Comic Capsule Reviews 5/20/2009

Trinity #51: Spectacular. A wonderful engaging story about Krona's mad search for secret knowledge at all costs, personal motivations of Morgana and Despero for absolute power. Enigma yo save his world from the Crime Syndicate, And the very nature of the DCU due to the primacy of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman as the Trinity got even better as we hit the last several issues. In this issue The Earth is brought back together and the Trinity sacrifice the last of their power to deal with Krona, and also defeat Despero and Morgana who were contemplating a last dash for power and kill Enigma or have they. And it ends with a wonderful cliff hanger....Super, Bats and WW weakend turn to face their counterparts in the syndicate. great stuff. Busiek and Nicieza pull it all together very well with some nice scripting throughout. Bagley really does a stand out job with dynamism and energy..and I think he really does a great Batman. Pete Pantazis does wonderful colors over him. They should stay a team. unfortunately the portion of the book done be Derenick looked very rushed. Completely forced anatomy, even for his extreme style was way over the top. Morgana looked broken and twig like in many panels and some of the foreshortening was just to far and off. Still it reads well. And I can't wait to see what the climax holds. Great stuff. (Aquaman is back? Doesn't DC know they are supposed to hire me to write that story?) 8.5 out of 10


FC aftermath:DANCE #1: Mmmm..this is a tough one. admittedly I wasn't going to by any of the FC Aftermath stuff..but I love Chriscross' art. So I decided to buy it. And after reading it I still don't care about the characters, but I do like the developments. Basically Super Young Team gets sponsored by some Japanese consortium and even given a lot so super cool space station and throw a the appropriately marketed release party for their brand. What I liked was the script and Most Excellent Superbat and his internal exploration presented via "twtteratti" and his questioning through out the book. I like the part with Ultimon-Alpha a lot. Other then that nothing in it did any thing to make the characters interresting, which I hope will change as the story goes on. although the story itself is. I am curious about the ending and if MOSEXBAT finds what he is looking for and they become the next generation of heroes he sees himself as. Th art is great. Eventhough there isn't much in terms of superhero action, Chriscross really shows his chops with great character and expression, and wonderful work on the sets and back grounds. Its like super fusion comic manga-Kirby, especially the first two page splash interior of the Space Station. Impressive stuff. and he manages to bring a level of dynamism of that is usually absent in an issue that is mostly standing around talking. There is a bit of action thrown in there..and its fun, but not really essential. Not fan of the colors really, but it's not so bad as to distract from the art and story(Snakebite?). The saving grace for me is Casey's great scripting and Chrisscross' art. And that will keep me buying this series. 7 out of 10


Invincible #62: This comic is like a non-stop roller=coaster of super-fights to the max. Invincible can't get a break..coming out of the Invincible War he gets a Viltrumite powerhouse dropped on him, and he makes no pretense about it he likes to kill and destroy. Its an awesome superfight. And i love the end..the Global Defense Agency has a plan, an eerie sick plan, but unfortunately not the time to get it off the ground things don't bode well for the home town hero Invincible....if the next issues cover is any indication. The art is second to none. Almost no one can do what Ottley does every month. Cartoony, bold, dynamic, graphic...its one of the best illustrated books on the stands. and really I think out side of Mahnke no one can touch Ottley when it comes to visceral violence and power. This is a super fight you have to see. Power unleashed on a scale you would expect when two Superman level power houses face off. Punch into space? Yeo, City blocks destroyed? yep...all illustrated perfectly. and to add to Ottley's bold open art is Plascena's perfect colors. Awesome. 9 out of 10 for balls out action. There is no good reason not to read this book.


HULK #12: say what you want about Loeb, but as long as he has the space to tell his own stories and not muck with the continuous story telling in an ongoing his pretty much gonna give you an explosive fun rockarolla comic like no other. That what the Defenders/Offenders story has been. Sure we all hate Rulk, and this issue does nothing to change it...but the use of characters, cliche bolded dialogue and character antics coupled with McGuiness' power and style it's a home run hit full of fun. Listen I can't remember these versions of the characters where used this well, and really pays homage to all the comics I loved growing up and turning it on it's ear with some bizarre zaniness that blows the mind. Come on..how silly is it that Rulk kills Hulk, surfer and Terrax uses their combined power flies through Dormammu's head and then gets in Galactus' face all indignant like...it's as awesome as it is preposterous, it's a super hero cartoon...like Loeb took marvel and went Bugs Bunny Warner brothers with it. And again, blend those absurd comic sensibilities with McGuinness' style and mind blowing ability to tell stories and there is no way not to like this. Even if Rulk beats Grandmaster to death...who cares..its a fun ride, and you know what...I know it's not in my continuity, you don't have to bring it into yours either just love it for what it is. Great comic fun, with the best art you can imagine. I am dropping the book now, but am glad i picked up this arc. 9 out of 10


Amazing Spiderman #594: Another great issue. Not the stuff with the new Vulture, which is horribly designed like a cross bewteen some bad American anime and the thing from JeepersCreepers. I am completely uninterrested in him, but he serves a purpose. A menace to bring Spidey's nagging feelings about Osborne to a head. And the other elements in the story...Aunt May and J.J. Sr..did she really say YES?, JJJ, Pete's new roomate yelling at him as he walks around naked, the piece with the REAl Vulture, and finally Pete's decision at the end were all handled very well by Waid. I am also excited about the upcoming American Son storyline. The art was good but unbalanced. The inking helped Kitson's pages, which made him much stronger then I usually think he is and then you had great pages by McKone, who I think should have handled the whole issue, the last 3 pages were beautiful. A good issue in the BND era...but not as good as others. 7 out of 10



Fantastic Four #566: Fantastic is just about right. A great build up, as Doom's Master finally shows up and is somewhat disappointed in his pupil..and it seems he's come sideways across dimensions destroying Earth's and killing Watchers along the way. Yeah..The FF better get real ready real quick. I like how Millar is building this, Reed's autopsy of the other-dimensional Uatu was nicely done. I also liked Doom in Latervaria. The stuff with Ben caught me by surprise..that story line might be bigger then I thought. Great job by Millar, he has done a great job carving out his slice of FF history. A lot of things have been added and really added a sense of wonder, and creepiness to Marve;'s first family. Hitch is amazing throughout. Nice big panels and his signature detail. I really love how spooky he makes the Master's of Doom. I am certain the next issue will be blow the door off the house crazy as the FF face off against the Marquis of Death. 8.5 out of 10

Captain America #50: Wonderful tale of Bucky's non-birthday's since his early days as a 16 year old army base brat. I really enjoyed the little vignettes Really nice portrait interspersed between some great action and roof jumping. and I love how Bru brought it all together with Bucky understanding what Steve(cap) really gave him. A family. Nicely done. opening the book I thought I was going to grumble through my review..without Epting on art chores. But wow, Ross handled things beautifully. Talk about action..wow, great movement. And even better nice art during historical pieces exploring Bucky's birthdays over the years. I also enjoyed the origin and history lesson masterfully presented in full page illustrations by Marcus Martin. Beautiful. And you can never go wrong with Hembeck. I great anniversary issue. Well done Bru and co. 9 out of 10