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Quick Critiques for 2/23/2005
There's no way that Randy and I can cover all of the material we have for review in full reviews, so these capsule reviews will offer some brief comments on other recent releases.
ROGUE #8
by Tony Bedard, Karl Moline, Rick Magyar, Mark Pennington & Drew Hennessy (Marvel Comics)
 I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the plot here. Bedard draws parallels between two radically different characters here, and it works quite well. Furthermore, the mystery villain here (I'm guessing she's a new character) has an interesting gimmick power, one with a lot of potential. It also serves as an excellent reason as to why Marvel Universe fans might never have "heard" of her before. One of the problems here is that despite their commonalities, bringing Rogue and Sunfire for an adventure still feels more than a little forced. I'm also not wild about the undoing of a villain's reformation here; it smacks of reset-button writing, and I feel it detracts from the character. Moline's art looks rushed, not nearly as edgy and crisp as what he offered up on CrossGen's Route 666. A check of the issue's credits offers a partial explanation: the employment of three inkers on this issue. Multiple inkers certainly reinforces the theory that this was a last-minute effort, and it explains some of the inconsistencies in the art. 5/10
SOLO #3
by Paul Pope (DC Comics)
 Don't let it get around, but I've never been a huge fan of Paul Pope's work. I never got into his small-press efforts, and other recent efforts for larger publishers, such as 100% from DC/Vertigo, didn't reel me in either. I appreciated the fact that Pope offered a unique visual voice in an industry that's replete with copycats. Even so, I wasn't expecting to be all that impressed with Pope's installment of Solo, but I'm pleased to discover how wrong my expectations were. There's a wonderfully diverse selection of material here, with some super-hero stories amid mythic and grounded, slice-of-life pieces. My favorite story is Pope's celebration of the surreal storytelling of the late Jack Kirby, in the form of an OMAC origin tale. I think what's the most striking thing about this issue of Solo, though, is the sense that Pope truly loves comics, not just the medium, but what they mean to him on a nostalgic level as well. He demonstrates the power of the medium while revelling in the fun side of the industry's past. 9/10
ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE #5
by Warren Ellis, Trevor Hairsine & Nelson
(Marvel Comics)
 This has been a terribly slow-paced limited series, but man, does it pay off in this final issue. Ellis makes the most of the relatively new shared continuity of the Ultimate Universe and makes some radical changes to a Marvel super-hero mainstay. The reader's familiarity with the character allows the writer to really wow him with his complete overhaul of the concept. One of the things I don't like about Ultimate X-Men is that it sometimes follows the same path as its mainstream Marvel countrparts. I also enjoyed Ellis's mockery of the Ultimate X-Men here. The X-Men are Marvel's most popular property, and it was fun to seem the characters taken down a peg; their role in the story is negligible; they were a red herring. Hairsine delivers his strongest effort of the series to date; his line art looks much for polished and crisp here. He also conveys the ferocity of the fight between Cap and the Red Guardian quite well. This final issue of Ultimate Nightmare has me chomping at the bit to read the next limited series in Ellis's Ultimate trilogy, Ultimate Secret. 9/10
Y: THE LAST MAN #31
by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra & Jose Marzan Jr.
(DC Comics/Vertigo imprint)
 Vaughan and company deliver another solid issue that wisely brings the mysterious, sword-wielding, ninja-like charactrer down to earth. She's not suddenly transformed from antagonist to protagonist, but there's something about the character that's thoroughly likeable. I'm also enjoying Hero's transformation from the twisted soul we met a while back into the rough but reliable cowgirl she is now. I especially enjoyed how Vaughan incorporates a reference to Hero's life from before the Plague here. Guerra does a nice job with this unusually action-oriented issue, though the critical nature of Agent 355's injuries are nevr made entirely clear. Furthermore, the backgrounds are somewhat lacking in this issue, and that takes away from the more realistic feel of the book, which serves to balance the extraordinary circumstances of the premise. I'm not wild about the new cover artist here. Massimo Carnevale's sexually suggestive image really doesn't fit with what we know of the Japanese warrior character. 8/10
Email Don MacPherson with your comments about this review.
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