Comic reviews continued...

[angelophile]

Still had some books left to review from last week:

DESOLATION JONES #2
MUTOPIA X #1
UNCANNY X-MEN #462
HERCULES #4
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #21



DESOLATION JONES #2

The search for the missing Hitler porn continues. There's not much action this month and instead it's a case of Ellis' dialogue at it's weird best and some outright odd ideas. The ex-spook who was genetically engineered to supposedly emit pheremones to make her attractive to men, and instead ended up with an aura that scares the willies out of anyone in the proximity is a nice touch. It's a couple of set pieces with this character that take up much of the issue. Unfortunately the "spy" story doesn't quite satisfy, already growing a little convoluted and impenetrable and I had to go back to the last issue to figure out what was what. Still, Jones is a great character and plays off the other freaks and weirdoes in the book nicely. The first issue, however, was brilliant. This was merely enjoyable.

RATING - ***

MUTOPIA X #1

A solid issue and one of the more interesting House of M titles so far, dealing with the ground level changes of House of M, rather than the central characters. As such, it works pretty well, although there's nothing really inspiring. Nice to see Ortega as a more sympathetic character again, after he was screwed so badly in the old District X title. There's some fun to be had with wondering how a shape shifter's powers could be used in the entertainment industry but I have to wonder if every House of M book is gonna revolve around Human terrorists attacking mutants. With New X-men doing the same thing, it's already beginning to feel a little bit uninspired. Hopefully this title will be able to go on from there to greater things.

RATING - ***

UNCANNY X-MEN #462

Okay, huh? If you'd read the original Excalibur, Captain Britain and other titles, this probably would make a lot more sense. As it is, the story, revolving around Brian Braddock and the destruction of the omniverse due to House of M is an absolute bastard to follow if you're like me and have hardly followed these titles. There is some enjoyment to be had here, even so. The art's nice, the alternate versions of the X-men are… well, less nice, but very camp and funny because of it. There's solid characterization for Betsy and Brian, but what the hell's happened to Rachel. She's gone from strong, independent young woman to whiney kid who's always crying for her mommy. If I knew who half the characters were and their place in the universe I'd enjoy this more, but to be honest, weird concepts about the hub of all realities and stuff like that make me go WTF anyway. Still, I guess it's part of the course for the X-men.

RATING - **1/2

HERCULES #4

A mixed bag in this issue as Herc continues to work his way through his modern Twelve Labors. There's the great - Hercules' battle against Mole Man and his army of subterranean monsters - then there's the weak - the Greek gods "board meeting". Too many failed gags about Zeus' weakness for mortal women that just fall flat. The art, which has been okay the rest of the series, is a little bit muddy here and it's not always easy to tell what's going on. This certainly hinders the "boardroom" scene. Dressing all the gods in powersuits just doesn't help differentiate them. And you have to ask, if all the Greek gods and demi-gods are involved in the "modernization", why was Hercules excluded?
Still, there's still room for some funny lines, but the humor seems more forced than previous issues. The ending is a nice twist though - the final labor, when given, is a real shock and it's gonna be interesting how it's pulled off. It's nice to see a dark myth referenced as Hercules is challenged to go to Hades and return with the forgiveness of his murdered wife and children. Who he murdered himself. Ouch.

RATING - **1/2


ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #21

Mark Millar starts an arc with Greg Land on art, so I picked up this title on a whim. It's also the first part of the "Crossover" arc, as the Ultimate Reed Richards is contacted by an older, more familiar Reed. Cue a crossover between the Ultimate Universe and a dimension that looks much more like the one we're used to. The art is utterly gorgeous, as expected, although the appearance of a couple of the characters seems a little off, particularly Sue. Land seems to be only capable of drawing one blonde, so Sue ends up looking identical to Emma Frost and every blonde in every other comic he's drawn. She just looks too old and openly sexy, like a Playboy model. I think Land just traces them sometimes.
Mark Millar's script manages to avoid too many of the quirks that make his scripts irritating on occasion, too many out of character remarks to court controversy. Here that's kept to a minimum and there's some nice storytelling, the story opening with a ludicrous, but fun, cross-time caper when the FF take out a terrorist faction who have leapt back in time with the intention of wiping out history by killing the first creature to ever crawl from the sea. It's daft, but pleasantly so.
Then there's the ending. Millar takes the expectations of this arc and blows it away, taking the concept of an Ultimate Reed meeting a 616 Reed and shattering it with one tremendous plot twist. Fantastic stuff, if you'll pardon the pun.

RATING - ****