Review by Daisy Holzapfel
The headlines read: "HOLY SHIT! MAN WRITES BOOK WITHOUT CONTRIVED WOMEN CHARACTERS (AND THE ART IS DAMN COOL)"
Genre: Espionage
Company: Black Bull
Writer: Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Phil Noto
The first pages of �Beautiful Killer,� seemed so dark and harsh, that I hardly expected the book to turn out to be what it was, and that was honestly a beautiful book. I don�t mean beautiful in terms of a �spring morning�, but just beautiful in general. When it began, it felt so gritty and regardless and regardless of how awful the tragedies that happen throughout the coarse of the story were, no matter how brutal it got, by the end of this book, you felt like you were sinking into Downey-soft sheets. I think that�s a good thing, I like to be comfortable with the story I�m reading and it works especially well for a story focused around this particular character. If the story were constructed even slightly different, dialog altered even faintly, you would imagine Brigit to smell more like wet pavement than strawberry shampoo. That�s not to say this is a sissy character, she�s sooo not! I�ve always wondered why nobody ever allows their female action heroes to be real girls too. It�s a tuff thing to balance, I know, but not every gun-toting female is a bitch. I�m quite sick of that stereotype. I don�t wanna read about bitches. I wanna read about chicks that are equally as comfortable loving as they are fighting. Brigit�s a fine example of a properly balanced character in that sense, and that�s fantastic. She�s smart without being annoyingly geeky, pretty without the ego, tough without being bitchy and caring without being a pushover. This one is coming highly recommended, especially to all the guys that I know who are trying to learn how to use women effectively in their stories and also to all the non-comic-reading girls I know, who drastically need a change in opinion. A-Fucking-Plus.
Fantastic Four issues 60-66
Reviewed by Tommy Timebomb
I�ve always loved the F.F., but the older I get the more in the minority I feel. What I�ve always thought was cool about the F.F., cosmos spanning adventures, a tight family dynamic and a �nifty� retro-feel, has had the opposite effect on others. It seems as if other people feel the book is old-fashioned, lame and stagnant. Oh, and it certainly doesn�t help matters that the last great F.F. run( John Brynes�duh!) ended nearly 20 years ago. So how do you make the F.F. the must buy book that it was in 1985? Simple, bring in Mark Waid, the guys who made the Wally West Flash cool for the first time in�ahhh�ever, and team him up with a great artist like Mike Wieringo.
At this point Waid has done almost everything right. He�s let the readers know that the F.F. aren�t just superhero�s, they�re the worlds coolest explorers, they�re Imaganauts.( Yeah, it sounds corny, but trust me, it nails the F.F. dead to rights.) Waid has had his tough and intelligent Sue Storm force her ever slacking brother Johnny to take over the F.F.�s business dealings in a sink or swim effort to make him grow up. Waid isn�t afraid(or bored) by Mr. Fantastic and is writing him as a three dimensional father, husband and super-genius. Waid introduced a surprisingly interesting villain that was a living math equation named Modulus, that had some of the most unique super powers I�ve seen in quite a few years.
Wieringo�s art has been fun(he excels at an animated style that nicely fits the F.F. and their rather outlandish personalities.) and energetic. I�ve loved Wieringo�s art since his run on Spectacular Spider-Man, but I�ve always felt he was a bit under-rated. Hopefully his F.F. run will change this perception.
My only complaint about this run is that issues 65-66 feature fill-in artist Mark Buckingham, who, although technically proficient, falls far short of what Wieringo�s been bringing to the book. The fantastic Four hasn�t looked this good in years, and with the eagerly anticipated return of Dr. Doom in issue 67(please don�t fuck with Doom too much Waid.), things look very interesting. For now I give this run a solid B+.
Avengers 57-64
Reviewed by Tommy Timebomb
In the high school cafeteria of the Marvel Universe the Avengers have always sat at the popular table, but readers seem much more interested in the X-Men, who are in the parking lot smoking weed and splitting a case of Rolling Rock. And yet, compared to their white bread, �Pantheon of the Gods�, counter parts the J.L.A. over at D.C. the Avengers look like the juvenile delinquents. The Avengers, like the F.F. haven�t had a great run in years, and seem to intimidate and confuse as many writers as they inspire. So Marvel had a solid idea when they got Geoff Johns, who has done such a bang up job with D.C. titles such as The Flash, J.S.A., and Hawkman. Johns is well known for making lame villains and forgotten hero�s cool, as well as handling large team books quite well, but as of Avengers 64, Johns eighth issue into the run, he has yet to tell a riveting Avengers story. He started his run by having the 70�s villain Scorpio( no, not Hank.) make all of the earth�s capitals disappear into a hidden dimension. In the ensuing world panic the Avengers were given global power, and eventually gained their own seat on the U.N. Security Council. Maybe its just me but I thought the whole disappearing capitals storyline was just�weak. A bunch of stupid shit happened in these issues that reminded me of something from a Super-Friends cartoon. The Avengers where attacked by hordes of�gasp�scorpions. The Falcon�s pet bird Redwing snatches the powerful Scorpio key right out of the schmucky villains hands. The Submariner loses his temper and�double gasp�breaks an Avengers conference table. As for Scorpio himself, for a guy known for his revamps of villains Scorpio remained a dud, but to Johns credit he did hint at at a much darker motive for Scorpio�s bumbling behavior at the end of the story arc�oh yeah�and theIn-Betweener dropped some knowledge on the Avengers, informing them that soon, one of their own would die. I�m not sure why Johns hasn�t clicked on this book yet, maybe this is one too many comic books for him to write, or he�s too much of a D.C. guy at heart to write a classic Marvel story, or maybe he�s purposely moving slowly and will really pull out the stops with the much hyped � Red Zone� story arc starting in issue 65.
As for the art Kieron Dwyer has been very solid, but departed with issue 62. Issue 63 featured some nice Gary Frank art, and 64 featured some nice Ivan Reis art( he did some pretty splash pages of the Falcon, that�s for sure!), Olivier Coipel becomes the regular artist as of issue 65. This book isn�t great, but I still have hope that it will get on track. For now I give it a shaky C+.