Marjorie Lu (writer), Daniel Acuña (artist)
Black Widow Vol. 5 #1 (2010)
Published by Marvel Comics

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This week was a monster. I mean, it’s been a while since I picked up this many books in a single week. I normally don’t go this heavy, and I’m trying to pull back on my subscriptions because money’s getting a little tight at this point. But this week I bit the bullet and plopped down a good chunk of change on some comics, so I might as well do an equally impressive review post.

PULL LIST 4-14-2010
ACTION COMICS #888 $3.99
ADVENTURE COMICS #10 $3.99
BATGIRL #9 $2.99
BATMAN #698 $2.99
BRIGHTEST DAY #0 $3.99
FLASH #1 $3.99
GREEN ARROW #32 $2.99
SECRET SIX #20 $2.99
UNWRITTEN #12 (MR) $2.99
CHEW #10 (MR) $2.99
BLACK WIDOW #1 HA $3.99
DAREDEVIL #506 $2.99
DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #894 $2.99
EXCALIBUR VISIONARIES WARREN ELLIS TP VOL 01 $19.99
IRON MAN LEGACY #1 $3.99
NEW MUTANTS #12 XSC $2.99
PUNISHERMAX #6 (MR) $3.99
SIEGE CAPTAIN AMERICA #1 $2.99
SIEGE LOKI #1 $2.99
SIEGE YOUNG AVENGERS #1 $2.99
WORLD WAR HULKS HULKED OUT HEROES #1 WWHS $3.99
X-FACTOR FOREVER #2 $3.99
HACK SLASH SERIES #31 A CVR SEELEY (MR) $3.50

Granted it’ll probably take me a week to ready everything I bought, I still have enough knocked out to bring you the following criticisms…

BATMAN # 698

After an impressive debut arc for Tony Daniel on the mainline Batman book, now comes the part where we find out if he’s worth his salt or if he just got lucky that first time around. I was not a fan of Battle for the Cowl, so Daniel’s showing in the last few issues of Batman has been a nice little surprise. With this issue we don’t get his art to go along with his pencils, and I think that my point made in an earlier review that Daniel writes better when he knows he’ll be drawing the action himself is pretty much on the money, as this new artist, who really is only pedestrian at best, doesn’t really convey the action in the same manner that Daniel did. The story itself seems like filler, which the fill-in artists seems to back up.

I like just about any Batman comic featuring the Riddler, as I think this private detective revamp has made him into an especially viable character, but in this issue it is painfully obvious that he’s a better detective than Dick, which makes it hard for me to believe that nobody has caught on to him being an entirely different person under the mask. Gordon especially. And if he has noticed, you would think he of all people would be the first to tell the new Batman to bugger off if he can’t add anything helpful to the mix. And when the Riddler is constantly making you look like a schmuck in front of the police commissioner, you really have nothing helpful to add to the mix.

BRIGHTEST DAY # 0

The return to happy-times in the DCU starts with a baby bird falling out of a tree and braining itself on a tombstone. Blood splatters and I’m sure a child somewhere weeps. Sure, a very much alive Deadman resurrects him with white power (Holy shit, white power? I need to find a better term.), but still, that little bit caught me off guard. This whole issue didn’t connect with me after that. I mean, we get Max Lord giving himself a nosebleed, a bunch of yammering with Hawkman and Hawkgirl, who I very much preferred to be left dead, and a scene where Aquaman is afraid to go into the water.

Aqauaman is afraid of the water.

It’s hard for me to defend my love for Aquaman as a character when scenes like that pop up. I mean, come on. I try to prove that he’s not the lamest character in existence and now Geoff Johns has essentially turned him from the brave king of the seas into a little boy who lost his floaties.

Brightest Day just goes to proove that Geoff Johns output for the GL universe outside of the book proper is probably not going to be my cup of tea, and as such you probably won’t be hearing much about it here unless he does something that truly shocks me, either positive or more likely negative.

FLASH # 1

And while Brightest day might have made me give up on Geoff Johns as a writer, Flash # 1 proves that he can still write the hell out of a monthly book. I have to admit that I’m not a big Barry Allen fan. I grew up with Wally. Wally is my Flash. I was going to give this book a pass but picked it up for the sake of doing a review. And I’m glad I did because this book moves at a mile a minute and hits every note that it needs to. Geoff Johns really has a grip on the Flash. This is no surprise given how great his last run was on the title, but that was years ago and that was Wally. He also seemed to care more about the Rogues than he did about the Flash, which gave the book a distinct sort of flair.

Here he is really more interested it seems in showing us how Barry is going to integrate himself back into society after having been gone for so long. He’s bringing back old characters and introducing Barry to a new generation at the same time. It’s sort of like a spin-off TV series in the way everything is set up. There is a striking familiarity but at the same time everything feels so shiny and new.

Honestly, I think this is going to be a book to watch, as I think this is something that Geoff wants to write while at the same time being a book that he needs to write in order to ground himself after spending so much of his talent writing mindless epic event books. I hope I’m right. Dear god, I hope I’m right.

GREEN ARROW # 32

Uh, wow. That was quick. You want to talk about a rushed issue? This would be it. Plots are resolved within the length of a page, what would normally take several issues is condensed down into a few panels, and the book ends with a major tease for the new # 1 issue.

I guess with the timeframe he was given JT Krul did the best he could to wrap everything up in a manner that didn’t completely collapse under its own weight, but jeez, an extra issue might have helped to pad this thing and make the narrative flow better. Ollie changes his mind about life-altering decisions in the span of half a panel. It’s so sudden and jarring that it can’t be described as anything other than a WTF moment.

Oh well, bring on the relaunch.

BLACK WIDOW # 1

Here’s one I’ve been looking forward to. The Black Widow – Deadly Origin book stoked my interest for an ongoing Black Widow book and now it’s here. I can only say that Marjorie Liu does a bangup job with the character. Artfully taking from what writers like Ed Brubaker have done with her in the Captain America book and moved in the next logical direction.

This book is a lot like Deadly Origin, in that it has a great deal to do with the Widow’s past in setting up the narrative. And honestly, that’s one of the things that makes the Widow so interesting. She’s like the bizzaro Wolverine in that regard. Wolverine is (was) interesting because of the mystery of his past. The Widow however seems to work because we know how integrated with the Marvel Universe she is. That allows for her to organically interact with just about ANY character in the Marvel Universe without it seeming like a gratuitous cameo. Here we get Tony Stark, Wolverine, and Bucky, all of whom should appear in a book like this.

We don’t get that many books with female leads. We were lucky that Ms. Marvel lasted as long as she did and it’s a shame that She-Hulk isn’t around anymore. But between this and Bendis’ Spider-Woman, the ladies of the Marvel Universe are looking damn fine right about now.

IRON MAN LEGACY # 1

I might as well just write a review that says “FUCK YEAH!” and leave it at that, because really that’s all I can say about this book. Matt Fraction has been knocking it out of the park over in Invincible Iron Man, but Fred Van Lente takes a look at Tony’s past and completely nails the character in ways every writer who’s ever handled Tony wishes they could.

I’m not gonna spend any more time on this book. I don’t need to. Go buy the damned thing. If you don’t, you hate being happy. And for that I am so so sorry.

NEW MUTANTS # 12

I have to say, this crossover feels like an X-Men story. I maintain that the holding pattern that the x-books were staying in from Messiah Complex to this moment only heightened the intensity of the crossover and it’s making for some amazing storytelling. This issue is balls-to-the-wall action and it’s all done on such a scale that it can only be described as classic X-Men. I get the feeling this is gonna be one of those crossovers that we look back on with a fond memory, remembering just how awesome it truly is.

PUNISHERMAX # 6

Jason Aaron writes a better Punisher than Garth Ennis.

There. I said it.

There is something about his run so far that really connects with me. I think a lot of it may be how he seems more willing to blatantly show that he has no regard for mainline continuity. Whereas we know that Ennis was writing in another universe, simply by proxy of using no existing characters, Aaron is more than happy to re-define existing Marvel characters like Kingpin and Bullseye with Ulitmate Universe style reckless abandon, and at the same time make it work and not alienate the fanbase.

Not only that, but he seems to get the Punisher in more than a cathartic sadist sort of way that Ennis did. Aaron’s Frank Castle is decidedly human, and we see this through the skillful mastery that Aaron brings to the people surrounding the Punisher. We get precious little insight from the Punisher himself instead getting more out of reactions from people like Kingpin, Bullseye, or an old army friend who comes by to patch up Frank’s wounds.

Jason Aaron is amazing, and so is this book.

     The New Avengers, or rather, a few of them, continue to face off against members of the Hood’s gang in the latest issue of their titular series.  Spider-Woman beats up Spider-Man, and the two Captain Americas, Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers, face off against the Living Laser.  Some poor H.A.M.M.E.R. guy gets his head blown off too.  Luke Cage shows up to rescue the Caps, and Bucky zaps the Laser with some kind of electric cable.  Cage is beyond ecstatic to see Steve, though he was really only there to get his daughter’s favorite pacifier.  Aw…  How cute.  But it seems that someone, a.k.a. Nick Fury, has a bead on our heroes.  Spider-Man, having fought the Mandrill before, helps Spider-Woman break his mental hold on her, and the two of them beat up their two opponents.  Spider-Woman goes postal on Mandrill, but Spider-Man stops her from doing something she would really regret.  Fury verifies that no one is a Life Model Decoy, and they and the Secret Warriors fight off some H.A.M.M.E.R. thugs.  They meet up with the rest of the New Avengers, all of whom are thrilled to see Steve again, and Steve sees the footage of Thor being taken down in Siege proper.  And so the call rings out.

     Okay, so there’s a few things here that don’t add up.  For one, there’s the H.A.M.M.E.R. goons conversation, where the speech bubbles flip between each of them in a way that clearly doesn’t make sense.  That seems to be happening more and more often these days.  Also, in the Siege miniseries, wasn’t Steve watching Thor get taken down in his costume and next to a sofa?  Personally, I think that the editors should pay more attention to editing (you know, their jobs) rather than forcing writers to follow their oftentimes bending-over-backwards-to-fulfill mandates.  Maybe that’s just me.  Aside from those two things, this is another solid issue.  Brian Michael Bendis does great with both Caps, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and Luke Cage, though as usual, his villains all kind of sound the same.  If only Spider-Man was written this well in his own book.  This was a nice and relatively inconsequential story that also bridges the gap between the previous arc and Siege rather nicely.  Daniel Acuña’s art improves more than just a bit in this issue, as Spider-Woman’s head finally stops looking awkwardly thin like all his women’s heads.  The Griffin’s face is still flat, but he’s less important, so whatever.  His Mandrill looks absolutely great, though.  And Stuart Immonen’s work is still superb, with far more actual showing of characters eyes than he usually does, which is nice.  His first picture of Ronin, though, makes him look like a schoolboy.  Kind of odd.  So, with this little story out of the way, we can see what the team actually does during Siege.  Definitely interested in that.  And I’m looking forward to the New Avengers relaunch, because even though Spider-Man and Wolverine are still on it, and the Thing is inexplicably on it, Luke Cage will still be there, and Jessica Jones will finally actually join the team.  I actually like her quite a lot.  Who knew I’d grow to like Bendis this much?

Plot: 8.6      Art: 8.5      Dialogue: 9.0      Overall: 8.7

     Just before the events of Siege, the New Avengers find themselves under siege by the Hood’s gang, under orders from Norman Osborn to kill every one of them (except Spider-Man, who he wants to kill himself).  The Hood uses the Norn Stones to give his entire crew a power up.  Later, Captain America (Bucky) and Steve Rogers look at Steve’s old apartment, which got demolished in the last fight.  They get attacked by the Living Laser and the Corrupter, the latter of whom takes control of Bucky, as well as some H.A.M.M.E.R. agents.  In a parallel story, Spider-Man and Spider-Woman stake out Stark Tower to see what’s going on.  They get attacked by the Griffin and the Mandrill, the latter of whom can now detect them, and Mandrill likewise takes control of Spider-Woman.  Although Steve manages to free Bucky from Corruptor’s control thanks to Corruptor’s own idiocy and amazing bullet deflection, Spider-Woman is not so lucky, zapping Spider-Man just above a crowded street.

     You know, I’m rather sad that New Avengers is getting canceled.  Although I’m excited to see the real Avengers back (minus Wolverine and Spider-Man), Brian Michael Bendis really hit his stride with the Dark Reign status quo.  He’s had a great opportunity to do some character work with the background of the ongoing New Avengers/Dark Avengers and Hood’s gang conflict, and this story is no different.  The parallel structure works great, even though it is a tad annoying that we have chemical/pheremonal manipulators in both stories.  Bendis also continues to prove that he is the best writer of Spider-Man dialogue (and Mandrill, oddly), and he has genuinely gotten me interested in the real Spider-Woman.  Stuart Immonen’s pencils are superb in this book (aside from the rather awkward-looking cover, which features Steve Cap with barely any fingers minus his thumb), and we actually get to see people’s eyes a lot.  Daniel Acuña, however, is just as bad as usual.  Although his Spider-Man and Mandrill are surprisingly good, his Griffin has a flat face, and Spider-Woman looks as bad as every other woman he draws.  At the very least, it looks like Bendis will be resolving the Avengers/Hood conflict that’s been going on for the past twenty-five/thirty issues.  I just hope he writes the new Avengers book as well as he’s been writing this.

Plot: 8.8      Art: 8.7      Dialogue: 8.8      Overall: 8.8

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Stuart Immonen (pencils), Daniel Acuna (art & colors), Wade von Grawbadger (inks), Dave McCaig (colors), and Albert Deschesne (letters)

The Story: The Avengers find themselves embattled against the Hood’s newly Norm stone-powered goons.

What’s Good: This issue is essentially divided into two separate, but parallel stories as the two Captain Americas battle the Corrupter and Living Laser while Spider-Woman and Spider-Man team up against Mandrill and Griffin.  All told, both sides are enjoyable and lead to an easy, readable book.

Spider-Man in particular is a joy to read.  It’s always a pleasure in New Avengers when Bendis is able to give him any form of extended attention.  The Spider-Man/Spider-Woman is certainly a surprisingly fun one.  Bendis exploits the gender dynamics, the similarity of their aliases (and surprising lack of actual similarities in abilities), and the opposition of Jessica Drew’s dour demeanor with Parker’s signature wackiness.  It makes for really fun reading, with Spider-Woman making for a very, very enjoyable straight-man.  Bendis’ use of Jessica’s Skrull detector as a kind of comic device certainly got a laugh out of me.

The Hood’s goons also show a kind of self-awareness that I appreciated.  They’re typical villains, and it’s weirdly fun to seem them trucking on, well aware of their being typical and their poor success rate.

On art, I really enjoyed both Immonen and Acuna’s work.  Both clearly have a field day with these D-list villains, giving them a campy, Technicolor sort of feel.  Immonen’s over-the-top drawings of the Corrupter are a definite highlight and his cartoonish sensibilities give the characters and actions a kind of fun vitality.  Acuna’s painted artwork is gorgeous, and does a lot to legitimize these relative no-namers.  The final splash, one of Mandrill and Spider-Woman, makes the ridiculous baboon actually appear horrifying.

What’s Not So Good: While both Acuna and Immonen’s work are great in their own right, their being in the same book is odd to say the least.  Marvel has gotten two fantastic artists….who happen to about as different from each other as is possible in a Marvel Comic.  The frequent and dramatic shifts in style that result are off-putting and outright bizarre.  Immonen’s optimistic Saturday morning feel is just completely at odds with Acuna’s mature, somber, painted work.

Also, while both artists seem well-aware of the campy potential of the Hood’s cronies that provide the opposition this month, Bendis seems oblivious to it.  While Acuna and Immonen are enjoying themselves, Bendis writes both villains completely straight and so his script ultimately does not match, and lets down, Acuna and Immonen’s ideas.

The biggest knock on this issue is that it’s just a little familiar.  We’ve seen the Avengers on the back foot against the Hood’s goons more than once in recent months.  Given how generic Bendis writes them and their D-list status, it makes no difference that these are different goons.  The plot of Parker Robbins’ henchmen turning the tables on the power ratio has just been done by Bendis too often and too recently.

It also doesn’t help that Bendis uses the same plot device twice in one issue, using it as the anchor of both his parallel stories.  That it’s your standard “mind control” device, complete with one character telling another to “fight it,” makes it only more tiresome.

Conclusion: It’s fun, but familiar.

Grade: C+

-Alex Evans

By Mike Carey (writer), Daniel Acuña (artist), Daniel Ketchum (associate editor), Nick Lowe (editor)

The Story: Rogue has entered Emplate’s dimension using the astral projection power of Trance to search for Bling!.  She found her, but also got discovered and is now running from astral monsters.  In the meantime, her teammates are trying to bail them both out.

What’s Good: I really enjoyed the whacked-out settings Acuña brought to life for this issue.  We’ve got a weird, other-dimensional castle, retro-tech, bizarre monsters that look like Cambrian explosion rejects, and chase scenes galore.  Acuña also drew an effective Scott Summers.  Given that Acuña is playing penciller, inker and colorist, he does pull off some of his trademark effects well, like where he changes color abruptly without the inker’s lines to separate the changes.  With Acuña, black is only used for true shadows and the rest of the definition he gives with different patches of color.

My first thought on the story as a whole was that it felt a bit empty.  Nothing had happened except that Rogue’s conflict had been decided.  But on second glance, this is a passable rescue plot set in a really original place (for this team).  And the X-team on Earth is working pretty hard on making this rescue a success, which drives up the tension even more.  The bits with Dr. Nemesis and “the smart team” were fun to read.  And, this issue is dominated by an effective chase conflict with Rogue.  Not sure why I had an initially negative reaction to the book, unless the art had a hand…

What’s Not So Good: Acuña’s art takes a bit of getting used to.  Since I’m talking about some of it here, I obviously haven’t completely come around to it yet.  I mentioned the great setting and background work above.  On most characters though, his style rubs me the wrong way.  The body proportion distortions, the occasionally crude and generic facial expressions, and the stock poses give all the characters an unnatural look.  And, just as an aside: The dumbest looking, least related cover of the week award goes to…. Legacy #229!

Conclusion: Diehard X-fans should certainly get this.  Carey has publicly stated his mission of really developing Rogue and Gambit and a few other, so if you’re a fan of any of those characters, you should get the book.  If you’re an occasional reader and you don’t get this issue, I don’t get the impression you’ll be missing out on something that to sends ripples through the X-universe.

Grade: C

-DS Arsenault



by Mike Carey (writer), Daniel Acuna (art)

The Story: Picking up from the X-Men Legacy Annual last month, Rogue and the X-Men must figure out a way to rescue neophyte student Bling from another dimension where she’s being held by old Generation X villain Emplate, along with his demented toady, D.O.A.

What’s Good: Under the pen of Mike Carey, new life has been breathed into the character of Rogue.  His decision to finally give her full control over her mutant power has finally allowed the once-one note X-Man to really grab the spotlight and move forward, and this issue gives us more of that to enjoy.  The script does a good job of getting across how much Rogue has come into her own over the course of the last few issues.  The moment when she steps up with a solution to following Emplate back to his dimension without endangering  X-Man-in-training Trance not only serves as a powerful character beat, but a perfectly logical answer to the predicament.

Speaking of Trance, she seems to be a character that Carey’s taken an interest in and I welcome his decision to give her a bit of the spotlight.  It’s sometimes disconcerting to note just how much of the different X-titles “airtime” constantly goes to Cyclops, Emma Frost, and Wolverine.  Carey is taking advantage of the large, eclectic cast this kind of title offers him.

Acuna’s art is beginning to grow on me.  Despite some slight muddiness and loss of detail in the scenes set on the island of Utopia, he really shines when we enter Emplate’s otherworldly dimension.  I’d even say it’s fair to say that his real strength lies with bringing the bizarre to life, as his renditions of the vampiric Emplate, the twisted D.O.A., and Rogue’s trance form are a sight to behold.  The Peepshow moment and this issue’s cover were also both particularly strong.

What’s Not So Good: No matter what anyone tells me, “Bling” is one of the worst super-hero names ever.  It also doesn’t work one bit, despite what this comic book thinks, as a sound effect.

Nitpicker alert!  Someone should really mention to Acuna that having Onyxx standing directly beside Rockslide is just plain confusing.  I mean, they’re both basically “big rock-skinned guys” and the only way you can tell them apart is that one of them wears a helmet.  At least I think that’s a helmet.

Conclusion: This issue’s a winner.  Carey, every month, demonstrates that he knows these characters well and how to make them interesting, most prominently Rogue.  Acuna shows off his ability by really taking advantage of his strengths within the story.  As a result, X-Men Legacy is definitely becoming the X-Men title to follow.

Grade: B

- Joe Lopez

Daniel Acuña

In college, Acuña studied in painting and graduated with a degree in Fine Arts. He cites his early influences as Jack Kirby, the John Romitas, Will Eisner, Simon Bisley, Kevin Nowlan, Hal Foster, and his favorite, Richard Corben, along with fine artists such as Edward Hopper, Alfons Mucha, and Drew Struzan.

His first published work was a 22-page project, Claus & Simon in Hollywood, with fellow artist Santi Arcas, which was bought by Spanish publisher La Cupula when Acuña was 22. This work was followed by Claus & Simon: Freakshow, and Claus & Simon: Disaster Box. The “Claus & Simon” series is about the adventures of two men, one a clown, and the other pained like a dinosaur. The stories were reprinted by French publisher Éditions Albin Michel and popular American magazine Heavy Metal (under the title Claus & Simon: Kings of Escape).

Claus & Simon increased Acuña’s profile in Europe, and he received work painting the European paperback covers to Alan Moore’s Supreme, which led to Acuña’s decision to try to break into the American market while still remaining active in the European comics industry.

Acuña’s first work in the American comics industry was for Marvel Comics, on a miniseries for Axel Alonso that was never completed or published. DC Comics editor Eddie Berganza later hired him to paint pictures of Ravager and Blackfire for Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files. This work got Acuña noticed by Mark Chiarello, who suggested him to editors Mike Carlin and Joan Hilty as a cover artist for the Justice League of America and Outsiders series.

Although only doing American-market covers up until this point, Acuña made the move to interior art with Uncle Sam & the Freedom Fighters, on which he did the covers, pencils, inks, graytones and even character design, working with European colorist Javi Montes.

In late 2005 it was announced that Acuña had signed a two-year exclusive contract with DC Comics. However in 2007 it was announced that Acuña had signed an exclusive contract with Marvel Comics, to start in 2008, and would be leaving DC Comics.^[4] Acuña has previously only done covers for Marvel; his first interior work for the publisher will be The Eternals, starting in June 2008.

Acuña is currently based out of Águilas, Spain.

GALERIA

Daniel Acuña

elaltillodelilustrador@gmail.com

     Dark Reign is in full swing, and it’s time for the obligatory one-shots.  In Dark Reign: The Cabal, each of the members of the Cabal, minus Norman Osborn, get their own stories in which to shine.  First, we have Dr. Doom’s little story of what he might do a year from now should the status quo be maintained.  Then, we have another little tale of woe about Emma Frost, attempting to make her seem sympathetic.  Next, there’s a rather ridiculous story about the Hood, detailing his contradictory nature.  Namor gets a story after that, all about an Atlantean mutant and his duty as a king.  Lastly, we have the first interaction between Loki and Dr. Doom in person after the Asgardians’ return to Earth.

     This is a pretty pathetic anthology issue, as most are.  The first one, written by Jonathan Hickman, makes Doom out to be nothing more than a power hungry backstabber.  That doesn’t bode well for his upcoming run on Fantastic Four.  Adi Granov’s work is still top-notch, but the script doesn’t deserve it.  The next one, written by Matt Fraction, is more of his character assassination of Emma Frost.  It’s matched only by Daniel Acuña’s terrible art, which is only marginally better than normal.  The Hood one, by Rick Remender and Max Fiumara, is just boring.  The Namor one is a bit more interesting, though I don’t know what Namor’s doing underwater again.  Carmine di Giandomenico’s work is still superb, and I’m glad to see him doing more work.  The Loki one is actually quite good, even though I’m not sure when it actually takes place, based on Doom’s odd reaction to her arrival.  Peter Milligan has a great grasp on Loki, and Tonci Zonjic draws the best Loki after Olivier Coipel.  Overall, I’d say that you should avoid this book.  Maybe read the Loki story if you can just grab it for a sec off the comic book rack.  That’s all.

Plot: 5.2      Art: 8.2      Dialogue: 7.6     Overall: 5.9

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Since Dark Reign: The Cabal is a collection of short stories, I’ll write a small review for each before basing my final grade on the overall quality of the $3.99 one-shot.

“Doctor Doom: …And I’ll Get The Land”

Jonathan Hickman (Script) and Adi Granov (Art)

More character study than anything else, “…And I’ll Get The Land” gives readers a glimpse into the mind of Dr. Doom as he thinks about what may come about as a result of the first meeting of The Cabal. The artwork from Adi Granov is definitely the highlight, though Jonathan Hickman’s script is an interesting, if fairly basic, read.

“Emma Frost: How I Survived The Apocalyptic Fire”

Matt Fraction (Script) and Daniel Acuna (Art)

“How I Survived…” is a story about Emma Frost coming to terms with her past that Matt Fraction uses to put more of a personal stamp on the character. A character study like the Dr. Doom story, it really doesn’t present anything new that would make it an essential read. As for the artwork…well I’m just not a fan of Daniel Acuna’s style. It was a fairly big negative for me.

“‘The Hood: Family Trust”

Rick Remender (Script), Max Fiumara (Art), and Nestor Pereyra (Colors)

Easily one of the strongest offerings in the one-shot, The Hood’s story (presumably) acts as a lead-in to his Dark Reign tie-in mini-series. In it, The Hood explores what it was like to be Parker Robbins and what it means to have family (of any sort). Part flash-back and part present day speech, Rick Remender’s script manages to tell a satisfyingly complete tale that is not quite as simple as it initially seems. The stylish, compelling visuals by Max Fiumara (of Four Eyes fame) are an excellent fit for the tone and mood Remender effortlessly captures.

“Namor, The Sub-Mariner: The Judgment of Namor”

Kieron Gillen (Script) and Carmine Di Giandomenico (Art)

In Namor’s story, he presides over a custody battle that involves an Atlantean child with special powers. Kieron Gillen’s script does a great job of walking the line between character study and truly relevant Dark Reign tie-in. It establishes the current status quo for Namor and how it relates to the Cabal situation in a way that’s full of engaging character moments. The artwork does a nice job of bringing the Atlantean court to life, though it does tend to look almost cluttered at times due to a color palette that occasionally makes things blend together.

“Loki: Dinner With Doom”

Peter Milligan (Script), Tonci Zonjic (Art), and Jose Villarubia (Colors)

“Dinner With Doom” is a story about just that, Loki’s dinner with Dr. Doom. As you probably guessed, it’s not exactly the most normal of dinners. Peter Milligan’s script is definitely the highlight thanks to his incredibly sharp character work for both Cabal members. If you are at all a fan of either Doom or Loki, consider it well worth reading. The artwork does a solid job of bringing the more…interesting…aspects of the dinner to life, though Tonci Zonjic’s characters seem a bit too simplistic at times (though they are quite expressive despite the simplicity). Jose Villarubia’s coloring almost makes up for the lack of detail, but not quite.

Conclusion: The good outweighs the bad, but nothing in the Cabal one-shot is all that essential. It’s worth reading for fun or if you just enjoy the characters, but you won’t miss anything if you choose to pass on it.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny

     Huzzah!  The last issue of the craptacular series, Young X-Men, has been released!  It’s over!  And it couldn’t come sooner.  Through a variety of means, Marc Guggenheim managed to end the series even worse than it began.  Kind of like he just gave up at the end.  So, Donald Pierce, instead of revealing some master plan and going out with a bang, is unceremoniously pounded into the ground by Rockslide and subsequently forgotten.  Dust comes back, as we all knew would happen, and the price of Ink’s mind.  Oh no!  Poor Ink!  I know I am not alone when I say, who gives a f***?  Then, we’ve got that absolutely terrible alternate timeline crap.  Dust is evil?  Why?  You’re ending the series without explaning this?  That means it might be in other series!  That’s so dump!  I hate alternate timelines.  And we end with a cameo by the Neo.  The Neo?!  Those lame villains from the early 2000s?  Again, why?

     I could go on and on forever about how bad this comic is.  When Beast explains Ink’s power as not being the Phoenix, you can just hear the “Oops, pissed off the fans.  Let me fix that.” thought process in motion.  Even Ink acknowledges his own crappiness.  Rafa Sandoval’s art is still really nice, but it’s the only saving grace in this series.  And Daniel Acuña?  He can’t even draw a complete nose for Greymalkin and Dust on multiple pages.  And Emma’s glittery face looks so amorphous on one panel that it’s kind of gross.  I am so glad that this series is finally over, so great characters like Rockslide, Anole, Dust, Sunspot, and Moonstar can stop being destroyed.  As for Cipher, Ink, and Greymalkin?  I hope they got forgotten really fast, so we can just pretend like this series never happened.

Plot: 4.0      Art: 8.0      Dialogue: 5.7      Art: 5.0

Flash TPB Núm. 01: Los West Indomables

Guión: Mark Waid
Dibujo: Daniel Acuña, Freddie Williams II, Ian Churchill, Joe Bennett, Karl Kerschl, Manuel García

Formato: Libro rústica, 192 págs., a color.

Edición original: All Flash y Flash Nº 231-233 USA

¡Llegan las flamantes aventuras de la Familia Más Rápida del Mundo! Después de un año de ausencia en el que han sucedido cosas horribles, Wally West regresa a Keystone City con su esposa Linda… y con sus dos hijos. Iris y Jai son dos muchachos muy especiales que se convertirán en los compañeros
inseparables de Flash en esta aventura que supone el regreso de Mark Waid a la colección del Velocista Escarlata.
¡Y lo secundan dibujantes de la talla de Daniel Acuña, Karl Kerschl, Freddie E. Williams II y Doug Braithwaite!

Precio: 13,95 €

Flash – Los West Indomables: Wally, Linda, Iris y Jay han conseguido regresar a la Tierra después de desaparecer en la Crisis Infinita… Ahora tienen que adaptarse a su nueva vida, los bebés han crecido debido a la Fuerza de la Velocidad y ese crecimiento puede provocar su muerte si no logran controlar sus poderes. Durante su desaparición Linda se ha convertido en una especialista en velocibiología (la ciencia que estudia cómo afecta la supervelocidad a los seres humanos). Así que… sus hijos enfermos, su mujer convertida en especialista… ¿y Wally? Igual que siempre, su vida heroica va perfectamente (e incluso le da órdenes a sus compañeros de la JLA – y estos… ¡responden! – ) y le han salido dos sidekicks – Iris y Jai – a los que tienen que enseñar a utilizar sus poderes – ella vibra a través de los objetos sólidos y él puede hacer crecer su tejido muscular -; su vida privada no va del todo mal, al menos no con Linda, pero claro sus hijos pueden morir afectados por sus poderes y la JLA no ve demasiado bien que le acompañen a sus batallas
Además de todo esto, descubrimos dónde han estado Wally y los demás durante su desaparición – en Savoth, el paraíso de los velocistas donde los veneran como dioses – y se tienen que enfrentar a una invasión extraterrestre… Vamos, un día completito.
Mark Waid no está a su mejor nivel en la serie (ya se sabe el dicho sobre terceras partes) – y no sé si la colocación de las historias en el tomo es del todo correcto -, pero bueno… la historia es entretenida y se deja leer (aunque está lejos de los mejores momentos del personaje). El dibujo… variable, me gustan mucho Daniel Acuña y Doug Braithwaite, algo más Freddie Williams II y nada Koi Turnball.
Un aprobado justo, sobre todo comparado con sus etapas anteriores.