Sometimes we get a few more comics than we can review in full, so here are the balance of the comics read by the WCBR staff, some good, and some pretty bad.
Thunderbolts #151 – This was a great little story that tells the origin of Ghost (for those who care of such things). Again, Jeff Parker smashes an incredible amount of story into a normal sized comic. Goodness do I wish he could rub off on some of his fellow Marvel creators (e.g. Fraction, Matt). At the end, you’re crystal clear on why Ghost hates corporations and you really don’t blame him. Very nice art by Kev Walker! Grade: B+ — Dean Stell
Doc Macabre #1 – Why buy this odd horror comic from IDW? Well, it is drawn by Bernie Wrightson and that is reason enough for me. Wrightson is a Hall of Fame-level comic artist who still has his fastball. This comic looks great! As for the story, it is about some young ghost hunter guy (Doc Macabre) who uses his wizardry and gadgets to get rid of ghosts and zombies for money. Story is entertaining, but nothing spectacular. Worth buying if you love beautiful sequential art. Grade: B — Dean Stell
Captain America: Man Out of Time #2 – By Mark Waid (writer), Jorge Molina (pencils), Karl Kesel (inks), Frank D’Armata (colors), VC’s Joe Sabino (letters) I’m already on record as loving the premise of this book, and this issue has me loving the execution right along with it. Although Cap’s wild and rather exaggerated mood swings could have very easily come across as silly or out of character, Waid brings out just the right note in each episode to not only keep them realistic, but to use them to reinforce Steve Rogers’ essential humanity. (After all, who WOULDN’T go just a little bit nuts after being unfrozen, time-traveled, and brought face to face with an alien in the same two or three hour time span!) Special note has to be taken of the short but very sweet scene where Cap discovers his personal proof that he is not trapped in a dream. Moments like that, while possible in other mediums, are what make comics so special. A perfect marriage of a single, powerful static image and piece of dialog that packs (a rather unexpected) emotional punch. Very well done, and well worth picking up. Grade: B — SoldierHawk
Star Wars Legacy: War #1 – Even Dark Horse is susceptible to the “new #1!” bug. As they have basically renumbered Legacy that ended a month or so ago with a new #1 that continues the previous story. I love Star Wars, but generally don’t enjoy the comics much as I have no interest in reading “forgotten stories” from the era of the films and I have ZERO interest in the Old Republic stuff. The Legacy universe is very different: It feels like Star Wars. So I urge you to give it a chance. This is a very good new #1 as it recaps very nicely, establishes who the characters are, etc. I didn’t think the art was quite as good as Legacy has been as the characters looks stiff to me. I tend to blame the inker for that, but what do I know? Grade: B — Dean Stell
DMZ #60 – By Brian Wood (writer), Shawn Martinbrough (art), Jeromy Cox (colors), and Jared K. Fletcher (Ietters) DMZ sure is taking its sweet time getting back to the main plot. Here we have the first of a two-issue arc examining the war’s origins, specifically the rise of the Free States movement. The prolonged digression aside, it’s interesting stuff that casts light on a very interesting part of Brian Wood’s world, one that I’m surprised we haven’t really delved into before. The issue is informative and, as such, an interesting read. This is particularly the case when Wood punctuates the issue with news bulletins, which gives weight and context to the events. The biggest problem though is the main character the issue is centered around who isn’t necessarily the most unique or compelling protagonist. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with him, only that I’d hoped for something a little more special out of a character with a whole issue built around him. He feels overly familiar and I never got much of a reason to root for him aside from his being the guy I was supposed to back. The art, however, is very nice. While all the guest artists have maintained DMZ’s feel to some extent, Shawn Martinbrough does a noir take on it that is both natural and very cool. His action scenes are also very intense. Grade: B– — Alex Evans
Black Panther: The Man without Fear #513 – Black Panther is taking over the numbering of Daredevil after the events of Shadowland. The story follows a Black Panther who has lost his powers (I think as a result of Doomwar, which I didn’t read), but who has decided to become the protector of Hell’s Kitchen in Daredevil’s absence. The story (which is standard DD fare) is just okay and is written by relative newcomer David Liss. I’m actually surprised that Marvel would give a higher profile title to such a newcomer. As with many newer writers, the biggest problem here is that it is overly wordy and that sometimes corrects itself within a few issues, so it’s worth sticking around if you’re at all interested. The art is by Francesco Francavilla and is very pretty and fits this type of story. If I were to offer constructive criticism to Francavilla it is that I like his single panels better than his sequential art. But, he’s a newer comic artist too. I guess the upshot is that this one has a few rough edges, but it appears to have raw talent and I’ll be sticking around. Grade: C+ — Dean Stell
Meta 4 #4 – I want to like this comic book, but I just can’t. The story is just too difficult to follow. Maybe I’m dumb? The basic premise of Meta 4 is that an amnesiac astronaut and some odd muscle woman named Gasolina are doing something to try to figure out who he is. At least I think that’s what is going on. The art is very pretty and there are clever elements in here, such as how Gasolina “speaks” in symbols that kinda make sense but are also open for interpretation. This comic is kinda like a Rubik’s Cube: If you can figure it out, you’ll have something to brag about to your comic reading friends. I’m going to keep getting it and may reread after it is all done. But, for now…. Grade: C- — Dean Stell
John Byrne’s Next Men #1 – This was not good at all. The story was a jumbled mess. Perhaps if you have read every single issue of Next Men’s previous runs, it would have made sense. I have not read them and I was thoroughly confused. I will often stick with a story if the art is great, but I’m just not sure Bryne has it anymore. The art isn’t “bad”, but there is nothing special about it either. Skip it. Grade: D — Dean Stell
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