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Snapshots for 5/14
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.
BLACKBURNE COVENANT #2
by Fabian Nicieza & Stefano Raffaele (Dark Horse Comics)
 The first issue of Blackburne Covenant set up the author who had accidentally tapped into a truth best buried hidden, and the second issue delves deeper into the conspiracy that is moving against him. I had a little trouble with some of the actions of the conspiracy, because while Nicieza keeps their motives unclear, he risks making their actions seem random, particularly when halfway through the issue we hear that they don't want him dead and the next thing we know some guy is chasing him with a pistol. However, aside from that trouble, a danger in any conspiracy story, this was again a pretty enjoyable read, with our protagonist's sarcastic personality and feeling of being completely out of his depth giving the story a lot of its charm. There's also that rare feeling in this book that I have no idea where it's going next, or where the story will end up, and I like that quite a bit. 7/10
CHIAROSCURO #7
by Troy Little (Meanwhile... Studios)
 I've seen a few people complaining that this book seems paced awfully slowly, especially given its publication rate, and they have a point, but I think that Chiaroscuro is not a book that you read to see where the plot is going. In this issue, Anthony and Steve play basketball with a couple of friends and then hang out on the jungle gym and talk. The plot is advanced... well, not at all, really. But I'll be damned if the dialogue between these two, and their believable friendship, didn't have me riveted throughout. In addition, Little's art style is terrific, expressive and stylized with great shadow and great detail, and his storytelling is better than many of the pro artists out there working on mainstream books. Sure, the book could use a bit more accessibility, a "previously in..." page and maybe a plot that seems to be moving a little more quickly, but Chiaroscuro is always a good read, and I'm sorry to see by the letter columns that not enough people are giving it a chance right now. 8/10
FABLES #13
by Bill Willingham, Lan Medina & Craig Hamilton (DC Comics/Vertigo imprint)
 Surprisingly, the second part of the Fables "caper" story isn't really much about the caper, which wraps up in the early part of the story. Instead, it's about the repercussions, whether that's the very interesting confrontation between Bigby Wolf and Bluebeard, the nature of Briar's curse, the always-opportunistic Prince Charming or the clever way in which Bigby manipulates the reporter out of being a danger. Medina and Hamilton provide a detailed backdrop for the story, with the living spaces of the Fables or the reporter telling a lot about their characters, and the looks on the faces of the characters tells the rest, especially when it comes to some of the surprising reactions from Bluebeard this issue. This was a brief story, much less involved than the first two arcs, but there's groundwork for a lot more stories laid down here, and it's an entertaining read and a great sample of Fables for those who haven't had a chance to read it yet. 9/10
HUMAN TORCH #2
by Karl Kesel, Skottie Young & Joe Seung (Marvel Comics/Tsunami imprint)
 I wasn't all that interested in the first issue of Human Torch, but the second issue jumps into the present, and though it's still not a book I see myself following, I see a lot more of the potential in it now. The flashback story pays off in giving Johnny a new angle to explore, but this issue is mostly about exploring Johnny's status quo in the present without having to jump to the rest of the team. Kesel definitely has the Johnny Storm of Waid's FF down, capturing the mix of outward arrogance and childlike attention span with a mature and even sometimes moody man underneath. He's still playing things a little too broadly for my tastes, with the Australian tabloid reporter coming off as a bit of cartoon, but part of that probably comes from the artwork. I'm forced to admit this issue that Skottie Young is the right choice for action sequences, as the opening sequence with the experimental rocket car and the aerial rescue is terrific to watch, but his cartoony style makes it hard to really get into the character-based stuff, a shame because Kesel is developing some interesting character arcs in this book as well as some fun action. 7/10
THE MANY WORLDS OF TESLA STRONG
by Peter Hogan, Alan Moore and various artists (DC Comics/America's Best Comics imprint)
 It's been a while since I've explored America's Best Comics, as my interest in just about all the ones still in existence has pretty much dwindled to nothing. Still, the art line-up on Many Worlds was too good to pass up, and what I found here was a fun, self-contained story that references a number of other Tom Strong tales but not in such a way that you have to have read the series to enjoy it. It's not the world's most original plot, as Tesla Strong goes surfing through alternate worlds in search of someone else, but the various worlds are interesting and the visuals are terrific. There's a wide range of styles here, from the regular Tom Strong team of Chris Sprouse and Karl Story all the way too rarely-seen artists like Adam Hughes or J. Scott Campbell. My favorite sequences were the lavishly-detailed postwar setting by Michael Golden, the stunning underwater world by Hughes and Story, Art Adams's parade of gorillas, Frank Cho's jungle women and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez's Aztec World, but really there's not a bad apple in the bunch. This is a treat for comic-book art lovers, and it has a fun and unassuming story to go with it. 8/10
MIDNIGHT MOVER #2
by Gary Phillips, Jeremy Love & Jeff Wasson (Oni Press)
 Given that Shot Callerz was his first attempt at comics, I thought maybe that I'd judged Phillips too harshly, but two issues into Midnight Mover, it's clear that his style just isn't for me. It's not that it isn't solidly crafted... to be certain Phillips has talent, and he's got a strong art team to bring his vision to the page in Love and Wasson, but the staccato and artificial mode of speech that informs most of his characters turns me off, especially when it's coming from the narrator, and the lead character just doesn't grab my attention. He's a tough guy and a relatively smart version of the tough guy, and I can respect that, especially when he's walking around with a leg full of buckshot with nary a real complaint, but I'm sort of not caring what happens to him, which means that even though Phillips has crafted a solid enough mystery, I'm not all that interested in the answers at the end of the rainbow. Chalk this one up in the "not for me, but might be worth a look for you" category. 6/10
TONY MILLIONAIRE'S SOCK MONKEY V.4 #1
by Tony Millionaire (Dark Horse Comics)
 I think Millionaire might drink a bit. That's the best explanation I can come up with for this bizarre but funny and beautiful story, my second exposure to the much-lauded Sock Monkey. I can accept a certain level of weirdness without blinking an eye, and the notion of three toys who have a life of their own and who spend their days in physics experimentation came in under that weirdness radar. When they are beset by the Oceanic Society and chased by a giant walrus, however, things have just gotten completely ludicrous, and though the story doesn't make any sense, it is a great deal of surreal fun. Millionaire's artwork is also odd, reminiscent of Rick Geary or the art traditionally found in The New Yorker, with a beautiful painted quality, even in black and white, and his realistic look for the toys or the sea creatures helps to make the story seem even more bizarre. 7/10
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