Comics

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #19

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #18Your enjoyment of the current storyline of IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is most likely tied directly to your feelings about the Neutrinos. The latest issue continues the Turtles adventures in Dimension X as the foursome agree to help Princess Trib and her forces rescue her parents who have been captured by General Krang.

As Leonardo and Raphael split up to help the effort, Michelangelo drafts himself as the Princess’ protector, and Donatello works to help Professor Honeycutt with the one weapon that could turn the tide of their war with Krang.

The comic also gives us (not nearly enough) scenes of Karai‘s own mission as the Shredder‘s daughter sneaks onto Burnow Island causing mischief and mayhem on Krang’s home base on Earth. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #19 isn’t bad, but it’s an awful lot of Neutrino politics and set-up for a battle that’s barely begun before the comic comes to a close. In fact you could probably skip this issue entirely and not skip a beat picking the comic up again next month. For fans.

[IDW, $3.99]

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Fables #126

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Fables #126Although Bigby and Stinky‘s road trip to find the missing cubs continues, the majority of the latest issue of Fables centers on Snow White dealing with the completely unexpected return of Prince Brandish who takes over the castle and plans to kill Bigby, murder Bigby and Snow White’s children, and then finally make Snow his wife (as he believes is his right under the law).

This isn’t a great issue for the women of Fables. Although she finally shows a single moment of spunk, Snow White is basically nothing more here than your basic damsel in distress for the entire issue. And Brandish makes short work of Briar Rose whose attempts to stick up for her friend gets her bitch-slapped into unconsciousness by the chauvinist pig.

Fables #126 also includes a story centering around Beast, the Blue Fairy, and Geppeto that I found a little hard to follow. It obviously involves a contract between the Blue Fairy and Geppetto, but what the Beast’s role is (not to mention the complete absence of Beauty) was a little hard to follow. Hit-and-Miss.

[Vertigo, $2.99]

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Justice League of America #1

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justice-league-of-america-new-52-1-coverNearly everything about his comic comes from a ridiculous premise and bad (and do I mean BAD) ideas. After having cancelled Justice League International, and still desperate for a second Justice League team working inside the DCU, the New 52 launches their brand spanking new Justice League of America.

The premise is simple (and basically ripped off nearly completely from Justice League Unlimited with all the best parts taken out). Amanda Waller (who’s lost a lot of weight since the reboot) and Steve Trevor decide to put together a team they can control, market, and use as a last result if the real Justice League goes bad.

Under that premise you’d expect some heavy-hitters. After all, if these guys are the last line of defense against Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and the rest, you’d expect some top-shelf talent. You’d be wrong. Instead Waller and Trevor put together a laughable list of C-list and D-list heroes who’d struggle taking on Keith Giffen’s Justice League Antarctica, let alone the current New 52 version.

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The Shadow: Year One #1

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The Shadow: Year One #1The Shadow has been around, in one form or another, since 1930. A vigilante with the power to cloud men’s minds, a skill he picked up during his time in the Far East. Over the years different writers have added pieces to the character’s past, but with Dynamite Entertainment’s new series writer Matt Wagner and artist Wilfredo Torres delve into the origins of the character that have been largely shrouded in mystery for more than 80 years.

After a few panels of the mysterious Cambodian warrior Ying Ko, the series starts off in earnest with Lamont Cranston’s return to New York after several years abroad. The comic also introduces Margo Lane (and here Wagner takes a page out of Frank Miller‘s handbook making The Shadow’s faithful companion a high-priced whore for a New York gangster).

We also get The Shadow’s first appearance, and several mentions of how much Cranston has changed. The most interesting of these is Margo, who knew the man before his travels, mentioning that Lamont seems taller which could mean either he is more imposing or the man calling himself Lamont Cranston isn’t the same man she met two years before.

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Nova #1

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Nova #1Writer Jeph Loeb and artist Ed McGuinness give us a solid (although at times somewhat confusing) first issue as Marvel NOW! sets out to relaunch Nova with a new hero under the helmet. Part of the problem with Nova #1 is that it has to introduce not one Nova, but two. Had the Loeb been able to fit Sam Alexander‘s story into the already existing Nova history (rather than show us that his drunken father was once a member of the Nova Corps so forgettable he had never appeared in any issue in the Marvel Universe until now).

On the plus side Sam is likable enough (although does Marvel really need more angsty teenage heroes with parental issues?), and the comic does include an appearance by Rocket Raccoon and Gamora (that will nearly always earn you some points in my book).

The structure of the comic, though confusing given none of these characters are familiar, actually works well as Sam’s dad relates his experiences in space to Sam’s younger sister in a series of bedtime stories Sam has gotten too old to believe in anymore.

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