Ultimate Spider-Man 107 (May 2007)

329258 Wow, Ultimate Iron Fist isn’t going to get his own series if he’s buddying up to Kingpin. Jeez.

Bendis splits the issue, mostly, between Peter and Kitty having a breakup conversation–actually, a post-breakup conversation–and Spider-Man talking Daredevil down from the idea of killing Kingpin. Maybe for the first time ever, Ultimate Daredevil works as a character. Because it’s interesting to see him brought down, intellectually, by Peter.

The scene with Kitty is good too. Bendis’s reasoning for her being at Midtown is idiotically contrived, but even he seems to know it. And having Ultimate Jessica Jones show up is kind of funny.

There are a few more scenes–Kitty in class, Mary Jane and Peter, Peter at the hospital–and Bendis is on for each of them. It’s still a little too soon to say, but he definitely seems engaged in the series again.

It’s good.

CREDITS

Ultimate Knights, Part Two; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Mark Bagley; inker, Drew Hennessy; colorist, Justin Ponsor; letterer, Cory Petit; editors, John Barber and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Half Past Danger 4 (August 2013)

280916 20130816184346 large Big surprise this issue. Mooney’s apparently real good at not painfully foreshadowing.

This issue is exactly how an all action comic should be done. Mooney keeps up a brisk pace and his panel compositions are complicated and sometimes breathtaking. He clearly wanted to do complex action set pieces and figured out how to best convey them. I’ve never been so fulfilled by a comic I spent so little time reading. Maybe because I can go back and appreciate his art pacing.

There’s also the matter of the good guys team structure. The scenes where the guys all fight against the Nazis together have a wonderful flow. It feels like they’ve gotten to know each other, which may be why Mooney spent the time developing their relationships. Makes the action work better.

Great ending too. Not a lot of surprises, but great cliffhanger thrills.

Danger is one heck of a comic.

CREDITS

Curiouser and Curiouser!; writer and artist, Stephen Mooney; colorist, Jordie Bellaire; editors, Christopher Schraff and Chris Ryall; publisher, IDW Publishing.

Highland Laddie 2 (September 2010)

768161 No doubt about it, Ennis is having a good time on Highland Laddie. The most fun is trying to remove all the superhero stuff from it mentally; the story works just as well. Makes one wonder what the main series would be like if Ennis started with characters and story and added all the superhero nonsense to it later.

This issue’s a lot of talking heads, which McCrea and Burns don’t do a particularly good job of illustrating, but the dialogue is all so strong it doesn’t matter. Hughie makes a new friend, hangs out with his old friends, has some flashbacks. The flashbacks are awesome–particularly the revelation of young Hughie the detective.

There’s also the big subplot, involving drugs (and superheroes, sort of). Ennis uses it to give the story some danger. Otherwise the biggest concern is Hughie discovering he doesn’t really like his childhood friends while sober.

CREDITS

Great Glass Elevator; writer, Garth Ennis; artists, John McCrea and Keith Burns; colorist, Tony Aviña; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

Prophet 34 (February 2013)

900202 It’s another excellent issue. Whatever Graham’s got planned for Prophet, he’s also figured out a way to draw it out but never get boring.

This issue, featuring some great art from Roy, does establish a little more with the New Father John Prophet–he’s the one from the first few issues of the relaunch; seems like he’s been gone for a while and even though he’s sort of a bad guy, it’s nice having him back.

Anyway, what Graham and Roy do here is move him along baby steps but do so in a way to show all the variations of the John Prophet clone. Not all the Johns appear human, not all are equal, some are quiet alien. It’s wacky and wonderful.

The backup, from Matt Sheean and Malachi Ward, disappoints a little. It starts really cool but then turns out to be a Logan’s Run knockoff or something.

CREDITS

Prophet; writers, Brandon Graham and Simon Roy; artist, Roy; colorist, Joseph Bergin III; letterer, Ed Brisson. Care, Part One; writers, artists and colorists, Matt Sheean and Malachi Ward. Publisher, Image Comics.

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960, Roger Corman)

The filmmaking economy in The Little Shop of Horrors is astounding. Most of the film takes place in one set–the titular shop–and Charles B. Griffith’s script works hard to imply the world outside that set. My favorite bit in the script is probably when leading man Jonathan Haze is shocked to discover peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. His mother (Myrtle Vail in one of Shop‘s only mediocre performances) only cooks food with healing properties, which they have because she adds medicinal ingredients. Griffith’s a funny guy.

Corman’s direction is best with the exterior scenes. The masterful chase sequence through a tire factory is stunningly out of place in a horror comedy. There’s also a great sequence with Haze meeting a loose woman (Meri Welles), who keeps magically popping into shots. Both of these sequences come in the second half of the picture; the first half just has to rely on the great acting.

Haze is fine, so’s Jackie Joseph as his love interest, but Mel Welles carries the whole Shop as Haze’s boss. He should be a buffoon–no one in Shop is wholly sympathetic–but Welles’s sincere performance makes the character the film’s most human.

In the supporting cast, there are good performances from John Herman Shaner and Jack Nicholson. Dick Miller’s great in a too small role. Griffith’s script makes sure Leola Wendorff gets a couple decent moments too.

Fred Katz’s music is awesome.

Shop is quite impressive; Corman, Griffith and Welles all do excellent work.

Ultimate Spider-Man 106 (May 2007)

329257 Lots happens this issue. I guess crossing the hundred issue mark, Bendis has decided he needs lots of guest stars. Hulk for a panel, Daredevil, the Fantastic Four… Peter’s entering into the much bigger Ultimate Universe. Only about a ninety-eight issues later than the original did into the Marvel Universe.

Anyway.

It’s an okay issue. Bendis is very comfortable having Mary Jane back and without an agenda. He seems to have but Kitty Pryde into that awkward role–I can’t wait for the contrived reason she’s going to Midtown High. And Matt Murdock showing up at the school a few minutes earlier is lame too. There’s got to be a better way to bring him in to talk to Peter.

But the scenes at the Bugle and the one with Aunt May make up for the problems. The Fantastic Four scene is great too.

The series feels surprisingly rejuvenated.

CREDITS

Ultimate Knights, Part One; writer, Brian Michael Bendis; penciller, Mark Bagley; inker, Drew Hennessy; colorist, Justin Ponsor; letterer, Cory Petit; editors, John Barber and Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Star Trek 18 (February 2013)

What a truly awful comic book. Ryan Parrott takes over for regular writer Mike Johnson–really hope it’s just for this issue and not forever–and does the secret origin of Uhura.

There’s something to be said about how the new Star Trek promotes Uhura to the big three and downgrades Bones, but now’s not the time or place (and it’s not Parrott’s fault anyway). But her big moment? It’s actually not asking out Spock, which would have been more amusing, but saving her parents from disaster.

So what? It’s not really a defining moment for young Uhura. In fact, as her uncle (who talks her through the rescue–over the communicator because she’s a communications officer) points out, she’s just using her pre-existing skills. It’s pointless.

Parrott’s dialogue is so atrocious I didn’t even notice if Balboni’s pencils. They’re probably a little better than usual… but still bad.

CREDITS

Writer, Ryan Parrott; penciller, Claudia Balboni; inker, Erica Durante; colorist, Claudia SGC; letterer, Shawn Lee; editor, Scott Dunbier; publisher, IDW Publishing.

Half Past Danger 3 (July 2013)

278281 20130804143406 large Mooney gets a little rushed on a few pages. He brings it all together for the big finale though–how has no one thought of ninjas versus Nazis before? You’d think it would be its own genre.

There’s not a lot of action until the finish, just a lot of drinking. Noble–the superman–and Flynn get drunk before their mission and Noble reveals the super-soldier story. It’s more realistic than I expected, but Mooney plays the heart strings a little much. He starts the scene with it being about camaraderie, which works, then turns it into a sad story, which doesn’t.

There’s a very amusing punch line involving the British agent. Otherwise, though, Mooney doesn’t develop her character at all this issue.

The dinosaurs and good guys attacking Nazis stuff at the end is awesome. Mooney awkwardly loses track of the ninja, but the energy keeps things going.

CREDITS

Something Wicked This Way Comes; writer and artist, Stephen Mooney; colorist, Jordie Bellaire; editors, Christopher Schraff and Chris Ryall; publisher, IDW Publishing.

Highland Laddie 1 (August 2010)

761027 If it weren’t for the art from John McCrea and Keith Burns, Highland Laddie–the first issue anyway–would be the best Boys in a year or so. Even with it, the issue shows off Ennis’s actual writing abilities, not how many jokes he can make about superheroes.

Hughie goes back home to Scotland, reuniting with his mother and father and his mates. Ennis doesn’t exactly give a look into what Hughie was like before The Boys, but he definitely is setting up a place where Hughie can take the lead.

There’s some humor, but Ennis plays it more for a smile than an actual laugh. He’s taking his time and having fun.

Unfortunately, the art’s a mess. It’s too rushed, which is especially obvious when Burns gives up on even inking in eyeballs. One panel the characters have them, the next it’s Bill Watterson.

Ennis’s script makes it work.

CREDITS

The Harbour at the World’s End; writer, Garth Ennis; artists, John McCrea and Keith Burns; colorist, Tony Aviña; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

Prophet 33 (January 2013)

Skitched 20130719 172620 Awesome issue, just awesome. Graham ends it with this awkward silence–he only hints at the big events going on–with a focus on Old Man John Prophet’s reaction. Milog does a beautiful job on the art for these pages too.

A lot of the issue is spent with the crew in this strange hive mind fleet. Hive suggests bugs but there are no bugs. It’s all ethereal and beautiful, some kind of Amazonian space fleet. There’s an unexpected cameo too. Graham integrates it beautifully.

He also has a lot of humor. There’s a wonderful running joke about Rein-East and her discarded biological mass. Graham doesn’t do a lot of the detail callouts–he does a few–but something about the pacing of Rein-East’s biological mass reminds of them. It’s matter of fact, but hilarious.

The backup, from Sloane Leong, is rather impressive. Poetic, visceral stuff.

Fantastic issue.

CREDITS

Prophet; writers, Brandon Graham, Giannis Milonogiannis and Simon Roy; artist, Milonogiannis; colorist, Joseph Bergin III; letterer, Ed Brisson. Backup story; writer, artist, colorist and letterer, Sloane Leong. Publisher, Image Comics.