Astonishing X-Men #37 – Review

By: Daniel Way (writer), Jason Pearson & Sara Pichelli (pencils), Karl Story & Pichelli (inks), Sonia Oback (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Daniel Ketchum (associate editor) & Nick Lowe (editor)

The Story: The Astonishing X-Men battle Fin Fang Foom in Tokyo.

What’s Good: Well, the basic part of the story: The X-Men battling Fin Fang Foom in Toyko with all the glittery neon signs is pretty cool.  There’s all the fun tropes of giant monster battles: stuff getting smashed, heroes hiding behind cars from the giant monster, Wolverine jumping on FFF’s back and looking about as big as an ant….  It isn’t real deep, but it’s still kinda fun and there’s promise of more monster battles next month (or whenever this title deigns to drop another issue on us) due to the reveal that the main villain is Mentallo and he has seized Monster Island and is controlling the monsters (including FFF).

It was also nice to see Armor get a little bit of time on the page.  Count me as a big fan of the Whedon Astonishing X-Men where he did a lot to establish Armor as a three-dimensional character.  It never made sense to me why Marvel would have a “name” writer develop a young character, make her viable and then just have her sit on the shelf for 3-4 years, so it’s nice to see her back in action (and with augmented powers to boot).

Deadpool: Wade Wilson’s War #2 – Review

By Duane Swierczynksi (writer), Jason Pearson (art), Paul Mounts (colors), VC’s Clayton Cowles (letters and production)

The Story: Deadpool continues his testimony before the Senate committee, explaining (his version) of his origin and the details of his first mission as a covert operative. Meanwhile, the people behind the Weapon X program that created Deadpool scramble to piece together their own version of events.

What’s Good: I was pretty hard on the first issue of this mini-series, but I’m happy to report that things have significantly improved in the second. The expositional growing pains are out of the way, and the plot finally has room to open up and breathe a bit. ‘Pool’s antics in front of the committee feel toned down from last issue, and are less distracting—and far more effective—because of this decision.

The fiction Deadpool weaves for the committee is infused with just the right mix of self-aggrandizing insanity and well-meaning sincerity, and the cuts between his idealized version of history and the more truthful, recorded version being dug out by the Weapon X crew is very well handled, and quite entertaining. Ashbury’s panic over the information leak, and his scramble to obtain details and figure out exactly what it means for himself and his company, feels suitably frantic and imperative.

Swierczynski seems to have tapped into just the right part of Deadpool’s insanity for this issue: he is well spoken, lucid, and we can never be quite sure if his clowning and tenuous grip on reality (and history) are simply the honest product of his psychosis, or if they are calculated bits of manipulation designed to misdirect and misinform the committee. THIS is the Deadpool I like, and want to read about!

Deadpool: Wade Wilson’s War #1 – Review

By Duane Swierczynski (writer), Jason Pearson (artist), Paul Mounts (colors) VC’s Clayton Cowles (letters and production)

The Story: Deadpool (outside of the normal Marvel Universe continuity) testifies before a Senate hearing about a secret black-ops mission he participated in 25 years ago. This goes about as well as you’d expect.

What’s Good: Well, this is only a four-part mini-series and not a new monthly book, that’s something good (and more on that later.) The actual content itself…none of it is really “good,” but it’s also pretty benign and inoffensive. “Bland” is the operative word to describe this issue. And since that’s more than I can say for a lot of Deadpool chaff on the stands right now, I’ll count that as a positive.

The story is mildly interesting, and might actually get better in the next issue now that the pieces are set up and in place. Swierczynski’s writing is okay; he gets in a couple of fun jokes and moments, but nothing that any casual fan of Deadpool hasn’t seen or heard before. None of it is bad; it’s just that none of it is really good either. The art is very similar: competent, with a couple interesting gags and panels (I really like the smiley face badges on ‘Pool’s class-A uniform) but nothing that will stick in your mind after you finish this book and move on to the next one in your stack.

X-Force Annual #1 – Review

Main Story by Robert Kirkman (Writer), Jason Pearson (Art), and Dave Stewart (Colors)

“Undeadpoool” by Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost (Writers), Carlo Barberi (Pencils), Sandu Florea (Inks), and Edgar Delgado (Colors)

The Story: Robert Kirkman’s story that takes up the bulk of the X-Force Annual is about Wolverine breaking into a Hydra base in order to locate a target that Cyclops needs brought back alive. “Undeadpool” is a short, humorous side story to the attack on Utopia that’s taking place in the X-Necrosha crossover books.

What’s Good: Robert Kirkman’s violent, yet fairly lighthearted, Wolverine story that leads the X-Force Annual is a satisfying piece of entertainment. It doesn’t really break any new ground, but thanks to some funny Wolverine lines and a conclusion that gives the whole thing some dramatic weight, Kirkman’s tale is, ultimately, worth checking out at some point. As far as the visuals are concerned, Jason Pearson’s rough, slightly exaggerated style does justice to the type of brutal, yet comedic violence that Kirkman’s script calls for. As everyone knows, Wolverine can take a beating as well as dish one out and Pearson makes sure to highlight that fact throughout the story.

Punisher Annual #1 – Review

By Rick Remender (writer), Jason Pearson (artist), Dave Stewart (colors)

The Story: Letha and Lascivious, in a desperate bid to maintain their newly acquired leases on life, attempt to draw Punisher out into the open by killing a group of vets.  When they fail to take down the Punisher, they turn to Spider-Man to help them finish the job.

The Good: Remender was definitely the right man to inherit this title, and in my opinion has done a far better job penning the Punisher’s exploits than Fraction ever did.  Under Remender’s control, Frank Castle has become a delightfully witty bastard who sprinkles his staccato bursts of dialogue with enough black humor to make Spider-Man and Deadpool stand up and cheer.  This Punisher is a raging bull who’s armed to the teeth and relentless in his pursuit of homicidal justice, and I like that about him.  Come on, how could you not?  Chances are if you’re a fan of Punisher, you read this comic to see him stalk the streets of New York and find new and excruciating ways to whack villains.  That’s all I really want out of this book, and Remender delivers the goods.  I also really enjoyed the hell out of Pearson’s art.  As much I liked Tan Eng Huat’s art on Ghost Rider, I absolutely hate it on Punisher.  Pearson’s art is largely entertaining though, and I wouldn’t object to seeing more of his stuff in future issues.  Highly illustrative, but with a slightly exaggerated appearance, he does a wonderful job of amping up the emotion in faces to degrees that are at times even more intense than the story itself.  Punisher has never looked more terrifying and stark raving mad than he does when illustrated by Pearson, and that’s a rare quality in an artist handling a 30 year old character.

The Not So Good: I remember a time when Annuals used to be big deals, crazy event comics full of extra pages and mayhem.  Sadly, those days are a distant memory, and we are now left with issues like this, culled from the Big Book of Generic Plots, a tedious tone that too many creators seem to be drawing their inspiration from.  Remender’s a solid writer, but on every page it feels like he phoned this one in, right on down to the fight with Spider-Man that of course ends in a stalemate.  In fact, as I think about it, that’s all this annual amounted: fights that don’t go anywhere or achieve anything.  Punisher, Spider-Man, Letha and Lascivious, they all fight, nobody wins, everybody walks away to fight another day.  Yes, Punisher has great character moments through it all, but not nearly enough to justify paying $4 for.  And while I enjoyed Pearson’s interpretation of Punisher, I’d love to know why the hell Castle looks like he went overboard with the mascara in every single picture he appears in.  I mean, Jesus, it’s ridiculous.  I’d like to think Pearson was trying to make Punisher look grim and gritty, but there must be better ways of getting the idea across than this.

Conclusion: An incredibly average issue by an otherwise excellent creative team.  Longtime readers of the title will find much to like here no doubt, but it’s not a strong enough issue for me to recommend to the new reader.

Grade:  C

-Tony Rakittke