Sketch Reviews (March 2 2011)

For the first time since the end of October 2008, every comic I bought and read this week was just for me. That's both strange and kind of nice. This month's '28' post is late because, well, I kind of forgot. Second one and already off schedule. To be fair, there's no February 29 this year. I wrote part of a post last night and then abandoned it. Not at all what I wanted. Maybe something will get written in the next few days. I also hope to write about Dark Entries for my series of posts on Hellblazer. But, for now... every single comic book I bought today!

Annihlators #1: The argument for why this group works makes sense. They're too powerful to be effective, because they'll always be afraid of letting loose. Works for me. Quasar's narration was annoying and didn't work with the flow of the issue. This was also some of the most generic art I've seen from Tan Eng Huat. It's like every rough, interesting element of his work has been smoothed over. I had to double-check the credits to make sure it was him. The Rocket Raccoon/Groot first issue story was alright. I dig Tim Green II's art. The plot isn't nearly as funny or wacky as it's supposed to be. [***]

The Boys #52: The cover says Russ Braun, but this is all John McCrea. I have not enjoyed his constributions to The Boys so far. He can't match the expressive art of Robertson or Braun, his characters never acting quite as much, looking more like blank slates much of the time. But, Ennis's writing is strong as Hughie and Mallory meet... again. I'm waiting for Hughie to reveal to Annie his association with the Boys. The art drags this issue down, but it's still pretty good. [***]

Deadpool #33.1: I liked the mocking bit about how this issue doesn't really fit between issues 33 and 34. I liked when Deadpool's mask wasn't in the right place on head to sell his beating. Otherwise... not funny, just sort of goofy in that stupid way. Another reminder of why I ignore this title's existence. [*3/4]

First Wave #6: I don't know what to do with this. Maybe this will read better when I reread the whole mini-series, but, on its own, it's a mess. The writing just falls flat under the weight of an overly complicated plot that goes nowhere and the art continues its downward spiral into ugliness. How this was supposed to make me want to read more comics featuring these characters is beyond me. [*1/2]

Incognito: Bad Influences #4: An enjoyable issue, but not great. Simply good. It's settled into a nice little rhythm... and seems to have little direction. I have a feeling next issue will illicit a "That's it?" response. [***1/4]

Joe the Barbarian #8: Love the art, but the writing continued to leave me unaffected. Like First Wave, this could read better as a whole... but I doubt it. A big miss from Morrison when it comes to me. [***]

Secret Warriors #25: Huh. So, that's the Zodiac Event. That's... disappointing, I must admit. Not at all what I expected, but is that Hickman's fault? Is that my fault? I'm not sure yet. This does explain Leviathan... it leaves the connection between SHIELD and SHIELD unexplained (if there is one beyond the name). No, not what I expected. I don't know. A comic hasn't left me at a loss for words like this in a while. [n/a]

Ultimate Captain America #3: Wait, am I supposed to be rooting for Captain America? Or for 'Nuke'? Because I'm pretty sure I've got things backwards... I wonder, when people write a character like Captain America, do they consider how readers outside of the US will respond? Same with Superman... I figure non-American writers do, of course, but what about American writers? I'm curious. I liked this issue more than the first two, but it's still not rocking my world. [***]

Later