As I mentioned, I was away for a few weeks so I have quite a backload of comics to put up. Here are the ones for the last three weeks. I apologize for the delay.
Here's a little review for each (from left to right, top to bottom, with spoilers throughout):
Astonishing X-men #12So here is the (on time for once) conclusion to Joss Whedon and John Cassady's first year on Astonishing X-men. It did not disappoint. Despite my mixed feelings about a few of the issues between 6-11, overall, the second arc was good. Joss writes very believable characters (as much as a 6 foot, blue-furred genius can be believable) and even though they're in the midst of action, there is no lack of characterization. You really believe that Peter cares for Kitty when she wants to go into the uber-sentinal. Another good thing about Joss's X-men, is that he doesn't have Wolverine be the main focus of the team like some X-books (and movies) have done. He's just there as a little ferocious tank that gets the job done like he should be. Somewhat surprising was Beast's ferocity whilst attacking Danger. I didn't know he had it in him, though one might have expected it from his and Wolvie's fight a few issues ago. As well, we get to see exactly who it was Emma was talking to in issue #4:
**SPOILER**
The Hellfire Club!
I knew Emma couldn't be good. Cassady's work leaves nothing to be desired. He can go from a fight sequence to an emotional revelation seamlessly. My favorite panel in this issue was probably the one showing Xavier's face as he tries to explain why he ignored Danger's initial moment of sentience. Very expressive. I look forward to the next 12 issues, though they won't be coming out until after House of M(alarkey) is over with (see Wizard #168 for interview with Whedon).
Ex Machina #14Here's the conclusion to the Fact vs. Fiction arc. I thought the mystery surrounding the new Machine man thing was well done and it wasn't who I expected (Kremlin), but rather the owner of Hundred's comic shop. As well, I enjoyed seeing Mitchell "power up" by talking to nearly all of the electronic signs in the city at the same time. It gives us a new feel for just how powerful he is and is probably tidings of things to come. I prefer to read short storylines rather than the "made-for-trade" arcs that seem to saturate the shelves. That, or ongoing stories with lots of sub-plots that are resolved as you go (ala Invincible). Too often there are 3-4 issues of (usually annoying) buildup while everything is wrapped up in the final 2 issues (I bring up the Hobgoblin arc in Ultimate Spider-man AGAIN to illustrate this point). However, Vaughn has changed things lately and that change is good. I'm sure that there will be other 5 issue arcs, but by haveing stand-alones and 2-3 issue ones thrown in the mix every now and then, he avoids the repetitiveness of having the same story structure. Not much to say about the art other than that Tony Harris does a bang-up job of drawing realistic people and conveying the various tense moments that occur in the series. I might try "reading" this just by looking at the pictures to see if I can still get a sense for the story.
Teen Titans #27Boo-urns for Infinite Crisis taking Geoff Johns away from this book for a few months. I didn't care for this issue. The writing by Gail Simone wasn't what I was used to and I think that threw me off, but the main reason is Rob Liefeld's art. I'm not art critic, but I've started drawing again and I know that comic book pencillers should have clean lines before they pass their work over to the inker. His are not clean. There are extra little lines where they shouldn't be and it just looks sloppy. Shame on the inker too for not fixing it up a little. Some of his characters also look disproportioned (as in heads to small for bodies, not extravagant chesticular regions) as well (Wonder Girl comes to mind). I'm glad that there are only two issues in this particular run and that Johns or someone equivalent takes over with issue 29.
New Avengers #9Finally the Sentry takes centre stage in his arc. What a friggin' suprise! I can almost forgive Bendis issue #7, because this one is quite interesting, despite the fact that not too much happens. Emma Frost enters Bob's mind and we see all the craziness it contains. And since when is the Void a huge vaguely reptillian creature? Not very Voidish if you ask me. Regardless, the mystery surrounds a shadowy figure (Stan Lee perhaps) that tinkered with Bob's brain and memories and we get hints of how powerful the Sentry actually is. I thought this was only a three issue arc, but it looks like #10 will be the finisher. Hopefully its good. I'm planning to drop this title after issue #13, the completion of the Ronin/Daredevil arc.
Young Avengers #6It was a long wait for this one and it was very "meh". In short, young Kang realizes that if he doesn't become old, evil Kang that the present day MU will be all effed up, so he goes
back to the future. Kind of sucks though for him knowing that when he becomes older, he's going to go back in time to help his young self, only to be skewered by his counterpart. Time travel makes my head hurt. We get to see the reintroduction of the Vision after his untimely demise in Avengers Disassembled. Doesn't beat the return of Hawkeye though in terms of turnaround time from death to reincarnation. This one is dropped after issue 12.
Girls #4Now back into the good stuff though Girls post #1 aren't
AS good as #1. They just don't have the same punch (no pun intended - if you read it, there is alot of punching). However, this issue was better than #2, not quite as good as #3. We see the chicks run amok in the town, beating many of the women senseless and it's revealed at the end, that for some reason they ONLY attack women. The pacing for the book is quite good and you really get a sense of urgency from the egg-girls in needing to get away and of the townspeople's fear. The art is very pretty, with good facial expression, though not as much detail as there could be. I'm amazed that with so many naked chicks running around that Jonathan Luna is able to hide nipples so well :D. Im looking forward to the rest of the series.
Y: The Last Man #37No hiding of anatomy here though as we see a full frontal of Yorrick on the last page. This story is shaping up to be quite good and it's answering the question (I think): "What would happen if a large population of women found out that there was a surviving man running around?" Some will likely think it's a hoax and others will probably form some militia thing thrying to get at him. Yorrick's desperation at trying to find Beth comes off really well and the fact that he kept a scrap of paper with him with her last known address with him for three years is representative of how much he wants to be with her again. I think the reporter chick was bluffing when she said she would up the voltage through 355, because for some reason I don't think there are different settings for it. The issue leaves you in suspense as to whether the story will get out or not, which is kind of exciting. Pia Guerra's art, as always, is very well done and Yorrick's pleading expression to 355 to let him leave the ship comes off as genuine. Wish I had have gottent the single issues from the start though. Anyone that wants to get rid of issues 1-5 let me know.
Invincible #25A milestone in the series and double-sized to boot, Invincible #25 brings some new sub-plots into the game and we see the return of Omni-man as a ruler of a distant planet. I new before I turned that last page that it was gonna be him though. All the origin stories to bulk up the issue were good as well and it was nice to see some of the characters drawn by different artists. As well, rather than just have these stories to tell some backstory, it seems as though there are some additional sub-plots introduced. For example, Dupli-Kate's brother, Dupli-Paul will likely show up in the future. Anyways, there's nothing really to be said about this issue other than it is consistant in its greatness month after month.
Serenity #3This one was actually a bit of a letdown compared to issues 1 and 2. I had to read it twice to absorb everything in fact. Don't get me wrong, it's still good though. However, this issue seemed a tad rushed, with an important scene taking place off panel to save space (I think). And I'm not sure the scene I'm thinking of actually took place. Book picks up a wrench and it loks like he's going to kill the blue-hand dudes but it doesn't show it. Now, if he DID kill them off panel, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, because I swear I saw them in a preview for Serenity. If he didn't kill them, then I have no clue what happened off panel. Anyways not a huge deal, just something I found that could have been handled better. Oh yeah, last issue I said something about a character coming back from the dead. It was agent Lawerence Dobson from episode 1. Not to worry, no spoilers for the movie, because Mal shoots him in the eye again and shoots him an additional time just to make sure. Book leaving the ship was a surprise which makes me wonder how much he's actually in the movie. Inara makes her preparations to leave which makes me wonder how she's going to come back to the ship. My prediction: the Blue Sun group comes after her once she leaves Serenity and use her as bait to lure River and the rest of the crew to them.
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