Comics

The Shadow #17

/ / Comics

The Shadow #17With The Light still on the loose, The Shadow and Margo Lane work to fit together the various pieces of the puzzle in order to uncover the deadly vigilante’s identity before she kills again.

Although I think The Light storyline should have been wrapped-up here rather than being drawn-out for one more issue, I did enjoy the series spending an entire issue showcasing the deductive skills and process of both The Shadow and Margo Lane including investigating the weapon left by the killer, the impossible hospital murder, and uncovering her connection to the first victim.

By the end of the issue our hero will know the identity of The Light setting up the arc’s final issue next month. From what we’ve seen so far the pair seem evenly matched in both skill, determination, and a belief that their form of brutal justice is for the greater good. Given this it may well be that only one will survive next month’s likely deadly final encounter. My money’s on the guy in the hat. Worth a look.

[Dynamite Entertainment, $3.99]

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Star Wars #9

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Star Wars #9Although we get glimpses of Han and Chewie‘s continued escape from Coruscant and Luke and Wedge fighting off barrage of Stormtroopers while searching for answers on-board the Star Destroyer Devastator (which attracts the attention of a certain Dark Lord of the Sith), most of Star Wars #9 focuses on what Leia finds in the shattered remains of her homeworld aboard a ship hidden in the asteroid field of what once was Alderaan.

After realizing just who the collector of the remaining vestiges of Alderaan truly is, and what he’s responsible for, Leia is left at an impasse as to what do with the shell of the man whose expertise allowed the destruction of her world.

Making Tag Ragaren a sympathetic character is a nice twist for the issue, although I could have done with a little less of Leia’s tale and more of an equal focus on Luke slicing through Stormtroopers with his lightsaber and Han and Chewie continuing to try and evade a some very persistent bounty hunters and make it off the Imperial homeworld in one piece. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $2.99]

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Reverse-Flash #1

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Reverse-Flash #1I’ve been very selective in my choices for the villain .1 issues DC has put out as part of their Forever Evil tie-in. Some have been okay, while others have been mass printed travesties (kind of like the New 52 in general). I was hopeful for The Flash #23.2 as timing actually matched up well for co-writers Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato to offer up the origins of the New 52’s version of the Reverse-Flash. As my pal Aaron likes to say, some presents are best left unwrapped.

There’s really no kind way to state how awful this comic truly is. I can’t lay the blame at artist Scott Hepburn who does a fair, if somewhat uninspired, job standing in for Manapul. I can, however, blame the two writers who spend an entire issue focusing on what only can be described as a whiny bitch of a character.

This comic, and Danny West‘s constant complaining, are brutally uninteresting. He whines about his childhood. He whines about his father. He whines about the accident that gave him super-powers. He whines, in case you haven’t gotten the point, incessantly.

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Red Sonja #3

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Red Sonja #3Lost in the mountains, delirious and near death, Red Sonja‘s encounter with a white stag forces the She-Devil with a Sword to cease fighting the plague which is slowly killing her and lay down in the snow to await death. However, it appears the world isn’t quite down with Sonja just yet as Ayla and Nias arrive with news of a cure.

Most of Red Sonja #3 takes place in an extended flashback sequence giving writer Gail Simone her chance to relate Red Sonja’s bloody origins and the young warrior’s first kill (slowly followed by 20 or so more) after being forced to watch her village ransacked and burned and her family and friends killed for no reason other than the boredom of the horde that cuts through them with wicked glee.

In the sequences that follow we see Sonja bury the members of her tribe before setting out for vengeance against those who have wronged them. One-by-one the forest girl hunts down and takes her own bloody vengeance on those who have destroyed everything she loved.

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Astro City #4

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Astro City #4It seems like a foregone conclusion in comics that someone born, or later gifted/cursed, with super-powers will one day take their place as either a super-hero or super-villain. According to the latest issue of Astro City, that’s not necessarily the case.

Focusing on Martha Sullivan, a telekinetic who uses her powers not for personal gain or glory or to save the world, Astro City #4 gives us a look at an individual who uses her powers to get by but has no interest in using them as part of a grander design. Ben Parker may have called this selfish, but Martha and others known as Sideliners simply want to live their life in peace and relative anonymity.

Of course when villains such as the ridiculous Majordomo show up to forcibly recruit those like Martha who have no interest in their conquest, the Sidelineres do know how to defend themselves. Once again writer Kurt Busiek and artist Brent Anderson find another niche in super-hero comics to explore with entertaining results. Worth a look.

[Vertigo, $2.99]

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