Chris' Reviews 3/7, Pt. 2

Back with some capsule reviews for the rest o' the buy pile from last week. Most of these hit the middle of the road, but it's the high side of the middle, with one standout excremental issue that faithful reader Carla from Snap Judgments tried to warn me about. Massive Spoilers Ahoy!

JONAH HEX #17 --- The ballad of Tallulah Black comes to an end, as Black takes her revenge on those what made her disfigured and raped and... and... well, she's been through a lot of horrible things, let's just say. Fairly ordinary arc, with an ending that touches on the mystical and strikes the right kind of cynical, existential angst that so many spaghetti Westerns aspire to. Oh, and an assload of people get killed, which is always good. I'd like to see this character pop up in the future, though it might be a case study for feminist issues in comics. CBG: 3/5.

CIVIL WAR: THE INITIATIVE --- What a stinky pile of overpriced ad copy this was. Bendis "writes" most of it, while Warren Ellis phones in a few pages of Thunderbolts action that does nothing so much as make me not want to read Thunderbolts, and all in all it does absolutely nothing to set up the upcoming Slott-authored "Initiative" series. Instead, they go out of their way to pimp Omega Flight, Thunderbolts, and Mighty Avengers, while throwing in some reprint pages of Iron Man and Captain America. Worthless, despite the pretty good Marc Silvestri art. CBG: 1/5.

(Side Note: Am I the only one that thinks David Finch went to the Silvestri School of Intricate Creases?)

ALL-NEW ATOM #9 --- Well, it certainly is... different. A new arc begins as Ryan Choi returns to China to help a long-lost love, only to encounter his high-school soccer bully, newly reformed as a zombie demon that still wears his jersey. No, I'm not kidding. Heavy on exposition and little real action this ish, but I expect wackiness to ensue next issue. Also, terrific artwork by Eddy Barrows. Let the Silver-Age goofiness commence! CBG: 3/5.

MIGHTY AVENGERS #1 --- I really, really, really wanted to hate this comic, but I just couldn't. The Mighty Avengers form up and battle Mole Man and his ilk for awhile, and then Ultron shows up at the end, which is just about all I ever asked for from an Avengers comic, so maybe Bendis is starting to get the point. That said, there are three pitfalls I can see coming:

1) Bendis still is overwriting the character moments. The thought balloons were OK in a kitsch way, but they ended up being intrusive and hard to follow by the time the sequence was over.

2) At some point, Tony Stark will either have to quit SHIELD or the Avengers, because it just doesn't make any damn sense to have him gallivanting on behalf of both. Too big a slice of cognitive dissonance between MA and Iron Man.

3) Frank Cho does a nice job, but I can't see him doing more than 6 issues max of MA. A great deal will depend on who follows him.

Otherwise, I thought the fight was just fine, the team interesting and eclectic (I have a feeling I am going to enjoy Ares very much in this group) and there are signs that maybe Bendis has gotten around to reading an issue or two of Avengers. Plus, Ultron. Squee. CBG: 3/5.

FALLEN ANGEL #13 --- Jude tries to bring some law and order to Bete Noire, and you can imagine how that all turns out, i.e. miserably, and Jude ends up falling a little farther into the city's dark clutches. Meanwhile, Lee wrestles with her role in all this and Malachi is going to start pulling some family strings. The artwork isn't for everyone, but I for one still enjoy the atmosphere and general depressiveness of this comic. CBG: 3/5.

No New Joe Mondays this week, because I just couldn't bring myself to read all the way through. Perhaps Wednesday?