Animal Man Annual #1 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (story), Timothy Green (pencils), Joseph Silver (inks), Lovern Kindzierski (colors)

The Story: Socks has a very “unique” idea of what makes a good children’s story, to say the least.

The Review: Most of the annuals we see tend to use the showcase format, offering short pieces by a variety of writers and artists, a mixture of exercises by creative veterans and samples from potential new talent.  Then there’s the other kind of annual: the self-contained interlude, a story which wedges itself between arcs and has some importance in its own right, but with a higher price point which limits how important it can actually be.

Lemire manages this tricky balance by giving you some details which help you understand the bigger story of the “Rise of the Rot,” but which aren’t so crucial that anyone who didn’t buy into the annual would be left out when they picked up their next monthly issue of Animal Man.  And there is no better narrative tool to accomplish all this than the flashback.  Diving into the past avoids any substantial interference with the ongoing action, but it could yield enough revelations to make the reading worthwhile.

Annihilators #1 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Tan Eng Huat (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), June Chung (colors), Joe Caramanga (letters), John Denning (assistant editor) & Bill Rosemann (editor)

Rocket Raccoon/Groot by: Abnett & Lanning (writers), Timothy Green, II (art), Nathan Fairbairn (colors), Clayton Cowles (letters), Rachel Pinnelas & Denning (assistant editors) & Rosemann (editor)

The Story: Quasar, Ronan, Gladiator, Beta Ray Bill, Silver Surfer & a Spaceknight (yes…a Spaceknight) team up to keep the Universe safe.  And….we catch up with everyone’s favorite spunky sentient Raccoon.

What’s Good: The mere premise of this book is kinda “Avengers in space”.  And it isn’t some weak team of heroes either.  Abnett & Lanning (DnA) have basically gathered together the most powerful cosmic beings in the Marvel U. on the premise that the Guardians of the Galaxy were a good concept, but simply not powerful enough to stop the truly massive threats.

There is a lot of “team’s first meeting” in this issue, but the real highlight for me is that one member of the Annihilators is an honest-to-goodness Galadorian Spaceknight.  Alas, it is not our favorite silvery Spaceknight hero from the early 1980’s: ROM.  ROM is still stuck in the trademark penalty box between Marvel and Parker Brothers, but the story of the Spaceknights and their mortal enemies, the Dire Wraiths, is a good one and worth exploring in the Marvel U.  Granted, Marvel has never completely abandoned the Spaceknight concept (there was a miniseries ~2000), but it is always good to have them back.

It was also a fun to catch up with Rocket Raccoon in a truly zany tale that shows Rocky in his post-Guardians phase pushing a mail-cart through a prairie dog warren of cubicles for some faceless cosmic corporation.  Sigh…he hates his job, it’s boring, his boss is a prick and then he get’s attacked by a very strange killer clown which causes him to want to track down his old buddy, Groot.  Fun abounds.

This is also a beefy issue.  So, we’re getting 38 pages of comics for your $4.99.

The art is very solid throughout.  Huat’s designs and layouts interpret the story very effectively and I really like Olazaba’s inks.  He shows a real commitment to shading with very fine lines and it gives the comics a very throwback feel.  Green’s art in the Rocket Raccoon story is much more comical and that not only fits the silly nature of the story, but it is usually a good choice with Rocky.  It is really hard to draw a “realistic” bipedal raccoon and not have it look like a monkey.

The Immortal Iron Fist #21 – Review

By Duane Swierczynski (writer), Timothy Green (artist), Edward Bola (colorist)

The Story: Just in time for the holidays, Swierczynski delivers what is easily his finest work to date on Iron Fist. Before the next major story arc begins, this on shot tale of eternal hope focuses on the arrival of the Iron Fist of 3099: nine-year old Wah Sing Rand, who has waited twenty-four years to save the planet from tyranny and fight for a better tomorrow.

The Good: Swierczynski’s writing has always been solid, even great at times. However, with this issue he has both enriched the quality of the Iron Fist legacy, and raised the bar for all issues to come.  For a $3 price tag (enjoy them while they last!) you get a complete story that is wildly imaginative and entertaining.  Not only that, but it doesn’t require you to have read a year of back issues to understand what’s going on.

Timothy Green’s art has a wonderful European quality to it that you don’t see often enough in mainstream American comics.  His linework is clean, dynamic, and rarely employs heavy inks, allowing Bola’s colors to shine and animate every page.  I would not mind at all if these guys became the regular art team on the book.

The Not So Good: If I had to pick at something, I would say the cover doesn’t even begin to sell all the coolness inside the comics.  Seeing as Swierczynski drew influences in this issue from movies like Akira and The Matrix, I think a cover designed as an homage to either of those movies may have done a better job promoting this issue.

Conclusion: Swierczysnki’s tale of the future Iron Fist only further proves that he has the vision, imagination, and mad kung fu skills needed to make Iron Fist one of the finest pieces of comic entertainment available to readers today.  Pick up an issue today and see what you’ve been missing!

Grade:  A

-Tony Rakittke