BTP – Rogue Reviews 2/17 Comics
Another week and another dozen comics to review…let’s get it on!
Black Widow & the Marvel Girls #4 of 4: The final installment of this mini-series has the Widow teaming up with Storm and the Mole Man to stop gang violence in New York. It sounds silly, I know, but it’s actually pretty good. The last two issues of this mini have been worth the $2.99 price tag because it’s just good, clean fun. If you’re looking for something a little fancier with the Black Widow, though, try “Black Widow Deadly Origin” whose final issue was also released this week. The trade of that will be available in March.
Deadpool #19: Remember that “Hit-Monkey” issue I reviewed last week? Well this is the issue where Hit-Monkey is officially introduced into the Marvel Universe as a bad guy. This is a great issue in general because Deadpool is teaming up with Spider-man and basically gets his ass handed to him by our beloved wall-crawler. With Deadpool being splashed all over the Marvel Universe lately, this title has been one that’s consistently stayed good and worth buying. Plus it’s only $2.99.
Dark Avengers #14 (Seige tie-in): Alright, I like the Sentry but it’s starting to get old. This is yet another issue focusing on just how crazy Bob/The Void is and how desperate Norman Osborn is to keep him happy. Oh, and let’s not forget how crazy the Normster is himself. Bendis wouldn’t want that one to get by his readers, heaven forbid. You can really go either way with this one, especially if you’re strapped for cash this week. $3.99.
Power Girl #9: 100% worth the buy every week! There’s not a lot of comics I can say that about these days, but between the stories themselves and the art that goes with them Power Girl has been all kinds of entertaining! This issue has P.G. battling Satanna and her sonic hammer of doom that can actually affect Kara’s nervous system and cause pain, allowing her to get just close enough to use an even more deadly weapon. Plus there’s a cameo from Terra who it’s good to see again. Hats off to Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmotti for another great issue! $2.99.
Atomic Robo (Volume 4) #1 of 4: A friend described this to me as “Hellboy in space” which is pretty accurate, actually. Having never read an Atomic Robo comic before, I was delightfully pleased! This issue focuses on the hiring of a new member at Tesladyne (“the world’s premiere investigators of and defense against the unexplained”) and in the middle of an interview vampires from another demension attack thanks to a botched experiment in one of the Tesladyne labs. Great humor, awesome story, kick-ass action…what more could you want from a comic? $3.50.
Chase Variant – One Shot is All I Need (One Shot): Image one-shots strike again and it’s oh-so sweet! Chase Variant is a government replicated assassin with four arms and a very tight outfit. There are actually three chapters to this book, all written by Rich Johnson, and each using a different Chase replicant for the story. It’s a good, clean, wholesome assassination story that anyone can enjoy! My favorite part is the Yu-gi-oh-esque card game being played at the bottom of every page that explains how Chase gets into each situation. Absolutely brilliant! Great art by Saverio Tenuta & Bagwell too! $3.99.
Devil #1 of 4: A vampire virus has struck Japan and the government has stepped in to quell the threat as best they can. These vampires are a little crazy, though. They’re kind of like freakishly fast zombie + psycho killer + bad guys from “I am Legend.” I like it! The lead character, Tatsuya Okawa, is a typical “I’ve been doing this longer than you, so get the hell outta my way” type, but it works. There is one very disturbing scene that had me cringing a little, but I’m a huge chicken when it comes to horror stuff like this. I can actually see this becoming a movie, it’s done so well. $3.50.
Farscape Ongoing #4: I’m a huge Farscape fan, I’ll admit it. It was probably the greatest science fiction show to come out of the last 20 years that isn’t Star Trek. But when I first saw these comics hit the stands I was all kinds of skeptical: are they going to suck like the Star Trek comics do? Will they ruin the show? What kind of weird writer did they get to do these, anyway? Turns out they got Rokne S. O’Bannon, the creator of the show itself to write these books and, as a result, it’s like your watching shortened episodes! I can almost hear John Crichton’s voice through the quips on the page. I should have known it would be good…it’s The Jim Henson Company, after all. This issue closes up an arc where Aeryn is trying to find out why her and Crichton’s child has an extra gland in his body that makes him different. It’s always fun learning new facts about characters you love! The only problem I have with this book is that it jumps around a little too much, as if they were actually filming an episode. Other than that, though, fans of the show should totally pick this series up! $3.99.
Joe the Barbarian #2 of 8: Our beloved protagonist, Joe, is falling even deeper into his diabetic, low-blood-sugar state and so tumbling ever deeper into his imaginary realm. When he’s told by a one-legged man that he’s “the dying boy” from their scripture he starts running through the land, and in reality his house, to get to the kitchen and find some juice that will raise his blood sugar. Along the way he runs into Jack, his pet rat, who’s become a samurai warrior that fights what look like Nazgul from Lord of the Rings. This comic is only going to get better, so pick it up while you can! $2.99.
Honorable Mentions: Black Widow Deadly Origin #4 of 4, Captain America #603, G.I. Joe Cobra II #2, & Streets of Gotham #9 (for the Manhunter 2nd feature).
One Response to “BTP – Rogue Reviews 2/17 Comics”
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NK Flickr!
Thanks for the review of the Farscape comic — as Rockne’s collaborator and the guy who actually writes the Crichton quips (Rockne plots, I script), your comment was especially pleasing to my eye.
Again, thanks!
Keith R.A. DeCandido
keith@decandido.net
http://www.decandido.net
kradical.livejournal.com