Reviews

After saying I wasn't going to buy or enjoy Fantastic Four #570, I went and did both. It was in my box at the new shop, so I paid for it, read it and flipping well loved it! Yes, Reed's looking all ripped, but it doesn't end up mattering that much because there is enough traditionally good Fan 4 action in Hickman and Eaglesham's first issue to make me want more.

I got a strong Chris Sprouse/Tom Strong vibe off of Eaglesham's pencils and thought Hickman hit all the necessary notes with the main characters - Ben and Johnny banter, Sue going to bed while Reed works, Reed labouring to invent cool humanity saving stuff.

Heck of a last page too.

Flash Rebirth #4 on the other hand, was an utter pile of brightly coloured impenetrable poo. I'll stick with it, but I now have absolutely no idea what's going on and can't really be bothered to fire up Wikipedia to find out. As far as I can tell, (and bear in mind I was fairly drunk when I read the latest issue), Professor Zoom is having some sort of ruck with Barry Allen and another geezer, (who I don't recognise), in the Speedforce, while Wally West charges about saying meaningful things which I don't understand. It's a right load of old bollocks. Maybe it'll all make sense if I reread it sober.

Blackest Night Titans #1 More tie-in tosh, with a horrible, horrible zombie snogging cover. But, (for shame), I grooved on it. It's got pencils by Ed Benes, who draws people in that '90s, Elfin, Michael Turneresque style which normally turns me off, but actually works very well here. His fight scenes are particularly good, and the ladies will appeal to any saddos out there who like to whack off over their comics (ahem). The story is a solid enough romp. Overall, a very pleasant piece of throwaway entertainment.

Green Lantern #45 Doug Mahnke draws the bejesus out of a bunch of different aliens in this issue. Him and Ivan Reis? Phoosh. I'm an easy sell on Green Lantern, but these two are making my fix of intergalactic punch-ups even more enjoyable. Some great pissed off Sinestro action in this issue, I'm going to soil my plastic pants when he finally faces off against Mongul for control of the Sinestro Corps.

A few quick reviews

Captain America #600

I love Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America. I've been buying it from the start and rate it as Marvel's most consistent book, BUT issue #600 was a letdown. To be honest with you, I haven't even finished it. I mean the Golden Age reprint in the back looks interesting and all, but I just can't get through the plodding guff that precedes it. All those people mooching around mourning Steve Rogers - pah! Who cares? As for the "bombshell" moment when Sharon Carter realises that Steve might not be dead after all? Damp squibbage.

So, a rare weak issue in an otherwise fantastic run, and one which will be of no interest to the general public who Marvel told us would be queuing around the block to get their hands on it. I don't know, do we really need Steve Rogers at the mo? He's only been dead five minutes, bringing him back now feels like a bit of a swizz, especially since Bucky's hardly had time to breathe in the role.

Flash Rebirth #3

I'm unsure what happened in this issue. Barry Allen had a race with Superman, reaching such an incredible speed that he ended up in the speed clouds or whatever they are. He repeated the name of his missus a lot and had a chat to two dead speedsters before meeting the big baddie. I enjoyed it and all, but this utterly impenetrable stuff to all but the most rabid of DC fanboys. Thought Van Sciver's insanely detailed art was really top notch this issue - his most Bollandesque yet.

Incognito #4

I'm a bit fed up of sweary, violent superhero comics at the moment, but I'll make an exception for this because it's so damn good. One use of the C word in this ish, a bunch of the coolest super-villains I've seen in ages and another great essay on a forgotten pulp hero from Jess Nevins + an end which makes it clear that the story is about to move into a new phase. Top stuff.

Two more from the stack

The missus and nipper have gone to see the mother-in-law for a few days, leaving me in London on my Jack. Marv. Obviously I have all sorts of grand plans to hack my way through the vast swathes of unread comics that clog up my life, but to date have managed to a) sleep in 'til 1pm b) listen to a bit of Velvet Underground on Spotify and c) realise that it's really about time I thought about going to work. Oh well, perhaps tomorrow, eh?

 

Actually I did read a couple of comics last night - Mark Waid's Irredeemable, which was fun, but at $3.99 one of those comics which is frankly too expensive for the 15 minutes it takes to read. Still, I enjoyed it enough to return for more. Basically, you've got a superhero who's gone bad and is killing everyone. Yay! I'm sure it'll end up being more complicated than that, but yeah, that's what it is at its most basic level, and basic levels are OK by me. I'm seeing Miracleman and Authority influences in issue #1, which is nice.

Also read Flash Rebirth #1, which was perfectly enjoyable fare. As ever, it's going to make absolutely no sense to anyone new to the DC Universe, but hey that's Geoff Johns for you isn't it? The man's an unashamed DCU slut who revels in dredging up stuff that gives fanboys the horn but leaves the casual reader scratching their heads. 

The Ethan Van Sciver art is ridiculously detailed. He must be a very focused man (for focused, read obsessional). There's a nice interview with him on Word Balloon at the mo. It's warts and all stuff from a fellah who isn't altogether likable, but who I do find compelling. He does have an arrogance about him, but it's been a long time since I laughed as hard as I did when he launched into a rant about what a ridiculous concept the Flash museum is: "I know, lets build a museum and fill it with waxworks of infamous mass murderers!" Brilliant. 

He still wants to think harder about what he calls his next sketchbook though.