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Snapshots for 1/14
There's no way that Don 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.
BLOODSTREAM #1
by Adam Shaw & Penny Register (Image Comics)
 Bloodstream has an evocative cover image and intriguing painted style, but like so many new series these days, the first issue just doesn't provide enough information. Shaw and Register clearly know where they're going with this, but when even the sparse solicitation copy gives up more information on your concept than your first issue, you've got a problem. Shaw and Register create an interesting character in Amber, a stripper who gets kidnapped into a mysterious research project, and they certainly sell the nature of her work at the strip club, but so much time is spent on her life before the change that we don't really get deep into the change. In fact, the issue ends not on a cliffhanger or a big revelation but in what feels like the middle of a scene. Bloodstream is a beautiful looking book, but the story doesn't really get anywhere in this first issue, and that's a pretty significant problem. 3/10
DOCTOR OCTOPUS: NEGATIVE EXPOSURE #4
by Brian Vaughan, Staz Johnson & Danny Miki (Marvel Comics)
 Negative Exposure nears its conclusion with this issue, and once again I find myself pleased by Vaughan's mixture of intriguing characterization and strong action storytelling. Jeffrey Haight's descent from merely selfish and jealous to actually villainous hits a key point this issue when he betrays someone he loves by lying to her and then actually getting her hurt and still can't focus on anything except his dream of getting a front page photo, and while I don't find him likable, I do find him fascinating, and I'm curious to see if he'll get his just rewards in the final issue. Meanwhile, Staz Johnson does an excellent job on the action sequence featuring Spidey fighting Doc Ock's arms, and Vaughan provides clever banter and interesting fight tactics to go with. Combine with writing that makes Doc Ock appear intelligent and dangerous, not just arrogant and powerful, and you've got one of the better portrayals of a classic Spidey villain and a story that has all the makings of something you can hand to the comics newbie when they come out of Spider-Man 2 next summer. 8/10
FABLES #21
by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham & Steve Leialoha (DC Comics/Vertigo imprint)
 Another great issue of Fables, as Willingham continues to build on the central mystery (is Red Riding Hood a spy?) as well as some of the smaller ones (just who are these men in black?) and has some great spotlight moments for favorite characters like Bigby, Jack and Prince Charming. The story with Jack is particularly interesting, as we see him not just as the con man he's been presented as but as someone who can hold his own in a confrontation when forced to. His adversaries are a fascinating mystery to me, although I think that a key to their identity might rest in the title of the arc. At any rate, it's a building mystery that I can't figure out and can't wait to see the end of, something that is becoming a tradition when it comes to this title. This issue also introduces another Fable, one that I'm not familiar with but whose powers and choices in regard to that power are very interesting. With Buckingham and Leialoha continuing to provide beautiful artwork that brings to life the mundane, even violent, aspects of real life alongside the magic of Fables, this book continues to be a delight to read every month. 9/10
FALLEN ANGEL #7
by Peter David, David Lopez & Fernando Blanco (DC Comics)
 If your New Year's Resolution list includes the resolution to "try new things," might I suggest Fallen Angel, a cool little series that starts a new storyline in this issue? David starts off with a scene that flashes back to the first meeting between heroine Fallen Angel and villainess Black Mariah, and I love that their enmity starts so quickly and yet so believably, in no small part due to some similarities in their wisecracking personas. David also continues to enjoy his "mature readers" status with a frank but not too explicit sex scene between Angel and Juris that contains all the things a noir sex scene should, namely a sensuality but also a feeling that the lead has a view on sex that puts it somewhere in the tawdry, forbidden category and it helps to show that she has some real darkness within her. Then there's the confrontations (plural) between Mariah and Angel, where we start to get the sense of a shifting of who has the upper hand in this relationship and once again see the dirtier, whatever-it-takes modus operandi of Fallen Angel that is a big part of why I find her and this book so fascinating. With Lopez and Blanco providing art that ranges from solid to occasionally excellent (especially on the shadowy, sultry look of Fallen Angel when she's "on the job") this book continues to be a lot of fun, if such a description can apply to a book with plenty of sex, murder, torture and undead former dictators. 8/10
GOTHAM CENTRAL #15
by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, Michael Lark & Steffano Gaudiano (DC Comics)
 I'm of two minds about Gotham Central #15, the conclusion of "Soft Targets": On the one hand, it is a gripping storyline that presents the Joker as terribly dangerous and evil, has real consequences and says a lot about the relationship between Batman and the cops. On the other, it's another example of the Joker getting away with murder and mayhem and making Batman and the cops look impotent and stupid for not just crossing the line and offing the freak already. Despite this gripe (which is sort of an ongoing complaint I have with the way the Joker has been handled ever since The Killing Joke), overall I was pretty pleased with this story. You get a real feel for just how scary the Joker is when the cops have him in interrogation and don't really know how to handle him, and the sequence that ensues when he decides to make his break for it is fast-paced and just chilling. Lark, Gaudiano and colorist Lee Loughridge do a fantastic job this issue on the glances between the cops, the maniacal behavior of the Joker and the tension of the search for the Joker's weapon. Gotham Central has a vibe that doesn't jibe with my view of Batman or Joker (the former is too much of an ego-driven prick rather than a hero, the latter too effective at his mayhem) but viewed apart from the shared continuity, it's a fantastic read. 9/10
GREEN ARROW #34
by Judd Winick, Phil Hester & Ande Parks (DC Comics)
 I'll miss Matt Wagner's covers, but the rest of the Green Arrow team is back this issue for Winick's second arc, and it's off to another strong start. Winick plays up the darker side of the previous story, with Ollie feeling guilty for his part in Joanna's death outwardly and guilty for cheating on Dinah with her inwardly, while still retaining the sense of adventurous fun that makes Green Arrow such an enjoyable character. The personal interaction this issue has some of the high points, including Dinah asking Ollie obliquely about the affair, with a lot of terrific subtext about what both characters actually think, but I also love Winick's plot, which involves a clever and subtle little bit of art theft. If I were to name my favorite part of the issue, though, it would be the action sequence at the end, executed to perfection by Hester and Parks and with witty tough-guy banter from Ollie and Connor. With Winick at the helm and Hester and Parks on art, Green Arrow continues to be one of the best super-hero books on the stands. 9/10
ULTIMATE X-MEN #41
by Brian Bendis, David Finch & Art Thibert (Marvel Comics)
 So it turns out that "New Mutants" is a story arc in name only, and it in fact seems to be a series of one-shot stories. To be honest, I'm a little divided in opinion. This is a really good, if relentlessly dark, little story, which shows us a little more about what purpose the ruthless side of Wolverine serves in the X-Men and gives a little credence to the "mutants are dangerous" riff that is a staple of the book. However, it seems a little off-the-beaten-path for a book that hasn't really exhausted the more straightforward mutant stories the way 400-some issues of Uncanny and 150-some issues of X-Men have, and I find myself missing the more action-oriented (and plot-oriented) tales from Millar's tenure on the book. Bendis and Finch serve up a tale of mutant powers gone horribly wrong and the things that the X-Men might do to keep it from coming out and tainting their cause, and though I could quibble with Wolverine spouting some decidedly out-of-character Bendis-speak like "Guy I work with. Charles Xavier. He has this machine. Mutant finder machine thing," my general impression is that it's creepy and horrific and very effective. It's just that, like "Blockbuster," the first Bendis arc that also came out in trade form today, I'm not sure it's my ideal of what would be taking place in Ultimate X-Men. 7/10
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