright. However Ivan Brandon drops in to give us a fun tale of Deadpool on a mission of revenge against Frank Castle, who is now Frankencastle. Brandon does a fantastic job with both characters, keeping the plot and dialogue 100% loyal to what Rick Remender has going on in the Punisher main book. Joined by Sanford Greene who turns in some excellent work that really jives with the book, this is probably my throw-ass, read in the bathroom issue of the week. If you like either one of these characters, check it out. B+
Siege: Young Avengers: I won't deny right off that this a filler issue, it is here to keep the Young Avengers fresh in people's minds and get them some exposure and I'm happy for it. We've been waiting forever for Heinberg and Cheung to come back to these kids and it really can't be soon enough. McKeever and Asrar do a splendid job of giving us a tale about what it is like to be a posse of kids just trying to do the right thing during an Adults' War. The writing of the Young Avengers is spot on and once Heinburg moves on, I really hope they maybe let McKeever take the team out for a joyride. The pencils are solid here, nothing fancy or out of the ordinary, just a strong, touching story. B+
New Mutants #12: Second Coming Chapter 3, the weakest chapter so far, but also the most action packed. Zeb Wells has a harder task than Matt Fraction did last week, as his bit here is to choreograph two major fights and plant some seeds for the Hellbound mini series. Wells is a talented writer and hits all the beats, but from a reviewers note, this issue just doesn't have a lot of meat. We're still building some tension, but Second Coming needs to pick up the pace significantly. B
Ultimate Enemy #3: Ultimate Enemy is going to be hard to judge until we get all 3 pieces of the trilogy. Typical Bendis fare, but it is hard to guess at what comes next when we are getting absolutely no clues. Luckily Sandoval is rocking the art, plenty of great characters to work with and tons of action, he is certainly upping his game to the task. But as a fan, how are we suppose to chat and hypothesize for a month about a villain that literally says nothing? Good dialogue but poor pacing, only the standard Ultimate Spider-Man excellence is keeping me buying this. C+
The Flash #1: Regardless of your feelings about Geoff Johns, it feels fantastic to be buying The Flash again, especially with the absolutely gorgeous art of Fran Man and he just wrecks it. Tons of fabulous splashes, and fantastic panels, the WANTED layout was especially great. I could probably rant for awhile on that. Everything else is what you'd expect from Johns as he returns to the city that made him famous. Plenty of seeds being dropped from the upcoming Flashpoint story, I'm just glad the Speeders and back. A+
Siege: Loki: Kieron Gillen should have just become the new ongoing writer for Thor. The dude has such a grasp on the dialogue, the characters, the mythology, everything that JMS used to bring writers into the world of Asgard, KG continues to utilize the further extrapolate on the Siege story. Writing from Loki's perspective we get a glimpse at some of the motives into the God of Mischief and can begin to understand the real reasons behind the Siege of Asgard, as well as visiting some of the scenes from Siege: The Cabal and last weeks New Mutants tie-in. Joining KG on art is the always splendid Jamie McKelvie who continues to turn fantastic work. For those uninitiated to Phonogram, I would probably compare McKelvie's art to Steve Dillion, before Garth Ennis perverted those pencils into tools of violence. A
Deadpool Team-Up #894: Deadpool Team-Up has been hit and miss, with FVL turning out a pretty great Herc/Deadpool issue but the rest have been just alright. However Ivan Brandon drops in to give us a fun tale of Deadpool on a mission of revenge against Frank Castle, who is now Frankencastle. Brandon does a fantastic job with both characters, keeping the plot and dialogue 100% loyal to what Rick Remender has going on in the Punisher main book. Joined by Sanford Greene who turns in some excellent work that really jives with the book, this is probably my throw-ass, read in the bathroom issue of the week. If you like either one of these characters, check it out. B+
Siege: Young Avengers: I won't deny right off that this a filler issue, it is here to keep the Young Avengers fresh in people's minds and get them some exposure and I'm happy for it. We've been waiting forever for Heinberg and Cheung to come back to these kids and it really can't be soon enough. McKeever and Asrar do a splendid job of giving us a tale about what it is like to be a posse of kids just trying to do the right thing during an Adults' War. The writing of the Young Avengers is spot on and once Heinburg moves on, I really hope they maybe let McKeever take the team out for a joyride. The pencils are solid here, nothing fancy or out of the ordinary, just a strong, touching story. B+
The Return of Bad Taste Begins Here!
Cable & Deadpool #25: Duane Swierczynski is probably the most under appreciated and underrated guys in the Marvel X-Stable. He stepped into comics as a rookie with probably the hardest job of all: shepherding and maturing the most important character in the X-franchise. For two years now he has had to entertain and keep readers interested in Hope's story with a stable cast of three people and at long last he has been relieved of his burden. A finale issue, D-Swyz brings in the ever popular Deadpool (who I think he writes fantastically) to tell a Michael Bay-esque prologue/epilogue to the two year old Messiah Complex story. Although a bit thin on actual plot, Paco Medina (who is quickly becoming my favorite Deadpool artist) and plenty of action keep the issue going in a highly entertaining way. Although it is a story not too many people care about at this point, it feels like a reward issue for all D-Swyz's hard work, and he makes it rewarding for the reader. A-, you'll already know if you're buying this or not.
Weapon X #12: In one issue, Jason Aaron beats Old Man Logan to death and moves on to tell an awesome dystopic future story. After an excellent part 1 that included Logan and Steve Rogers on a bar crawl, this issue keeps the action going in a serious way, utilizing plenty of flashbacks in an almost Lostish fashion to move the story forward while still fleshing out the characters. Aaron's mastery of Wolverine at this point is unparalleled, allowing him to maximize Wolverine's involvement in the story even while the focus is on other characters. Garney's pencils are solid, although the art does get a bit muddy at times. At 3.99 an issue, if you aren't buying this in floppies already, seriously consider the trade. B+
Uncanny X-Men #523: Second Coming is the most X-fun I've had since Age of Apocalypse. It is only two issues in, but it is great to see things moving quickly, with plenty of great moments across a lot of characters. As someone who was critical of Fraction's earlier Uncanny work, he is fantastic on this script, which may stem from everything being more streamlined and his gaze more limited. The Dodsons continue to turn in fantastic work as always, and the colors really pop and help ease the eye pain of Finch's art from Second Coming. Things are starting to come together in a serious way, and while it is still early out the gate, once we go through the full rotation of X-writers, we should know the final quality of this cross over. B+
Invincible Returns #1: I absolutely adore this book. Spider-Man with Superman's powers, this issue is an obvious jumping on point for the upcoming Viltrumite War and does a great job of helping you review and learn the cast while feeling fresh to the long time reader. Ottley and Walker continue to turn in solid work and while I enjoyed the issue, I'm really ready for the War to get going. If you're interested in trying Invincible, check this out. If you're already a fan, I'd give it a B-
Red Robin #11: I'm love Tim Drake so I buy this book purely out of loyalty and while it is fun, it certainly isn't anything but a good time. Yost is turning in serviceable scripts and the stakes are "high" but nothing feels like a genuine threat or anything that will contribute to the overall Return of Bruce Wayne mythology. Niczea takes over soon, so hopefully he'll get us back on track. Marcus To is the best thing that has happened to this book, he keeps Tim looking young and slim, just the way he should. C
SHIELD #1: The boner jam of the week, no one rocks it harder for Hickman than I do and I was not disappointed. Setting up some neat stuff here and giving a quick taste of all the wild stuff he has cooked up was great, combined with Weaver's stellar art and decent coloring to produce a top notch book. This is going to read fantastically in trade, it is just too bad the trade won't be out until 2011. A
Spider-Man Fever #1: I'm sure I'll take some shit for this, but the book just didn't do it for me. I wanted to dig the Dikto-acid kung-fu hands Doctor Strange, but the dialogue was just shoddy, complete with cliche black dude who has to be a criminal. I understand there is a certain amount of Silver Ageness to this and that the "story is just a vessel for the art" but I think I'll pass on the next two. Take a look at the preview and decide for yourself
Weapon X #12: In one issue, Jason Aaron beats Old Man Logan to death and moves on to tell an awesome dystopic future story. After an excellent part 1 that included Logan and Steve Rogers on a bar crawl, this issue keeps the action going in a serious way, utilizing plenty of flashbacks in an almost Lostish fashion to move the story forward while still fleshing out the characters. Aaron's mastery of Wolverine at this point is unparalleled, allowing him to maximize Wolverine's involvement in the story even while the focus is on other characters. Garney's pencils are solid, although the art does get a bit muddy at times. At 3.99 an issue, if you aren't buying this in floppies already, seriously consider the trade. B+
Uncanny X-Men #523: Second Coming is the most X-fun I've had since Age of Apocalypse. It is only two issues in, but it is great to see things moving quickly, with plenty of great moments across a lot of characters. As someone who was critical of Fraction's earlier Uncanny work, he is fantastic on this script, which may stem from everything being more streamlined and his gaze more limited. The Dodsons continue to turn in fantastic work as always, and the colors really pop and help ease the eye pain of Finch's art from Second Coming. Things are starting to come together in a serious way, and while it is still early out the gate, once we go through the full rotation of X-writers, we should know the final quality of this cross over. B+
Invincible Returns #1: I absolutely adore this book. Spider-Man with Superman's powers, this issue is an obvious jumping on point for the upcoming Viltrumite War and does a great job of helping you review and learn the cast while feeling fresh to the long time reader. Ottley and Walker continue to turn in solid work and while I enjoyed the issue, I'm really ready for the War to get going. If you're interested in trying Invincible, check this out. If you're already a fan, I'd give it a B-
Red Robin #11: I'm love Tim Drake so I buy this book purely out of loyalty and while it is fun, it certainly isn't anything but a good time. Yost is turning in serviceable scripts and the stakes are "high" but nothing feels like a genuine threat or anything that will contribute to the overall Return of Bruce Wayne mythology. Niczea takes over soon, so hopefully he'll get us back on track. Marcus To is the best thing that has happened to this book, he keeps Tim looking young and slim, just the way he should. C
SHIELD #1: The boner jam of the week, no one rocks it harder for Hickman than I do and I was not disappointed. Setting up some neat stuff here and giving a quick taste of all the wild stuff he has cooked up was great, combined with Weaver's stellar art and decent coloring to produce a top notch book. This is going to read fantastically in trade, it is just too bad the trade won't be out until 2011. A
Spider-Man Fever #1: I'm sure I'll take some shit for this, but the book just didn't do it for me. I wanted to dig the Dikto-acid kung-fu hands Doctor Strange, but the dialogue was just shoddy, complete with cliche black dude who has to be a criminal. I understand there is a certain amount of Silver Ageness to this and that the "story is just a vessel for the art" but I think I'll pass on the next two. Take a look at the preview and decide for yourself
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