5/01/13

AGE OF ULTRON #8 — Well, this one went right on by, but there was plenty of action. We only get five pages of the Pacheco/Villarrubia Past art, but they are beautiful. I like the way they frame it at the end there, Logan and Sue staring each other down as the portal rises up above their sightline. I really do dig the turn this series took, it looked like it was going to be this complicated labyrinth of multiple battle-fronts and timelines erupting simultaneously but instead we’ve just got these two holdouts from the 616 in what’s essentially the Age of Stark, it looks like. Who knew Pym was holding Tony down to such an extent? Does that have to make him the bad guy now? This blockbuster opening weekend of all blockbuster opening weekends? I’m hoping Bendis has got something more surprising up his sleeve. The re-designs and roster on The Defenders could have been a bit more shocking, particularly from the guy who made the contents of that shuttle back in SECRET INVASION #1 such a surprise. Enjoying the ride these past two issues, pulling for a strong finish.

ANIMAL MAN #20 — Man, Lemire is really doing a fine job of making TIGHTS as compelling as the main narrative. I just want Chaz to do well! Immaculate art from John Paul Leon, as ever. Lovern Kindzierski does a fine job shifting between his style and Timothy Green II’s, interesting to see how flatter colors seem to accentuate Leon’s work. Buddy’s trashed bedroom, though, man, just feel so bad for him. Not exactly Red-Carpet-ready, methinks.

DETECTIVE COMICS #20 — What striking art! Jason Fabok and Jeromy Cox could not be doing a better job. Every double-page splash they’ve turned in has been nothing less than a thing of glory. Taken all by itself, I was a bit disappointed with the main feature. It looked great, but after all of these months of set-up, it seemed a bit strange to have Batman and The Penguin march right in and take Ogilvy down inside of twenty pages. All of that set-up for what? But of course Layman has a plan that the back-up feature makes clear, not so much an epilogue as continuation of the character’s journey, there’s the single page of context establishing the character’s origins as in many ways running parallel to Batman’s while the remainder of the feature establishes his new status quo without missing a beat. It might be nice to put him on the bench for a little while, develop some other threads, and then drop him back in at the most shocking opportunity.

GREEN ARROW #20 — Andrea Sorrentino certainly keeps drawing very pretty pictures. The cliffhanger is kind of limp, not even catching back up to the opening, which wasn’t really that shocking. Pretty burned out on the in medias res cold-open followed by the flashback. This one’s going to have to start pulling its wait a bit more, Lemire is not managing to engage me so much here. There’s nothing wrong with it, just not feeling much of a connection to anyone in here, and we’re already four issues in.

FASHION BEAST #9 — Oh! So, our hero(ine) is just a straight bastard. That is some cold damn business to pull there throughout the issue, but what goes down on the last page is the living end. We’re going to need a serious blast of beauty in the final issue to counterbalance the ugliness of this issue, right here.

ALL-NEW X-MEN #011 — Okay, so the first half of this issue plays out the group’s reaction to the teammate’s departure, the aftermath of which we already saw over in UNCANNY. On the first pass through, I felt like the dialogue at the end of that scene with Logan, Kitty, and Ororo talking to Hank kind of sums up everything I love about this book, if you had to do it in one panel. But then that penultimate scene with Kitty and teenage Jean? Man. Just knocks me out. And a cliffhanger that’s about due. I gleefully await the hundreds of words the Summers brothers will exchange next issue.

INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #007 — Gaaaaah, so much Kirby dynamism! Just those first two pages alone, when have you ever seen seven panels that looked like they were all going so simultaneously batshit insane clashing up against one another like that? Followed by that perfectly framed four-panel zoom from Thor as a speck on a mountaintop all the way into tight on his left eye. “Holy Mother of Tesla!” has got to be the greatest rejoinder of at least the month. And Coulson pops out of the woodwork right on cue for opening weekend. This is a terrific slab of rock-em-sock-em Marvel. Waid keeps events crackling along at a blistering pace and of course Simonson is arguably the greatest living Thor artist, so this issue has that going for it, as well.

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #009 — This was actually just really sad. Very well made, Slott and Stegman and everyone involved turn in fine work. But seeing those memories get choked out, erased, one by one, really no fun at all. Anyone who believes that this forever closes the door on the eventual triumphant Peter Parker, though, come on now. Given this set-up, there’s not even a way for them to produce a corpse.

BEST OF WEEK: HAWKEYE #010 — Wow, everything went all Gotham rhapsodic out of nowhere, didn’t it? That is some pretty serious history to just walk up and drop on somebody there, Miss Bishop. I’m wild for the blues and purples that Francavilla chooses to light Kate at the party with and then the way that the orange from Kazi tries to overtake her face throughout the course of their interaction. To no one’s surprise, Francavilla absolutely knocks it out of the park throughout. Nobody can do it for you on jagged-panel kill-spree montages like that boy. All told, the intention behind this entire installment seems to be to provide a proper introduction to the fellow who debuted on the final page of the previous issue. I’m not sure that we get a meaty enough origin/motivation-type situation for him if we were going to basically devote the entire issue (and even repeat the final page, for that matter), but it looked so good, and Kate Bishop’s party conversation is so scintillating, this one’s still the best thing I read all week.