Capsule Reviews for Comics I bought on 3/15/06I haven't reviewed any comics in a while, so here's a quick rundown of my rating system:
Yeah! - A great comic all around. Definitely worth buying.
Heh. - Pretty entertaining. Give it a read if you have a chance.
Eh? - Confusing. I'm not really sure if it's bad or good, honestly.
Meh. - Not particularly exciting.
Bleh. - Terrible.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6
I really had high hopes for this book. I mean, the promise of Mike Wieringo art was enough to sell me, and I hold no ill will toward Peter David as a writer. Which is why it's so disappointing that I just don't like this. The exposition in this story about a Mexican wrestler who has to beat Spider-Man and take his mask to avenge his father (I think) is just plain clunky, and most of the major plot points -- like the wrestler showing up a J. Jonah Jameson's house at just the right time and Flash Thompson suddenly becoming his old self from high school again -- seem beyond contrived. The sad thing is that the concept behind this story is pretty cool, but the execution is simply painful. And on top of that, there's not even any Wieringo art. Rating: Meh.
Seven Soldiers: Bulleteer #4
I can't really say I understand everything that's happening in these Seven Soldiers books, but I can say that I'm pretty damn entertained by them. This issue wraps up the Bulleteer miniseries, as the main character takes on the girl who corrupted her husband and ultimately caused his death. I still don't really get this Seven Soldiers character, frankly, at least not like Guardian or Frankenstein (yes, Frankenstein). But the backstory on the evil girl is really surreal and interesting, so that kind of makes up for it. Rating: Heh.
100 Bullets #70
Okay, so there are thirty more issues to go of this series, and I get the feeling that Brian Azzarello is just toying with us. I mean, why else would he put two entirely unrelated stories in the first book of a new story arc? One is about a butcher shop where one of the employees is stealing the merchandise, and the other is about the funeral of one of the members of the Trust, the big criime syndicate. What do these stories have to do with each other? I don't know! Maybe nothing! But I'm intrigued, which is why this book is like glossy paper heroin. Rating: Heh.
Runaways Vol. 2 #14
There's been something amiss in this second Runaways series, and I think it might be that overarching sense of dread and mystery that was so beautifully pulled off in the first run. Luckily, this issue brings some of that back, and re-visits a couple characters from the original group who have had to leave for one reason or another (i.e. set to be married, dead). There's a hell of a twist ending to this issue, and I'm thinking this story arc will be the best of the re-launched series as of yet. Rating: Yeah!
The Walking Dead #26
Not any huge developments this issue, but some really nice characterization and nicely worked-in exposition prove that this comic is still as strong as it ever was. There are hints at the end of the issue that something big might be coming, but it's subtle enough that it doesn't overpower the rest of what's going on. It's a nice change of pace from the normal run-of-the mill last-page shocker, but it still makes me feel like the next issue is a must-read. Rating: Yeah!
Ultimate Extinction #3
Is it weird that, with two of the three Ultimate Galactus miniseries done with and the last one halfway over, that I still don't know how to feel about this stuff? There were certainly things I liked in the first two series, and this one seems interesting enough, but it's just dragging on and on and I just want something to happen, already. That said, the Ultimate Silver Surfer makes a pretty amazing entrance this issue, and artist Brandon Peterson makes everybody look weird with some kind of strange scan-line style shading. Rating: Eh?