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atman and Robin #11
Grant Morrison (w), Andy Clarke (p), Scott Hana (i), Alex Sinclair, Tony Avina (c). DC Comics.
I found this issue to be very unfocused, it has some great ideas of course, but they just aren’t fleshed out properly. The worst offender is Batman and his adventure exploring a part of the Batcave for clues about Bruce Wayne: not wanting to spoil any surprises for us readers we cut away before seeing just what cool thing Batman has found, then see Batman again after he’s gone through some costume tearing ordeal to get back to the surface. I would have liked to have seen that story! Instead most of the book follows Robin and Oberon Sexton team up for a forgettable fight scene that needed to be way better. — Isaac Mills
Isaac’s rating: 2.5 out of 5
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #34
Brad Meltzer (w), Georges Jeanty (p), Andy Owens (i), Michelle Madsen (c), Dark Horse Comics
Meltzer is certainly doing better work on this comic than I’ve seen in quite some time, the only down side is that this title has lost so much momentum (and so much of my enthusiasm) that it would take nothing short of a miracle to make me care about this book again. Sure, the exposition in this issue and the storytelling employed were pretty neat but I just have a hard time giving it more than a shrug and a muttered “kind of cool”. Still, I had dropped this book for a while, so I guess the fact that I’m planning on riding it out to the end of the season speaks to the improvement at work here. – Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
Demo #3
Brian Wood (w), Becky Cloonan (a). Vertigo
This might be the best issue of Demo ever. Well, maybe not, but it’s certainly the cutest. In fact, Cloonan talks about how hard she worked to make it cute in her letter in the back. Her work paid off because Marlo is seriously adorable. The whole issue was a delight to read: beautiful art from Cloonan, an interesting gimmick in Marlo’s excessive post-it notes, and a story of improbable but endearing love. Really, you just can’t beat Demo. — Miles Baker
Miles’ rating: 5 out of 5
The Flash: Secret Files and Origins 2010 #1
Geoff Johns (w), Scott Kolins and Francis Manapul (a), DC Comics
Scott Kolins does most of the artwork here, so if you’re picking it up for Manapul’s art than be warned. Me? I think Kolins is great, so I’m happy. Johns’ story is rather fun, if inessential. It’s the typical Johns prologue-type you’d expect to find in a Secret Files and Origins. You know: scenes of Barry’s past, the rogues planning…something, that kind of thing. Then there’s some “Flash Facts” about a bunch of characters. It’s nothing that’s going to hook you in if you’re not already a fan but it’s fun for people that can’t wait for the main series to start. – Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
Red Robin #11
Christopher Yost (w), Marcus To (p), Ray McCarthy, Mark McKenna (i), Guy Major (c). DC Comics.
For a second I was worried I’d missed an issue or something, because the first page didn’t seem to me like it was part three of the four part Red Robin/Batgirl crossover, it just didn’t click in my head with what I’d remembered happening. Gotta dock marks for that. That combined with Red Robin not being nearly forthcoming enough to Batman about what’s going on, his complimenting Batgirl’s Batpod thing (which I just hate), and other dumb story stuff… okay, I wasn’t really a fan of the writing this issue, but the art was gorgeous, very clean throughout, and there’s a page which heavily features Robin, whose green and yellow suit (combined with some emotive pink, yellow, and orange backgrounds) lightened up the palette considerably and was really refreshing. — Isaac Mills
Isaac’s rating: 3 out of 5
S.H.I.E.L.D. # 1
Jonathan Hickman (w), Dustin Weaver (a), Christina Strain (c). Marvel Comics.
I beat Assassin’s Creed 2 last month, where Da Vinci acts as your assassin’s gadget builder, and it’s funny that a few weeks later I’m reading about him saving the Marvel universe. What’s in the pop culture water that’s making that happen? Anyway, I’ve been really curious to see how this issue would come together. The art is fantastic. While Weaver’s characters are sometimes not totally to my taste, he more than makes up for it on his establishing shots and locations. It’s a seriously detailed book. And Strain shows a lot of skill and restraint as a colourist. Then, finally, Hickman brings in some interesting ideas and I’m very curious to see where he’s going with it. I’m actually kind of surprised that he didn’t keep this one for himself — the premise seems so epic and smart that he might have been better off fully owning it and profiting until the day he dies. — Miles Baker
Miles’ rating: 4 out of 5
Superman: Secret Origin #5
Geoff Johns (w), Gary Frank (p), Jon Sibal (i), (c), DC Comics
This book is a giant mug of hot chocolate for Superman fans. Perfect characterization (the Lois/Clark dialogue is amazing), glorious artwork and a story that is shaping up really nicely. I do wish that the conflict had more time to play out as it feels like we’re just getting to it (only one issue left? No!) but maybe we can hope for a sequel. I’m looking forward to buying the hardcover so I can curl up with it on rainy days. – Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
Sweet Tooth #8
Jeff Lemire (w + a), Jose Villarrubia (c). Vertigo.
Even in set up issues, Sweet Tooth is pretty great. This issue is a lot like the last two, cutting between Jeppard’s past and Gus in captivity. And while the last two issues dropped big reveals on Jeppard’s character, this one revealed something about Gus that I did not see coming. It’s interesting/super interesting. I must say, I’m happy that I decided to give this series a shot because it keeps getting better and better. — Miles Baker
Miles’ rating: 4 out of 5
Turf #1
Jonathan Ross (w), Tommy Lee Edwards (a), Image Comics
This is Jonathan Ross’ first comic. This will probably be clear to a lot of people when they open the book and see text all over the page. It makes for an overly dense story that is a slog to get through. There’s a lot here that should have been shown rather than told and much of the back-story could have been told more succinctly. There were things I liked about it, and I think that Ross could grow into a very interesting storyteller, but I hope he learns about economy of storytelling so that next time he doesn’t cover up so much of his collaborator’s wonderful (and it is wonderful) artwork. – Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 2.5 out of 5
Uncanny X-Men # 523
Matt Fraction (w), Terry Dodson (p), Rachel Dodson (i), Justin Ponsor (c). Marvel Comics.
So far, so good Second Coming. With the second part of the latest X-Men crossover, Fraction smartly takes a few pages to focus on Hope. With all the talk of her importance is good to show that she’s also a human being. The page where she’s just in awe of all the cosmetic products available at the pharmacy is touching. It’s a great way of showing how terrible her life has been — being raised by Cable in a series of ever-worsening futures would be a terrible upbringing. So while this issue doesn’t have tons and tons of plot advancement (it still moves along at a good clip, though), it made a better choice — it took some time out to make me care about Hope. And that is invaluable in the long run. — Miles Baker
Miles’ rating: 4 out of 5
Wolverine: Weapon X #12
Jason Aaron (w), Ron Garney (p), Jason Keith (c), Marvel Comics
It’s rather unfortunate, after years of crappy Wolverine stories a Wolverine book finally emerges that’s worth reading and there are so few people reading it. Blame the $3.99 price tag maybe? Screw you, Marvel pricing. I’ve heard this issue compared (positively) to the Terminator movies and I would say that’s spot on. Evil companies from the future, a rag-tag team of rebels travelling back in time, evil robots, it’s all here. And it’s all awesome. – Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 4 out of 5
