Comic Reviews from the FUTURE! - Matt previews 5/29

Remember, books are on Thursday this week. If you come in on Wednesday, all you'll be able to do is talk to the staff. And who wants to talk to the staff?

Anyhow, here's what I think about the upcoming books.

۞ My original review of Immortal Iron Fist #15 centered around what a disappointing end it is to the Matt Fraction/Ed Brubaker run, with so-so art (for a title that's been graced with some little-known but stellar artists) and an overly talky story. The issue was especially disappointing since the last Times Past issue was probably my favorite single issue Marvel's published in the last decade or so.

So you can imagine my relief that Fraction's got one more issue to tie his stuff up and give a solid launch to the upcoming team, supposedly (hope hope hope!) with pencils from original artist David Aja. But the bulk of my thoughts still hold true. The first serious misstep from an excellent comic.

۞ Thor #9 - Okay, look: I don't like J. Michael Straczynski's work. I'll be up front about that. His stories all seem to take themselves SO SERIOUSLY and claim to have such earthshaking importance, and yet they are so ponderously dull. Like baseball, or presidential debates. So THAT certainly doesn't predispose me toward this book.

But am I the only who hates the pseudo-archaic font they use for the Asgardian word balloons? It renders the book even more unreadable than most of JMS's stuff.

۞ I lost a lot of interest in Ultimate Spider-Man when Mark Bagley left, which is notably odd, as I've never really thought particularly highly of Bagley's art. AND I usually like Stuart Immonen. So that was weird. Also, not something I'm going to solve in this review.

Anyhow, issue #122 feels like the best issue in a long time. Nice bit with the villain, some hints toward Ultimate Origins, Bendis keeps his worst tics in check (needless padding, irritatingly same-y dialogue) and still uses his abundant talents, and some good MJ/Kitty stuff make this really worth checking out, especially if you bailed like I did.

۞ Uncanny X-Men #498 is yet another weird issue of a weird run on this book for me: I hate the art, hate the plot, think the characters aren't acting like themselves ... and yet I remain hopeful. Part of that is that the book will soon be reteaming the writing staff from my beloved Iron Fist, and part of it is ... I have no idea. Faith in Brubaker? Pathetic devotion to an aging franchise? I have no clue.

۞ X-Force #4 - Apparently Dexter really liked this book, but Dexter is clearly the sort of person who cannot be trusted with matters of taste. Seriously? This is the distilled essence of everything that went wrong with the X-Men in the nineties and early 2000s.

It's got grim 'n gritty, black leather, ultra-violence, and all of the worst villains in X-Men history TOGETHER AT LAST. Not to mention the not-at-all-awaited return of a really stupid character direction from the eighties. If it were handled with any sort of humor or subtlety, I suppose it could be big dumb fun, but as presented, I can live without it.

۞ X-Men Legacy #212 - Is this coming out weekly? I mean, better too often than never (check out the in-store date on that link!) but good lord. Anyhow, the art is the weakest of this run, and nothing here makes Gambit any less stupid than usual, but I'm still really enjoying this nevertheless. Mike Carey is quietly becoming a really solid superhero writer.

Looking forward to hearing what you guys thought.....