February 6 Reviews

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Scalped #14
Vertigo
Writing: Jason Aaron
Pencils, Inks: R.M. Guera
Colors: Giulia Brusco
Cover: Jock
5/5

What a great series. Despite it's vulgarity and violence it's easily one of the most emotionally gripping reads out there. Aaron has packed so many layers of history, sentiment, and passion into every issue of this book that at this stage even the simplest scenes can be erupting with meaning. Dash's struggle with his feelings about his mother's recent death are incredibly complex and conveyed with subtlety and realism. This would be good in itself, but what makes Scalped special is that this internal struggle is only one of several - all of which are pulling and pushing at Dash's conscience at once, and each influencing the others. If you like great character studies and can handle some brutality, this is a book you should be reading.

And that's only half of it. Were the cast completely disposable and flat it would still be one of the most enthralling action crime thrillers around. It seems every issue adds a new twist to the landscape. Chief Red Crow rings of Al Swearengen in the most exciting ways and though he gets little face time this issue he still leaves a hell of an impression. Watching him attempt to maneuver his business, crime, and soul around an increasingly large well of threatening forces is every bit as exciting as an HBO original show. Particularly with the constant uncertainty of who's in the right or what that even means.

This without even mentioning that Guera's grizzled moody art is perfect for the book and that Jock seems to somehow be outdoing even himself lately. They've both gone from great to more-so over the course of this project and their inclusion helps solidify it as one of best titles available. The film rights for this property will be topic of discussion sometime in the near future, count on it.

Scalped is what I want from comics. Look at that cover. More like this please.
-Tom



Amazing Spider-Man #549
Marvel
Writing: Marc Guggenheim
Pencils, Inks, Cover: Salvador Larroca
Colors: Jason Keith
3.5/5

You can't deny at this stage that the new Spidey Braintrust definitely seems to have brought the word 'fun' back into description of Amazing. Even with the fresh reek of OMD lingering throughout Slott and McNiven's opening arc, it was still the most fun the series has been in years. Following Slott is Guggenheim, who does Spidey well here and looks to be able to handle his share of the load. He's got a knack for battle banter which he displays in the opening pages, and the debut of 'Jackpot' is handled quite smoothly. He even manges to introduce what is almost blatantly a new Goblin, but does so with enough twists, quips, and fourth-wall destruction to make it sell. The developments with the Daily Bugle are far more intriguing than initially expected and the new 'DB' logo works, despite one small portion which isn't hard to miss.

Larroca's art looks good. It seems to drift between several similiar styles all issue but does so to good effect. The only flag it raises is concern over too much obvious photo referencing, which isn't actually a problem here, but peeks in a few places and hopefully doesn't become a frustration down the road.

The other big area of possible concern with this issue is Guggenheim's over zealous use of having his characters speak with cute double-meaning, cracking jokes to the reader that the characters know nothing about. Too many lines like the one the issue closes on and it'll move into parody and be far less enjoyable.

What can be said? OMD was probably the worst Spidey story ever. BND is the best we've seen in years. I'm two of four Braintrust members closer to getting over the former.
-Grady



Northlanders #3
Vertigo
Writing: Brian Wood
Pencils & Inks: Davide Gianfelice
Colors: Dave McCaig
Cover: Carnevale & Gibbons
4/5

Wood is moving slowly with this one. He's giving us plenty of time to get to know Sven and the people around him, as well as to become comfortable & familiar with their environment. His dialogue continues to be his biggest strength and the mythical debates here are just as well handled and interesting as the sociopolitical ones addressed in DMZ and some of his other books. There aren't many plot advancements in this issue so it's still hard to say whether the series will go on to become as impressive and long-running as some of those others, but at this stage it's still looking likely. Helping it get there in no small part is the work by Gianfelice & McCaig on the art and colors which are just fantastic looking and give the series much of its personality.

A lot of people seem to be jumping ship on this one early because it's not moving as fast as they'd like it to. Something tells me they may regret doing so when they find themselves crawling back half a dozen issues from now.
-Tom



Fables # 69
Vertigo
Writing: Bill Willingham
Pencils: Mark Buckingham
Inks: Steve Leialoha, Andrew Pepoy
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Cover: James Jean
4.5/5

Concluding the Frog Prince story arc, this is one of the most engaging and emotional issues of Fables in quite a while. Namely because it's so conversational. Willingham gives us some good quality time with Ambrose and those around him, as well as with some of the people on the peripheral of his story. Being in touch with these characters and their feelings is part of what makes Fables such a tangibly engaging read, and this issue does a great job of remembering as much.

That said, there are still several elements of Ambrose's conflict that could stand to be further justified or explained. Pieces that seemed too easily or simply resolved, or that just plain went away. Hopefully future issues will address these concerns - something this title has always been great about doing in the past.

As the end of a nine-part arc this issue may seem a bit underwhelming but it's still highly entertaining and is going to have massive implications on the future of the series. I pray this book still has a long road ahead of it.
-Tom



North Wind #2
Boom!
Writing: Dave DiGilio
Pencils & Inks: Alex Cal
Colors: Renato Faccini
Cover: Cedric Nocon
3.5/5

The first issue of this series didn't disappoint and, if anything, was surprisingly well written and drawn. The second continues in the same vein, picking up immediately where the last ended and continuing to follow our young friend Pak as he tries to survive not only his time's Ice Age but its populace as well. A great deal of time passes in this issue's pages, connecting the events of the debut with what will presumably be the setting for the next three installments. And while the story of boy-loses-family-becomes-warrior-seeks-revenge is one we've heard many times before, DiGilio tells it with a graceful touch. Sealing the deal though is the art of Alex Cal, whose work here is sure to get him lots of jobs in the near future.

This is a good title and although its story may not be groundbreaking, it's certainly well done and very enjoyable nonetheless. Between this, The Foundation, Fall of Cthulhu and several others - Boom! Studios are making quite a name for themselves. Here's hoping they keep it up.
-Tom



Clandestine #1
Marvel
Writing, Pencils, Cover: Alan Davis
Inks: Mark Farmer
Colors: J. Brown
3/5

This mini reintroduces the Clandestine; a group of seemingly immortal members with mysterious pasts and ties to various identities. This includes Rory and Pandora, twin children who live amongst this collective and have only recently become privy to the true nature of their powers.

This opening issue is well written and enjoyable. The dialog flows naturally and Davis does a good job dropping us in the middle of on-going activities. So far there's a lot of ambiguity as to what everyone's exact powers are and where they come from, and most the issue is dedicated to introducing personalities and the social environment. It's fun, but only seems to matter so far as you're willing to invest in these relatively unknown characters.

There's enough impressive material here that if you're looking to spend a few more bucks this week this wouldn't be a horrible way to go about it. Whether the same can be said for the entire series we won't know until we see how some of the many mysteries in its pages are addressed.
-Grady



Conquest #4
Marvel
Writing: Abnett & Lanning
Pencils: Tom Raney
Inks: Scott Hanna
Colors: Frank D'Armata
Cover: Aleksi Briclot
4/5

The cosmic event rages on! Conquest is beginning to really hit its stride and get inside these characters, their motivations, and their intentions. The pacing is still quite controlled and even though there are fleeting action scenes, a lot of what's happening is still setting up for a massive sprint to the finish in the final two issues. The series' scope may seem less ambitious than that of its older brother but its execution has been at least as solid.

Abnett & Lanning are doing a tremendous job with this cast. Most everyone who appeared in the lead-in minis are more interesting here, and new arrivals like Adam Warlock are turning out to be surprisingly compelling. Even Quasar's persistent mournful break-down actually manages to bring some much-needed weight to her and Heather's relationship, as well as sets up a wonderfully loaded line about the 'manner of heroes this era has bred.'

This event continues to be an exciting one and even suggests it may work its way toward Earth by the end. The last two issues should be a lot of fun and, again, hopefully result in a great new cosmic on-going with the pedigree of Nova. I can't get enough of these impressive space operas.
-Tom



Uncanny X-Men #495
Marvel
Writing: Ed Brubaker
Pencils, Inks, Cover: Mike Choi
Colors: Joe Caramagna
3.5/5

This book is taking a different direction spinning out of the events in Messiah Complex, and it's the best work Brubaker has done on the title. He seems invigorated and fresh. His involvement in setting up the new status quo has really given him a chance get comfortable and make this his book. It's still the X-Men, but it's growing to fit his style. He continues the great work with Cyclops that everyone has been doing so well recently, and gives the book more heart than it's had in years. Fallout from M.C. is covered on several occasions and we get some glimpses into the current state-of-mutant-things. Most this issue though is Bru simply playing around and exercising his newfound voice for these characters.

The art has some beautiful moments, particularly in Scott & Emma's scenes in the Savage Lands, but it would be improved if everyone less frequently looked like plastic models. The cover, in particular, is horrendous. Cover aside, the remainder of the production and design are aiming to really give the book its own fun identity and tone. So far it seems like one that's going to work.

I was slightly expecting this to be a let-down and thankfully it wasn't. I suppose it was only a matter of time before Brubaker got the book figured out. Hopefully from here we can come to expect the same from Uncanny as we do the rest of his stellar lineup.
-Tom



The Twelve #2
Marvel
Writing: J. Michael Straczynski
Pencils: Chris Weston
Inks: Garry Leach
Colors: Chris Chuckry
Cover: Kaare Andrews
3/5

At this stage in comic history if we're going to get a title about heroes from the past coming to and analyzing our present it needs to be a lot more insightful than this. Some references to our still having poverty, the limits of freedom, and the literal asking of 'where's the rocket packs?' isn't going to cut it. Straczynski seems to have a broad idea of what he wants to talk about and the type of points he wants to raise, but he doesn't invest himself enough to say much of anything new or interesting. In fact a great deal of the conversations seem more like an outline of what he intends the messages of still-to-be-written dialogue to be once he's gotten around to doing it.

However, the more character-driven aspects are effectively moving and Zyn has gone to a lot of effort to make them realistically believable. Their assesement of this future may not be particularly intriguing, but their struggle to survive in it certainly is. At twelve issues long this may burn itself out by the end, but for now it's still a decently good read. It isn't the landmark title Marvel may have been hoping for, Watchmen still does all the same stuff better, but it's still worth your time if you've that and some cash to spare.
-Tom