The Spirit #5
Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke

The Spirit tangles with a vicious new villain: The Cossack.

We’re five issues in now and, yes, it’s a phenomenal looking book. The content still has a tendency to tow the typical superhero party line too strictly, though. Don’t get me wrong, this fifth issue of The Spirit — like the others in the series — isn’t a bad comic. It goes down easy, but lacks personality and tension.

The Brave and the Bold #3
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: George Perez

Batman and Blue Beetle vs. The Fatal Five.

Besides All-Star Superman, Waid and Perez’s new Brave and the Bold series is an effortless success and already one of the best superhero comics around. This stupendous third issue offers continuity-and-pretention-free fun and excitement, a driving narrative, and genuine unpredictability. Wheeeeeee.

Read More »

Spread the word!

Hiya, folks! Sorry you haven’t heard from ye olde webhead in a while. You’d think your friendly neighborhood webslinger’s excuse would be that he’s been busy fighting crime and all that exciting jazz. But no! The truth is Spidey’s been rocking a sinus infection for like four months now. Yeah, f*&king awesome, true believers.

The Mighty Avengers #1
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Frank Cho
The post-Civil War Marvel Universe trudges forward in this book about the adventures of the government sanctioned Avengers team: Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, Wasp, Ares, Black Widow, Sentry, and Wonder Man, which is a different team from the still-active other Avengers, which are in the monthly comic titled “New Avengers,” which does wonders for the Avengers’ already awesomely convoluted history, which can only be explained through a combination of pie charts, graphs, Excel spreadsheets, advanced trigonometry, the Lascaux cave paintings, and the W.O.P.R.

Anyway, although other folks seem to have enjoyed this first issue of the series quite a bit, I have to say, besides Cho’s pretty art, I found it essentially a parade of ok ideas surrounded by dialog so irritating and self-consciously cute that the book ends up taking a fateful dive into some kind of wince-inducing parody Bendisverse.

One or two nice moments, though. My favorite is when the city of Brussels is depicted by a drawing of the Eiffel Tower. Oof.

City of Others #1
Writer: Steve Niles
Artist: Bernie Wrightson
A cold-blooded assassin becomes entwined in a bloody supernatural struggle.

So, here we have a nifty pairing: Wrightson, one of the finest and most influential comic artists of all time, paired with Niles, a dependable-if-slightly-overrated horror genre guy with stellar ideas who tends to rely on cliche and take himself too seriously. This first issue of City of Others is a crowded, wobbly, unsure genre mash — gangsters + zombies + Hammer flick…? — but a decent read nonetheless that one hopes doesn’t get too gimmicky like the ending of the comic suggests.

Good opening scene and Wrightson’s work is wonderful as usual. Although I think the choice to go with just the pencils takes some of the edge off of his work — literally and figuratively.

The Brave and the Bold #1
Writer: Mark Waid
Aritst: George Perez
A loose, straightforward, and continuity-free superhero gasm featuring Green Lantern and the Batman trying to solve a perplexing mystery. Is it going to change your life? No. But hopefully you’ll have as much fun reading this issue as Waid and Perez obviously had creating it.

MORE REVIEWS AFTER THE JUMP!

Read More »

Spread the word!

SHAZAM! THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL #1 (of 4)
Writer and Artist: Jeff Smith

It’s been a loooong time since there was a prestige (1980s represent!) title from DC “worthy” of the format, and I’m not entirely sure this first chapter of Smith’s Captain Marvel reworking/Year One proves the series is going to be worth your hard-earned $24. However, I am willing to bet it’ll make a great trade. One of the best storytellers and comedic artists in modern comics, prime examples of Smith’s careful, economical style and gentle, character-based humor can be found here in spades. The wonderful last four pages alone almost changed my mind about the whole monthly v. trade debate.

A bit precious in a couple places near the start and overall lightweight, I predict Shazam is going to be massively lauded all over the place for being old fashioned and “good for the kids,” which is nice and all, but there’s no reason to overrate it at this point as a Savior/Classic of Superhero Comics (see: New Frontier, All-Star Superman, et al) and put far too much responsibility and expectations on its shoulders. Just let it be and enjoy the ride — I’m guessing all it wants to be is much like those old C.C. Beck and Otto Binder stories: imaginative, fun, and entertaining. And that’s fine.

THE DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER BORN #1 (of 7)
Writers: Stephen King, Robin Furth, Peter David
Artists: Jae Lee, Richard Isanove

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger (and the unbelievably bloated It) marked the end of an intense middle/early-high-school love affair I had with King’s books, so one might say I’m predisposed to not enjoying this prequel to the bestselling author’s ambitious meta-epic. Sure, the genre mashup (Western + dark fantasy) and basic premise are kind of interesting, and King’s developed an original-ish and fully realized world. Which all leads to me being sorry to say I found this first chapter of the comic series just as preposterously silly, self-indulgent, heavy-handed, and predictable as the Dark Tower novels. Looks great, though.

Spread the word!

Special all-superhero edition! For the kidz!

Seriously, does anyone out there know what the first recorded use of “z” to replace “s” at the end of a word is? By god it’s horrendous…except when ironic, OF COURSE!

Anyway:

Annihilation #1-6 (of 6)
Writer: Keith Giffen
Artist: Andrea DeVito

Giffen and DeVito’s Marvel space epic to end all Marvel space epics came to a close last week in satisfying, punch-tastic fashion. Featuring most of the major players in the Marvel Universe’s outer reaches — Galactus, the Kree, the Skrull, Silver Surfer, Nova, Drax the Destroyer, Terrax, more — Annihilation concerns a relentless attack on our universe by the Negative Zone’s psychotic baddie Annihilus, whose army consists of Thanos (you remember: Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity War) and a bunch of insect-y thingies.

Although like most big crossovers it’s a bit predictable, choppy, and doesn’t amount to much at the end of the day, Giffen’s unpretentious, fast-paced narrative and DeVito’s flashy and streamlined artistic style make Annihilation a highly entertaining and exciting “event” free of the heavy-handed moralizing and forced grandiosity of pretentious, egotistical eye-rollers like Civil War and Infinite Crisis.

Teen Titans #43
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Tony Daniel

Another week, another weak DC title from Geoff Johns wherein a bunch of sourpuss heroes fight a bunch of baddies for whatever reason. Memo to Geoff: buddy, no offense, but there’s a good chance this probably isn’t going to be great literature, so it might help if you lightened up a little. How can your characters even move with all the baggage they carry around? Zing!

No, the book isn’t horrible. It’s just another exercise in maudlin, vainglorious nihilism for die-hard DC fanboys and gals…of which there are many, granted. But at the end of the day it’s just a mediocre soap.

New X-book after the jump.

Read More »

Spread the word!

Usagi Yojimbo #100
by Stan Sakai and special guests
$3.50

One of the best all-ages comics of all-time, Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo has consistently delivered laughs, action, and an endearing emotional warmth for years. Issue #100 — which is really just the 100th Dark Horse issue, as Usagi was previously published by Fantagraphics and Mirage — is a break from the ongoing narrative about the titular rabbit ronin. Instead, Usagi #100 is a breaking-the-fourth wall tribute/roast to Sakai, featuring memorable anecdotes and stories from admirers and peers such as Frank Miller, Jeff Smith, and Sergio Aragones. While this isn’t the best way to introduce someone to the wonderful world of Usagi (try any of the trades, or even the more recent, terrific #99), it’s a thoroughly charming tribute to a true legend and his legendary creation.
KFR Rating: A

Read More »

Spread the word!

Dwight T. Albatross’s The Goon Noir #1-3
by Various
$2.99/each

Eric Powell’s The Goon is an insane, hilarious, and often brilliant blend of everything cool: zombies, giant robots, and 1930s tough guys. With the three-issue miniseries Dwight T. Albatross’s The Goon Noir — named for Powell’s crudely funny amigo and series “host” — the creator hands over the reigns to friends and peers (including Mr. Show vet Brian Posehn, comedian Patton Oswalt, penciler Humberto Ramos, and many, many others) and proves that the universe of The Goon is the ultimate sandbox to play in. Arvid Nelson has Goon fight a two-headed monster with a snake for a tail; Bill Morrison writes and draws a stellar Yogi Bear parody in “Hey Goon, Comics!”; John Arcudi’s Goon roast, led by the appropriately named “Spider” in “Man of the Hour” is seriously hysterical. A nice companion piece to the regular series, and a fine jumping on point for newbies, Noir is great — if ultimately, in its biggest flaw, inessential — fun.
KFR Rating: B+

Read More »

Spread the word!

Thunderbolts #110
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Mike Deodato Jr.

Norman Osborn recruits a deadly team of supervillains to hunt down unregistered superheroes.

The first half of Ellis’s first issue to feature the new, slightly Suicide Squad-ish Thunderbolts (a group that now features Venom and Bullseye among others) is disappointingly humorless and obvious, which I guess isn’t surprising considering it’s a Civil War tie-in. But there are some nice touches in the second half — a Paul Verhoeven-esque TV commercial, references to Thunderbirds — that loosen the introductory proceedings up a bit. And Deodato’s stuff is basically solid as usual…although I seem to like his art more than most people. It’s a series probably worth monitoring for a couple issues to see where Ellis takes it.

Pirates vs. Ninjas #1
Writers: Fred Perry, Robby Bevard, Wes Hartman
Artist: Craig Babiar

Harmless, jovial, nicely drawn in an anime/manga style, and predictable in that it’s more simple-minded than it should be — meaning it doesn’t delve much deeper than the basic title concept or make much of any sense.

The Goon Volume 5: Wicked Inclinations
Writer/Artist: Eric Powell

Insane and great as usual.

Spread the word!

Happy New Year, people! Welcome to the slightly retitled “KFR Comics Reviews Roundup,” where we try and tell you what’s good, what’s not, and what’s in-between.

Civil War #6
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Steve McNiven
$2.99

A few folks, both online and off, questioned why I named this one of the worst books of 2006. Allow me to offer Civil War #6 as evidence of this series’ bloated plot, unnecessary hyper-violence, and poor characterization. Here, we see the following insanity: Iron Man leads a group of government-registered supervillains (?!) to take down people who were his friends thirty seconds ago; Captain America beats the Punisher, a supporter of his cause, to a bloody pulp; Reed Richards, in psychotic Re-Animator style, operates and cuts open clones on operating tables. None of it makes much sense — not when you consider how these characters have behaved and interacted for about 50-plus years. Steve McNiven’s work is brilliant, but Civil War is an overwrought piece of fluff pretending to be something important.
KFR Rating: C-

Read More »

Spread the word!