Longbox Review

FF #4: If I didn’t already kinda love Sue Richards, Marvel has Barry Kitson go and draw this issue of FF. Homina homina! Also, the interplay between Reed and his symposium guests is wonderful. He really is shown as the smartest man in the room, and it’s obvious to all who are in attendance why Reed and his family have beaten these adversaries time after time. As Sue told Spidey, “Do you think I should be afraid of them . . . or should they be afraid of me?” And, towards the end of the issue, a nice homage to the cover of FF #1. I cannot wait to see how Sue responds to these alternate Reeds, because this is really what this book is about for me: how Sue is awesome.

Green Lantern #66: Umm, did Krona just snuff Sinestro? Of course not, but it sure looks like it. Plus, we find that Indigo wasn’t always the compassionate creature we’ve been shown. And there’s a multi-colored panel of Hal and Guy getting zapped by Krona that the artists did a fantastic job on.

Green Lantern Corps #60: The only interesting thing in this issue is that John Stewart kills Mogo to prevent the living planet from doing Krona’s bidding. If left alive, Mogo would allow Krona to succeed, so John does the mercy killing thing. Really? John already has issues with killing a planet’s population (from Cosmic Odyssey–go read it!), so why go there? Because only Nixon can go to China? I saw someone else’s review of this event and thought it was a good idea. I don’t get it–this bit just comes across as repetitive and unnecessary.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #10: Again, only one interesting thing in this title: Guy Gardner saves the Green Lantern Corps (and not Hal). I love that Guy is the one that sets Parallax free from the central battery allowing the possessed corps to be free of its influence. Guy’s rallying cry of “I love the Corps! I hate being filled with rage!” as he uses the red and violet rings to tear the battery in two is comical but powerful.

Mighty Thor #2: It’s weird reading this at the same time as Fear Itself. Odin and Thor’s relationship is completely different in the two titles. I’d like to know where they fit in relation to each other as far as continuity. I will assume for now that Fear Itself comes first, especially since they are back in Asgard and we just saw Odin restore Asgard in the event book. The main plot point of this first arc begins: the Silver Surfer arrives in Asgard heralding Galactus’s intent to feast off of the energies from the World-Tree Seed (I think?). So, of course, we have to have the obligatory super–I was about to type “human” there, but neither Thor nor Silver Surfer are that, are they?–being fight. Another comparison to Fear Itself: Odin’s cryptic responses to everything (“You wouldn’t understand”) is getting old. I call lazy story telling (both title are written by Matt Fraction). It’s ok if you do it one book for suspenseful reasons, as long as it pays off in the end, but two? C’mon, Fraction.

Ruse #3: Whereas Sigil #3 was boring, this issue of Ruse really made me feel like I was reading the old series again, with all the wit and sass it used to have. Although, two odd things happen: Simon Archard loses his temper (for a good reason, imo), and he actually gives Emma credit for coming up with the solution to the two cases they are working on. Of course, Emma has no idea what Simon is talking about, but we will next issue.

Xombi #3: Another good issue from Rozum and Irving give us the battle between David and Marantha, and there are some cool visuals in this issue. One is the “dead” body of David after Maranatha takes a big ol’ chomp out of his side. Another is the POV of Maranatha as it gets blasted by the skull gun. The panel is colored in white and violet, with an almost negative quality to it. And then there’s the scolding a ghost gives us, the readers, essentially telling us that life is wasted on the living, though Rozum has a bunch more to say about it than that. There’s still the plot dangler where David must deal with Roland Finch, who put all the events of the last three issues into motion. Unfortunately, it appears that David Kim will only have this one problem to solve before the DC relaunch. I don’t get that. Why start a new series when you know that in a few months you’re not going to continue it? Considering DC’s “more diversity” line, Xombi fits the bill in at least two ways: the title character is Asian, and it’s not your typical superhero title. DC’s missing the boat not keeping this title in its line up.