The Rest of the Stack is my general mini-review coverage of new comics for any given week. It’s in addition to (or in place of) full-size individual reviews. It’s far less formal, and more off-the-top-of-my head thoughts on the given comics than it is detailed reviews.
ANGEL & FAITH #3
Angel and Faith continue the search for Mohra blood, and though the two find themselves at odds with one another, they do make a pretty good team. By issue’s end, they find themselves facing a threat more powerful than they imagined–and though he doesn’t yet know it, Angel’s in greater danger than even he knows. Three issues in, and I’m not yet finding the overall story. of course, if memory serves this is a 24-issue series, so we’re a mere 1/8th in so far. The story doesn’t seem to be really shaping up in a big way yet–but we’re getting plenty of smaller moments. The art continues to do a good job showing the characters as themselves, with a hint of the actors but not slavishly modeled after the human counterparts. I like that this is steeped in established continuity, and that for a licensed comic, it holds at $2.99 rather than the $3.99 so many others have embraced. I don’t know that this is in itself a jumping on point…but if you want to jump in and get your feet wet, snag this and the previous couple issues. I imagine this’ll be neatly collected into 4 6-issue volumes, so halfway in, may also be as well served to wait for the collected edition. (7/10)
THE FURY OF FIRESTORM: THE NUCLEAR MEN #2
I’m definitely liking the whole “in from the beginning” this title’s letting me do. I’m intrigued by where things are going to go…but the issue itself is rather forgettable. Ronnie and Jason each are “a” Firestorm, and they’ve fused at least once into this “Fury” creature. Whether they can do that at will or will fight to avoid becoming it remains to be seen. This issue wastes no time cutting the characters completely loose from their established lives–which at least at this point has me a little wary–it seems this might be veering off a little quick from what I’d hoped for in the book. We do seem to have a front-running for supporting cast member, but it’s hard to tell for certain. I’ll be back for #3, but I had the rather disturbing thought of just how easy it would be to passively shed this book from my pull list without missing it much. I enjoy it as I read it, but it’s not all that stand-out impressive in and of itself. (6.5/10)
STAR TREK (IDW) #2
While I would be irked to see classic ‘Trek episodes adapted into 6 issue arcs featuring this version of the characters…I can’t help but wonder if two issues is enough space. I thought for sure I was in for a 3-6 issue arc when the first issue wasn’t in and of itself a complete adaptation. The crew rallies and deals with their threat here. and before long the Enterprise is back off on its continuing mission. The story’s solid enough–and while I can’t decide what would be an ideal size for each adaptation, I continue to really enjoy the concept of experiencing classic Trek through the filter of the 2009 characters. Unfortunately, I’m already guessing that nothing truly major or unexpected will happen with the characters in this series–which makes this a rather “safe” sort of series, where sure, we’ll get the twists of this cast, but ultimately the toys are all going to stay in the toybox for the next movie, so there seems little chance of major character beats. The $3.99 cover price doesn’t help, either. While this is one of only about 3 $3.99 books to make my recent cuts…when I thought this had NOT actually been pulled for me, it didn’t bother me–so for better or worse, this is one of the books I could most easily “give up,” especially with the notion of just getting the collected volumes. (7/10)
TEEN TITANS #2
I didn’t get nearly the thrill out of this issue as I did the opener. Which isn’t to say this was bad or anything, but it lacked something the first issue had. I’m not sure what to make of this story so far–but the whole “let’s gather a group of potential victims together to strike back before the group chasing them can get any others” seems somehow rather cliche and overly familiar. This ‘Skitter’ character isn’t interesting to me, so whether she returns or not, I don’t much care. That she may be part of the new lineup really doesn’t thrill me…but then, this is only the second issue. It’s kinda crazy to think about what now-long-established favorites weren’t exactly embraced the moment they first appeared. Still…I think my enthusiasm at the New 52 has waned a lot more (and faster) than anticipated. Maybe I’ll force myself to stick with what titles I chose to go beyond #1 with for their first arcs…or at least, through the 3rd issues beginning tomorrow. (7/10)
THE WALKING DEAD #90
Hard to believe this is another arc down (at least, if we’re going with “arc” as being “another 6 issues.”) I’m amazed at the way the human stuff gets played up, the interactions between the cast. As I’m presently re-reading the earlier volumes, it’s also kind of amazing to see how much has changed, and that much of the key stuff that so defined this series for me, the most powerful moments, are mostly in the first half of what we have so far. At issue 45 we were in the midst of that story where we were told no one was safe, and saw horrific deaths of some beloved characters. Having been desensitized to that a bit, I’ve yet to really care much about new characters since, even while seeing these longer-term characters evolve along the way. This issue IS the end of the next 6 issues, and the cliffhanger is something I saw coming a couple pages before getting to it, though I don’t know I truly EXPEcTED it. It definitely holds a lot of potential, though it could be a major developing point, or just as easily little more than a moment given extra attention. Still…I’m enjoying this version as much as I’m enjoying the tv version, and thankful they’re separate entities. (8/10)
Filed under: The Rest of the Stack | Tagged: Angel and Faith, buffy season 9, Fury of Firestorm, Skitter, Star Trek, Teen Titans, Walking Dead | Leave a comment »
Now, somehow along the way as far as the “original crew” goes, Spock has been my favorite character. Even before coming across these at the store, I’d decided that IF I was going to get any, Spock would be one that I’d get…and “Old Spock” at that–Leonard Nimoy’s Spock. At the same time…can’t have Star Trek without Kirk, so snagged him along with Original Spock (leaving Scotty and Cadet McCoy on the shelf for now).
(Whereas with other lines, there might be pictures of the individual character contained in the package such that you could look at the package and not even see the figure to know which character it is).
Once I had them out, though, these don’t look all that bad, for what they are. I’m not terribly impressed with the sculpts–Original Spock RESEMBLES Nimoy, but I have to wonder if that resemblance is in part my KNOWING it’s supposed to, as opposed to it being such that one who didn’t know the actor would catch it.
For what I saw of these, it looks like there are about a dozen figures in the line so far. (Others I noticed included Scotty, Cadet McCoy, Spock (new), and Pike. The back of the figure packaging shows Sulu, Uhura, Cadet Chekov, and Nero as well.
Comic Reviews by Walt 