Umbrella Academy #6
We start this week with the end of the first mini series of The Umbrella Academy, which is the break out book of the year. I’ve loved every issue of this series so far, but I have to be honest and say the final issue was bit of a misstep, albeit a tiny one. The whole thing wraps up a little too neatly for my taste, and puts the book in an interesting position in terms of where the story goes. The remnants of the team take on one of their own, with casualties on both sides, and then it wraps up in a touchy feely ending. The tone is fine and writer Gerard Way stages the action well, I just felt the ending was out of place. The art though, continues to amaze, with Gabriel Ba and colorist Dave Stewart bringing the book to life. It’s going to be a long wait to the next mini, but I can’t wait. Seriously, pick this book up.—4 out of 5

PULL LIST 02-20-08 Umbrella Academy #6 Zorro #1 Checkmate #23 The Spirit #14 Ultimates 3 #3 Runaways #29 Mighty Avengers #9

Zorro #1
In the tradition of Dynamite’s The Lone Ranger, comes a new series for another old timey classic, Zorro! You can do a lot worse than get Matt (Grendel) Wagner to write your book, and he brings an interesting angle to the book. The story is told in two time periods, one dealing with a Spanish soldier telling of an attack by Zorro, and one flashing back to Zorro’s childhood, explaining why he became the way he is. The pacing of the story works, and it’s never confusing when the story changes from one time period to another. It doesn’t reinvent the story, it’s just telling it with a modern sensibility. Wagner brings a lot of Batman to the character, which is appropriate since Batman borrowed a lot from Zorro in his creation. Art comes from Francesco Francavilla, who has a realistic style similar in ways to Bryan Hitch, but with a much tighter line and a more traditional way of telling the story. He captures the look of the people and the setting well and also gets the action sequences across with skill. I’m in for this one, at least to see where they go with it. —4 out of 5

Checkmate #23
And now we get to three books that may not be on my pull list much longer. With Greg Rucka leaving the series with issue 25, this will probably be my last arc with this book. The art for the series has been consistent in its inconsistency so that’s no reason to stick around. Really, this is Rucka’s book, and without him, there’s no reason to continue. This issue however, is as good as the book has ever been. Wrapping up a plotline from an earlier story, Checkmate has to rescue a deep cover agent that’s been compromised so they bring in one of the big guns of the DC universe to get him out. What happens from there sets up the rest of the arc, which should lead to a lot of excitement and action. Rucka is always at his best when he’s writing gritty action books, and this whole series is right in his wheelhouse. I honestly can’t imagine the book working as well without him. I may or may not give the next writer a shot, so we’ll see. Art for this issue comes from Joe Bennett and Jack Jadson, who do a decent enough job. Their figures look okay, although they have anatomy problems at points. It tells the story, but the art never blew my socks off. If DC wants a replacement creative team for this book, give it to Andy Diggle and Jock, whose work on The Losers fits in with the same tone as this book. Still this is a decent issue, but new readers should start at the beginning and pick up the first trade. —4 out of 5

The Spirit #14
And the other book not long for my pull list is The Spirit. Now, I’ve never read any Spirit before Darwyn Cooke took over, but his work was so perfect for the twelve issues of his run (counting the Spirit/Batman issue) that I’m having trouble thinking of someone to follow his footsteps. Unfortunately I’m coming up empty, which leads to my problem with this series. It would probably read fine to new readers, and fans of Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier, or Mike Ploog may want to check this out, but I had major problems with it. The story deals with the Spirit and Commissioner Dolan trying to track down a serial killer from different angles, with the Spirit being ultimately successful. The script is just too jokey for my tastes, with most of the humor falling flat for me. I couldn’t buy into the situation or the mystery, so I spent the whole issue at kind of an arms length. The artwork by Mike Ploog would be fine anywhere else, but just could follow the way Cooke constructed his pages and just felt completely different from the previous issues. I’ll stick around to see if they find a niche, but I’ll be dropping the series if this is an example of what it’s going to be. —2 out of 5

Ultimates 3 #3
And finally, we reach Ultimates 3, and with this issue, I can finally say that it’s not the art bringing this book down. I have been a fan of Joe Madureira‘s art since the beginning of his career so I’ve never had a problem with the art specifically, although I’d agree with everyone else and say that the coloring has been too dark. That problem is pretty much corrected with this issue, as the coloring finally matches the art and brings it off the page, rather than obscuring it in earth tones. No, the problem with this issue, and the first three issues as a whole, is the writing. Jeph Loeb gets a grand total of one character right, that being Hawkeye, who feels like he is reacting like a normal person (with superpowers) to the death of his family in the last volume. The rest of the cast doesn’t feel like the characters we met when they were written by Mark Millar. The dialog is insipid, the plot makes no sense, and the pacing is all over the place. Really, there’s not much to recommend about this. I’ll probably pick up the last two issues, because I’m a completist and that’s how I roll, but I’ll be thinking long and hard about picking up the next series. —2 out of 5

Runaways #29
If I didn’t know this was Joss Whedon and Michael Ryan‘s last issue, this series would be joining the three above on the chopping block. Delays are the biggest reason I haven’t enjoyed Whedon’s run, although the story hasn’t been very good either. What should have been a slam dunk has become a story with too many characters and no clear explanation of what’s going on. I never really cared about the new characters introduced in this arc, and because of the delays, I can’t keep track of who’s on what team and what their objectives are. My enjoyment isn’t helped by Ryan’s art, whose work is perfectly fine, but just isn’t my cup of tea. Personally, I just want to see Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos start their run, if only so I can forget about this one. —1 out of 5

Ultimate Human #2
Moving back to books I actually enjoy, we have the second issue of Ultimate Hulk vs. Ultimate Iron Man. This is definitely Warren Ellis in his work for hire mode, meaning that it’s full of big ideas, stock characters, and while it may have fun moments, it lacks the passion that he brings to his more personal projects. This issue sees more of the battle between Hulk and Iron Man, and once that wraps up we get more of Ellis’ patented pseudo-scientific gobbledygook, followed by some more scenes with the Ultimate Leader. It’s all decent enough, but in the end it’s kind of forgettable. Cary Nord‘s art really elevates the whole thing as he turns in some great work, capturing the Hulk’s rampaging craziness, as well as the high tech look of Iron Man. This book is worth picking up just for the art alone, but it has a decent enough story to keep the reader interested. —3 out of 5

Mighty Avengers #9
Finally, we get an issue of Mighty Avengers I can say I enjoyed on all counts (well, almost). The team travels to Latveria to take on Dr. Doom, who spends the first few pages of the issue shacked up with Morgan Le Fay, only to return to find his castle under attack. What follows is some fine work from Mark Bagley, including a six page stretch of splashes that I felt worked in the story and didn’t through off the pacing. Bagley’s work here is the best of the run so far, as he captures the energy of the battle scenes perfectly. Brian Bendis‘ script is a little light this time, but he handles the action here well, and creates a stand out battle between Iron Man and Dr. Doom, with a surprising cliff hanger. I’ll also give a lot of credit to the production of the book, from Marko Djurdjevic‘s guest pages, to the classic look of the last few pages. My only complaint remains the lettering of the Iron Man suit dialog, as the green on yellow is a continual pain to read. Other than that, a great issue, and hopefully a sign that the series is getting better. —4 out of 5