May 7 Reviews

The Boys #18
Dynamite
Writing: Garth Ennis
Pencils, Inks: Darick Robertson
Colors: Tony Avina
Cover: Robertson, Avina
3.5/5

You may have heard around the way that Garth Ennis’ irreverant foray into the seedy underbelly of a world filled with superpowered humans is hilarious. You have heard correctly. The Boys’ doesn’t owe any of its humor to creative punchlines or the like, but is full of small moments that slyly point at each other and dialogue that enhances and indirectly refers to other scenes. Much of the humor would be impossible to see if each scene was taken on its own, as though it’s a type of Arrested Development for sadists. Of course the sheer absurdity of many scenes are funny in their own right as well.

The Boys deconstructs the superhero genre but without trying to make any grand statements or reach any greater meaning like much of this type of work strove for in the 80’s. It simply suggests that in the real world superpowered people would probably be a bunch of emotionally and mentally twisted, truly screwed up individuals, and leaves it at that. There’s a decent plot and well conceived characters that come across very convincingly and give the title some weight and depth but all that lies outside the inclusion of folks who can fly and punch through buildings. Robertson’s art is clear, detailed and expressive but appropriately gritty and enhances the experience greatly. If you can stomach some of Ennis’ trademark violence and offensive themes (which run rampant here) then this is a lot of fun.

Ennis’ impressive understanding and control of language, dialect and accents are largely on display as well, bringing a tangible degree of realism and believability to a series that otherwise offers anything but. The whole thing comes across as a dark grissly urban European crime flick that just happens to have spandex wearing freaks in the peripheral. I don’t necessarily consider it the essential read many others tout it as, but if you’re looking for something outside the typical fare to flesh out your comic reading a little it’s definitely a lot of fun. This, of course, assuming you’re on semi-friendly terms with darker portions of your soul and sense of humor.

Nova #13
Marvel
Writing: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pencils: Wellington Alves
Inks: Scott Hanna
Colors: Guru
Cover: Alex Maleev
Editing: Bill Roseman, Lauren Sankovitch
4/5

Nova continues its heading as one of the most exciting cosmic runs in years. Free from its responsibilities toward Annihilation: Conquest the book rockets straight into conflict with Galactus and the Silver Surfer, wasting no time in keeping this a must-read title.

It’s great to see Abnett & Lanning cut loose with a story like this after having so many pieces to consider during Conquest, and Wellington Alves pulls his weight formidably as usual. New Nova cover artist Alex Maleev has also been proven masterful right out the gate. This remains one of the best looking, most well written comics available.

The issue is very well done and is impressive in its ability to balance a true sense of global panic, chaos, and destruction in wake of Galactus’ attack while yet showing restraint in how much it gives the reader all at once. There’s even time set aside to debate questions of morality and justice without even getting into the typical need-for-a-world-eater discussion.

Nova is such an exciting read, and if you’ve somehow ignored all the good press up until now, this is the perfect time to jump on. You don’t need to know anything about the character to dive in here and find something to enjoy. This issue was very good, but be sure to put money down on next months installment as it’s looking to be even better. Great stuff.

Punisher War Journal #19
Marvel
Writing: Matt Fraction and Rick Remender
Pencils, Inks: Howard Chaykin
Colors: Edgar Delgado, Jesus Aburto
Cover: Alex Maleev
Editing: Aubrey Sitterson
3/5

This recent arc of Punisher War Journal has shown the book to be slipping from the high bar it set for itself a few months back with the psychotic cartoon circus that was the Kraven the Hunter storyline.

More straightforward and serious lately, it’s still entertaining but feels like it’s lugging more dead weight than usual. The dialogue is smooth and effective but tends to lack the snap of typical Fraction work, including what we’ve seen from him on this title in the past. It’s not simply that the series’ change in tone leaves one pining for the sillier attitude of the aforementioned Kraven arc, but that the work itself just doesn’t come across with the passionate enthusiasm it once did.

The inclusion of a second writer, Remender, suggests that Fraction is either transitioning off the title to focus on his growing workload elsewhere, or is distracted with launching and concluding bigger projects for the time being. Either way, without him firing on all cylinders this is just a slightly better than usual run-of-the-mill Punisher title. It’s still a decent read for fans of the character but is increasingly losing its status as a sleeper-must-read for the rest of us.

Amazing Spider-Man #558
Marvel
Writing: Bob Gale
Pencils, Cover: Barry Kitson
Inks: Mark Farmer
Colors: Hanning, Mila
Editing: Stephen Wacker, Tom Brennan
1.5/5

Wow. This was just terrible. Bob Gale’s first arc revealed him as the least impressive of the new ‘Spidey Braintrust,’ and by the third page of this issue he make that abundantly clear once again. Very abundantly. He’s more than the weakest link. His dialogue is unbearably archaic, though somehow not nearly as bad as his thought bubbles which compel your brain to shut down and stop reading almost instantly.

So many things included here are so grossly tired you wonder how this wasn’t horrifically painful to write, and how in the hell it ever made it to press. Peter’s fears of being unmasked? Doc Conners feeling inadequate with only one arm? Everything the villains and well, every character, has to say? It truly feels you’re reading a bad Spidey comic from twenty or more years ago.

Prior to this, Zeb Wells had salvaged the Amazing ship from Gale’s initial blunderous arc by delivering three of the most fun Spidey comics we’ve seen in years. He and Bachalo’s issues had many fans feeling legitimately optimistic about the direction of the series and the prospects for the future. Gale stomps those feeling out with incredible vigor here and this issue is leaps and bounds worse than the lackluster arc we’ve already seen from him. Unfortunately it’s looking more and more like cherry picking Amazing based on who’s writing it may be the way to go, and it’s a shame considering how impressive or at least serviceable everyone else has been so far. Gale may be a good writer elsewhere, but this was just too frustrating for him to be given many more chances and hopefully he’s switched off the Spidey team sometime…immediately. At least Kitson was around to give us something pretty to look at.

Mighty Avengers #13
Marvel
Pencils, Inks: Alex Maleev
Colors: Matt Hollingsworth
Cover: Marko Djurdjevic
Editing: Tom Brevoort, Molly Lazer
3.5/5

It’s very rarely true that a title being hijacked for a major event makes it better than usual, but in the case of Mighty Avengers it has led to what are easily the two most interesting installments of the series’ entire run. Seeing Nick Fury back in action is very exciting, as is finding out what he’s been up to all these months. This issue has less of him than the last, but he's around enough to keep things tingling.

Cut loose from the Avengers baggage Bendis is free to let things breathe a little, and in a comic with Mighty on the cover it’s quite refreshing. The concept in motion here is a fun one and Bendis’ playful dialogue gets a chance to be its charming self without being surrounded by convoluted stupidity.

Alex Maleev, who’s been incredible on cover designs lately, does a fantastic job and it’s hard to believe he hasn’t gotten any interior work since his time on Daredevil. For a book oft-saddled with the embarrassing Frank Cho, Maleev’s time here is a moment to cherish. Cho, for the record, has absolutely zero business getting work with Marvel and hopefully doesn’t show up on any other books if Mark Bagley is indeed slated to take over this series following Secret Invasion.

It’s surprising how good these Avengers tie-ins have been, particularly in the case of Mighty. Frankly they’re nearly as interesting as the main event thus far. Bendis is better when he’s not having to find things for dozens of overpowered or uninteresting characters to do, and it’s nice to be reminded that there was a time when the majority of his work was a pleasure to read.

Secret Invasion #2
Marvel
Writing: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Leinil Yu
Inks: Mark Moralez
Colors: Laura Martin
Cover: Gabriele Dell’Otto
Editing: Tom Brevoort, Molly Lazer
4/5

About a third of this issue was heroes fighting doppelganger versions of themselves which was slightly disorienting, as it was supposed to be, but at this point heroes vs. heroes is all played out and just annoying, which was probably less intentional. There were so many two page splash images that it felt very much like space and time were being wasted. The ‘who’s a skrull!?’ antics go back and forth between intriguing and aggravating all issue and hopefully we soon reach a point where ‘who do you trust?’ takes a bit of a backseat to some actual story progression. These elements can be forgiven at this point and chalked up to making things new-reader friendly, but driving them home much more is going to start raising serious doubts about the overall quality of the event.

The whole thing did feel less exploitative of the initial concept by the end of the issue though and it effectively stirred the desire to read more and see what happens next. To forego mentioning that there are some terrific moments scattered throughout wouldn’t be fair. Held up against World War Hulk or any of DC’s recent events this is on a whole different playing field. From here things may get more interesting as Bendis’ set-up has been pretty well done and complaints about repetitive themes by those of us who’ve been following them for months may fade away. The ball is definitely rolling and there are enough pieces in play that we’re likely in store for some issues with more substance and less space-filling art and driving home of the same paranoia.

Secret Invasion may not be anything incredible yet, but it’s still certainly full of that potential. Marvel’s planning and structuring of this event up to this point has been tremendous and with six issues remaining there’s still a lot of time for the series to say and do some big things. Here’s hoping most the small insightful (important/interesting) details aren’t left to the tie-in side stories.

Logan #3
Marvel Knights
Writing: Brian K Vaughan
Pencils, Inks, Cover: Eduardo Risso
Colors: Dean White
Editing: Axel Alonso, Daniel Ketchum
4/5

Though it may be slightly unreasonable, it’s hard not to feel a little disappointed with this series. Looking back I’m not sure what I was expecting considering it was always slated to be a mere three issues, but with the talent involved it was easy to anticipate something mind blowing and legendary. What we got instead was something very simple and humbly low-aiming, yet altogether wonderful in its own way once you've had time to reflect upon it.

BKV explores a single moment that had deep implications within this character’s heart and uses it to paint upon a three issue canvas the picture of a man stuck halfway between darkness and light. A man whose warmest memories are at the same time his darkest. It’s a poignant portrait, elegantly presented with simplicity and incredibly beautiful art. Risso’s pencils and White’s watercolors come together to make one of the most breathtaking presentations I’ve seen in superhero comics in a long while, and their work alone was worth the price of admission.

This was a moving little series, and though it may not have been the landmark revelatory moment in the character’s publishing history we may all have been hoping for, it’s still one we should be very pleased to have nonetheless.