Silver Surfer #5 – Review

By: Dan Slott (story), Michael Allred (art), Laura Allred (colors)

The Story: The Lord of Nightmares has his worst nightmare.

The Review: Of all the new Marvel titles I’ve picked up this year, Silver Surfer is probably the one I find hardest to review. It’s not enough for me to say that I enjoy it, which I do consistently; if my love for chicken nuggets taught me anything, it’s that enjoyment is a poor gauge for quality. My difficulty with Silver Surfer is figuring out what kind of title it wants to be. Is there any depth to be had, or is it just straight sci-fi-adventure?

This issue pushes the series toward the latter. From front to back, the plot is completely self-explanatory and almost childishly simple: the Lord of Nightmares has fallen asleep and must be awaken before the night has ended lest the world sleepwalk in bad dreams forever. That this is a done-in-one should already tell you that Norrin and Dawn have little difficulty with his particular challenge, making the situation seem less dire than everyone hypes it up to be.

Silver Surfer #4 – Review

By: Dan Slott (Writer), Michael Allred & Laura Allred (Artists)

The Story: Surfer, I have a feeling you’re not in Kansas anymore.

The Review: This issue begins a new story arc for the Silver Surfer and Dawn Greenwood, one that essentially tells a pretty straightforward tale of a family reunion but with enough humor and hints of mystery as to genuinely leave the reader guessing about what’s really going on.

The Greenwood family seems more extended than I remember, but with the characteristic “down-home” attitude that made Dawn such a contrasting figure to the Surfer’s “alien-ness.” I love the line about how some people don’t follow sports or politics, so why do we expect everyone in the Marvel universe to know about the superhero gossip? Still, in a very intriguing visual sequence, in one panel the entire family is present, and in the other, a repeated panel is presented as an empty haunted house. Whether these people exist at all is even in question, and if that’s true then it would suddenly cast the whole scene as quite tragic; the warmth and comfort from the Greenwood family is poignant and sincere.

That warmth and comfort is in distinct contrast from the absolute strangeness of the past four issues, even with the horror/suspense backdrop. For those expecting wall-to-wall off-the-walledness from Slott and Allred might be surprised how quaint these issues feel by comparison (even the Silver Surfer was surprised– shown by his mistake of Dawn’s twin as a shape-shifting alien) and especially with such good-natured and sweet humor coming from the family. This is helped by art, too. The clean line and graphic style is just as fitting for the simplicity of domestic life, which of course makes the incursion of ghosts/monsters so incongruously suspenseful. One touch that I’m noticing as becoming distinct is the use of textures and patterns in the coloring. The Sufer’s skin looks almost burnished with a dry brush effect, and several spacescape panels use dot matrices for a vibrant effect.

There’s another reunion in the making, of course, with Doctor Strange and (some version of) the Hulk making a subplot that mirrors the strangeness of the Greenwood household. This one falls more on the humor side of the spectrum despite the horror elements (the monsters are expressly “old-timey” Universal movie monsters,) and we expect these storylines to converge in with the Defenders reuniting. There’s one more factor in play, too, and that’s the trap captures the Surfer and serves as our cliffhanger. This makes what could be two fairly-typical mysteries suddenly not as straightforward as we might expect. The cliffhanger then is in how we anticipate all these fragments coming together.

Defenders #11 – Review

by Matt Fraction (story), Mirco Pierfederici (art), Jordie Bellaire (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story:  As the Death Celestial runs rampant, the Defenders discover the true nature and purpose of the Concordance Engines.

The Review:  In reading this sadly pen-ultimate issue of Defenders, I kept feeling like this was constantly teetering right on the edge of becoming a hot mess.  I think a lot of that is because of the ridiculous scale of Fraction’s story, the sheer size of his ideas, and the fact that, somehow, he only has one more issue after this to finish it all up.  I don’t know how the hell he’s going to manage that, but as far as this issue goes, it thankfully never implodes and said hot mess, though flirted with, never comes to fruition.

The big highlight this month is Fraction finally revealing the nature of the Concordance Engines, a reveal that really forms the heart of this issue.  Quite frankly, I thought Fraction’s explanation of their purpose was straight up amazing.  Fraction is a writer that often messes about with grand ideas and while they often go awry or end up overly ambiguous, he hits it out of the park in this one.  If I’ve understood the issue properly, the Concordance Engines’ effect on the Marvel Universe is so staggering that it’s actually mind-boggling; once you grasp what Fraction is actually saying, the implications are staggering.  There’s grand scale and then there’s….this, an idea so massive that it almost become metatextual.  Without revealing anything else, I’ll just say that the Concordance Engines basically answers how one universe can have so many superpowered beings when compared to a universe like, say, ours that is much more mundane.  Yes, there is a comparison there that Fraction implicitly draws between superhero shared universes and our world.  It’s pretty ballsy stuff and have fun wrapping your head around it.

Fraction also does a great job of milking the post-apocalyptic world he’s dumped his heroes in.  While it does lead to action and adventure, there is one scene involving Dr. Strange and Wong that is an absolute, emotional gut-punch.  It was amazing how a scene that came seemingly out of left-field with so little build up could nonetheless have such a substantial emotional impact.  In fact, I think that it IS such a surprise lends it a lot of its impact.  It’s a great scene and a definite highlight of the run.

The Defenders #7 – Review

by Matt Fraction (writer), Terry Dodson (penciller), Rachel Dodson (inker), Sonia Oback (colorist), and Clayton Cowles (letterer)

The Story: Black Cat gets recruited by weirdoes to steal weird stuff; the Defenders take their hunt for John Aman to Wakanda.

The Review:  As my top picks for this week can attest, I was looking forward to this issue, but this actually managed to exceed expectations.  Suffice to say, should Marvel ever consider a solo Black Cat series, Matt Fraction would definitely be on my short-list for the book.

Fraction’s has a naturally strong handle of Black Cat and her particular voice and he wisely has her narration the portions of the book in which she appears, allowing him to show off his understanding and clear love of the character.  Felicia Hardy is just as she should be: sassy, living on the edge, thrill-seeking, and cocky.  She leaps off the page and showcases everything that makes her a fan favourite.  Put simply, it’s impossible not to like Fraction’s Black Cat.  The way she’s introduced is also a stroke of genius: we get to see Felicia working an office job, which is comedy gold.  It also, of course, helps to have the Dodsons on art.  While their work overall on the issue is beautiful, as expected, having them draw Cat is a natural choice, given that drawing good-looking women has become one of their trademarks, having published several sketchbooks dedicated solely to doing just that.

Taking the Defenders to Wakanda is also a nice touch.  I’m really enjoying Fraction’s using this book not only as a way to spotlight disparate, B to C list characters, but also as a way to visit the far-flung corners of the Marvel Universe.  It adds a sense of vibrance and diversity to the book that makes it rather trippy, setting it apart from Marvel’s line.  I also cannot emphasize enough how much I loved the way Fraction introduced Wakanda itself: as the Defender’s land, they’re accompanied by narration that sounds like a voice-over from a cheesy old adventure movie or travelogue; it’s so amusing, that it’s guaranteed to have you hearing it in your head.

The Defenders #6 – Review

By: Matt Fraction (writer), Victor Ibanez (art), Tom Palmer & Terry Pallot (finishes), Chris Sotomayor (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: Delving into ancient secrets, Danny and the Surfer discover a connection between the Concordance Engines and the Prince of Orphans, as well as an old, forgotten team of superheroes – the awesomely named Confederates of the Curious.

The Review:  One thing that Fraction’s Defenders has had going for it since its first issue has been consistently awesome art.  I’ll admit that when I saw that Ibanez had been assigned a pair of finishers, I was worried.  Thankfully, while not QUITE as excellent as previous issues, this is still a nice-looking comic.  Ibanez reminds me a bit of Rafael Albuquerque, a mix of Saturday morning cartoon and noir.  In particular, I liked the thick-lines in his inking, which added quite a bit of character.  Sotomayor’s colours really sealed it, using bold, vibrant colours that match the energy and enthusiasm of Fraction’s script.

That energy is far and away the best thing about Fraction’s Defenders and that holds true this month.  It’s clear that he’s having a lot of fun writing that series and, as such, it makes it hard to hate.  Fraction obviously enjoys writing Danny Rand and that makes the character all the more fun to read.  Despite the ominous engines and secret histories, there’s a kind of gleefulness and madcap pace to the book that makes it an enjoyable experience.  I especially like the pacing; this issue could’ve easily been expanded upon and decompressed into a much larger arc, but following a format of short-arcs and interrelated one-shots has meant a much higher pace and single issues that are much more satisfying in their own right, packed with their own stand-alone stories as well as significant progression in the overall series.

Valkyrie #1 – Review

By: Bryan J.L. Glass (writer), Phil Winslade (artist), Veronica Gandini (colorist), Dave Lanphear (letterer)

The Story: Taking place between Avengers Disassembled and Secret Invasion, this story is about a woman called Valerie, who was murdered and resurrected minutes later as a confused Valkyrie. Then she fights Pile Driver.

What’s Good: I liked the lettering for Val’s inner monologue and… Well, that’s it. I’d really like my money and time back.

What’s Not So Good: This is the most disappointing comic book I’ve picked up since those Green Arrow issues around #21 and the Titans cross-over with Jericho. Cover to cover. I have more than a passing familiarity with Valkyrie, but even the first page synopsis (…the story so far…) confused me with not only obtuse sentences, but with grammatically poor and ambiguous writing. It got no better as the plot started moving. So Pile Driver tries to rape a girl, who throws herself off a balcony. She is resurrected as Valkyie by those paddles they use for heart attack guys. OK. I’ll spend my suspension of disbelief to buy that Val’s got some grudge against Pile Driver and that she’ll pick a suitable host to come back in. Thereafter, her memory problems, confused and cliché internal monologue, and reactions are all tepid and uninteresting. I’ve already seen it in other comics where the story was phoned in. Didn’t like it there either. I thought for a minute the story would pick up with Janet Van Dyne acting as some sort of symbolic fairy godmother, but her superficiality and faux-deep platitudes (and apparently quick mood changes) made her a detractor in a story that already wasn’t doing well. The ending, where Val catches up with Pile Driver, seems to make no sense from Pile Driver’s motivation, nor the coincidences that gave Val the info as to where he might be. Val’s character arc in all this (ie: what is she struggling with?) was muddy, unconvincing and poorly shown in the writing.

The Last Defenders #1 (of 6) – Review

By Joe Casey (co-plot, script), Keith Giffen (co-plot, breakdowns), Jim Muniz (pencils), Cam Smith (inks), Antonio Fabela (colors)

If you’ve read previous incarnations of The Defenders, I’d love to hear your take on this new series. If you’re not very familiar with Defenders canon (like me), you’re probably going to think this book is sub-par. Not only am I lost as to what’s going on, but the art isn’t very good either.

Nighthawk’s been cutting his teeth under The Initiative for months, trying to prove himself to the cause after being on the “wrong side” during Civil War. Finally, after months of service, Tony Stark gives a opportunity to Nighthawk – he’ll be leader of the new Defenders team. The crux is Nighthawk will have no decision on who makes the roster and the odd member choices Stark  imposes almost makes this team destined to fail. In fact, it’s outright implied by Nighthawk that failure is exactly what Tony is setting them up for.

Well, if you ask me, not only is Tony setting this team up for failure, but he’s also setting this book up for failure. Comprised of Colossus (yes, that Colosssus), Blazing Skull (a ghost rider wannabe who just sucks), She-Hulk (yay!), and Nighthawk (who is this guy?), well, you can see for yourself that this is not a very compelling roster. The issue is completely readable, but it just doesn’t make any sense to me. With flashbacks pointing to the Son of Satan, a two-bit HYDRA like organization who can decimate SHIELD black ops teams, some Atlantean subplot, and a weird demon that looks like a T-Rex, parrot, and cobra, I honestly had one of those “WTF” moments.

There’s definitely a lot to be desired with this book, but one of its worst shortcomings is the art. Jim Muniz’s pencils are complete with an assortment of odd and stiff poses by characters, and the biggest crime is how he manages to make She-Hulk look retarded. Even Colossus, at times, looks completely bloated. Sorry, but I won’t be back for issue #2. There’s nothing here that appeals to me. A resurrected series like this needs to cater to new readers, not just old ones. But, because the story is incomprehensible to the average comic reader, it fails. (Grade: F)

– J. Montes