Comic Books 1/5/10

COMIC BOOKS 1/5/10

Ultimate Captain America #1
I’m never sure how to feel about issues like this. See, there was nothing surprising in this issue for me, I knew the punchline before I heard the joke. Was it a good issue? Yes. I enjoyed it, I like the characterization of the major players in the story, and I like the general direction that the plot is going to head in. But I knew the gist of all of this beforehand, because I really like reading interviews by Jason Aaron. It was good, and I’m excited for #2, but the setup issue seems like it has lost its oomph with writers giving the setup in interviews.

Steel #1
A good comic. It was nice in that it had a few ups and downs, but when you pit Steel against Superman’s murderer you know the end result of the plot. Not that this issue was all about the plot, it was pretty character driven in terms of setting up Steel’s fall, constantly referring to him as a normal man who surpassed his means. It was good, not great, but it doesn’t really serve to get me interested in the Reign of Doomsday event, though, I’m not really sure what could serve to get me interested.

Superboy #3

This series moves! I love this book, I really do. A fantastic mix of character development (and a lot of it) and a nifty and interesting plot that involves time travel. And this is just the third issue! If the books keeps moving like this it will easily have had more actual content than entire trades worth of other comics. I’m a fan.

Batman Beyond #1
Another set up issue. We meet the antagonist; we learn the situation that our hero will have to deal with in future issues. There really needs to be a way to do these issues in such a way that the plot really moves beyond the very opening stages so that they feel like more than an opening paragraph. Good issue overall, I’ll check out #2, but it felt like there was something missing.

Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis #4
An action packed issue with plot development! YES! We learn the reason for the mutant babies in Africa, and it’s appropriately sci-fi. We learn of a new threat based around, I believe, some old Alan Moore stories. We get to see a number of the X-Men actually put into some kind of realistic danger that had me worried that they might get injured in some capacity. Good time.

American Vampire #10
I’m probably biased, because I love this series and I love the art and I think all of the characters are quite fantastic, but this was a setup issue done right. We’re introduced to several elements that our protagonists are going to be dealing with in upcoming issues and we get a good sense of where some of the main characters are now. I think part of what really helps this issue is that we get a full plot thread open, get to a middle, and close, yes, we get a full story, and then we get to see that plot open up again into something new. There’s also the slight hope that my favorite character will appear, but I’m thinking that this short 2 issue story arc might happen without them.