Chris Bachelo has been crap since the 90's, when he decided he didn't need things like anatomy, perspective, or good angles. Hence a lot of his 21st century work lacks those things, so everyone looks like clay.
At any rate, welcome to another spoiler filled review session!
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 3/23/11 - Part 1:
HAUNT #14: This is the third arc of this series by Robert Kirkman, Greg Capullo, Jonathon Glapion, three colorists, and of course, Todd McFarlane. The biggest catch to this one is that the brothers Kilgore are dealing with a supernatural threat that they have no knowledge of. Normally, they have special ops missions with deceased brother Kurt's spy company, and he is able to lend his brother Daniel his expertise. It seems whatever supernatural glitch allows them to become the inhuman Haunt goes against certain rules, and now this giant, red and black ghostly figure wants to yank Kurt away to "the beyond" forever. The creature is called the Apparition, which in classic Kirkman manner is a character named in the letter column and not the story itself (the fate a few side INVINCIBLE characters). Unfortunately, this all happens during an actual mission, which doesn't endear Daniel to his fellow agents.
Thus, Daniel tracks down the woman from the first couple of issues who seems to know plot relevant mystical information, and who named them as "a Haunt". If Haunt himself appears to be made up of left over sketch work of Spider-Man and Venom from the 80's and 90's, then Alegria seems heavily inspired by McFarlane's design of Calypso from that period. It is a bit of a stereotype and certainly doesn't help trying to describe this series as something beyond, "Robert Kirkman re-imagines Spawn".
While McFarlane is only a co-inker now, there seemed to be something different about the inks. Either the inks or pencils were rushed, as the art for this issue seemed simpler than prior ones with the same art team. It isn't bad by any means, but there was some noticable difference. The last issue was priced at $1.99 to help promote the third arc, which was a solid move; this issue is back to a $2.99 price tag, which isn't bad either in today's day and age. This is a middle chapter issue, nothing more, nothing less. It isn't anywhere near INVINCIBLE's league yet.
INVINCIBLE #78: This is the final installment of the Viltrumite War saga, and while it did come out more than four weeks after the last issue, this is a rare occurance of the series shipping monthly; issue #77 shipped at the start of February. The GUARDING THE GLOBE mini series that was supposed to take place during this time is also running late, as are a slew of Robert Kirkman comic books - he is working on new comics as well as a TV show for AMC these days, after all. Following up from the last issue, the finale of this intergalactic war of super-men ends on more a somber note than the bloodshed that many expect - even if the middle chapters had tons of that. After ten months in space, the titular hero and his father (and tag along Tech-Jacket, whose back up strip continues this month) are back on earth. A stalemate with the Viltrumite empire has been established, but neither side feels like a winner -especially Mark. His parents have an awkward, long overdue reunion and Mark barely scratches the surface of what his own girlfriend, Atom Eve, has been through. She was pregnant when we last left her, and aside for some extra weight, the conclusion of that subplot remains a mystery, which will surely be played up in later issues. It is interesting how this and future covers still depict Eve in her usual body type. At any rate, this has been an ambitious arc for the series. Kirkman has built towards a full on war with the Viltrumites for years, and has delivered on that promise.
The conclusion is a resolution that likely won't please everyone, especially as there are a dozen loose ends. However, this is an ideal conclusion compared to one that sought to close a door forever, and wound up in a rut or a corner in 6-24 months time. The usual art team - Ryan Ottley on pencils, Cliff Rathburn on inks and FCO Plascencia on colors - is superb as always. Despite this not being an action issue, there are still a lot of tender moments, comedic bits, and soap opera style drama to keep fans of thus superhero opus entertained. If there is any hiccup, it is that the gimmick of having the lead character leave earth for a stretch and return with things different has been done several times before, and has become short hand for thrusting his supporting cast in new directions with ample speed - but perhaps this is no bad thing in the long run. Nearing in at eighty issues with little seeming to stop it from reaching a centennial issue, INVINCIBLE remains one of the best spandex comics on the stands. Available in hardcover, trade paperback, even digital form. It may not get as much publicity as zombies, but it is the other key segment of Kirkman's passion.
ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE #5: This zany mini series by Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert, with inks by Mark Roslan and colors (or co-writing) credit to Justin Ponsor continues. The schedule for it has gone off the rails, as has become common for any Marvel title that begins with ASTONISHING. The format is intended to provide a simple adventure that will amuse long term readers but won’t confuse new ones in book stores when the trade inevitably ships. Originally intended as a bi-monthly mini series, apparently either Aaron or Kubert, or both, have been unable to meet it. The last issue shipped at the end of December, and issue three had shipped in September. Future solicits claim this series will finish in May or June, and I may believe that when I see it. The length of time between issues is a concern; while this is a story that is shallow enough that time between issues doesn’t especially hurt or hold up a franchise, it isn’t a story strong enough to brush off long gaps in material.
Jason Aaron is a writer who has worked on WOLVERINE and GHOST RIDER before, and he has quite an imagination as well as a flair for the supernatural and obscure characters. What he has crafted for this mini series is an utterly bizarre story in which the title heroes have spent half the series bouncing around one strange time zone to the next having wonky adventures. The cause seems to be magical crystals that allow those who have them to time travel, but “have a mind of their own”. Fortunately, the ultimate catalyst of the heroes’ travels has been revealed as the other dimensional TV warlord Mojo, which actually makes this strange story make some degree of sense. Spider-Man and Wolverine have been jumping into wacky alternate time zones for the amusement of Mojo’s dimensional audiences. In this issue, the heroes manage to take the fight to their oppressors as well as discover the secret of the crystals.
While Mojo is the overall mastermind, the series also has two other villains who are on the cover of this issue; Czar and his midget sidekick, Big Murder. They are the two who discovered the time-crystals, and use them to basically earn cash from Mojo and to pummel people across time and space to appease their own massive egos. They are either terribly offensive stereotypes of black men, or are intentional satires of “gangsta thugs” taken to cosmic conclusions. Aaron is perfectly capable of writing stereotypical (or satires of) other sorts of ethnicities; his GHOST RIDER run featured uzi-carrying nuns and a hulking tattoo sporting Southern white guy named Deacon who was a Bible thumping maniac, after all. At any rate, Czar ends up clashing against Wolverine this issue, and becomes the focus of perhaps one of the most hilarious time travel comedy skits featured in comics in some time. Unfortunately, just when it seems Spider-Man and Wolverine are turning the tables, some ramifications from a weapon Wolverine carelessly used in issue three come home to roost for the finale.
This has been a strange series. It is either awesome or stupid, and which side it ultimately falls under will depend on the particular taste of the reader. While Kubert may struggle with even a bi-monthly schedule, his artwork is still something to behold. I definitely always get a laugh out of every issue, and this one had some of the best laughs of the series yet. Some bits are deliberate comedy, while others are so ludicrous they cannot be taken seriously. Spider-Man, at the very least, is aware of some of this in his banter. While this may not go down as a classic by any means, it may go down as an amusing lark which manages to read like a script written via a game of MAD LIBS or a brain storming session at a pub after a convention. Spider-Man and Wolverine appear in so much material, perhaps the only way for something extra to make a splash is for it to be completely insane. This series certainly fulfills on that promise. The title may as well be “AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT”.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #615.1: Marvel's ".1 Initiative" in promotion was intended to provide an ideal "jumping on point" for established ongoing titles in which hopping aboard a story in progress is difficult. In practice, this initiative has been used to promote new launches, like VENOM, to providing an annual style adventure that is done by another creative team (such as this week's enjoyable THOR #620.1), to being another way of saying "#1 issue", as with GHOST RIDER #0.1 that is coming in June. This comic, at the very least, comes close to the mark of the original intention. It is written by Ed Brubaker, who has been writing CAPTAIN AMERICA for over five years and will continue to do so, with art by Mitch and Bettie Breitweiser, who have done regular art on CAPTAIN AMERICA before. This issue also summarizes the current status quo as well as provides a done-in-one tale that sets up CAPTAIN AMERICA #616 - which ships next week (often due to scheduling error, the .1 issue has shipped after an ideal break in a title's storylines). At this point, the world is lacking an official Captain America. Steve Rogers, the original, has settled into being the head of "not SHIELD", which involves more time behind a desk than he is used to (even if he still runs a squad of SECRET AVENGERS). James "Bucky" Barnes, his revived sidekick and current Capt. America, is in an international prison after escaping U.S. terror charges, but not charges in Russia. In this issue, a new Captain America, with super-powers and all, arises from the shadows to claim the mantle, and promptly sparks media attention as well as that of AIM. Is it all a ploy of the Power Broker, and what role does Nick Fury play in all this?
To discuss the elephant in the room, this story implies that the next arc in the ongoing title will be, "Will Steve Rogers once again become Capt. America"? And given that he has a film coming out in July, and that he has been Captain America for most of the past 45 years, and that the originals never truly leave a legacy forever (just ask the Flash or Green Lantern), the answer seems obvious. To be frank, it is a card that Brubaker is at the risk of over playing. There was a lot of hand wringing over Bucky taking over for Rogers when he was believed dead, and then there was the hilariously titled WHO WILL WIELD THE SHIELD one shot when Rogers returned. Then there was an arc in which the Grand Director, a fanatic who had himself surgically altered to resemble Rogers, arose as a contender for the mantle. Barely a year later it is arising again, and Brubaker, who has stood the test of time on this series and elevated it from the dumps, is in the risk of a rut. On the other hand, Brubaker has managed to keep Rogers away from the mantle for over 3 years of time via death or a desk job, so he could have a surprise up his sleeve despite what editorial likely wants. Questions of the future aside, this is an effective one shot issue that keeps new and old fans entertained and abreast of the main title, with great artwork.
FF #1: This stands for Future Foundation technically, not FINAL FANTASY or FAST FORWARD. In practice, it is really FANTASTIC FOUR #589, but the idea from Marvel is to relaunch the title for a year as something else and then likely return to the old title once a 600th issue is due in 2012. Normally, this is an irritating short term strategy, but it seems to be working for the Four. The "death" issue, #587, is selling more in reprints than many Marvel titles do in initial prints (like SPIDER-GIRL), and the entire "THREE" arc has seen at least three printings. Even the "final" issue of FANTASTIC FOUR, #588, sold nearly double what the Four usually averaged. Given that the Fantastic Four have fallen into a near C-List franchise level, this editorial ploy has at least gotten the desired effect to get them more in the main stream. At any rate, for a "debut issue", this picks up exactly where the "final" issue of FANTASTIC FOUR left off. Jonathon Hickman continues his run on the title, and is once again alongside Steve Epting (who took a break from issue #588), with Paul Mounts on colors and Rick Magyar helping Epting on inks. The Future Foundation are Reed Richard's think tank of extended family and cast members, which include his two children, the reality warping Franklin and the smug super-genius Val. Johnny may be dead, but because his digital "will" encouraged the team to continue, and for Spider-Man to take his place, Reed puts both into action. Thus, Spider-Man gets a tour of the new Baxtor Building, an extra costume for video game appearances, and his first stock adventure trying to prevent AIM from breaking the Wizard out of jail. The idea is that none of the remaining Four want to stand still very long, for the emotional grief from losing Johnny still haunts them - Ben Grimm especially. The issue ends with one of the Four's best known enemies seemingly joining the Foundation, and if one can't guess who it is, his name rhymes with "zoom".
Epting's art is great, although he seems to handle Spider-Man's default costume better than his new one. Reed's time travelling father Nathanial is also a part of the next extended family, and this either causes him to act slightly more like a child than a father figure due to emotional reaction, or Hickman is trying to be crude to establish that Nathanial is supposed to be smarter than Reed. It is good to see the Four no longer bound by that one digit to have a sprawling extended family, who are all introduced to the reader in the last pages. The only downer is the $3.99 cover price, which Marvel insists they won't do any longer for debut issues to ongoing series, yet they continue to do so - like the heroin addict who vows his next hit will be his last. As an issue of FANTASTIC FOUR in all but official title, it is quite good - as a new launch, it offers little surprises right now. Unlike when he joined the Avengers, this team feels more natural for Spider-Man since he has interacted with them since AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1; when Sue asks how his aunt is upon his entry, it feels very organic. While having Spider-Man join a team is often a sales lure (and it likely is to a degree here), in terms of the long term saga of Marvel's web-slinger, it feels like an "about time" moment. Dan Slott will have a lot of fun with this angle in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, and it will be good to see Spider-Man on a team where he isn't treated like a sidekick. Is it a good jumping on point for readers who had not invested in the past year or two of FANTASTIC FOUR? Probably better than one will get in a while. Just don't let the costumes confuse it with UNCANNY X-FORCE.
. Everybody elses DP = 
