Comics

Red Sonja #4

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Red Sonja #4Hallucinating, blind, and near death, Red Sonja is found by her two young attendants Ayla and Nias in the woods in the shallow grave of her own making. Feeding both her spirit and body, the twin sisters give the She-Devil hope that a cure has been discovered.

Meanwhile, the self-anointed Red Annisia has quarantined the starving plague-infested city allowing no food in and no one to leave (despite the fact that the disease has yet to kill a single person). Red Sonja #4 also offers more flashbacks of Annisia and Sonja’s time as slaves and the first time Annisia saw the She-Devil with a Sword in action.

On their way back to the fallen city with their drunken singing master the young women encounter Mermen servants of Annisia who have been sent out after any who escaped the quarantine. Thankfully for twins, despite her sickness and lack of vision, Red Sonja proves to still be a formidable opponent. Surviving the fight, Sonja is ready to return leading to next month’s battle between former allies turned deadly enemies. Worth a look.

[Dynamite Entertainment, $3.99]

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Worlds’ Finest #16

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Worlds' Finest #16With Power Girl‘s powers on the fritz, Huntress goes it alone trying to bring down a super-powered arsonist targeting models, fashion designers, and the wealthy elite. Over-powered, Helena eventually calls in her best friend who is able to help put out the latest blaze but isn’t strong enough to stop the super-villain from making her escape.

The revolving door on artists for this title continues as R. B. Silva steps in to do the artwork for Worlds’ Finest #16. Although I like Silva’s work, here it has a sharpness and edge to it that doesn’t always fit the characters, particularly the panels of Karen Starr out of costume (which I can’t say for sure is the fault of Silva or the heavy inks of Joe Weems).

Although Power Girl is able to hold it together for the issue’s fight with a New 52 villain who isn’t named, it appears the story of the hero’s wonky powers is going to continue for at least the next few issues. Given Karen’s issues, Huntress carries the bulk of the story well on her own, even if the bad guy gets away. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]

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Codename: Action #2

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Codename: Action #2After surviving the attack by unknown foreign agents thanks to their convertible submarine car, Operator 5 and the agency’s newest recruit Operative 1001 begin working together to try and discover who is behind the push for war and who wants them both out of the way.

Believing correctly important world leaders are being replaced, the two spies try to get one-step ahead of their unseen enemy by having Operator 5 replace a senator and try to lure the villains into the open with a speech before the United Nations calling for the end to nuclear proliferation. In France Black Venus and her team get their own bad news as the Prime Minister has called for the agents to publicly assassinate Soviet Operatives in Algeria, pushing the Cold War one step closer to igniting.

Issue #2 once again captures the feel of a cold war spy tale that also gives us an unexpected cameo from the Green Hornet and Kato that plays on larger themes of the comic but still seems a bit out of place. Worth a look.

[Dynamite Entertainment, $3.99]

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Star Wars #10

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Star Wars #10The latest issue of Star Wars touches on all the ongoing stories and Leia comes face-to-face with the man who handed the Empire the weapons which destroyed her homeworld, Han and Chewbacca narrowly escape the clutches of Boba Fett while finally getting out of Coruscant, and Luke and Wedge buy time while preparing their escape from the Devastator after successfully finishing their mission.

In the bowels of the Star Destroyer, Luke and Wedge share a nice moment discussing the still painful losses at the Battle of Yavin and Luke’s not-so-secret relationship with Prithi. The sequence works in reinforcing the time of the current series as well as the emphasizing the losses the Rebellion suffered during their greatest victory.

Prithi may not be able to wait long enough to help her friends escape, but her quick thinking alerts the Rebel Fleet to the impending Imperial attack led by the overconfident Bircher which just may be the key to reuniting the two pilots with their friends. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $2.99]

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Astro City #5

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Astro City #5The latest standalone issue of Astro City gives us the return of the Broken Man and his crazy conspiracy-theory wall of clippings, yarn, and thumbtacks. Our host offers us glimpses into three separate stories from the past, but quickly pulls the reader out when he fears we may learn too much too soon.

The Broken Man is one of few pieces of the new Astro City comic that I haven’t been completely sold on. Consistently stepping in to pull the reader out of the story is a little annoying, but writer Kurt Busiek and artist Brent Anderson use that template to lay the groundwork for different stories they aren’t quite ready to fully explore.

The stories break down into a secret government agency in the 1930s dealing with the alien and bizarre, a Kobra-style cult leader in India during the 1940s, and a steam-punk heroine named Dame Progress chasing down a crafty villain whose motives aren’t as black-and-white as she believes. Each story, although truncated, is worth reading.

[Vertigo, $3.99]

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