Comics for 3/23:
Ghostbusters: Infestation #2 (of 2)
Captain America and Batroc The Leaper one-shot
FF #1
Mass Effect: Evolution #3 (of 4)
Hellraiser #1
Batman Incorporated #4
Fables #103
Power Man and Iron First #3 (of 5)
X-Men #9
Ghostbusters: Infestation #2 (of 2) from IDW
Written by Erik Burnham, art by Kyle Hotz, colors by Dan Brown, letters by Chris Mowry.
"I am kinda surprised we didn't get a point/counterpoint on the difference between zombies and ghouls."
The penultimate issue of Infestation and the last issue of the Ghostbusters two-parter. I can't say I hated this issue, and it certainly wasn't my least favorite part of the event so far, but I think it's safe to say I was disappointed. Less present in this issue was the reference-dropping the first issue fell back on so much, but they're still present and that just feels lazy to me. And, to get especially pedantic, the references are just sprinkled about randomly; throwing in a giant twinkie reference as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man escapes from the Containment Grid and Venkman jokes about crossing the streams (that last one a reference I could stand to never hear again, ever). It's just like IMDb's Ghostbusters Memorable Quotes page exploded all over the comic in lieu of finding the characters' voices. But while this is a bit of a peeve, it didn't ruin the issue. It just didn't have much else to hold it up instead, either. The story was pretty straightforward, but the whole idea of Ghostbusters' tech requires a substantial amount of suspension of disbelief and, like Transformers before it, the ideas introduced by the Infestation conceit just manages to push it just too far. Compounded by art I never really cared for, I just could never get into this title, no matter how much I wanted to.
Captain America and Batroc The Leaper one-shot from Marvel
Written by Kieron Gillen, art by Renato Arlem, colors by Nick Filardi, letters by Nick Filardi.
"It does not pay to be a complete stereotype, non?"
I haven't read a whole lot of recent Batroc stories, so I'm not sure how much of a comic-relief character he's still considered to be, but this was a great character study without needing to reduce him to a joke. We see a man is skilled but knows his limitations, for who strategy and planning is just as important as his physical prowess. The story itself is simple, but contains a lot of good ideas. Hired to intercept Captain America by a group trying to heist some military technology, we see Batroc in the day before, making preparations for the job. I'm not sure as I haven't been reading Captain America lately but from what I'm reading this seems to be taking place during the story arc in issues #43-45. If not, the situation certainly seems similar and it certainly seems like the first time he's encountered the new Cap. The telegraphing of events was there, but like a lot of the issue, it's subtle and only obvious in hindsight for most of it, played out through some beautiful action sequences. But again, the real strength is the character. For an issue where not much really happens, it still manages to tell a good story. In addition to the main feature, there's a reprint of a Lee/Kirby joint, The Blitzkrieg of Batroc! from Tales of Suspense #85, which despite the gulf of 45 years, is another great look at Batroc's character, and features him teaming up with Cap against Hydra. And features some of that beautiful Kirby art in some great action scenes. I feel like last year Marvel would have put this much book out for $5, but at $3.99 this is actually a nice issue to pick up. One thing throwing me off is the "Next Issue" preview in a one-shot. Assuming it's a bunch of one-issue Cap stories coming out?
FF #1 from Marvel
Written by Jonathan Hickman, pencils by Steve Epting, inks by Steve Epting and Rick Magyar, colors by Paul Mounts, letters by Rus Wooton.
"We must begin again."
Full disclosure: Even with Spidey on the team, I really had no intention of reading this series. As with a lot of things, I was willing to give it a shot and pick up its first issue. And this was, if nothing else, a great first issue. It introduced the cast, the concepts and the conflicts of the series. The only problem may be that it has too many of those, and stretched itself too thin, never leaving the issue with much focus at any given point. Aside from that, I can't say I saw many major problems, just a load of nitpicks, but otherwise I think there is potential in the series once we start seeing some of these story threads followed through rather than just as puzzle pieces scattered about. To that end, I think this might be trade material, at least until it hits its stride, or until Johnny comes back and the status quo is restored.
Mass Effect: Evolution #3 (of 4) from Dark Horse
Written by Mac Walters and John Jackson Miller, art by Omar Francia with Manuel Silva, colors by Michael Atiyeh, letters by Michael Heisler.
"Science I understand--but one must answer magic in the language of magic!"
This issue is a bit hard to judge as a single issue, as it's the light-on-substance-heavy-on-set-up creamy center to the four-part-story cookie. We see the inklings of Desolas' real plan, and get a pretty good idea why he wasn't around to make it into the games. While this was originally promoted as the origin of the Illusive Man, it's just as much Saren's story, and I'm still reasonably sure this is going to end with him finding Sovereign. Unlike the first couple of issues, his is becoming progressively something I don't think you can enjoy unless you've played the game and familiar with the lore. For those of us who have, however, it's a fun story focusing on some characters who never really got a lot of face time in the games. Sure, Saren was the main villain for most of the first game (before the real Final Fantasy-esque Big Bad shows up) and Illusive Man was directing you in the second, but we never really got to see that much of either. Again, this issue doesn't have much on its own and it was a bit of speedbump to the pace the rest of the series set, but overall this series has been delightful, especially compared to most games' "supplemental material" books.
Hellraiser #1 from Boom!
Written by Clive Barker and Christopher Monfette, art by Leonardo Manco, colors by Charlie Kirchoff, letters by Travis Lanham.
"Is there no trick of the skin, no obfuscation of flesh left to uncover?"
Wasn't paying attention when I grabbed this issue, but I totally missed the Tim Bradstreet cover, if my shop even had it... Aaanyways. I've always been a fan of Barker and the Hellraiser movies I've seen (which, I learned last night, is by far the minority of them) but when it comes to the horror franchises I know in and out, it doesn't fall in that lot. Still, I was into it enough that I wanted to check out the comic. This was easy enough to jump into, and a fun story that I can't help thinking of the Hellraiser version of Office Space, with Pinhead tired of his station of collecting... souls or blood or whatever it is the Cenobites actually do and looking for a way out. This certainly seems like a strong first story, with good art and a fun hook. Additionally, Boom! is putting out a collection of the old '90s Hellraiser comics and this issue contains a 16-page preview of one of those stories.
Batman Incorporated #4 from DC
Written by Grant Morrison, art by Chris Burnham, colors by Nathan Fairbairn, letters by Pat Brosseau.
"I always wanted to build a death-trap as big as the world!"
This is getting back to the book I wanted Batman, Incorporated to be. The bulk of the issue is a look back at Kathy Kane's tenure as Batwoman and how she affected Bruce's life, tying back into the present with Batman and Gaucho as well as the modern Batwoman and whatever mysterious villain Morrison is building this up to a showdown with. This is Morrison's Silver Age obsession on the title at it's best, telling a good story that can be enjoyed through the references, rather than obscuring it behind them. And as much as I enjoyed Paquette's art, and am sad to see him go after the first three issues (especially since he was my favorite part of two of them), Burnham really did an amazing job here. If not something to go for issue by issue, this is building up to be one strong singular arc.
Fables #103 from Vertigo
Written by Bill Willingham, pencils by Mark Buckingham, inks by Steve Leialoha, colors by Lee Loughridge, letters by Todd Klein.
"Many of the smaller details are slipping by."
Not sure how long the Super-Team story-arc has going to be, but so far this has been two issues of set-up with very little moving forward. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it certainly makes the case for returning to reading Fables in trade form. What's being set up is looking like a lot of good ideas, though, plus more than a few fun moments and as always Buckingham is doing some of my favorite art on the shelves today. This is pretty much reading like a good game of chess.
Power Man and Iron First #3 (of 5) from Marvel
Written by Fred Van Lente, pencils by Wellinton Alves, inks by Nelson Pereira, additional art by Pere Perez, colors by Bruno Hang, letters by Clayton Cowles.
"???" "!!!" " "
Introducing the sensational character find of this week: Pokerface (technically introduced last issue but I didn't want to give it away then), a man who became the world's greatest gambler after an explosion drove a furnace-poker through the part of his brain that makes him feel emotions. This is the kind of absurd, high-concept character played straight that are making these books so much fun to read. This book gets the story back to some of the kung-fu-bolstered detective work that brought me into the series with the first issue, and I thought was lacking a bit in the second. The art looks great, and considering a good chunk was split between artists going back and forth, the changes were not so jarring as to upset reading the book (honestly I hadn't even noticed it was two artists until I went back over the book).
X-Men #9 from Marvel
Written by Victor Gischler, pencils by Chris Bachalo, inks by Tim Townsend, Wayne Faucher, Jaime Mendoza and Al Vey, colors by Chris Bachalo, letters by Joe Caramagna.
"The mammal is gone. Only the Lizard remains."
And with this issue, we finally see who's behind the kidnapping and Lizard-bondage. I was initially really excited to see Dark Beast back, but as I've mentioned I've been sporadic with my X-titles the past few years and I had no idea he's been around as much as he has. I guess now he has robot legs? Anyways, he has potential to be a fun villain when he shows up, which I think Gischler is really tapping into here. This is basically just pure old-fashioned superheroing fun: Spidey and the X-Men teaming up to take down a foe by punching a mad scientist's monsters repeatedly. I know there are various camps on this, but I think Bachalo does some absolutely gorgeous art; exaggerated expressions, grotesque monsters (I don't want to see anyone else on this new Lizard(s) design), flowing action. And I absolutely love that smug face he's given Dark Beast, the full-page reveal is some wonderful character work. In the Spider-Rennaissance we're currently going through, I've picked up a few books just because Spidey was getting whored around in them as a guest star. This is, by far, the best of the bunch. So much fun, and so far only getting better.
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