Agents of Atlas #7
Jeff Parker (w), Gabriel Hardman (a), Jana Schirmer (c). Marvel Comics
Parker has really thought about this series. He’s thought about the backstories, the inter-dynamics, the magic, and destiny. Though, even seven issues in, I still feel like I’m at a disadvantage because I didn’t read the first mini-series. But I’m sticking with it. There are some fun characters and I really like the concept. I did like this issue, but I feel that the team is more or less at the same place they were at issue one. The last two issues of this story resolved nothing, though did address an elephant in the corner. The close of this issue suggests that there will be some new developments in Agents of Atlas and a move away from addressing “Dark Reign” issues and I welcome that. It’s time to learn more about Atlas and what Jimmy Woo is going to do with it. — Miles Baker
Miles rating: 3.5 out of 5
Amazing Spider-Man Family #8
Marc Sumerak, Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz, Joe Casey, Tom Peyer (w), Javier Pulido, Sal Buscema, Chad Hardwin, Stephanie Buscema (a), Mark Irwin (i), Javier Rodriguez, Hang, Crossley and Kalisz, Fabio D’Auria (c). Marvel Comics.
The story “Dark Reflection” about a man who spends a year thankful to Spidey for saving his life, only to die when Mac Gargan, the Sinister Spider-Man, fails to do the same, is very well done. Another story has Spider-Man defeat the Shocker with water so, no no, that won’t do. Shocker uses vibrational attacks, no electricity. The classic “short-circuit-with-water” trick is not going to work here. This comic makes the mistake, and yet I’m the one who ends up looking like a nerd here. My rating shall reflect this injustice. — Isaac Mills
Isaac’s rating: 2.5 out of 5
Batman and Robin #2
Grant Morrison (w), Frank Quitely (a), Alex Sinclair (c). DC Comics.
It’s cool to see Commissioner Gordon justifiably upset about the bad job of vigilante-ing Batman does protecting Police Headquarters from a grotesque gang of circus folk. Gordon has standards with his Batmen. This is good to know. I kind of wanted Dick to yell at the new Robin that he needs to show more respect for Gordon if for no other reason than the fact that he was a friend of his fathers, but I have a feeling something akin to this sentiment will be reached soon. A conversation between Dick and Alfred sounds counter to the conclusion reached in the latest issue of Batman, that he wasn’t going to be copying what Bruce was as Batman, but be his own Batman. It takes some mental gymnastics, but when Alfred says to think of Batman as a role and the job as a performance, I have to take it as “think of Batman as a role” instead of the natural thought of “think of it as pretending to be Bruce-as-Batman”. I still love this book. — Isaac Mills
Isaac’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
Owen’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
Miles’ rating: 4 out of 5
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #26
Jane Espenson (w), Georges Jeanty (p), Andy Owens (i), Michelle Madsen (c). Dark Horse.
This issue seems to be the cure for the last year of side plots and shuffle steps. The only problem is that too much happened in this issue. The writers of the Buffy comic have told us that the world now fears and hates slayers while loving and idolizing vampires — but I don’t feel they’ve effectively established why. I think the issue would be more complex like in True Blood. However, the idea for the issue is great: Buffy and her gang are on the run from Twilight (the new villain not the vampire movie/book craze that’s sweeping the world, though that is also worth fleeing from), retreating more and more until they find an old friend. They do manage to cram in some character moments, but it feels like there wasn’t enough set up (or effective set up) for me to understand what is at stake here. This is the first issue of Buffy where I feel they were trying to cram 44 minutes of television into 22 pages. — Miles Baker
Miles’ rating: 3 out of 5
Chew #2
John Layman (w), Rob Guillory (a). Image Comics.
I’ve been waiting impatiently for the arrival of Chew #1 at my local comic book store, but it seems that it had been put on back-order and thus I have been left jumping right into the second issue. Tony Chu is an FDA agent with some pretty special abilities. He’s cibopathic, which means he can take a bite out of a food item and get a sense of it’s history. So if he’s eating an orange, he’ll get a sense of the grove that it grew in, the pesticides that touched it, and the hands the picked it. He’s been put on a mission in search of the owner of a dismembered finger which he had the pleasure of taking a bite out of. It’s a great mini-series that I’ve really been looking forward to reading. The writing is by John Layman is pretty funny and the art style of Rob Guillory is quirky and definitely suits this story. — Sandra Yao
Sandra’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Daredevil Noir #4 of 4
Alexander Irvine (w), Tomm Coker (a), Daniel Freedman (c). Marvel Comics.
In this final issue of Daredevil Noir, Matt Murdock, in true Daredevil style falls in love and ends up heart-broken, betrayed, and alone. By the end of it all, he’s left unsure of who or what he is. All he knows is that Fisk is behind it all and he’s going to pay. I can’t say that there’s any thing too special about this issue really. In the end, the moral of the story is that without Fisk, Daredevil is nobody. They are forever tied in this symbiotic relationship where they need one other for purpose. I don’t really regret buying this series, but I’m not overjoyed about it either. My feeling towards the series: meh. — Sandra Yao
Sandra’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Greek Street #1
Peter Milligan (w), Davide Gianfelice (a), Vertigo Comics
It’s hard not to compare this to The Unwritten, since they are both new Vertigo series launched so close together. While Greek Street doesn’t quite come storming out of the gates with one of the best first issues I’ve seen in a while — like The Unwritten — it did show a lot of potential. The premise is good but the first issue is a little cluttered, and it was hard to get a feel for many of the characters introduced. Gienfelice’s art is a huge draw, and even reminds me at times of Eduardo Risso (of Vertigo’s 100 Bullets). I have a feeling this new series will prove to be a good one. At one dollar I say this first issue is a must-buy, whether or not you want to stick around for a second issue will be up to you. Me? I want to see where this goes. — Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 3 out of 5
Green Lantern Corps #38
Peter J. Tomasi (w), Patrick Gleason (p), Rebecca Buchman and Tom Nguyen (i), Randy Mayor and Gabe Eltaeb (c). DC Comics.
The conclusion of “Emerald Eclipse” has a surprising amount of pontificating when there should be work done on rebuilding that protective lantern shaped dome over the planet Oa (which explains what happened to Oa. I kid you not, for months I’ve been going “oh, so, the planet’s a lantern now. Okay.”) But that rebuilding won’t happen. It’s very much a case of setting the stage for the “Blackest Night” story event: making Oa look like a planet again, getting Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner out to Earth to buddy up with Hal Jordan and John Stewart for the upcoming adventure, and of course getting those black lantern rings to start flying through the universe. To this comics great credit, I didn’t even realize it was just setting the stage until I sat down and thought about it afterwards. — Isaac Mills
Isaac’s Rating: 3 out of 5
The Invincible Iron Man #15
Matt Fraction (w), Salvador Larroca (a), Marvel Comics
The problem with some of these really long chase stories that Matt Fraction is trying to pull off here is that sometimes the story can start to feel like a “new location, new guest appearance” cycle. Last issue felt that way, this issue doesn’t. Here Fraction does great work with Madame Masque to add a whole new flavour to this issue. He writes the Hell out of her so much that I hope next issue doesn’t just wrap her part of the story up and send her off. Unfortunately Larroca’s art feels especially rough this time, especially the time that a panel was duplicated to show a moment of quiet between two characters but the coffee steam didn’t move. Whoops. — Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
Irredeemable #4
Mark Waid (w), Peter Krause (a). Boom Studios.
And so the plot thickens. After three issues, we’re finally getting a chance to see the world’s reaction to having their ultimate hero become the ultimate villain. The world convenes at the UN, but instead of coming together against the Plutonian, they fight to see who can have him become their sovereign leader. Seeing the world’s leaders fight and advertise their country as being the best for the Plutonian was funny, but also borderline pathetic. Of course, the Plutonian’s entrance was nothing to laugh about. His response to one nation’s cry is to level the country in a rain of flaming space rocks and killing millions of citizens. There no line that he will not cross. It seems Waid is trying to fit in a lot more in a single issue, so it feels a little rushed. Nevertheless, Irredeemable is still shaping up to be a very engaging storyline with one bad-ass character. — Sandra Yao
Sandra’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Justice League: Cry for Justice #1
James Robinson (w), Mauro Cascioli (a). DC Comics.
As someone who hasn’t been liking the current Justice League book, this whole issue feels like a stylized rally against what’s come before. It gets a lot of points for having Green Arrow in his classic costume, as well as featuring the Ryan Choi Atom, but having all the future members of this team literally “cry for justice” is too cheesy even for me. These are characters that Robinson is passionate for, so I know this story will be great — and I’ll definitely be paying attention when he’s writing the main Justice League book, but this issue could have been more. — Isaac Mills
Isaac’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
Owen’s rating: 3 out of 5
Marvel Divas #1
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (w), Tonci Zonjic (a), Marvel Comics
Forget the promises of this being the “sexiest” series. Forget the house ads with the word “fierce” plastered across the top. But most of all, forget that embarrassing J. Scott Campbell cover. This is not the gross, sexist miniseries that Marvel marketing has made it out to be. It’s actually a pretty good little comic that I feel comfortable handing to my fiancé to see what she thinks (which I will do soon, stay tuned). It’s not the best female-centric series I’ve read, but it’s not even close to being the travesty that we all expected based on the solicitation. The art is quite pretty, the cheesecake is noticeably absent and the focus on female friendships is a welcome change from most of what we’ve seen in superhero comics. It’s not a great first issue, but it’s off to a decent start. I’m going to keep buying it, and I won’t be as embarrassed next month since Campbell isn’t doing the cover. — Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 3 out of 5
The Muppet Show #4
Roger Langridge (w), Roger Langridge (a), Boom Studios
And so ends Boom Studios’ The Muppet Show miniseries. Not to worry, Roger Langridge will be back shortly with another. This is great news, as Langridge has gotten the tone and humour of the original show perfectly, while adding his own art style to the characters to give it a bit of his own flavour. This issue is focused on Miss Piggy and continues to balance a short plotline with some sketches. In this case my favourite joke involved a scene of Kermit being called a chicken. Classic stuff. — Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
Reborn #1
Ed Brubaker (w), Bryan Hitch (p), Butch Guice (i), Paul Mounts (c). Marvel Comics
I think the coolest thing about this issue is watching Guice turn Hitch into a Captain America artist. The book has had a consistent, dark feeling since Brubaker and Epting launched it in 2005 with their “Out of Time” arch. It’s amazing how that first title has remained so relevant to this series. Anyway, this is basically an issue of Captain America and I like Captain America so I like this. There’s a pretty great fight scene and they do explain what has happened to Steve Rogers — it’s kinda what I expected. It’s funny, so much of what’s happening how has been hinted to or suggested since issue 15 of Captain America. And that’s just some damn impressive plotting. — Miles Baker
Miles rating: 4 out of 5
Owen’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
Secret Six #11
Gail Simone (w), Nicola Scott (p), Doug Hazelwood & Mark McKenna (i), DC Comics
This was a tricky one to rate, as I liked it a little more than issue 10, but not quite as much as issue 9 (the great Batman issue). I ultimately decided that it was closer to issue 10 in quality, but the tension is definitely ramping up. What makes this comic so much fun is the way the characters interact with each other. They’re constantly betraying each other, accusing each other of betrayal, and getting into fights. They’re the most dysfunctional team in comics and as such this is one of the most fun team books on the stands. — Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
Uncanny X-Men #513
Matt Fraction (w), Terry Dodson (p), Rachel Dodson (i), Justin Ponsor (c). Marvel Comics
After the last, terrible X-Men crossover, “Messiah War” (read about it here), I was more than a little weary of this “X-Men/Dark Avengers” crossover. The first issue proved exciting and so I’ve entered this issue with optimism that was rewarded. There’s a lot of well thought-out elements to this book, the most impressive being the selection of the Dark X-Men. Norman Osborn’s reasons for selecting them is compelling and shows how well he understands consumer marketing. Also remember that I’m a big fan of Cyclops, so him doing flips and being awesome will award any book a lot of props. — Miles Baker
Miles’ rating: 4 out of 5
Owen’s rating: 2.5 out of 5
