Comics

Fairest #14

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Fairest #14Love’s the thing in this standalone tale as the newest available woman in Fabletown looks for love in all the wrong places. Told through the perspective of Reynard T. Fox, we see the trouble (the literally wooden) Princess Alder gets into when she tries to find a mate.

As a standalone issue Fairest #14 is fun, if mostly fluff. Over the course of the issue writer Bill Willingham illustrates why a relationship between a living tree (not matter her outward shape) and a human being (or even a fox) is doomed to failure. It also offers an important moral to be careful when trying to turn a friend into a lover for, as the issue points out, you may end up losing both.

I’ll admit, I didn’t find Alder, other than her outward appearance, all that interesting. Thankfully the issue itself has enough humor to get by (even if some of it is pretty lowbrow). I did, however, really like Reyanrd and hope we see more of him here, as well as the regular Fables title, in the near future. Worth a look.

[Vertigo, $2.99]

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Worlds’ Finest #11

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Worlds' Finest #11How are Apokolips weapons in the Congo, money stolen from Wayne Enterprises, and the attack on Starr Enterprises by soldiers working for Mr. Terrific all related? That’s what the Huntress sets out to find in this latest issue of Worlds’ Finest.

After artist Kevin Maguire returned last month to give the comic the first cohesive look in it’s almost full-year run, the artist is absent as three separate artists fill-in giving the comic the kind of haphazard look fans have come to expect.

The Huntress takes center stage here as the entire comic, aside from another somewhat unnecessary flashback to the early days of the pair being stuck on an alternate Earth, takes place from her point of view. It’s a good choice that showcases the character’s detective skills before she heads off to a party with Power Girl, looking for answers from Michael Holt.

I don’t know what’s happened to Mr. Terrific (or really care, for that matter) but the appearance of Desaad in the comic’s final panel means the Apokolips storyline is heating up again. For fans.

[DC, $2.99]

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Thanos Rising #1

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Thanos Rising #1I was justifiably concerned when Marvel Comics announced their plans for a mini-series looking in-depth at the life and childhood of Thanos. I can’t say Thanos Rising #1 is worse than I expected, but the misadventures of a teenage outcast on the moons of Saturn is exactly as insipid as I dreaded it would be from a company that learned nothing of George Lucas‘ (flawed, but still vastly superior) attempt at similar themes in the Star Wars prequels.

I can’t lay all the blame at the feet of writer Jason Aaron as the entire idea behind the comic is pretty damn bad. (Seriously, who at Marvel thought this was a good idea?) However, Aaron certainly does nothing to save the situation by offering up a Dawson’s Creek version of Thanos’ adolescence that is just as awful as it sounds.

After giving us the birth of the blue-skinned baby Thanos in a world filled with bland suburban Caucasians, the story follows the outcast finally making friends and to learn his first lessons about death. None of which is of any interest. Pass.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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Detective Comics #19

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Detective Comics #19At $8 Detective Comics #19 is overpriced for anyone who isn’t a huge fan of Man-Bat. All but one of the stories (involving Bane created a Venom-powered army to continue his vendetta against the Court of Owls) contained in this issue deal with Batman responding new a Man-Bat outbreak (which includes a Man-Bat version of Zsaz) started by Emperor Penguin to steal Gotham blind during the chaos or its consequences.

In an inexplicable chronological snafu set by the launch of the New 52 (and Grant Morrison‘s insistence to keep using Man-Bats as Talia‘s soldiers), we get out first introduction to Kurt Langstrom (the scientist who invented the Man-Bat serum) and, in the New 52 version is far, far, far from being the first to transform into a half-man/half-bat hybrid.

Other stories involve Emperor Penguin’s soldiers bilking Gotham out of millions, the Penguin planning his escape from prison and revenge against his former assistant, Mrs. Langstrom’s plans to save her husband, and a disagreement between cops, one of whom was infected by the Man-Bat virus, over Batman’s proper role in the city. For fans.

[DC, $7.99]

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Action Comics #19

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Action Comics #19The much ballyhooed run of creative team of writer Andy Diggle and artist Tony S. Daniel begins and ends here. As you might have heard, Diggle quit the title before his first issue ever hit the stands due to irreconcilable issues with DC Editorial. Daniel will continue the arc doing double duty as both writer and artist.

Action Comics #19 certainly has its moments including a look at what Lex Luthor has in mind for the Man of Steel and a nice moment between Clark and Lois in a Quarac hotel bar that good-naturedly pokes some fun at the most ridiculous disguise in all of comics.

The rest of the comic features Superman battling giant robots (for reasons that don’t make a lot of sense), Lex Luthor keeping his shrink locked up for an accurate diagnosis of him as a megalomanical psychopath, and a weird hallucinatory moment where Superman thinks one of the soldiers piloting the robots is Jimmy Olsen (which, also, makes very little sense). Hit-and-Miss.

[DC, $3.99]

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