Solar Flare: Science Fiction News

Astonishing X-Men #17
Writer: Joss Whedon
Artist: John Cassady
Publisher: Marvel

Whedon’s story continues its meandering pace this issue, though it does look like we might be getting close to a conclusion of some sort. The art is of course as good as ever, but this is a storyline that has just gone on too long.

I’m at the point where the surprising plot twists are just becoming irritating. Plus I’ve never been a fan of issues where almost everything that happens is not real. The only plus I can see from all this is that Emma Frost may not end up being turned back into a villain.

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Image via Wikipedia
The Invincible Iron Man #12
Writer: Daniel & Charles Knauf
Artist: Patrick Zircher
Publisher: Marvel

The over-long “Execute Program” story comes to an end with what is little more than a whole issue fight scene were Iron Man proves he’s much tougher than every other hero on the planet. It’s pretty tedious to read though it does fit in nicely with the ego he’s been displaying in the Civil War storylines.

And the end of this issue nicely ties in to the beginning of Civil War with Tony Stark coming to the conclusion that none of this was his fault (rather dubious) and that registration is the solution to all superhero problems. It’s not that the story is bad, I just find it very hard to actually like this Tony Stark.

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X Factor #11
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Renato Arlem
Publisher: Marvel

Peter David dials down his trademark humor for this issue and rather surprisingly pulls the gun on the Guido is a turncoat sub-plot, which hardly makes it worth having in the first place. There’s also two elements which seem to be requisite for Marvel comics these days.

First we have the ret-con scene which establishes that this brand new villain has been around for years influencing events without anyone noticing. Then there’s the bit at the end where the villain claims that our heroes are on the wrong side and may destroy the world.

It’s all a little disappointing really.

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Wetworks #1
Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Whilce Portacio
Publisher: DC

I’m old enough to remember when Whilce Portacio and Jim Lee were the big thing on the X-Men books, before the promptly left, and started image. Portacio created Wetworks but if I remember rightly it didn’t last very long. Well its back (again) under the Wildstorm banner now. And from the look of things this latest reboot is going back to Portacio’s original concept. Yup it’s cyborgs vs. vampires (not to mention some cyborg vampires).

Nothing wrong with that, its a decent concept for an action series. It all depends on the execution. Portacio’s artwork is not to everyone’s taste, but I think he’s on good form stylistically here. Some of the panels are outright confusing though. The story is sounding pretty hackneyed right now though and there’s a little too much of the cliched military dialogue. We’ll see. It needs a couple more issues to settle in.

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Captain America #22
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Mike Perkins
Publisher: Marvel

Ed Brubaker is doing some awesome writing right now. The latest issue of Captain America catches up with events in Civil War and, rather like his recent Daredevil issue, focuses on one of the supporting cast to give us a better understanding of what is going on in the Captain’s world.

Agent 13 has found herself torn between a clear affection for Captain America and her firm belief in following orders and the rule of law. It’s a good example of how the tie in comics are able to fill in a lot of the detail that’s missing from the main Civil War comic which is more blood and thunder. But not content with that Brubaker is planting the seeds for a larger story that looks as though it will go on beyond Civil War itself.

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Civil War: Frontline #06
Writer: Paul Jenkins
Artist: Ramon Bachs, Steve Lieber, Lee Weeks
Publisher: Marvel

The idea behind Civil War: Frontline was to show some of the smaller stories of Civil War. To do that each issue presents us with several stories. Some are stronger than others. My favorite element is the continuing story of Speedball and his treatment by the justice system. In many ways this is a more important story than the thunder and lightening happening over in Civil War itself.

Rather more directionless seems to be the main story of each issue which looks at the reporters covering Civil War. he idea is interesting, but the implementation is spotty. We do get a powerful moment this week when Iron Man talks to Ben about the death of Goliath, the the whole thing just seems to be meandering with no clear goal. The remainder of the issue is basically filler.

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Daredevil #89
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Michael Lark, Stefano Gaudiano
Publisher: Marvel

Brubaker strikes again with another great issue of Daredevil. With Matt Murdock now on the run, he heads for Europe on the trail of the lawyer who has some connection with Foggy’s “death”. Then there’s a mysterious masked matador and a damsel in distress who reminds Murdock of Karen Page.

Brubaker is weaving an interesting mystery here and also doing a great job of looking at what makes Daredevil different from all other heroes. The environment is very different from his usual inner-city vigilante routine but it seems to be working.

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X-Men #191
Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Clay Henry
Publisher: Marvel

The X-Men franchise has been in a state of flux ever since the departure of Grant Morrison from the then New X-Men. A series of new creators have come in, demolished most of what’s gone before and moved us in new and frequently rather dull directions. Carey has taken a different approach with X-Men and maybe we’re starting to see that pay off.

Clay Henry’s straightforward us superhero style artwork works well with this story as we finally find out exactly what is going on. I like the idea of the X-Men taking on someone other than their usual rogues gallery. What I’m not so keen on is the group of X-Men that Carey is working with. I really think they need to separate the X-Men into teams again instead of this constant mix and match.

Eoghann Irving is amongst other things the creator and Editor of Solar Flare. He has a life long interest in all forms of science fiction and fantasy and a pressing need to share this interest with anyone who will listen. Find out more at his personal website eoghann.com..

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