She-Hulk #21 ~ The end of an era for me - aside from a long-standing habit of buying Witchblade (recently discontinued, regrettably), She-Hulk was the first comic I bought (TPB volume 1: Single Green Female), and thus began my immersion in comic books. This is the final issue to be written by Dan Slott, who's reluctantly departing to take up writing chores on Amazing Spider-Man, and he goes out with an issue that encompasses everything She-Hulk has become under his capable stewardship - laugh-out-loud humour, bright 'n' bold adventure, clever storytelling, meta-commentary on the comics industry, and a genuine affection for Shulkie, her friends, and her world. It'd be a disservice to spoil anything at all about this issue plot, so I'll only say that it's inspired from beginning to end, and Slott - with co-writer Ty Templeton - goes out on a high. Burchett, who's had his ups and downs, delivers some of his best art on this title (not without an occasional waver, but by and large it's outstanding). And just in case you get the impression that Slott's departure means this won't be a book I'll be looking out for any more, taking his place from next month is Peter David - there's no book I'm looking forward to more than She-Hulk #22.
Incredible Hulk #110 ~ The last of the World War Hulk tie-in issues (though inevitably future issues will reflect the finale of WWH, whatever it is - call them tie-out issues, perhaps) gives us the confrontation it needed to: Hulk faces off with Amadeus Cho. And it's both this arc's success and its shortcoming - the Incredible Hulk tie-ins have been very elegantly executed, slotting into place effortlessly in World War Hulk (which should allay some of complaints over Civil War tie-ins not 'working properly'), all to one end: a character study of the Hulk. In fact Cho has gotten the lion's share of the attention, but in this issue we see that he's a means to an end - all the work that's gone into building up Cho's personality has been so that he could stand in front of Hulk and give the story the means to get into Hulk's mind and see what's there. It's a fascinating perspective on World War Hulk, but I say it's a shortcoming because it means there's not a great sense of closure here - the study of Hulk runs its course, and any wrap-up is left to World War Hulk itself. Which is arguably as it should be, and I suppose that's the dilemma of the tie-in story - can't have your cake and eat it too. Still, as someone who's been buying Incredible Hulk purely for World War Hulk, I can say it's been worthwhile, and WWH will be a more powerful read because of this. At the end of the day, that's a job well done for all involved.
Shanna the She-Devil: Survival of the Fittest #2 ~ Cavemen and raptors and drug lords, oh my... I find there's not really a lot to say about this issue that I didn't say about #1 - there's Shanna, and there's the poor schmucks trailing along in her wake (and getting whittled down by the various beasties inhabiting the island), and there's the bad guys. Like the middle of any blockbuster, there's not a great deal of any substance to do besides keep the audience entertained between the spectacle of the beginning and the big bang of the finale - but to be fair, this issue does just that, keep me entertained. There's a couple of notably stylish dinosaurs-versus-hapless-humans set pieces, some fun hacking and slashing (and exploding here and there), and a small amount of development of a couple of the supporting cast trailing along behind Shanna trying not to be eaten by critters - it remains to be seen whether that's going to pay off with actual character material in the end, of whether it's just a way to pass the time before this lot gets chomped too. This issue isn't just filler - there's a subterranean city full of less than pleasant inhabitants that poses an interesting mystery, but exploiting this new angle of Shanna's island is left for future issues. Palmiotti and Gray write a good Shanna - sparing with words, but obviously far more intelligent than the typical cave-girl - and Khari Evans' art continues to be very distinct from Cho's before it, but conveys the necessary power and presence of Shanna, as well as the wildness of her surroundings. All in all, there's nothing in this issue that makes it a must-have if you skipped the first one - but if you got #1 and liked it, this will keep you happy.
Painkiller Jane #3 ~ I enjoy this comic, but there's something about it that crops up every month: it's wordy. I don't mind comics that have a lot of dialogue and/or text boxes, and take longer than usual to read (I feel like I'm getting more value out of them, in fact), but the wordy comics I really like have a way of being wordy without me really noticing until I stop and pay attention to it, and PKJ doesn't quite manage that: I find myself sometimes getting a little impatient for the story to move, while I'm reading through all of Jane's self-narration or the occasional dialogue segment that isn't as gripping as it could be. It's a shame, because this is a good comic, and I don't want the above to be seen as trying to tell people to steer clear - Jane is a clever, determined, very human 'superhero' (in spite of her Wolverine-like healing factor, it's almost a surprise to think of her as a superhero, as she seems so naturally 'real' on the page), her supporting cast - in this case Seth and Ajira, with Maureen getting some good time but at a remove from Jane and the main action - are all distinct and well-developed, and Lee Moder's art has just the right amount of stylised attitude to complement the edge the writing presents. When the story is moving it's fast and tough and intelligent, an in between the action it's thoughtful and complex... it's just not quite as much of a smooth line between the two moods as I wish it were. With the first arc now concluded, this is a title that will sit entrenched in my list of favourites - it just needs a little polish to really shine.
Madame Mirage #2 ~ A solid follow-up to last issue's stylish debut, but it's not quite perfect. First and foremost, I came away with the niggling feeling that Madame Mirage is a bit too powerful - in the previous issue her modus operandi was left a little vague, so far as how she actually achieved her various infiltrations, but here she's shown switching appearances on the fly, shape-shifting in other words. Granted she's up against a formidable foe in an entire super-powered criminal syndicate, so this level of ability may turn out to be necessary for her story, but I was kind of attracted to MM in the previous issue because it seemed she was doing what she did purely with 'real' abilities, disguise and cleverness. That seemed to set her apart from other superheroines, and made her if anything seem more formidable herself, that she could pull off her nemesis-like capers just using natural talent and a boatload of sheer nerve. That said, it's obvious that that was an impression I'd formed, not something the book had claimed - even then, there were some things she did that could only have been 'powered', or at least technologically assisted in some way, so this isn't anything inconsistent. And there are a couple of hints this issue concerning who Madame Mirage is and how she does her stuff that make it plain she was never intended to be just a woman with a knack for sleight-of-hand - I won't go into detail and risk spoiling anyone, but I've got a theory... That internal debate aside, this issue was more of the same, but moreso - last issue MM took on her target, toyed with him, and then delivered the killing blow with slightly scary relish, and this issue she does the same: more powerful target, trickier game, more deceptions, but in the end MM is always in control. Like a magic trick, it's fun to watch, but I think this book will really hit its stride when MM faces an opponent who can really match her, for whatever reason, and is forced to be a competitor, not the one pulling the strings all along. Rochefort's art is as stylish and elegant as Dini's writing, the two make a great team on this book and I hope they'll continue to work together as long as Madame Mirage's adventures go on.
Ms. Marvel #19 ~ As I've said before, this is the book that strikes me as the 'purest' superhero comic: heroes and villains, action and adventure and humour, fantastical situations and diabolical schemes, all that jazz, mixed with a modern sensibility that keeps it from feeling stale, seeing as we've had decades of superhero comics already. If there's one criticism I have, it's that it doesn't move quite as fast as I'd like - both the previous A.I.M. arc and this one (featuring the Puppet Master) are three-issue stories, and I've got an inkling that packing them into two, with denser writing and smaller art panels, might have produced an even stronger read - not losing anything, because everything here is good, but concentrating it, so that each time you turn the page you're wowed anew. As the second of three issues, this one kind of sums up what I mean: as entertaining and well-written as the issue is, we don't learn a whole hell of a lot that we didn't know (or couldn't infer) from the previous issue, and all that really happens on a large scale is that everyone moves into position for the finale. It's a good comic, no doubt about it, and it seems odd to be complaining about decompression in a three-issue story, when six and even eight issue arcs are commonplace nowadays, but if there's an advantage to compression, it's concentration: Ms. Marvel's pure-superhero-action-fun feeling would be greatly enhanced, I think, by coming in a more concentrated, more thrills-and-spills-rich form. Aaron Lopresti's pencils are lovely, and play right to the strengths of the comic - there's one reason why pages with a higher panel count would be a bittersweet thing, the sweep and scale of the art at its current 'pace' is very enjoyable.
Next week's to-buy list includes Justice Society of America #9, Heroes for Hire #13, and I may well try out Wonder Girl #1, plus there'll more action figure reviews showing up sporadically (if you're wondering how, with the camara absent, a combination of photos I took before it went away, and the generosity of long-suffering friends lending me their camera now and then).
And lastly, I took the usual glance through Countdown just to check that nobody I really needed to follow was in it (no Batwoman, in other words) and noticed an appearance by quirky cynic-savant and Seven Soldiers of Victory alumnus Klarion the Witchboy - just a heads-up for fans. The comment script here seems to be working fine - thanks to MaGnUs of The Nitpicker's Blog for leaving the first-ever comments here on Heroine Addict! - so feel free to have your say, whether you agree or disagree or want to ask me why the heck I'm not buying some other superheroine comic that I should be:
