"BOCEPHEUS" |
"These reviews are based on the Sneak Peek
titles sent out by Marvel & Image (DC no longer sends them out). 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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 BOOK
OF THE WEEK:
CRIMINAL #1 (of 4)
Comic Review by:
Larry "Bocepheus" Evans
Writer: Ed Brubaker, Artist: Sean Philip
The latest Icon book is from the team that did Sleeper for
Wildstorm. The new title involves a crew planning a major
heist but we begin five years earlier on a bank robbery
gone bad involving Leo, our main character. We meet him in
the now as he is working on a job as he is being watched
by an old friend giving his partner a lesson on what pros
do. They have a job that he would be perfect for,
naturally but he hasn’t been the same since the job we saw
in the opening. Brubaker shows us how Leo is trying to get
into a regular life but he has problems with a senile
partner of his dead father but we know that that’s not
going to happen which makes the story even better. We are
introduced to all the players in this dark game as the
issue flows until a grim conclusion that suggests things
are going to get worse for Leo. This isn’t going to be a
huge seller but the Icon titles don’t have to deal with
the numbers that regular titles have to. Each issue will
include a text piece that goes along with the noir genre.
Expect this to do extremely well in trade format and in
regular bookstores.
MSRP: $2.99,
1st DAY SALE Price: $1.79 (That's 40% OFF on this
Wednesday Only!)
Alternate Reality Price: $2.54 (That's 15% OFF, All
This Week!)
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MARVEL ROUND UP…
Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man #20 has the
Frankenstein Monster, Spidey and Hawkeye hanging out and tossing jokes out like
candy…Marvel Team-Up #25 ends the series and has more heroes than you can shake
a stick at (and why someone is shaking sticks at stuff is beyond me) within the
contents of it’s pages. We get a page from Robert Kirkman thanking the artists
who worked on the book as well as Speedball, Speedball and more
Speedball…Amazing Spider-Girl #0 is a recap of what has happened before in the
cancelled book to set us up for the launch of the new Spider-Girl series. I cant
say that the new edition will sell better than the old one did but at least the
book will get more publicity…The Incredible Hulk #99 takes up where we left off
with the band of misfits that are following the Hulk dealing with all those
spikes that were dropped on them at the end of #98. We get a change in status
for one character right before the major battle we have been working toward
since Hulk was dropped in the middle of all this-Hulk versus the Red
King…Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #13 concludes the Mysterio story and
reveals something about Miss Arrow that comes completely out of left field. Todd
Nauck actually works well here and the Peter David story is cool…Agents of Atlas
#3 (of 6) tells the story of the first Marvel Boy while trying very hard not to
show Venus’ chest. We see that the Yellow Claw is still around and discover
something at the bottom of the sea that makes us and the team drop our
jaws…X-Men: Phoenix-Warsong #2(of 5) seems to suggest that the Cuckoos are more
complicated than we thought they were. The last page suggests very bad things
are going to happen unless they are stopped…Beyond #4 (of 6) makes the Space
Phantom a major villain between jokes and asides tossed out like Chiclets from
the new writer of Fantastic Four Dwayne McDuffie. The natural assumption from
looking at the Phantom is he/it cannot be taken seriously but here he becomes a
villain that most heroes would have a hard time dealing with…Doctor Strange: The
Oath #1 (of 5) starts out in the waiting room of the Night Nurse where Iron Fist
and Arana wait to be helped right before Wong brings in the wounded Dr. Strange
to her door. As he is being dealt with we see the villain behind Doc getting
shot (well, we see his agent as he sits in the shadows) before getting a version
of Doc that actually makes him more of a regular guy. Brian Vaughan and
Batgirl’s Marcos Martin give us a first issue that makes us hate the wait for
the second one…Irredeemable Ant-Man #1 from the team of Robert Kirkman and Phil
Hester is one of the densest issues I have ever seen. In the space of one issue
we meet the men who share the new Ant-Man suit, get a perfect insight into their
characters, see Hank Pym look for someone who can wear his suit and see what may
happen when a hero saves a pretty girl. Most of the pages are composed of 12-14
panel grids so Hester works his butt off here to tell the story.
IMAGE ROUND UP…
PVP #28 is a book that I cant even begin to care about so forgive me if I pass
on this title…Strange Girl #11 would be helped immensely if it wasn’t so poorly
drawn. The story is actually pretty interesting but the art by Nick Stakal is so
muted and muggy that it distracts from it. If there was ever a book that needed
an inker this is one…Shadowhawk #15 is another book that has art that takes away
from the story. The cover suggests a romance comic and the interior has Rebound
and Shadowhawk hook up after dealing with the villain Zombie. If the issue
looked as good as the cover then I could recommend it more…Fear Agent #8 comes
out the week after it was announced that the book is moving over to Dark Horse.
The issue mixes a western with Heath being out in space getting his swerve on
with Mara. The beginning is connected with the remainder of the story but after
reading it I almost wish the entire issue stayed with the western angle. This is
all part of Heath getting his stuff together and becoming the character he has
been in the early issues and I admit that I had little interest in the title
when it started but now find it one of the best books out there. The second
story is well drawn by Paul Renauld…Elephantmen #3 has a very Kirbyesque story
drawn by Godland’s Tom Scioli to begin with and a nice little tale drawn by
regular artist Moritat that shows Hip in an alley recovering with the help of a
cute medical tech…Cross Bronx #2 (of 4) if you can believe it is better than the
first issue. We learn more about the cops involved while seeing just what they
are up against on the last pages. There are more rejection letters from Mike
Oeming’s past included to show that you have to keep plugging away to make it in
comics.
DC LOOK
BACK…
This was the first week that DC hasn’t sent out any sneak peeks since they
considered it not cost effective to take books that are just sitting there at
the printer and send them out with the regular books so that you could look at
them in the store and go “Man, I am going to pick this up”. So while DC cuts off
their noses to spite their faces this space will be filled with a review of one
of the best books DC shipped for the previous week. This week we get Blue Beetle
#7 which explains what happened to the new Beetle during Infinite Crisis after
he got his powers. We see him interact with the DC heroes during his missing
year as he and his family (along with the tattooed guy who knows more than he is
telling) visit and try to figure out just what is happening with him. At the end
we are left with two questions-who built the armor and what is going to happen
when they realize someone is wearing it?
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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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