Sketch Reviews (February 17 2012)

Yeah, I bought comics on Wednesday. Just hadn't gotten around to this post until now. Mostly because I spent all of Thursday blowing my nose every twelve seconds -- and, on days like that, the only thing I can stand to do is watch TV where blowing my nose doesn't actually interrupt anything. I watched around 20 episodes of King of the Hill. Awesome day. Aside from nose-blowing. (I'm about a third of the way into season three of King of the Hill after getting the first five seasons on DVD from Michelle's mom for Christmas and my birthday. As I said on Twitter, I think, on the whole, I prefer King of the Hill over The Simpsons. At its peak, The Simpsons was funnier, no doubt. King of the Hill is better at blending a lot of different elements consistently -- similar to what Parks and Recreation does compared to 30 Rock, say. Also, Pamela Adlon's voice acting of Bobby is some of the best voice acting ever done. Simply stunning stuff.)

Daredevil #9: One of the weakest issues yet -- which sounds negative, of course, but it was still a good issue. Conceptually, this issue had a good focus and some of the bits with Matt's radar was quite clever... it just doesn't connect with me. In the hands of a lesser artist, this issue probably would have fallen completely flat for me. Personal preference, I suppose. [***1/2]

Uncanny X-Men #7: Damn, Kieron Gillen wrote the hell out of this issue. Then again, I have a fondness for alien lifeforms that talk down to humans... Greg Land's art didn't bug too much most of the time. That's as good as it gets with him, isn't it? [***1/2]

Winter Soldier #2: When Bucky stands up and yells "Nobody move! This is a raid!" I laugh myself silly. It's just so fucking dumb. [***1/4]

Hellblazer: Phantom Pains: The one thing that I really liked about this trade was how Peter Milligan had John forget various spells at different times. He's an old bastard, he's losing his touch, and he will fuck up even more in the future... at least if his wife isn't there to save his ass. Now the wait for the next trade begins... [****]

Uncanny X-Force: Deathlok Nation: Three issues less than the Hellblazer trade and a buck more expensive. Fuck you, Marvel. This was fine. I'd read the 'point one' issue before and found it tedious here. The 'main story' (of three issues) was entertaining in its way. The Deathlok concept never really landed as well as intended and, goddamn, Esad Ribic's art is much better on The Ultimates with Dean White on colours. This is the necessary trade that bridges the first with the third and fourth... and judging from what people are saying about the comics after that, that will probably be where I get off this little ride. I did like the Fantomex Deathlok bit. (Also, the more we explore Fantomex as a character, the less interesting he is.) [***1/4]

Later