Comics

Fairest #3

/ / Comics

fairest-3-coverFinding themselves captured by the Snow Queen, Jonah Panghammer regales the the unlikely group with the story of Briar Rose‘s birth and magical blessings bestowed upon the princess. Slighted, and at the most opportune hour, the Snow Queen also bestows her own curse on the newborn child.

This series is becoming an awful lot of fun and the third issue shows us the complexity and deviousness of Panghammer who has used the situation involving the Snow Queen to his own advantage. We’re going to have to wait until the next issue to find out what the imp really has in mind, but writer Bill Willingham has certainly crafted and intriguing new character in the Fables universe.

There are a couple of small, but fun, touches as we learn magical blessings can have quite literal translations in the real world (and the reason why Briar Rose never sang for her 60’s girl band). With strong art by Phil Jimenez and another cool cover by Adam Hughes, this tale of Sleeping Beauty is definitely worth a look.

[Vertigo, $2.99]

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Morning Glories #18

/ / Comics

morning-glories-18-cover“P.E.” continues, and although we don’t get any answers about the school and its mysterious ways we do learn a little about Abraham‘s group working against Morning Glories Academy. The issue is centered around Jun (really Hisao) who gets into another fight with his brother Hisao (really Jun) but is rescued by a childhood fried, Guillame.

As Guillame and Jun reconnect and kill time in a way that would be sure to make Bill O’Reilly shout down the evil homosexual comic book agenda of Image Comics, we also get flashbacks to Jun and Guillame’s time together as children growing up in Abraham’s compound.

Although the issue doesn’t really move the plot forward it does cement a couple of important points (other than Jun’s sexual preference). One, we know Jun isn’t alone working for Abraham. And two, we discover which other member of the new Morning Glories recruits is not only part of the group but in charge of their mission. It’s not who you expect. Worth a look.

[Image, $2.99]

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Fatale #5

/ / Comics

fatale-5-coverHank wakes bloodied, chained, and with odd symbols carved into his chest. He’s a guest of the Satanic cult deep below the bowels of the city. Their Bishop plans to use him as a sacrifice to, as he puts it, “help me see my god again.”

Jo finds herself betrayed by her former lover Walter Booker who has found a way to lessen her hold on him and now it seems he plans to turn her over to the very people who he saved her from all those years ago, but appearances aren’t all that they seem.

Issue #5 concludes the series’ first arc “Death Chases Me.” And although Hank is saved from the cult and makes away safely with Josephine it’s clear evil has only been stymied, not stopped. As to whether Hank’s life is better today than before he met the woman he loves with all his heart, well, that’s a little murky as well.

Credit to Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips for delivering a noir/horror thriller that it appears is only getting started. Bring on Book Two. Worth a look.

[Image, 3.50]

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Scarlet Spider #5

/ / Comics

scarlet-spider-5-coverNow that Kaine‘s battles with the Assassin’s Guild are over (at least until they ask him to make good on his promise to assassinate someone on their behalf) the Scarlet Spider can relax. Except he can’t because a small group of terrorists have chosen Houston to detonate a nuclear device.

With time running out Wally Layton asks for the Scarlet Spider’s help (a name Kaine is less than thrilled that people have begun using for him) in finding the bomb. However, the police officer is a little unprepared for how brutal Houston’s new super-hero gets while pumping suspects for information.

With Kaine and Lawton the comic has a fun odd-couple buddy-cop movie feel which when mixed with the countdown and suspense of the story turns out to be a hell of a lot of fun. We do get cameoes from Iron Man, Maria Hill, and (for some unknown reason) Ultimate Universe Nick Fury, but none of them interact with our hero or make it to Houston in time. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $2.99]

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Batman #9

/ / Comics

batman-9-coverThe Night of Owls continues as Batman fights off an army of Talons inside the Batcave while dressed in an armored Bat-suit designed for the most hostile and alien places on Earth, and armed with a pet dinosaur and an army of bats that come in the nick of time.

Most of the issue deals with the fight in the cave but I do wonder why so many Talons were sent after Bruce Wayne (who they didn’t yet know was Batman) when the other targets didn’t garner so much attention.

The back-up story features Alfred‘s father Jarvis in his final days of service for the Wayne family and his attempts to leave Wayne Manor and make it back home only to be stopped by a member of the Court of Owls.

I wish the last few pages had dealt with the Night of Owls other than a mostly forgetable back-up story. I’m also not thrilled with writer Scott Snyder’s attempt to rope Alfred’s family into the seemingly all-encompassing Court of Owls arc. Worth a look

[DC, $2.99]

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