The Sunday Open: First Week of March Part 2

And so we march on with part two of our look at the books I got this past week...

The Boys #16

"Good for the Soul" is turning out to be a lovely little character arc where we get to see a bit more about the Boys. It's a nice change of pace from the strictly-superhero stuff the book has been up to this point. The main focus is still on Hughie, which makes sense as he's our perspective character and the one we're most likely to feel for. He gets closer to Annie and acts like a decent guy the entire time. There's also a bit about the Frenchman and the Female that doesn't provide a whole lot of insight, but is still nice. I really like this series.

ClanDestine #2

I'm actually in the middle of reading the hardcover collection of the last series, but I am impressed with how much info Davis did communicate in the previous issue as I'm learning more, but not a whole lot--more like specific details than broad strokes. I do wonder why Vincent is the only member of the family that's crossed out in the little family tree at the beginning of the issue since I know at least two or three other family members are dead, too.

Anyway, this series continues as the threat against the family builds with Adam seemingly killed and Dom lost in time, coming face-to-face with Excalibur. Another book that I'm really digging on as Davis really packs shit into these issues. And, as always, his art is fantastic.

Gødland #21

Adam Archer defeats the Triad finally. It seems like those guys have been around for-frickin'-ever. I rather like Archer as he's still very much a novice at this and doesn't always know what to do. The scene where he does special move after special move seemed very video game-ish to me (in a good way). Really this is the third in a series of books today that I don't have much to say about because it's really good and just continuing along at its own pace. I am interested in learning Maxim's secret, though. What will it be????

The Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death

Now, I don't know why, but this book didn't wow me as much as regular issues of the series do. It seemed more like a bunch of scenes thrown together than an actual story. There are some nice moments and I like how the art progresses to the style closest to that of David Aja, but, I don't know, something feels off. It does give necessary background to the current story in the series, particularly fleshing out the Prince of Orphans. We'll see how it reads as part of the story when I reread the whole thing.

Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #5

Wow, Tony Stark is kind of stupid... he just shows up by himself and gets captured by the Mandarin. Okay, he planned it, but it's still something that could have gone very, very wrong. Particularly that whole execution thing where he barely escapes. But, this series has been really good in telling a focused story about the first fights between these two characters and next issue's final showdown should be great.

Omega the Unknown #6

Well, we've passed the halfway mark and it looks like Alex may find himself working for the enemy soon. Again, enjoying this book but not much to say about it. I'm a horrible critic sometimes.

The Programme #7-8

The introduction of the race war plot can easily fuck this book up, I think. Until now, Milligan has been walking that fine line between brilliance and horrible shit, and adding a new plot element could go either way. However, making it one of the Soviet's tactics to destabilise America helps it seem less random and irrelevent. CP Smith's art continues to baffle me as it also walks the same fine line as Milligan. So much will depend on the final four issues of this book.

Punisher War Journal #15-17

Normally, I don't bother discussing stuff Tim and I looked at in our column, but we only looked at one issue (well, more the whole series, but, you know, whatever). The conclusion to the Kraven story was odd, but sets him up as a foil for the Punisher, which makes sense in its own way.

Issue 16 is a follow-up to issue four, and is very, very good. I like the idea of a Punisher survivors group, and the look at the Gibbon's life since being blown up is pretty depressing. As Tim and I said, the book seems to work best when the Punisher barely shows up.

Issue 17 didn't wow me as much as 16. I do like how it adds more complexity to the Clarke/Castle relationship, though. Obviously something Fraction has an eye to do something with in the future.

And that does it for these books. Short little reviews, aren't they? Mostly "I dig this" or "Wait and see." Odd.