[4] [FEB 02 2010]
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Whasssssup!
I’m a little delayed this week, but the followers of my reviews/column know that’s nothing new for me. I‘ve been frozen solid with the snow dumped on this weekend, something us Virginians haven‘t been used to in a while. Anyways, I have a great line-up of books this week…in fact, so great I don’t have a bad review in the lot of books I‘ve read. Well, let’s get this bitch rolling…..ENJOY! [WHAT I'M DIGGING THIS WEEK]:[New Avengers #61] - Now here‘s a book I‘ve been waiting to toot the horn of for a while. I‘ve consistently enjoyed this title, but the book has really jumped higher in quality since Stuart Immonen, who Bendis previously worked with on Ultimate Spider-Man (before Loeb washed that world away), joined the creative team. Immonen has a real knack for feeding the maniac energy that Bendis brings to his storytelling, something that has burned previous artists out, but Stuart seems to thrive in it as I believe this is his best work yet for Marvel. I hope he can stay with the book to its end, as his skillset works with what Bendis likes to do with this underdog street superhero team book. Acuna joined the book this issue as well, and did the Spider-Man/Spider-Woman part of the story. The artists, thought not similar, played off each other nicely, probably due most to a similar color scheme throughout the issue.
As for the story, Bendis deals with Hood’s repowering and revenge with the Nord Stones Loki provided to him, as well as Bucky and Cap back together. Its fantastic to see Captain America in action in this book again, too…even if its not in costume. He really steals the issue with an incredible fight scene with a few Hammer agents and Hoods’ goons, and has a more mentor quality about him than usual, which I really liked. I thought he made a nice script move by focusing the duality of this story on the two Caps and two Spider…um…people on the team and having two artists do them. It worked well and this book ended up being one of my favorites of the week yet again. Kudos to the creative team…
[GRADE= A] I Want You…not you…you….no, no the one in the black shirt. Ah, forget it.
[DEBUT OF THE WEEK][Ultimate Enemy #1] - I know, I know. This looks like a Bendis love-fest already. Well, get over it….this is a great start. Warning: I’ve only been reading Ultimate Avengers in the wake of Ultimatum so I’m not aware of anything more has happened in Ultimate Spider-man. This was one of those unique reading experiences, where after I read the first issue, I have no idea what is going on, but I loved it anyway. We get to check in on a few characters not in Ultimate books right now (the Ultimate FF, Jessica Drew) and what’s going on in their lives, as a mysterious attack draws them together. Very cryptic so far, but a lot of fun.
On art, Rafa Sandoval does a commendable job. Its not his best work overall, as he takes some smaller panels off ….but when he’s on, he’s really good. He throws some amazing amounts of detail in the attack on New York City, and his spreads are top-notch. Its really some of the better visuals I’ve seen in the Ultimate Universe outside of Hitch, and the brighter coloring here really work for the mid-day destruction. For a Bendis title, this book is surprisingly under hyped, but Rafa definitely gives the book a high profile feel. Can’t wait to see more of this one…..
[GRADE= B+] OMG. Look… it’s the Jonas brothers!
[COVER OF THE WEEK][From The Amazing Spider-Man #619, by Marcos Martin][Reason]- It is a fantastic concept drawn and colored incredibly well. I love the interaction with the letters (I‘m a sucker for that), and Martin‘s style is perfectly suited to draw potential readers in. The blood and bodies add questions along with Spider-Man‘s body language. Well done.
[SHORT AND SWEET][Captain America: Reborn #6] - In the tradition of Hitch books…finally the ending is here. Jokes and delays aside (I review quality, not time management), this was a great finish. I like the scope here, which actually surprised me, as I hadn‘t seen the previous issues lead up having this much of a smash, character-heavy finale. There‘s a gripping mental battle between Cap and Red Skull, and Brubaker shows he end things with a bang like the best of ‘em, with more an a little old school Avenger team feel/. Hitch didn‘t have a great issue, especially with the amount of time taken, but he‘s still able to perform at a consistent pace, something he hadn’t always done in previous issues. His “I’m back” Cap did chill me a bit, definitely the desired effect there, and reminded of his Ultimates days more than anything he’s done since .....
[GRADE= B-][Avengers: The Initiative #32] - Christos N. Gage and Mahmud Asrar bring us a Siege-tie in that focuses almost solely on Taskmaster as the Initiative heads to the invasion of Asgard, breaking momentarily for the Resistance and Diamondback plot threads. I thought this was one of Gage‘s best solo issues yet on the series, as the internal dialogue of Taskmaster sold the issue. Its riveting, gripping, and understandable, as he does more for the character here than any previous issues, combined. Asrar is a newcomer on art, but does an above average job. Nothing really stood out in a positive or negative way, but this was an issue than depended more on its plot development than action so far. Very well done.
[GRADE= B][Kick-Ass #8] - This issue marks the last issue of the first “chapter“ of Kick-Ass, and if you thought it would end with a bloody mess, ding ding, you‘re a winner. Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl avenged the death of Big Daddy in a chaotic masterpiece of blood, broken bones, and action-movie one liners, and I loved every page of it. Millar and Romita definitely deliver on their promise to bring the most vulgar, violent series they possibly could and its really fun as a reader to see a creative team so obviously enjoying themselves. Pre-teen doing coke? Here. Meat cleavers to the dome? Check. Flame thrower? They got ya. Millar even spends a surprising amount of time wrapping things up, and dropping a few future tidbits for the fans. I likey.
[GRADE= B+][RUMBLINGS AND RAMBLINGS]Actual conversation at my employment:
My boss (who’s 30): Dude, check that out.
Me: What?
Boss: That girl, she’s cheat-able hot.
Me: Um….cheat-able?
Boss: Yeah, she’s way out of my league, man. If I get with her once, it won’t even be cheating. Its like it doesn't count!
Me: Oh boy. The logic of some people……
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And that’s all for today. Come back next weekend for more In Case You Missed It. I‘ll have a movie review section debut and more comics, covers, and my bullshit. As usual, you can post your thoughts below and you can also reach me at my email at ben.lehnsherr@the-ush.com. See ya next week! 
