Batman Annual #2
In a word: boring. Image Matt talked me into getting this book. The Zero Year snipe on the cover also lured me in. You know what this book has to do with Zero Year? Not a damn thing.
What this book does have is about a million words. I don't know who Marguerite Bennett is, but she clearly wrote this book, not Scott Snyder. Its like a novel. And not even a particularly good one. Its about The Anchoress, a crazy old lady who's been in Arkham Asylum for a couple centuries who can pass through walls and her... lets call it "phasing" can jam up electronics. Sound familiar?
A forgettable character in a forgettable book. Shame I won't be forgetting I paid $4.99 for this waste.
Guardians of the Galaxy #5
I think I'm resigned to the understanding that this book isn't going to be as good as the Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning run. Its good, and the art is great, but its lacking the heart and camaraderie of the previous series.
This issue has a confusing start, seemingly having nothing to do with the previous issues. Angela shows up. You know Angela? Yeah, me neither, but Marvel has been hyping the Neil Gaiman creation into the Marvel Universe for months now. It has no real impact on my whatsoever. I hope there's a reason as the story plays out and not just a stunt on Marvel's part.
An entertaining read, but it needs more of something.
The Flash Annual #2
First off... I can't get past the colossal fuck up of making Hal Jordan's eyes blue on the cover. I know. Small potatoes. But shouldn't SOMEONE have caught that?
As far as the story goes, its drawn expertly by Sami Basri. I could really get into an ongoing with him on art. The story however, but boring. I wanted something more from the first meeting between Hal and Barry. They run into each other while both working the same case. They eventually stumble on to an alien death arena plot an beat the bad guys in the end. What's good about it is that writer Brian Buccellato skipped over the obligatory hero fight when they first meet. The rest just felt like boring, recycled comic story.
Besides a couple clever moments of dialog between the characters, their relationship falls more flat than anything. An entertaining story, but I wanted more.
X-Men #3
Well, I guess Psylocke played a big role at the end of the book, but the cover really didn't give me the sexy Psylocke story I was looking for.
The Arkea portion of Brian Wood and Olivier Coipel's run on X-Men comes to a close in a less than satisfying manner. I'm not sure why the end of the issue says, "The End," because it clearly isn't. There are just as many mysteries left hanging as there were before the issue started.
Though this issue didn't blow my mind, Coipel's art is always fantastic. The story is entertaining and I hope this creative team gets a good long run on this book.
Animal Man Annual #2
Man, that was a sad issue. We've dealt with some of the aftermath of the death of Cliff before, but this was was sadder than the rest.
What was great was seeing the unorthodox Travel Foreman back on art duties. Steve Pugh is doing a great job on the regular book, but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Foreman's Animal Man. He draws the story of Buddy flashing back to when Cliff was still alive, when they shared an adventure as a father and son. Foreman brings his a-game and really hooks up the crazy and the grotesque in this book.
A very satisfying Annual that truly augments Jeff Lemire's entire Animal Man run.
The Wake #3
Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy continue their excellent and claustrophobic storytelling this month, really putting the heroes of this book in a bad spot.
The merman/fish thing that was captured has escaped and killed most of the crew. A handful are left to try to escape the abandoned underwater station. The predicament of being stranded miles below the ocean surface while a school of murderous mermen comes after you is well realized in this book. Snyder and Murphy really make you feel the immediacy of what's happening along with the claustrophobia and fear of being trapped. Murphy's setting are so realized you feel like you're there.
I'm really glad I picked up this book. Very satisfying read.
Hawkeye Annual #1
Hawkeye Annual #1 is a story about Kate Bishop, a character that I knew nothing about, but a character that Matt Fraction and David Aja made me absolutely love.
This book isn't drawn by Aja, its drawn by Javier Pulido. I'd much prefer Aja to do the Hawkeye artwork, but Fraction's story is so good, I can look over art that's not really my style. Kate leaves Clint Barton to move to Los Angeles and she gets caught up in a world of trouble with Madame Masque.
The way this run of Hawkeye has been written, between Fraction, Aja and Pulido has been pretty brilliant. Its won some awards and certainly deserves to. Of the handful of Marvel books I read, its easily the most enjoyable.
Panel of the Week:
Travel Foreman is back to draw some Animal Man for this month's annual and the way he realizes Buddy Baker channeling an animal is so cool you can almost hear the 70s sound effect when you see it.
-Gint
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