Smallville #7 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (story), Chris Cross (pencils), Marc Deering (inks), Carrie Strachan (colors)

The Story: I hate to say it, Batman, but people have a habit of getting shot around you.

The Review: With all the news coming out of DC about upcoming new series, it’s made me start thinking about my reviewing future.  I have a pretty sizable stack of series I cover, somewhere upwards of thirty a month, and anyone who’s followed my work since I joined this site knows I have never once skipped a review unless I’ve Dropped it first—which means I’ve never actually skipped a review.  So adding titles to my list is always a fraught, juggling act.

So let’s say I want to cover Vibe, Katana, and Justice League of America next year (and there are even more I’m looking at).  Do I really want to do 33+ reviews a month (including weekly coverage of Arrow and Young Justice—if and when it ever comes back)?  I do have a life, difficult as that is to believe.  I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m giving a good hard look at the things I’m reading and it looks like Smallville may be one of the expendable items.

Smallville #6 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (story), Jamal Igle (pencils), Marc Deering (inks), Carrie Strachan (colors)

The Story: Batman discovers it’s a little harder to flip-drop Superman than other folks.

The Review: Last month, I went through a strange, almost revelatory moment with the title, where I realized that no matter how much I or Miller or anybody else wanted it to replace the show we watched semi-diligently, it never would.  Comics, particularly ones involving superheroes, are all about indulgences, taking fictional liberties and playing up the action.  For a drama and talk-centered series like Smallville, comics don’t always translate its appeal.

Remember how often and how much of the show used to involve two-character scenes, with long, windy streams of dialogue (and lots of talking while turning away from the other person).  Fighting sequences were limited by budget constraints, but that made the personal storylines more integral to the show.  Miller has almost reversed the action-drama ratios here, and that produces an “episode” that doesn’t much resemble those of its televised predecessor.

Smallville #5 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (story), Chriscross (pencils), Marc Deering (inks), Carrie Strachan (colors)

The Story: Just when you thought the teenage angst was gone, along comes a teen and angst.

The Review: Once you got used to the idea of seeing Superman on television (especially in the low-rent settings of a CW show—remember how often people would have to drive up to farm just to have a conversation?), the funnest part was the guest stars.  I’m not really talking about the actors so much as the parts they played.  For anyone longing for a live-action Justice League, seeing Aquaman or Cyborg or Lois Lane in an Amazon outfit was just irresistible.

The transfer from small screen to printed/digital page sucks a lot of the fun out of the experience, sadly.  For comic book fans, the appeal of guests and cameos on Smallville was seeing your favorite characters come to flesh-and-blood, grizzled and beautiful life.  It’s like how putting Clark in the cape and costume in a comic doesn’t really compare to putting Tom Welling as Clark in a genuinely stitched-and-sewn cape and costume on a high-def TV.

Green Lantern Corps #50 – Review

By: Tony Bedard (writer), Ardian Syaf (artist), Vicente Cifuentes (inker), Randy Mayor w/ Carrie Strachan (colorists)

The Story: Revolt of the Alpha-Lanterns, Part 3: Green Lanterns Kyle Rayner, Soranik Natu and Ganthet are fighting an entire planet full of Alpha-Lanterns. In the meantime, Cyborg Superman is doing some body work on John Stewart, which gives Cyborg-Superman a chance to talk for nine pages.

What’s Good: Syaf, Cifuentes, Mayor and Strachan dropped some amazing art into the pages of this book. The pictures and colors are textured, dynamic, bright, moody, and fly the action through the story. Check out the fine line work on Kyle on the first splash page and the color work around the ring. Look at Ganthet’s expression on page two, or Stewart’s on page three or four. These fine artistic moments were taken to another level when Cyborg-Superman opened up his chest. That was a brilliant shot with some great color work.

Bedard has also built a pulse-pounding plot for the art team to play in. Think about it: three green lanterns against a planet of Alpha-Lanterns and a diabolical plan by a half-dead, insane supervillain! What’s at stake? Well, for starters, John Stewart’s insides, but maybe something much bigger that Cyborg-Superman hasn’t revealed. All in all, a compelling story is on offer.

Gears of War #3 – Review

By Joshua Ortega (Writer), Liam Sharp (Art), and Johnny Rench & Carrie Strachan (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Gears of War has been a surprisingly entertaining series so far, even though it’s really a “for fans only” type of thing. While it isn’t breaking any new ground and hasn’t yet done anything essential for the overall Gears storyline, the comic definitely succeeds in translating the gritty violence and machismo of the game to the page. The biggest flaw is the fact that nothing of consequence has happened so far. Furthermore, there doesn’t really seem to be much in the way of plot development. Sure the mindless action has been pretty fun, but it runs the risk of becoming tiresome. Maybe Gears of War #3 will prove to be something of a game-changer and give the series the direction that it has been sorely lacking.

The Story: Jace barely manages to land the plummeting helicopter, and the group of soldiers find themselves a long way from home. During the long walk from the wreckage, Marcus, Dom, and company come across an outpost full of “stranded” people that were unable to reach Jacinto, left struggling to survive in the aftermath of Emergence Day. With the stranded needing protection and the soldiers needing a form of transportation, the two groups come to a mutual agreement. Also, lots of Locusts meet a violent end throughout the issue…as expected.

What’s Good: That Joshua Ortega finally manages to work in some plot development in between all the action and violence. It does wonders for a series that has been incredibly shallow for two issues. With the group now in charge of protecting someone other than themselves, maybe Ortega can actually begin to work in the character depth necessary to put together a story that provides more than just a mindless action fix.

What’s Not So Good: That it is still totally up in the air whether or not the Gears of War comic series will actually connect to the game in any meaningful way. The initial previews said that the series would lead into the plot for Gears 2, but I don’t see any signs of that happening yet. That might wind up being the biggest factor surrounding whether or not I stick with the title to the end.

Conclusion: A step up for the series, Gears of War #3 provides what the comic adaptation has so desperately needed. On the other hand, I am still not sure whether or not early promises are being kept. At least the action delivers and it all looks pretty nice.

Grade:  C+

-Kyle Posluszny