The Thanos Imperative #3 – Review

By: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (writers), Miguel Sepulveda (artist), Jay David Ramos (colorist)

The Story: Thanos and the Guardians of the Galaxy sneak deeper into the Cancerverse with a little help from artificial friends. In the meantime, Nova, Quasar and the heads of various power groups in our universe talk war now that the Galactus Engine is chewing through the allies. Oh, and Drax picks an inopportune moment to remember why he was created.

What’s Good: Things are definitely getting worse for our heroes, which is always a great place to be as a reader. At least one Marvel cosmic entity buys it, and the Galactus Engine seems unstoppable. There’s danger and drama in the story. The reveal of the Cancerverse artificial lifeforms was a great tip of the hat to a lot of the Marvel Universe and fun for continuity fans. There were other nods to deep Marvel history for those who have been reading about Thanos since Jim Starlin turned him from a Blastaar-type of villain into the bad-ass who tried to commit cosmic genocide. I also liked the moments of growth (Nova) and the fast and furious revelations. By the end of the issue, we get a lot more of a grip on what caused all this and what everybody has to do.

First Impressions 8/4/10

FIRST IMPRESSIONS 8/4/10

Artifacts #1

By Ron Marz, Michael Broussard, & Marc Silvestri
Price: $3.99

Brief Thoughts: Marz’s and Broussard’s storytelling here is strong, and both of their talents are well-served by an engaging plot concerning supernatural forces and dire prophecies.  Right now the plot mainly concerns the Witchblade-bearer Sara Pezzinni and mysterious escapee from Hell, Tom Judge, but these two characters are intriguing enough that I’m willing to wait around and see who else shows up for the show.  There are a few extra pages of supplemental material at the back of the issue that might fill in some blanks for any new readers jumping on with this first issue (like me).  Worth a look, especially if you’re a fan of the genre.

Verdict: Give it a shot.

Baltimore – The Plague Ships #1

By Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden & Ben Stenbeck
Price: $3.50

Brief Thoughts: You really can’t go wrong mixing vampires, zeppelins, witchcraft and the early 1900’s. Throw in the Plague and Lord Baltimore, vampire hunter, and  you’ve got a bloody good time, oh yes.  Mignola’s & Golden’s script is sparse and right to the point and because of these traits, it shines.  Sometimes you just don’t need much backstory to sell a plot to readers, and they know that this can work if they simply do it right.  Stenbeck is the real one to watch here, though, as the entire issue is such a joy to read because of his gorgeous artwork.  This looks to be another fun little dark ditty from Dark Horse.

Verdict: Give it a shot.

Captain America – Forever Allies #1

By Roger Stern, Nick Dragotta & Marco Santucci
Price: $3.99

Brief Thoughts: I wouldn’t call this miniseries bad by any stretch of the imagination, but the words “slow” and “unnecessary” do spring to mind.  Stern’s script lacks urgency, and while the Golden Age scenes pencilled by Dragotta are nice to look at, the present day scenes by Santucci are stiff and plain.  There’s a 10 page reprint of a retelling of Cap’s & Bucky’s origin by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, which might be worth a look if you’ve never read it before.  Otherwise, stick to the monthly Cap series.

Verdict: Save your dough.

Nancy In Hell #1 – Review

By: El Torres (writer), Juan Jose Ryp (art), Francis Gamboa (color), Malaka Studios (letters)

The Story: Nancy is a trashy/sexy scream-queen who is trapped in Hell.

What’s Good: A lot if you don’t take things too seriously.  If you’re a red-blooded male of our species, there are a lot of worse things than a sexy, scantily clad blond using a chainsaw to chop up the minions of hell.  Nancy is also a strong, take-matters-into-her-own-hands character, so all is not lost on our female readers (I’ll come back to this below).

I’m always incredibly quick to hate on Marvel/DC when they put overt sexiness in their comics and sometimes that might come across as prudish, but it is really that I want that sort of comic material contained to a comic like Nancy in Hell.  You can look at the cover for this and know what you’re going to get versus reading Thor and being surprised that the she-devils are planning to have an orgy with Mephisto (and then not being able to pass that comic onto a 8 year old boy).   There is a time and place for all sorts of comics and Nancy in Hell is very appropriate for what it is.