Quick Hit Reviews – Week of Jan 5, 2011

Here at WCBR we all have pretty extensive pull lists.  Every week, despite our best efforts, there are a few comics that get read, but don’t get the full review treatment.  Without further ado…

Avengers: The Childrens Crusade #4 – I’m enjoying this series as much as anything with an Avenger’s tag on it.  The big news is that the Scarlet Witch is back…. kinda.  The story is lots of fun as we have Wiccan trying to save his mother and the rest of the Young Avengers trying to save Wiccan, while Wolverine tries to kill Wanda, etc.  Just really good stuff.  Cheung’s art is also just top shelf material.  He draws a great Wolverine.  The only thing that has me a little concerned is that this is issue 4 out of 9.  With a bimonthly schedule, it’ll be done around November-ish.  So far, this title has been fun enough that the continuity alarm isn’t going off, but I wonder if they’ll be able to sustain that feeling once Marvel cycles through their next FEAR ITSELF event.  Grade: A- — Dean Stell

Thanos Imperative: Devastation #1 – I had mixed feelings going into this issue.  For all the bitching and moaning from fanboys over Marvel scaling down their cosmic franchise, I kinda felt it was time.  I enjoyed the cosmic stuff, but didn’t think the Thanos Imperative was setting the world on fire.  It was a fine miniseries, but nothing that screamed: You must continue to tell cosmic stories!!!!!  So, I figured this one-shot would be a kind of death-rattle for the cosmic line-up.  WRONG!  It was really awesome!  The basic story is that Cosmo the dog is carrying out the last wishes of Starlord (Peter Quill who died at the end of Thanos Imperative).  Peter had urged Cosmo to continue the Guardians of the Galaxy, but with heavy hitters and not the cast offs that the Guardians were.  So Cosmo ropes in Gladiator, Silver Surfer, Beta Ray Bill and a few other A-listers to form a few team.  I’m excited.  The only thing holding this issue back from getting an A was the art.  I just don’t think this is what Sepulveda was born to draw.  Grade: A- —  Dean Stell

Choker #5 – I quite enjoy the Bens (McCool and Templesmith) miniseries from Image and think it’ll be a great read in trade.  We’re really close to the final resolution of this series and while I’m (honestly) a little confused by some of the machinations going on and who is who, I’m still enjoying it. Templesmith’s art is just one of a kind and is perfect for this type of dark noir infused tale of steroids gone overboard.  The corpse vacuum even makes a return!   The thing hurting this series is the release schedule.  It’s not realistic to say, “they should have all 6 issues in the can before they solicit the comic at all” because the creators kinda need that cash flow to finance the creation of the next issue.  I just wish that the single issue buyers who are at least partially funding the creation of the art got a less punctuated reading experience than the folks who kept their money in their pocket and waited for the trade.  We should get a better experience than the folks who sat on their wallet, but we don’t.  That just seems backwards to me.  Grade: B — Dean Stell

Iron Man – Thor #3 – This comic was pretty good as we see Tony Stark trying to resist the High Evolutionary’s grand plan to make Tony a new “God” and then Thor gets into the act.  I think this would be fun if you just absolutely need more Thor or Iron Man in your life and Eaton’s art is really nice to look at.  The biggest negative for me in this issue is how the heck Diablo got powered up to the point where he could hang with Iron Man, Thor and the High Evolutionary.  He is a a career B-lister who got taken out by Black Cat a few months ago in ASM.  There’s nothing wrong with this comic, but it is an average Big 2 superhero comic.  Grade: C  — Dean Stell

Red Robin #13 – Review

By: Fabian Nicienza (writer), Marcus To (penciller), Ray McCarthy and Mark McKenna (inkers), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: The Hitlist, Part One: The Domino Effect: This tale opens on three brothers, Dick, Tim and Damian, who have reconciled and become family again. However, their chosen vocations pull them apart once more, Batman and Robin after one set of criminals, Red Robin after the Lynx. Tim struggles, not only with first contact with the Lynx and some weird coincidences, but with his whole life. He’s got five questions to ask: Where to live, what to do, how to do it, who to do it with and who to do it against. Red Robin #13 answers three of those questions.

What’s Good: Chris Yost steered the first twelve issues of Red Robin through a roller coaster of adventure as Tim Drake sough to prove himself. Fabian Nicienza, with issue #13, assumes the role of worthy successor. The dialogue is crisp, the characters vibrant, the situations fun (Tim is engaged!) and the hero has a plan. Actually, that last part is not new. Red Robin, if nothing else, has proven himself to be the one superhero that walks around with pockets stuffed with plans. This is what makes him so successful and engaging as a character. Tim is driven, not by something so amorphous as crime, but by specific, strategic plans. And he’s obviously cooking up a big one now, thanks to some fine plotting and writing by Nicienza.

To, McCarthy, McKenna and Major turn in some fine artwork. The facial expressions and level of textural detail are a bit understated for my tastes, but To picks the camera angles, panel compositions and postures that make this story materialize. The quick shift in camera angles, whether watching Tim shake down one of the golden dragons, or when following Tim manage his fiancé, make the panels breeze along. The double splash page is dynamic, and even Tam’s ridiculed humiliation is penciled into a life that is moving and happening. That dynamism counts just as much in the fight scenes, and the color work, whether dark and sharp or blurred and surreal, give the panels an extra dimension.

Nova #36 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Andrea DiVito (art), Bruno Hang (colors) & Cory Petit (letters)

The Story: After a multi-issue battle with the Sphinx, Nova returns to Earth.  Will his stay there be quiet?

What’s Good: I’m excited for the Thanos Imperative, and this issue of Nova was a nice lead in.  I was a little afraid that this issue would be an issue to get Nova ready to become a Secret Avenger and perhaps focus on his relationship with the not-dead-anymore Namorita, but DNA don’t give us any of that.  Instead we get evil Quasar and parasitic mind-control organisms, as Nova returns to Earth and Project PEGASUS, only to find an open portal to the Fault down in the basement with one of those big, nasty, tentacled, pointy-toothed monstrosities coming through.  Cool story and a nice lead in to the Thanos Imperative!

Guardians of the Galaxy #25 – Review

By Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (writers), Brad Walker (artist), Andrew Hennessy (inker), Wil Quintana (colorist)

The Story: Thanos lives!!! And holy shit does he have an axe to grind…

The Good: Fellow critic Dean Stell and I were talking about this series the other day and we both agreed that one of the things that makes Guardians of the Galaxy (and really any of Marvel’s cosmic comics) such a fun read is how surprisingly accessible it is. Abnett and Lanning work hard to make every issue easy for new readers to jump into and rewarding for those of us that have been reading for awhile, and it never ceases to amaze me what a great job they do of walking that fine line month after month. It was also a great pleasure to see Walker back on the book. I never had a problem with Wes Craig’s art over the previous few issues, and am actually looking forward to seeing him come back to the book at some point, but I have to admit that Walker is the perfect artist for this comic.