Dread
TMNT 1984-2009
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I do indeed read and adore IDW's TMNT comics. This week turned out to be larger than I expected and a bit lop-sided, with a few stand out books and quite a few books I considered a little "meh" or at least less than terrific, even if still perfectly alright. Onward with Spoilerism!
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 9/5/12:
ACTION COMICS #0: This bonus issue of Grant Morrison's Action Comics tells a tale fleshing out the subplot about Mr. Mxy and his wife from the 5th dimension around a quaint story about a small boy who managed to steal Superman's invulnerable cape during the start of his career. Ben Oliver does the art, and he's certainly improved from his start on ULTIMATE X-MEN to me. Sholly Fisch and Cafu write a back up strip about "Adam", the psychic strongman from Metropolis from the previous arc. It is a fine issue with some good character moments for Clark and Jimmy, although whether it is worth $4 is debatable. Morrison's run on ACTION COMICS is soon coming to an end and while I haven't found it nearly as disappointing as JLI wound up, it probably won't be a series which I vastly miss, or miss paying for. I did at least like that we saw more of Clark's supporting cast here than in some regular issues. As usual, Morrison's embrace of modernizing the feel of the late golden age Superman comics is an acquired taste.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MICRO-SERIES #8: IDW has been extremely generous to fans of their exceptional revision of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise alongside co-creator Kevin Eastman. Not only are both the core TMNT series as well as this spin off (or "micro-series") been of exceptional quality and feature excellent creative talent, but IDW has shipped one issue per week for the past three weeks. While this is likely a quirk of the schedule more than design - and this week does begin a new month - it is a tremendous benefit to fans of quality comics. Having devoted seven micro-series issues to the four Turtles, their mentor Splinter and their two human allies, this issue once again pays homage to the original Mirage Publishing/Studios series in the 1980's. While the titular Fugitoid may not be terribly well known to casual Ninja Turtle fans, he was an important character in the original Mirage comic book series. Debuting in his own one shot in 1985, FUGITOID #1 hit the stands before the original TMNT #5 as well as the only character Eastman and Peter Laird created to get his own one-shot after Raphael. On deck for this modern remake are writer Paul Allor, artist Paul McCaffrey and colorist Jean-Paul Bove; collectively they all do a fantastic job.
What the IDW era of TMNT has done so brilliantly is manage to mine the wealth of material which the franchise has developed in comics, TV cartoons, and films over the past 28 years and merge them into a concise whole which still has room for innovation. Few single issues seem to capture this editorial skill better than this issue. One of the elements from the original 1987 animated series which is done better in this era is the intergalactic war in Dimension X between Krang and his stone soldiers against the native Neutrinos. However, the original Fugitoid was involved in the middle of a war between the human Federation and the dinosaur-like Triceritons in space. Allor merges these two dynamics to make Dr. Honeycutt one of Krang's many Neutrino scientists working on developing advanced technology to allow Krang better methods to conquer the rest of the galaxy. Honeycutt's latest project is a robot which can be controlled remotely via someone's mind and can alter its form to adapt to a variety of environments. Ultimately dismaying upon giving Krang a new weapon - especially as his own son has become swallowed by propaganda - Honeycutt leads his family away from stability towards the risk of running with the Neutrino resistance. The price for this courage is exceedingly high, and very soon Honeycutt finds himself in a new form on a new world entirely. The revelation at the end shows that the Fugitoid's origin may be new, but the character has existed in the shadows of the core TMNT series since the start.
McCaffrey and Bove are in artistic tandem in this issue, each other's strengths shoring up any weaknesses which make the work look very crisp and detailed, yet fluid. The Fugitoid robot itself sees a redesign which adds some more detail, but doesn't abandon the core design to become unrecognizable. They also capture designs from Tom Waltz such as General Krang and his stone soldiers perfectly. Allor succeeds in capturing an interesting voice for Honeycutt, painting him as a very conflicted scientist who wants to do what is right, but has gotten in so deep that sometimes he isn't sure what that is anymore. In the end is the Fugitoid so eager to get revenge against Krang that he will ally with an equal evil? As always, the Fugitoid is introduced as a character of pivotal importance to the Turtles in both their past as well as their future. This issue is thus not only a solid story unto itself, but will be a key cog in the next year of the TMNT series. It is essential and excellent reading for the IDW era Ninja Turtle fan.
GUARDING THE GLOBE #1: Or, as I once considered calling it, "DAYS OF OUR SUPERHEROES". This is the first spin off ongoing series for INVINCIBLE as well as the first spin off of any kind which has no involvement from Robert Kirkman. Phil Hester is the writer with Todd Nauck on art, and the last Image series I saw Nauc's art on was his creator owned WILDGUARD series many years ago. The series picks up where the mini series left off and seeks to ship at a faster rate. While the Guardians do fight some magma-monsters and go on missions across the world for Cecil Stedman - and a plot with Seth is rumbing - the focus is really on the heroes interacting and their issues. Brit and his wife find out their son is autistic. Brit's robot pal Donald is having problems adjusting to life as a robot. Kaboomerang learns that Best Tiger isn't blind and seems to have little life outside missions. Hester captures Kirkman's voice for the characters very well, although with so many in the cast some clearly have to rise to the fore. I am glad to read a rare #1 issue somewhere which is still $2.99 and I wanted to like this more, but on the whole it is just alright, neither excellent nor terrible. I do appreciate the humanizing factors to the characters and the art, but it hasn't dazzled me much like some other comics have.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #693: I am trying to be open minded here, but two issues in and Alpha/Andy McGuire is seriously getting on my nerves and is starting to compete with Hope Summers for walking plot device territory. In fact I think the two of them would be an ideal couple; they're both unstable powerhouses with no personality or unique design beyond fulfilling a storyline objective. Or am I being too harsh? At any rate, "ALPHA" reaches it's second part via Dan Slott and artist Humberto Ramos and picks up right where the last issue did. Alpha continues to be a completely arrogant popularity ****e who has a lot of power without much responsibility, despite Spider-Man's efforts to mentor him - which are more than Frog-Man or Spider-Kid or even Arana/Spider-Girl ever got from him. At least the latter got some mentoring from Ms. Marvel and even the Fantastic Four. Once again MJ is Peter's go-to gal for emotional support and guidance - a wife in all but name. Unfortunately, Jackal has taken an interest in Alpha and promptly captures him and his family (and lawyer) in a mad scheme to do what he does every night - try to take over the world with clones. I do enjoy the voice that Slott has for Jackal; he embraces the absurdity of him and gives him a delicious sense of humor even while he still does monstrous things. Sure, the Jackal is essentially the Mr. Sinister of Spidey's world, but he is also a guy who dresses as a green furry in a blue speedo. While Peter does see a little of himself in Alpha - recall that the spider-bite did wonders for Peter's love life and he did punch out Flash in a boxing match early on with them - at every turn to showcase some responsibility, Alpha proves to be an arrogant fop. Spidey attempts to rally Alpha with a "this be my destiny" style speech so he can save his family, but in the end Alpha only cares about himself. The issue ends with Peter deciding that freak accidents and luck aren't the best judges of character in deciding who gets to have godlike super-powers, and has decided Alpha is unworthy - which actually reminds me of some points Jeremy Briggs was making in AVENGERS ACADEMY before he derailed his own argument by siding with neo-Nazis and psychos. MJ is naturally calling Peter on some of this, but she also hasn't seen Alpha at his worst and most petty. I do like how the cover to the next issue pays homage to the classic Superman/Spider-Man crossover of yore. It is worth noting that Alpha has done nothing illegal, and you could argue at least in defeating a monster he does more of a public service than most media shills do; the problem is between his arrogance and lack of morality and his lack of a memorable design or personality beyond that, Alpha has become a chore to read. Hardball at his worst in AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE wasn't anywhere near this boring or irritating. I shouldn't be rooting for Jackal to succeed in cloning and killing Alpha this soon into his lifespan. Slott created or co-created so many excellent characters on that book (and others) that I am actually baffled he has pulled such a joker from his hand this time. At this point I am patiently waiting for the more interesting Hobgoblin War story to begin in the next few issues.
AVENGERS ACADEMY #36: The penultimate chapter of "Final Exam", which will be a pivotal climax arc in Christos Gage's long running third tier Avengers title featuring new young characters. Guest artist Andrea DiVito continues to fill in for Tom Grummet and as usual does an exceptional job alongside colorist Chris Sotomayor. The cadets continue to struggle against Jeremy Briggs, a young tycoon with alchemy powers who seeks to spread his notion of order to the superhuman community by depowering all of them and then choosing which deserve their powers. While Briggs has some fair points, it is a shame he plays his hand too bluntly with rockets and alliances with psychos such as members of the "Young Masters Of Evil". While most of the issue does focus on Reptil and White Tiger regaining their mystical power amulets from their enemies, a heart breaking - as well as heart warming - scene between Mettle and Hazmat arguably steals the issue from them. Gage is wise to spread the focus around to other characters and there is a great deal of action at the heart of the issue. The climax literally ends with an explosion and it raises the stakes for this series, which is set to end in three issues. The uptick in quality has come via Gage developing his own plot lines (rather than the plot lines of crossovers) as well as the impending finality of the series on the horizon. While some series seem to end on a whimper, others end on a bang, and it will be a matter of time before one sees how this one ends. While the series may not be at its prime, it is closer to it than it has been in a year.
DARK AVENGERS #180: The title formerly known as Thunderbolts has one of those Jeff Parker issues where things don't quite work and it all seems to be a waste of an issue to bridge to a potentially better one. The "future Luke Cage clone is Judge Dredd" riff is heavy handed and humorless to the point that it does seem like a desperate attempt to leech some rep from a film which isn't even about a character most Americans care about. The plot with the Dark Avengers fighting Sultan Magus feels like a leftover plot from HULK leaking into the title and providing little but something to punch. I will say it is better to have a real villain than "general oddness" at least, I just wish Parker was doing something with the characters, which he isn't. The art by Neil Edwards is fine but not terribly memorable; I hardly think his art was a draw on HERC nor is it here. Better stories are coming for this title, but they're not here yet. Man-Thing continues to get the highlight scenes, though. Funny thing what allowing characters to talk does for them.
DEFENDERS #10: Matt Fraction, Jamie McKelvie and Mike Norton continue with their insanity, although this is a step down from the manic spy stuff of the previous issue. The Concordance Engine has sent the Defenders - and an alternate dimensional Nick Fury - back "home", although in their absence everyone has been killed by Death Celestials and seemingly the only superhero who remains is the Scott Lang version of Ant-Man, who survived by shrinking down and hiding in rubbish. Meanwhile, Silver Surfer spends a few pages making weird poses at space stuff before reaching Heaven - although God isn't Jack Kirby like he was in Mark Waid's FANTASTIC FOUR run. The madcap captions at the bottom of pages remain, and "FIGHT TO STOP BIRDS" at least acknowledges the absurdity of one two page sequence. About all I can say is that Grant Morrison is wrong; writing comics while tripping on drugs is usually not a good idea. Drugs're bad, Mmm'kay? I'm not hating this - especially the artwork - and I acknowledge that DEFENDERS is best when it's weird. That said, this isn't a book where I am stunned it is ending at issue twelve nor is it one I will miss very much.
VENOM #24: Cullen Bunn's first arc as solo writer continues to delve into supernatural stuff, which I don't altogether feel works with VENOM. "CIRCLE OF FOUR" - which was no masterwork by any stretch of anyone's imagination - at least had the justification of being a crossover with GHOST RIDER among other titles. In fact this feels very much like those episodes of "SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES" in the 90's which had Dormammu and Baron Mordo without Dr. Strange, and thus the webbed hero felt out of their depth. The gimmick here is Hellstorm believes he and Venom are not far removed and he'd very much like to add him to his cabal of monstrous demons. I am reminded of earlier issues when Rick Remender would have Flash be genre savvy enough to mock when a villain was giving him the "we're not so different" speech. The art by Thony Silas is great and it does continue the themes of Flash's worst enemy being within, as he's apparently so messed up he has an unwilling demon within him. And while Katy Kiernan is being shoved at us, she's at least more memorable for the moment than Carlie Cooper was. This book without Remender was always going to be a tougher sell, and while nothing is bad and it all is technically fine, I don't believe it is Bunn's best foot. I certainly hope it isn't.
ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #2: Valiant Entertainment's latest relaunch of one of their much beloved franchises of the 1990's continues along its course of over the top satire alongside action and buddy-comedy. Former INCREDIBLE HERCULES writer Fred Van Lente and artist Clayton Henry (alongside colorist Matt Milla) continue to revise the original material in their own ways, and the result is always a good time. The fundamentalist theme-park raised assassin Archer has united with the immortal drunkard Armstrong in resistance to "the Sect", which is a HYDRA style revision of "The Illuminati", the secret system which runs the world. There are various sections of "the Sect" who have their own agendas and names, such as "The One Percent", who are theatrical Wall Street tycoon terrorists, or "The Spirituali", who are literally nuns trained as ninja. While some may see this as propaganda, at the core this series has the same sorts of villains that many Marvel and DC comics do, only instead of them being based on fictional groups, they are satirized versions of real ones. It is hard not to laugh at members of "The One Percent" who wear bull or bear masks and consider murdered security guards as "downsized" employees, or who mumble mystical incantations with banking jargon. Van Lente is a master at the sort of banter between two unlikely allies as these two, and Henry's art is perfect for action and physical comedy (especially facial expressions) as well. Two issues in and this remains the spiritual ancestor to INCREDIBLE HERCULES, and anyone who enjoyed that exceptional series should run, not walk, to the Valiant section of their shop and pick this new series up.
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 9/5/12:
ACTION COMICS #0: This bonus issue of Grant Morrison's Action Comics tells a tale fleshing out the subplot about Mr. Mxy and his wife from the 5th dimension around a quaint story about a small boy who managed to steal Superman's invulnerable cape during the start of his career. Ben Oliver does the art, and he's certainly improved from his start on ULTIMATE X-MEN to me. Sholly Fisch and Cafu write a back up strip about "Adam", the psychic strongman from Metropolis from the previous arc. It is a fine issue with some good character moments for Clark and Jimmy, although whether it is worth $4 is debatable. Morrison's run on ACTION COMICS is soon coming to an end and while I haven't found it nearly as disappointing as JLI wound up, it probably won't be a series which I vastly miss, or miss paying for. I did at least like that we saw more of Clark's supporting cast here than in some regular issues. As usual, Morrison's embrace of modernizing the feel of the late golden age Superman comics is an acquired taste.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MICRO-SERIES #8: IDW has been extremely generous to fans of their exceptional revision of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise alongside co-creator Kevin Eastman. Not only are both the core TMNT series as well as this spin off (or "micro-series") been of exceptional quality and feature excellent creative talent, but IDW has shipped one issue per week for the past three weeks. While this is likely a quirk of the schedule more than design - and this week does begin a new month - it is a tremendous benefit to fans of quality comics. Having devoted seven micro-series issues to the four Turtles, their mentor Splinter and their two human allies, this issue once again pays homage to the original Mirage Publishing/Studios series in the 1980's. While the titular Fugitoid may not be terribly well known to casual Ninja Turtle fans, he was an important character in the original Mirage comic book series. Debuting in his own one shot in 1985, FUGITOID #1 hit the stands before the original TMNT #5 as well as the only character Eastman and Peter Laird created to get his own one-shot after Raphael. On deck for this modern remake are writer Paul Allor, artist Paul McCaffrey and colorist Jean-Paul Bove; collectively they all do a fantastic job.
What the IDW era of TMNT has done so brilliantly is manage to mine the wealth of material which the franchise has developed in comics, TV cartoons, and films over the past 28 years and merge them into a concise whole which still has room for innovation. Few single issues seem to capture this editorial skill better than this issue. One of the elements from the original 1987 animated series which is done better in this era is the intergalactic war in Dimension X between Krang and his stone soldiers against the native Neutrinos. However, the original Fugitoid was involved in the middle of a war between the human Federation and the dinosaur-like Triceritons in space. Allor merges these two dynamics to make Dr. Honeycutt one of Krang's many Neutrino scientists working on developing advanced technology to allow Krang better methods to conquer the rest of the galaxy. Honeycutt's latest project is a robot which can be controlled remotely via someone's mind and can alter its form to adapt to a variety of environments. Ultimately dismaying upon giving Krang a new weapon - especially as his own son has become swallowed by propaganda - Honeycutt leads his family away from stability towards the risk of running with the Neutrino resistance. The price for this courage is exceedingly high, and very soon Honeycutt finds himself in a new form on a new world entirely. The revelation at the end shows that the Fugitoid's origin may be new, but the character has existed in the shadows of the core TMNT series since the start.
McCaffrey and Bove are in artistic tandem in this issue, each other's strengths shoring up any weaknesses which make the work look very crisp and detailed, yet fluid. The Fugitoid robot itself sees a redesign which adds some more detail, but doesn't abandon the core design to become unrecognizable. They also capture designs from Tom Waltz such as General Krang and his stone soldiers perfectly. Allor succeeds in capturing an interesting voice for Honeycutt, painting him as a very conflicted scientist who wants to do what is right, but has gotten in so deep that sometimes he isn't sure what that is anymore. In the end is the Fugitoid so eager to get revenge against Krang that he will ally with an equal evil? As always, the Fugitoid is introduced as a character of pivotal importance to the Turtles in both their past as well as their future. This issue is thus not only a solid story unto itself, but will be a key cog in the next year of the TMNT series. It is essential and excellent reading for the IDW era Ninja Turtle fan.
GUARDING THE GLOBE #1: Or, as I once considered calling it, "DAYS OF OUR SUPERHEROES". This is the first spin off ongoing series for INVINCIBLE as well as the first spin off of any kind which has no involvement from Robert Kirkman. Phil Hester is the writer with Todd Nauck on art, and the last Image series I saw Nauc's art on was his creator owned WILDGUARD series many years ago. The series picks up where the mini series left off and seeks to ship at a faster rate. While the Guardians do fight some magma-monsters and go on missions across the world for Cecil Stedman - and a plot with Seth is rumbing - the focus is really on the heroes interacting and their issues. Brit and his wife find out their son is autistic. Brit's robot pal Donald is having problems adjusting to life as a robot. Kaboomerang learns that Best Tiger isn't blind and seems to have little life outside missions. Hester captures Kirkman's voice for the characters very well, although with so many in the cast some clearly have to rise to the fore. I am glad to read a rare #1 issue somewhere which is still $2.99 and I wanted to like this more, but on the whole it is just alright, neither excellent nor terrible. I do appreciate the humanizing factors to the characters and the art, but it hasn't dazzled me much like some other comics have.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #693: I am trying to be open minded here, but two issues in and Alpha/Andy McGuire is seriously getting on my nerves and is starting to compete with Hope Summers for walking plot device territory. In fact I think the two of them would be an ideal couple; they're both unstable powerhouses with no personality or unique design beyond fulfilling a storyline objective. Or am I being too harsh? At any rate, "ALPHA" reaches it's second part via Dan Slott and artist Humberto Ramos and picks up right where the last issue did. Alpha continues to be a completely arrogant popularity ****e who has a lot of power without much responsibility, despite Spider-Man's efforts to mentor him - which are more than Frog-Man or Spider-Kid or even Arana/Spider-Girl ever got from him. At least the latter got some mentoring from Ms. Marvel and even the Fantastic Four. Once again MJ is Peter's go-to gal for emotional support and guidance - a wife in all but name. Unfortunately, Jackal has taken an interest in Alpha and promptly captures him and his family (and lawyer) in a mad scheme to do what he does every night - try to take over the world with clones. I do enjoy the voice that Slott has for Jackal; he embraces the absurdity of him and gives him a delicious sense of humor even while he still does monstrous things. Sure, the Jackal is essentially the Mr. Sinister of Spidey's world, but he is also a guy who dresses as a green furry in a blue speedo. While Peter does see a little of himself in Alpha - recall that the spider-bite did wonders for Peter's love life and he did punch out Flash in a boxing match early on with them - at every turn to showcase some responsibility, Alpha proves to be an arrogant fop. Spidey attempts to rally Alpha with a "this be my destiny" style speech so he can save his family, but in the end Alpha only cares about himself. The issue ends with Peter deciding that freak accidents and luck aren't the best judges of character in deciding who gets to have godlike super-powers, and has decided Alpha is unworthy - which actually reminds me of some points Jeremy Briggs was making in AVENGERS ACADEMY before he derailed his own argument by siding with neo-Nazis and psychos. MJ is naturally calling Peter on some of this, but she also hasn't seen Alpha at his worst and most petty. I do like how the cover to the next issue pays homage to the classic Superman/Spider-Man crossover of yore. It is worth noting that Alpha has done nothing illegal, and you could argue at least in defeating a monster he does more of a public service than most media shills do; the problem is between his arrogance and lack of morality and his lack of a memorable design or personality beyond that, Alpha has become a chore to read. Hardball at his worst in AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE wasn't anywhere near this boring or irritating. I shouldn't be rooting for Jackal to succeed in cloning and killing Alpha this soon into his lifespan. Slott created or co-created so many excellent characters on that book (and others) that I am actually baffled he has pulled such a joker from his hand this time. At this point I am patiently waiting for the more interesting Hobgoblin War story to begin in the next few issues.
AVENGERS ACADEMY #36: The penultimate chapter of "Final Exam", which will be a pivotal climax arc in Christos Gage's long running third tier Avengers title featuring new young characters. Guest artist Andrea DiVito continues to fill in for Tom Grummet and as usual does an exceptional job alongside colorist Chris Sotomayor. The cadets continue to struggle against Jeremy Briggs, a young tycoon with alchemy powers who seeks to spread his notion of order to the superhuman community by depowering all of them and then choosing which deserve their powers. While Briggs has some fair points, it is a shame he plays his hand too bluntly with rockets and alliances with psychos such as members of the "Young Masters Of Evil". While most of the issue does focus on Reptil and White Tiger regaining their mystical power amulets from their enemies, a heart breaking - as well as heart warming - scene between Mettle and Hazmat arguably steals the issue from them. Gage is wise to spread the focus around to other characters and there is a great deal of action at the heart of the issue. The climax literally ends with an explosion and it raises the stakes for this series, which is set to end in three issues. The uptick in quality has come via Gage developing his own plot lines (rather than the plot lines of crossovers) as well as the impending finality of the series on the horizon. While some series seem to end on a whimper, others end on a bang, and it will be a matter of time before one sees how this one ends. While the series may not be at its prime, it is closer to it than it has been in a year.
DARK AVENGERS #180: The title formerly known as Thunderbolts has one of those Jeff Parker issues where things don't quite work and it all seems to be a waste of an issue to bridge to a potentially better one. The "future Luke Cage clone is Judge Dredd" riff is heavy handed and humorless to the point that it does seem like a desperate attempt to leech some rep from a film which isn't even about a character most Americans care about. The plot with the Dark Avengers fighting Sultan Magus feels like a leftover plot from HULK leaking into the title and providing little but something to punch. I will say it is better to have a real villain than "general oddness" at least, I just wish Parker was doing something with the characters, which he isn't. The art by Neil Edwards is fine but not terribly memorable; I hardly think his art was a draw on HERC nor is it here. Better stories are coming for this title, but they're not here yet. Man-Thing continues to get the highlight scenes, though. Funny thing what allowing characters to talk does for them.
DEFENDERS #10: Matt Fraction, Jamie McKelvie and Mike Norton continue with their insanity, although this is a step down from the manic spy stuff of the previous issue. The Concordance Engine has sent the Defenders - and an alternate dimensional Nick Fury - back "home", although in their absence everyone has been killed by Death Celestials and seemingly the only superhero who remains is the Scott Lang version of Ant-Man, who survived by shrinking down and hiding in rubbish. Meanwhile, Silver Surfer spends a few pages making weird poses at space stuff before reaching Heaven - although God isn't Jack Kirby like he was in Mark Waid's FANTASTIC FOUR run. The madcap captions at the bottom of pages remain, and "FIGHT TO STOP BIRDS" at least acknowledges the absurdity of one two page sequence. About all I can say is that Grant Morrison is wrong; writing comics while tripping on drugs is usually not a good idea. Drugs're bad, Mmm'kay? I'm not hating this - especially the artwork - and I acknowledge that DEFENDERS is best when it's weird. That said, this isn't a book where I am stunned it is ending at issue twelve nor is it one I will miss very much.
VENOM #24: Cullen Bunn's first arc as solo writer continues to delve into supernatural stuff, which I don't altogether feel works with VENOM. "CIRCLE OF FOUR" - which was no masterwork by any stretch of anyone's imagination - at least had the justification of being a crossover with GHOST RIDER among other titles. In fact this feels very much like those episodes of "SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES" in the 90's which had Dormammu and Baron Mordo without Dr. Strange, and thus the webbed hero felt out of their depth. The gimmick here is Hellstorm believes he and Venom are not far removed and he'd very much like to add him to his cabal of monstrous demons. I am reminded of earlier issues when Rick Remender would have Flash be genre savvy enough to mock when a villain was giving him the "we're not so different" speech. The art by Thony Silas is great and it does continue the themes of Flash's worst enemy being within, as he's apparently so messed up he has an unwilling demon within him. And while Katy Kiernan is being shoved at us, she's at least more memorable for the moment than Carlie Cooper was. This book without Remender was always going to be a tougher sell, and while nothing is bad and it all is technically fine, I don't believe it is Bunn's best foot. I certainly hope it isn't.
ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #2: Valiant Entertainment's latest relaunch of one of their much beloved franchises of the 1990's continues along its course of over the top satire alongside action and buddy-comedy. Former INCREDIBLE HERCULES writer Fred Van Lente and artist Clayton Henry (alongside colorist Matt Milla) continue to revise the original material in their own ways, and the result is always a good time. The fundamentalist theme-park raised assassin Archer has united with the immortal drunkard Armstrong in resistance to "the Sect", which is a HYDRA style revision of "The Illuminati", the secret system which runs the world. There are various sections of "the Sect" who have their own agendas and names, such as "The One Percent", who are theatrical Wall Street tycoon terrorists, or "The Spirituali", who are literally nuns trained as ninja. While some may see this as propaganda, at the core this series has the same sorts of villains that many Marvel and DC comics do, only instead of them being based on fictional groups, they are satirized versions of real ones. It is hard not to laugh at members of "The One Percent" who wear bull or bear masks and consider murdered security guards as "downsized" employees, or who mumble mystical incantations with banking jargon. Van Lente is a master at the sort of banter between two unlikely allies as these two, and Henry's art is perfect for action and physical comedy (especially facial expressions) as well. Two issues in and this remains the spiritual ancestor to INCREDIBLE HERCULES, and anyone who enjoyed that exceptional series should run, not walk, to the Valiant section of their shop and pick this new series up.
