Writer: Mark Millar
Penciler: Leinil Francis Yu

Full disclosure: I swore off the ULTIMATE line right before Ultimatum because, let’s face it, any universe under the direction of Jeph Loeb just cannot be enjoyable. However, I’ve heard from a few friends that Millar’s Ultimate Avengers was a solid book so I decided to check out the new series. Going in, I prepared myself for anything Millar could throw at me. I’ve read Kick-Ass and The Ultimates, but he also wrote JLA #27, which made me appreciate the Atom.

Writer: Brian Clevinger
Penciler: Scott Wegener

Atomic Robo and the Revenge of the Vampire Dimension is the fourth volume of the series starring the first artificially intelligent, atomically powered robot created by Nikola Tesla. Each mini-series is a contained story in the decades-long and adventure-filled life of Atomic Robo, who eventually becomes the head of Tesladyne, an advanced research firm. The stories have that pulp adventure feel to them. Robo fights enemies ranging from the conventional to the weird with a mix of wise-cracking, super science and his servo-controlled fists.

Issue 1 of this series actually had Robo fighting off an intrusion of extra-dimensional vampires, their defeat being the result of the use of an experimental laser. This issue has Robo visiting Dr. Yumeno of Big Science Incorporated in Japan. He needs the doctor’s help to find out why that laser wasn’t operating the way it should. No sooner than he’s introduced to Yumeno’s Science Team Super Five, Tokyo Bay is attacked by what looks like Putties from Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. We are then treated to STS5 going through the major Super Sentai tropes as they face a threat from Yumeno’s past. But will Atomic Robo ever get someone to help with his laser?

Atomic Robo is great looking for something just plain fun to read. It’s not dumbed down or takes itself too seriously. Wegener’s art has an animated style like a blend of 70’s manga and 80’s action cartoons. Clevinger’s adventures have seem straight-forward at first but there’s always an element to them you don’t expect. Just something funny, ingenious or downright bad-ass that enhances the story and shows this not an average story. It’s like Hellboy with science instead of magic and a more upbeat feel. How can it not be when Atomic Robo teams up with the likes of H.P. Lovecraft, a Scottish commando, and Carl Sagan?

Rating: B+ While the premise may seem average, the execution is solid entertainment and worth the $3.50.

Writer: Fred Van Lente
Penciler: Kano

Here we go again.

So those not familiar with the first 4, Marvel Zombies 1 and 2 by Robert Kirkman dealt with the aftermath of the cosmically infected superhero zombies’ takeover of the parallel Earth shown in Mark Millar’s Ultimate Fantastic Four run. MZ 3, Van Lente’s takeover of the series, had a monster squad consisting by Morbius, Son of Satan, Werewolf by Night, Jennifer Kale and Man-Thing stopping the infection from spreading across the regular Earth and MZ 4 was about Machine Man trying to retrieve a sample from the Zombie Earth to help devise a cure. And now we have, Marvel Zombies 5, and it’s fair to say, zombies are a little tired.

Batman & Robin #11
Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciller: Andy Clarke

Let me preface this review by saying that of every superhero comic book on the stands I think Batman & Robin is the best. Period. It has more ideas in 3 pages than most books have in a year. This issue begins with in a villa as we see a man with lashes on his back from a whipping. He also has the letter “W” on his back which he refers to as the “double you”. The Villa is being attacked though, like straight Bad Boys 2 DEA raid style. This guy who is wearing the same gear as the Black Hand peaces out in a helicopter. Then we go back to Stately Wayne Manor as Dick continues to discover new things in this secret area of the mansion while talking to Alfie. On the outside in the graveyard Robin and Oberon Sexton are accosted by some ruffians and proceed to give them a what for! (See you got to talk kind of classy when talking about Sexton, he’s that cool.)

Writer: Brian Wood
Artist: Becky Cloonan

Now, I can talk for hours about a comic that I think is awesome, or a comic that I think is some hot garbage. . . and I have. Since I was asked to review comics in a quasi-professional way, I thought I would branch out and review books I would not be inclined to read personally. I get to grow as a person and you get a motivated reviewer, since I’ll be expecting reimbursement for all these miscellaneous books, PCS. Ha ha. I’m only a third serious.

Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Dustin Weaver

Hmmm, how does one explain S.H.I.E.L.D. #1. Well it is the beginning of story that shows that man can overcome any obstacle that threatens him. From tying in historical figures known for their intelligence into one long conspiracy of good to save us from any threat from the heavens. In short this isn’t your pappy’s Steranko Nick Fury and SHIELD book. In fact there is no Nick Fury. We meet in the first page a brand new character in the late 50’s called Leonid and how he’s taken into this whole new world under Rome.

Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciler: Ivan Reis

Regarding Blackest Night #8, I could do some pretentious analysis of how Ivan Reis went with the art or how Geoff Johns’ script can become too dense, like the crowded action scenes, but that’s been done. Instead, since you’ve probably read the book by now, I want to talk about BLACKEST NIGHT’s place in the long history of DC crossovers.

Writer:       Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost
Penciler:      David Finch

Let me start off by making it known that I am not a fan of Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost as a team. You ever play a fighting game against someone who is really great with a specific character and they never play with anyone else? Have you ever played HeroClix with someone who builds his team around the same character? Yost and Kyle have one card in their deck and they play it all the time.

“MANY WILL BE WOUNDED. SEVERAL WILL DIE.” This is the tagline.

Anyway, X-MEN: SECOND COMING #1 is exactly how you want to start a crossover or storyline. Starting with the ruins of Xavier’s School, Cable and the first post-HOUSE OF M mutant Hope return to the present and boom, recap page lets you know the backstory of why these two are important and teleporting. After some foreboding emo-ness from Hope, the duo is promptly attacked by the creepy smiley-face armored soldiers of The Right. One of the seven or twenty anti-mutant groups, The Right was introduced in the first X-FACTOR series and haven’t been seen since Claremont left that title.

Off the bat Y & K get right into what this story is about: Hope. Her birth gives (yeah, that’s right) hope to the remaining mutants who are dealing with the deaths of three mutants, killed in the last Yost & Kyle crossover. See what I mean? These two have been racking up a mutant bodycount higher than the Marauders’. Back to the emo-ness. Cyclops damages the walls of Utopia’s one shanty until he gets the news that Cable’s back and mobilizes teams to do stuff, but the main focus is on the team going to help Cable and the girl.

Pay special attention to the exchanges in this book, because if this crossover doesn’t end with Nightcrawler in a bodybag or the headmaster seat, Yost & Kyle are just horrible writers. Anyway, by the time the X-Men show up, Cable & Hope have taken out The Right soldiers, and are now being followed by members of The Sapien League. Fun fact: someone left their jeep at the ruins of Xavier’s because Cable & Hope managed to get away in one without taking out any of the Sapien League crowding the driveway. Don’t think about it too hard, because the X-Men show up for the best bit of highway violence not directed by Michael Bay. Stabbings and vans overturned, then uncomfortable interrogation practices lead the X-Men to learn of a threat from their past is back in play. I won’t spoil it, but since Yost & Kyle have seemed to focus on Nimrod, William Stryker, human anti-mutant militias and bringing back every old X-Men villain not currently part of the team, you can guess who it is. *cough*cough* He’s on the cover *cough*cough*

David Finch is awesome in this situation, presenting great action scenes without losing detail. He’s great with movement, positioning characters in a way to suggest a movement has been done or is about to happen, instead of having the Sapien Leaguers reacting to punches that haven’t been thrown or people seeming to stand still while fighting. Finch is the reason you read this book as the plot is predictable once you realize it’s mutants versus mutant haters backed by future sentinels, as written by guys who can’t go a month without killing someone or have someone crying about killing someone.

Rating: C (A-, if you like that old bull$#!t): Solid beginning but I can tell I won’t like where it leads.

These reviews were originally published at Michelle’s blog, Soliloquy in Blue.

Serenity: Those Left Behind

By Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, and Will Conrad
Dark Horse, 104 pp.

Serenity: Those Left Behind takes place shortly after the final episode of Firefly, “Objects in Space.” Inara has not left yet; while the ship is en route to her destination, they’re taking jobs along the way and though Mal proclaims this is necessary it’s Wash, who’s well acquainted with doing stupid things (like working a dangerous job when he could make a cushy living) to remain near the woman he loves, who realizes that he’s just trying to keep her around a while longer.

After one such job, a bank heist, goes poorly, the crew is offered another job by Badger: to retrieve a stash of cash left at the scene of one of the bloodiest battles in the war. Meanwhile, Dobson (the federal agent who appeared in the first episode of the series) is teaming up with the hands-of-blue fellows to track them down. It’s unclear whether Badger is in on this or not, but it all boils down to an ambush in a field of spaceship debris, no payoff, and Dobson’s death. Too, in the final page, we seem to be witnessing the moment that the Operative (from the feature film) receives the assignment to bring in River. Another important thing that happens here is that Book decides he needs to leave the ship. He’s an active participant in helping the crew escape at one point and later hits Mal, something that the Captain is ready to forgive but which Book is not.

For the most part, Will Conrad’s art is decent. In some panels, the characters don’t look much like the actors who played them—Simon and Inara fare pretty poorly in this respect—but Conrad is an absolute ace at close-ups. There’ll be a page, for example, with a vaguely Kaylee-looking person in a few panels and then, once you zoom into her face, it’s “Oh, now she looks like Jewel Staite!” This happens with Mal a few times, too, and there are also a few outstanding close-ups of River. Different artists have also contributed some color portraits of members of the crew. Again, Simon and Inara get the short end of the stick—are their actors just too pretty to be drawn easily or well?—while Book (drawn by Tim Bradstreet), Jayne (Brian Hitch), and Wash (Sean Phillips) look fabulous! Honorable mention goes to Jo Chen’s Kaylee who, while she doesn’t really look like Jewel Staite, is positively adorable.

All in all, while this isn’t as good or as fulfilling as an episode of the show, it’s really great to see all of these characters again and fill in a little background for where we see them in the movie.

Serenity: Better Days

By Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, and Will Conrad
Dark Horse, 80 pp.

While Serenity: Better Days is the second comic miniseries based on the TV show Firefly to be released, I am not sure whether its events take place chronologically after the end of the show or not. The one thing that would help establish its place in the timeline—Inara’s decision to depart the ship—is not mentioned at all, nor is any reference made to Shepherd Book’s wish to leave (first stated by him in Serenity: Those Left Behind). While the story works just fine without knowing when it happens, this still bugs me a little bit.

The plot of Better Days is extremely simple. For once, things go well and the crew of Serenity is suddenly rich. Several members share the way they plan to spend their money in scenes that nicely capture the warm, family-like times the crew occasionally shares. Meanwhile, the Alliance is looking for Mal (when are they not?), though this guy is special in that he’s one of Inara’s clients, and a builder whose drone Mal stole is out for revenge. I must admit that this peril did not interest me very much, though I’m used to looking past occasionally lame plots in Whedon shows in favor of character interaction. The best character goodness happens here between Inara and Mal, especially in their final scene together, though there’s also some nice continuity between Wash and Zoe as well as an intriguing tidbit regarding Inara and Simon.

Will Conrad is back as the artist for this miniseries, and seems to have a little better feel for the characters now. The likenesses are more consistent and Inara is vastly improved, finally meriting some impressively realistic close-ups of her own. Although a new cover was created for this trade paperback, the original covers of the three comic issues—forming a triptych that depicts the crew lounging atop sacks of money—are reproduced within.

I have now read all of the Firefly-inspired comics currently in existence and enjoyed them a good bit. Any time Dark Horse would like to make more, I’ll be happy to give them my money.

Serenity: Those Left Behind and Serenity: Better Days are available now.