"BOCEPHEUS" |
"These reviews are based on the Sneak Peek
titles sent out by Marvel, DC & Image. It's not everything that's shipping for
the week, but it is a real good cross-section of this weeks releases. Check the
bottom of the page (after you read my reviews) for a link to some SNEAKY PEEKIES
of future titles" |
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 BEFORE
WE START…
By now everyone knows that Civil War #4 and 5 have been delayed (read the lead
story for comments from editor Tom Brevroot on why the decision was made) so let
me give my take on the controversy-BACK OFF! Steve McNiven is not a machine and
your lives aren’t irrevocably changed by waiting one month for #4 and 2 months
for #5. Fans of today don’t remember things like Frank Miller’s Ronin or DC’s
Camelot 3000 that had delays like you wouldn’t have believed. In the case of
Camelot there was a three month gap between issues then one shipped a week after
the late issue shipped. There was a four month gap between some issues of Frank
Miller’s initial Dark Knight limited series. Way back when Marvel and DC did
this deal where you would be in the middle or end of a great arc and when the
next issue of Fantastic Four showed up we got a fill in issue from people who
weren’t even working on the title at the time. Marvel even has a name for it-the
Dreaded Deadline Doom. Infinite Crisis had a number of artists work on it to get
the book on schedule and it still missed its deadlines. With comics and other
media I have always subscribed to the old newspaper adage-“Do you want it now or
do you want it good?” If Marvel had said ‘Okay, Steve is running behind so let’s
have Jose Delbo draw #5 so the book can come out on time’ fans would have
bitched that the art wasn’t as good. So they decided to delay the book and allow
McNiven time to get ahead of himself thus taking a financial hit and in doing so
showed that they were willing to support their artist. DC is doing the same with
the All Star line so just deal with it. And for those who want to throw out the
fact that 52 hasn’t been late yet remember that 52 is written by four people,
laid out by one and finished by five so there is no comparison. If you were at a
con and planned on buying some art would you buy a 52 page (and I am not talking
about the back up origin tales but the main story) or a Civil War page? I would
lay money that the CW page would sell a lot faster.
DC
ROUND UP…
Batman and the Mad Monk #1 (of 6) continues the Matt Wagner Bad Moon Rising
limited series that began with Batman and the Monster Men. Things start off with
a battle between Batman and Catwoman that makes Bruce unable to meet Julie
Madison for a shopping trip. Wagner also uses the issue to further establish the
relationship between Captain James Gordon and Batman in a cool rooftop sequence
that also allows us to see Gordon in action. After the skirmish Gordon leads
Batman down to the morgue where we see that there seems to be a plague of people
having their throats ripped out before we meet one of the people responsible.
The issue also shows the deteriation of Julie’s father which could lead to some
serious problems in the future issues…Wonder Woman 32 ships a week late but it’s
a damn good issue. We start with a look back in the past as the new Wonder Woman
(Donna Troy) and Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark) take on some minor WW foes while
Diana Prince and Batman watch from above. Here we learn just how Diana started
working for the government again as we saw at the end of last issue and watch
her first day on the job with her new partner, Nemesis. There are some bigger WW
foes out there looking for the real Princess and here she is given an assignment
to find of all people-herself. With that established Giganta (hey, most of
Wonder Woman’s villains have lame ass names) goes on a rampage in the city with
Dr. Psycho as back up and we get a guest appearance from Robin before another
person drops in to help with the fight. You can tell with this issue that Allan
Heinberg is a real fan of the character as far as comics and the TV series is
concerned and the Terry Dodson art is a real pleasure…Claw the Unconquered #3
starts with the reconstructed Claw laying waste to a village in a series of
blood strewn pages. He leaves one survivor on his rampage and we see her
discovery as we look in on the real Claw who is still on his quest elsewhere.
Chuck Dixon alternates the tales so we see the survivor and her rescuer end up
in Stonehenge as the real Claw discovers something is different about his
bedmate/traveling companion…Hawkgirl #55 will do nothing to contain the
grumbling heard by customers that the book seems to be going nowhere but folks,
nowhere is a direction so that isn’t why the book is lackluster. Even though it
is well drawn by Howard Chaykin the decision to make the book more mysterious
seems to have taken the life out of it. The issue shows us what is up with the
returning Carter Hall (and, surprise this isn’t really him) and for the most
part shows this hideous tattooed naked woman (the person behind all the badness)
loping thru the city like a bum looking for discarded smokes. Never before has a
book looked so good and meant so little.
MARVEL ROUND UP…
Daredevil #88 is a single issue tale called ‘The Secret Life of Foggy Nelson’
and it shows us what the life of Foggy has been since he was revealed in the
last issue as not being dead. We see him here learning to deal with his new
identity as he waits for Matt to come get him out of this. We also hear what has
happened after last issue with Matt getting on a plane to see who has been
behind the plan to destroy his life. The issue is drawn by David Aja who will be
drawing the Brubaker written Iron Fist series and he is given a chance to show
us how he will handle action sequences when we see that Foggy has some serious
back up if trouble happens until Matt returns from overseas…Spider-Man Loves
Mary Jane #9 isn’t written for me so my input isn’t really needed but I will say
that the ending puts the title of the book in question…Exiles #65 has a passel
of Wolverine’s in it as can be seen on the cover. Since the Time Broker fired
the regular team last issue he needed a new team to take on a new threat and
that threat seems to be a planet full of…Wolverines. Now one of the Logan’s
realizes he has a problem on his hands and that brings the former team into play
as he drops in on them to get assistance with the problem. Tony Bedard has a lot
of fun with this (one joke involves Patch Wolverine and the fact that no one
ever knew who he was with his disguise) short arc and will be leaving soon as
Chris Claremont’s recovery from heart issues is moving along nicely.
IMAGE ROUND UP…
Fear Agent #7 has two stories for us to enjoy. The lead tale starts with Heath
in jail between a squid looking thing and a mutated lobster. The lobster has
something hidden on him that makes him feel good and Heath nabs one which leads
to violence. We see here how Heath got in jail and end things with some
projectile vomiting and we all know what enjoyment that adds to any story. The
second tale isn’t as funny but enjoyable anyway as we see Heath on a solo
mission that is self contained and cool…Shadowhawk One Shot in a quirk of
serendipity ships a week after the issue that came out this week even though it
leads into it. The #1.99 offering serves as an intro to the character and marks
a few turning points-the lead’s relationship with his father and something that
is happening in Civil War, his training as a superhero…The Portent #4 (of 4)
ends the limited series involving fantasy and quests and unrequited love and
things of that sort. The story involving the traveler Milo and his traveling
companion, Lin ends here with the two of them in different places and coming to
different ends…The Last Christmas #3 (of 4) has elves packing heat, zombies
trying to eat bunnies, Santa getting hungry and dealing with that as well as
lots of pages of a buxom blonde who is trying to make this limited series
interesting to me but is failing on so many levels…The Walking Dead #30 has the
bulk of the issue taking place inside the prison that the survivors are holing
up in but starts with the cover image and his zombie troubles. The open gets the
action quotient of the issue filled as the rest contains conversation and subtle
understandings that life inside the prison has its own hazards. Robert Kirkman
keeps things and there is a subtle feeling of uneasiness lingering in the issue
which suggests things are about to go to hell very soon. The issue also contains
a sneak peek at the opening pages of the Ed Brubaker/Sean Phillips Icon series
Criminal and damn, it looks like it’s going to be special…Elephantmen #2 has two
stories and to read one just flip the book over and repeat if you want to read
something cool. One story (with a flipbook there is no first or second story) is
drawn by Flint Henry and involves a knock down drag out fight between Hip Flask
and a mutated crocodile and the other is drawn by Moritat and may involve the
same croc being interviewed by a Howard Stern look-alike. The Stern tale is
lighter hearted than the Henry tale but both are beautifully drawn. This book is
an artistic wonderland. |
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"See, I told you I'd be
down here. We've got a bunch of SNEAKY PEEKIES of future
MARVEL, DC and IMAGE titles right
HERE" |
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All
Books/Characters pictured herein are © Copyright 2006
by their respective owners. No rights given or implied
by Alternate Reality, Incorporated.
Reviews © 2006 Alternate Reality, Inc. |
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