DC Comics
Batman #4: Scott Snyder continues his almost perfect run on Batman, giving us an inexperienced Dark Knight.
One of the most entertaining aspects of Snyder's Batman is that Bruce is still learning the ropes of what it means to be the protector of Gotham. While he maybe experienced, he still seems a little green when it comes to how to handle the enemy. And Talon takes full advantage of that in #4. The final page brings up plenty of implications that will test Batman as a detective and strategist. Snyder's inner monologue for Batman during the trip wire scene was brilliant, bringing order amongst the chaos. Snyder even has a great hold on Dick Grayson. Bruce's childhood is a time that we don't know much about, so it's always illuminating to see how Bruce became the person he is today, besides the day his parents were murdered by Joe Chill.
Greg Capullo continues to churn out beautiful looking comics. The trip wire scene is the best example, as he makes Batman look so calm and collect amongst everything blowing up around him. #4 is a quiet issue, with not much varying in background or scenes, but Capullo makes it all great to look at.
Batman #4 gets 5/5.
Marvel Comics
Daredevil #7: Mark Waid and Paolo Rivera continue one of the best runs in Daredevil's history with a nice Christmas themed story.
Mark Waid knows how to have a ball with Daredevil's history, giving Matt Murdock more fuel to be jolly. Waid's new character, Kristen McDuffie, who works at the D.A's office, seems to be a new love interest for Matt. He seems to be creating a new love triangle between Foggy and Matt, but Waid has had such ease reinventing Daredevil, the love triangle story line will no doubt be interesting and a blast to read. It seems natural that Matt would volunteer to help blind kids, so why hasn't it happened before? Waid peppers some great character moments throughout this survival story.
What made me read this book three times before I reviewed it was Paolo Rivera's art work. The snowy atmosphere is simply beautiful. I got lost looking at the backgrounds, almost forgetting I'm reading a tale about survivors. Rivera brings so much emotion to the kids while they are trying to scream for help. It's simply astounding what this man can do when a pencil is put into his hand.
Daredevil #7 gets 5/5.
Marvel Comics
Fantastic Four #601: Jonathan Hickman has had a great hold on the first family of Marvel. Which makes this so far lackluster arc that much more strange.
Hickman continues to have a great hold on all the characters in the Fantastic Four, and he makes some subtle changes to Johnny's demeanor to make him seem himself, but slightly different. His interactions with Spider-Man put a smile on my face. Even the side characters don't get lost in the rubble (no pun intended). Having Johnny use the Annihilation wave to save people is a great twist on the evil Negative Zone villain's army. What doesn't sit right with me is the cliffhanger. It's obvious that this won't stick, even if it gives some added guilt to the Human Torch. Having a big side of guilt will turn him into a great hero. This seems like slightly lazy writing on Hickman's part. He's a better writer than this. There could have been some other type of cliffhanger he could have used.
Steve Epting continues to pencil a great looking book. Fantastic Four isn't on the level of his Captain America work, but it's damn close. The Annihilation wave's entrance had me staring for a few minutes. As with the writing on the final page, that explosion left me wondering a few things. What did the big piece of shrapnel hit? It doesn't look like New York City.
Fantastic Four #601 gets 3.5/5.
Marvel Comics
The Incredible Hulk #3: The Hulk is a hard character to make sympathetic to me, but Jason Aaron has hooked me for the near future with his current volume.
Aaron gives us essentially one big fight scene. It works for the sheer fact of seeing the reactions of everyone else around. Seeing cities crumble over a punch is interesting stuff. But that's really it. Nothing else happens. The issue is more of a transition issue, getting readers ready for what is going to happen next. And to Aaron's credit, he gives us plenty of reasons to stick around, even if it does somewhat contradict what he wrote in the Fear Itself epilogue. Aaron is making some interesting choices with Banner, but I'd rather sit back and watch then comment now before this little direction is over. Unlike past volumes of Hulk, I'm at least to the point where I'm hooked and plan on picking this issue up next month. For how long? We shall see.
The real reason this issue doesn't get a better score is Marc Silvestri's artwork. Nothing is as clean and crisp as the first issue of the series. It looks insanely rushed, and what the hell is a "line artist." It's like Marvel is embarrassed that he couldn't finish and changed his responsibilities in the book. I'd like to say that the art on this series will improve, but with Wilce Portacio coming on next month, that probably won't be happening.
The Incredible Hulk #3 gets 3/5.
Aaron gives us essentially one big fight scene. It works for the sheer fact of seeing the reactions of everyone else around. Seeing cities crumble over a punch is interesting stuff. But that's really it. Nothing else happens. The issue is more of a transition issue, getting readers ready for what is going to happen next. And to Aaron's credit, he gives us plenty of reasons to stick around, even if it does somewhat contradict what he wrote in the Fear Itself epilogue. Aaron is making some interesting choices with Banner, but I'd rather sit back and watch then comment now before this little direction is over. Unlike past volumes of Hulk, I'm at least to the point where I'm hooked and plan on picking this issue up next month. For how long? We shall see.
The real reason this issue doesn't get a better score is Marc Silvestri's artwork. Nothing is as clean and crisp as the first issue of the series. It looks insanely rushed, and what the hell is a "line artist." It's like Marvel is embarrassed that he couldn't finish and changed his responsibilities in the book. I'd like to say that the art on this series will improve, but with Wilce Portacio coming on next month, that probably won't be happening.
The Incredible Hulk #3 gets 3/5.
DC Comics
Justice League #4: Holy crap is that one hell of a final reveal.
#4 adds up to a big ol' action scene, which something story like this needs. It needs to throw the heroes against the wall and see how they react. Geoff Johns builds up the tension well, and adds some nice character moments amongst the action. The Flash gets some nice work, and Aquaman is so badass, he needs two books to do it in. He has sharks kill things by eating them. I want that power right now. But what saddens me is that two characters remain almost silent through the entire issue. Superman and Wonder Woman have under ten lines total. Wonder Woman's lasso bit, while hilarious, is shoehorned in so that readers know exactly what Wonder Woman is capable of. Superman is only there because he was in the vicinity in the last issue. If he hadn't appeared on the page, I'm not sure it would have occurred to me that he was missing at the end.
Jim Lee's art work gets a chance to shine this month. Not a page goes by without an explosion, or one of the heroes doing something heroic. The Flash looks great, running up water (you read that right). Lee gives plenty of weight to the final page reveal, which just looks fantastic. My mouth dropped a little bit. Even though we have known for a while that he is the big bad, the scene still works great.
I originally gave #4 a 3.5, but after a second reading, the score has improved.
Justice League #4 gets 4/5.
DC Comics
Nightwing #4: As the Bat family of books becomes ever bigger, it's hard to be original. Nightwing can do it though, and does it with flare.
Kyle Higgins continues to write a great Dick Grayson. The twist of having Nightwing go around the country is a nice one, at least to me. Nightwing and Batgirl have always had a great "will they, won't they" relationship, and Higgins uses it in a very entertaining way. The story is a one and done story, but also builds upon Nightwing's overall story arc as well. It's a very gentle line, but Higgins straddles it very well. I'd like to see more of Nightwing and Batgirl in each other's books. The few panels where Babs and Raya are in the same room are great to read. Even though Raya is somewhat one note as of now, Higgins at least makes us want her to stay around.
Trevor McCarthy's pencils remind be a lot of the Dodsons over at Marvel. Besides a very confusing panel on the first double page spread, his art is great. The action flows well, and watching Nightwing bounce around on the pages never gets old. I love Eddy Barrows pencils, but wouldn't mind if McCarthy stayed on for a few issues.
Nightwing #4 gets 4/5.
DC Comics
Supergirl #4: After reading numerous great thins about this series, I caught up, and I'm very happy I did. Supergirl #4 continues in the great fashion the previous three did.
Michael Green and Mike Johnson have truly given us a fresh start with Kara. These first four issues have shown Kara what humans are capable of, which is mostly violence, but some compassion. This will shape her time on Earth, which will most likely be coming in the next few issues. Having her try to find a way home is interesting, even though we know it will be futile. It makes her trip that much more tragic. The villain could have used some more development, but I'm sure that he will get more as the series goes on. For only using inner monologue, Kara has become a very relatable character. I'm very much looking forward to #5.
Mahmud Asrar pencils continue to look great. They aren't as refined as previous issues, but still look great. Where he needed to slow down was in the faces. Kara's face looks strange a few times near the end of the issue. His pencils remind me of Stuart Immonen, and that's one of the best compliments to give a penciler in this day and age.
Supergirl #4 gets 4/5.
Marvel Comics
Venom #11: Rick Remender continues his great run on Venom, and gives us the background of his arch nemesis, Jack O' Lantern.
Having Venom and Lantern go on a "brotrip" was a great idea by Remender. It gives us more of a reason to hate Lantern, but makes us also want to keep him around that much more. The story behind his dastardly deeds is the usual super villain stuff, but the results are great. The cavern scene works to a degree, even if it is a little cliche. Adding Eddie to the equation is a great idea, as is adding the Red Hulk. All of this begs the question, how is Venom going to be on the Secret Avengers in a couple of months? It's Rick Remender, so I'll see where he goes with the idea.
Lan Medina's pencils continue to shine, conveying action well, and showing how horrible Jack O' Lanterns face is. The subtle reactions by the waitress was a great touch. Most of the issue is talking head panels though, so Medina doesn't get the chance to shine as much as he did in #10.
Venom #11 gets 4.5/5.
Marvel Comics
Wolverine #20: Another character is getting an anniversary issue next month, so it's time for Jason Aaron to build up to it with this month's issue.
Aaron sets up a lot of things that will be great to read next month. Lots of ex girlfriends leads to lots of laughs, and the reappearance of some old villains is great as well. Having Logan go back to Tokyo always leads to great stories, and it will be interesting to see how Melita reacts to his past there. The final page reveal is......ok. I'm not exactly happy with the move, as it seems unnecessary. There are plenty of other villains that are menacing enough, but he seems to only be coming back because the anniversary issue is next month. Why can't Aaron bring back Dr. Rot at some point? That guy was great in Wolverine: Weapon X.
The real burden of the issue goes to Renato Guedes. His pencils looked great during Wolverine Goes to Hell, so what happened here. The faces of Wilson Fisk look downright ugly, as do the Japanese gangsters at times. And this guy is penciling an issue of the Avengers coming up? Not with sub par work like this.
Wolverine #20 gets 3/5.
Marvel Comics
Wolverine & the X-Men #3: While Wolverine's main book wasn't that good this week, his other book was so much fun I can't wait till the next issue.
This is a rare team book where all the big and small players get some time to shine. The ending is well enough, but sets up what looks to be THE X-book to read for the potential future. Quentin Quire gives us most of the laughs this month, and shows he isn't completely bad. Now that the action has slowed down, and the team has been established, it will be nice to see the dynamics take shape in the classroom. Aaron uses a small appearance by Matt Murdock near the end very well. It's small things like that that hint to me that Wolverine will be on the side of the Avengers in the upcoming event. Much like Wolverine #20, the big reveal isn't that great of a teaser. I'm not looking forward to this character coming back.
Chris Bachalo continues to pencil a hectic, chaotic book. He needs help by other pencilers this month, but they mold together very well. Having the flashback be in black and white was a nice choice. I'd be nice if Bachalo could finish an arc by himself now and then. He seems to always start a book then leave it a few issues later. But Nick Bradshaw will be taking over now, and I'm sure his pencils will be great.
Wolverine & the X-Men #3 gets 4.5/5.
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