January has been a slow month for me, comics-wise, so I’m combining a few weeks worth of books together. You should still be able to find any of these books at your local comics’ emporium. Enjoy!

Ultimates 3 #2
On the plus side, I found the art to be better in this issue. I don’t know if it’s just Joe Mad clearing out the cobwebs, or if the coloring didn’t bother me as much this time, but I found the action easier to follow and felt like this was classic Joe. I can’t say as much for the story or dialog, which were both pretty stupid. Hawkeye comes off as whiney and weak, and what should be his big emotional display while talking about his family rings hollow. Cap sounds like an idiot who would be behind the times in the 40’s. Tony Stark isn’t a lovable drunk anymore; he’s just a regular drunk. The only one who comes off well this issue is the Wasp, but she seems more like the regular Marvel U version, and not her Ultimate self. The story stops and stalls, we still have no explanation who the Black Panther is and why he’s hanging around, and the Brotherhood of Mutants show up for no good reason. I’m getting the feeling that this will be a lot of set up with little payoff. Not nearly as good as the Millar/Hitch run. On the plus side again, at least it’s on time. —2 out of 5

PULL LIST JAN ’08 Ultimates 3 #2 Booster Gold #6 Testament #22 Fear Agent #18 Faker #6 Fell #9 Young Avengers Presents #1

Booster Gold #6
Booster makes his play to save the life of his best buddy Blue Beetle, with the help of three other Beetles, while pissing of Rip Hunter. It won’t spoil this issue if I say that they’re successful in saving Ted Kord, we’ll have to see if he survives the whole story though. Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz do their usual good job on this book of steeping it in continuity, while not giving the reader a headache. I missed the big stories of the Booster/Beetle partnership in the past, but I can feel the camaraderie between the two characters in just a few pages. Dan Jurgens continues to turn in stellar work on this title. It’s just a standard super-hero style art with clear lines and bright colors. It’s not over rendered, it tells the story well, and while it’s not really flashy, it’s a marvel of craftsmanship. I’ll admit I’m not the biggest DC fanboy in the world, but this has become one of my favorite titles in a short amount of time.

Testament #22
And so we (and by we, I mean me and the 5 other people still reading) say goodbye to this rather ambitious but ultimately not quite successful title. For those not reading, and that’s a lot of you, this Vertigo series attempted to mix religion and science fiction in a heady mix. Basically, the series main hook is that all the classic bible stories are happening again, only this time it is set against a dystopian future. In the end, this series was doomed to failure as a comic. A) There’s a very small market for sci-fi comics. B) Readers looking for a straight religious book would be thrown off by the casual swearing, violence, and nudity. C) Casual readers would be easily thrown off by the thick philosophy that permeated the book. And D) Non-religious but still curious people would be thrown off by the deep religious undertones that were the basis of the series. I can see why this book had a hard time finding a market but for whatever reason, it always appealed to me, and I’ll miss it. Liam Sharp‘s art continually impressed me and Douglas Rushkoff‘s script showed a command of the comic form not usually found in first time (comic) writers. This last issue is a bit of a disappointment, only because there’s a lot to wrap up and the resolution springs up quickly and without a lot of explanation. From reading the whole run of issues, I could tell that there was a lot of story left to tell, so this resolution left me a bit cold. Maybe Rushkoff can re-tell the series as a traditional novel so I can get a proper ending. In the end, the series is just a casualty of the direct market. Guess I’ll have to find another low selling Vertigo title to read. —3 out of 5

Fear Agent #18
This is part two of the latest mini in the Fear Agent saga. Last issue found series protagonist Heath Huston going on a mission with his ex-wife’s new husband to gather food, and this issue focuses more on the other side of the mission as Heath’s ex-wife and his new lady friend Mara run afoul of space pirates who have an unfortunate history with Mara. Rick Remender keeps his sci-fi epic going, adding more layers to his universe and keeping the action moving and showing new sides to his characters. Art for this arc is by Jerome Opena, and I don’t know what it is, but his art has really grown on me over the last two issues. He’s got a similar style to Tony Moore, who handled the art on the last arc, but it’s distinctive enough to add its own flavor to the story. If you like old school sci-fi stories, give this one a look. —4 out of 5

Faker #6
Another Vertigo series comes to an end, although this was just a mini, so at least it’s not coming to a premature end. Having read all of this now, I have to say that this series was not really good. Maybe it reads better in a trade, but the single issues were hard to follow, and I wasn’t able to keep the characters straight. Mike Carey‘s script is dense and deals with some deep themes of love and loss and all that jazz, and maybe it was just too much for me over the span of six months. Saving it is Jock‘s art, but points down again for the coloring which is very dark and makes the story a bit hard to follow. I’ve seen his art look better, as recently as his work on Green Arrow Year One, so this was just kind of a disappointment all around. If you like personal dramas, or just enjoy Jock’s art, you might give the trade a try. Otherwise, it’s a pass. —2 out of 5

Fell #9
Continuing our look at books staring with the letter F, we get the long awaited return of Warren Ellis’ and Ben Templesmith’s great crime series, Fell. As with the previous issues, this is a one and done story dealing with Richard Fell trying to talk down a hostage situation which is more complicated than first thought. Ellis continues to buck his own trend and tell tight stories that can be read by themselves but also add to an over arching story. Fell is an intriguing character and you can never tell exactly what he’s going to do in any situation, and then ending of this came as quite a surprise, although it’s exactly what you’d expect the character to do. Templesmith’s art continues to express the mood of the story perfectly with his fairly dark not muddy work. I was a little thrown off by the way Templesmith portrays Fell’s mental workings, but I caught on quick enough that it didn’t take me out of the story. My only real complaint is that the series is so good that it doesn’t come out often enough. I guess I’ll just have to start the next long wait to the next issue. —4 out of 5

Young Avengers Presents #1
Filling the whole left by Allen Heinbergs’ busy schedule, we get a new series of Young Avengers stories written and drawn by a cavalcade of Marvel talent. First up is a look at Patriot, as he struggles to come to grips his negative view of America while wearing a very patriotic costume. He goes to the Winter Soldier, former Captain America sidekick Bucky Barnes, for advice who does a good job of setting Patriot’s mind at ease. I’m curious if this is just going to be a series of one-shots or if there will be some kind of greater story tying them together. This first one is written by Ed Brubaker, which is a good way to start. It helps that he uses one of his pet characters in a large part of the story, and he has used the YA’s before. The work here is not going to win him an Eisner, but fans of the team will take any new material at this point. Art comes from Paco Medina, who again, does serviceable work, tells the story well, and gets a good action scene to draw. Would I prefer a new series from the original creators of the series? Yes. Am I going to get it? Not anytime soon, so I’ll have to settle for this. Realities a pain sometimes. —3 out of 5