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Quick Critiques for 10/20/2004
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.
INVADERS #3
by Allan Jacobsen & C.P. Smith (Marvel Comics)
 Writer Allan Jacobsen seemingly abandons the core premise of this series -- the notion of an international coalition of metahumans dedicated to fighting terrorism in a strange world, an idea that helped to set this new series apart from other super-hero properties -- and instead offers up a generic hero team-versus-villain team fight scene. What's worse is that the battle goes nowhere, though I do appreciate that the heroes sustain some real casualties as a result of the violence. On the surface, the Tony Harris-esque art from C.P. Smith is appealing, but in the end, it proves to be stiff, awkward and unclear when it comes to the flow of action. The colors too often wash out characters and hide design detail, making it sometimes difficult to discern between key players. Another problem I have with the book is the complete and utter lack of motive granted to the members of this team to participate in it in the first place. Aside from the history behind their super-hero names and the Invaders tradition, I'm at a loss when it comes to seeing the reason these characters have opted to band together. 3/10
ROBIN #131
by Bill Willingham, Thomas Derenick & Robert Campanella (DC Comics)
 I've sort of tuned out te "War Games" crossover event in the Batman titles over the past few weeks (significantly lightening my reading load every week), as my interest was practically non-existent. I decided to wade back into the fray, and I was surprised by what I found. The script is fairly accessible; I wasn't completely lost despite having passed on many previous chapters in the crossover. It would have been nice to know who the black-skull-faced baddie Spoiler fights is. Willingham wisely tells personal stories in the context of the chaos. Mind you, the personal story between the title character and his father in this issue comes off as redundant when one considers the meat of this week's issue of Identity Crisis. Derenick's artwork here tells the story clearly, and he captures the fun of the action quite well. There's a slightly generic quality to his work on this issue, though his style here does remind me a bit of Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez's art. If there's one improvement to the art that would have served the better, it's a younger look for the two teen heroes at the heart of the story. 6/10
SECRET SKULL #2
by Steve Niles & Chuck BB (IDW Publishing)
 Underworld meets Batman meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this odd mix of the super-hero and zombie genres, and it's really a lot of fun. Niles opens up on a redundant note, conveying the title character's badass attitude and skills with vigilante killing after vigilante killing. But he soon sets things apart with a strong, character-driven sex scene that brings the character down to earth. He also reveals her novel origin and an unusual conflict between the protagonist's mission and a secret society's desperate need to remain hidden from the rest of the world. Chuck BB's simple, lighter style makes it clear that this is first and foremost a fun story, but the colors reinforce the horror elements quite well too. The artist's style, though, is not a good fit for the sexual nature of a key scene; the sequence comes off as awkward and even goofy as opposed to steamy. 7/10
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #67
by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley & Scott Hanna (Marvel Comics)
 As a one-issue comedy story, the Peter Parker/Wolverine body switch was entertaining and unobtrusive, a nice change of pace. As a two-issue arc, it falls apart. It stops being funny and just wallows in the same jokes over and over again. Bendis casts aside the more grounded qualities of this series to make room for this goofy super-hero story, but I don't have two issues' worth of patience for it. This issue is filled with action, but it comes as no surprise, as there's little plot to be found here. Bagley handles all of that action pretty well, but his depiction of Logan isn't nearly as weathered and, well, old as it needs to be. There's needs to be a greater differentiation in age, attitude and experience between the two characters, and that's doesn't really happen. This is the sort of forced team-up fare that I enjoyed when I was a kid, but it's terribly superficial by today's storytelling standards... not to mention the high bar Bendis has set for himself with the strength of most of his writing. 5/10
UNCANNY X-MEN #451
by Chris Claremont, Alan Davis & Mark Farmer
(Marvel Comics)
 Oh good. Claremont writes another story about a misunderstood mutant who's hunted down for crimes she didn't commit. He introduces another hulking mutant baddie who's incredibly strong, incredibly fast, incredibly unbeateable... who's more than the experienced X-Men can handle. We see another instance of the heroes' powers both failing them miserably and exceeding any previously established limitations at the same time. We meet another secret society of warriors living in posh surroundings in the middle of Manhattan. And we're given another issue that ignores previous plot threads and trudges on and on and on. It's like watching someone carrying a bag of oats over his shoulder, unaware there's a hole in the bag and that he's leaving a trail of discarded foodstuff behind him. Fortunately, Davis's art is as lovely as ever. Unfortunately, the design for the new bad guy is completely uninteresting. The plot isn't terribly engaging either, and it comes off as a super-hero/mob version of a Three's Company simple misunderstanding plot. 4/10
Email Don MacPherson with your comments about this review.
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