The week in Review: August 25

I picked up four books this week at the store and all of them were excellent.

Amazing Spider-Man #511
Marvel Comics
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Aritst: Mike Deodato

I have a paradoxical reaction when I read this book. On the one hand, the changes being made could have a long lasting effect and the title keeps me interested month to month. On the other hand, some things are implied about the characters’ pasts that I don’t like.

This issue marks the first time in a while that I wasn’t annoyed by the way Straczynski handles the small talk between Peter and Mary Jane. Also, I like the way he had Peter deal with the situation from before and it seems like he has a few more tricks up his sleeve for the next three issues. Overall, I’m more excited about this story than I was last month (a good thing) and eagerly await the next issue (that hasn’t happened for a while).

Astonishing X-Men #4
Marvel Comics
Writer: Joss Whedon
Artist: John Cassaday

Well, Joss Whedon is writing the best X-Men book at the moment (of the three “core” books) and the art from Cassaday is beautiful. A character from the past makes a surprise appearance and I wonder how this will all play out. I have some reservations about this character’s appearance but I’ll save that for later on. Excellent.

Superman #208
DC Comics
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Jim Lee

The story is starting to make a bit more sense; a good thing seeing as we’re now on the fifth part. The art is still beautiful and I like the way Azzarello handles the question of the other heroes confronting Superman. One thing I liked about the “Hush” Batman story was the way that all the Batman universe characters showed up at some point over the course of the year. It seems that this story will not be that way. It’s making more sense to me now which makes me happy.

Sleeper: Season 2 #3
Wildstorm/DC Comics
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Sean Phillips

Still a great title, this issue was a little more confusing only because it relied on events from “Season 1.” It was bound to happen with an espionage comic anyway, I suppose. The art still reflects the grim and gritty feeling and once again, Holden comes out more conflicted than he began. The title just keeps on truckin’.

Looking at Solicits - Marvel and DC for November

There's a lot to talk about for the month of November so let's get rolling...

DC Comics

Batman titles are still in War Games mode. It appears this is the aftermath of the huge crossover event.

Superman with Jim Lee and Brian Azzarello trucks along to the 8th of 12 parts. The first four parts have been a bit slow, but I hope this will be epic by the time the 12th part has come out.

Superman: Secret Identity gets collected in a tpb and there has been good buzz about this so I might pick it up.

Identity Crisis will spotlight on Batman as the penultimate issue of the miniseries comes out.

JLA Classified marks Grant Morrison's return to the team. This should be excellent. It's the start of the series which will feature rotating creative teams doing story arcs. Perfect for the TPB fans as well.

The Titans story, "Titans Tomorrow" has me interested in the upcoming Legion series as well. Waid and Kitson on Legion sounds like a team that should not be missed. Finding the best way to budget books to read these days is harder than ever.

Wildstorm: The October relaunch of The Authority finally addresses the coup that occurred months ago. Ex-Machina is quite excellent. I don't know what to make of The Intimates. I like Jim Lee and I want to support Joe Casey, but the idea seems a bit odd. We'll also get to the halfway point on Sleeper.

Other: Busiek moves along on JLA, and a tie-in with Identity Crisis hits JSA.

Marvel

Avengers seems to be the team that gets the spotlight these days. New Avengers seems to be the "All-Star" team of the Marvel Universe. I wonder a number of things about this. First, it seems like Brian Bendis, an excellent writer, has a ton of control over the direction of the Marvel Universe. The cast of this series seems similar to that of Secret War (which also ties in with The Pulse). I don't understand the obsession with Power Man and Spider-Woman. Also, while I'm not an Avengers fan, it seems to me that the true team is made up of something like Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Vision and Scarlet Witch (give or take a Hawkeye, Hank Pym or She-Hulk). So I'm cautiously curious about this one.

Ed Brubaker takes over Captain America, who along with Iron Man is scheduled to have a new series start (again). I will probably pick up Brubaker's Cap over Ellis's Iron Man but this decision pains me. Perhaps I can find a friend who will pick up the other series and we can share.

Pulse is a book that I started buying because I like Bendis. I even tried to catch up with all the back issues of Alias. But in the end, I found the series Alias a little underwhelming (doesn't Jessica Jones seem like the female comic book version of the writer?) and Pulse, due to its bimonthly schedule, just very slow. I don't think I will continue for another story arc, despite its Secret War tie-in (is that over?)

Fantastic Four starts a Galactus story. This may be the "make or break" arc for me considering that I dislike cosmic stories and Waid has a new DC series starting as well (Legion).

Marvel Team-Up comes along to remind us we're in a shared universe. I thought that the nu-Marvel didn't acknowledge continuity.

Mark Millar's Wolverine continues. The preview art by JRJR makes the title character look a little funny.

X-Men The End looks like it has the Goblin Queen (a la Inferno) on the cover. The second issue of this series was good but this illustration makes me nervous for the future.

Uncanny X-Men starts a new story arc but without Alan Davis. This is unfortunate - Davis makes the book much better.

Is X-Men #164 Chuck Austen's last issue?

The Ultimate Universe keeps on trucking along, with Vaughan on Ultimate X-Men, Ellis on Nightmare and FF, Bendis on Spider-Man and Ultimate Elektra. After making Ultimate series for Spider-Man, X-Men, the Avengers and the FF, the best Marvel could come up with is Ultimate Elektra? And why all the guest stars in Spider-Man all of a sudden? Anyone else notice that Ellis writing more titles for Ultimate Universe than Bendis these days?

The Sins Past story ends in Amazing Spider-Man. I'm not sure if I like the changes they've implemented, but at least it keeps me intrigued.

Millar's Spider-Man faces a new look Venom. Does Venom need a new look?

And Powers gets another collection. Yay!!

Photos/Images

Anyone out there know how to post photos to the blog more than one at a time per post? That would be sort of helpful.

Thanks!

Favorites - Didn't Make the Cut - Mini Series Part 1

In no particular order, six Miniseries that aren’t part of my top 20. There are five more that I’ll write about in Part 2.


JLA/Avengers
Four Issues
Marvel and DC Comics
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: George Perez
I can't believe Perez injured his wrist

Maybe it’s because this was released so recently that I enjoyed it so much. Yes, it’s not accessible to anyone who doesn’t read the books regularly but the way that Kurt Busiek handled this crossover was superb. There was a lot of anticipation and many crossovers have come before, but Busiek offered something fresh to people. He managed to capture the essence of both DC and Marvel universes and show how heroes from each felt out of place. He used some of the tools from Avengers Forever where he mixes in all the different time periods. You could tell there was an affection for both sets of characters and their long histories. George Perez on art turns in a great work, each character’s face unique and he was able to keep so many people straight. Unreal that he injured his wrist drawing the cover to the third issue. One of the best inter-company crossovers ever.


DC 2000
Two Issues
DC Comics
Writer: Tom Peyer
Artist: Val Semeiks
When the Spectre meets a computer...

A sort of “sequel” to DC One Million where the JLA goes back into the Golden Age to retrieve modern items that have been dropped off back in time. The old JSA finds computers, machine guns and questions the cynicism it sees in its future counterparts. A great way to play off of the One Million concept. Time travel misunderstandings of course, are always amusing as well.



Earth X
Fourteen Issues
Marvel Comics
Writer: Jim Krueger and Alex Ross
Artist: Jean Paul Leon
By Alex Ross. Sort of.

Wizard asked Alex Ross to imagine his “Kingdom Come” story for the Marvel Universe and the concept for Earth X was born. I’m not a big fan of Jean Paul Leon’s art, and much of the story takes place in prose, but this is a widespread epic story that discusses the grim future of the Marvel Universe. It was followed up with Universe X and Paradise X which were both not terrible, but each series was quite long, and borderline tiresome (14-20 issues each).


Infinity Gauntlet
Six Issues
Marvel Comics
Writer: Jim Starlin
Artist: George Perez and Ron Lim
Adam Warlock is a strange fellow.

All the Marvel heroes get together to stop Thanos, who has the most powerful weapon in the Universe. Of course these big get-together type stories appeal to my enjoyment of the shared universe. Captain America versus Thanos was a great character moment. This was better than Secret Wars, in my opinion. It, like Earth X, was followed up by two weaker sequels – Infinity War and Infinity Crusade.



Punisher (Marvel Knights)
Marvel Comics
Twelve Issues
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Steve Dillon
A badass again.

At some point, I think Marvel executives made some pact to steal talent from DC’s Vertigo line and put them on all Marvel books. So the critically acclaimed team from Preacher takes on Marvel’s Punisher, and it’s great. It’s got this dark humor and simple art that is terrific. Each issue presents the Punisher with another brutal yet humorous way to remove gangsters from the world. This miniseries was stronger than the ongoing series that followed. Now, the book is in a less humorous MAX incarnation.


Sleeper (Volume 1)
Wildstorm Comics (DC Comics)
Twelve Issues
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Sean Phillips
The best book nobody reads.

Season 2 of Sleeper is just starting, and if it’s as good as the first “season” then the whole title may vault into one of my all-time favorites. Holden Carver is a secret agent who has infiltrated a super-villain organization. He was picked because he cannot feel pain (and thus is immune to torture). The one problem: the only man who knows Carver is in deep cover is in a coma. So Carver has to find his way out. Each issue is a self contained story that fits in well to the larger story (very similar to Planetary). This would translate quite well to TV. The choices that Holden have to make are difficult, the moody art by Phillips is perfect for the mood and the supporting cast has a lot of great characters (such as Genocide, Miss Misery and Tao). Depending on Season 2, this whole thing might be some of the best comics I’ve ever read.

Review: Ex-Machina #3

Ex-Machina #3
Wildstorm (DC Comics)
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Tony Harris

If you haven’t been reading Ex-Machina, it’s time to jump on the bandwagon. The premise sounded a bit silly to me – a former super-hero decides to run for mayor of New York City – but the series has pleased so far. Each issue has been a little bit different, but all three lay the foundation in a sort of disjointed storytelling manner of the situation facing the mayor of New York City, Mitchell Hundred.

The art is perfect for this sort of book, where each character’s emotions show through in the dialogue. Vaughan is still setting up the supporting cast and it looks like there will be some politics mixed in with supernatural events. The politics seem “common sense” enough that they shouldn’t offend anyone. It’s not quite “The West Wing” but it’s a good, solid read.

Also, I just caught up with the first 17 issues of Vaughan’s Runaways. It’s quite excellent and definitely keeps you guessing.

PS - Just read Seaguy 1-3. I don't know what this was about. Quite odd.

Favorites - Didn't Make the Cut - Single Issues

These single issue stories prove good tales can be told in one issue’s worth of space (even if sometimes, that issue is oversized).

Looking back, it’s pretty interesting to me that most of my favorite Wolverine stories are single issue stories.




Action Comics #775
DC Comics
Writer: Joe Kelly
Artists: Doug Mahnke and Lee Bermejo

You look very familiar…

The Authority was the most popular comic on the shelves and Joe Kelly writes a great story to remind readers why Superman and his “boy scout values” is still pertinent. One of Joe Kelly’s best stories ever. The issue featured a group called the Elite, who looked surprisingly like the Authority, and is currently featured in their own title, Justice League Elite.

Wolverine #10

Marvel Comics
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: John Buscema

Happy Birthday!

Claremont introduced in this issue the idea that Sabretooth came to taunt Wolverine every year on his birthday. What a dastardly thing to do! Also, this set up the sub plot that Sabretooth had killed Logan's first love, Silver Fox. This plotline would be come much more convoluted in future issues but it was a nice touch adding to the shared history of the characters.


Wolverine #100
Marvel Comics
Writer: Larry Hama
Artist: Adam Kubert

Surprise!

First, the bad: Elektra is in this comic and from this, the feral-looking Wolverine became introduced for a while. That was bad. But the good was, on this anniversary issue, everyone expected Wolverine to get his adamantium back and he didn’t. They pulled the wool over our eyes, and then to boot, Logan ends up killing Cable’s kid. As if they didn’t have a strained relationship to begin with. A little gimmicky but the trickiness was good.


Wolverine #145
Marvel Comics
Writer: Erik Larsen
Artist: Leinil Yu

He’s back.

Every anniversary issue after #75 it was anticipated that Wolverine would receive his adamantium. Then along comes issue #145, a non-anniversary issue, and it happens. While giving Wolverine back his adamantium, a creative way is found to remove the adamantium from Sabretooth (an ill conceived idea in the first place). Apocalypse is looking for a volunteer to make the horseman Death, and he’s decided that it’s either going to be Wolverine or Sabretooth. Wolverine, realizing that Sabretooth would relish the opportunity to become a killing machine decides he has to stop him. The cost is that Wolverine regains the adamantium and a new killing attitude. What a great way to tie everything together – Wolverine, Sabretooth, the Twelve storyline. Larsen’s best issue as writer on the series.

Favorites - Didn't Make the Cut - Crossover Events

I figured since I'm writing reviews, in order to better understand my tastes that I would start writing about some of my favorite comics. First, I'll give you a group that "Didn't Make the Cut" of my 20 favorite stories/issues.

This first post will be comprised of crossover stories. Marvel seems to be the king company of crossovers although this has cooled off lately. I have to admit, many of the DC crossovers, such as the Death of Superman, Batman: Knightfall, Batman: No Man's Land and Bruce Wayne: Murderer were quite enjoyable but these four are all-time favorites for me.



The X-Tinction Agenda
Marvel Comics
Uncanny X-Men 270-272 by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee
New Mutants 95-97 by Louise Simonson, Rob Liefeld and Guang Yap
X-Factor 60-62 by Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove
A simpler time...

Remember when there were just three main X-Men books? It was X-Factor, the first generation, Uncanny X-Men, the mothership book and New Mutants, the next generation of mutants. Sure, Wolverine had his own book at this point, and Excalibur was a fringe, British slightly comedic book but really the main books were down to three.

There are so many reasons why this was a great story. Cable had just taken over the New Mutants. It reunited a bunch of the X-Men who had been scattered around by the Seige Perilous. Havok was tricked into being a villain. The X-Men and friends were de-powered. Wolverine and Jean Grey have a moment. Wolverine and Archangel have a moment. Jim Lee drawing just about every character in the X-Universe. A villain who started as obscure but ended up as powerful and just evil.

The story's shortcomings are primarily in art - Jon Bogdanove was a disappointing artist and he was charged with some of the most important parts of the story (including the conclusion). But the story wasn't that long and it overall was quite good. It also led to a series of three or four great X-Men stories (their adventures with the Shi'ar and the Muir Island saga), leading to the new X-Men series and also X-Force.



Fatal Attractions
Marvel Comics
X-Factor 92 by Peter David and Joe Quesada
X-Force 25 by Fabian Nicieza and Greg Capullo
Uncanny X-Men 304 by Scott Lobdell and John Romita Jr
X-Men 25 by Fabian Nicieza and Andy Kubert
Wolverine 75 by Larry Hama and Adam Kubert
Excalibur 71 by Scott Lobdell and a ton of artists

Cool covers...

Remember all those gimmick covers? This crossover benefited since each issue had a hologram cover.

The return of Magneto. The best part of this crossover was how each part was a self-contained story either forshadowing or dealing with Magneto's return. There were some stunning developments as well, such as Colossus leaving the X-Men, Wolverine having his adamantium ripped out and Wolverine finding out he had bone claws. The adamantium part settled a long-standing debate of "why doesn't Magneto just take Wolverine to task whenever they fight?" This time, he did. Great creators and storylines that significantly affected the X-Universe made for a great crossover. As I write about this one, I'm not sure why it didn't make it into my top 20.


Favorites
Onslaught
Marvel Comics

Prologue: X-Men #53, X-Men #54, Onslaught: X-Men

Phase 1: Cable #34, Fantastic Four #415, Uncanny X-Men #335, X-Man #18, X-Men #55

Phase 2: Cable #35, Fantastic Four #416, Uncanny X-Men #336, X-Man #19, X-Men #56

Impact 1: Avengers #401, Excalibur #100, Generation X #18, Hulk #444, Wolverine #104, X-Factor #125, X-Force #57

Impact 2: Amazing Spider-Man #415, Avengers #402, Generation X #19, Green Goblin #12, Hulk #445, Iron Man #332, Punisher #11, Spider-Man #72, Wolverine #105, X-Factor #126, X-Force #58

Conclusion: Onslaught: Marvel Universe

Epilogue: Onslaught: Epilogue

How did something that started so well, end so badly?

It started so well. This build up to a mysterious, very powerful villain. Then the Marvel corporate types must have gotten involved. The buildup was superb as Onslaught himself was never seen by the X-Men, but they kept finding his mark. He would terrorize villains like the Juggernaut or send his all-powerful heralds to announce his impending arrival.

Then it turned out that Onslaught was created as a consequence of Professor X's actions against Magneto in Fatal Attractions. The X-Traitor, a long standing story for about two years, was also revealed. It was all good.

Then the bad stuff happened. Part of it was bad timing. Marvel had just decided to lease their Avengers and Fantastic Four characters to Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld, then of Image Comics. The characters would be spun out of continuity into their own universe where their stories could be re-told. What does this have to do with Onslaught? Apparently someone at Marvel thought that the Onslaught event would be a great opportunity to launch their new universe. So the ending of Onslaught had all the Heroes Reborn heroes disappearing. Horrible. It made no sense. But it started out quite well. And did it have to span so many issues? Most of the comics had no relation to the main story.



DC One Million
DC Comics
DC One Million 1-4 by Grant Morrison and Val Semeiks

Week One
Action Comics #1,000,000, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1,000,000, Nightwing #1,000,000, Green Lantern #1,000,000, Power of Shazam #1,000,000, Young Justice #1,000,000

Week Two
Batman #1,000,000, Superman: The Man of Steel #1,000,000, Starman #1,000,000, Impulse #1,000,000, Green Arrow #1,000,000, Legionnaires #1,000,000, Azrael #1,000,000

Week Three
Superman #1,000,000, Superboy #1,000,000, Detective Comics #1,000,000, JLA #1,000,000, Aquaman #1,000,000, Wonder Woman #1,000,000, Chase #1,000,000, Creeper #1,000,000

Week Four
Martian Manhunter #1,000,000, Adventures of Superman #1,000,000, Resurrection Man #1,000,000, Catwoman #1,000,000, Robin #1,000,000, Flash #1,000,000, Supergirl #1,000,000

Week Five
Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #1,000,000, Chronos #1,000,000, Young Heroes in Love #1,000,000, Lobo #1,000,000, Hitman #1,000,000, Legion of Super-Heroes #1,000,000

My head is spinning, but it's so good and I want more...

Wow. Grant Morrison is crazy. DC Comics decided to launch in one month, the one millionth issues of all its series. The concept? The heroes from 83,000 years in the future come into our time and ask the current JLA to help them. There's so much more to this, Vandal Savage attacking the JLA on both time fronts, the League having to build the supercomputer Solaris in the present even though it is trying to attack them in the future. So good. Even issues that were ancillary to the main concept were great.

It was a bit too spread out among the comics but there were some great plot twists that really made this crossover enjoyable. DC is the master of the shared universe and as titles start to become continuity independent, this crossover emphasized why a shared universe can sometimes be a benefit not a hindrance to good storytelling.

Coming soon:
Single Issues, Current Series, Storyarcs and miniseries that "Didn't Make the Cut" and then, my top 20.

X-cessive

I really like the X-Men. It's the first series that got me hooked on comic books.

But the X-Universe is growing at too rapid a pace. When I first started buying books, the titles were limited to Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, New Mutants and Wolverine. At the time, even four titles seemed like quite a few. Soon, Excalibur followed, then New Mutants became X-Force and another X-Men book was introduced. But now it's pretty wild -- to the point where continuity and characters are just too confusing. Take a look, this September sees the solicitation of 22 X books!

Uncanny X-Men
X-Men
Astonishing X-Men
Wolverine
NYX
Madrox
District X
Ultimate X-Men
Excalibur
X-Force
Cable/Deadpool
Jubilee
Nightcrawler
Emma Frost
Gambit
Mystique
Weapon X
Starjammers
Exiles
Rogue
X-Men The End
New X-Men

Now to be fair, X-Men The End, Starjammers and Madrox are limited series, and Weapon X is being cancelled. This is pretty outrageous. For example, I never read Exiles and now characters from that book are being referenced in X-Men The End. That's nice and all, but I can't afford the time (or more importantly the money) to follow all the goings on in these books. It's quite unfortunate.

My suggestion would be to create a series such as "X-Men Spotlight" where story arcs featuring solo character adventures or team ups could rotate through, with varying creative teams. Hopefully these adventures could also have a meaningful effect on the comic continuity, unlike annuals or the quarterly X-Men Unlimited. There's just too much out there right now.

October Solicits: A Romp Through Marvel and DC

I was going to write a little blurb on some of the comicon news but the overall theme is, "Will I be able to buy everything?" With Bendis on Avengers, Ellis on Iron Man, Brubaker on Captain America, Waid on Legion, Busiek on JLA and Morrison doing a short JLA story in Classified, what will I be buying?

Also, where is Wanted #5?

So on to the October solicitations (a bit belated).

DC Comics
Batman: War Games continues, and I wonder when the tpb's will be available. I believe I mentioned once before - DC seems to do these all-Batman crossovers quite well. Too bad Marvel can't execute an all-X crossover the same way.

Catwoman: When in Rome is a sequel to/tangent from Batman Dark Victory. I will wait for the collected edition but I expect it will be quite good.

Superman/Batman #15 continues their storyarc with Carlos Pacheco. The Mike Turner Supergirl story is dragging on for me. Hopefully this will breathe some new life into the book.

Green Lantern: Rebirth gives me a strange feeling. I understand that fans want Hal Jordan back but where does this put Kyle Rayner? And it seems a bit odd to bring Jordan back to life regardless of how he died. Johns is a pretty good writer, hopefully this will be done well. I wouldn't mind seeing a return of a GL Corps.

Identity Crisis #5 will continue the contraversial storyline. I predict more people will die before the whole series is over.

JLA #107 begins Kurt Busiek's run on JLA. His stuff has been mainly hit but some miss for me. His Avengers run didn't impress me that much but I enjoyed Avengers Forever and Arrowsmith quite a bit.

Teen Titans begins crossovers with the Legion. I don't know a thing about the Legion, I hope that it's accessible (and from Johns' track record on JSA, it should be).

The Authority gets a new writer, Ed Brubaker, who also happens to be the first American writer of the book. Hopefully he can return the book to its former excellence.

Other books that have caught my eye: Sleeper Season 2 #5 features the Grifter, JSA deals with the fate of Rick Tyler, Ex-Machina wraps up its first storyline, and there's been a sighting of an issue of Planetary!

Marvel Comics

Mark Millar starts his run on Wolverine, and I'm looking forward to it. He recently did an interview with Newsarama that made me pretty excited.

Alan Davis returns to Uncanny X-Men after a few issues off.

Sabretooth gets another mini-series. From the solicit, I can't tell if it will be decent or not. Most of the time I don't find the villain mini series to my liking.

X-Men is written by Chuck Austen. We won't have to say that much longer. Is what he does for X-Men allowed to be called "writing?"

Wolverine: The End concludes. This series is so bizarre. Not to mention that Origin 2 is on its way. uh.. great?

Astonishing X-Men #6 has a great cover! This is the flagship X-Men title and is quite good.

X-Men: The End continues. I used to know almost everything about the X-Men. Now there are so many books (many of them non-essential) that I just don't know a thing.

Wolverine teams up with Spider-man in Ultimate Spider-Man. We get more Wolverine using Bendis-speak, just like we demanded.

Ultimate Elektra #3 will be released, does this book really have that much demand?

Daredevil #66 by Bendis and Maleev is great. Maleev's pencils are superb and bring a great, gritty style to the title.

Marvel Knights: Spider-Man keeps trucking along, it seems like Venom is now involved.

Madrox sounds like it could be a good book but I might wait for the tpb.

Amazing Spider-Man finally ends the Sins Past storyline. I think I'll jump off the bandwagon once this is done. Between Ultimate and Marvel Knights, I've got enough of a fix. Also, Straczynski's lovey-dovey Peter/Mary Jane conversations are starting to tick me off.

Other books I've noticed: Ultimate Nightmare #3 continues... as does Ultimate FF #12 (this Van Damme thing is just so odd), Ultimate X-Men #52 wraps up the Gambit story.

In the regular MU, Avengers: Disassembled also trucks along (does anyone else wonder why they re-number only to cancel the book?), Fantastic Four ties in with it, and after 12 issues of Supreme Power, I probably won't be on board for a 13th.

It might seem like I'm very negative about the Marvel stuff, but I'm not. I think it's just late.

Review: Ultimate Nightmare #1

Sorry about the long hiatus.

Ultimate Nightmare #1
Marvel Comics
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Trevor Hairsine

I like Warren Ellis. In particular Planetary, the Authority and his Wolverine "Not Dead Yet" storyline.

I like Trevor Hairsine. His work reminds me of a cross between Brian Hitch and David Finch.

I like the Ultimates. In fact, the Ultimates were somewhat inspired by Ellis's work as the Marvel "answer" to Wildstorm's Authority. So with Ellis on the book, it seems like a good match. Not only that, it will be months until our next fix of the characters.

I didn't like Ultimate Six or Ultimate War. These were the two prior Ultimate universe mini-series stories and neither one actually told much of a story. It was as if there were 6 or 7 part stories that did very little.

I don't like decompressed storytelling. It's happening more and more, particularly in Marvel books. For example, Wolverine is in the midst of a 7 part story arc. X-Men The End is an 18 part mini series (Marvel says, "think Lord of the Rings" and all I can think of is how people kept getting up early at the end of Return of the King).

What does this have to do with Ultimate Nightmare #1? It's got all these things. Warren Ellis. Trevor Hairsine. The Ultimates. An Ultimate Universe miniseries. Decompressed storytelling.

In fact it deals with a cosmic threat (see Planetary) and the first four pages have no words (see any recent Marvel storyline). It sounds like a good premise but I've heard rumblings that it's the first of several miniseries dealing with this threat (see previous Ultimate miniseries). The art is good and the dialogue sharp (when it's around). The best part was the ultimazation of a new character. Otherwise, it reads no differently than many other books out there. That isn't to say it's bad, but it's not spectacular yet. There's not much more to say since not much more happens. As with many works from the Marvel U, once again, judgment must be reserved for when the series is over.