| #28 | 11/18/09 | #8 |
REALM OF KINGS #1
Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning Artists: Leonardo Manco & Mahmud Asrar Colorist: Bruno Hang Publisher: Marvel Comics Reviewer: Matt Adler
Marvel has said that “Realm of Kings” isn’t exactly an event (like “War of Kings”, which preceded it), but more of a way of branding the new status quo for Marvel’s cosmic universe, similar to the way “Dark Reign” has become a brand for the regular MU status quo. With that in mind, you might expect that this one-shot would serve as an introduction to that status quo, and to some extent it does. But it also serves as a showcase and reintroduction for a personal favorite character of mine, Wendell Vaughn, AKA Quasar.For those who don’t know, Quasar started off as a minor character introduced in the ‘70s by Roy Thomas as an homage/revival of the 1950s Marvel Boy. Eventually he found his way into the hands of Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio, who made him the security chief of Project PEGASUS, an energy research think tank. Flash forward to the late ‘80s, and as Marvel was expanding its publishing line, Mark Gruenwald seized on the idea to give Quasar his own series. Why, you may ask? Well, since his introduction, Quasar’s powers had developed to the point where he was able to create solid constructs out of energy. And despite having worked for Marvel for all of his professional career, Gruenwald was an acknowledged DC fanatic, having grown up on their characters and stories, and saw Quasar as an opportunity to do Green Lantern his way.
But Quasar really became much more than a Green Lantern knock-off, and developed into a unique character in his own right. In a twist on Hal Jordan being chosen because of his extraordinary willpower, Quasar was able to wield his quantum bands because of his somewhat laidback and zen attitude towards life. Gruenwald used the character over the course of his 60 issue run to explore matters of life, death, religion, and philosophy. In short, Quasar was sort of the thinking man’s hero; not an egghead, but an everyman who we could travel alongside with, to experience the mysteries of the universe. But like so many characters of the ‘90s, his series came to an end, and he was largely forgotten until Marvel used him in the revival of its cosmic line in the Annihilation event. Unfortunately, there he was used a sacrificial lamb, to show how bad the villain was. Fans clamored for his return, and they finally got it a few months ago; Quasar returned in the pages of Nova, as a sort of “ghost” in energy form, but still able to aid his fellow heroes.
That’s where he is as this story starts off. The universe is facing a dire cosmic threat, since in the war between the Kree and Shi’ar, Black Bolt detonated a “Terrigen Bomb” that ripped open a giant hole in space-time. Quasar and his fellow heroes are conferring on what to do about it, and Quasar volunteers to explore “The Fault” as it is called, since in energy form, he is least likely to be hurt. There’s a nice echo of Gruenwald’s handling of the character, when Quasar, making light of the risks and the cosmic implications of everything that’s happened to him says, “I’ve died before. It was no big deal.” Quasar is a difficult character to get right, and a lot of times when he shows up, what’s appealing about him is missed, but it looks like Abnett and Lanning get it.
The issue is set up in two distinct parts; first, there is a framing sequence, taking place in the regular Marvel universe, drawn by Mahmud Asrar. Asrar is a relatively new talent, but he handles these pages well; he’s called on to draw not only Quasar, but Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy, and gets all of them right. There’s also a really nice panel of Quasar soaring off into space.
The transition from Asrar to veteran artist Leonardo Manco (who handles the sequences set in an alternate universe) is done well, and their styles aren’t so different as to make it jarring. Manco gets the opportunity to draw some pretty mind-boggling and horrifying-looking monstrosities, which has got to be fun. As you might guess, The Fault leads Quasar into this alternate universe, but it also apparently gives him a new costume and a body again. This may seem awfully convenient, but in story terms, it’s hinted that in crossing over to the other universe, he adopts the form of that universe’s Quasar, since the natives recognize him as such.
The most compelling aspect of this issue is that Abnett and Lanning introduce Lovecraftian-style cosmic horror to the Marvel Universe. Perhaps “reintroduce” is a better term, since elements of Lovecraft have been used before in the MU, most notably in the pages of Dr. Strange and the Avengers. And the main threat here, that of heroes being possessed and corrupted by horrific beings of immense power, falls in line with a previous Quasar storyline, where he was possessed through the Serpent Crown by the elder god Set. But the Lovecraft elements have never been this explicit before, so far as I know. Pretty much every page is filled with references to “dead stars”, “outer gods”, and “dark intelligences” inhabiting the universe, which is straight out of Lovecraft. And it’s a good fit; it gives Marvel’s cosmic heroes something new and scary to contend with as they defend our universe. This could open a lot of promising story avenues for Marvel’s cosmic line.
In most places, Matt Adler goes by the name his mother gave him, but occasionally uses the handle "CylverSaber", based on a character he created for the old DARK FORCES II: JEDI KNIGHT game (one hint of his overweening nerddom). He currently does IT and networking support for the government of Nassau County, NY, but his dream is to write for a living, and is in the process of figuring out how to get publishers to give his stuff a look. In the meantime, he passes the time by writing for AICN, CBR, and a few other places. He has also written for MARVEL SPOTLIGHT magazine.
THE AUTHORITY: THE LOST YEAR #3
Writer: Keith Giffen Artist: Darick Robertson Publisher: DC Wildstorm Reviewer: Optimous Douche
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a comic beaten up so badly and dragged through the review circuit mud that didn’t have the name Liefield emblazoned on the cover.Why the hate? Well for starters this is the continuation of a story that ended quite abruptly three years ago. As an unabashed AUTHORITY zealot I remember this dark time like it was yesterday. In October 2006 we were poised for AUTHORITY redemption with the great Grant Morrison ready to bleed his creative genius on The Bleed’s favorite protectors. After two glorious and almost silent issues establishing THE AUTHORITY up shit’s creek without a Carrier the series simply ended. Honestly we never even got to see the actual Authority in the first issue, merely a shot from “The Abyss” with the hazy outline of the Carrier underwater next to a submarine. Whether it was over commitment on Morrison’s part to the impending FINAL CRISIS or Wildstorm was simply too damn excited to decimate their universe in “Worlds’ End”, this AUTHORITY festered like a Straczynski project, with so much promise just no one to complete the job.
Well, someone has finally stepped up to finish what Morrison started, and if I’m the lone reviewer to be thankful for this fact then so be it. This is THE AUTHORITY in their entire ass kicking other worldly weirdness. Where some reviewers are lamenting the loss of Grant (I do feel their pain), let’s look at what’s on the table instead of what was and will never be again.
Giffen does a great job with this issue. Where Morrison would certainly continue to bend our minds in directions we can’t begin to imagine, Giffen humanizes the team. Are the characters a bit too talky, absolutely, but that’s Giffen’s strength. There would not be all of these t-shirts floating around these days emblazoned with “Booster Gold Fan Club” if it wasn’t for Giffen’s foundational work in the JUSTICE LEAGUE oh so many years ago. When it comes to team dynamics and finding a separate voice for each member, Giffen is truly at home. While certainly not the first writer to inject humor into dire circumstances, Giffen has always delivered “the funny” without it coming across as hokey or forced.
All right, enough preaching -- what exactly is happening on this trip into the world of the mundane and ordinary? Essentially the Carrier has crash landed in what is considered to be a “low-energy” universe. For all intents and purposes, this is “our world” circa 2006. The Iraq war is going full steam, the economy is on the brink of collapse and the only place super heroes exist are within comic books. If this isn’t our world then allow me to shed a small tear for the fact another parallel universe is mired in our feelings of collective helplessness. Issue 3 gives a tidy “this is the world” wrap-up on the very first page. While certainly not necessary for hardcore fans, this was absolutely needed for anyone that A) actually has a life and can’t remember a stalled comic plot from three years ago or B) did not have the foresight to pick up the reader that came out two weeks ago compiling the first two issues of the series. I usually come down pretty hard on heavy handed exposition, but special circumstances require special measures.
THE AUTHORITY takes on two passengers from the submarine that accidently bumped into the Carrier, hoping they can glean the true nature of this universe and ultimately uncover why the Carrier has simply stopped working. Essentially there is an energy siphon draining this universe of hopes and dreams, and it is delivered with a nice literary nod to the work of H.P. Lovecraft. But now that the book is in Giffen’s hands the true beauty no longer lies in the overarching concept of the book, but rather the singular moments and the characters that inhabit the title.
Whether the AUTHORITY is trapped in a different world or its own energy source no longer matters, Giffen is going to tear the team apart straight down their ideological fault line. Where most of the team merely wants to unravel the mystery behind their stalled ship, Midnighter brings us back to The AUTHORITY’S mandate, fix broken worlds. It’s an area that’s been explored before: when do you cross the line between fixing a world and ruling it, but it’s never been played out in the context of our own history. Is a benevolent dictator still not a dictator?
I don’t want to live in a world without THE AUTHORITY on the shelves. My blind adoration kept me entrenched in the withering husk of THE AUTHORITY during the Wildstorm “World’s End” events much longer than I would have stayed with any other team. In the end though, I could not stay with a team that had accomplished anything they wished in the past, but couldn’t find their way out of Armageddon. There is no Armageddon when it comes to The AUTHORITY, merely shades of shitstorms that they can always navigate out of. Plus, I could care less if this is an alternate continuity, as far as I’m concerned this is THE AUTHORITY.
When Optimous Douche isn’t reading comics and misspelling the names of 80’s icons, he “transforms” into a corporate communications guru. "What if the whole world had superpowers? Find out in the pages of Optimous’ original book AVERAGE JOE. Read the first full issue on Optimous’ New Blog and see original sketches by fellow @$$hole Bottleimp. If you are a publisher or can help these guys get AVERAGE JOE up, up, and on the shelves in any way, drop Optimous a line."
SOLOMON KANE: THE CASTLE OF THE DEVIL TPB
Writer: Scott Allie Art: Mario Guevara Covers: John Cassaday, Dave Stewart Laura Martin, & Mike Mignola Publisher: Dark Horse Reviewer: Ambush Bug
Last week in my KULL: THE SHADOW KINGDOM, I reviewed a trade of a Robert E. Howard character I didn’t know much about. I found though that having read a lot of Howard’s CONAN adaptations, I actually knew much about the character through Howard’s similar take on the character, but pointed out the differences between Conan and Kull as well. As I read through this week’s Howard pick, SOLOMON KANE: THE CASTLE OF THE DEVIL, I started out trying to find ties between Kane and his barbaric brothers birthed by the same writer. I noticed that Solomon Kane is definitely different than Kull and Conan, not just because he is set in a more modern time, but because Kane’s temperament is much more angry and sullen than the barbaric Conan and the burdened Kull. All three of Howard’s creations are @$$-kickers of the highest order, but I was impressed with the subtle personality nuances a guy famous for writing stories of swords and sorcery injected into his male lead characters. I also noticed that in true Howard tradition we’ve got a somewhat untrustworthy sidekick who is just as dangerous as the lead here in THE CASTLE OF THE DEVIL, as well as an exotic temptress. After noticing these similarities in these characters and the tertiary cast Howard chooses to surround him with, I decided, “Fuck it.” I’m going to quit trying to dissect this story and just enjoy it for what it is.And what it is-- is another damn fine read from the publishing company that has been doing top tier work on Howard adaptations for years now. Collected in this smooth trade is the six issue THE CASTLE OF THE DEVIL mini as well as character and monster designs by the artists involved (more on them later) and a short story by the same creative team. This is a particularly meaty trade, thicker than most I’ve read from Dark Horse and well worth the 16 buck price tag.
“But enough about the face value details, how’s the story?” you may be asking your monitor.
Well, the story is damn good. Thanks for asking. Scott Allie not only runs a damn fine company at Dark Horse. He also is a hell of a writer. Like I said earlier, Solomon Kane could be easily be mishandled and written as if he could be interchanged with Conan or Kull, but Allie make sure to differentiate Solomon from Howard’s other leads by making him a complex and devout man, not so much filled with rage, but emotionally withdrawn and almost tortured by his dedication to the Puritan way of life in a world that is filled with sin and evil. The presence of this evil seems to pain him and he is not above vanquishing evil with a swipe of his sword.
”It has fallen upon me, now and again in my sojourns through the world, to ease various evil men of their lives.”
Damn that’s an awesome line.
Solomon Kane is all kinds of badass, slashing off faces and slicing through skin and bone as if it were the air itself. Kane discovers the body of a hanging boy in a forest. The mystery leads to a haunted castle, and eventually battles ghosts, demons and werewolves alike. It was fantastic following this sullen warrior as he attempts to find salvation and someone to guide him in his spiritual path, only to find that the only things he can rely on are his sharp reflexes and his even sharper sword.
Mario Guevara has a loose style to his artwork. At times the images are so soft in the panel that it is deceiving since acts of severe brutality are taking place. But Guevara’s soft imagery really does advance to nuanced structure of this story and the complexity of Kane’s character. Like Kane’s movements, Guevara’s images are wispy and fluid, suggesting swooping dynamic action with the lightest of line work. Occasionally, this also means that at times the panels look somewhat sketchy, as if they were penciled, but not thoroughly inked. It makes for an interesting read nevertheless and after seeing Guevara panels where Kane battles swooping demons with bat-like wings, I wouldn’t want to see any other artist tackle the character.
There looks to be another SOLOMON KANE book coming from Dark Horse on the horizon. Prepare yourself for that one like I am by checking out this trade. It is a must have for those Howard heads out there and those of you like me who have never read the character’s adventures before are going to be as pleasantly surprised as I was.
Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, reviewer and co-editor of AICN Comics for over eight years and one of the original @$$holes. Check out his comic book shorts from Cream City Comics’ MUSCLES & FIGHTS VOL.3 and MUSCLES & FRIGHTS VOL.1 on his ComicSpace page. Bug was interviewed here and here at Cream City Comics and here and here about his latest comic from Bluewater Comics, VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS: THE TINGLER #1-2. Look for more comics from Bug in 2010 from Bluewater, including VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS WITCHFINDER GENERAL, ROGER CORMAN PRESENTS DEATHSPORT, and the just announced vampire miniseries NANNY & HANK (and check out Jazma Online’s new interview with Bug about NANNY & HANK here).
THE INCREDIBLE HULK #604
Writer: Greg Pak Art: Ariel Olivetti & Giuseppe Camuncoli Publisher: Marvel Comics Reviewer: Mr. Pasty
“I’m basically a blue Rick Jones in an armadillo shell with fins for ears.”Welcome to INCREDIBLE HULK #604: DEUS EX MACHINA, I mean uh, QUALITY TIME. I can’t imagine the title “Quality Time” refers to the reading experience after digesting another limp effort from Greg Pak and his band of show-offy artists. Skaar plays football. Marlo flashes us her Chandlers. The Leader has a bizarre Max Headroom-like appearance. I have to believe Pak was either running past his deadline or had a terrible case of comic block. Or maybe this is parody and I’m not in on the joke? Reading INCREDIBLE HULK #604 reminded me of the Saturday afternoon I spent in Carvel, flipping through that Trapper-Keeper they have filled with pages upon pages of endless prints you can get plastered across your ice cream cake. Like HULK, there was no continuity and a bunch of ugly designs I can’t imagine anyone paying money for. Unlike HULK, I at least got to eat some rocky road ice cream when I was done.
What drives me batty about this series is that God is not just coming from the machine, but he also keeps chiming in with an obnoxious play-by-play along the way. There are so many ridiculous elements in this story that piggyback explanations revolving around modern miracles and scientific mumbo-jumbo. For example, Banner is tear-assing through the compound of The Leader with the token hapless female. When she (and I) questioned the strategy of showing up unannounced, he quickly dismissed her in a condescending tone, muttering something about speeding up the passage of time by “ten-thousand percent” – but only inside The Leader’s lab. Uh-huh. So Banner can manipulate the space/time continuum with a few tweaks of a temporal bomb and the most practical use he can think of is breaking and entering. Some scientific genius. Though I suppose he would have to be, considering he can just whip these things out at will. I half-expected him to shout “Go-go-gadget temporal bomb!”
Ariel Olivetti is a competent artist but I don’t know, compared to the pages done by Giuseppe Camuncoli his panels just feel flat and sterile, almost like they have no soul. I don’t expect the work presented here to cater to my every predilection, but the aforementioned Rick Jones persona is a lifeless imitation of The Abomination. Pak attempts some reverse psychology, trying to make it hip by acknowledging its blandness. Unfortunately his lines are delivered with the sincerity of a telemarketing call. The jury is still out on whether this is contempt for the audience or just plain laziness. There’s also an appearance by the impotent Korg of Krona, who is so unabashedly ripped off from The Thing that Marvel may end up suing itself for royalties. None of the characters are given much to do and after a few pages of filler and shameless cameos it became readily apparent that the creative forces behind this book have arrived at their destination much sooner than they had anticipated. I can envision them standing around looking at each other, trying to figure out how they’re gonna wrap this damn thing up. In the case of INCREDIBLE HULK #604, art truly does imitate life.
Web heads who can’t get enough of Mr. Pasty’s word vomit are encouraged to watch him operate as Nostradumbass over at here. MMAmania.com. Love, hate and Mafia Wars requests should be directed here.
VICTORIAN UNDEAD #1
Writer: Ian Edginton Artist: Davide Fabbri Published by: DC Wildstorm Reviewed by: BottleImp
I don’t know about you, but I for one am sick to death of this whole zombie craze that is permeating our pop culture. Come on, there’s only so much that can be said about ambulatory corpses and their appetite for fresh, juicy brains…which is probably why the zombie genre has become more effective as fodder for parody (see SHAUN OF THE DEAD, ZOMBIELAND, or the inexplicably bestselling PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES) rather than as a source of real horror. Like the latter, VICTORIAN UNDEAD shifts the genre to 19th century England. Unlike that book, however, this comic still treats the subject matter somewhat seriously.The story opens in London, 1854, as meteors shower down upon the city. Cut to a few months later, as victims of the cholera epidemic are inexplicably rising from their deathbeds and attacking their former friends and family members. Jump ahead forty-four years as construction workers break through an underground wall and are attacked by a zombie that was buried there. The zombie kills one of the workers before being dispatched by another; unfortunately the surviving worker is bitten, and we all know what that means. Famed detective Sherlock Holmes, at work on a case involving an incredibly sophisticated clockwork automaton, is called in to consult with the Scotland Yard on the matter of the infected worker, thus giving credence to the cover blurb, “Sherlock Holmes vs. ZOMBIES!”
If this series had premiered two years ago, I’m betting that it would have been a big hit. A year ago, maybe not so big, but still respectable. Unfortunately, the comic stands are saturated with zombie titles, and I have the feeling that VICTORIAN UNDEAD is just going to end up getting lost in the white noise. Add to that the fact that the Victorian setting has already been played with in the aforementioned PRIDE AND PREJUDICE zombie mash-up, and this series loses more points for its lack of an original premise.
The real tragedy here is that the first issue of VICTORIAN UNDEAD isn’t bad—on the contrary, the storytelling, while multilayered, is brisk and never comes off as being labored. The artwork is clean and well-executed, with a good pacing and just enough attention to detail to impart the feeling of the 19th century without feeling overly cluttered. Praise must also be given to Carrie Strachan for excellent color work that enhances the mood and drama. The overall tone of the story feels appropriate to the setting as well. Though Holmes has only had a brief amount of page time thus far, the character and his time period are treated accurately and without needless anachronistic fiddling by the writer (which was one of the things I hated about PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES—come on, Victorian society women killing zombies I could buy, but not when they do it with kung fu and ninja weapons). In short, this is a good comic. Then why can’t I muster any interest in future issues?
Again, it comes down to overexposure. If you can’t get enough of that brain-eating stuff, or if you still think that there’s room for one more zombie title in your pull list, then you could do far worse than buying this title. But if you’re like me and just waiting for the genre to crawl off and die (at least for a while), VICTORIAN UNDEAD, despite being quality work, isn’t going to change your mind.
When released from his Bottle, the Imp takes the form of Stephen Andrade, an artist/illustrator/pirate monkey painter from the Northeast. You can see some of his artwork here. He’s given up comics more times than he can remember. But every time he thinks he's out, they pull him back in.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: DARK REIGN - THE LIST #1 Marvel Comics
I don’t want to rip too hard on this book, but after the nad-kick that was PUNISHER: DARK REIGN – THE LIST from a couple of weeks ago, this issue fell kind of flat for me. Seeing Slott and especially Adam Kubert’s names on the cover got me jazzed and I guess it was kind of fun seeing Peter and not Spidey make the first chink in Osborne’s armor public, but the more I tap this out on my keyboard, the more I think it was the art that really left me wanting. The Kubert Brothers have made some spectacular comics over the years, but I wouldn’t put this one up as one of them. Maybe it was Mark Morales’ thick inks, but Adam Kubert’s usual crisp and clean panels were uneven at times and downright amateurish at others. There are some panels here that shine bright, like the ones of Spidey swinging across the New York skyline and the double splash of the Iron Patriot beating Spidey to an inch of his life. But between those wondrous shots are awkward plainclothes shots. It’s as if Kubert lost interest in these panels. All in all, it was an important issue in the DARK REIGN storyline, but one that could have looked better. That still isn’t an excuse for the dollar price hike simply for a PULSE rerun tacked onto the back half of this book. C’mon, Marvel. Bullshit is bullshit and a narrowly related story from a few years ago as filler isn’t justifying any kind of price hike. I’d have gladly paid a dollar less for a regular sized issue rather than the extra buck for shit I avoided reading three years ago. - Bug
THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF H.P. LOVECRAFT #4 (of 4) Image Comics
What is it about Lovecraft’s work that inspires so many other writers to cast the man himself as an active participant in his Cthulhu Mythos? I can’t answer that, but what I do know is that it’s been done before. A lot. And a lot better than in this series. Writer Mac Carter regurgitates the familiar plot of Lovecraft’s tongue-tripping deities using him as the gateway to our world, with next to nothing added to set this tale apart from previous versions of the same story. Tony Salmons provides the scratchy, smudgy visuals that work well when used to depict the eldritch monstrosities conjured up by the Necronomicon, but make reading the action of the earthbound characters difficult. All in all, this series brings nothing new to the Lovecraft Mythos. But it did get a movie development deal with Ron Howard’s production company. And hey, these days, isn’t that what it’s all about? -Imp
DARK AVENGERS #11 Marvel Comics
I really liked this issue, though the focus on Agent Hand was somewhat clichéd and it’s getting hard to tell the difference between one spunky she-spy and another what with Spider Woman, Agent Maria Hill, Black Widow, and that SWORD chick running around the Marvel U in tight leather. But the stuff with the Molecule Man was solid as a rock. Bendis and Deodato did a fantastic job of making him the epitome of creepy and it was nice seeing Norman knocked off of his high horse. Another cliché showed up in this issue, that being the quick elimination of the Sentry from the scene before any @$$-kicking can occur. Seems everyone and his mother can seemingly kill the yellow bastard, only to have him reform in the next issue and somehow we’re supposed to be shocked. But despite the clichéd she-spies and Sentry kill, this issue gets a pass for bringing back one of the cooler Marvel villains and making him something that can even creep out Osborne. - Bug
THE GREAT TEN #1 DC Comics
An impressive first issue in this ten issue mini. I wasn’t going to pick this book up (didn’t want to get into a ten issue commitment…what? I’ve got comic book commitment issues these days…I’ve been burned one too many times with miniseries that fizzle out too soon), but then I saw Tony Bedard’s name on the cover and then I noticed it was Scott McDaniel on art duty and I realized it was something I couldn’t pass up. This is much more of a straight forward super hero story than it would have been under the pen of Morrison (the characters’ creator) and although the origin story of each of the Great Ten per each of the ten issues of this miniseries may be a bit contrived, this first issue’s focus on Accomplished Perfect Physician was pretty top tits. Bedard has given us some imperfect heroes in his monthly R.E.B.E.L.S. book. Here he brings out the imperfections in these honorable heroes as well. Hopefully the rest of the mini will be as strong as this first issue. - Bug
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #612 Marvel Comics
Another Spidey book and whereas I was slightly disappointed in THE LIST’s art, here in this first issue of “The Gauntlet” storyline, I’m more dissatisfied with the writing than anything else. Paul Azaceta hands in some unconventionally/un-Spidey-like/GOTHAM CENTRAL-esque art, but it makes for an interesting read. I was wondering why in the middle of a heat wave Peter decides to wear a shirt and sweater combo, though. But just as it seemed like Mark Waid was trying too hard to be cool in his texting TWILIGHT teen infested first issue of STRANGE last week, here he’s trying to be too topical and he’s just a bit too late in doing so. I know times are tough everywhere and big business government bailouts are still going on, but had a story about the Daily Bugle’s corporate greed happened about a year ago, I think it would’ve read a bit more fresh. A year later and this book reads more like it’s walking along the beach and confiding not-so-freshness to its mom in a Summer’s Eve commercial. Amping up Electro’s power is nice, but making him the new head of the protest movement and screaming POWER TO THE PEOPLE to an angry mob is laying it on a bit thick. - Bug
OUTSIDERS #24 DC Comics
Nice to see Halo getting a chance to show a bit of character in this issue as she gets a few panels of girl-talk with Katana as they transport Killer Croc back to Arkham. Too bad this BLACKEST NIGHT issue reads just about the same as all the other BLACKEST NIGHT tie ins. Dead person shows up all crusty and shit. Hero is fooled into thinking it’s the resurrection of the real thing. Hero realizes that this rotting corpse isn’t my lost lover/partner/parent/child. Much blasting ensues only to see the baddies reform and everyone looks to the skies for Green Lantern to help. Look, I love me some BLACKEST NIGHT as much as the next guy. But this is the same comic, now for the billionth time. Enough. We get it. Stop with the tie ins and just tell the damn story. As much as I love Tomasi’s run on GREEN LANTERN CORPS and especially his phenomenal THE MIGHTY miniseries, OUTSIDERS just doesn’t seem to be his thing and although my anticipation has more to do with the possibly train-wreck-itude of it all, I’m kind of jonesing to see what Dan Didio will do to the title once he starts writing it in January. - Bug
PUNISHER #11 Marvel Comics
And speaking of train wrecks, given Remender’s track record at Marvel, I had high hopes that this arc would not be as disappointing as the premise seemed when I first heard about it. To me, he’s done no wrong at Marvel what with his first year on this title being pretty fun and his DOCTOR VOODOO title kicking all sorts of @$$. Well, you can’t win them all, I guess. Sure Remender can still weave together a damn fun action sequence as HAMMER agents chase Frank’s assistant Henry through the sewers of New York only to find Man-Thing and his burning touch. In any other comic that would have been damn thrilling and it was here too, but after that bizarre yet suspenseful opening sequence, we’re introduced to a new version of the Legion of Monsters and things go pear-shaped quickly after that. Remender’s take on Morbius, Werewolf By Night, Gill Man, and Living Mummy read more cartoony than scary, and seeing Frank (who soared so high in Ennis’ MAX run) reduced to this kind of joke was kind of painful to see. Had another artist worked on the title with a bit more realism going for him or even an artist who would have laid down the horror like these characters deserve, this book may have read a lot better. But Tony Moore’s art adds to the unintentional hilarity and painful disappointment that oozes from almost every panel of the latter portion of this book with his inappropriately cartoony caricatures of some of my favorite monster heroes of Marvel’s yesteryear. Played as straight up horror, there was a chance that Frankencastle may have worked. But it’s played for laughs and this turd falls flat on its face…if turds had faces, that is. I was holding out for a glimmer of hope but couldn’t help but wince when the idea of this storyline was first released. When I cracked open the cover to this issue, I still was trying to hold out for something surprising. Unfortunately, by the time I got to the end of this book, the only thing surprising was that this idea was ever passed in the first place. If Marvel was looking for something to top their Top Ten Most Asinine Punisher Storylines list, Soul Man Punisher and Angel Guns Punisher just got bumped down a few notches. Frankencastle is the reigning top turd on that list for sure. - Bug
