Reviews - Week of August 26, 2009

***Book of the Week***

Green Lantern #45
Writer: Geoff Johns / Artist: Doug Mahnke
Geoff Johns had been detailing Blackest Night brilliantly in the pages of the proper and both Green Lantern books, but one thing I was missing was the reactions of the other Corps. That gets addressed in this issue. Finally we get to see Sinestro's shock and the Star Sapphires' confusion. Not only are we treated to great supplementary material for Blackest Night, but Johns also continues the enticing plot threads he was building before the event. Equally as impressive is Doug Mahnke's art, which is amazing in that he captures the chaos of the situation while also accurately depicting emotions of frustration, rage, and utter confusion. Additionally, almost every character is drawn beautifully. I say "almost" because I don't particularly care for his scrawny Larfleeze. With the plot threads mounting in Blackest Night, I am excited to see some of the smaller but just as interesting ones expanded upon in these pages.
IGN - 8.5/10

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Dark Avengers #8
Writer: Matt Fraction / Artist: Luke Ross
I've never seen a comic book sillier and more discombobulated than this one. The previous chapter in the "Utopia" story showed us some cool strategies that Cyclops laid out to counter Osborn's coup of the mutant community. Instead of showing that plan in action in this chapter, the story just jumps to the outcome. BTW, the plan worked. Lame. Nothing else makes sense either. Countless characters come and go without any explanation and I still don't know what Osborn's plan is with that torture machine he's using on Beast, who the nobodies in the Dark X-Men are, and why in the world Cyclops made his team study them if they were never meant to fight those guys. Luke Ross's stiff, cartoony, and cookie cutter art doesn't help matters any. Just when I was starting to see some good in "Utopia", this issue quickly reminded me of why I hated the story from the very beginning.
IGN - 6.3/10
Comic Book Resources - 3.5/5
Comics Bulletin - 2/5

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Ms. Marvel #44
Writer: Brian Reed / Artist: Sana Takeda
Speaking of silly stories, "War of the Marvels" continues here. Just as I suspected, Ms. Marvel has been separated into two beings, one tough and one soft. Moonstone figures this out and hypothesizes that proximity between the two beings directly correlates to the tough one's strength (at least that explains why a pregnant Menace could defeat her). She devises a plan to kill the soft one to hurt the strong one, but everyone knows that won't happen and I fully expect them to merge by the end of next issue. Not much else happens this issue, as it serves as just an explanatory chapter of the story arc. Something worth noting is the art. It's terrible. All of Takeda's characters are shiny and look like toys, coming off as stiff and blocky. Despite all the lame explanations and horrible art though, I did enjoy the issue. That is solely due to Brian Reed's great ability to write interesting dialogue and his masterful characterization of Moonstone.
*None of the sites reviewed Ms. Marvel this week

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New Avengers #56
Writer: Brian Bendis / Artist: Stuart Immonen
Continuing the silly theme this week, the Hood's gang creates a machine that takes away everyone's powers except theirs to impress Norman Osborn. It's one of the more stupid things I've read, however, Bendis makes the most of it with some great characterization. Finally, he shows some respect to Mockingbird. No longer is she just Hawkeye's fragile wife, but a legitimate hero. Her narration is detailed and fun and her skills are on full display as she beats down one of the Hood's cronies. The Wrecking Crew is also given some great treatment from Bendis. Stuart Immonen's art is vibrant and catchy. Some of his panels actually look like they're popping out of the pages. Best of all - he uses Mockingbird's new costume instead of her ridiculous 80s one. Regardless of the silliness of the issue's premise, Bendis does a great job making this a highly entertaining read.
IGN - 7.3/10
Comic Book Resources - 4/5
Comics Bulletin - 3/5

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Runaways #13
Writer: Kathryn Immonen / Artist: Sara Pichelli
With this issue of Runaways, Kathryn Immonen does another great job creating circumstances that help with the characterization of the team. Chase gets the chance to shine this time. Immonen uses the sudden appearance of his long-lost Uncle to build upon a plot thread discussed way back in the first volume and the story is just as engrossing as it was back then. She also continues the ongoing theme of Nico slutting it up (is there anyone she hasn't hooked up with?). Thankfully, the rest of the team notices and in a particularly funny scene, Karolina busts her out about it. This kind of interaction amongst the team is what makes this series so much fun to read. Sara Pichelli's art frustrates me though. Nico looks horrible, Karolina looks like a tree, and Victor is completely unrecognizable. Please start using Adrian Alphona's depictions as references. Runaways may be going away for a little while after next issue and it couldn't have come at a worst time. The new creative team has brought the series back and I pray they and my favorite superhero team don't stay gone long.
IGN - 8.4/10

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Secret Warriors #7
Writer: Jonathan Hickman / Artist: Alessandro Vitti
Green Lantern, Runaways, and this wonderful comic made this week one of the strongest I've ever been a part of. With his second arc, Hickman makes Nick Fury and his team even cooler while further connecting the series to Dark Reign. First of all, I love Fury's way of treating the team. After robbing a dirty bank for more than a billion dollars and listening to the Warriors complain about not getting paid, he says, "Take 20 dollars and the night off." Hilarious. More importantly though, Osborn is finally tired of Fury and sends the Thunderbolts and Avengers after him. Or is Fury sending Black Widow and Songbird after Osborn? That's right! This story is sort of tying in with what's going on in Thunderbolts. I love how, with this series, Fury has his hands in more things than Osborn and is building three or more different teams to handle different situations. Alessandro Vitti's art is mighty impressive. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know Caselli wasn't drawing this issue until I looked at the credits. Vitti's Black Widow doesn't look all that great but only because her depiction is different than what I'm used to seeing her as. Other than that, I have absolutely no complaints about this issue and, quite frankly, cannot praise it enough.
IGN - 8/10
Comic Book Resources - 4/5
Comics Bulletin - 4/5