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Snapshots for 2/19
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.
FUSED #4
by Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith (Image Comics)
 Fused has been an artistically troubled book, and while Niles struggled mightily to improve the art each time there was a change, in the end the artistic variance and the resulting delays have pretty much killed my interest in the book, which started out pretty high. I loved Niles and Templesmith on 30 Days of Night, but what works for a moody vampire story doesn't work so well for a relatively upbeat story of technology and action, and the artwork is poorly suited to this chapter, so much so that I was let down despite a pretty solid and surprisingly upbeat finale. The backup artwork by Diego Jourdan is nice as always, straying a little more into his natural cartoony style and less of the shadowy Risso-esque work, but in general this was a disappointing end for such a promising mini-series. 4/10
IRON WOK JAN! #3
by Shinji Saijyo (Comicsone.com)
 I love this damn book. It's so different from everything else out there, which is part of its charm, but that's only a part. Saijyo mixes earnest characters with over-the-top enthusiasm and manic energy to create a book that just about anyone can enjoy and anyone who has ever spent an hour or two watching the Food Network will absolutely love. Mixed in the pages of Iron Wok Jan! volume three are recipes for Chinese healing food, another neat little quirk in this unusual manga, which focuses in this third volume on the middle of a giant cooking competition that shows off the lead character's arrogance as much as his skill. Try to imagine Guy Gardner at the height of his arrogance as a chef instead of a Green Lantern and you've got a pretty good idea what Jan is like, and if you imagine the swordplay of Itto Ogami translated into slicing and dicing vegetables and meat and steaming and frying food, you've got a pretty good idea what the action of Iron Wok Jan! is like. The book is fun because it can be funny, seeing the outrageous behavior of these characters or the exaggerated manga style applied to something as relatively mundane as cooking, but Saijyo's style draws the reader in and eventually you're not reading just because of the unique nature of cooking manga or the energy on the page, but because you can't wait to see what happens next. That is great comics, and that's what you get with Iron Wok Jan! 10/10
JSA: THE UNHOLY THREE #1
by Dan Jolley, Tony Harris & Ray Snyder (DC Comics/Elseworlds imprint)
 I read JSA: The Liberty File, the precursor to this series, but I have only limited recollection of it, which turns out to be something of a detriment for The Unholy Three, which is an interesting read but which plays far too much off of characters and situations that happened in a series that came out a couple of years ago. For a darker and more realistic take on wartime super-heroes, The Unholy Three is a great choice, and Harris and Snyder provide some detailed and moody artwork to go with it, a little more cartoony than Harris's work on Starman and a great example of why Harris's art is so well-regarded. I'd probably like it better if there had been more of an attempt to make it accessible rather than a "members only" sequel for those who picked up The Liberty File, but those who enjoyed that prestige mini will definitely want to give this one a look. 6/10
LUCIFER #35
by Mike Carey, Peter Gross & Ryan Kelly (DC Comics/Vertigo imprint)
 It's another step on the long journey that is the Lucifer comic, and while I hold to my philosophy that the book reads better as trade paperbacks, it certainly isn't a bad read in serial form either. Carey, Gross and Kelly provide a lot of entertaining moments this issue, including the fate of an Asgardian frost giant who dares to backtalk Lucifer or Gaudium's "someone set the bathroom on fire" background antics, as well as a terrific fable-esque story about Lucifer seeking the help of Loki's brother to get an item for his quest. There's also a clever reveal of the nature of Solomon's quest, which brings the two-part story to a satisfying close while also revealing that, as always, the story is made up of a variety of Lucifer's schemes all coming together. 9/10
PUNISHER #22
by Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon (Marvel Comics/Marvel Knights imprint)
 The finale of "The Brotherhood" story brings it in as one of the more serious, and better, Punisher stories that Ennis and Dillon have had to offer. Some rough questions about the nature of police work are asked, the Punisher gets to play the tough guy as always, and there are some bloody and well-executed fight scenes by Steve Dillon. There's also an unfortunate compromise to make the cops come off as heroes at the end that I thought avoided some of the more interesting questions and the conflict that had been facing the Punisher throughout the arc, but all in all, this was a welcome change of tone in the Punisher series. 8/10
SUPERMAN: METROPOLIS #1
by Chuck Austen & Danijel Zezelj (DC Comics)
 I am very much not the target audience for this book. I don't much care for Zezelj's artwork, Chuck Austen is very hit and miss for me, and I don't like most of what's coming out of the Superman offices these days. Not much of a surprise, then, that I found the first issue of Superman: Metropolis to be by turns boring and annoying. Boring because the Braniac 13 technology, while a great background element, doesn't strike me as a great idea to put out front as the purpose of the story. Annoying because Jimmy Olsen comes across as self-centered and arrogant, which manages to make me long for the annoying "gee whiz" kid characterization that has generally been his personality. 3/10
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