We try our best to review all the new comics that come out every week, but despite our best efforts…that just isn’t going to happen. But, some comics still deserve a mention (for better or for ill). Thus, we bring you the Quick Hit Reviews….
Generation Hope #5 – This series has really turned the corner from its troubled start as a continuation of an Uncanny X-Men story arc (what a stupid way to launch a series, btw). Now that Hope and the “5 lights” are back on Utopia, we can begin the process of getting to know these new mutants (including Hope) a little better. This issue covers a lot of good ground by establishing that Cyclops accepts that Hope is not a newbie hero (by virtue of her lifetime of training under Cable), but that the Lights are not “field-ready”. And, I also really liked the change in art this month to Jamie McKelvie. The only negative for me in this issue was the depiction of Emma Frost. This Emma is a little too angry and nasty. I usually think of Emma as being haughty and aloof (or at least that is how I like to see her). And, Emma is wearing…gasp…a dress in this issue. I don’t mind the dress per se, but when you do a major change like that there should at least be some explanation since she fights villains in lingerie in all the other X-titles. Grade: B
Hulk #30.1 – This was probably the truest of the .1 issues I’ve read from Marvel. They were advertised as being “jumping on points”, but most have been nothing of the sort. This issue does a nice job of recapping what has happened to date in Hulk and also setting the stage for the next phase of the Red Hulk’s stories. Of course, Jeff Parker is such a good writer that he doesn’t need to waste the entire issue on this recap and table setting, he manages to squeeze an entire story into this issue too as the Red Hulk comes into conflict with one of Thunderbolt Ross’s former protégés. The art is very strong, but not quite as good as when Gabriel Hardman inks his own work and Bettie Breitweiser colors it. Grade: B
Red Robin #21 – Ugh. This was really bad. As in I-couldn’t-be-bothered-to-finish-reading-it bad. This overly long story arc about the Unternet has been a real stinker; it has had little excitement and no cohesion with the rest of the Bat universe. The other thing killing this title for me are the general delays on the Morrison and Finch Bat-books. With those not coming out, I find that I’m generally less invested in the entire Bat-family and I start to consider dropping everything but Batgirl and Detective Comics (which are both stellar). As I mentioned above, I made it about 10 pages into this trippy issue of Tim Drake fighting with various colored villains (where I couldn’t remember who they were) and where Tim kept manifesting other uniforms and stuff. Was this in a computer program? I just couldn’t remember. Grade: D
-Dean Stell
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