Sketch Reviews (August 25 2011)

Not much to add this week... let's get to it...

Batman: Gates of Gotham #5: Well, that was underwhelming. A decent ending, but fairly typical. I have no real complaints, no real compliments. [***]

Batman, Incorporated #8: And the new contender for 'worst issue from Morrison's run on Batman' is... My god, this is an ugly comic featuring mediocre writing. [*]

Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing #3: Three issues building up to... not a goddamn thing. What was the point of this book besides proving that DC really will publish anything no matter how fucking awful it is? No, really, get me the e-mail addresses of everyone who approved this piece of shit so I can ask them what point it served, because I sure as fuck can't see it... [-****]

Captain America & Bucky #621: The closest thing I have to buying a book primarily for the art. Chris Samnee is wonderful. The writing is okay, but this is a bit of a downgrade from the 'first' issue of this series. Will it actually go anywhere beyond "Bucky: Year One?" Let's see! [***1/2]

Flashpoint: Project Superman #3: This comic wasn't as funny as the second issue, but it was still pretty funny with its visual allusions and the constant look of "I... I think I wet my pants" on Kal's face. I don't know... I just couldn't take it seriously. It had none of the genuine humanity of the Azzarello/Risso Batman mini but all of the superficial crap... it's just a funny comic. I wish they'd gone all out and just did the parody of Action Comics #1 for the cover. [***1/4]

And a special bonus:

A Few Things You May Need to Know from Ultimate Fallout to read The Ultimates #1
* The man in the helmet on the first page is Reed Richards. He's escaped from the Negative Zone with the goal of creating an environment that will create the next generation of superpeople to help remake the world as he wants it. I think. Those people in the white Future Foundation-esque uniforms are his followers and they live by the code 'evolve or die.'
* Captain America quit at some point. It was mentioned briefly in Ultimate Fallout #6 with Steve Rogers last appearing in the second issue at Peter Parker's funeral. He got slapped by Aunt May. We've yet to be told why he quit, but I assume it has to do with Parker's death.
* Nick Fury was ordered to increase S.H.I.E.L.D. operations by 30% only to be told shortly thereafter that the budget is being cut by 30%. That has put him under a little stress.
* The threat in S.E.A.R. is a metahuman of some kind.
* Brian Braddock has cancer, so his brother has replaced him as Captain Britain.
* This may be important later: Tony Stark has been asked to take his brother Gregory's place in an organisation of 50 very wealthy and powerful (mostly self-made) people who are going to try to change the world from behind the scenes. We don't know if he's accepted yet.

And, not that this has anything to do with anything, but look at Quicksilver's face in the final panel of the preview for Ultimate X-Men #1. Isn't that just fucking awful?

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Later