Snap Judgments: Reviews for Wolverine, Locke & Key, True Believers and More

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

There are probably some minor SPOILERS herein.

Editor's Note: I didn't buy (or read) David Lapham's final issue of Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility this week, but I did pick it up in the store and skip to the end and was shocked by the twist ending. Without giving anything away, did anyone suspect that this was going to be a "What If?" story?

Amazing Spider-Man: Brand New Day: Extra!! gets an A from Albo
As if three issues of ASM a month weren't enough, here's a one-shot teasing what you can expect from the book this fall (after the advertised Slott/Romita Jr. Venom story!!!). While Kelly and Bacholo's Hammerhead story is a bit muddled, the other two tales are great little Spidey nuggets. One has him starting a fight with some snobs making fun of Harry, and the other has him defending himself in a court of law with Matt Murdock at his side. Lots of sharp dialogue in both these stories, and I continue to think Marcos Martis is the best of the current Spidey artist crop (though that will probably fall out the window when [did I already mention this?] Romita Jr. comes in to illustrate a Dan Slott Venom story!!!).

Reviews for The Lost Ones, Wolverine #67, Locke & Key #6, and True Believers #1 after the jump!

The Lost Ones gets an A from Albo
Does it bother me that the writing is sloppy in places? Does it bother me that sometimes the art ain't so great? No way. And why not? 'Cause this bastard was FREE. It's a big, handsome trade paperback collection of a Steve Niles story illustrated by four alternative artists that was originally published online somewhere. And now it's in my hands and it's FREE. This thing would cost like $20 normally. But instead it's FREE. Oh, the story is a really cool time travel dealie and some of the art is honestly out of this world.

Wolverine #67 gets an A from Albo
Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's post-apocalyptic "Old Man Logan" story continues. I'm loving it, and not just because I'd enjoy freaking Family Circus if it had McNiven drawing it. Millar's vision of Marvel's future is fresh, not the police states of 2099 or Days of Future Past, but something somehow infinitely more interesting--a world not in which the powers that be have turned bad, but in which the bad have turned into the powers that be. It's somehow a more optimistic view, because there is such a clear enemy. An enemy with a face that can be dealt with by way of a serious ass kicking. Too bad our hero is a pacifist.

Locke & Key #6 gets a B from Albo
This book has been so good to me since issue one, and now here we are at the end of the miniseries. The only fault that can be applied to this issue is that it wraps things up a bit too quickly, but with an ongoing series coming in the Fall I don't feel all that cheated. This book came out of nowhere (you may have noticed that you were never able to find the early issues because your store under-ordered BIG TIME) to become one of my favorite reads of '08. Definitely pick up the inevitable trade when it comes out, then flood my inbox with thank you letters.

True Believers #1 gets a B from Albo
A tentative B. This issue had just enough new ideas to excite me about the potential of upcoming stories, but not enough blatant quality to assure me that it will live up to that potential. The story is about a team of superpowered folks who've taken on the duty of uncovering corruption and scandal among the elite, both superpowered and otherwise. They are very advanced technologically, so much so that even S.H.I.E.L.D. can't draw a bead on them. Honestly, I probably won't pick up the next issue unless there isn't much else out that week, but as blind buys go it was completely inoffensive.

Snap Judgments: Reviews for Dead, She Said #2, Secret Invasion #3, Final Crisis: Requiem and More!

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

There are probably some minor SPOILERS herein.

Dead, She Said #2 gets an A from Albo
I'm so happy that the second issue of this series kept up everything I enjoyed about the first. Many detective stories will put their protagonist through a lot of pain before the story wraps up, systematically degrading the private dick's body and thus emphasizing their eventual triumph as a result of superior intellect and sheer force of will rather than brute strength. Steve Niles has decided to cut to the chase in this tale, where our lonely detective's body is actually decomposing rapidly due to a little condition called death. Everyone's complaints about the smell aren't keeping him from investigating his own murder, though. It's a really handsome book with fun storytelling, and I really can't recommend it enough to fans of detective stories or horror. Or giant ants (here's looking at you, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull lovers!).

Detective Comics #846 gets a B+ from AHR
Hush is back! *crickets* Oh well, some more details on his origin remind readers why they should care, and all in all this is as clever and satisfying an issue of 'Tec as I've come to expect from Dini.

Reviews for Detective Comics #846, Secret Invasion #3, Final Crisis Requiem, I Hate Giants #1, and Ultimate Origins #2 after the jump!

Young Liars #5 gets a B from Albo
It seems that Young Liars' "Curse of the Sucky Odd Numbered Issues" is finally over! After a miserable #1 and #3 (and a great #2 and #4), this issue came as a huge relief. I can't say it was perfect, since the story as a whole still has me pretty befuddled as to the whys and wherefores, but the scenes within this book were strong enough to make me overlook such vital silly points. It's pretty awesome that we're only in issue five and already there are some major consequences hitting this group of unlikeable protagonists. Oh yeah, that's a problem isn't it? I HATE these people. Even when I like this book I hate it. What's a fanboy to do?

Final Crisis: Requiem gets a C+ from AHR
Funny and sad character moments in the first half, but the second half is a dry, dry history lesson on Martian Manhunter. Big fans of the character might enjoy, I wouldn't know. I do know that DC should have bought the rights to use the brand "Oreo" for this final send off.

I Hate Giants #1 gets a C+ from AHR
High school nerd angst. And not very deep angst at that. Fun art saves it from the discard pile.

Secret Invasion #3 gets a C from Albo
Beautiful to look at, but nothing nothing nothing happens happens happens. Last issue ended with Nick Fury showing up to the fistfight with a big glock, and this issue shows him firing it. This issue ends with SPOILER Captain America and Thor showing up to the fistfight, and I bet next issue will show them punching things. Snorlax. But like I said, Leinil Francis Yu's art is, as always, something to behold.

Ultimate Origins #2 gets an F from Albo
F for who the F cares. F for why waste an Fing issue of your big Fing Ultimate event on a story (Captain America's origin) that we've all read a million Fing times. F for I have so many more bad things to say about this book but I've already wasted too much Fing time on it.

Snap Judgments: Dead, She Said #1, Amazing Spider-Man #560 and More

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. There are probably some spoilers herein. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

Dead, She Said #1 gets an A from Albo
The more of Steve Niles' work I read the more I like the guy. I picked up 30 Days of Night when it was on the stands back in the day and came away feeling it was a little thin. But Simon Dark, among other things, has made me take another look. This horror noir story starts with a private dick waking up and cracking his way out of rigor mortis... That's right, he's "dead," shot through the belly and he's determined to figure out why. Giant ants may be involved. Smart, original, well worth your dollars.

Reviews for Amazing Spider-Man #560, Mighty Avengers #14, and Fantastic Four #557 after the jump!

The Amazing Spider-Man #560 gets a B from Albo
Not much more to say that I didn't say in last week's review of #559. Just a solid Spidey story from Dan Slott with killer art from Marcos Martin. We learn a little more about "Paper Doll" this week, and she's turning out to be a pretty cool villain. Different, at least. Also this ish contains the return of a major Spidey character we haven't seen since this whole Brand New Day stuff started...

The Mighty Avengers #14 gets a B from Albo
Frank Cho being so slow of an artist forced Bendis to approach his Avengers books in an interesting way--he was trying to thread the two books into one ongoing story, but since Mighty was taking so much longer than New he ended up creating a lot of flashback stories as filler for New in order to keep the books on roughly the same timeline. Well now that's become a real style of his, as most of his Secret Invasion tie-in stories skip around in time more than a season of LOST. I say it works, even if it does get a little tough to put all the pieces together in my head. This ish in particular is about how the Skrulls have approached the "problem" of the Sentry, and it's a testament to the new era of comics that their solution isn't just "hit him really hard," because as we (and they) know, that never works for the bad guys. Well, except maybe Doomsday.

Fantastic Four #557 gets a C from Albo
Ahem. To defeat a giant robot that pummeled every Marvel hero in existence and destroyed dozens of military complexes around the globe, Mister Fantastic builds a bigger robot (which he inexplicably dubs "Anti-Galactus"... wtf?) in an AFTERNOON and bases his whole battle strategy on the ASSUMPTION that the robot's creator included him in a list of people that it couldn't harm. When he could have, oh I don't know, CALLED HER JUST TO MAKE SURE. Lazy storytelling from a guy that's probably too busy out promoting the movie adaptation of Wanted to give a damn. On a positive note, there is a really sweet scene at the end (which I woulda given an "A" if it were a standalone story) where Reed takes Sue out on an anniversary date--back in time to the moment they first met. And as a gift he gets her a ring with a "stone" that's actually a micro-galaxy with "over forty trillion couples ... all loving each other like I love you." What kind of softy have I become when I open a comic and prefer the date scene to the giant freaking robot fight?! Am I losing my Geekanerd touch? Or is Millar just better with character moments than action?

Snap Judgments: Quickie Comic Reviews for 4/16/08

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. There are probably some spoilers herein. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

The Damned: Prodigal Sons #1: A
The ignorant S.O.B that I am, I didn't realize this issue was a continuation of previous material when I picked it up. That being said, I had no trouble hopping on and getting into the demonic noir world of The Damned. Honest to goodness solid cartooning spiked with a story I actually haven't read before makes this my fave of the week. -Albo

X-Men: Divided We Stand #1: A
I heart emo superheroes! Abadonment is the theme du jour, or more specifically the sense of betrayal and loss that the x-kids feel after coming back from Iraq, er, I mean whatever went on in Messiah Complex. I didn't read that, but like many a great superhero comic, these stories work out of context as tales of the (meta)human experience writ large. -AHR

Cthulhu Tales #1, Pigeons From Hell #1, Powers Annual 2008 and Captain America #37 all after the jump!

Cthulhu Tales #1: A
As you'll see, this was a week of experimentation for me. I know jack diddly about the Cthulhu mythos, so why I picked up this anthology book from Boom! Studios is a mystery. Actually, it's pretty simple: I like Steve Niles' work on Simon Dark and his name was on the cover. But enough about me. Every one of these stories was a great little nugget of horror goodness, especially Niles'. Their only fault is that at the end of each I wanted more more more. Except maybe the last one that was about a bunch of fat sports fans. -Albo

Pigeons From Hell #1: B
If you can believe it, this book also has a backstory that I was unaware of before I picked it up. Apparently the story was originally told by Conan creator Robert E. Howard, and this is just a "modernization" of his tale. The story is pretty contrived and the dialogue is way hokey, but the energetic art by Nathan Fox and superstar colorist Dave Stewart is enough to make me not regret the purchase. -Albo

Powers Annual 2008: C
You know, there may be something great about this ish (primarily written by artist Mike Oeming) but I'm really not sure what it is. It's a story about cavemen fighting. Maybe it's an allegory? Maybe it's just boring. -Albo

Captain America #37: D
If you have friends who think all comics are about smarmy, laconic, self-righteous manly men in tights, DO NOT give them this book. Cause there's a lot of that crap, and it's boring. All posturing and intense stares, zero drama. -AHR

Snap Judgements: Brawl #1, Batman Confidential #10, New Avengers #35, Simon Dark #1

As always, Geekanerd brings you Snap Judgements: short, spoiler-free, and... I forgot the other S...

Brawl #1 (of 3)
Gets an A from AHR
I already read both the stories contained in this comic on Act-i-Vate, an online comix collective where creators put up their comics page by page, as they finish them. It's awesome. But I got this print version because Immortal is the sort of story that should really be read in a suitably moody location, say, an empty beach or a end-of-the-line bus station. Dean Haspiel has created a truly memorable character in Billy Dogma, a hard man with a heart of gold who inhabits a stylized world of crazy love and sexy absurdism. The high romanticism and abrupt action creates a mood you can sink into like a waking dream. Cut into pieces for this three issue series, the first chunk of Immortal is over all to soon, and it would have been nice to sustain the mood by releasing the story as a one-shot. But then we'd be missing out on the second story, Mike Fifee's Panorama, a gritty, surreal noir rendered in splattery black and white that really benefits from the transfer to good old fashioned scratchy paper. I enjoyed Fiffe's story more the second time around, particularly the inner monologue narration which, in contrast to pulp patter of Immortal, ticks along to a realist beat even as the hero's flesh drips off his face and takes on a mind of it's own.

Another Brawl opinion after the jump, plus Judgments for Batman Confidential #10, New Avengers #35 and Simon Dark #1

Brawl gets a C from Albo
I hate being a negative Nancy, but Immortal made no damn sense. I liked alot of the individual panels, but the storytelling was so scattershot I honestly thought maybe they printed the pages out of order. Panorama shared this tendency a bit, but by the end I was with it and really enjoying the bizarre reality Fiffe had crafted. All told, from my POV you would be wise to stick with the free online version. (side note: The clerk at Midtown very politely asked me why I was buying this book. I've never been asked that before. I suspect he had already read it.)

Batman Confidential #10
Gets an A from AHR
I'd like to say that Confidential scribe Michael Green is currently writing one of the best takes on the Joker I've ever read. But I can't, because the character that Green has been writing is the man who existed before mutating into the mass murdering clown we all know and love. This allows Green to sidestep the "unreliable narrator" problem common in writing the Joker - because the character doesn't take the literal plunge into craziness 'till close to the end of this issue, Green has this Man Who Would Be Joker tell his own story without having to interrupt the thought process with non sequiturs and jokes just to stay in character. Green makes the most of this lucidity, demonstrating a Frank Millerian ability to offer insight into action sequences with present-tense narration, while maintaining a sense of chaos and violence. Denys Cowan's art continues to impress, although neither he nor Green manage to make the fully realized Joker as disturbing as the awesome cover might have lead readers to expect. But we've got two more issues to see how they handle the J-Man in his all his psychotic glory, and I for one expect great things.

New Avengers #35
Gets an A- from Albo
The minus in my score is solely because the image from the cover has nothing to do with the contents of this issue. Last ish ended with a big symbiote invasion, then we see this cover and of course we flip: It's goddamn Venom Wolverine! Well, instead of telling that story, this issue flashes back a few months and tells the tale of the Red Hood gathering a bunch of D-rate villains (seriously, I know some Marvel mythos and I recognize maybe two of these guys) together and organizing them into a new crime syndicate. And it's awesome. Bendis' common sense originality (as in, "duh, how come no villain's ever done ____ before") shines, his dialogue snaps, his pacing... I'm out of flashy verbs, but it's good. This is the centerpiece book of the Marvel Multiverse, the only place where shit is really going down. If you care at all: buy it.

Simon Dark #1
Gets an A from Albo
Gotham City has a new protector, and he's... different. 30 Days of Night creator Steve Niles writes this book about a guy who doesn't really know who he is, but protects the innocent by decapitating suckas with a wire. He's also homeless, begging for money from those he saves so he can buy some food. He is the anti Bruce Wayne. He's apparently been prowling this little outskirt of Gotham for a while, and the people seem to love him even though he doesn't want much to do with them. Not out of contempt (he's actually quite sweet), but some teensy social phobias. I really hope The Bat ignores the headless corpses, because he would kick Simon's ass. And I like Simon. A lot. It's original, moody, and I can't wait to see where it goes.