Actually a pretty full week this time around, with some new books coming out and some lapsed titles worming their way back into the pull. I've only sporadically looked at Green Lantern titles since Blackest Night, and I don't think I've picked up X-Factor since just after Civil War; I loved both books but I think both were getting mired down by their respective continuities.
Speaking of tiresome continuity, thumbed through the Fear Itself sketchbook I got at the shop. Of all the major, "world-changing" maxi-series events, this is probably the one I'm least interested in. Which is a damn shame, because it looks like it's probably going to be the best one. With a team like Matt Fraction writing and art by Stuart Immonen on the main series. However, and I think this is probably the root of my problem, I have no idea what the hell this is about. I've gathered it involves Red Skull's daughter taking over the mantle, and the Norse God of Fear (who, I admit, I have no idea who this is) but have yet to get a clear explanation regarding plot. Alternatively, I'm pretty burnt out on Event comics in general, and I'm against the kind of passive-aggressive threat of them implying that you have to follow all these books to get the full story and how it impacts the comics' universe at large. Can't say I particularly care to really invest in another one, even if it's mildly tame compared to the scope of some of its predecessors. Not to say I'll be boycotting it or avoiding it entirely, which is a tempting threat to throw around. There are some tie-in issues I'll be picking up anyways, and I'll probably get the main seven-issue series of it. It's just all getting wearisome.
Anyways, onto reviews:
Anyways, onto reviews:
Comics for 3/2:
G.I. Joe: Infestation #1 (of 2)
Daomu #2
Secret Six #31
Green Lantern #63
X-Factor #216
Thunderbolts #154
Witchfinder: Lost and Gone Forever #2 (of 5)
Chew #17
Annihilators #1 (of 4)
Written by Mike Raicht, art by Giovanni Timpano, colors by J. Brown.
"It's aggressively sentient. Homicidally so."
We're halfway through Infestation at this point, and its finally getting good. Out of the four universes the Infestation cross-over is invading, I hate to say it but G.I. Joe is easily the one I know the least about. I grew up with the cartoon but it never stuck with me the way Transformers did, and other than some basic knowledge of the characters (the only one I recognized in this book was Baroness) I didn't know too much going into this, especially with where the franchise is at currently (other than hearing some great things about the current arc in the ongoing title). So I was rather surprised to find this was my favorite Infestation book so far. Although, it also seemed very different from the rest of the series. So far, the extent of the "Infestation" in this universe seems to be purely technological, extending to some lifeforms with cybernetic parts but here it's handled essentially like a computer virus. Apparently the form the Infestation takes is affected by the universe its inhabiting at the time (which I think is a built in excuse for the four stories to not work together too closely), but the change here is the most drastic turn yet, I imagine in keeping with the more realistic, grounded setting of the Joe's world. We have yet to see this world's Britt, so things could take a sharp turn in the second issue when she inevitably shows up, but for now we have a handful of Joe agents in Cobra custody, both being assaulted by warbots and cybernetic animals infected and made aggressive by a virus that found its way into their system. I get the feeling this is going to lead to both groups teaming up against a more powerful agressor, which, cliché as it is, is one of my favorite plots, especially between two groups so famously at odds with each other as Joe and Cobra. The storytelling here is solid, as is the art, leaving me with no real specific nitpicks or complaints beyond the lack of zombies; if not great it's overall an entirely enjoyable book. In a couple weeks, we'll see if it can maintain it; next week, we get the first book of the last universe: Ghostbusters.
Written by Colin Johnson based on a story by Kennedy Xu, art be Ken Chou.
"No warning. No nothing. Just a whole lotta bug."
With the first issue, I lamented the lack of a clear explanation of what, exactly, was going on with the graverobbers. This issue went nearly the complete opposite direction, the first half is a fairly massive block of text and dialogue to wade through. And, somehow, I'm not that much clearer on exactly what the graverobbers actually do. We do, however learn some more of protagonist Sean's role in the Daomu. Specifically, we see him somewhat reluctantly take up the role as their leader, a position his father had walked away from and with his death had been passed onto Sean. Though it is a title he's heir to, Sean still has to go through an initiation to be accepted, and that is where the issue picks up. In the latter half of the issue, we see amount of dialog and exposition substantially pared down and the action picks up as Sean, his mentor-y Uncle Tsai and some other Daomu venture into a valley to where there may be a long-lost palace they can excavate. On the way down they encounter some threats both natural and supernatural. I don't want to really spoil anything, but the cover does have a dude fighting a giant centipede and, while some books this week have misleading covers or blurbs (which I will get into, at length), this book totally has a dude fighting a giant centipede, which is pretty awesome. The first issue hinted at some supernatural action going down but aside from the red-eyed assassin you're more told than shown and this issue, if not dropping you right in the middle of it at least holds you over the precipice, threatening to. It's a fun action story in the vein of Indiana Jones and the like, and once again Ken Chou's art and color is a real stand-out. There are some beautiful, serene landscapes that slowly give way into darker, creepier forest interiors and caves as the Daomu work their way towards their goals.
Written by Gail Simone, art by John Kalisz, colors by Travis Lanham.
"You do realize there are eight of you?"
This is the first of the Secret Six I've read since the 2006 mini-series, but if I've learned any lesson lately it's listen when everyone seems to love a book, and basically I got tired of hearing from bloggers and podcasts, etc, about how good Gail Simone was doing on the ongoing every week it came out. I saw on the preview blurb said this was the start of a new storyarc, and had a pretty bitching cover of Bane looking altogether like a Resident Evil monster. Looking to pick up more DC books anyways, I jumped on this one, and I can't say I was disappointed. Maybe it helps because I know most of the characters already and, since everyone talks about this book fairly constantly I've managed to somehow keep up with it despite never reading it, I was able to jump in pretty easily. The first two pages especially, which seem to have nothing to do with the rest of the issue, is a beautiful little recap/character introduction sequence that quickly hits all points a new reader might need to know, in broad strokes, making me think this was meant to be something of a jumping-on point. The character work and dialog is great, which is good because a lot of the issue is set-up for the upcoming arc through recaps and exposition; where it was moderately light on action it made up for it with humor and twists. The location of the entrance to Hell, especially, was a fun touch, comparable to the Atlantic City casino acting as a portal to Hades in Incredible Hercules. My only gripe lies with the aforementioned cover of Bane and... sssomeone (anyone who knows who's in the throne, gimme a hand here. Lady Blaze?). While I'm wholly familiar with showing things on the cover that either don't really happen or don't show up 'til the last page, there was nothing in this issue even remotely like what the cover is depicting here. A great shame because this happened a few times this week, and a greater shame because, again, this looks damn awesome.
Written by Geoff Johns, pencils by Ed Benes and Ardian Syaf, inks by Ed Benes, Rob Hunter and Vicente Cifuentes, colors by Randy Mayor.
"When's the last time you took off that ring?"
While I've always been a huge fan of the idea of the Green Lanterns, I rarely get into the actual execution nearly as much. As far as high concepts go, "cops in space" is kind of a beautiful, simplistic one that only seems to get muddled when actually expanded on. As such I continually try to read the book but rarely stick with it for more than a few issues. While there are times when its certainly been better or worse, Geoff Johns' run on the series exemplifies my feelings on this like very few others. I love some of the ideas he's introduced into the series, especially the emotional spectrum and their respective spirit animals, but as of yet there's been very few stories done with them that I'd actually say I enjoyed. Seeing this was a prologue into whatever the next big event is ("War Of The Green Lanterns"), I decided I'd check back in to see where we were, but already this might be another temporary look in on the Corps. Focusing on Krona the exiled Guardian and his collecting the different Corps' avatar Entities in the present, as well as a flashback to his engineering the genocide of the "Lost Sector" (have we stopped calling it Sector 666?) and butting heads with the other Guardians, altogether this feels like retreading the same space-water the series has been mired in for years. Instead of moving a story forward, we're looking at the narrative equivalent of a stew, the ingredients have been dumped in over the years; a new Corps here, a dash of evil Guardian there, Larfleeze to taste. They keep stirring the stew, and while the ingredients might bump together differently, nothing ever really changes. This isn't to stay there hasn't been any good stories to come out of Johns' run, but this issue really exemplified the worst of it. At the very least, this might be worth picking up in trades but the prologue isn't filling me with much faith.
And, carrying on with covers not depicting anything that happens in the comics, while Krona gathering the Entities is mentioned in the issue, we never actually see his present-day self or any of them. It is, however, related and at least a very pretty cover. More egregious is the proclaimed "Assault on Oa!", which, in no way, shape or form occurs in this issue.
Written by Peter David, pencils by Emanuela Lupacchino, inks by Guillermo Ortega, colors by Matt Milla.
"We're just there to help people who can pay for our services."
Like last week, I picked up an X-title I had lapsed on reading because they stuck Spider-Man in the book. I had been a big fan of Peter David's X-Factor when it started but I had fallen off it when I basically fell off all books for a while. Apparently, I missed out on quite a lot, and couldn't slide back into it as easily as I had hoped. Nothing in this book really clicked with me, the characters didn't feel quite as strong or seem to be speaking with a unique voice, just a lot of trying-too-hard pithy one-liners being traded back and forth about internet trolls and Godfather references. And while he's normally a character ready-made for one-liners, even Spider-Man seemed very out of character when he showed up, short-tempered and borderline stalking Mayor Jameson who had business with Jamie and X-Factor. It isn't a bad issue, but it's a dense one with numerous plotlines colliding, There could be an interesting story or stories in here, especially if we end up getting a look at pre-Bugle Jameson. but it's tangled and buried past the dialog. One thing I can't really take fault with is the art, Lupacchino does some great work here, especially on expressions. Altogether it is a beautiful-looking book.
Written by Jeff Parker, art by Declan Shalvey, colors by Frank Martin.
"It changed him, made him something more than plant or animal."
Now, I'm biased here, not even going to pretend other. I started reading Parker's Thunderbolts because Man-Thing was on the team. Last issue I was psyched just having a couple pages of Man-Thing doing stuff, mostly limited to crawling around a beach. This was an entire issue devoted to the big green lug with almost none of the other 'Bolts in it at all. I can't rightly discuss whether or not it was good because I was just happy to see it existed. It was a nice character piece, though, which is pretty rare for Man-Thing, recapping Mhis origins as both swamp-creature and Thunderbolts member and role in the Nexus Of All Realities with a return of Man-Thing's old comrade (and fairly badass-looking) Jennifer Hale. It brought out the human side of Man-Thing which had been largely ignored in this series up to now in favor of using him as a (literal) vehicle or comic relief. By the end of the issue, we're seeing him as an actual character and more of an accepted team-member. It also had other-dimensional monsters and Man-Thing wrestling a giant reptile in the swamp so it was some berating, derisive narration boxes away from being just like a classic Man-Thing issue. And some excellent art from Declan Shalvey, as always. Also on art, I was under the impression that the Art Adams cover was a variant, and on the recap page the cover was credited to Greg Land and Dan Brown, but I only saw the Adams cover in the shop as the regular cover, so not sure what happened there.
Written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, art by John Severin, colors by Dave Stewart.
"A corpse is a poor substitute for live flesh."
After a quick and delightful resolution to last issue's cliffhanger, this is another comic for this week loaded down with some expository segments, however interspersed with werewolves, witches, zombies and cowboys. We have Kaler explaining to Grey more of the local situation, and Grey in turn tells his origin story of sorts, while stumbling back onto the trail of Grey's quarry Lord Glaren. Not too much to say about the second issue of a five-issue series, it's all still ramping up to the main action, but there's enough here laid out to keep it interesting. Like I said with the first issue, I still have a hard time believing Severin hasn't done a Mignola book before because his art is perfect in this series.
Written by John Layman, art by Rob Guillory, color assists by Steven Struble.
"I complete this recipe... and everyone in this room dies."
Seventeen issues in, Chew remains one of the most original, funniest and unquestionably best books coming out right now. It was fascinating enough when it was just about Tony Chu and his cibopathy, but throughout the series a world of food-based super-powers has been built up. The first three arcs have been five-issue stories, while these past couple of issues have been more single, free-standing stories loosely tied together by the mysterious writing in the sky that showed up in #15. While I'm sure they'll all tie together by the end of it, for now we're getting more one-off looks at Tony and Colby on their beat, this issue primarily dealing with a hostage situation with a kid who can seemingly turn meals into weapons; bombs, mind-control devices, etc. I didn't dig #16 quite so much as I had the rest of this series, but mostly because it was kind of jarring to jump from the thrice-cliffhangered ending of #15 and just kind of moving on. On it's own, though, it was still a solid issue. #17, aside from its main plot, goes back to some of the older plot points and begins re-setting up some of the plot threads that were dropped. Beyond the story, Guillory has been doing amazing work for seventeen issues now, bringing an amazing and wholly unique style to the book that makes it stand out as much as Layman's writing. The pairing here is perfect, and goes a long way to making this the incredible book it is.
Annihilators written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, pencils by Tan Eng Huat, inks by Victor Olazaba, colors by June Chung.
Rocket Raccoon & Groot written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, art by Timothy Green II, colors by Nathan Fairbairn.
"I AM GROOT!"
Just out of the gate, my main issue with this comic is how long is spent introducing the characters. Seven pages of the main story are devoted to the Annihilators fighting a Space Knight one-by-one while she addresses them by name, power-level and a quick blurb about that them. It is awkwardly handled and doesn't even get that much information across for the time spent doing it. I was going to compare it to the belabored sequence in Transformers: Infestation #2 a couple of weeks ago, then I remembered who wrote that issue: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. These guys have been doing some horrible recap work lately, I don't remember anything like it in their earlier cosmic books; it's sticking out more because I really feel like they should know better. The rest of the Annihilator story was not bad, introducing some interesting ideas about power possessed versus power wielded and some discussions reminiscent of the Dr. Strangelove war-room regarding cosmically-powered individuals and the usefulness of their team. It also was not great, however, as most of the issue was just the most powerful cosmic heroes sitting on space-couches arguing, while Quasar fills up the panels with bright red narration boxes full of whinging and moping. While I appreciate the odd intelligent discourse in my comics, this was not strong enough or interesting enough to carry the bulk of an entire issue. Eventually, the monotony is broken when some villains from ROM: Space Knight show up and wreak havoc for a couple of pages.
This is only half the issue, of course, because otherwise why would they charge five-fucking-dollars for this. What I thought was initially just a back-up, the Rocket Raccoon story is another 22-pages of Rocket adjusting to life post-Guardians of the Galaxy. Stuck in a menial job (which provides some of the best visuals in the entire book, all manner of different shaped aliens shoved into button-up shirts and ties working in their cubicles) that he is promptly fired from when his old life suddenly and violently shows up to haunt him. Tracking the one lead he has from the attack to the homeworld of his old partner in the Guardians, King Groot. I loved the art on this one, and nothing really to slam the story with.
Overall, neither of these stories were really strong enough to pick up on their own, and certainly don't come together to make something greater than the sum of their parts. As much as I was waiting for the cosmic titles to come back after Thanos Imperative, and it certainly hurts me to drop a book with Beta Ray Bill in it, I'll feel better waiting to pick this up as a trade.
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