Prince of Power #1: The Incredible Hercules saga continues as this Amadeus Cho focused mini launches for the Heroic Age and for all intensive purposes, is another spectacular issue of the long running story. Pak and Van Lente are a well oiled machine at this point: the standard comedic catch up page and then launching right into the story. The team earns my consistent praise week after week with the fresh styles of narration, excellent control of voice, effective collaboration with other Marvel storylines and of course, keeping the narrative moving and the reader guessing. One of the few gripes I have with the series is that the art team is changing constantly. I don't know if that is because the team writes so far ahead, but until now, I don't think an art team has yet to do more than one arc at a time. Reilly Brown steps back into the world of Herc to pencil this issue and with it having been awhile since I'd encountered his work, I was impressed. Brown has fantastic control of the page, capable of packing it with panels without losing clarity while also able to place a spread that conveys the needed material perfectly. His characters also look fabulous, both human and myth alike. The cliffhanger feels a bit inconsistent, but I'm sure things will pan out in the next issue. A
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #10: As I may have mentioned during the last review for this series, I am finally a believer in Lafuente. Without sacrificing the original appeal of his art, he has tweaked his style to get a better handle on how round everything felt previously, giving it a sharper image while still maintaining it's flair. Bendis pens yet another solid issue and continues to embrace the status quo changes brought about by Ultimatum. Given how opposite everything is in the Ultimate World in terms of tone and plot, Bendis's writing is doing a stellar job of really making those differences feel poignant and important and his grasp on all of these characters is top notch. What is disappointing is that his USM issues are much better written than the 616 comics where he is the primary architect of Marvel's world. USM is consistently good and while seemingly not building towards any giant event or big moment, each issue can be savored and enjoyed as just another piece of the brilliant tapestry that has been Ultimate Spider-Man. B+
Web of Spider-Man #8: Van Lente week continues and I need to lead off by saying that it is a real shame this book wasn't advertised better. Web of Spider-Man has been a mishmash of Villain origins and Spider-Girl stories since they re-launched the title, but with this issue, FvL takes over telling fresh stories in Spidey's universe. Given that van Lente has already told some fantastic stories in Amazing, it is no surprise that the script here is equally good. A story about a brand new villain, van Lente uses the opportunity to take some light hearted jabs at the "event stories" of the past few years and goof on the concept of the Heroic Age a bit. The issue feels a bit longer but I attribute that to FvL's excellent use of Peter's supporting cast and even manages to work in Flash and his recent disability plotline without making it "inspirational" like it has been treated in the past. Joining Fred is Javier Rodriguez who is absolutely brilliant. I actually had to look him up, he is a colorist/artist whose art is very similar to Marcos Martin and Javier Pulido's and for being as far as I know, fairly knew to the Big Two, his work is top notch. Rodriguez does it all from big spreads to style swaps and while the story doesn't call for too much Spider-Man yet, his characters are evocative and his Peter Parker, perfectly goofy. 3.99 also nets you a Ben Reilly back up story, which is alright, the type of story you can expect when the Spider-Clone is the focus, but I would be thrilled if they cut that and let this book run free at 2.99. If you're looking for the more traditional and light hearted Spidey stories, this is your place. B+
Batman #699: Pssst, hey. Hey guys, it's me! It's me, Bruce! Dick needed the night off, so I told him I'd step in and solve this crime! Man, how the hell does he back flip so much? I think Tony forgot he was writing Bruce in this issue. At least March killed it. C+
Justice League International - Generation Lost #1: I had some qualms about picking this up as I currently have four JLI trades stacked up on my bookshelf ready to be pursued and was concerned I may need to get familiar with the story before I dove in here but that is not the case. Giffen and Winick make the story easily accessible for anyone who may pick up the issue, filling in the origin story of the JLI as well as why Max Lord is now considered one of the most dangerous men on the planet. There are still somethings that need to be clarified in the back story, specifically what has happened with Ice since her resurrection and experience during Blackest Night but everything proceeds along nicely and does a great job of fleshing out the scene that Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi put together in Brightest Day #0. Aaron Lopresti mans the pencils here and while the last time I encountered his art was Planet Hulk, his work here is solid, limited primarily to tights and flights with a healthy amount of realistic looking people. The method used to get the four characters who can remember Lord together is a bit contrived and the fallout of this issue certainly conflicts with the "one and done" nature that Winick was promoing for the series, but it is certainly interesting enough to warrant the purchase of the next issue. B+
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