October 31 Reviews

New X-Men #43
Marvel
Written by: Kyle & Yost
Art by: Skottie Young
4/5

In many ways this title is the heart and soul of the X books' current continuity. Carey's X-Men is more important to the overarching storyline and Uncanny has a higher profile, but New X-Men captures the mood, spirit and emotions of the time on a far more tangible and relateable scale. The adults may drive the action but it's the kids who we get to see dealing the most directly with the implications of recent events. The kids make it real. These last two issues leading into Messiah Complex have dealt solely with the emotional and social fallout the students are suffering as a result of the trauma of the past few months. The conversations here are poignant and quite effective and serve to ground the entire line of X books as they continue moving forward with Messiah Complex next week.

I've grown to love this title. There's more humanity in it each month than most the other X books combined. Kyle and Yost are wonderfully gifted at capturing the voices and emotions of this teenage collective, and Skottie Young's art looks phenomenal. This issue also has one of the prettiest X-Men covers I've seen in years, a lovely bonus. I can't wait to see what type of role some of the more prominent students play in upcoming events.
-Grady



Mouse Guard Winter #2
Archaia
Written by: David Petersen
Art by: David Petersen
5/5

It's becoming excitingly evident that David Petersen was only getting his feet wet during the first run of Mouse Guard. With each successive release the series sees slight improvements, impressive for a title already considered one of the best available. Not only does the scope of the narrative expand considerably in this issue but so too does the development of the characters, all of whom are becoming increasingly distinguishable and interesting. Quite frankly, at this point, it's hard to imagine this title being anything less than great. It's a no-brainer purchase each time it's released and contends for Best of the Week on a regular basis. Clearly this week is no different.
-Tom



Conquest: Quasar #4
Marvel
Written by: Christos Gage
Art by: Mike Lilly
2.5/5

It's a bit disappointing to say how excited I am to see these minis concluding and the main series of this event finally getting underway. Only for Star-Lord have I been able to maintain the same level of enthusiasm and excitement I had coming in. In retrospect it seems the four mini lead-in structure was nothing more than an unnecessary hold-over from the first Annihilation event and unfortunately this time the titles didn't all have the capacity to hold their own for four issues.

Though I did enjoy this final installment of Quasar more than I had the two previous ones, it was still a disposable experience handicapped by Christos Gage's frustrating writing. Again, Gage has a bevy of terrific ideas but manages to present them in a very off-putting manner, robbing them of whatever excitement they may have been able to provide. There could have been twice as much content in this series given the amount of time he spent having Phyla explaining aloud to herself what it was she was doing at any given moment.

This title gave me information I need to know moving into Conquest proper, but aside from that I wish I hadn't wasted my time with it. Perhaps Abnett and Lanning will be able to write Phyla-Vell in a way that salvages the character for me but in Gage's hands she's not someone I care to spend any more time with.
-Tom



Iron Man #23
Marvel
Written by: Daniel & Charles Knauf
Art by: Butch Guice
3.5/5

It's surprising to me that Iron Man isn't a more controlled and important property for Marvel. You can't turn a page in nearly any of their comics right now without seeing Tony Stark or someone he's directly in charge of, and yet his solo title is primarily off doing its own thing with relatively unknown writers. Instinct would suggest that opening this book you'd find controversy and intrigue surrounding the Initiative or perhaps the events in the many Avengers titles. That just isn't the case however. Although some of this storyline involves members of an Initiative team, a great majority of what's happening is related to incidents that occurred before, and well outside, Tony's involvement in other current Marvel titles.

It would be easier to have a problem with this however, were Iron Man less exciting to read. Even though Ed Brubaker is still writing the deepest most intriguing Tony Stark out there at the moment in Captain America, the Knauf boys are putting up the second best effort. And while the prospect of a showdown with a returning Mandarin may not seem as relevant as Tony receiving posthumous mail from Steve Rogers, it's still a hell of a lot of fun. If nothing else, respect is due to the Iron Man team for not allowing recent developments to cause them to abandon everything the book had been doing previously. They're trying to tow the line between the old and the new, looking for the place where they best fit together. This may not be it, but they're certainly on the right track.
-Tom



Daredevil Annual #1
Marvel
Written by: Ed Brubaker
Art by: Leandro Fernandez
3.5/5

I expect annuals to be something special. I expect them to be something that has been passionately worked on and compiled all year. All the great ideas, art, and other bits and pieces that couldn't be worked into the regular series but that definitely deserve to be shown and shared. Like a jam-packed bonus features DVD. I expect them to be one of the funnest, and definitely most bang-for-your-buck, issues in the title's entire yearly output.

Is that what we get from Daredevil Annual #1? Not really. Essentially this is a strong backup story that makes for a decent read but that doesn't excite even up to the bar set by the regular series. While there have been worse annuals and this could very easily have been a bunch of worthless filler I was still hoping to see much more, particularly after the fantastic Sensational Spidey one released earlier this year.
-Grady



Batman #670
DC
Written by: Grant Morrison
Art by: Tony Daniel
4/5

This issue marks the beginning of The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul which is set to run through the Batman titles over the next several weeks in classic crossover fashion. Unlike X-Men Messiah Complex, this event will have me buying titles I normally don't. It will also find me investing myself in the DCU more than I try to make habit of. So far though, things are looking pretty good.

Morrison is the best thing happening at DC right now and although he doesn't get to explore his usual batch of eccentricities in this event structure, he certainly still brings his unique voice and ability to make complicated circumstances easily digestible and understood. Ra's al Ghul is back, but in a limited capacity and with a plan on a strict timeframe. Batman makes a quick appearance but the real treat of the issue is the job Morrison does with Damian Wayne, making his scenes both relevant and exciting.

Having not followed Robin or Nightwing, I'm not entirely sure what to expect from some of the subsequent installments of this story but it's off to a decent start. I look forward to seeing where it goes next.
-Tom