Comic Book Reviews - Week of 3/14/07

I didn't post any reviews last week (I actually have a life, it seems), so the first review will be of a issue that came out March 7th. And as always, beware of spoilers.

Uncanny X-Men #484
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Penciler: Billy Tan

That's more like it. We're finally heading to the big slam-bam conclusion and the chess pieces may finally all be in place for the end game. I still think that Vulcan's conversion was too quick, but I did like the scenes he had with D'Ken and Darwin. This is how the Vulcan moments should have been handled throughout the course of RAFOTSE; a page or two updating his progress, rather than dedicating whole issues to him.

There was a lot of fun action this issue, but the highlights were the relationship moments. Rachel calls into question her and Korvus' feelings for each other (oh, and Billy Tan please pull her pants up; a back shot would have garnered a mature rating). Lilandra's appeal to the major general displayed both her strength and empathy. The aforementioned Darwin and Vulcan scene was allowed them to reconnect, yet displayed they're differences. But my favorite was Lorna and Alex's quite moment. They may not be back together, but given their history, they deserve a last evening together before going to war.

Other than Nightcrawler continuing to get a little lost in the mix, this issue seems to be moving players and events into the right direction. Warpath continues to be a fun character and the art is still exciting.

Overall: B


New X-Men #36
Writers: Craig Kyle & Chris Yost
Penciler: Paco Medina

The four part "Merury Falling" story comes to a close with this issue of Marvel's teenage mutant boob-a-thon. Outside of the T & A by the tonnage, Paco Medina's art is really spectacular. He's got great character design and action sequences, but I feel dirty after reading each issue. Hell, Emma's "uniform" was almost a throwback to her Morrison/New X-Men attire. But, I digress.

After two and a half issues of fighting and a few cute dialogue moments, we get to the bottom of what bad guys are up to. The monsters created by the mad scientists look like Excalibur's Warwolves on steroids and are more appropriate for a horror film rather than serious X-Men heavies. Apparently, one got away so, unfortunately, we'll be seeing it again.

There were some good character moments. Julian not being goading into killing Kimura, Rockslide's making fun of Kitty Pryde, Laura and Cessily sharing there similar experiences, etc. The best moment by far was Emma's handling of Kimura. This was very nasty and very Emma and the scene was played pitch perfect.

There seemed to be a moment of attraction from Cessily towards Julian after the battle. So everytime Hellion rescues a young woman, is she going develop some kind of crush on him? That's all we need, X-23 vs. Mercury over Hellion. I'm sure Medina would have fun drawing the clothes ripping in that one.

Still, this storyarc was a vast improvement when compared to the previous "Year of Death" that preceded it. Yost and Kyle gave us a little more character development with Mercury and even Rockslide had some good moments. But at the end of the day, most of these four issues were "Hellion and X-23 Go Around and Kick Some Ass". At least they kicked ass entertainingly.

Issue #36: B+
Mercury Falling (Parts 1 - 4): B


Green Lantern Corps #10
Writer: Dave Gibbons
Pencilers: Dave Gibbons & Patrick Gleason

After a three issue arc written by Keith Champagne, Dave Gibbon's picks up the writing duty right where he left off. I guess the "Darker Side of Green" arc can fit in time-wise between issues #6 and #10, but Gibbon's doesn't acknowledge it here. Instead, he picks right up with Guy Gardner still being the hot seat due to his shore leave going all wrong. If Guy Gardner can't recall the events of the last three issues, this may also be compounding his status in the Corp.

Gibbons handles the art chores for the half of the issue that centers around Guy butting heads with his superiors, particularly Salakk, and with other Lanterns that he apparently out ranks. Gibbons also provides art for a section that catches up with some of the other Lanterns usually focused on in the series, Isamot and Vath. Regular series artist Patrick Gleason delivers the visuals for the pages devoted to Lantern Soranik Natu. The former surgeon is still struggling to convince the people of her home world, Korugar, that the Green Lanterns are not evil. Unfortunately, former Lantern, fellow Korugarian, and GL arch-rival Sinestro has tarnished their reputation on that world so badly that it may be impossible.

I'm glad to get back to the other Green Lanterns after three issues focusing on Guy Gardner. Not that I dislike Guy, he's actually been really entertaining in this series. However, I'm enjoying these new recruits, particularly Soranik. I appreciate Dave Gibbon's pencil, but I love the dynamic style the Patrick Gleason brings to the page. Hopefully, he'll be pencilling the whole issue next month. Decent issue overall.

Overall: B