DC Comics
Batgirl #5: Gail Simmone seems to be creating a nice little rogues gallery here for Barbara Gordon.
When the name Gretel appears on anything, you can think nothing but the children's fable. This had me worried, but leave it to Simmone to create a female villain who is very menacing. Having Bruce Wayne go down so easily seemed a bit lazy, but nothing has been explained yet, so let's wait and see. The whole zombie 338 thing is a tad weird, and I would have likedThe scenes with Barbara and her mom was fantastic to read. It's a nice ripple to add to her life, even if it has nothing to do with this new villain. Barbara's analyzation of this new enemy shows why she is always going to be a great Batgirl. It's smart, and not over the top or too descriptive. It adds to the visuals without over powering them.
Adrian Syaf continues to impress on pencils. There are a few more shots that are clearly set for guys, but nothing to the extent of other artists. Barbara's mother is penciled well, clearly looking like Barbara but enough that she isn't so it's believable. Which makes Gordon's traits in Barbara appear more. Syaf's work is great, but nothing ground breaking
Batgirl #5 gets 3.5/5.
DC Comics
Batwoman #5: DC's most beautiful book keeps delivering month after month, and the Batwoman team sets up a lot of threads for the future.
After reading the first four issues, I wasn't sure how J.H. Williams and W. Haden Blackman were going to end this arc, but they found a way to wrap up all the threads. Kate finds a way to defeat Maria while still keeping her side of the over arching plot going. Having Kate not go with Batman is an interesting choice, and it's refreshing to see someone stand up to the Bat in this universe (besides Damian). The jaded comic book reader in me can't help but think this isn't going to end well for Kate, but darn it if I won't be reading along to see what happens.
J.H. Williams art is simply beautiful. His page layouts are some of the best in the industry, in their complexity and not making the page unreadable. Many artists have trouble making creative panel layouts while still having control over where the reader looks next to read. I just hope that Williams can keep regular on the title and we won't need to see a fill in artist.
Dark Horse
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #5: Buffy hasn't been as strong as her former beau Angel as of late, but #5 sets up a good number of ideas that will no doubt come to fruition in the rest of the season.
Andrew Chambliss certainly has a hold on what makes Buffy Buffy. But something feels a little off in this issue. It's hard to put my finger on, but it reminds me a lot of season 6. Things are going terrible for Buffy, but season 6 at least gave a lot of good reasons. Buffy destroyed the seed, and that's it. But The weight of that isn't felt. Willow leaving is a good addition for making Buffy rethink her actions. The ending didn't hit well either. As a long time Buffy fan, this won't lead to any long term ramifications, and it will make this season very interesting, but I doubt I'd see ramifications of it in season 10, if there is a season 10.
Karl Moline takes over for art duties this month, giving George Jeanty a break. His pencils look more like the actors than Jeanty, which is a nice change of pace. The action scenes look good, as do the vampire dustings.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #5 gets 3.5/5.
Marvel Comics
Captain America #7: Even with rehashed issues like this, as long as the writer can make it entertaining, it's an ok issue in my mind. That's what Ed Brubaker does with #7.
#7 really feels like the exact same plot of #6. This didn't stop me from reading the book, but it's something that seemed lazy. I'm not sure what the point of this issue was, as it does almost nothing to further the plot along. The only development we get is the quick Bravo development at the beginning. But complain as I may, I still read the entire issue and I'm still looking forward to next months issue. Brubaker is bringing Cap into unknown territory as he seems to be fighting Silver Age style villains, who specialize in science fiction things.
Alan Davis is penciling a great arc. His panels are kinetic and the characters are expressive as ever. I'd love for him to stick around on pencils if he could. But no doubt he will not. And with McNiven going back to doing Nemesis, the artist for Cap is wide open.
Captain America #7 gets 3.5/5.
DC Comics
Green Lantern #5: While the Green Lantern series has needed a rest for a while, I'm not sure that this type of rest was the best.
First with the good. Geoff Johns ends the arc well, leaving Hal Jordan in a great place that I can't wait to read about in the coming issues. But Sinestro's story feels over. He is going back to Oa and that's it. There aren't many threads left open to continue on, let alone enough to fill an entire issue, which seems to be the choice for #6. The Guardians are planning something big (again), but this long time Green Lantern reader isn't 100% buying it. They are always trying something to combat Hal Jordan, and it never works. It's like the Coyote and Roadrunner, just not nearly as funny. No doubt some big, maybe crossover, story is coming along and will ignite some type of fire under this book.
Doug Mahnke turns out his best issue since the relaunch. It's not scratchy and the line work looks more like his work back on the last volume. His monsters are creepy, and the action looks fantastic. Sinestero switches from looking heroic to menacing in a few panels, perfectly showing what the character is capable of in the right scenario.
Green Lantern #5 gets 3.5/5.
Marvel Comics
The Incredible Hulk #4: The Incredible Hulk just can't catch a break with pencilers.
Jason Aaron is creating a very different Hulk story. While it goes in the face of a lot of Greg Pak's work the past few years, it's still interesting stuff. Bruce is much more interesting (to me at least), and so is the Hulk. I'd very much like to see this version of the Hulk back on the Avengers and see how he interacts with them. Von Doom is still a one note character and a means towards an end. With a lot of great comics written by Jason Aaron out this week, Incredible Hulk #4 is easily the weakest in the writing department.
But what really hinders the book is Whilce Portacio's pencils. They are all over the place. His work on Journey Into Mystery recently was at least half way decent, but it's back to how bad it was on his run on Uncanny X-Men last year. Character's shapes shift wildly from page to page, and the action scenes look almost stick figure like at some points. I'm not sure why Marvel keeps him around, besides that he is a veteran in the industry.
The Incredible Hulk #4 gets 3/5.
Marvel Comics
Journey Into Mystery #633: Kieron Gillen continues to write one of Marvel's best books, and is giving Daredevil a run for it's money as best Marvel book.
What makes Loki so interesting is Gillen shows him as a product of Asgard and Broxton. Be it interacting with the people of the town or downloading movies to his Pad of i. But that's where he works. He is our eyes into Asgard. This makes him that much more relatable. The addition of Daimon Hellstorm is nice, and I'm sure these two guys will play off each other well. Journey Into Mystery is a hard book to review, because I sound like a broken record each month. Every month I say "this book is fantastic and the writing is some of the best in comics." I need a thesaurus for next month.
Richard Elson turns out his best work with Gillen. The fear council looks great, as do the scenes with Hellstorm in Poland. He switches form dread to serenity at Asgardida. His work on Thor while Gillen was writing that was good, but he blows that out of the water here.
Journey Into Mystery # 633 gets 5/5.
Richard Elson turns out his best work with Gillen. The fear council looks great, as do the scenes with Hellstorm in Poland. He switches form dread to serenity at Asgardida. His work on Thor while Gillen was writing that was good, but he blows that out of the water here.
Journey Into Mystery # 633 gets 5/5.
Marvel Comics
Scarlet Spider #1: It's like it's the 90's again with all these Spider-Man comic books. Scarlet Spider is a good opening, and is a worthy addition to the Spider-Man family of books.
Chris Yost sets up Kaine's life in Houston well, even if he doesn't justify why he is in Houston. The plot is hindered a little bit by explaining Kaine's convoluted past. It's kind of needed with a character like this. The tone seems to be that in between Amazing Spider-Man and Venom. Not as joyful as Amazing, but not nearly as dark as Venom. Kaine doesn't seem much like he did in 90's anymore, but if you ask me, that's a good thing. Kaine is more accessible now, and his motives are more apparent. For the first time in the character's history, Kaine is a free man. He can finally make his own decisions.
Ryan Stegman's pencils suit a Spider-Man book very very well. The lines are crisp and the action scenes are frenetic as all hell. The panel where bullets are flying all around and Kaine jumps through them made me stop for a second to just marvel in awe. I pray this book stays around for a while, if only so we can see more of Stegman's art. And Chris Yost's writing for that matter.
Scarlet Spider #1 gets 4/5.
Marvel Comics
Wolverine #300: Time for another anniversary issue, even though #300 isn't that interesting of a number.
As it's been known for a while, this is Jason Aaron's last arc with Wolverine. And he's really setting up a good one. It's very much like a Kill Bill movie, and that is a good thing. It's fun, but is dramatic the second it needs to be. The different chapters work well together, and bringing Mystique into a Wolverine arc always leads to good things. I'm not sure that bringing Sabertooth back was that great of an idea. He's not a character that was missing really, and seems more for Jeph Loeb to write the miniseries he wants to write. But if anyone will handle it well, it would be Jason Aaron.
The artists do a great job in this anniversary issue, especially Adam Kubert. The plane scene was great to watch and I had a smirk on my face reading those pages. Ron Garney is great as always, but Steve Sanders' art is a little lacking next to the other two penciler gods.
Wolverine #300 gets 3.5/5.
Old Comics
The Amazing Spider-Man #676 gets 3.5/5.
FF #13 gets 3/5
The Invincible Iron Man #512 gets 4/5.
The New Avengers #19 gets 3/5.
The Mighty Thor #9 gets 4/5.
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