angelophile | Comic reviews - Two weeks late...

Got to catch up with two weeks of reviews - deadline distracted me from writing any up last week. Anyway, I been reeding…

AUTHORITY LOBO SPRING BREAK MASSACRE
CATWOMAN #44
DAREDEVIL REDEMPTION #5
HELLIONS #2
HOUSE OF M #2
NEW AVENGERS #6
NEW X-MEN #15
NIGHTCRAWLER #7
RUNAWAYS #5
X-MEN #172
YOUNG AVENGERS #5

AUTHORITY LOBO SPRING BREAK MASSACRE = One thing you can rely on, is if Simon Bisley's involved in a book, it'll either be late, or just rushed out only partially finished - witness any of his 2000AD work, where one page would be desperately detailed, then it'd become obvious that he'd spent way too long painting someone's brains being eaten or something and the rest of the pages had to be rushed through without inks and splashes of colour. It makes him a spasmodic genius, but I love his work and it doesn't disappoint here. Frankly, this book reads like a bad acid trip, as the running joke from Lobo's Paramilitary Christmas Special, which saw Lobo killing Santa, is stretched from the last crossover, where Jenny Quantum vowed revenge on Lobo for massacring the fat jolly one. Now it turns out, Lobo has been stuck in the Wildstorm universe, hunting the galaxy for the Easter Bunny, who owes him money, Yeah, this should have been an insane Easter special. Sadly, while there's flashes of genius here, like the Easter Bunny being a fat fascist dictator, it just barely makes sense. The Authority are largely superfluous to the story as well, which doesn't help much. Still, a Bisley drawn Lobo is a mad and wonderful thing. But still, this one's for fans only.
Rating - **

CATWOMAN #44 = New artist and new writer for this story and it's a great new start. There's three different plot threads weaving through this issue - first a run in with a techno-criminal, then Scarface rears his wooden head, then Hush sends Selena on a mission for him. It's all pretty good stuff and this would usually be a story arc of its own under the old decompressed storylines. The art is positively wonderful too. If you dropped this book like I did, time to pick it back up again and give it another try.
Rating - ****

DAREDEVIL REDEMPTION #5 - This miniseries continues to chug along and has been an intriguing and enjoyable read. Really, this has been a Matt Murdock, not Daredevil series - the costume has barely featured. Hine continues to weave a rather intriguing web of deceit in the small-town trial of a suspected child murderer and his friends, and this issue focuses entirely on the trial itself. I'm a sucker for lawyer dramas and this is a strong issue as Matt works his way through the trial. Those expecting action will be disappointed - this is a crime drama book and, as such, works very well.
Rating - ****

HELLIONS #2 - More character stuff, but unlink the parent comic, this issue did feel a little decompressed. The "Kingmaker" starts to grant the Hellion's fondest wishes, but out and out avoids any suggestion of his powers being in any way magical. It's a clever way of sidestepping the obvious problem with this mini-series. However, this isn't a particularly strong issue = Clayton Henry's art is enjoyable, but the nature of the wishes means it's mostly talking heads stuff. Not enough Julian in this issue for my liking - the rest of the characters remain fairly cardboard.
Rating - ***

HOUSE OF M #2 - This issue we find out a little about the world of House of M and the difference between the M universe and the standard Marvel universe. So we see stuff like Kitty as a school teacher, Wolverine working for the M version of SHIELD, Falcon as a cop, Captain America as an old guy, the Hanks as scientists and so on. Since it's just an issue of single pages on each character it's… well… dull, frankly. If this is the excitement level this crossover is going to continue to offer, I have to wonder what the point is. Pretty art. Not much else. Bendis is dialogue strong, as always, but dialogue without story seems a pointless exercise.
Rating - **

NEW AVENGERS #6 - The same problem Bendis has with House of M applies here - really, nothing happens. Or, correctly, the Avengers do nothing. Attacked by a rogue offshoot of SHIELD, led by the latest Black Widow, they stand around while she threatens to kill them until Sauron intervenes. Then they knock him out, wander off through the jungle, see bad stuff™ happening, and stand around doing nothing while more bad stuff happens. Not an auspicious start for the book. I'm gonna give the Sentry arc a try, because the character interests me, but so far, this book hasn't lived up to what it should be. The Marvel universe's most famous characters stand around and have a cup of tea. Pass.
Rating - **

NEW X-MEN #15 - Well, after this issue it's off into House of M territory, so this could be considered the "last issue" under current writers. It's the end of the school year and the Blob attacks the school. The New Mutants are slowly unravelling as a group, but fighting together with the Hellions against the Blob, they show themselves to be the X-men in training they're meant to be. There's solid characterisation, but it's clear by this point that this was meant to be an ending of sorts. Rahne is neatly cut free from the book, presumably to join the Peter David X-Factor book that must be announced soon, while the New Mutants team itself crumbles, presumably t allow the new writers to pick and chose who they want to use post-House of M. It's a pretty low-beat ending and I'll be sorry to see this book, in its current form, bite the dust.
Rating - ****

NIGHTCRAWLER #7 - Effectively a storyless issue, instead it's another "X-men dream issue", like the final issue of Excalibur last month. Nightcrawler's in a coma after fighting the creature known as Vermin, and Hank and Emma struggle to save his life. Considering it's been four months or so since the last issue, because of a scheduled hiatus, this isn't exactly the strongest issue to return on, and I would expect a sharp sales drop. It's an okay issue and sets up for the next arc, but for a book that's been away so long it just feels week, especially coupled with the fact the art seems scrappy and rushed compared to usual.
Rating - **

RUNAWAYS #5 - Victor discovered the true identity of his father last issue, but this being Vaughan, little's as straightforward as it first seems. Left to battle one of the MU's greatest villains, the Runaways perform fairly well, until the story is turned on its head. The issue's light on the usual funny lines, Molly seems a little off - speaking older than her years, and Excelsior make the briefest of appearances. The big twist is interesting, but really takes up the whole book - there's not much to it beyond that. It's a fairly average issue, but will have an important part in the story as a whole. As such, it's a solid addition to the story, just seems a little light on character moments.
Rating - ***

X-MEN #172 - I actually enjoyed this issue more than any of the rest of Milligan's run in terms of the X-men's interaction. There's some pretty good lines here from the familiar characters. Where the story falls down is with the art - Larocca still seems to be pulling at odd with whatever Milligan's writing - He calls for Foxx to be a sexy little thing - Larroca seems to deliberately stick her in angles that make her look like a dog's backside. Check out the cover, where she has a chin like Popeye. All I can conclude is that Milligan and Larroca really don't get along and Larroca is subtly trying to sabotage the book. As for the story, the twist at the end is welcome, the motivation for the twist is not. (Trying to help by screwing up lives? Huh?) Most of the character motivations seem a little off here, as they have done throughout Milligan's run. While this may be his strongest issue, it's utterly disappointing when I think how hyped I was for him to take over from Austen. As it is, his opening few issues have been much weaker than Austen's were. Hopefully he'll get better, rather than plummet into the Draco-deep depths.
Rating - **

YOUNG AVENGERS #5 - Okay, it's a time travel story, things are bound to get complicated. But for an issue that's, again, an extended fight scene, it manages to sneak in some more strong character moments. However, when the Vision appeared, I suddenly lost track of what the hell was going on. Who was the Vision? How did Kang get his armor back? Didn't anyone else think Cassie suddenly realising she could shrink too was a little bit out of the blue? As was the "romantic interlude." It was a messy issue as far as I'm concerned, but this is still a strong book and it was enjoyable enough for the most part. Just… someone explain?
Rating - ***