April
14 Quick hit reviews for 4/14/08

THE INDIES: Maintenance #7-9 (Oni Press, $3.50 each) works because it's a complete concept, albeit one that seems heavily inspired by the flicks of Kevin Smith. Funny, well executed and goofy. ... Having fallen behind on the series, Wasteland #14 (Oni Press, $3.50) was only partially satisfying because it's just a bit too difficult to tell what's going on. Joe Infurnari fills in on art for Christopher Mitten and produces some lovely drawings that nonetheless make it hard to tell who's who from panel to panel. ... Gravel #0, #1-2 (Avatar, $3.99) are solid, hard-core genre entertainment. Warren Ellis and Mike Wolfer deliver on the kind of emphemeral mood and thrills that periodical comics can be so very good at but often aren't, anymore. ... Warren Ellis' Anna Mercury #1 (Avatar, $3.99) is more accessible, with a good twist and a heroine that's tough and buxom in all the right places to please the fanboys.

MARVEL: Fantastic Four #554-555 (Marvel, $2.99 each) can only be said to be rockin' cool. Why can't the movies be this cool? Bryan Hitch can draw the hell out of Mark Millar's sci-fi big concept stuff better than anyone. It's still not Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, but what is? ... Secret Invasion  #1 (Marvel, $3.99) kicks off the publisher's next big event with some panache, as Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu deliver an old-fashioned mystery and some fascinating revelations over who truly has been a Skrull. What's going to make or break this is how far it decides to go: too much retconning can annoy fans into rebellion, e.g., The Clone Saga.

DC: Wonder Woman #18 (DC, $2.99) gives the Amazon princess an appealing — albeit a bit light — personality as she takes on the Khunds from way back when. Gail Simone seems to have the best chance of any recent writer to give Wonder Woman the winning mix of action and fun the character has long seemed to need but has rarely ever had. ... Writer Kurt Busiek has been sorely underrated in his excellent run on Superman, and issue #674 (DC, $2.99) is no exception. This is a hip, modern and very cool take on the Man of Steel, lushly illustrated by Renato Guedes. ... Paul Dini brings an enjoyably simple take on Batman to his tales in Detective Comics #841 and 843 (DC, $2.99 each), with a fill in on #842 from Peter Milligan in much the same tone. If you miss the Batman seen on the old 1990s animated series, this is the Batbook for you, even as artist Dustin Nguyen goes for a completely different and stylish look that works just great on the page. ... Grant Morrison shakes up (usually in a good way) every book he takes on, and his version of the Dark Knight in Batman #674 (DC, $2.99) is his most successfully radical-yet-logical take on a classic comic since New X-Men. This is the build up to the Batman R.I.P. storyline, and you can't help but get sucked into the idea while reading this issue that something big and very cool is happening. ... All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #9 (DC, $2.99) sees Frank Miller and Jim Lee make up (a little bit) for Batman and Black Canary doing the nasty on the docks in issue #7. Most of the issue makes fun of Green Lantern (which Garth Ennis did first and arguably better way back in the late, lamented Hitman), but Batman and Robin finally show some emotions recognizable as human and even kind of sympathetic toward the end of this issue. ... Countdown to Final Crisis #3 (DC, $2.99) ticks the clock one issue closer, as Superman and Darkseid duke it out. What's really going to be fun is next issue, as we'll finally get to see the long-promised Giant Turtle Jimmy Olsen in action.