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Snapshots for 6/23
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.
B.P.R.D.: PLAGUE OF FROGS #4
by Mike Mignola & Guy Davis (Dark Horse Comics)
 This is an analogy that won't work for the younger Hellboy readers, but all I could think of in reading this issue was the first time I saw The Empire Strikes Back. My 9-year-old mind just couldn't quite process what I had seen. Han Solo was frozen in carbonite, Luke had his hand cut off, Vader was his father?! The bad guys don't get to win, do they? The good guys don't fail? Though older and (arguably) wiser, Plague of Frogs #4 had that same effect on me, as I couldn't believe some of the things that Mignola was doing on this series, but this issue is the topper. He's now done serious damage to most of his B.P.R.D. regulars, including what looks like a shocking final death for one of them, and there is every indication that the bad guys have won a major (and majorly creepy) victory. Oh, sure, Liz cleans up with previously unseen control over her spectacular pyrokinetic abilities, but this is an issue where the bad guys just stomp all over the heroes. Davis, with Dave Stewart on colors, also continues to impress, with Liz's fire spree being a particular high point. I was as riveted to this issue as a 9-year-old me was to Empire Strikes Back, and just as eager to see the big wrap-up. Fortunately, Plague of Frogs concludes in a month instead of in three years. 9/10
EXCALIBUR #2
by Chris Claremont, Aaron Lopresi & Greg Adams (Marvel Comics)
 X-Treme X-Men was a book I mostly disliked, but it had elements that I liked. All of those elements, it seemed, went into Uncanny X-Men, while Excalibur got Claremont's stylistic tics that drive me nuts and X-Treme's artist, who was then traded for Aaron Lopresti (not a bad trade, though I miss Kordey's work). The first issue of Excalibur was also a mixed bag, but had some interesting introspection and a cliffhanger that had me wondering "How is Magneto back?" As it turns out in this issue, he's back because the Magneto in New X-Men was an impostor, which, combined with Xorn's return in the pages of X-Men last week, essentially flips the bird at what I felt was Morrison's strongest storyline in the last third of his run. Combine with two thoroughly dull new mutants in Freakshow and Wicked, the reintroduction of Callisto (a character I used to like) with bizarre physical mutations that don't seem to fit the character and a lot of the excesses of Claremont's overly sappy dialogue and narration, and Excalibur looks like a book I'll be skipping. However, X-Treme fans will probably find this one to their liking, as the vibe on the book does remind me a lot of what I read of the book early on. 4/10
LI'L RED STITCH #2
by Courtney Huddleston & Leslie Nichols (Summertime Comics)
 I found the first issue of L'il Red Stitch to be a lot of fun, reminiscent in many ways of the Astonish Comics like Herobear and the Kid, mixing childhood and fantasy in equal measure. I was also very pleased by the beautiful full-color artwork. This second issue loses the color, and the art winds up looking very much like sketched roughs instead of finished pages, which is a shame, but the story is still compelling. Rather than the story of a girl adventurer with magic thread, this is the story of a little girl who has lost her only family, a kind grandmother who gave her a taste for unconventional living, only for her death to plunge the little girl into a world where convention is expected. Nichols can't quite bring himself (or herself... Leslie's not an easy call to make) to give little Hope too much difficulty, which undercuts the book a little, as it seems like she's fallen in with a poor family, but one that is nice and unconventional like her grandmother. Even Ms. Frith, the social worker who takes care of Hope, isn't so much mean as strict, and in contrast the bully girls seem too cartoonishly evil, so I'm left with an unclear message about what's going on with Hope's life. What is clear, however, is how Hope losing her grandmother affects her, and it's that emotional core that gives the book a spark. However, at six dollars for a black and white, relatively slow-paced independent aimed at young girls, this book has its work cut out for it in this marketplace. 6/10
STAR WARS: REPUBLIC #65
by John Ostrander, Jan Duursema & Dan Parsons (Dark Horse Comics)
 Well, Star Wars isn't really the place I expected to see an Ocean's 11-style caper, but it's another twist in the surprisingly entertaining "Clone Wars" stories that John Ostrander and Jan Duursema have been telling on this book. The high concept of the issue is just cool, the notion of renegade bounty hunters deciding to take out contracts on the now-vulnerable Jedi, and Jedi Mace Windu deciding that someone needs to teach them why this just isn't done. Windu continues to be more of a badass in the comics and animated projects than he was allowed to be in the movies, and though the way he uses Jedi to disrupt the operations of the bounty hunter rig isn't as sharp and clever as a really great caper story, it's pretty entertaining, pretty to look at (courtesy of Duursema, Parsons and Brad Anderson on colors) and leaves off with a pretty intriguing cliffhanger promising big action in the next issue. When I fork out money for the third Star Wars prequel, knowing full well that it's going to disappoint me, I'm going to point my finger of blame at the comics and Clone Wars animated series for reminding me that Star Wars was once fun, cool space opera. 7/10
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