Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]
Ultimates 2: Gods & Monsters (Vol. 1) (Marvel) [4/5/3/1] (collects #1-6)
w. Mark Millar; a. Bryan Hitch
The Ultimates are busy acting as the world’s policemen, even as the Robert Banner is outed as the Hulk, and the civil authorities demand his death for the casualties in his last rampage. Meanwhile, Thor’s increasing instability and apparent hallucinations about Volstag and Loki have the authorities ever more worried — especially when it’s revealed he’s really just wielding high tech from a European supers program. Will the Hulk be executed? Will the Ultimates take Thor down? Will Tony
pop the question to the Black Widow? Will a disgraced Hank Pym make a success of it with the Defenders? And will the world finally get tired of how the US government is using the Ultimates?
Think of a nasty and cynical answer to these questions, and you’re likely to come up with the route that Mark Millar’s taken. Rarely pleasant, but usually fascinating. Let’s just say I’m pretty certain that the current “Ultimates” videos out there are pretty watered down from any of these tales.
Usagi Yojimbo: Fathers and Sons (Dark Horse) [5/5/4/5] (collects #69-75)
w/a. Stan Sakai
Twenty years into his run with his rabbit ronin, Sakai is still going strong. In this outing, Usagi is escorting his nephew to Jotaro to a temple — knowing that Jotaro is actually is illegitimate son. Will he tell the boy before parting, perhaps forever? Throw in bandits, ninja, and mystical collywobbles, all steeped in Japanese myth and history, and you have standard, excellent UY fare, including another classic “Lone Goat and Kid” tale.
Villains United (DC) [3/4/2/1] (collects #1-6)
w. Gail Simone; a. Dale Eaglesham, Val Semeiks
It’s tricky writing with villains as protagonists. Simone pulls this off by having the six protagonists — the “Secret Six,” under control of some unknown character — facing off in defiance of the Society, which has the numbers, the firepower, and the plotting to do in both them and the super-heroes they fear (and, after Identity Crisis, rightfully so). The Six, though none of them gems, actually manage to garner some sympathy in their fight against the Society, enough that they’ve graduated
to a series of their own. Reasonably good stuff.
(listening to: Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, “When I Change Your Mind” from Zoot Suit Riot)
(listening to: Rogers, Roy, “When The Sun Is Setting On The Prairie” from Home On The Range)
(listening to: Chieftains, “The Long Black Veil” from Long Black Veil)
(listening to: Shaiman, Mark, “Finale” from Addams Family)
(listening to: Post, Mike, “Theme from NYPD Blue” from Inventions from the Blue Line)
(listening to: Pomona College, “Etudes #11, 1:Pour les arpèges composées, Pour les “cinq doigts”” from Pomona Musical Sampler)