Marvel Comic Presents #2 (Marvel - Various) -  There isn’t much I can say about anthology series, except that they are anthology series.  Let’s go with the play by play of all four stories within this issue.  First we have Vanguard, in my opinion clearly the best of the series.  Stacy Dolan, NYPD, is trying to solve a murder case of a John Doe… a few issues, the only suspect seen at the crime is the Watcher and even Reed Richards can’t identify the body.  This is wonderfully told and gritty art adds to the feel of the story.  Kudos to Marc Guggenheim, Dave Wilkins and the rest of the Vanguard crew.  Next, we have Patsy Walker - Hellcat.  I have a fond memory of Patsy from back in the day when I collected Defenders.  I hate it when memories turn to crap.  This storyline has Patsy opening a magical book and being caught in a world with multiple versions of herself fighting over the same guy… all I need is for Jimmy Olsen to show up for my intolerance of the inconsequential to be complete.  Third in the book is a one shot story of Taskmaster and his ability to break into the SHIELD headquarters.  Khoi Pham has some interesting visuals highlighting Taskmaster’s powers… but outside of that, this is filler.  Then we come to the Weapon Omega story.  Being an uber-geek and being an Alpha Flight fan, I look forward to seeing how Alpha Flight, errr, I guess Omega Flight will fit into the new Marvel Universe.  In this ish we get a little bit more back story on Weapon Omega, but not much more… Good art but the story doesn’t go anywhere.

Grade: B

Uncle Sam and The Freedom Fighters #2 (DC - Palmiotti / Gray / Arlem) - This is the second issue of the follow-up series to the some of the best writing in 2006.   Uncle Sam is the “conscience” book of the DCU… Who should heroes help? Why should heroes help? Who should be heroes?  This second series sees the Freedom Fighters split on opinions as to whether or not be poster children for the US Government.   Half of the team goes with Uncle Sam to his pocket nirvana and the other half become celebrities with the Government’s backing.  While the political overtones of the book are sometimes a bit much, Uncle Sam is still an expert balance of drama and action.   In this issue, we see Phantom Lady self-implode from both personal demons and the weight of having to balance being a role model for young women everywhere and being herself and having privacy.  Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray show that they can still tell a great tale and Uncle Sam newcomer Renato Arlem shows the visual skill to keep the story compelling.  Uncle Sam is a great superhero story and compelling political drama wrapped into one.

Grade: A

Black Panther #31 (Marvel - Hudlin / Portela) - from Marvel “Yikes! With Zombies chomping at their heels, the new Fantastic Four take another wrong turn on the dimensional superhighway. And this time, they’ve landed in the middle of the Sub-Atomica Universe! Can a skirmish with Psycho-Man be far behind? It’s clobberin’ time”.  I started picking up Black Panther during Civil War when Panther and Storm added to the “unofficial FF” list.  Their distinct personalities definitely added to the monthly Fantastic Four book… but not so much to the Black Panther book.  Back in issue 27 , it started off fresh but now have the new FF jump from bizarre parallel world to the next is getting old.  This issue, where we find out new foursome in the clutches of Psycho-man reads like an old reprint.  Psycho-man uses fear and anxiety to claw at the very core emotions of our main characters… seen that about 2 dozen times in the traditional FF book.  While I think Reginal Hudlin certainly has shown his potential as an author and Francis Portela has proven to be a better than average artist… they both need to move on from this filler book.

Grade: C-

Scott Pilgrim - Gets it together Vol. 4 (Oni Press - O’Malley) - To give you a little bit of a background, in case you haven’t heard of the everyday adventures of Scott Pilgrim, Scott Pilgrim was both Entertainment Weekly’s and Wizard Magazine’s 2006 Indie book of the Year. Scott is an early 20-something trying to get his life in focus (and thus the name starts to succeed in this volume). Scott deals with his wonderful girlfriend (Ramona) , his “not so awesome but they aren’t quite willing to admit it” band (Sex Bob-omb), numerous ex’s, roommates and groupies… oh yea… and trying to defeat Ramona’s seven ex evil boyfriends to prove his worth. Scott is part satire, part slapstick, part drama… but all smart. The books pokes at topics from serious social issues to roommate conflicts to relational insecurities… Scott even gives a personal tutorial in the back on how to read a comic. While the art is cartoonish in nature, it is wonderfully done and fits right in with the story-telling. If you have someone in your life that you are trying to get into comics, but maybe the traditional superhero comic just isn’t them (and having them be a Friends fan wouldn’t hurt one bit), at $11.95 for a 216 page story… you simply can’t go wrong.

Grade: A

H1ghwaymen #5 (Wildstorm - Bernardin / Freeman / Garbett) -  “Two men, one shoots, one drives. thirty years of bad blood between them… and called back into service”, this intro hooked me in the first issue and my attention hasn’t swayed yet.  We follow our two couriers as they try keep Grace Anderson, their newest package, safe from the badguys who want to start a very nasty World War Three (and this the one without Black Adam).  The writing combination of Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman will have me buying whatever their next project is… and the project after that too.  The H1ghwaymen package is the perfect combination of action, character development, dialogue and perhaps a little of drama to pinch your conscience.  Wrap into that the fantastic art of Lee Garbett, who is able to keep you visually on the edge of your seat, and the only negative about H1ghwaymen #5 is that it is the end of the mini.  Wildstorm, please bring us more H1ghwaymen… this is possibly the most underrated and overlooked mini series of the year!  Watch for the trade!

Grade: A+

So what does one do when he hasn’t been to the comic store in three weeks? He looks to the pile of reviews that life has been keeping me from! So here are a hand full of reviews of some great things on the shelf from Dark Horse.

Deadlander #1 (Darkhorse - Ferrara) IGN.com says “In legend, the Deadlander is a ghostly outlaw shrouded in mystery. A weird gunslinger stalking the desert landscapes of Nevada. But in reality Jacob Bierce is nothing more than a rotting corpse of a man, dead in more ways than one-a loner on the run from the law, turned into the living dead and controlled like a puppet by the sinister Bog Witch. Now, as the witch’s evil hold threatens to entrap him forever, the Badlander sets in motion a desperate plan to destroy the witch and regain his soul once and for all!” That’s the crux of the story, but real question is, “Is it any good?”

That answer would be yes, it’s pretty good. I’m usually not into western comics, but this one puts a twist to the average western and makes it interesting. It’s not everyday I get to read about cursed undead gunslingers. What did jump at me the most was Deadlander’s art. This book looks period, right down to the faux parchment look with the skeletal boarders

Over all, Deadlander is a great little read that I think would clean up as a trade.

Grade: B

Star War: Dark Times #5 (Dark Horse - Harrison / Wheatley) -Dark Times is set during the Rise of the Empire era in Star Wars lore. For those non-geeks out there; it’s set nineteen years before the Battle of Yavin (Episode IV) and immediately after Revenge of the Sith. We find a young Darth Vader still struggling with the death of his wife, the eradication of the Jedi, and the death of life as he knew it. But that’s only half the story…the other half focuses on the exploits of the rag-tag crew of the Uhumele. In this issue, we see a crew member tracking down his daughter that has been sold into slavery and discovering the stomach churning truth of her fate.

Hiding among the crew of the Uhumele is Jedi Dass Jennir. He survived the initial Jedi purge by his clone troopers ignoring Order 66 and letting their Jedi general live. Dass Jennir is now on the run and slowly slipping from the Jedi ways as he finds out that the Jedi code and his survival are not always in-line with each other.

Overall this is great story telling with great art backing it up. We are living in a new age of Star Wars comics, where style is not over substance.

Grade: A

Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite #1 (Dark Horse - Way / Ba) - Dark Horse describes this new mega title as “Once, the Umbrella Academy was unstoppable. Under the tutelage of their guardian and mentor, Dr. Reginald Hargreeves, its members spent their childhoods fighting evil and honing their extraordinary gifts.

Until something went terribly wrong.

Now, nine years later, the estranged members of the Umbrella Academy are reunited by the death of the only parent they’ve ever known and the rise of a new and terrible threat. Will they be able to overcome their history for long enough to save the world-one more time?

Conceived and written by Gerard Way (of My Chemical Romance), Umbrella Academy features interior art by Eisner Award-nominated artist Gabriel Ba (De:Tales), colors by Eisner Award-winning colorist Dave Stewart, and covers by multiple-Eisner Award-winning painter James Jean (Fables).”

With a creative team compiling that much star power things, this has be a sure fire hit right? Well, not so much. Maybe I built up too many expectations that no book could deliver what I was expecting. After reading the first issue, the only thing I cold think of was, “Dr. Reginald Hargreeves was a crappy father and overall @$$” I was intrigued with Gerard Way’s ability to craft a story, but couldn’t help but wonder if this was yet another way an angry rocker could lash out at his unloving father or an attempt to give our protagonists “real issues”. Either way, it just didn’t click with me..yet. I’m not giving up on the book because there are hints of potential greatness (the Eiffel Tower fight and the cliffhanger) that make me want to stick around.

Grade: C-

She-Hulk #22 (Marvel - David / Moll / Olazaba) - Let’s be honest, following Dan Slott on his figurehead series would be really tough.  But let’s be honest… he’s Peter David.  There are only a handful of people who could pick up the series and run with it in a positive direction and the fantastic Mr. David is one of them.  Peter David is one of the modern story masters as it relates to the Incredible Hulk… so why not have him join the ranks of Byrne and Slott as someone who can bring Jennifer to the peak of her character (ok guys, stop booing John Byrne!).  The “Jaded” storyline opens up with Jenn as a bounty hunter bringing in D-list villains who have jumped bail.  The “David-esque” story takes it’s turn as we see Jennifer and She-Hulk side by side and that somehow Jennifer can function well with a completely broken neck.  It makes me wish #23 was here already.  Shawn Moll brings the same high level of competence in the art of She-Hulk as he did to the Outsiders.  If you haven’t been reading She-Hulk (first, shame on you), but this is a great jumping on point.  Well worth the cover price!

Grade: A

Disasters, Great and Otherwise…

So Here’s the Lowdown

• On Earth 8, the Challengers continue to battle Lord Havok and Monarch
• Jason Todd guts Earth 8’s version of Aquaman / Namor and tells Monarch he is wants in
• Monarch is unimpressed with Jason’s ability to turn sides and doesn’t trust him
• As a sign of trust, Jason shoots Donna Troy
• In a complete turn of events, a Countdown cover actually has to do with the story inside
• Jimmy Olsen is on the trail of the killer of the New Gods (Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!)
• Mary Marvel roughs it up with Shadowpact at the Oblivion Bar
• When Shadowpact has the upper hand and is seems to be beating both Mary and Eclipso, the dark duo take off… leaving Shadowpact in a demolished bar
• Holly Robinson gets more intense training from the Amazons
• Trickster and Piper track the Suicide Squad with the help of Trickster’s “Invisibility Cloak… Just like Harry Potter” to a Checkmate hideout
• Once inside the secret hideout, they find and free Two-Face and hear about Salvation… a place where all the DC villains are being sent by Checkmate (Enter… Salvation Run)

This is not a one week deal… Countdown is just leaving a bad taste in my mouth… I don’t know whether it’s Jimmy Olsen showing his stupid freckles again or perhaps it’s the whim at which Jason turned… or wait, maybe it was last week when a small boy befriended Brother Eye (potentially one of the greatest villains in the DCU) and made him stop fighting because he had a friend now… but Countdown is certainly no 52!

Grade: C-

Ruin #2 (Alterna Comics - Pinchuk / Gallagher / Gallagher) - If the Pulp writers of yesteryear were alive and kicking today… if they weren’t writing Ruin, they would at least be reading it. Ruin is your classic Science Fiction / Fantasy Pulp story space opera. In Ruin, Black Zero is our reluctant hero who out to de-thrown the overlord Carnus, and in issue #2 Zero goes up against one of the evil bosses, the dark witch Goulthanas. Tom Pinchuk does a masterful job of owning this genre without letting it get stale. There are all the elements we know and are looking for in this plot… maniacal bad guy, innocence in distress, several small fights leading up to the big boss fight (look for it in issue #3), but this classic storyline is written with a fresh voice… I didn’t find myself yawning because I know what’s coming… but looking forward to how it will be set up and what details will be added. The traditional art style and coloring by Mike Gallagher is exactly what this story needed for the tale to work. If you need that Classic Flash Gordon fix (because the Sci-fi show has made you lose your cookies), then get your hands on copies of this three issue series.

Grade: B+

Fantastic Four #550 (Marvel - McDuffie / Pelletier / Magyar) - Marvel’s synopsis “Reed and Sue team up with the New FF in a desperate gambit to find the source of the disease wracking the fabric of spacetime itself. Only one being can follow such an ineffable trail but a resentful Silver Surfer is in no mood to help King T’Challa. Plus Dr. Strange, The Watcher, and the awesome destiny of Gravity!” The one thing the FF book has not really lacked over the last few years is art… and Paul Pelletier is keeping up the legacy. The stories… well, that is another tale. This should be the last FF story that has the Initiative banner connection… even though Civil War ended a while ago and outside of Reed and Sue trying to save their marriage, the last few months of FF has had nothing to do with the rest of the Marvel Universe or Tony Stark’s Initiative. It’s been an interesting trip, as it always has been, when the FF roster gets tipped… this time Black Panther and Storm replaced Reed and Sue… and that the FF storyline was a completely different story, yet still in continuity with the monthly Black Panther title. The writers did fine with Panther and Storm’s character interaction with Ben and Johnny, but it never really felt right. With issue #550, the FF returns to it’s roots… saving the universe, cosmic guest stars and good old fashioned family dynamics. Fantastic Four was the first thing on my pull list twenty five years ago and it’s never left… unfortunately the quality of the book has been a roller coaster and has sometimes taken a huge plunge (who can forget the media evil of Fasaud… it was the 90’s what can you say?). As far as I am concerned, it looks like the writing team has the book back in a positive direction, and a perfect jumping on point for people who want to follow the exploits of comicdom’s First Family.

Grade: B+