Batman and Robin #13: When Batman and Robin first launched a year ago, there was a lot of talk about how the old Adam West show and the bizarreness of the 70s would be felt in this book. Arcs would be shorter, deeper, and interconnected on a huge scale and now 13 months removed from that, it is definitely fair to say they've succeeded. The new arc "Batman and Robin Must Die!" is the closing arc to Batman and Robin Year One and if you consider the Blackest Night month off to be a mid-season hiatus, BaRMD is definitely the beginning of a season finale. Morrison lays all the cards out on the table, explaining the truth behind "Sexton"'s role over the last year, the mystery of the Domino Killer and how The Joker has been affected by Bruce Wayne's absence. G-Mo also turns the dial up to 11 and all the various threads and scheme enter the next phase as we finally see the return of Professor Pyg, his Dollotrons and the Viral Addiction of the first arc, on top of inching closer to finally revealing what Simon Hurt's master plan truly is. Frazer Irving handles the art for this arc, and while I wasn't too keen on it for Return of Bruce Wayne #2, it is much better here. Irving's Joker is especially great, a splendid blend of pathetic and frail, creepy and menacing and will no doubt be featured more in what lies ahead. I love this book more and more each time it comes out. A
X-Force #28: With only a week to go in Second Coming, I am absolutely bored and unimpressed. The storytelling has been decent but the story itself just stopped being interesting around the time of Nightcrawler's funeral. As you've certainly guessed, the good guys have won by this point, the sacrifice has been immense and what causes Hope's powers to manifest is something that we all predicted months and months and months ago. An explanation is pending, but there is only so much that can be left to the imagination when Mike Choi draws the ever familiar Phoenix Force around her, but what a Phoenix Force he draws. The Choi/Oback team remains one of the best in comics, just absolutely gorgeous, gorgeous work. I've reviewed this story every step of the way, and quite frankly I'm glad the ride is just about over. C+
Brightest Day #5: Johns and Tomasi have finally gotten the idea that it is OK to not feature everyone in every issue. The hurdle they now need to overcome is trimming the fat on useless plot points. The week's development for Hawkman and woman and Aquaman and Mera was great, but the pages of Aliveman in the graveyard trying to do various resurrections just felt excessive. My chief problem is that each week continues to feel like the characters are simply moving from plot point to plot point and their personalities fall by the wayside unless serve the greater narrative. The art is great, everyone on board is doing excellent work, however I wish Brightest Day had someone on staff to serve in the Giffen capacity, providing layouts that would help these guys maximize their layouts and storytelling a bit. Ultimately the series continues to be just alright, I really want to see something fresh, not Aquaman handling the BP Oil spill. One more issue and I'm off if things don't pick up. C+
Amazing Spider-Man #636: The Grim Hunt has been one of the darkest and most intense Spider-Man stories maybe ever and this week provides a brief respite for everything. A brilliant issue that actually features very little Spider-Man, Joe Kelly re-focuses the spotlight on the Kraven family and the fallout of their patriarch's resurrection for them and the world at large. While there were no surprises how everything played out, it has been great to see someone exploring the JMS totemology a bit more and do some interesting things with it. Next week's finale is super-sized which will no doubt more than make up for this slow but solid issue. I'm praying for some of the Spider-Spikes myself. B+
Scarlet #1: I honestly don't know what to make of this comic. Like S.H.I.E.L.D. I feel like I know it will be good in the long run and there is a powerful undercurrent of quality to the book but nothing in this initial issue grabbed me and screamed in my face. The premise can definitely go some places, but Scarlet feels like another Bendis woman, disillusioned, disenchanted and plain bitter with the world and her dialogue feels a lot like Jessica Drew's from the Bendis/Maleev Spider-Woman joint. Talking at your reader is cool, breaking the fourth wall is cool, but it isn't like it hasn't been done before, maybe I just expected something other than what I got, I honestly don't know. Maleev kills in this book though. Alex was an acquired taste for me originally and so his new style has taken some getting use to, especially with his reliance on a model, but I'm totally down with it. I enjoyed this comic in a loyalty to Bendis way but it feels like a weak effort after how good his last few issues of Avengers and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man have been. I think I'm going to litmus test it tomorrow on a friend from out of town, and will maybe come back to it in a bit. If you like Bendis or Maleev, at least check it out. B-
Young Avengers: The Children's Crusade #1: April 2008. That is how long I have been waiting for another issue of Heinberg/Cheung Young Avengers and I know there have been people waiting longer than me and thankfully, this comic does not miss a beat, at all. After sitting on the back burner for almost 4 years now, Heinberg and Cheung return to continue the development of Patriot, Hawkeye, Hulkling, Wiccan, Vision, Stature and Speed and resolve the mystery of what happened to the Scarlet Witch. Although it is a bit slow to start, this is still an absolutely fantastic issue: Allan continues to write the kids faithfully, handles the grown Avengers wonderfully and although this script was obviously written ages ago, remains entirely appropriate even for the current Marvel setting. Even better news is that this is finally the return of Jim Cheung to comic book interiors. The guy has literally been sitting around waiting for this for months and hasn't had a serious project since Brian Bendis tapped him for New Avengers: Illuminati back in like 2007. He's been doing cover art for Secret Avengers since then but it just hasn't been the same. With Children's Crusade, Cheung is back in action and it is quite easy to see why he was tapped to be one of Marvel's Young Guns Artists a few years back. The guy draws fantastic faces that teem with emotion, great action scenes and I love how humanly alien the he draws Hulkling. These guys are truly superior storytellers and Children's Crusade is really going to be a special project once it finishes.... in a year and a half. A+
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