Snap Judgements: Street Fighter II Turbo #1, Fables #77, and Welcome To Hoxford #3 and More

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

Mercy Sparx #1 gets an A from AHR
Devil's Due Publishing is already publishing one book about an anti-hero ass-kicking punked-out girl who busts supernatural foes, do they really need two? The answer is yes, if they're both really good. And Mercy Sparx, like it's soul-sister Hack/Slash, is really good. I love stories that take the war between heaven and hell into the modern era, and this book does it with just the right amount of relaxed humor and genuine badassery. The main character, despite looking like a Coop illustration, is a great female lead; she's cool, violent, and boorish, a completely believable young demon who the author treats like a real protagonist, not just a sexy avatar to hang the plot around. The art is a little rough around the edges, but it's a minor complaint. Here's hoping the quality level stays up, this could be a contender.

Fables #77 gets an A from DEgan
This book almost never disappoints. Even after the conclusion of a years-spanning story arc, the overall story doesn't skip a beat; and all without feeling like we're rushing from plot point to plot point. Bill Willingham is one of the best (if not the best) paced storytellers in comics today. We dive right into Fabletown dealing with the aftermath of their victory against "the empire"... and all the bureaucratic problems this may pose... I personally didn't know how the series could continue after the war's conclusion, but Willingham has introduced multiple new story elements that having me craving more. If you don't read Fables, get caught up and start reading-it's the book I most look forward to every month.

Reviews for Welcome To Hoxford and Street Fighter II Turbo after the jump...

Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #3 gets an A- from DEgan
The flash was one of my first superhero comics, so I've always had a soft spot for the Rogues... and this title under the Final Crisis banner, while almost completely unrelated to the Final Crisis (whatever that actually is), is probably my favorite. Some of the best treatment of the rogues in a long time-Johns really treats each character lovingly. Unlike Batman's rogues gallery, whose personalities are defined by their mental disorders-the Flash's rogues all seem to be defined by their obsessions. And they compliment each other perfectly. Plus this series has continued to show how these dorky-on-the-outside super villains are in fact some of the believably biggest badasses of the DC universe. However, I was looking forward to this title tying into the crisis at the end-and at the conclusion of this story (though an awesome cyclical finish to their journey as Flash killers) all hopes of this story melding with the Final Crisis seem thwarted.

Street Fighter II Turbo #1 gets an B+ from AHR
Here's what happens in this issue: we meet the main fighters, they all do a special move, they all talk about going to the tournament, and at the end there's the most awkward, forced cliffhanger I've ever seen in a comic. And I loved every page. The art is banana bread nutzo, with action sequences full of perspective so forced it'll make your stomach turn. I'm trying to say I enjoyed this, which is really saying something since I mostly picked it up to get some pin-ups of Vega (and there AREN'T any!).

Welcome To Hoxford #3 gets an B- from AHR
Villain on villain dynamics can be a lot of fun if everyone is genuinely and uniquely evil; it creates some unusual and interesting social situations. In this issue, we get some survival horror where the all the survivors are serial killers and sex maniacs, and there's really no heart of gold to be seen. The big problem is this book is literally very dark, as in lots of shadow, and Ben Templesmith has given all the convicts very similar faces, so even though we've got a lot of colorfully horrible characters, it's next to impossible to tell them apart. Also there's also some rape sensationalism (just the threat, not the act), which while believable in context, is kind of unpleasant to read. Still, this book is solid horror, and the art, when distinguishable, is top notch.

Snap Judgments: Reviews for Young Liars, Captain Britain and MI13, Secret Invasion and More

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

There are probably some minor SPOILERS herein.

Captain Britain and MI13 #4 gets an A from Albo
My good friend Hunter told me last week that Captain Britain and MI13 was the best comic Marvel was currently publishing. Never one to turn down a strongly-worded recommendation, I bought all four issues of the series today and that old sumbitch might be right. It may just be because I'm getting so sick of Bendis' Secret Invasion books, and yet this series uses the mega event as its jumping off point and somehow manages to stay grounded enough to get some good character work done. This four issue intro just wrapped up, I can't wait to see where the book takes us in a post-Skrull universe (oh, did I mention? The British have already dealt with their Skrull invasion.)

Reviews for Young Liars #6, Welcome to Hoxford #1, Universal War One Book 2 and Secret Invasion #5 after the jump.

Young Liars #6 gets an A from Albo
Ah, David Lapham, how did I ever doubt you? Yeah, many of the issues of this series have been miserable reads, but you've really picked it up here. This issue and the last one are filled with some incredibly shocking scenes. In a storytelling medium where the biggest threat (*cough*World War Hulk*cough*Secret Invasion*cough*) can be handled with a fistfight and zero serious consequences, it's a real treat seeing main characters go through severe, non-reversible, life-changing shit. Like, uh... Beheading. Last issue was castration. Where can they go from here?

Welcome to Hoxford #1 gets a B from Albo
I didn't get too much out of this issue. It's certainly not bad, the art is suitably creepy for a Ben Templesmith horror book and the writing is solid, I think I just have to see where it's going to really decide if I like the world the book is set in. So I guess what I'm saying is, stay tuned. But hey, if you like dark stories about prisoners getting (SPOILER) eaten alive, jump right in!

Universal War One Book 2 gets a C from Albo
I'm probably being a bit too harsh on this one. As far as spacey sci-fi comics go, it's better than most. There's even something exotic about the whole package because it's a French import. But really, despite the good art and the above average panel to panel writing, the pacing of the whole shebang is really screwy. Add to that the fact that after two looong issues I'm still not sure what I'm really supposed to be caring about and you've got yourself a C book in Albo's... book. Though a planet getting cut in half is admittedly pretty darn cool.

Secret Invasion #5 gets a D from Albo
Every time I attend or watch online a Marvel panel at a comic convention, someone inevitably gets on the mic and asks the question: "Why do you guys keep doing these big events that nobody really likes?" And Marvel's answer is always the same: "You keep buying them." It's a very honest answer, but it's also kind of a slap in the face. We buy them because they've told us the event is the most important thing going on in the universe and we're afraid that if we don't follow the books we'll be out of the loop. I haven't liked Secret Invasion since issue one, but here I am telling you what I think about the latest issue I bought. But I swear to you, right here and now, I will not buy another issue of this series. Why? Because nothing happens. Nothing. We're still where we were at the end of issue one. The characters are so secondary to the whole thing that they might as well be G.I Joes or the Scooby Doo crew and it wouldn't affect the story. Full disclosure, I'm still going to read these things in the store. But I swear I will not contribute to "you keep buying them" any more.