Snap Judgments: Quickie Comic Reviews for April 2, 2008

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

American Splendor #1: B
New home at Vertigo, same old book. This ish has eight stories, some better than others (the David Lapham-illustrated lead story about a visiting "fan" stands out) and featured without ads. Yay! - Albo

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #13: B
High on situational comedy, low on plot progression, lol racism. -AHR

Omega: The Unknown #7: B from Albo, B- from AHR
While perhaps not quite as tight as last issue, in general this book just keeps getting better. The intro comic "drawn" by the titular hero is extremely cool and I really wish I didn't have to wait for the last three issues because I'm really pumped to see what happens next. -Albo

Issue includes a beautiful comic-within-a-comic sequence by Gary Panter, a very funny scene about movie theater etiquette, and some unsatisfyingly rapid plot development in the last few pages. It lacks the hypnotically smooth story progression of past installments, and feels like an issue without a theme. -AHR

Reviews for The Walking Dead #48, Secret Invasion #1 and Kick-Ass #2 after the jump!

The Walking Dead #48: B-
We finally get to the action Kirkman has been promising for months, and though the events certainly shake up the long stabilized status quo, the extremity of what happens left me more stupefied than upset. Probably wouldn't be an issue if I was reading this in a trade, but as it is this issue feels like an story experiment and not a chapter of a larger whole. -AHR

Secret Invasion #1: C
Ho hum beginning to this year's Mega Marvel Event. There's a good twist near the end that I really hope turns out to be legit, because it would make the oncoming story much more interesting than the big fistfight I fear it's going to become. -Albo

Kick-Ass #2: D from AHR, D from Albo
I wish the main character actually had died in the first issue. That would have been some realistic (and nihilistic) shit. Instead, mere months after being stabbed, beaten and hit by a car, not only is this skinny nerd eating non-tube-based meals, he is trashing four gigantic gang members and winning over the criminally depraved inhabitants of the ghetto (lol racism). You can ultra-violent it up as much as you want, it's not hardcore unless there are consequences. -AHR

I told a lot of people about this book after thoroughly enjoying the first issue, and now I have egg on my face and it makes me angry. This issue was boring as all hell: the first half is all about our hero sitting in a hospital bed and the second half ditches the "realism" that I so enjoyed about the first issue and has our hero kicking the crap out of a group of beefy hoodlums. This is a skinny kid that's never had any fight training, mind you. But even without the realism problem, this book has already jumped the shark in terms of writing quality. There wasn't a single satisfying moment to be found within these pages. -Albo