Catch-up ball is in season!
As promised, it's quick catch-up time for the books that came out last
week. It's not everything that came out, just what I read
(natch!). If you want more detail, or comments on other books,
sing out.
Adventures of Superman # 629
Writer: Greg Rucka
Pencils: Renato Guedes
Inks: Edde Wagner
Colors: Tanya & Richard Horie
Quick Take: Part 3 of "Battery"; Replikon's son fights the Big
S; Lois gets embedded in "Ra'eb" (Iraq, for those of you in Rio
Linda). Dunno where Rucka's going with this one, but so far it's
both Replikon and his daughter down by the same shadowy figure that has
his son doing the knock-down, drag-out with Supes. Lotta
fighting, but not much else, unless you like seeing both Clark and
Superman acting like wimps around the new, forceful women that they
each have to deal with. Lord knows what's going on with Lois; so
far it's the B-plot from hell, i.e. there's not enough in the A-plot to
fill out the book so we get bored to death for six pages or so.
Recommendation: Borrow It.
Mary Jane # 1
W: Sean McKeever
P: Takeshi Miyazawa
I: Norman Lee
C: Christina Strain
Quick Take: Lame-ass girly take on the old high school cast of
Spider-man characters, though oddly set in the present. But it's
not the Ultimate Spider-Man group, either, so it's WAY out of
any known continuity, if that even matters for this book. It
reads like your kid sister would write a Spider-Man book, especially if
she's into teen romance novels. 'Nuff said.
Recommendation: Whip out yer Zippo and send it back to the
hell it came from.
Cable & Deadpool # 4
W: Fabian Nicieza
P: Patrick Zircher
I: Rob Ross & Alan Tam of Udon
C: Shane Law & Kevin Yan of Udon
Quick Take: Part 4 of "If Looks Could Kill" series; more
fighting than philosophising this chapter, and we get around to seeing
how these diametrically opposed mercs can begin to work together.
Fun, but by no means enthralling.
Recommendation: Borrow It, if you like wise-cracking "heroes."
Challengers of the Unknown # 1
W & Illustration: Howard Chaykin
C: Michelle Madsen
Quick Take: Interesting if oddball new take on the old Silver
Age team concept. It shows some signs of becoming another lib
diatribe book (geez, I'm so surprised). Kinda old-fashioned art,
but not bad all the same. Madsen's colors really save the day in
that respect.
Recommendation: Borrow It.
Aquaman # 19
W: Will Pfeifer
P: Patrick Gleason
I: Christian Alamy
C: Nathan Eyring
Quick Take: Part 3 of "American Tidal" series. We at last
find out the who and some of the how the creation of the now-aquatic
"Sub Diego" residents. The why is the same kind of pure junk
science that gave us the movies Waterworld and The Day
After Tomorrow, but since this IS the bad guy of the piece, what
the hell. Still more to come before we're finished, but I wish
they'd go back and resolve the still-dangling thread of the usurpation
of Arthur's throne, with Mera a drugged-up pawn of the evil magicians
that took over after Atlantis was returned to the present.
Recommendation: Borrow It.
Uncanny X-Men # 445
W: Chris Clairmont
P: Alan Davis
I: Mark Farmer
C: Frank D'Armata
Quick Take: The exploding school cliffhanger is resolved,
but a new problem arises as a Borg-esque lifeform takes down several
team members beneath an ancestral mansion. Just about anything
would be an uptick after Clairmont's complicity in the train wreck that
was the "Tenth Circle" series recently in JLA, so this is by
that means a better read. Still, not that gripping, but Davis'
art does make the whole affair pleasant to look at.
Recommendation: Borrow It, unless you MUST have every X-Book out
there.