July 18 Reviews

Conquest: Quasar #1
Marvel
3/5

This is the first of the Conquest books that didn't leave me utterly excited to read more. The art looks good and the story has plenty of depth, but I just plain don't like the writing. Gage has put together a good plot, but the words themselves read very cheesily to me. So far the events in this title are more complicated than Wraith or Nova, but both those books manage to be more captivating and fun to read. Nova, thus far, is particularly strong.

Even though this is the least I've enjoyed a Conquest title so far, it's still worth checking. The entire event is an exciting time and even though this isn't the strongest segment, it's still a lot of fun.
-Grady



World War Hulk #2
Marvel
4/5

Well, it's certainly pretty lookin' and satisfyingly heavy to hold. The story itself hasn't yet progressed past the premise, but so far I'm alright with that. This is about as "summer blockbuster" as a comic event can get. Essentially one massive battle except for a few instances where someone tries to reason with Hulk, something which never exactly works out. The fight feels massive, which thus far seems to be the entire aim of the series. It's a fun read.

That said, even though I'm enjoying the slug-fest now doesn't mean I'll feel the same way in two or three issues. I would love to eventually see something more than a bunch of demonstrations of just how strong Hulk has become. At this point, 11 WWH-related issues in, I think most of us get the point.
-Grady



The Order #1
Marvel
4.5/5

Matt Fraction has got it going on. Between this, Casanova, and Iron Fist I have heard or witnessed the guy put out some of the strongest material of the year. I would certainly consider this one of my favorite debuts in recent memory. Fraction's writing feels fresh and exciting, similar to Peter David's work on X-Factor or most anything involving Brian K. Vaughan. Comics written by individuals whose 'voice' suggests they're far hipper than those you'd expect to find writing comics. People who probably have relatively good taste in music.

Fraction knows how to use his cast, and does so aggressively. Each character is a means to various ends, and throughout the issue he demonstrates total mastery over them. There's a brilliant mix of spot-on cultural sensibility and tribute to the superhero form. The primary character, Henry "Anthem" Hellrung, is empathetically interesting and Fraction's approach toward him repeatedly reminded me of Vaughan's work with Mayor Hundred in Ex Machina. The entire issue actually rings of that series with its wonderful balance of witty colorful dialogue, believable lead characters, and surprisingly exciting political intrigue. There's something decidedly human about both titles, and it's captivating. The events in this book feel like they're happening more in our world than in the Marvel U.

If Fraction can keep this up as time progresses, chalk this up with Thunderbolts as my two favorite books launching out of the Initiative. Very glad I decided to read it.
-Tom



New X-Men #40
Marvel
3/5

Sometimes I feel a little weird reading this title. Such a good job is done in making these kids look/act like kids that watching such horrible things happen to them can be somewhat disturbing. The innocence of the characters is what makes this interesting. I can see how this book would be massively appealing to a younger audience, as it reads like a much better version of some of the cartoons I see on television these day. Were I 12 years old right now, this series would consume me.

As for Endangered Species, there's one concern popping up here that I have to confront immediately. Why, with only 8 pages to work with each time, would they decide to dedicate the entire first page to having Beast recap what he did last week? So not only do we have to buy four different titles to keep up with E.S., but now we can anticipate that literally 1/8 of the story will simply be re-explaining what happened 2 or 3 pages ago? My God. I understand trying to make the story accessible to those who aren't reading all four titles, but isn't that why they have the "Previously In Endangered Species" page? This is certainly a slap in the face for those people who have committed to the whole line of books.

That said, the events in this installment of E.S. were actually quite a bit more interesting than last week, and I'm finally excited/intrigued to see where things go from here. In the end this story feels like it's going to be pretty well done, it's simply difficult to gain momentum with so few pages each week. I just wish the delivery structure of this series weren't so...stupid. I was starting to see some silver-lining to having this book divided between the different titles, now I'm not so sure.
-Grady



Programme #1
Wildstorm
3.5/5

I have a feeling this is a series that I'm going to really get into as time goes on. The premise here is that while the United States and Soviet Union were stockpiling nuclear weapons during the Cold War, they were also hording superbeings - a fact that is about to become important as one of these beings is now running amok through the middle-east, slaughtering U.S. forces at will.

The issue also introduces several of the key players, including an American bar-owner named Max who seems to be further involved with these events than he realizes and a newly hired assistant to the President who hints at being more than meets the eye. The art is impressive, though slightly difficult to follow in places and I found I was able to understand what was going on far more on my second reading. This is a new title that I'm looking forward to seeing more from.
-Tom



Zero Killer #1
Dark Horse
2/5

This series debuts with a bit of a slow start. It is set in New York thirty years after 90% of the world's population was destroyed in a nuclear war circa 1973. During the nuclear exchange both Nixon and Ford were assassinated, along with a majority of the U.S. House and Senate - leaving a ragtag collection of military units in power. New York itself is under tens of feet of water and is effectively controlled by an assortment of violent gangs that have taken up residence in the Empire State, Chrysler, and Pan Am buildings.

This first issue features the titular character "Zero," rescuing a young woman from several gang members, as well as introduces us to one of the gang lords - a ruthless gal who struts around naked save for a g-string bottom. Thus far the whole experience is rather...silly.

Of course it's difficult to judge an entire series on it's opening issue, but with the comic market as flooded and expensive as it is - this one is going to have to show some truly impressive cards next month, or I'm out.
-Tom



Captain America #28
Marvel
4/5

This book seriously rocks. Ed Brubaker has a feel for these espionage/noir/crime type stories that is truly enthralling. This issue is no less impressive than the last two, with the scenes involving Tony Stark standing out as being particularly strong. Reading this title is like watching a great spy film. I hope Brubaker can manage to keep the promise that Cap's shield and uniform are to remain retired, because honestly, this book is better now that it's ever been and that's saying a lot. This is one of the best things on the shelves right now and is a must-read every month for anyone who enjoys hero books from either of the big two U's.
-Tom



World War Hulk: X-Men #2
Marvel
2.5/5

Whether this is worth your time is going to depend a great deal on whether you love the X-Men or not. When the issue opens the fight starts immediately, and the battle rages on through till next month's installment. Personally, I had a fun enough time seeing my favorite mutants all come together from around the globe to combat the Hulk, and I will read the final book.

There are, however, some issues holding it back from being recommended reading. First, remember that nothing happens here except a big exciting battle royale. There is nothing about this series that makes it remotely important to the core WWH story. We already know the X-Men lose. There were also a few unfortunate moments in the dialogue where characters needlessly tell each other what they just did, old-school comic writing style, I suppose for those of us readers who can't look at the pictures ourselves? Frankly that technique destroys the experience for me most the time. In this issue it involved Kitty Pride (you'll notice it, it stands out) and had there been several other moments like that I would probably consider the whole thing a waste of time. All that aside though, watching each of the most powerful X-Men take turns realizing they aren't as effective against the Hulk as they used to be - is actually pretty fun. You just need to have realistic expectations of what you're going to get out of it.
-Grady



Thunderbolts: Desperate Measures #1
Marvel
1.5/5

I hope Marvel isn't convincing themselves there's anything apart from Ellis contributing to the massive success that is the relaunch of Thunderbolts. It's not the characters in the series that are so exciting, it's what Ellis does with them. This terribly unnecessary one-shot makes that painfully evident. I'm reminded of why I used to think Bullseye to be such a boring character - he typically is. We were just talking several weeks ago about how Ellis makes Bullseye interesting by how little he uses him. Suddenly having an entire issue focused on him, written by someone other than Ellis, is an unfortunate misstep and hopefully isn't the type of endeavor we'll be seeing too often. Skip this.
-Tom