Bigger week than last week, but because there was no $7.99 single issue, the cost came to about the same. Let's get on with the 5th week spoilers!
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 11/30/11:
SUPER-DINOSAUR #6: With me treating the end of the Kirkman run on HAUNT as a jumping off point, this remains the only title of his that I am still reading aside for INVINCIBLE. Overall I continue to enjoy it more than I did HAUNT, while still lamenting that it had to replace Kirkman's superior collaboration with artist Jason Howard, which was ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN. This issue sees Derek Dynamo and Super-Dino dive many fathoms below the surface of the ocean to try to blow up the base of their aquatic nemesis Squidicus. This naturally leads to a battle with him, and donning toy-friendly underwater gear. Meanwhile, Dr. Dynamo continues to confront his arch nemesis Max Maximus about the fate of his wife. The action is fairly fast paced, but more interesting bits happen in regards to Super-Dino getting jealous that Derek is hanging out more with Erin (the daughter of the engineer couple who help fix Super-Dino's armor). It isn't treated as anything nefarious, but something natural in that a friend is feeling left out as his other buddy slowly starts to discover a girl. Erin's normally crabby sister decides to hang out with Super-Dino instead, which is interesting if one doesn't have a gutter-mind about it. These are all kid characters; everyone is just friends, people! Sales in September were at just over 8,300 copies, which is low for a Kirkman book but about average for many "all ages" books about the business. In fairness, it is outselling LADY DEATH, and Archie's SONIC UNIVERSE, among others (such as WITCH DOCTOR, another Skybound imprint book). This continues to read as something which would be very much at home as an animated series airing on CARTOON NETWORK in between "BEN 10" and "GENERATOR REX". With INVINCIBLE starting to switch back towards some bleak status quo shattering stuff, it is good to have a lighter alternative sometimes.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #4: This issue brings the first arc of IDW's relaunch of the iconic "indie" franchise to a close. Co-creator Kevin Eastman, alongside writer Tom Waltz, penciler Dan Duncan and colorist Ronda Pattison deliver a finale full of action as well as the unification of the titular Turtles. In this series' continuity, Raphael has been kept apart from Splinter and his brothers due to the actions of an alley cat, Old Hob - who has himself become mutated and now runs a street gang. So while the other three Turtles learned to become ninja, Raph wandered the streets and has befriended Casey Jones, a tormented masked vigilante. The final segments of their origin sequence are revealed, and while complicated, are at least unique. Apparently, General Krang (who may or may not be an alien) commissioned Baxtor Stockman and his lab to create super-soldiers for his banana republic via mutagen and genetic experiments on animals (such as a rat and the turtles). However, this was ruined when Foot Ninja - who are rivals of Krang - sabotaged the lab and caused the creation of our heroes. Old Hob, however, has made a deal to recover the experiments to Stockman's lab, which is why he is enemies with the Turtles. There are still some holes; it isn't (yet) established how Splinter knew ninjitsu to teach the Turtles, April O'Neil has yet to re-appear in the present, and far too many people are far too accepting of a mutant cat with an eye-patch leading a street gang. This issue has a lot of action as the Ninja Turtles and Casey take on Hob and his gang, and the reunion at the end is tender, if not a but rushed. An arc that ends things at four issues with a little rush at the end is usually better than bleeding them out another two. While perhaps overprices at $3.99, and IDW still in love with variant covers (at least five an issue), this remains an interesting and unpredictable re-imagining of the franchise. Retaining the involvement of the Turtles' co-creator remains a brilliant coup for IDW here to keep old as well as new fans aboard.
DAREDEVIL #6: In a week without major crossovers or promotions, Mark Waid's exceptional relaunch of Marvel's Man Without Fear manages to garner the positive attention it deserves. This issue ends the third arc in this run so far, which suggests that Waid is accomplishing a rare feat; crafting a series in which long term subplots reward long term readers while arcs are short enough to entice (or at least avoid confusing) newer readers. So many titles are stretched thin with stories that seem to run 5-6 issues, while in such space Waid had written three distinct tales that work as chunks of story by themselves as well as a whole. Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente provide the exceptional art and colors for this story; sadly, it will be the last they do for this series, beyond covers.
As a recap, Waid has continued with his theme of expertly intertwining Matt Murdock's new legal cases with his vigilante efforts as Daredevil. In attempting to counsel another blind man in why he was unjustly fired from Midas Investments, Murdock has stumbled upon a plot in which several international terrorist and criminal organizations such as HYDRA, A.I.M., and the Secret Empire funnel funds and enterprises through Latveria (Dr. Doom's country) with the investment firm as the go-between. Now he has to protect his client as well as the firm's middle manager from being rubbed out for what they know. This involves a battle against Bruiser, a metahuman who seems to get a thrill out of battling other superhumans and who seems a perfect balance of brawn and balance. Waid is performing yeoman work here to shift the series out of the bleakness that smothered the series for years without making Daredevil a different character nor eliminate any sense of risk or danger. The masked hero strikes a balance between having enough super-powers to be a step above most "humans", while not being so power that he can escape and survive his adventures without natural skill, talent, and guile. The final scene in which Daredevil manages to escape a certain death situation without throwing a single blow or club summarizes it well. The arc ends with Murdock gaining a Maguffin which will likely provide the spark for additional adventures to come. If the arc has any flaw, it is that Bruiser is a simple physical obstacle almost to a fault. While it is wise to have Daredevil fight a new villain now and again, Bruiser lives up to his name and little more; if he were any more simplistic, he'd be a robot with a number for a name. Still, such crude yet gimmicked minions have served the James Bond franchise well for decades. In fairness, more new villains who exist simply to provide muscle and a name will mean less obligatory appearances by Rhino, the Wrecking Crew or Mr. Hyde which often diminish their threat level over time.
Martin's artwork remains as exceptional as it was in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN or DOCTOR STRANGE: THE OATH. He turns page layouts into exceptional pop-art and uses sound effects and shadows to lay out move and make any scene more dynamic. Vicente's colors naturally mesh well with the art; perhaps the best thing about them is that they actually have colors, instead of muting things. This issue alone has shades of teal, bright red, purple, and yellow that many modern comics avoid to seem "mature".
It sounds so quaint, but Waid's run on DAREDEVIL gets it all right. It isn't reliant on crossovers (yet), it has short arcs and yet long term serial arcs which actually reward monthly readers instead of trade-waiters. There will be a two issue crossover with AMAZING SPIDER-MAN early next year, perhaps as a sign of editorial worrying about sales. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN was used to successfully launch VENOM and shine some attention on AVENGERS ACADEMY in recent months. The art is often fantastic and the series has a charm and wit about it which isn't often replicated in other series. DAREDEVIL as a franchise had often been trapped in a death spiral cycle of replicating Frank Miller's mid 1980's work for decades and this is exactly the breath of fresh air it needed. Both Brian M. Bendis and Ed Brubaker were given many years to helm the horn-head; if there is any justice, Waid will be able to have a similar run here.
FF #12: Last week, FANTASTIC FOUR #600 went on sale, which not only celebrated the 50th anniversary of the franchise, but resurrected Johnny Storm/Human Torch from a supposed death after about ten months. This week, FF the title that FANTASTIC FOUR had been relaunched as continues along its course with its numbering intact. FANTASTIC FOUR got to a 600th issue because Marvel counted all previously published issues, including the first eleven issues of FF. Yet, in a similar fashion to INCREDIBLE HULK and HULK, while FANTASTIC FOUR will ship issue #601 next month, FF will run alongside it with a 13th issue. Quite how this makes any mathematical sense is a mystery only Marvels editorial staff can unravel. Perhaps the reason many Marvel books struggle in sales is because many at the company do not understand the concept of addition? Jonathan Hickman, who has been writing the FANTASTIC FOUR franchise since in 2009, will now officially get two issues of the Four (or Future Foundation) a month to tell the flowing, long term arc he has been telling for over two years (and counting). He now is officially the first writer who has been on this franchise at least this long since Mark Waid at the middle of the decade. Artist Steve Epting will continue on FANTASTIC FOUR, which leaves Juan Bobillo to fill in for him on this title or essentially become the new regular artist on what is now a spin off book.
The purpose of this series, besides giving Hickman more pages a month to tell his arc, is made apparent. As FF stands for Future Foundation, this is the title which may focus more on those characters. This means while FANTASTIC FOUR may be the book that stars the action of the new and old Four members like Reed, Sue, Thing, Spider-Man, and Johnny Storm, this is the book to catch everyone else. The cast of the Foundation has vastly expanded to well over a dozen characters, which include the Richards children Franklin and Valeria, along with Dragon Man, Wizards cloned son Bentley, Artie, Leech, Nathanial Richards, Alex Power (of Power Pack), and other spare tag-along kids from prior Hickman issues. This doesnt even include Dr. Doom, his heir apparent Kristoff (who has wisely been dusted off after doing little since about 1998), and the lone surviving Evil Reed (or Jerk Reed as one of the kids puts it) from another universe who had delusions of grandeur. We are now at a point where the cast of an FF spin off is greater in number than the cast of many core X-Men titles. This issue picks up right after FANTASTIC FOUR #600, while FANTASTIC FOUR #601 in three weeks will also do so, while starring different characters. To escape the hordes of Annihilus, the kids of the Foundation activated a failsafe that teleported three floors of the Baxtor Building across the world to Dr. Dooms country of Latveria. While Franklin and Alex are appalled, Valeria has made a pact with Dr. Doom, who is now a captor of the Evil Reed counterpart. Everyone meets up and Val leads them to her fathers invention which can access all multiple realities the Bridge to send the Evil Reed home after freeing Doom. The issue also reminds us of the vague riddles from the future which have been handed to the kids years ago.
To say Bobillos artwork is jarring compared to Steve Epting or Barry Kitson is an understatement. His biggest challenge as an artist is having several blond children wearing similar uniforms who are supposed to look distinct, but he fails at this task. One has to hope every line of dialogue makes identity obvious and key onto details like goggles somewhere to attempt to tell the difference between Franklin, Val, and Alex at any given panel. Despite Alex being older, he is drawn at the same height as Franklin and Val; the latter who is supposed to be about five or six years old. He draws Dr. Doom and Kristoff in such a similar fashion in armor that it is only the colors by Chris Sotomayor which separate them. The design of the Evil Reed was bland enough, and Bobillo does it no favors. However, the fact that Bobillos artwork seems to strike a perfect balance between being bland yet functionally confusing, all of the flaws of this issue do not fall to his pencil. Hickman devotes most of this issue towards reminding the reader of subplots and slowly moving his pieces across the game board. While watching a chess grandmaster showcase how brilliant he is by slowly moving every single pawn of his across the board one step at a time for what seems like a million years may be very stunning in that arena, at $3 a pop for over two years, it can often ware thin in the comic book arena. The fact that FANTASTIC FOUR #600 was an action packed trade-sized tale only adds to the sensation of this issue bringing all momentum to an awkward, screeching halt. It is a nearly impossible jumping on point for a reader who hasnt been aboard since 2009.
Overall, I do believe Hickman has a lot of far out science ideas for the Four as a franchise, and in the long haul, most of his changes and moves have been positive. Most, not all. The resurrection of Black Bolt was a bland bore, some of his bits with the Inhumans and Kree zip between being tedious and knee-jerk, and casting Johnny Storm as the SPARTICUS of the Negative Zone is a bit of a risk. In the short term, however, he and his editors John Denning, Lauren Sankovitch and Tom Brevoort need to step on the gas and get to the bloody point faster. This felt like a disposable issue, and no issue should feel that way of anything.
It is a genuine question of whether the FANTASTIC FOUR can support two ongoing titles. This has been attempted several times over the course of their 50 years in print, and every time it has proven fleeting. But the brilliant thing about Marvels direction is no mistake of a prior decade is unworthy of duplication. Hickman has proven to be a popular writer in terms of sales; but the book in October as a single title was only up a mere 7.5% from 2010. Sales every month still seem to dip 2.5 to over 6% an issue and the only reason Hickmans run is up overall is due to spectacular publication stunts such as the death of Johnny in January, the relaunch of FF in March, and likely the 600th issue last month. The Fantastic Four is a franchise that would be wise to not over-extend itself, but wisdom has rarely been Marvels strong suit. Thus, this begins the era of two Four books, one will fall off and die, and Marvel will can it and revert to one again, wondering where they went wrong.
In the short term, things have gotten easier. As someone who was beginning to grow weary of Hickman on FF/FANTASTIC FOUR, and faced with the dilemma of buying or dropping two titles, things have gotten clearer here. Ill buy FANTASTIC FOUR, and leave FF for dead. I imagine I will not be alone.
HERC #10: After ten issues (eleven if one includes the Point One issue), this ongoing series comes to a close. After a successful debut, sales on this series nosedives almost immediately, and not even immediate crossovers with FEAR ITSELF and SPIDER-ISLAND stopped the bleeding. It is a shame that it is ending here, as writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente seemed to have finally hit a groove with Hercules' new status quo as the mortal guardian of Brooklyn. The first half of this series offered more straight-forward action, while the latter half has mixed in more of the trademark humor that INCREDIBLE HERCULES was known for. In hindsight, the lack of Amadeus Cho perhaps harmed the dynamic, which effected the banter of the book between Herc and another character. This arc compensates by matching Herc with his father Zeus, who has been rendered mortal and dumped by Hera for yet another of his side romances. The two have gotten involved with the Russian mob resurrecting and being run by Baba Yaga, who has hired Elektra on her behalf. Herc finds himself siding with Kingpin and the Hand to eliminate Yaga, which pits him against Elektra since she has a vendetta against Fisk. Zeus acts like a drunken man-child, and almost a parody of Herc himself. The final issue offers a lot of fast one liners and clever use of mythology figures as usual. The art is by David Hahn with two inkers and colorists in tow; a usual sign of rush in production. The series ends much as it began for Hercules despite a bit of a "reset button" offered at the end. What the future holds for this franchise is questionable. The run of INCREDIBLE HERCULES started in January 2008 and was canceled in February 2010, but Marvel has kept these writers in print to finish their long term story ever since via mini-series such as HERCULES: FALL OF AN AVENGER, PRINCE OF POWER, and CHAOS WAR. After CHAOS WAR sold better than expectations, Marvel commissioned a new ongoing series, hence the rise of HERC. However, Marvel has since experienced what editor in chief Axel Alonso calls "budgetary mandates" in regards to lower selling titles. Ongoing series are being canceled left and right, and mini-series projected to sell low aren't even being published. Thus, for the first time in four years, 2012 may be a year without Pak and Van Lente on Hercules, and this may truly be the end. Hahn's artwork is far better for visual comedy than Neil Edwards' art at the start of the series. If this is the end of Pak and Van Lente on Hercules material, it would not be fair to say their run ended in its prime; however, it has ended on an upswing.
THUNDERBOLTS #166: Jeff Parker and second regular artist Declan Shalvey (and Frank Martin's colors) continue their cross time caper with their escaped T-Bolts cons. The last couple of issues saw Moonstone, Fixer, Centurius, Boomerang, Mr. Hyde, Satana, and Troll successfully escape the Raft, but did so by traveling back in time to WWII and having an adventure with the Invaders. This time, they make the same escape from that era, only wind up once again teleporting over 60 years further into the past, into the end of the 19th century. Summer 1888 in London to be exact, which is the area in which Mr. Hyde was based after and the era of the Jack The Ripper killings. Unfortunately, Mr. Hyde and Satana have decided to screw the whole space/time continuum thing and indulge upon the era by killing prostitutes to complicate the whole "Jack The Ripper" thing. In a way this is confusing as in Marvel, Jack The Ripper was himself a supernatural demon killer thing (and in one incarnation became Zaniac, who battled Thor). This causes the rest of the T-Bolt cons to don some Victorian garb and team up with some cops to try to leash the maniacs in their squad. Meanwhile, in the future (or the present), Luke Cage, Songbird, and Ghost use some Norse thingie of Valkyrie's to track the cons through time via Troll's enchanted axe. The best bit in this issue is a story beat where it reveals that Centurius has been teaching Troll how to speak properly (or at least better than single words and growls). Shalvey's artwork is quite good, and he plays well with shadows and tight alleys. That said, the time period has never been one I favored, and I usually found Jack The Ripper something that was a bit played out. I have enjoyed this time caper overall, but I also feel it is yet another distraction from the fact that Parker refuses to build arcs around a major antagonist. It is a good distraction in the short term, but still a distraction which may ware out its welcome. But with Parker turning the wheels for a conclusion, or at least a pursuit or escalation, that hasn't happened yet.
