This Week’s Reviews: Shipped Nov. 11th 2009

Seriously, there are stories when he's not even on the right planet!

Today’s strip is interesting for two reasons. One is that I drew people I know into the strip (click said strip for the full story) and two because there are eight comics in there. Not having room for nine, I put my cameos in Transformer shirts–too bad I can’t draw TF logos in a rush. Now I actually quick-sketched the actual covers, because I couldn’t “easter egg” them all in like i have thus far, and I didn’t include the Transformers: Continuum cover because I don’t consider it a comic. However, I paid money for it (unlike the Marvel “Saga” freebies), so it gets reviewed.

If I was able to get that far. After all, I do have to enjoy these comics, so I’m not going to breeze through and just grab data for the review. So the question this week is: did I get through all nine by post time?

Spoiler-blocked versions, posted here or not, will eventually end up at ComiXology.

Cartoon Network Action Pack! #43

DC Comics (January 2010)

WRITERS: Merrill Hagan & Matthew Lehosit

ARTISTS: Min S. Ku, Mike Cavallaro

LETTERER: John J. Hill

COLORS: Heroic Age

EDITOR: Sean Ryan

BEN 10 was created by Man of Action, but I’m not sure if they were behind the Alien Force version or not.

Three different stories set-up the upcoming live-action Ben 10 movie (don’t get me started), Alien Swarm, set in the Alien Force time period. The first introduces Victor Validus, a Plumber-in-training, as he travels on a mission with Max years ago. The second story has his daughter meet up with Ben back in the day when he first found the Omnitrix. (I’m thinking around the time Race Against Time takes place, but I’ve always wondered about how that fits into the cartoon’s continuity.) The third takes place in the current Alien Force timeframe as Kevin learns about some unknown alien tech, which I assume sets up the beginning of Alien Swarm.

What they got right: I keep saying they should give Ben and the gang their own comic, like Batman: The Brave and the Bold has. Outside of Samurai Jack (does Megas XLR ever show up anymore?), it’s the only reason to read this comic, at least for me. Mike Cavallaro handles the old cartoon’s look well, as Min S. Ku does with the modern style. Obviously I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I can’t say how well the tie-in works, but it certainly looks like the cartoon, rather than trying to drawn the live-action actors.

What they got wrong: Well, a curve should be thrown on this one. It’s a set-up for the Alien Swarm movie, so they have to introduce characters that were never in the animated show, but apparently play an important part in the live-action movie and are part of Max’s past. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult to get into the characters or learn anything important about them.

Recommendation: If this would somehow lead to a full Ben 10 comic in any period, I would be happy. Otherwise, I can’t fully judge it until the movie airs. Still, what I can tell is a decent job. At least worth a look through.

Doctor Who (ongoing*) #5

WRITER: Tony Lee

ARTIST: Matthew Dow Smith

COLORIST: Charlie Kirchoff

LETTERER: Neil Uyetake

EDITOR: Denton J. Tipton

COVER “A”: Paul Grist (artist) and Phil Elliott (colorist)

COVER “B” (shown) by the comic’s art team

*I’ll stop writing “ongoing” once it gets to #7. None of the mini-series got that far. Also, that’s what the listings keep calling it, even though it’s not in the indicia.

Finch’s bought off Judoon are ordered to track down the Doctor and the ambassadors, as well as the not-bought-off Judoon. He takes the Shadow Architect prisoner and kills the Advocate. Back at the crash, the Doctor and the ambassadors put their differences aside in order to steal another ship in the hopes of reaching the peace talks. However, the Krillitane-bought Judoon capture them, but the Doctor isn’t calling it quits just yet.

What they got right: Lee continues to have the best knowledge (or proper researching skills) of any writer I’ve seen thus far. I do know that he happens to be a fan of the classic series, but he also uses the new series well. Like some of the 9th Doctor stories, we get to learn the results of the Doctor’s past evil-fighting operations, and just what happens to the villains after their defeat.

What they got wrong: I just hope Lee remembers that they had it coming, especially the Sontarans. The Ogrons and Sontarans as a whole live a lifestyle that’s made them enemies of the Doctor (mercenary culture and evil military force respectively, although I haven’t caught an Ogron story before this and just know from what I’ve read on them), but from what I recall, the Draconians as a whole aren’t either, and many of them get along rather well with the Doctor, including a recent one-shot.

Recommendation: As always, a Tony Lee-penned Doctor is a Doctor worth reading.

Doctor Who Classics Series 2 #12

(reprinting strips from Doctor Who Magazine #82-84)

IDW Publishing (November 2009) {originally Marvel UK}

WRITER: Steve Parkhouse

ARTISTS: Mick Austin and Steve Dillon

EDITOR: Alan McKenzie

IDW COLORIST: Charlie Kirchoff

COVER ARTIST: Robert Hack

IDW EDITOR: Denton J. Tipton

DESIGNER: Amauri Osorio

Meeting with “rebels” who have psychic powers, Gus is able to rescue the Doctor. Together they take the TARDIS and pursue the Time Meddler (aka the Monk) and his ice warrior allies to destroy the machine he’s created. The Meddler is sent to another dimension and the Ice Warriors finished off. The Doctor drops off the psychics off, who know that one of them, the Doctor or Gus, is about to die.

The second story, “The Moderator” begins as a some nut is on a mission to capture the “blue box” while the Doctor and Gus are caught on a planet with a strict curfew. Which naturally they’re violating.

What they got right: The Meddling Monk/Time Meddler is a decent Renegade Time Lord that the comics can use, and it was good to see his comeuppance. I wouldn’t mind seeing the psychic investigators again in another story. I also like what I’m assuming is a new threat in the form of whatever his name is hunting the TARDIS. And the TV cult was fun. There’s a scene I really wish qualified for “Best Scene of the Week”, but reprints don’t qualify.

What they got wrong: I’m not sure the Meddler (I keep wanting to call him the Monk, because that’s how we met him) was used right here. I mean, when we first saw him in the “Time Meddler” arc way back with the first Doctor, he was trying to do good as he saw it. Here he feels more like a mercenary. Why help the Ice Warriors? What was his motivation? Also, I’m still not convinced that modern coloring techniques really work for these old black-and-whites, but at least it works better with Dillon’s art than it does Austin’s.

Recommendation: If Parkhouse is still in the business, IDW should really give him a one-shot or something. I’d love to see how he tackles new Who because he does a nice job in these old stories.

The Incredibles #2

WRITERS: Mark Waid and Landry Walker

ARTIST: Marcio Takara

COLORIST: Andrew Dalhouse

LETTERER: Troy Peteri

EDITOR: Aaron Sparrow

(cover “a” shown, the inside cover says all covers–were there others?–were by the interior art team)

The Incredibles find themselves battling both H.A.T.E. and the government guys, but Richter is actually Shifty, a shape-shifting member of the Confederacy of Crime. The CoC manages to nab Jack-Jack and plan to syphon the power-inducing virus into themselves. However, Violet is able to rescue everybody and clear Richter. Dash saves Jack-Jack, but Shifter is still connected to the machine and gets zapped as part of their flying HQ explodes.

What they got right: Family moments. “Who forgot to recharge the supervillain?” “Don’t taunt the baby”. Really, the only thing I can do is repeat “Landry’s a great writer, Mark really gets the property, and the art is a proper 2-D representation of the 3-D character models” so many times. I constantly have to fight to find anything wrong with this comic.

What they got wrong: Which is why Snell at Slay Monstrobot did the hard work for me. “Centsus” as the name of the penny-headed villain? It doesn’t work for me, either.

Recommendation: If that’s the worst crime I can find, then you know you should be picking up this book.

Marvel Adventures: Super Heroes #17

Marvel Comics (January 2010)

WRITER: Paul Tobin

PENCILER: Ig Guara

COLORIST: Sotocolor

LETTERER: Dave Sharpe

COVER: Niko Henrichon

PRODUCTION: Damien Lucchese

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Michale Horwitz

EDITOR: Nathan Cosby

Floyd, Iowa: Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor are called to help when the townspeople have gone mad and had a town-wide fight. The place is a mess, and some of the townspeople didn’t make it. (“Kids story” term for “dead”.) Found among the rubble is Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman from the Fantastic Four, who attacks the three heroes after being set free. She is defeated (when Cap punches her lights out–seriously) and comes around wanting to help. The culprit appears to be a creature inadvertently created by Diablo. The Vision is called in to help as well, and the heroes track Diablo to Yale University (yay, a Connecticut reference that doesn’t involve blowing up a major city–we have enough people leaving the state as it is), where he is looking for a specific book. The group of heroes are able to defeat the creature, and Cap wonders if they should consider staying together as a team.

What they got right: Usually, I’d put the fact that Tobin’s usual level of crazy isn’t in here, but honestly the story is good enough that you don’t miss it. (Unlike some of his final MA: Avengers stories.) And he does sneak in a “supervillain interrogation” scene that keeps the fun level up. There’s a nice use of all the characters involved.

What they got wrong: I’m not sure Sue served any purpose here that couldn’t have been fulfilled later, except how Diablo is taken down at the end. And why is Iron Man wearing the “classic” armor. I like as much as any other Iron Fan, but in previous issues and other MA appearances has him wearing the pre-Extremis version of his armor, the same one from the movie and cartoons and (until recently) the main line. It just seems wrong. The big crime, however? I get the impression that not only is MA: Avengers (my favorite MA series after MA: Iron Man) not in continuity, but neither are the earlier issues, when Iron Man teamed with Hulk and Spider-Man. I hope that last part at least is an error on my part.

Recommendation: This is the beginning of Tobin’s reboot of the title, and while the past ending bothers me, I do like the comic as a whole. Worth checking out.

Marvel Super Hero Squad #3

Marvel Comics (January 2010)

SCRIPT: Todd Dezago

STORY: Cort Lane & Todd Dezago

ARTIST: Marcelo Dichiara

COLORIST: Sotocolor

LETTERER: Dave Sharpe

PRODUCTION: Paul Acerios

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Michael Horwitz

EDITOR: Nathan Cosby

M.O.D.O.K and Abomination’s drilling for an Infinity Fractal shakes up Atlantis, causing Namor, the Sub-Mariner, to declare war on the surface world, which Doom is more than happy to take advantage of. Meanwhile, Thor gets to lead the mission to repel them. Iron Man exposes the real culprit and Namor declares the war over. Now if they can get Thor out of the whale that swallowed him.

What they got right: The visual “easter egg” jokes are all over the place, and adds to a fun story. That’s what I like about the TV show, and that’s what I like here as well.

What they got wrong: On the other hand, it’s too short. The show fits one story in the course of about 20 minutes. On the other hand, this comic can’t keep it’s story going for more than half the comic. The second half is all comic strips, and I don’t understand why they only have two on a page. The page can easily handle four in that layout, which means they could either have more strips or (preferably) more to the main story.

Recommendation: If they can pad out the story and get the strips set up better, this will be a better comic. It’s still worth a read, though.

The Muppet Show: The Treasure of Peg Leg Wilson #4 (FINALE)

Boom! Kids (October (?) 2009)

WRITER/ARTIST: Roger Langridge

COLORS: Digikore Studios

LETTERER: Deron Bennett

EDITOR: Aaron Sparrow

The rats have seriously damaged the theater looking for Wilson’s treasure, but Kismet the Toad uses one of Bunsen’s devices to track it down…before being arrested for stealing Ms. Piggy’s jewels. Meanwhile, Animal decided that being smart isn’t worth losing his drumming mojo and reverts to good old Animal. So what was in the chest? Letters Wilson wrote to his lady love about how much he missed her, but loved the theater–the REAL treasure–but would soon return to her in time to care for his family, as she and their forthcoming son were more important. Luckily the stamps are worth enough to pay for the theater’s rebuilding while the Muppets decided to go on tour for a while, leading to upcoming ongoing comic series.

Skits include the perfectly timed stamp collecting sketch with Robin, Muppet Labs (featuring the device Kismet uses), “Gonzo the Great”, and “Veterinarian’s Hospital”, with the main story actually taking up most of the “page time”.

What they got right: The best part was how Roger uses the early sketches to introduce plot devices for the resolutions. I like the thought of the Muppets going on tour while the theater gets repaired. The ending shows something he’s added to the property since the first Muppet Show comic for Boom–touching moments. And he doesn’t even skip on the comedy that any Muppet comic should have.

What they got wrong: Musical segments still don’t work in text, even for Animal’s return.

Recommendation: If your not looking forward to the ongoing series, then you haven’t been reading these comics so far. That’s two things your doing wrong.

The last two I’m doing in “speed mode”, and not because I’m late on tonight’s post.

Transformers Continuum

IDW Publishing (November 2009)

WRITER: Andy Schmidt

COVER ARTIST: Ken Christiansen

LETTERERS/DESIGN: Robbie Robbins & Chris Mowry

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Carlos Guzman

EDITOR: Denton J. Tipton

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT: Shawn Lee

The rest of the art came from previous IDW Transformers comics, so that’s a lot of name, plus the writers of those comics. Continuum is supposed to be a round-up of what’s happened previously in the miniseries leading the ongoing series coming out this month. You know, like those freebies Marvel is giving out to catch people up prior to the latest “event” story. The problem was not only is this not free (for that matter, it’s the price of a regular comic), but the information is either incomplete or just wrong. For example, acts committed by the Machination, Scorponok’s group in some of Furman’s stories, was instead said to be the work of Skywatch, the Sector Seven/R.A.T.T. knockoffs of the IDW G1 Universe. Megatron is now a slave miner rather than a regular miner, and the Seekers are portrayed as formerly noble. (Like Starscream has ever been noble since he came online.) The only thing worth in this comic is the timeline, and even a couple of those I disagree with. I know Furman’s stories have been hard to follow (one of my complaints about his IDW run), but this isn’t any help at all. The “we lost some data to the Great War” bit might be there to protect future revelations, but even the stuff that’s already happened is messed up.

Recommendation: If you really need to catch-up on what’s been going on in IDW’s titles prior to the ongoing, just go get the trades. You’ll be better off.

Wall-E #0

Boom! Kids (November 2009)

WRITER: J. Torres

ARTIST: Morgan Luthi

COLORS: Digikore Studios

LETTERER: Jose Macasocol Jr.

EDITOR: Aaron Sparrow

In the case of this comic, there’s not a whole lot to say. The story is about Wall-E dealing the the fact that his fellow “Wall” units are slowly shutting down. There are a few cute moments, but for the most part not a lot happens. It makes me concerned that the odds of setting an entire series prior to the movie isn’t going to work out well. I can, however, compliment the art. It’s well done, even if you can’t tell one robot from another unless you can make out the identifying letter. In addition to Wall-E, we meet Wall-C, Wall-U, and Wall-Y. At least I think that’s what’s happening.

Recommendation: If you like the movie that I still haven’t seen (stupid last year and having too many good movies for me to see now that I’m busy), then it’s at least worth checking out.

Best Scene of the Week

Marvel Super Hero Squad #3

Inspired by Greg Land?

In a week with Landry Walker, Paul Tobin, and Roger Langridge on duty, you have to be something special to bypass them to become Best Scene, much less the best read with so few pages of actual story. This one amused me the most for some reason, and I didn’t have any big action scenes. So congratulations, Mr. Dezago. You’ve done the impossible!