BT06 – Hey, Kids, Comic Book Reviews!

Back to the “monthlies.”

Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]

Annihilation: Silver Surfer #3-4/4 (Marvel) [2/2/1/1] (w. Keith Giffen; a. Renato Arlem)

Annihilus has invaded the Positive Universe and is destroying plants and civilizations and bad stuff like that.  He’s also (by proxy) hunting down former heralds of Galactus, like the Silver Surfer.  Oh, and there are a couple of Galactus-class folks looking for the Big G, too.    Oh, and Thanos is here, too, making deals with anyone who will pretend to trust him.  And by the end of the third book, the Surfer is actively serving Galactus again.

Ho.  Hum.  Regardless of what’s going on here, I’m bored to tears.  The characters are uninteresting, posturing powerhouses, acting not particularly interestingly (or characteristically, in some cases).  I assume there’s some sort of follow-on event coming (there are also Annihilation tales featuring such highly popular characters as Nova, Ronin the Executioner, and the Super Skrull), but I have near-zero interest in it — especially if it features murky, sketchy art like this.

Anthem #3 (Heroic) [3/3/3/1] (w. Roy Thomas; a. Jorge Santamaria Garcia)

The Axis won WWII.  German super-planes pummelled the East Coast.  Japanese Giant Monsters took over the West.  And reborn into an Occupied America are seven heroes, super-soldiers with just hints of their memory, reawakened to beat back the Axis and free America.

Decent enough premise, and if the whole story is a set of Silver Age stereotypes, that’s the intent.  It’s just not all that intersting.  And the printing process used makes all the art unforgivably fuzzy.  On my drop list, I fear, for all I like Roy Thomas.

Astonishing X-Men #14-15 (Marvel) [4/5/2/2] (w. Joss Whedon; a. John Cassaday)

Emma shows her true colors (maybe), helping to disable the key X-members while the rest of the Hellfire Club invades — which, in #15, they do, and appear to do a very fine job of it thank-you-very-much — though there’s almost a sense that it’s partially a setup for the final panel, which still made me squeal like the fanboy I am.

Whedon and Cassaday just won an Eisner for this book, and it’s deserved.  Despite some timing problems, and some fuzzy interaction with main continuity, it shows the imagination and innovation of the Ellis/Quitely days, while still remaining true to what the series is about.  Triffic stuff.

Astro City: Samaritan #1 (Wildstorm) [4/4/4/2] (w. Kurt Busiek; a. Brent Anderson)

A one-shot special, focusing on Samaritan — well, kind of.  It’s actually more about the Infidel, Samaritan’s arch-foe, and the odd relationship the two of them share.  It’s well told, and interesting, and even though 90% of it is flashback, it’s still an active — well, battle and conflict aren’t quite the right words, but there’s an adversarial relationship going on there despite the pleasant social setting.  Nicely done, and if it’s not the most profound of tales, it’s still
a lot of fun.

Any sort of Astro City tale is welcome.  Wish they were more often …

Birds of Prey #95 (DC) [3/3/1/1] (w. Gail Simone; a. Joe Prado, Dick Giordano)

Conclusion of “Progeny,” as on the one side the BoP team, including the “Jade Canary” (Lady Shiva), tries to defeat master combatant Progeny, while Black Canary is in SE Asia busy going through the course of training that Lady Shiva has suggested.  It’s way too confusing for a newcomer, and it’s not clear to me it’s terribly well-based in the characters thereof (though it wraps up decently enough).  BoP’s an interesting title — a bit cheesecakey to be sure, but also a good showcase for a variety of
female heroes in the DCU. Hopefully it will improve after this oddly claustrophic and unpleasant arc.

And — that’s the half-way mark on the Blogathon! Fantastic!

(listening to: Baez, Joan, “Silkie” from Volume 2)
(listening to: Simon & Garfunkel, “The Sounds of Silence” from Wednesday Morning, 3 AM)
(listening to: “It Takes a Thief (arrangement A)” from www.mythemes.tv)
(listening to: Handel, “Concerto Grosso in F op 6,2 – Largo” from Treasury of Baroque)
(listening to: Cirque Du Soleil, “Fil De Fer” from Cirque Du Soleil)
(listening to: Nervous Norvus, “Transfusion” from Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary)
(listening to: Yankovic, Weird Al, “Smells Like Nirvana” from Off the Deep End)