Hey
y’all. Not much news in comics this week. There are three comics I did read
this week though and it’s a mixed bag. The end of Age of X-Man is nearly upon us and that’s exciting because it means
Jonathon Hickman’s relaunch is soon (July 24th, FYI) and I can not
wait or that. But let’s move on to the reviews. As always, spoilers ahead.
Comics reviewed: The Flash #73, Age of
X-Man: X-Tremists, Action Comics 2012
The Flash #73
Storytellers: Joshua Williamson and Howard Porter
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letters: Steve Wands
Cover: Porter and Hi-Fi
This
is a good comic, y’all. It continues the trend of prior issues focusing on just
a few scenes. This time the focus is on Barry and Iris’ relationship.
Specifically, how they support each other in times of stress. Which is why its
kind of painful to watch their big fight towards the end. I wish Barry would
just tell her about Flash and Turtle, but I understand he can’t. But let them
be happy, Josh!
It
was pretty surprising when Future Turtle and Future Flash landed in the present
(Past?). I figured Barry’s trip to the future would just be what motivated him
to become the Flash. Looks like its going to be a big part of the story though.
That’s cool. I love time travel and Turtle is cool. So, bring it on.
The
art is top notch. The use of a high number of small panels in stressful moments
remains one of my favorite aspects of the story. Just check out the above art.
It is stellar and really reinforces the emotions of the scene.
Verdict: Buy
Age of X-Man: X-Tremists #5
Writer: Leah Williams
Artist: Georges Jeanty
Colors: Jim Charalampidis
Inks: Roberto Poggi
Letters: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover: Rahzzah
Age of X-Man has been a strange event.
None of the series seem to be allowed to have an actual ending. And to some
degree, that makes sense. The Omega issue releasing in July will attempt to tie
up all the loose threads. But that means the narrative progression of each
series has ground to a halt in the final issue. And that’s my biggest problem
with this issue. While it provides some emotional closure, it is still lacking.
 |
| Real Love. |
This
issue is focused on Jubilee as she regains her memories and starts blowing up,
well, everything around her. This leads into the end of last issue and moves
beyond it but doesn’t do anything interesting with it. Everyone is mad and
causing wanton destruction. Except Blob and Psylocke. They’re off on their own.
Blob’s house gets burned down and Psylocke confides in him that she has never
deleted anyone’s memories but is instead holding them all within her. She
releases them, and they return to their proper places. They are then attacked
by those with their memories returned. Its fine, but the real heart is in a
quick moment where Blob explains how he fell in love with Betsy. Its fantastic
and almost makes the cover price by itself. Almost.
Verdict: Borrow
Action Comics #1012
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Szymon Kudranski
Colors: Brad Anderson
Letters: Josh Reed
Cover: Jamal Campbell
I’m
not sure what this series is right now. Obviously, it plans to tie in with Event Leviathan and it has the ongoing
story about the Metropolis Mafia or whatever they’re called, but it isn’t
really about anything. Because of
that, this issue is entertaining, but ultimately unsatisfying.
This
issue is mostly about the criminals in Superman’s life (Whether he knows it or
not) and what they are up to. There is a quick moment between Clark and Lois
before he flies off to Superman. IT
kind of cute, but there isn’t much to the scene. Elsewhere, Trish Q shows
Robinson Goode footage of Lois kissing Superman, who is not her husband (Well,
as far as they know). I liked this scene it was a quick and entertaining setup
for a future plotline.
Robinson
then goes to a meeting with Rose and her evil alternate personality Thorn. This
exchange is interesting as it tips Robinson off to the fact that her mafia is
being too sloppy and that there seems to be police officers looking the other
way when Thorn beats criminals. At the end of the issue, Thorn is recruited by
Leviathan to do…something. It’s fine, but there’s not much here.
On
the art side of things… its not great. There seems to be some compositing
issues with the foreground and background. It looks like when a movie has bad
CG effects and you can basically see the green screen. It really takes the
reader out of the story. Also, in some spots the faces are off. Sometimes by quite
a bit. The backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous though and that’s nice.
Verdict: Borrow
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