The Defenders #2
Yuck. All the promise of the first book has vanished. The Defenders could have been something unique in the Marvel universe but this issue was bland as could be. I'm thinking that I don't like Matt Fraction as much as I previously thought. Between this uninspired mess and the summer long snooze feast that was Fear Itself Fraction has used up any goodwill with his great work on...on.....now that I think of it he has never written anything I like!
It's a shame because Terry Dodson throws down some pretty awesome pencils. Great characters, nice panel layout and a smoking hot She -Hulk all wasted on this boring story.
Voodoo #4
Great art, uninteresting characters, cookie cutter alien-shape shifter plot. That's the story of Voodoo through four issues. Voodoo breaks into a top secret government facility to gather information on the Justice League and more specifically Superman. Is Voodoo an alien bounty hunter charged with the task of tracking down Kal-El? I might be getting too far ahead of myself. Up to this point writer Ron Marz has rolled out one of the most generic tales of The New 52. I really don't see this book getting much better.
Ed Brubaker and Steve McNiven wrap up their run together in this brief read. It appears that McNiven was having difficulty meeting deadlines as Giuseppe Camuncoli pencils the last half of the book. Their styles are similar so it isn't the worst thing in the world.
While trapped in the Jimmy Jupiter's dream world Captain America must confront losing his Super Solider strength as well as questions about his blind patriotism. The last time Cap lost his faith he ended up running around calling himself Nomad. Thankfully it appears Brubaker won't be taking us down that path.
FF #13
This was a curve ball. For the past year FF has been penciled by Steve Epting who has photo-realistic style but this issue features the cartoonish stylings of Juan Bobillo. I have been losing interest in this book and it's sister title Fantastic Four over these past few months but thanks to this new artist I've been reenergized. This style was a perfect fit as The Future Foundation traveled into space to intercept The Mad Celestials. Bobillo's pencils have a strangeness to them that is a welcome compliment to this cast of aliens and robots.
I was shocked at the new perspective a different penciler could bring. I always thought a good artist could pencil any book, but I guess it's just as important to match style with subject matter.
Batman: The Dark Knight #4
The mastermind behind the Arkham prison break is revealed. If you follow the narrative as well as the clues in the past two books it's not such a big surprise. This is a weird title. While I hate the pseudo Venom fueled steroid looking villains however I really think that artist/writer David Finch has a great handle on the rest of the cast. The interaction between Bruce and Alfred is very heart felt. This title has come a long way but still is far behind Batman and Robin and Batman.
Animal Man #5
Oh those dirty Rot monsters! Tricking poor little Maxine into infecting the forest animals with The Rot, shame on them.
In most cases fill-in artists drive me crazy but Steve Pugh is solid in helping Travel Forman on the last few pages. While not the strange and exotic pencils usually found in this book Pugh maintains the general feel and keeps the action moving.
The payoff I've been waiting for will finally arrive in the next arc as the much awaited cross over with Swamp Thing is right on the horizon. I absolutely can't wait for the best two books of the New 52 to cross twisted paths.-$
Panel of the Week: It's really hard not to award PotW to that mad scientist Travel Foreman when he does work like this. Creepfest!
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