Comics

Uncanny X-Men #15

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Uncanny X-Men #15The Inhumanity tie-in (Marvel’s winter event cross-over) offers a look at the female members of the team (Magik, Jean Grey, Celeste, Irma, Phoebe, Tempus, and Kitty Pryde) who Emma Frost leads out for a little shopping in London. Their normal night out is sadly cut short by the presence of an Inhuman cocoon and the birth of a new Inhuman.

The Inhumans have never really interested me as anything but minor supporting characters in larger Marvel events so I’m not too keen on yet another cross-over event I’m less than thrilled about looking to hijack another book I want to read. That said, I really enjoyed this issue for the interactions between the various members of the team before running into the newborn Inhuman.

With the addition of some of the time-displaced X-Men and Kitty Pryde, Cyclops‘ team of X-Men is growing larger (and less reliant on former super-villains). With the teasing of Magneto‘s eventual betrayal it will be interesting to see how much more shake-up we see in the team over the course of 2014. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction #4

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  • Title: The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction #4
  • Comic Vine: link
  • Writer: Mark Waid
  • Artist: J. Bone

The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction #4The four-issue mini-series comes to a close with The Spirit able to talk a mind-controlled Betty out of going all stabby-stabby on the undead hero and the two heroes once again putting their differences aside and The Spirit and The Rocketeer work together to uncover the plot of the Octopus and Trask who attempt to use their new teleporting television signal to deliver the President to the Nazis.

The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction #4 works well to wrap-up the various storylines (although it gives Betty a far bigger part of the final chapter than the largely absent Ellen). The use of FDR was well done, as was Cliff learning to use leverage to keep the rocket out of the hands of the U.S. Government.

The storyline ends with a hint of another possible team-up between the pair which I would certainly be up for (although next time maybe we could stick with a single artist to give the story a more consistent look?). I’d also love for DC to actually give The Spirit new life of his own in an ongoing title, but I won’t hold my breath for either to happen anytime soon. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

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Worlds’ Finest #18

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Worlds' Finest #18After finding a way to temporarily de-power her out of control partner by dunking her in the East River, the Huntress still has to continue her search for the the super-powered tattoo killer (who DC Editorial has unfortunately decided to name “Tats”) who has a personal vendetta against the city’s more glamorous population. Meanwhile, Power Girl continues to try and get her bearings and come to grips with the fact that her powers are now completely out of control.

Because so much of the issue is spent resolving the cliffhanger and Huntress finding a way to stop her best-friend from going nuclear in the middle of the city, little progress is made in the search for their killer. However, the issue does introduce the woman’s boss, a priest of the demon Xazdi whose gifts have allowed her to wreak havoc in the city.

As always the best parts of the comic are the interactions between our two heriones which we get quite a bit of to both open and close the issue. I’m not sure where this Tats/Xazdi storyline is going but I’ll keep sticking around for more of Helena and Kara who next month are finally going to earn their first annual. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]

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G.I. JOE: Special Missions #10

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G.I. JOE: Special Missions #10The new four-part arc of the JOE’s Special Mission Force focuses on taking down Destro before he finishes perfecting his deadly new version of B.A.T. To do so Scarlett decides to pull Copperback out of maximum-security prison and enlist her help to track down the man responsible for killing Copperback’s father. Of course it doesn’t take long for the former Cobra operative to turn on Scarlett and her team and the ruins of Destro’s former stronghold.

I’m all in favor of a Destro-centric arc, and G.I. JOE: Special Missions #10 does a great job of selling me on the dangerous wild card Copperback represents. However, I am a bit confused when exactly the arc takes place as Destro just fell out of favor with Cobra (in fact Cobra Commander himself just led a raid of the weaponer’s home).

Despite the timing and continuity problems (why is the Baroness all of the sudden wearing a completely different version of her basic costume?), I’m looking forward to see where writer Chuck Dixon takes things from here. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

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Batman: Black and White #4

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Batman: Black and White #4The black-and-white anthology series puts out another strong issue highlighted by the final story from writer Sean Galloway and artist Derek Laufman involving a classic Batman and Robin adventure (and the 60’s television show’s Batmobile) as the Dynamic Duo set out to save a missing Superman from Brainiac. Laufman’s style and use layering panels to suggest motion is pretty damn cool.

Without any real weak stories this month, Black and White #4 also boasts a Mad Hatter and Penguin tale from Michael and Lee Allred where Cobblepot attempts to out-wit both the Hatter and the Dark Knight Detective (which features Micahel Allred’s trademark smooth but quirky style), Dustin Nguyen does double duty writing and illustrating an average night for Batman in Gotham City ending with an appearance by Catwoman, Nathan Edmondson and Kenneth Rocafort offer up a tale of Batman taking on an invisible enemy, and David Macho and Rubén Pellejero deliver a tale of Batman getting the help of a homeless veteran (and his pet rat) to take down Killer Croc. Worth a look.

[DC, $4.99]

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