Captain America 22
Centred on Sharon Carter and barely featuring Cap at all, this is one of the best of the Civil War crossovers. Sharon’s torn between her loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D. and her love for Steve Rogers although the shocking revelation at the end puts that love in question. Ed Brubaker's script shows you don’t need action to make a book a page-turner and Mike Perkins' dark brooding artwork is the perfect accompaniment. One of Perkins' strengths is capturing the emotion in a face to such an extent you don’t even need words to know what a character’s feeling. Grade: B+
City of Heroes 15
A comic that has less and less to keep me reading, I don’t even play the game at the moment. Simplistic in both story and art, it’s living on borrowed time. Grade: D
Civil War 4
Simply awesome, all superhero comics should be this good. Thor returns or does he? One has to question the sanity of Tony Stark and Reed Richards after the developments this issue. The war takes its biggest casualty so far as a hero who’s been around since the '70s bites the big one and Susan Richards shows what a strong character she can be in the right hands. Cap steals the show though and gets the best line of the month. Going toe to toe with Iron Man, he’s broken and bloody, but when Iron Man asks him to give up he responds – “You really think I’m going down to some pampered punk like you?” The line speaks volumes about the relationship of these two men. While they may once have appeared friends, there’s always been a friction between them and now it’s out in the open. Steve McNiven's art gets better with each issue. Grade: A
Criminal 1
Ed Brubaker’s new series is, as the title would suggest, a crime story with no Spandex in sight. It’s a good read but I can’t help feeling that it’s not best suited to the monthly comic format and I may wait for the inevitable collection. Nice art from Sean Philips captures the tone nicely. Grade: B
Elephantmen 1-3
My big discovery this month: I bought the first issue on a whim and quickly picked up the rest. Set in a future where genetic manipulation has been used to create human/animal hybrids, this is science fiction that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is all the more enjoyable for reveling in its pulp origins. Imagine SF noir with a Philip Marlowe-type lead who looks like a hippo and you’re halfway there. Richard Starkings stories are deceptively simple and Moritat the perfect choice to bring them to life. I’ll be looking into the previous exploits of Hieronymous Flask and the denizens of Mystery City soon. Grade: A-
Article comments
1 - Rohan Venkat
Some good calls there. And yes, although Civil War #4 was really really good, I'm still worried that Miller is only showing us the pro's bad side, I mean look at all that happens in this issue, and though we are getting some points in for the pro's, it is coming from the tie-in's rather than from the main back. Yes there are 3m ore issues to go, but right about this now, I'd have expected to be rethinking my decision about "Whose Side I'm On."
Still, can't criticise an unfinished event.
Thanks for bringing up Elephantmen, I'm definitely going to have a look at it.
I realize you have a rather extensive pull list there, but have you checked out any of Virgin's offerings yet? My best bet there so far, has to be John Woo's Seven Brothers.
2 - Ian Woolstencroft
Rohan, I can see your point about Civil War, it may be a little unbalanced in its perspective but for me that's a plus. I'd rather read a comic by a writer like Millar who's making a point as well as telling a damn good yarn, so long as it's true to the characters and I think this has been. As for rethinking your position, you may not be but some of the heroes are and I was pleased to see Spidey swap sides. I still don't see how it's going to end although I suspect both sides may have to come together to combat a larger threat, possibly from Dr Doom and the Red Skull. We shall see...
Hope you enjoy Elephantmen as much as I did. There's an issue 0 due out soon that reprints the original first story to feature the characters - "Unnatural Selection."
As for Virgin Comics, I've read issue 1 of Devi and thought it was OK but nothing special and I have the premier of Snake Woman in my "to read" pile. I was tempted by Seven Brothers but what puts me off is the line's reliance on name directors like Woo and Shekhar Kapur to sell the comics even though they're not writing the books, only coming up with the initial concept. I may give them another try at some point though.
3 - Rohan Venkat
Yeah, Civil War's a good book, for sure, it's just not, so far, all that Marvel said it would be.
And honestly, I had little doubt that Spidey would swap sides, it'll who else will do it. And yes, unless the ending is going to be interesting, and if it's anything other than what you said, then Marvel have done a good job in keeping wraps on it, that is, assuming it's any good.
I realise that John Woo's name is only useful for the marketing, but 7 brothers is written by Garth Ennis, and is quite good, IMO.
4 - manfred
I am looking forward to reading X-23, one of the few new interesting characters in the Marvel Universe and Spiderman Reign. Wonder how they ever killed Mary Jane.
X-23, how old is she anyway?
5 - Ian Woolstencroft
I think X-23 is about 13 or 14 but don’t quote me on that.
As for killing off Mary Jane, this goes against a recent Peter David scripted issue of Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man which had a future Mary Jane outlive Peter Parker. I’m not sure if this means that Reign takes place outside established continuity or not.
6 - manfred
13 or 14? And she was a prostitute ? She was in Nyx.
I believe I read somewhere that Reign takes place in an alternative timeline, not part of the Established one.