Superior #7 – Review

By: Mark Millar (writer), Leinil Yu (pencils), Gerry Alanguilan (inks), Sunny Gho (colors), Clayton Cowles (letters) & Nicole Boose (editor)

The Story: Will Simon/Superior make a deal with the devil to save Earth.

Four Things:

1. Has a popcorn-y summer movie feel. – I can totally see this being a summer movie and I’m sure Millar has either already signed with a producer or is hard at work securing such a deal.  That’s not a bad thing because this could be a lot of fun to see on the big screen.  The story is linear, doesn’t ask too much of the reader and has a happy ending.  This comic could be adapted without too much fuss.  Yay!

2. Great linework. – For me, the real star of this series has been the Yu/Alanguilan art team.  Even if the art is a much more realistic than I like, I can still appreciate what’s going on here.  The hard thing with realism is that you have to nail it and that takes special artists to not give us faces that fall apart when you stare at them for too long.  Yu and Alanguilan are up the challenge.  They also do a pretty good job of capturing the super-powered action, which is (again) hard for realistic artists to pull off (for the same reason a photograph almost never has the vitality of the real thing).  My only fear when I see a comic like this is that they’re inspiring other young artists….who are far less talented….to draw like them because this is NOT a style that looks good when it isn’t done well.

WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Wolverine and the X-Men #4 – I love the barely controlled chaos that is the Jean Grey School!  Seeing the faculty trying to control this truly bizarre mash-up of students is just a delight.  I hate to advocate for new X-series, but wouldn’t a “New Mutants: 2012” series with Idie, Broo, Quentin Quire, the Apocalypse guy, Kid Gladiator & Warbird be fun?  Two things are really making this series stand out….  One, the fact that it doesn’t have that stick-up-the-ass seriousness that has traditionally pervaded the X-books forever.  Two, it’s had GREAT art.  Nick Bradshaw is like the second coming of Art Adams.  Just enjoy it people!  Honorable Mention: Amazing Spider-Man #677, Scalped #55, Severed #6.

Most Anticipated: Batman #5 – The talent on this title is sooooo top-notch.  We all like to rave about Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo (and I’m as big of a fan as anyone), but inker Jonathan Glapion and colorist FCO Plascencia are hot stuff too.  Trust me, if either of those less heralded guys wasn’t going their job well….folks would be complaining about how “Capullo has lost it”.  This has been a wonderful series since the relaunch and just the talent alone makes it my most anticipated for the week.

Other Picks: Cobra #9, Morning Glories #15, Amazing Spider-Man #678, Daredevil #8, Legion of Monsters #4, Superior #7

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Scalped #55 – As this amazing series concludes, Jason Aaron is really, really playing for keeps.  Big, big shocking things happen in this issue that will stun long-time readers (are there any kind, when comes to Scalped?) and have you DYING for the next issue.  There have been times over the last year or so where Scalped seem to spin its wheels a bit, but this is NOT one of those times. As we head into the final arc, Scalped is burning at a fever pitch.  This is stunning work and a story where it’s hard to believe that things will turn out well for anyone.  Just an amazing read, all-around.

Most Anticipated: Wonder Woman #5 – It’s pretty well established at this point that Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s Wonder Woman is bloody brilliant and one of the true overachievers of DC’s new 52.  Well, the end of last month’s issue just dropped what I like to call a “shit just got real” moment.  I can’t see where the series goes from here and give the gravity of last month’s events, I think Diana is going to be roughing some people up.  If you’re not reading this book, you really should be, and if you’re one of those people who’ve never been interested in WW, know that this is unlike any WW comic perhaps– ever.

Other Picks: Batman #5, Amazing Spider-Man #678, Avengers #21, Daredevil #8, Invincible Iron Man #512, Moon Knight #9, Uncanny X-Men #5