COMICS: Quick comics reviews!
Just a few reads from yesterday's comic shop visit...
Green Lantern #1
I have to admit, Green Lantern is one of those characters that's never really jazzed me up, like Thor or Aquaman (sorry, Tegan). I don't actively dislike him, but neither have I been a huge fan. But I did pick up the first issue of the latest relaunch of the character, featuring the return of the most famous of several Green Lanterns over the years, test-pilot Hal Jordan. And it's decent superhero comix, enough to excite long-term fans with a good reintroduction to Hal, a risk-taking adventurer given one of the most powerful weapons in the universe and a job as a protector of Earth. Fine art by Carlos Pacheco and Ethan Van Scriver and competent scripting by Geoff Johns, with plenty of foreshadowing of upcoming adventures... But really, nothing to make me excited enough to pick up #2. If you're a Hal fan, check it out, but if not, merely OK. Grade: B-
Fantastic Four #527
I was a big fan of Mark Waid's run on this comic, and this issue, J. Michael Straczynski takes over as writer. JMS is very hit-or-miss for me, with his Amazing Spider-Man ranging from exciting and novel to experimental, off-character garbage, unfortunately a little more of the latter. As a first issue, it doesn't stray too far from Waid and other writers' take on the Fantastic Four as first a family, then superheroes. Ben Grimm, the Thing, comes into a great deal of cash, while team leader Reed Richards learns of a government plan to attempt to duplicate the experiment that gave the team their own powers. Fine clean art from Mike McKone, but JMS's writing tone seems a little unsure -- he has a nice grip on Reed Richards, but his Ben Grimm seems overly juvenile and there's some lame toilet humor that simply doesn't work. Overall, not a lot truly new here. I do like bits of it, but given JMS's weak track record with Spider-Man and his tendency to write without any apparent editing, not sure what the future holds for this title. I may pick up a few more issues, but it's definitely not quite the must-buy for me it was under Mark Waid's authorship. Grade: B
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