Quick-hit Reviews – Week of Jan. 12, 2011

Our pull lists are all a little too long to give a full review to every comic we read in a given week.  So, here are a few quick thoughts on a few issues that were slipping through the cracks…

Captain America: Man Out of Time #3  – I’ve like this series from the start, but this issue–a single scene from this issue, actually–catapulted it from “great” to “truly excellent.” I speak of course of the scene where Tony Stark leads the newly unfrozen Steve Rogers through the Smithsonian, and catches him up on sixty years worth of American history. Not only was it a treat–and some wonderful chary racterization–to watch Steve’s reactions, it really is neat to hear such a quick and well-written rundown of our accomplishments and advancements. Sure, you could interpret it as a little corny, and you might even question Tony’s wisdom in hitting Steve with all of that information at once, but in this case, cool trumps logic. If I was more paranoid–and if I didn’t love Tony Stark as much as I do–I MIGHT even go so far as to suggest the trip was specifically engineered by Tony and the President to make “sure” that Steve “knew too much” to safely send back to his own time. Whatever the truth though, between the museum scene, Steve’s interview with the President, and his heartbreaking and admirable dedication to Bucky, this story is a winner from beginning to end. Best origin story update in a long time.  Grade: A — SoldierHawk

Deadpool #31 – Way continues to deliver with this surprisingly short, and surprisingly entertaining, storyline. Deadpool plays off the vampires (both good and bad) extremely well; their grave and super-serious nature make them natural and very effective straight men for Deadpool’s antics. This issue, as well as the one before it, really show off some of the best that the character has to offer: great one liners, plenty of exciting (and creative) action, and just enough fourth-wall breaking and goofy humor to let you know that everything should be taken with a grain of salt. This makes the ending of this issue either very effective or very jarring depending on how you feel about a sudden and rather unexpected injection of pathos into your ‘Pool book. Personally I found the mood whiplash to be a little much, and felt that it took away from an otherwise successful outing for Way. (If you want to see endbook ‘Pool-pathos done right, may I suggest seeking out Deadpool Team-Up #886, one of the best Deadpool yarns I’ve read in some time.)  Grade: B (Although that absolutely beautiful Twilight parody very nearly pushes it into B+ territory).  — SoldierHawk

Heroes for Hire #2 – Although I was a little foggy on the exact connection between the bad-guys in this issue and those in issue #1 (even though the story indicates they are clearly related), I really enjoyed this issue.  The current comics sales market isn’t supporting any B-list character(s) in a stand-alone, ongoing series.  Marvel seems to finally be getting that, but it looks like Heroes for Hire could be a great place to get the B-listers in an ensemble fashion.  After seeing Falcon, Moon Knight, Black Widow & Elektra last month, this time we get Silver Sable and Ghost Rider.  I’ll be happy to keep this on my pull list just to get to see these B-listers in bite-sized quantities.  The story is fun too, but that’s no surprise coming from Abnett and Lanning.  Walker is an underrated artist (I think) too.  Grade: B — Dean Stell

Halcyon #3 – We finally start to learn why the world has no more crime and villainy in this third issue.  The exact mechanism is a little surprising (and gory), but I don’t think it was unexpected to see that something abnormal was afoot.  I think this issue benefited from reducing the cast of characters to the Batman-analog and his Wonder Woman-esq girlfriend.  It just made the story flow better.  The only thing that holds this issue back (for me) is the art.  It is probably just a personal preference because I’ve heard a lot of people who I respect GUSH about the art, but it just doesn’t work for me.  Grade: B- — Dean Stell

John Byrne’s Next Men #2 – Major improvement from the last issue.  I found the #1 issue to be very cluttered from a story-telling standpoint and wasn’t that enthused by the art either.  I still don’t know or have any attachment to the characters, but the premise that they are scattered in the time stream is fun enough.  Well….”fun” might not be the right word given the nasty situations that present themselves, but I’m interested in the story now.  Having settings like the Civil War and WWII allow Byrne to stretch his legs a little bit.  I actually enjoyed this art way more than the most superhero stuff in issue #1.  I don’t think this is staying on my pull list, but if I hear good things I may pick up the first trade.  Grade: B- (with a bullet) — Dean Stell