"BOCEPHEUS" |
"These reviews are based on the Sneak Peek
titles sent out by Marvel, DC & Image. It's not everything that's shipping for
the week, but it is a real good cross-section of this weeks releases. Check the
bottom of the page (after you read my reviews) for a link to some SNEAKY PEEKIES
of future titles" |
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 BOOK
OF THE WEEK:
MYSTERY IN SPACE #1 (of 8)
Comic Review by:
Larry "Bocepheus" Evans
Writer: Jim Starlin,
Artist: Starlin/Shane Davis
In a continuing attempt to bring space based comics back on
the market by DC and Marvel we get here a new version of
Mystery in Space from a man who feels at home out in the
cosmos-Jim Starlin. He turned Captain Marvel interesting,
created Thanos and turned the creation Him into Adam Warlock
so here he takes the character of Captain Comet in an effort
to turn him into something. He begins by dropping us in on
Comet in the middle of a fight where he has found himself
after dying then shows us how he got there. Starlin writes
this as a detective story because it is a mystery and drops
hints about where the series is going in the following
issues. I could have done without the talking dog because he
seems to be a canine version of Warlock’s Pip the Troll who
existed to get the story over to the readers. Shane Davis
draws the Comet part of the issue and his art is dam good
here. Starlin draws the second story involving his creation,
the Weird. As is the case in the first tale the strange one
is reborn as we get the history behind him and his
encounters with the JLA. When the Weird was introduced he
had a quality about him that suggested that no one except
Starlin would ever be able to do anything with him and this
story only reinforces that feeling. You just can’t see the
lanky, angular character dropping in on the Titans or
wandering into Metropolis to see what Superman is doing for
dinner. He and Comet will intersect but nor connect with one
another here even though they are taking on the same foe. I
could see this limited series becoming a recurring event at
DC (and not just one to keep the copyright going) but not a
regular series because cosmic books tend to burn out pretty
fast.
MSRP: $3.99,
1st DAY SALE Price: $3.39 (That's 40% OFF,
Wednesday Only!)
Alternate Reality Price: $2.39 (That's 15% OFF, All
This Week!) |
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MARVEL ROUND UP…
Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man #19 is written by Peter David and involves the
monster known as Fin Fang Foom. It’s cute and has an appearance by Stan and Jack
as scientists who accidentally unleash the beast…Marvel Team Up #24 is the
penultimate (a word I learned from reading comics, kids) issue of the Robert
Kirkman series. It ends the Freedom Ring arc and has the new hero (who, yes is
gay and no one seems to have an issue with that) take on the Iron Maniac in a
long battle sequence that also involves the Avengers. We also get a second short
tale that leads us to the end of the title in a month…Friendly Neighborhood
Spider-Man #12 is the middle of the multiple Mysterio arc that has Peter and his
students trapped in Pete’s high school. The last page sets up the long awaited
explanation of why Mysterio (well, the original one) isn’t dead since we saw him
blow his brains out during the Kevin Smith/Joe Quesada Daredevil run…Agents of
Atlas #2 (of 6) is just a big ball of fun involving the Atlas heroes. Jeff
Parker has the returning heroes get acquainted with one another as we get caught
up in their histories while Leonard Kirk dazzles us with his art. The cover is
cool as well…Spider-Man: Black & Blue & Read All Over is a tale that takes place
before Civil War and is written by Justice’s Jim Krueger. The story revolves
around Spider-Man making a deal with J. Jonah Jameson to reveal his identity. We
also get a classic tale, a reprint of Amazing #12 in which Peter is unmasked by
Doctor Octopus…Beyond #3 (of 6) shows Deathlok in action (and explains how he
got there) as the mystery surrounding the not dead Spider-Man is solved. Writer
Dwayne McDuffie mixes action with great moments of character development and the
art by Scott Kolins is perfect…Uncanny X-Men #478 returns Billy Tan to art after
an issue off. Here we get more development on what is going on in the Shi’ar
Empire as well as an update on how much damage Vulcan has done. The team stops
at a refueling station that has trouble labeled on it but in that trouble we see
just how much power Darwin has (Rachel as well). The issue ends with threats
within the ship and the introduction of a major pain in the ass for
Rachel…X-Men: Phoenix Warsong #1 (of 5) has a cool cover by Mark Silvestri and
even cooler interior art by Top Cow’s Tyler Kirkham. The limited series follows
up on the events of Greg Pak’s last limited series but focuses here on the girls
know as the Sterile Cuckoos. Something is going on with them and it isn’t good.
The story is well told and the undercurrent of something bad happening holds us
to the end of the issue when things better left buried make their ways back up
to the surface.
DC ROUND UP…
Y, the Last Man #49 begins another arc and keeps us up to date with what has
gone on before. The issue begins with a fantasy sequence involving Yorick and
Beth before he is awakened by the sounds of monkey crap being flung across the
room. Here we see what the doctor’s plan is for repopulating the Earth (let’s
just say someone will be getting a lot of Father’s Day presents) as alliances
are discussed and a whole bunch of stuff happens before a gun comes into
play…American Splendor #1 begins the Vertigo run for the Harvey Pekar title. We
get a collection of black and white tales involving the life of the cranky
creator who was once a staple of the NBC David Letterman show drawn by a variety
of artists. The opening tale is the best (and drawn by Ty Templeton) and tells
the story of Harvey’s parents but the rest are great as well. I have no idea if
this will sell at all but it is different…Jonah Hex #11 is a well drawn tale
that guest stars the western character El Diablo. The circus based tale is drawn
by David Michael Beck in a smooth fashion…Battler Britton #3 (of 5) is another
single issue tale involving the grim and basically unpleasant Britton. What is
weird about this limited series is that as you read it you can see the faces of
DC’s accountants drop as the sales numbers come in. Don’t get me wrong, the
series is great but there is no market for it at all in the states…Manifest
Eternity #4 arrives this week and I would be willing to wager that only the
creator’s families care…The Next #3 (of 6) marks the halfway point of a limited
series that has been collectively rejected by the world at large.
IMAGE ROUND UP…
Jack Staff #11 arrives this week and I didn’t miss him at all…Task Force 1 #3
has the team training and on a mission that shows what members can do. I just
cannot warm up to this book no matter how hard I try…Noble Causes #23 begins
with some hard sex before delving into the ongoing mystery. We see here what
happens when Rusty gets mad which leads to a lot of destruction before we
realize he had a plan all along…Emissary #4 gets the book sort of on schedule
and has our mysterious one pay a visit to the Pope. Of course the aftermath to
that makes certain people all kinds of crazy on many levels. There is another
effect but the results of that won’t be discovered until the afterglow of this
issue goes away in a month…Sidekick #3 (of 5) is bizarre, funny as hell and sets
up a huge fight that will probably make us split our pants laughing…Cross Bronx
#1 (of 4) is from the team of Mike Oeming and Ivan Brandon. The limited series
involves cops and magic. Once being drawn into the story it’s hard to get it out
of your head. Oeming also includes copies of his favorite rejection letters he
got when he sent work into Marvel, Mike Baron (during the Nexus days), DC and
the closed companies Comico and Malibu. |
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"See, I told you I'd be
down here. We've got a bunch of SNEAKY PEEKIES of future
MARVEL, DC and IMAGE titles right
HERE" |
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All
Books/Characters pictured herein are © Copyright 2006
by their respective owners. No rights given or implied
by Alternate Reality, Incorporated.
Reviews © 2006 Alternate Reality, Inc. |
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