Comics

Silver Surfer #1

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Silver Surfer #1Pairing writer Dan Slott with artist Mike Allred, the first issue of Silver Surfer is split equally between Norrin Radd‘s space adventures which take him to being recruited as a champion to save the hidden impossible world of The Impericon and twin sisters on the planet Earth, one of whom will (somehow) become tied to to the Surfer as “The Most Important Person in the Universe.”

Perhaps more than any other character in the Marvel Universe, the Silver Surfer is incredibly hard to get right. The first issue keeps the character slightly off-balance and unsure just what is going on, so I’ll be interested to see how he’s presented when he’s more sure about his circumstances.

I’m always a bit hesitant to accept a brand-new character like Eve as hugely important to someone like the Surfer and unsure about the dynamic between the two (especially as they haven’t even met yet). It appears as if the comic may be setting up Doctor/Companion-style relationship (which, again, would be an entirely new place to take the character). Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: New Animated Adventures #9

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: New Animated Adventures #9The friction between Donatello and Raphael, and Raph’s disrespect of what his smarty-pants brother brings to the team, causes Donnie to use Metalhead to attempt to teach him a lesson. Faking an emergency of the Kraang taking over the robotic turtle, the brothers struggle to stop Donnie’s invention – especially after he really does loose control.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: New Animated Adventures #9 also offers a back-up story of Raphael’s tall tale to his brothers about a fight with an actual dragon rather than admit the his new black-eye came courtesy of training with April.

Both stories are fun and play on basic character traits of the Turtles. The first story allows the two to eventually come to an understanding. The second showcases Raph’s bruised ego and Donnie, Michelangelo, and Leonardo choosing not give their brother a hard time after learning his shiner came in the service of helping a friend. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

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The Flash #29

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The Flash #29The Flash‘s two-issue team-up with Deadman comes a close as the Scarlet Speedster fights off the Keystone Killer who discovers the hero is the perfect new host for the evil spirit. There’s less Deadman this time around and more dancing around the subject of Barry’s true parentage until the reveal that proves the teases were just that and that there is no blood connection between Barry and his mentor Captain Frye.

Agustin Padilla’s art seems a little more suited to the character than that of Patrick Zircher from last month’s issue, and given the ghost and the unusual team-up the two-part story does feel like something of a throwback issue to the Silver Age days.

Using his speed to shake off the killer as he had done with Deadman in the previous issue, the Flash wins the day but the issue does offer a final scene between Frye and Barry’s father suggesting the truth behind the murder of Barry’s mother is far more complicated than anyone knows. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]

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Guardians of the Galaxy #13

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Guardians of the Galaxy #13“The Trial of Jean Grey” concludes with Jean Grey being pushed to her limits by Gladiator and the Shi’ar and finally having enough. Not surprisingly when all is said and done both teams leave Shi’ar space with a successful rescue of Jean Grey who has a surprise of her own by tapping into an internal reserve and showing off an increased power-set that proves enough to finally force Gladiator to relent.

As well as showing off a more empowered Ms. Grey, the issue also gives us some flirting between Kitty Pryde and Peter Quill and the loss of one of the time-displaced X-Men and the younger Cyclops decides to journey with his father and the Starjammers rather than return to Earth and face a distressing future that he’s decided he wants no part of.

Cyclops decision opens up more story possibilities for the X-Man as well as more timey-wimey problems for the X-Universe. For the Guardians, however, the mission is a success leading into next month’s double-sized anniversary issue introducing new members and new troubles for the team. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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Beware the Batman #6

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Beware the Batman #6As with the show that spawned it, Beware the Batman comes to a close prematurely just as things were starting to get interesting. With Katana busy and Batman missing it falls to Alfred to track down the Dark Knight Detective who has been captured by Killer Croc.

Presented entirely from Alfred’s point of view, the comic is notable, other than for it being the final issue of the series, for the introduction of a resourceful dark-haired alley-rat who Alfred finds in possession of Batman’s missing utility belt. Had the show and/or comic intended to introduce a Robin character the seed is firmly planted here as the young boy is an obvious stand-in for Jason Todd, but with its cancellation we’ll never know what might have come from his introduction.

Neither the show nor the comic would rank high on my favorite versions of Batman (although they’d be higher than the current New 52 version), but both showed promise, and without another all-ages Bat-title to take its place the cancellation of the series (which had been consistently good) is sad news for Bat-fans everywhere. Worth a look.

[DC, $3.99]

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