Yee-haw. Greetings from the dojo ranch, peoples. Welcome again to the weekly-ish (hopefully…) review column about them things folks call the comics. Check out last week’s installment if you got the gumption, varmints.

Caveman Robot #1
Writers: Jason Robert Bell, Britton Walters, Joe Infurnari
Artist: Joe Infurnari
$2.50
In which Caveman Robot emerges from his secret lair to protect a futuristic city from Ape Lincoln, an evil genius ape with a taste for (banana-scented…?) crime. Another one of those nutty genre mash-ups that are thankfully all the rage these days, Caveman Robot is anarchic, fun-lovin’ chaos with a heavy dose of knowing humor and a dash of irony. The art also happens to be mightily impressive. How the hell did these guys get their book to look better than a lot of comics from Marvel and DC? Feel the goddam power of Caveman Robot!
B+

Crickets #1
Writer/Artist: Sammy Harkham
$3.95
Harkham’s enigmatic tale is going to read better when it’s collected, but nevertheless looks to be one of the finest continuing series around. In this stunner of a first issue, a guy riddled with arrows and a strange Golem encounter a man and his son on a tragic errand. Harkham’s skillful use of the unexplained and mysterious coupled with a fine sense of pacing creates an unnerving, compelling tension, and the pleasantly two-toned, Herge-inspired art provides a sharp contrast to the very strange goings-on. A creepy, brutal, and alluring work.
A

Also thought I’d take a look at the first two Astonishing X-Men storylines since the hardcover is out this week.

Astonishing X-Men Volume 1: Gifted
Writer: Joss Whedon
Artist: John Cassaday
Somewhat of a continuation of Grant Morrison’s great New X-Men, Astonishing doesn’t waste any time getting started. Kitty Pryde (a.k.a. Shadowcat) returns to Xavier’s School, a cure for the mutant gene shocks the X-Men and the world, and Ord, an imposing new villain, is introduced — all in the first issue. For the most part, “Gifted” is straightforward and enjoyable stuff. Despite what you may think of Whedon (I’m not a fan of his TV shows, personally), the man can spin a good yarn. He keeps things moving and his storytelling is nice and lean, which tends to be the best way to approach the action movie/soap opera context of the X-Men. What further boosts the book is the always-superb Cassaday, who, like Whedon, is a practitioner of control and craft.
B+

Astonishing X-Men Volume 2: Dangerous
Writer: Joss Whedon
Artist: John Cassaday
The X-Men’s Danger Room becomes sentient…and evil! It’s a good idea with a lot of possibilities, and the first couple chapters are strong. But once the Danger Room becomes Sexy Robot Humanoid Lady, any forward momentum stops dead and the book becomes just another Super Computer Gone Mad (or has it?!?) story. Whedon’s plotting gets uncharacteristically cluttered and predictable, and his attempts at the kind of clipped, declaritive dialogue that G. Morrison and W. Ellis like to use feel forced. Even Cassaday seems a bit off. All in all, it’s nothing terrible, just flat.
B-

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