What happened? Arisia loses her cool and decks a Guardian, Wonder Woman meets her very angry cousin, Johnny Storm has a VERY strange date and Cobra Commander finally shows his face….well….not really. Want more?
Green Lantern Corps #47Story by Peter Tomasi
Art by Patrick GleasonThis issue is exactly what it advertises on the cover: an epilogue for Blackest Night. It also serves as the epilogue for the current creative team of Tomasi and Gleason. I have been a huge fan of this book under their direction and I hope that the new team of Tony Bedard and Ardian Syaf can continue the excitement.
Tomasi does a great job of referencing events that took place in Blackest Night while setting up some things to come such as the rebuilding of the Lantern Corps after Salaak suspended new recruiting.
We also get to see the distrust that the Lantern Corps members have for their former overlords, the Guardians of the Universe. I mean, we expect Guy Gardner to bust in and punch one of them in the face but it’s actually Arisia that pulls off this bit of intergalactic insubordination. Well done.
Lastly, I really enjoyed the way that Salaak is portrayed here. He’s always played as the secretary to the Guardians but during Blackest Night he really had a chance to step up and take control. I loved how he calls the Guardians on their shit and basically challenges them to do a better job than they have been doing.
A little dull and long-winded at times but not entirely useless in the grand scheme, I’m sure that we’ll be off to a running start when the new team starts up next month.
Fantastic Four #578Story by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Dale Eaglesham
I recently started catching up with the FF, beginning with Hickman’s run. I’ve always enjoyed his writing and it came highly recommended. The past few issues have beeen a super-fun trip riding shotgun with our family of adventurers through fantastic worlds and experiences.
This issue though, seemed a little off. I’m not sure whether it was the pacing or the fact that it is a big set-up issue for whatever is coming next (which, I understand, is totally necessary from time to time) but it was the first of the recent issues that I’ve read that really didn’t Wow me.
I am in no way dropping it for this, but hopefully it was just an anomaly and the FF that I am beginning to get into will be back on track.
Story by Gail Simone
Art by Nicola ScottLike Green Lantern Corps, the current creative team on Wonder Woman seems to be treading water until the changeover in a few issues. Gail Simone has made WW one of my favorite DC titles (and she did amazing things on Secret Six, too). It’s sad that the upcoming renumbering and creative change seems to take away from any impact this story may have.
Nicola Scott’s art is gorgeous as usual and I think that her portrayal of Diana is one of the best there is. It’s been great to see her take on Wonder Woman, and I hope we see her doing more and more work in the DC Universe. The fight sequences are rough and energetic and her designs look great.
One thing that was thoroughly annoying, and this has nothing to do with either creator, is that it seemed like there was a house ad for a Brightest Day tie-in every other page in this book! The effect was like getting into a good TV show, but every 3 minutes they put up an annoying commercial in random places.
Overall, I’m interested in this current story but I find myself looking at the horizon to see what JMS will bring to the table.
GI Joe : Cobra II #4Story by Mike Costa and Christos Gage
Art by Antonio Fuso
I haven’t been that impressed with the second installment of our look into the underbelly of everyone’s favorite global terrorist organization; COBRA. The first series was quick and brutal and seemed to get to the point.
In this issue, things move at a slow but deliberate pace until we get to the big reveal at the end, the reveal (we think) of Cobra Commander. This was done well except for two small issues.
1. They have a full picture of him on the cover! If you are going to have a big reveal, literally on the last page, why would you spoil it by having that character in full view on the cover of the issue?
2. Why would you finally reveal one of the key players in COBRA in an ancillary tie-in book? Those of us who have been reading IDW’s GI Joe relaunch from the beginning have patiently waited more than a year for the reveal of the big bad guy, but they pull it into a tie-in? Seems weird.
Anyway, if that chrome helmeted figure is in fact NOT Cobra Commander, then my whole argument is moot and please ignore my ramblings. (UPDATE : Just re-read it and in the little text section in the back about the issue it's said that it IS the Commander.)
- Jason
1 comment:
As much as I've liked GLC the last couple of years, I've found it's an easy book to drop when the checkbook gets tough. Good characters, good dynamic--who knew Tomasi would be so consistently good when he left editorial to tackled writing?--but I've used "Brightest Day" as an excuse to bow out of it (again).
Liked Gail Simone's Wonder Woman a lot, though I can see why it didn't set the world on fire with readers. My fascination with Diana would have carried me through to the next creative team anyway, but knowing its JMS makes the transition easier (just don't touch that origin story, Joe, if you've learned anything from writing Spidey and the FF...)
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