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Wow, what a hit-and-miss week! There were a couple of comics in this week's stack from Zimmie's that really rang my fanboy bell, but also several I simply did not enjoy at all. Which was which? Here's the rundown:
Amazing Spider-Man #1.3
Marvel Comics, $3.99
I actually did not pre-order the "one-point" issues of this new Spidey series when they were first solicited. The comics curmudgeon in me figured ol' Marvel was just trying to milk me for extra money, while I presumed this would be another pointless "Year One" retcon. Instead, this has been a series that has added layers and depth to the original stories, while being a fun, tightly plotted tale in its own right. Sure, a lot of the beats are familiar, with the rejected super-fan turning toward villainy, but this story arc reminds me so much of the comics of my youth, I'm calling that a plus. GRADE: A
Daredevil #5
Marvel Comics, $3.99
I had a few issues with this issue. For one, it's not clear to me until ol' hornhead starts reminiscing about Leapfrog that the giant robot is actually a giant, mechanical leapfrog. But maybe that's me. Second, it's not at all clear to me why the leaping robot suddenly goes on self-destruct. Did Daredevil trigger something when he stuck his billy-club in it? Did the pilot set the mecha-amphibian to self-destruct? And, if so, was that the plan all along, or an accident? Regardless, all that is secondary to the main point of the story, which was allowing Foggy Nelson to go out in a blaze of glory. For him, I'm happy. GRADE: A
All-New Invaders #7
Marvel Comics, $3.99
An improvement over reent issues, although it's still unclear to me just why Radiance, having learned of the Invaders' "original sin" while in New York, traveled all the way back to Japan in order to demand they explain themselves to her. Overall, the story here is good, although this issue and the previous one could have been done just as well as a single-issue story. What I wonder, however, is why James Robinson doesn't petition his editor to change the title of this book to All-New Human Torch, since that seems to be the book he wants to write anyway, and given that he's de-powered Johnny Storm over in Fantastic Four. GRADE: B+
Fantastic Four #7
Marvel Comics, $3.99
And speaking of the FF, it's worth noting that not only does the scene on this cover not happen inside, Invisible Woman and the Hulk don't even appear anywhere in this issue. Poor editorial oversight? Possibly. If not, the disconnect between what happens with the Thing here — he participates in the battle with the Orb long enough to learn a secret, then comes back to berate Johnny — and what happens to him in Original Sin — where he's still walking around possessed by Midas — certainly is. This comic was the quickest read of the month. I blew through it in just over 6 1/2 minutes. At $4, this book cost about 62¢ per minute. Phone sex is a better deal! GRADE: C
Infinity Man and the Forever People #2
DC Comics, $2.99
Well, it's a great cover, as spectacularly good as the debut issue was bad. But, beyond that, what you get here is buckets full of "meh." I'm a big Tom Grummet fan, but I wonder if he's out of practice from not having had a regular book on the stands in a while, or if this was a rush job. Either way, the art here is kind of static, especially on the first few pages, lacking Grummet's usual dynamism. The plot also is fairly uninspired and, for the life of me, I can not yet figure out why this book exists. Doesn't matter, I dropped it with by September pre-order. GRADE: C
Grayson #1
DC Comics, $2.99
This book is, I think, a good example of a writer having a world of ideas in his head but failing to translate the epic-ness of his tale to paper. There are way too many things wrong with this issue to list in a capsule comment. I'll cover them in the longer review. Let's just say this issue struck me as someone trying to be as uber-cool as Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol, having only read the Rachel Pollack version. The tagline for this book is, "You don't know Dick." I don't know how anyone could know anything after having read this. GRADE: C-
Winter Solder: The Bitter March #5 (of 5)
Marvel Comics, $3.99
So, this was basically, a pointless waste of time. I should have suspected as much, knowing that this book was set in the past and would eventually have to restore the status quo to what it was before Bucky Barnes reappeared as the Winter Soldier. Sadly, this entire five-issue series is something that could have been done just as well, better actually, back in the day as a single 10-page story. And that with art that didn't look like something sketched out during the bus ride to work. GRADE: D+
The Royals: Masters of War #6 (of 6)
DC Comics (Vertigo imprint), $2.99
This is a series that utterly failed to live up to its promise, but maybe that's because I thought I was being promised some kind of World War II version of Arrowsmith. In the end, what we got was a poorly conceived family melodrama with characters straight out of central casting. I imagine that even the creators knew, when they dropped the bomb at the end, that the reading public would not be clamoring for a sequel. GRADE: D
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