Solar Flare: Science Fiction News

Countdown to Final Crisis #1
Writer: Paul Dini
Artist: Tom Derenick
Publisher: DC

So here we are. Finally the countdown reaches 1. And what do we get? An epilogue. As I feared this whole exercise hasn’t lead into Final Crisis at all. In fact the only really significant bit seems to be the death of the New Gods which actually mainly occurred in a spin-off series. It just feels like nothing that happened in this series really mattered at all, which is rather annoying for a 52 part series.

Ultimate Spider-Man #121
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Stuart Immonen
Publisher: Marvel

Spider-man takes on Omega Red in this issue. This is another of those issues where Spider-man is taking on a “nothing” villian. Omega Red is vanilla in the main Marvel universe and while he’s a little more interesting in the Ultimate Universe, its not by much. Still we get a decent amount of action and more importantly plenty of what Bendis is really good at, which is the interaction between all of his characters. Ultimate Spider-man is coasting right now. It’s not as good as it used to be, but it ain’t bad either.

Image via Wikipedia
Ultimate Fantastic Four #53
Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Tyler Kirkham
Publisher: Marvel

Mike Carey finishes up his Thanos storyline in grand style. This really was an epic cosmic adventure and I’m baffled that so few people seem to have enjoyed his Fantastic Four run. This story has been exactly what a Fantastic Four adventure should be.

She-Hulk #28
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Val Semeiks
Publisher: Marvel

I get the feeling that Peter David is brewing up something bigger, but this issue is largely a stand alone throwdown with a few twists and one long running joke thrown in for good measure. Nothing to complain about certainly. There’s even a little bit of character develoment tucked in there too, but it’s not setting the world on fire.

Mighty Avengers #12
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev
Publisher: Marvel

In a move that’s bound to irritate some fans, we don’t actually get to see the Mighty Avengers in this issue. It’s all about Nick Fury. Finally we get to find out what he’s been up to all these months and I love it. Of course this was a Secret Invasion tie-in and it’s exactly what a tie-in should be. It enhances and deepens the main story.

Ms. Marvel #26
Writer: Brian Reed
Artist: Adriana Melo
Publisher: Marvel

Another Secret Invasion tie in and this one looks to be a side story, playing up on the paranoia aspects of the Skrull invasion. Who is real and who is a Skrull? Actually this is probably the most enjoyable issue of Ms. Marvel that I’ve read in the last year.

Fables #72
Writer: Bill Willingham
Artist: Mark Buckingham
Publisher: DC

There are a few titles that are just so consistently good there’s very little to say about them from one issue to the next. Fables is one of those. War has been building up for some time now, but Willingham is in no rush and so we get an issue focused on Cinderella and we get to see just how good secret agent she really is. It’s another great character piece that inches forward the main story as well and neatly references a minor detail from many many issues ago.