Fathom #1 ~ First of all, important point for any comic publishers to take note of: if you're going to put introductory text into an issue, make sure it's large enough that it can be read without squinting. I didn't want to skip it, since if they took the time to write it it's presumably important, but the tiny text was a strain on the eyes to get through. That aside, this was a good issue - the introduction lays out the essentials, leaving the comic itself to proceed at its own pace, without being over-burdened by exposition, but with leave to exploit past plotlines to quickly outline a scenario that has continuity depth and a feeling of genuine weight in the world we're presented with. The only drawback thus far is that Aspen - supposedly the heroine of the whole thing - is large uninvolved in what's going on, but by the end of the issue her avenue into greater events is at least apparent, so I don't anticipate that'll be a problem. The art is fairly lovely - the only weak point I'd mention is that several characters have 'special effect' colouring used to suggest textures on their otherworldly armour, and it's not meshed very effectively with the areas of un-textured colour work. But overall, a good start - I'll be picking up subsequent issues, and look forward to seeing where this goes.
Patsy Walker: Hellcat #2 ~ Reading this comic is a strange experience. A lot of what's going on seems nonsensical, or scatterbrained at best - dialogue takes off on tangents, exposition is limited, Patsy seems a bit insane, and all in all if I had to sum up what seems to be the book's attitude, it'd be "Quit analysing it and just go along with the ride, it's fun." That may sound critical, and I admit I was hoping for a more character-based exploration of who Hellcat is - but there's no denying, it is fun. I may not really understand what's going on half the time, and a lot of panels seem to be going nowhere (so far as I can tell), but reading the comic is a genuinely enjoyable experience regardless of the scarcity of coherent narrative and traditional story structure. I'd hesitate to give this comic to a novice, or someone looking to get to know Hellcat as a character - but if you read plenty of comics and wouldn't mind one that's quite a bit different, this is worth your time to look at.
Manhunter #33 ~ I hate to say this, because I'm enjoying this title overall, but... this issue kind of dragged. If I were reading it in a trade paperback I might not really notice, but with this being my once-a-month dose of Manhunter, it just doesn't feel like much has happened to justify taking a whole issue. Decompression, in a word - a lot of people complain about it, and for the most part I think it's just a matter of personal taste, balancing efficiency of storytelling with taking the time to really explore and get beneath the skin of the story, but this time, I think I'm not getting value-for-time from this exploration. I still don't feel especially connected or concerned about what's going on - yes, people being killed it bad, but we know this is just a comic dangling nameless fatalities in front of us, it takes a bit more than that to really justify some angst. So the core story doesn't seem emotionally involving, and as a matter of 'procedure', of Kate doing her superheroic investigative thing, it's plodding on a bit slowly to really grab me. Once this storyline has run its course I'll be able to offer a more informed opinion, but for now, I'm thinking maybe this story could've been compressed a bit without losing anything.
Gearz #2 ~ More quirkily-presented teen angst with robots, very much in the vein of the first issue (reviewed last week - the whole super-robot angle of the story continues to be handled in a lightweight manner, with the comedic approach serving to defuse any real seriousness that might creep in so that the whole thing can serve as a framing device for, at heart, a story about a lonely young girl. Karen's narration is the most interesting part - her feelings about her situation come across very strongly, and (unexpectedly) develop at a rapid pace, keeping her in line with what's going on around her rather than simply establishing her state of mind as a status quo and leaving it at that. I'm not really a fan of high-school-age stories - I had my fill with Buffy, and good as some of it was, it's enough for me for the forseeable future - but the writing is of sufficient quality and insight that I can deal with this, and appreciate it.
Hack/Slash #14 ~ Recent Hack/Slash has been a bit of a mixed bag - there were the co-written issues with those wooden 'Bump' critters, which weren't as solid as this title usually is, and while the Suicidegirls annual (reviewed here) was solidly entertaining, its stand-alone nature left it a bit divorced from the ongoing subplots that are the real strength of the title. This issue is the second coming - it's everything that's brilliant about Hack/Slash. The ongoing character arcs - especially Georgia - get more development, Cassie is both hilarious and poignant, the slasher action is gleefully gory and inventively twisted, and the whole thing is framed by a done-in-one story concept that's witty, pop culture savvy, and conducive to a memorable slasher experience. In short, it's the best comic I've read this week, by a mile. If you've never read Hack/Slash, this would be a good taste of what it's all about.
Red Sonja #36 ~ After the interesting set-up of the previous issue - which started off Sonja's new life - this one is a bit of a let-down. It's not that it's bad, it's just rather predictable, as if Point A is 'Sonja is reborn in a new life' and Point B is 'Sonja is wearing a metal bikini and whacking people's heads off with a sword', and this issue is connecting the two by the shortest-distance straight line, a series of well-worn fantasy clichés. Sonja's ship is attacked, Sonja's loved ones are murdered, Sonja is mortally wounded but survives by a fluke (a rather transparently Deus Ex Machina one at that, and not really necessary, I'd have thought), and runs into a convenient warrior type who can train her to kick arse so that she can have her revenge. There are points of interest that continue to make this worth reading - Sonja's newfound mentor has a connection to her past life, which makes him more than just the generic Ben Kenobi type (the wise man who helps get the hero up to speed skill-wise), and the pirates that conveniently slaughtered Sonja's beau weren't just generic thugs, but had a specific goal tied to said beau which, I imagine, will come into later issues as well. It's decent fantasy adventure material, I just would have liked something a bit more, well, adventurous - something that trusted itself enough to take the road less travelled, do something novel for Sonja's journey from miscellaneous maiden to expert head-kicker.
Final Crisis #3 ~ I'm really developing a dislike of this title. Don't get me wrong, there's quality in it - but it's not a good story. There are a lot of moments when you get something that's worth thinking about, a neat bit of dialogue or information or a concept that's imaginative and thought-provoking, and that's a good thing. But the basis for Final Crisis is "Some bad guys get a magic defeat-all-superheroes thingummy, and badness ensues." There aren't any heroes or villains in this story, just cameos of people you may or may not already care about, if you've read about them in other comics. It's frustrating, because the ideas here are worth having stories told about them - especially the notion of a superhero draft, that idea pretty much sustained Marvel's Civil War through all manner of continuity errors and crossed wires among writers, simply because it's such a good concept - but it's not used in this story, it's just presented as something that happens. Green Arrow gets a panel's worth of griping about it - but with everyone who's appeared so far just making their cameo appearance and then vanishing again, it's not like it's going to be followed up on. (Credit where it's due, Black Canary looks hot in this scene.) Mary Marvel turns up, delivering yet another slap in the face for Countdown to Final Crisis, as her evilness here has nothing much to do with there - and it has a built-in get-out-of-jail-free-card, in the form of her being under the influence of 'anti-life' (which is basically nothing more than an arbitrary plot device) meaning she's not responsible for her actions. More Seven Soldiers of Victory references abound, with Frankenstein and S.H.A.D.E. getting appearances. Renee Montoya runs into them. Some other stuff happens. I just can't shake the feeling that none of it's going to matter - that when this is over, the DC universe will just settle back to where it was before. Superman is a bit of a bright spark, which is unusual for me, since normally I find him a bit tired - his vigil over Lois is excellently portrayed, and engineered cleverly to make his situation genuinely heart-wrenching.
Fire and Brimstone #1 ~ This was this week's random buy - I knew nothing about it, just spotted the cover while I was looking through the indie shelves at the comic shop, and thought 'What the hell?' And it paid off - this's a good one. It's all about a demon (Fire) and an angel (Brimstone) serving out a punishment for accidentally allowing a whole load of nasty demons and rogue angels to escape imprisonment millennia ago. Since then they've been slogging around tracking down the escapees and hauling their supernatural butts back to captivity, with the promise that once they've recaptured all the nasties they let loose, they'll be allowed to return to their rightful places in heaven and hell (as appropriate). Like 'Brimstone', the old TV series, but funnier and with eye candy. Action/comedy is what the author's introduction promises, and this issue delivers, with a lively flashback fight sequence in ancient Rome, versus a 'vermin demon' (giant rat thing, basically), and more or less non-stop chuckles throughout the issue as the two girls' personalities clash, in the manner of old rivals who've been stuck together so long they've become friends in spite of themselves. Fire, amoral (theoretically evil) by nature, is nonetheless chirpy and upbeat, far more optimistic and high-spirited than Brimstone, who's in a slump and contemplating giving up, after several thousand years of hunting runaways doesn't seem to have gotten them any closer to returning home. The friction and affection between them is really funny, and quite genuine - the dialogue flows easily, likewise the laughs, with plenty of well-drawn sight gags in addition to the written funnies.
