Yeesh… What a lot of comics last week, huh? Especially after the preceding week being so light that we didn’t even need to do a “quick hits” feature. That’s randomness for you! But, the upshot of this weekly feature is that all of the writing staff at WCBR have pretty extensive pull lists and despite our best efforts, some issues don’t get a full review. Thus, we bring you “quick hit reviews”
Black Panther: Man without Fear #515 – Good and bad with this issue and story. The good: Francesco Francavilla’s art is just incredibly good. He’s a real master of dark, moody and atmospheric art. A bonus is that he colors his own work, so there is a very clear sense of lighting. I’m also enjoying the story by David Liss of a depowered Black Panther fighting eastern European gangsters. My only quibbles are that the script is a little verbose and that I don’t understand why Marvel doesn’t just let Francavilla do the cover also. Really? A Simone Bianchi cover on a Francavilla book? There is nothing similar about their styles. Grade: B — Dean Stell
Osborn #3 – What a sneaky good book this is!!! Ms. DeConnick writes a very creepy and chilling Norman Osborn: Composed and methodical one moment and a frenzied psycho the next. This is basically the story of how Osborn busts out of federal custody where he has been since the days of Siege. Emma Rios’ art is a show stealer. She is really, really talented and gets to draw all sorts of cool detailed stuff in this issue (including a bad ass riot at the super-villain prison). Grade: B — Dean Stell
Carnage #3 – Zeb Wells spins a really good symbiote story and Clayton Crain sells how creepy the Carnage symbiote is. The whole story is just hopping along with the symbiote having taken a new host (that kinda made sense) and busted out of his holding cell before running across town to find a BIG SURPRISE! This is a well-paced and enjoyable comic. Even though I enjoyed it and am giving it a good grade, I’m going to throw a rock (or two). Why does Carnage have to come back this way? Why can’t a C-list character like him have a new chapter with the lady host? That would have been more interesting (I think). And I am really warming to Crain’s art, but wish that he wouldn’t darken the panel every time there is action. I want to see what is going on! Grade: B- — Dean Stell
Tyrannosaurus Rex One-Shot – This was a fun romp. Not much in the way of story: Caveman village getting repeatedly ruined by a T. Rex. Village chieftain offers his comely daughter to any many brave enough to slay the beastie. One randy young man decides to give it a try. Lots of really good dinosaurs in this comic by Jeff Zornow (including adding the feathers that scientists are now pretty certain they possessed). The only bummer is that it would have been nice to see a little more of the comely daughter. Grade: C+ — Dean Stell
Heroes for Hire #3 – The story line is starting to get moving in this issue as Paladin knows that something weird is going on with Misty Knight, but we still don’t really learn what Puppetmaster is up to and why he’s manipulating Misty this way. There is another appearance by Iron Fist in this issue, which means that we get THREE appearances by Mr. Rand in one week (he’s also in Power Man & Iron Fist and New Avengers). The highlight of this issue was Moon Knight fighting a velociraptor! Although the team on this book kinda fumbled that moment by having the dinosaur revealed on the right hand page instead of being after a page turn. C’mon guys! I tend to find Brad Walker’s art a mixed bag, but I do LOVE that he draws Iron Fist’s dew rag as if it is a dew rag with wrinkles and not some kind of molded skullcap. This is probably getting dropped off my pull list. Grade: C+ — Dean Stell
Power Man and Iron Fist #1 – If you really enjoyed the new Power Man character coming out of Shadowland, you’ll want to check this out. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the character. I just find him aggressive and obnoxious and the presence of Danny Rand isn’t enough to really save this book that features Iron Fist taking on Power Man as an apprentice/sidekick. The art is solid. Not sure how essential this title is going to be to my pull list, despite the fact that I really like Fred Van Lente’s work. Grade: C- — Dean Stell
Deadpool Team-Up #885 – This issue, while fun in a guilty-pleasure sort of way, suffers from the all-too-common Deadpool trap of trying too dang hard, and mistaking an entertaining concept (Deadpool teaming up with the vampiric Hell Cow) into a gag that can carry a full issue. The story itself is simplistic and competent at best, with Deadpool being forced to riff off himself more than anything else. (Deadpool doing nothing but talk to himself, or interacting solely with non-talking characters, or with characters that are just as insane as himself, is never nearly as fun as watching him play off a straight man.) The art doesn’t suffer quite so much, since the slightly absurd, cartoony style fits the story quite well. Overall, not one of the series’ best issues, and nowhere near the actual potential for humor or action that the series has. Grade: D+ — SoldierHawk
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