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Columnist Thunder Mod
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Join Date: Sep 2004
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wkft's and Sam Wilson's Reviews (with Guest Reviewers!) 9/28/06
Wktf’s Reviews
Well, once again I had one week this month that was a mega comic week. After three more-or-less dry weeks in a row I blow close to $100 at the lcs this week. You’d think Marvel and DC would better distribute their books over the month. My lcs owner said his inventory this week was over $5k which, I understand, makes it an expensive week for him as well. But lots of great books. Too many, in fact, for the two of us to adequately review on our own. So, once again, we’ve enlisted statueforum.com’s own Kdawg and jdh.goodgrief to lend a hand. Highlights this week, though, include a Civil War turning point in Amazing Spider-Man, the 100th issue for Bendis and Bagley on Ultimate Spider-Man, the conclusion to an exciting cliffhanger in Action Comics, the first of the several Stan Lee Meets comics celebrating The Man’s 65th anniversary with Marvel and the first trade volume of Thor: The Eternals Saga.
In a medium that’s just finished an Infinite Crisis and now is writhing in Civil War my pick of the week goes to The Ultimates, a book that has nothing to do with either but delivers some of the most brutally graphic kick-ass superhero excitement and violence you’ll find between two covers!
The Ultimates 2 #12
Marvel Comics
Written by: Mark Millar
Drawn by: Brian Hitch
Most people don’t even talk about this book any more which really is a shame even though, due to its scheduling delays, it’s pretty understandable. The Ultimates have been dismantled and defeated by a group of foreign heroes calling themselves “The Liberators,” heroes manufactured by other nations in fear of the United States, primarily due to the U.S. government’s use of The Ultimates for covert overseas operations. And, in addition, The Liberators have Loki, the Asgardian god of mischief, in their corner who seems Hel bent to enable this team to create World War III on the planet. Last issue, though The Ultimates had been captured and America was successfully invaded, our heroes began to gain some leverage thanks to the tenacity of Captain America and the raw anger and power of the newly emerged Hulk. If we can leave the political metaphors Millar may or may not be trying to communicate and look at this comic as a mega-superhero melee then any comic book fan from any political party should just have a ball with this issue.
Each member of The Ultimates faces off against his counterpart. Captain America vs. Abdul al-Rahman from the northwest province of Azerbaijan, who appears to be the Ultimate Universe’s Red Guardian. The Hulk vs. The Abomination. Quicksilver vs. the speedster Hurricane. The Wasp vs. a woman who appears to be the ultimate Swarm. These are NOT your typical superhero/super villain showdowns by any stretch of the imagination. If, like me, you were shocked in 2001 reading Incredible Hulk #25 when John Romita, Jr. drew an enraged Hulk punching the Abomination so damn hard an eyeball literally popped out of the poor Russian’s head, you still may not be fully prepared for what happens here. Brian Hitch ups the gross out factor by about 10 starting with how Quicksilver dispatches Hurricane, and then by another 10x when the Hulk, spouting off some hilarious dialogue, literally dismantles The Abomination. And Captain America ensures that when his battle with Abdul ends, it’s final. The European super soldiers led by Ultimate Union Jack, free Spider-Man, the FF and the X-Men who also go to work. Yes, there’s a reason the clever title of this Ultimates issue is “The Avengers.” Time for some avenging.
But, there’s one more issue before Millar and Hitch’s series comes to an end. And one more hero/villain match up yet to occur. And it’s the big one. The man who’s been moving the characters in this story like chess pieces on a board must face the man who’s suffered some of the worst abuse and shame at his hands. And the closing panel promises the next issue will most definitely be worth waiting for. I just hope we don’t have to wait too much longer for it.
Captain America #22
Marvel Comics
Written by: Ed Brubaker
Drawn by: Mike Perkins
I appear to be in denial. I’ve long said that Brubaker’s Daredevil and Captain America are my two favorite books on the market. However, when pressed to choose between them (you know, if you were only allowed to pick one) my vote went to Daredevil. Well, both books came out this week and I reached for Captain America first. Maybe it’s because last issue gave us the teaming of Cap with Bucky, The Winter Soldier, after more than six decades and a cover reminiscent of that classic Avengers #4 panel depicting Bucky’s death. Or maybe it’s because this book, finally, has entered Civil War continuity, I’m sympathetic to Cap’s side and, in the hands of Brubaker, my expectation is another killer issue. And that’s just what I got.
Sharon Carter, Agent 13, through a series of flashbacks during a SHIELD psych evaluation, reviews the recent Civil War happenings to date and, naturally, her focus is on Cap. She seems to really be in hot water with SHIELD Director Maria Hill, who shows Sharon the footage of Cap plowing through a troop of SHIELD soldiers from CW #1, for her relationship with Cap. Her conversation with Dum Dum Dugan, who’s recovering from the beating Cap gave him and his men in New Avengers, is actually very touching as we hear Dugan’s sorrow and regret over the whole situation. But it’s her flashback to a night she spent with Cap, now a fugitive, which is the most powerful. Here Brubaker has the two lovers quote famous Americans like Ben Franklin and Thomas Paine as they argue the two sides of this conflict. And both argue convincingly. In fact, Sharon brings some much needed sympathy to the pro-registration side, something this side’s been lacking almost since this conflict began. But as Sharon ends her session with her psychologist, Brubaker doesn’t let us forget that The Red Skull still is out there and even introduces another villain from Cap’s pantheon of villains, one I haven’t seen since Frank Robbins drew him in the 1970s, to explain why the Skull forced Crossbones and Sin to spare her life last issue.
Mike Perkins is no Steve Epting but his art works just fine here to convey the dark mood and tension of this story. Brubaker’s plot, pacing and script is spot-on perfect. This book may well be the finest, most consistent book any comic book company has to offer.
Now, after work today, I’ve gotta get to Daredevil!
Batman #657
DC Comics
Written by: Grant Morrison
Drawn by: Andy Kubert
This is going to be a bad month for Tim Drake, now that Batman has brought the child he seems to have sired with Talia Head to the Batcave in this title and he’s going to suffer through a kidnapping by The Joker in Paul Dini’s upcoming Detective Comics issue. The kid can’t get a break.
Having dispatched all of Gotham’s villains except Two-Face, Bruce Wayne takes a vacation to England with Alfred. But of course, no vacation for Bruce is long-lived. Not only did he encounter and battle several Man-Bats last issue, he was delivered unconscious to Talia who surprised him with the son she bore from their night together in Son of the Demon. However, Damian was trained by Talia’s League of Assassins and has acquired both the skills of a trained killer and that attitude of an angry, neglected pre-teen. Damian’s temper is volatile at best but Batman, despite attempts at patience, puts the boy in his place in the most Dark Knight of ways. Through intimidation. The problem is, though, that while Damian may respect his father he has no respect for Alfred as an authority figure nor Tim, certainly, as anything. Adding to the errors in judgment in leaving Azrael to carry his mantle after “Broken Bat” and Harvey Dent as Gotham’s protector during his one year post-Infinite Crisis absence, Batman leaves Alfred and Tim with Damian while he investigates The Spook. No good can come of this and, sure enough, none does.
Morrison’s got a captivating story going here, and one that’s taken someone decades to finally push forward. And Kubert’s art is exceptional. Everything from the detail in the Batcave and Gotham skyline to the range of emotions on these characters’ faces is just first rate. While the prior two issues gave us a mix of Bruce Wayne and Batman, this issue is all Batman and it seems next issue will be the same. While Dini’s been exploring the detective elements in his work, Morrison’s been showing us the importance of Bruce to the Bat, and I hope we see more of that. Supposedly, next issue is the conclusion of this story and I also hope it’s not ended too abruptly as it seems we should have a few more issues to play this arc out. But, we’ll see. Morrison and Kubert have been delivering the goods thus far. Between this title and Detective Comics Batman’s the best he’s been in several years.
Sam Wilson’s Reviews
A pretty good this week, the spotlight (for me anyway) being Ultimate Spider-Man #100 (and who is not to love that Bagley/Romita Sr. tribute cover. Damn that’s smoking…). Also some cool trades: the last volume of Andy Diggle and Jocks The Losers (a book I loved that no one else ever seemed to care about) and Marvel’s Supreme Power: High Command trade, more “Civil War” action in Heroes For Hire and the final Chaykin/Simonson issue of Hawkgirl (booo). My pick of the week is Ultimate Spider-Man #100 (yay), and with that being said, on to the reviews…
Hawkgirl issue #56
DC Comics
Written by: Walter Simonson
Drawn by: Howard Chaykin
Gotta admit, I’m a little saddened that this is the last Simonson/Chaykin issue of “Hawkgirl”, but it’s been a good ride. Thus far, Simonson and Chaykin have been bringing us the adventures of the Kendra Saunders Hawkgirl who is a museum administrator in St. Roch, Louisiana. Hawkman has been missing for over a year (presumably after the events of the “Rann/Thangarian War”) and Kendra has been doing a bang up job reinvigorating the museum after the recent environmental catastrophes that have plagued the region. Anyway, weird things have been happening in St. Roch, homeless people have been found violently murdered, attempts have been made on Kendra’s life and she’s been sleeping funny, and gang violence has escalated. I should also mention the museum is in deep financial trouble. St. Roch PD detectives Brubs and Doucett have been investigating the homeless killings and the possible gang connection, and come across, umm, a really ugly tattooed chick that is also tied into the museum, Kendra’s past and possibly Hawkman. Things go bad, people get killed, the ugly tattooed chick is arrested and escapes, Kendra looks pretty sexy most of the time and thus we come to our latest and final issue in this arc, issue #56…
Kendra has the final showdown with the tattooed chick and an old villain finally reveals himself to her, a really, really old villain. Detective Doucett makes his way to Kendra to help out, and things pretty much end happily ever after. Yeah, the story kind of lost it at the end, it got a little too weird, creepy tattoos chicks, weird Egyptian references and spiked tentacles. Yes, spiked tentacles. Anyway, the first four issues of this arc were pretty good, and who knows what future lies in wait for Hawkgirl…
Heroes for Hire issue #2
Marvel Comics
Written by: Jimmi Palmiotti and Justin Grey
Drawn by: Bill Tucci (who is a total a-clown by the way)
First, I want to start this review by saying this is not the “Heroes for Hire” that we grew up with. There is no Luke Cage or Daniel Rand (Iron Fist), Danny won’t be getting in trouble for not picking up Luke’s ding dongs, there will be no trademark Jim Owsley snappy dialogue (aka Christopher Priest), quite possible “Heroes For Hire” may not even have as big of a heart as the series did back in the ‘80’s, but I’m gonna give it a chance. It still has Misty Knight and Colleen wing, the “Daughters of the Dragon”, who in their recent mini series “Daughters of the Dragon” showed us they are still a couple of bad ass foxy chicas who will put a mutherfu$#er down to pay the bills; and having Shang Chi, aka the Master of Kung Fu around doesn’t hurt either. Black Cat I could give a crap about, but whatever. What does bug me though is how this series is starting out smack in the middle of the Civil War, with the girls (and Shang Chi) being on the side of the “man”…
For those of you who read the “Daughter’s of the Dragon” limited series (now available in tpb form) Misty and Colleen own and operate a successful bail bonds office. With this new series they are being dragged into the Civil War by Iron Man, who wants to put a human face to his new Gov’t superhero squad. Misty and Colleen agree, but only if they hunt rogue super criminals, not heroes. Colleen wants no part of hunting heroes, or more importantly she does not want to get in the middle of a war she sees brewing. The new team is interesting; in addition to Shang Chi we have Humbug (a reformed villain with control over bugs, no really, he’s useful), a new female Tarantula who is somewhat of a mystery and a super bad backup squad featuring Paladin (remember him?) and Orca. Issue two deals with the aftermath of Civil War #4, and the death of a hero fighting on Cap’s side. Misty is ticked, and has it out with Stark, so she decides she is going to take things to Cap and see if she can get him to work things out peacefully. In the meantime, the team also stumbles upon a Skrull organ transplant operation (yes, Skrull). Things go from bad to worse, a team member sells Misty and the crew out, but we also see the gang reunited with the original “Hero For Hire,” Luke Cage.
I tell you, these first two issues have a lot going on. “Civil War” action, Luke Cage, Skrulls, and damn if it isn’t cool as hell. Yes, I’m not Bill Tucci’s biggest fan but he does an aiight job on this book and Palmoiotti and Grey are firing on all cylinders as far as the story goes. If you are a fan of Luke, Misty and “Hero’s for Hire” of any sort, check this book out.
Ultimate Spider-Man #100
Marvel Comics
Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Drawn by: Mark Bagley
Variant Cover: a smoking hot tribute to JR SR by Mark Bagley. Damn it’s nice…
For those of you who have never read my reviews before, let me just say, I’ve been championing USM for quite some time. Yes, there are plenty of ultimate-haters out there, but USM has been held to a high standard of quality for almost its entire run, largely due to the consistency of its creative team, Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley. Bendis has brought Spidey back to his teen angst roots, paying homage to classic Spidey lore and giving us some great original stories to boot. Anyway, recently in USM, Peter Parker fought the Scorpion on the streets of New York to make a startling discovery, the Scorpion had his (Parker’s) face. He took the Scorpion to Reed Richards for analysis and discovered that the Scorpion was a clone of himself. After finding this out Peter fled in terror to the house he lived in before Gwen Stacey died to make another staring discovery, Gwen Stacey, alive. Yeah. Aunt May shows up looking for Peter and almost faints when she sees Gwen, and to calm her down Peter revealed to her he was Spider-Man. Surprisingly, this didn’t calm her down and Aunt May told Peter to get the hell out of our house. All this, and Mary Jane is being held in a glass tube somewhere. Which makes me think, after 100 issues of “Ultimate Spider Man”, what do the Brits have to say? Yes ladies and gents, back again is everyone’s favorite British dude, your friend and mine Jess Harold, aka jdh.goodgrief, statueforum’s resident cartoonist, once again giving us his thoughts in his semi-regular review column, “Ask a British Dude”…
So Jess, what do you think of “Ultimate Spider Man”?
Well, we all thought it was a bad idea. ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’?!? Why not ‘*****in’ Spiderman’, or ‘Peter Parker the Totally Awesome Spider-Dude’? It didn’t help that the idea followed fast on the heels of Chapter One, an awful retooling of Spidey’s origin by comics legend John Byrne himself. How could this nobody called Bendis do a better job? Well, in honour of this landmark achievement by Brian Michael and his collaborator Mark Bagley, I’m going to do something unusual for a comics fan on the internet – I’m going to admit I was wrong. Ultimate Spider-Man is the best Spider-Man comic I have ever read. I was brought up reading my dad’s Ditkos and Romitas, and collected my own way through the great Spidey comics of the 80s, and the atrocious Spidey comics of the 90s, right up to the hit-and-miss Spidey Comics of the 00s. USM trumps them all. And reading the Spider-Man Masterworks at the same time only serves to illustrate how much this revamped take on a classic superhero story was needed. The work of Lee, Ditko and Romita is to be cherished, no question, Romita’s in particular standing up to modern day scrutiny. But some of the more fantastical elements of the Silver Age classics detract from the strength of the ideas and themes Lee excelled at developing. For new readers, hunting out Spidey comics after seeing the movie, USM should hook them where older material may not. The writing is top-notch – believable dialogue, and Spidey is genuinely funny, which sadly is not always the case these days in the regular Marvel Universe. Bagley has grown as an artist over a soon-to-be record-breaking stint – while the penciller himself admits that MJ looks a little too much like Peter in a wig, his facial work is now much stronger, and his storytelling is some of the best in the business. And he’s done it all on time, often twice a month. His shoes will be impossible to fill when he takes his leave of the title next year.
Where some other Ultimate titles, such as the Ultimates, have a tendency to throw the baby out with the bathwater in modernizing classic Marvel Comics elements, and where Chapter One was maybe too reverential to the source material, USM has always struck a delicate balance, one that Goldilocks might find ‘just right’. We have the costume, no leather, no needless tweaks or updates; we have web shooters (unlike the ‘real’ Spidey now, amazingly); we have a cast of predominantly familiar characters (the regrettable Geldoff excepted). But then Bendis and Bagley update certain key elements to make the book work better for the modern reader – Parker isn’t such a hopeless nerd; a more developed MJ becomes almost a co-star of the book; Aunt May is stronger, more independent; big man on campus Harry Osborn isn’t ugly, and doesn’t wear a bow-tie. The villains are more deadly, more real – not just their wardrobes, but their motivations. Some battles Peter cannot win, emphasizing the danger he puts himself in. One of the book’s ongoing jokes is how difficult Peter actually finds it to keep his identity secret – the number of times he gets caught out just seems more believable in this modern age of surveillance and forensics. The team also deliver intriguing new takes on characters like Jean de Wolff (a favourite of Sam, wktf and mine from back in the day) and tie many of Spidey’s foes together in an ongoing plot that has bubbled to the boil nice and slowly over these past 100 issues. A century of Spidey issues that are a joy to read, it is an incredible achievement by the creative team. All the more so, ‘ultimately’, when one remembers how the marketers saddled it with that awful title…
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