Angel: Revelations #1 by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Adam Pollina.
I really liked this story. I wasn’t keen on the art, but it’s a very distinctive style that you’re either going to like or not. At least it wasn’t painfully generic. The story was a classic X-Men origin story with adolescence as a backdrop, like it’s not painful enough. A teenager going through a mutation and keeping it from everyone is pretty standard, but the tone that was achieved was rather creepy. Even though it takes place at a rich boarding school, it feels like something Tim Burton would have filmed. The bookends of the stigmata girl just made the creepiness skyrocket. It is a great book.
The Astounding Wolf-Man #6 by Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard.
I keep getting surprised that I like this book, but I don’t know why. I like almost everything Kirkman writes, so this should be obvious. Maybe it’s that the covers always seem uninspired. Anyway, this issue has to do with the pain of his family because of the whole secret identity thing. The consequences aren’t limited just to the superhero, but to his family as well. His daughter hitting the other girl in the face with the tennis racket is pretty brutal because it feels more real and painful than any of the super powered fights. The girl begging not to be deactivated by her robot mom was particularly creepy and sad. This issue was all about the daughters I guess.
Batman #677 by Grant Morrison and Tony Daniel.
I’ve always said that Batman is my favorite superhero because he has no super powers and is clearly off balance. He dresses up as a bat to fight crime but will never kill. He needs professional help. It shouldn’t take this many years to come to grips with his parents’ death. Most people eventually get back into their regular lives. Of course, since this is comic book world, these sorts of things aren’t often addressed. This issue has Jet convincing Bruce that perhaps he is his own worst enemy. Maybe he has completely lost touch with reality and is doing things without his own knowledge. We’re getting into multiple personality disorder here, and Batman is definitely a prime candidate with his past behavior. However, the people attacking him are definitely real, so it can’t all be in his head.
Fables #73 by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham.
The Fables go to war by taking the initiative. Instead of waiting for the Adversary to come to Fabletown again, they’re going after the entire empire. They’re using a combination of Fable weapons and modern technology. There’s plans within plans and everybody gets to play a part. We get to see everything going as planned, but of course, the final page is everything starting to turn. It looks like the next issue will be the empire striking back. It wasn’t much of a single story. It felt more like they were just showing us the blueprints. As always, Willingham and Buckingham can pull it off and make it an engaging comic book.
Giant Size Astonishing X-Men #1 by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday.
Hell must have frozen over, because this book finally came out. It’s the culmination we’ve all been waiting for ever since Kitty brought Peter back in the first storyline. The opening pages stars Spiderman, and with the hilarious dialogue, I’m thinking we could stand with Whedon writing a Spiderman book. However, the delays in his books makes me think maybe not. Kitty proves her astonishing worth to the team by saving the freakin’ day. In classic Whedon style, he makes something horrible happen to the characters he loves the most. It’s quite a spectaculkar ending to the best X-Men title out there.
Marvel Illustrated: The Picture of Dorian Gray #6 by Oscar Wilde, Roy Thomas, and Sebastian Fiumara.
The final chapter of Dorian Gray. This has been a wonderful adaptation of one of Oscar Wilde’s masterpieces. The painterly style of the art compliments the style of the story. Dorian has been changed by his murdering of an old friend and wishes to change himself and live a better life, but with all the pain and horribleness that he has inflicted upon the years, a few simple acts of kindness is not nearly enough. His visage in the painting is more horrible than ever. The act of trying to destroy the painting is an act of suicide. He wishes to kill the loathsome creature that he has become, and he does by killing himself. There is no redemption for Dorian Gray.
Rogue Angel: Teller of Tall Tales #4 by Barbara Randall Kesel and Renae De Liz.
This book continues to amuse. I still really like the way the art will blend the Indian style with the American comics style. It’s a fun story that you’re not likely to find anywhere else either. The Indian archeologist who’s obsessed with Mark Twain’s books is not a scenario that is often found. The magical sword gives a nice fantastical element to an otherwise realistic style adventure. This is definitely Indiana Jones but as a woman. The fight scenes are clear and not drawn out. I prefer a fight scene to have a purpose and then get out of the way for story. This is a fun book.
Secret History of the Authority: Hawksmoor #3 by Mike Costa and Fiona Staples.
First up, I’m really digging the art. It’s clear and illustrates the plot, but the sketchy style adds a temporary feel to the action and gives an edge even to the talky scenes The story continues to be top notch. I have no idea what’s going to happen and what’s really going on. I’m excited to find out, and that’s what a good mystery is supposed to be. The flashes of Hawksmoor being experimented on were rather unsettling as well. It’s nice to have a good Authority book out right now.
Thor #9 by J. Michael Straczynski and Olivier Coipel.
This issue has hardly any Thor in it at all. There is mostly Loki and Balder. Loki as a woman is still taking some getting used to, but she is definitely still always up to no good. Apparently the whole point of this issue was for Loki to get Balder to go against Thor. It was a nice change of humorous interlude to have the regular townsperson wandering around Asguard and trying to describe basketball. Thor is still marching along to a good beat.
