Chris' Reviews 11/21
We'll keep it relatively short this week; Massive Spoilers Ahoy!
CAPTAIN AMERICA #32 --- I confess, about halfway through the issue I completely lost track of exactly who was being chased and why, because frankly for the last three issues I've kind of thought of Cap as "That Comic Where Falcon And Sharon And Kind Of Bucky Are Chasing The Red Skull And Faustus, Sort Of". And as much as I've liked most of Brubaker's run thus far, I'm getting the feeling that we need to kind of wrap this up and go beat up MODOK or something, y'know? Competent as always, but it's kind of running in place at this point, yes? CBG: 2/5.
DETECTIVE COMICS #838 --- Part 3 of the Resurrection O' Ra's Al Ghul, apparently. Since this is the only part of this story I've read so far, I'm completely lost as to how/why this is happening, which as you might imagine makes for less than compelling storytelling. Again, my monthly Batman done-in-one fix is hijacked, this time by a crossover. Damn. At least there's a funny page or two where Alfred gets to beat somebody up. Oh, and the BatBrat is in this too, so that's depressing. CBG: 1/5, but if you've been following the story at all and have some context around it, you might rate it higher.
FLASH #234 --- Can I just say something? I am loving the hell out of Waid's relaunch here, and everything just feels right here. This issue concerns an introduction of a new power in the family (not-so-lovingly referred to as "the leash" by Iris) and the family dynamic comes into sharper focus. The best thing about this book is that these read like real, honest-to-god people... who just happen to have powers. A nicely Silver-Age plot, and a neat backup feature about Planet Flash through the different generations complements the main book nicely. Also, a wonderful tribute to Mike Weiringo at the back of the book seals the deal. It's so nice to have the Flash back. CBG: 4/5.
CHECKMATE #20 --- Like the ending to a good legal thriller, the "Fall of The Wall" arc wraps up decidedly not in favor of Amanda Waller, though you get the feeling she's just gonna be more dangerous now than ever. Lots of twists, turns, and I immediately went back and reread the whole arc to appreciate exactly how the final moves impacted everyone. Complicated, complex, but rewarding overall. If you haven't been reading this so far, next ish should make a great jumping-on point. CBG: 3/5.
IRON MAN ANNUAL #1 --- Director Stark and three buxom SHIELD agents take a working vacation to Madripoor in an effort to depose Madame Hydra; Bloodscream, Roughhouse, and Tyger Tiger get involved in the action, and the whole thing takes on a very James Bond-ian flavor (as if the cover didn't give that away). Cheescakey, action-packed, and a nice reminder of how Stark can still pull off the "billionaire playboy" when he has to. I liked it very much. CBG: 4/5.
Labels: reviews
4 Comments:
If you liked this week's Flash, I definitely suggest picking up Brave & the Bold, also out this week. More fun with Waid writing the Flash family meeting the Doom Patrol.
The art ruined Iron Man Annual #1 for me. Don't get me wrong I fully accept and to some extent (as a male) enjoy seeing ridiculously buxom women, but not when, as in one panel, the script actually calls for a flat chested woman to be drawn and the dialogue completely contradicts what my eyes are seeing!! That’s just wrong.
Otherwise, Gage writes a pretty cool Tony Stark that I wouldn't mind seeing more of.
Jason: Randy's said the exact same thing to me. Guess I'll add that to the list this week.
Anon: You know, I wondered about that particular panel myself. I don't think it ruined the issue overall, though --- and you're right, Gage seems to have a pretty good handle on what makes Tony cool. I can almost forgive him for that horrendous World War Hulk tie-in issue he did.
So they've given up on the Flash relaunch and gone back to the original numbering? Ah.
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