It was almost impossible to live up to the great week of comics last week, and this week certainly falters in its efforts. The mainstream books were all pretty decent but few were excellent, despite some favourites. You will notice that for the first time I have not included any independent works even though I read a few. The Snapshot conclusion was disappointing and the art suffered with no environmental context, Polarity lost its bipolar uniqueness and became a book about a powered individual mentally torturing hipsters, Black Bat was solid but nothing special, and the unoriginal idea of Ten Grand combined with my personal indifference to Templesmith’s art meant no independent recommendations from me. There is a positive side to this as I was pleased with the DC books this week.
DC Comics
Animal Man #20
This was a second parter to the “Tights” storyline of Buddy’s background as an actor. The portrayal of Animal Man’s life on the silver screen as Red Thunder works as a wonderful but morbid narrative. It almost gives hope that what we are visualising is actually fiction and not the real fate of Buddy. As sad as it is, the book is great.
Swamp Thing #20
As soon as a special guest features on a comic book that bears little history with the character, I am instantly cynical but I was pleasantly proved wrong. There were two excellent plot threads at play here which Superman was important to: Firstly the actual raw botanistic power of Swamp Thing and secondly the balance of responsibility with that power. The art by Kano was lovely too.
Earth 2 #12
James Robinson delivers a slow, refreshing and satisfying take on the established characters. He once again proves his ability with the development of Dr Fate. The colouring of this book is immense and I have highlighted it on the Best of the Week blog by Aaron Meyers here: http://readcomicbooks.net/home/best-of-the-week-33/
Marvel Comics
X-Men Legacy #10
Simon Spurrier has developed Legion into an intriguing and morally ambiguous character. His journey to save the mutant race is interrupted by his developing love for Blindfold. The book takes a well known mutant story but adds a subtle twist. Paul Davidson does a decent job on the art with enough weirdness to keep in tone with the book.
Iron Man #9
I am genuinely ashamed to say that I struggle to read a book with Greg Land’s art even though I know it is a commonly held opinion. I do not like to be overly critical but I was pleased to see Eaglesham’s penship on this book. Kieron is taking Tony in an interesting direction and I am very interested in this origin concept.
All New X-Men #11
Do not get me wrong, this book is good and well written, but I am struggling with it. I can appreciate the writing and the relationships with the characters which is a concept I actively promote. However the lack of interesting plot development is muting my enjoyment. I appreciate the Mystique story is progressing but I really need to see more.
Hawkeye #10
Under normal circumstances this book would never let me down. When I finished this I was left wonting. I shall be posting a review of this book this week.
House Of Flying Scalpels 