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REVIEW: FIRST IMPRESSIONS
FIRST IMPRESSIONS Yo Yo Yo! (Or is it Oy Oy Oy?) Another installment of First Impressions! Hoo Ha! All reviews by Matt Singer (MS), Brian Domingos (BD) Marc J. Deering (MD) and Alex Bernstein (AB) WILDSTORM: SUMMER SPECTACULAR 
Well, now. Let me get this straight, you assemble the best comics artists in the field and put them in one book? Um, SOLD!!! Everyone of these guys within are IMMENSLY talented. There are 3 stories within and they all are very, very good. Cully Hamner had begged and pleaded with Warren Ellis to write just one more superhero story so he could draw it. And Warren did. In fact Cully has churned out what is probably his best work to date. The same goes for Georges Jeanty. Ususally a grim and gritty artist on such titles as Bishop and Deadpool, Georges pulls off what is slick, clean and beautiful in his rendition of the Engineer with a very sexy story by Paul Jenkins. Brian Stelfreeze is still at the top of his game with his Zealot story, penned by Brain Azzarello. The pin-ups are also equally as beautiful as Gaijin friends take a shot at some Wildstorm characters. All-in-all, this is a gorgeous book that should be selling like crazy. Go get it now. (MD) NEW X MEN 2001 It's been a long while since I’d enjoyed an X-book. That, in itself, is almost a cliche in this industry of ours. But it’s true, and, for the first time in a long time, I can honestly say, “X-men was the best read of the week.” The story is hard hitting, dealing with aspects from the “E is for Extinction” storyline and reads like an espionage script. The X-men gain a new member in this issue, adding “Xorn, The Man From Room X” to the line-up. The guy’s got a microscopic sun for a brain. The White Queen is quizzing Cyclops about his celibacy and Wolverine makes “post mission” plans with Domino for some “no strings animal passion” as she puts it. This is much heavier stuff than the average X-fare. Morrison has made his mark on the X-men. Artistically, the creative team tries something different. The pages are stapled on the top instead of the left side, giving the book a more spread out, “wide screen” (to use the popular vernacular) look to it. Yu and Alanguilan make the most out of it. The story telling is top notch and the new format leads to amazing splash pages. (BD) Well, hmmm...I'm mixed on this book. First off the whole MarvelScope thing, I like it fine except that because you have to hold the book long ways, it makes it not quite as compact as a normal comic which can make for difficult reading on cramped spaces like a train which I found out the hard way today. As for the story itself, it's pretty good, but unfortunately, this book appears to take place after at least 1, possibly even more, issues of new X-men that haven't come out yet. So we find out about some stuff that has yet to happen, but I assume is going to. I must admit, they are some brilliant ideas from Grant, but they act as a bit of a self-spoiler. I saw at the store that the next issue of New X-Men ships next week; we'll see if that catches up with this, but who knows. Yu's art is good, but not as sharp as some of the stuff he did on Wolverine like "Not Dead Yet" that completely blew me away. But it gets the job done, and the story itself has lots of nice beats, good characterization, etc. If regular New X-Men came out as it should, I'd probably have enjoyed the book a lot. Probably best would be to buy this issue but not read it for a month or two.(MS) JLA: Earth 2 ANGEL & THE APE #1 Cute. That's about all I can say about this issue. It was nice and even funny, in most parts, but overall, just a little lacking in the "umpf" department Bond's artwork is really nice. It's always great to see someone so talented pushing themselves. The story was good. The cover was gorgeous by Arthur Adams. Mostly it was good but not worth getting on a monthly basis. I'll wait for the trade. (MD)
ELEKTRA #2 A BILL SIENKIEWICZ COVER! WOOHOOO!!! Can't say too much more. I love this cover. The original Elektra: Assassin series is one of my favorites of all time. Not to forget Elektra: Lives Again. Both by Frank Miller. Who is my second favorite creator of all time. So when Marvel announced that they were going to re-launching Elektra, with Bendis on board, I was leary. Even if Bendis had Millers blessing, I was cautious. But Bendis has proven as creative as ever. This series is shaping up to be really intriguing and good. Chuck Austen art is even pretty damn good. I'd like to know what program he uses to create the pages. (MD) My favorite book of the week! First off, my complaint: the coloring on this book is not as good as it could be. In the sequence in the bunker, it's difficult to follow the art because the colors are so dark. And there's a page where everything looks washed out. Otherwise...what a great read! There's social commentary, there's humor, there's espionage, there's ninja crap. Wow, I am so impressed with a book that I had only moderate hopes for. I got the Sienkiewicz cover which is AWESOME (sorry Greg Horn, no contest which is better here). From front to back cover this was my favorite Bendis comic since maybe Torso. I dug it that much. It ain't just about babes or even superheroes. Bendis, fine work. No, not fine, very very good. I don't know how you continue to top yourself, but whatever drugs you're NOT taking, keep not taking them. Heh. (MS) THE INCREDIBLE HULK #31 Ok. First off. These covers. They have to be the most god-awful covers to ever appear in the entire run of Hulk. Brian Haberlin has done them and they are just bad. I don't men to bad-mouth the guy, but they really are. The inside, however, is pretty good. Sean McKeever is really getting to shine here as the co-writer and I wish he could have stayed on longer. He really is an excellent writer. Go check out THE WAITING PLACE from Slave Labor Graphics. The art, too, is pretty good. Bennett and Palmer make a good team when combined. This is part 2 of the 3-part Spiral Staircase arc that has Banner diagnosed with amyothophic lateral sclerosis and if the Hulk turns back into Banner he'll die. Well, the newly enlightened Leader offers him a cure and the Leader finally leaves us, as in he dies. And there's more to come. Over all, I liked it, but then I'm biased as Sean McKeever is a really cool guy and I love his writing. (MD) ULTIMATE X-MEN #8 My hats' off to Mark Millar. This is hands-down some of the best X-Men I've EVER read. I think he's taken the core essence of these characters and really made them shine. This is part 2 to the Weapon X storyline currently running and it's been a whopper of a tale so far. There are even a lot of twists that wouldn't normally show up in the regular X-Men titles, the main one being that Prof X uses his powers to alter his own students minds, i.e. Iceman's old girlfriend is wiped out of his memory to keep their secret school hidden. That is something that Prof X in the regular books would NEVER have done. It's nice to see that even these "good guys" have to do low-down things just to keep the status quo. Great book. (MD) Still not as good as ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, but a damn fine read. Good characters, well-written dialogue, and nice Kubert art. Millar's touch is clear, and in a very good way. This Weapon X storyline is a good mix of the past, with some excellent "ultimate" spins. I really like the way the familiar is made unfamiliar in this book. And it reads well too, I was just flying through the book, big grin on my face in a few spots. I'll be reading for the forseeable future. (MS) JUST IMAGINE STAN LEE'S WONDER WOMAN HOPELESS SAVAGES #1 A good mix of a strong story, and good characters with very funny situations and dialogue. Nice art, which isn't too showy, but very clear and well-done nevertheless. And Jamie's text piece at the end is really interesting (I have no clue where the quote is from, but I want a mix tape!! If you like Oni stuff generally, READ THIS BOOK!(MS) RISING STARS #16
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #34 THE AUTHORITY #25 Writer/Artist: Simon, Kirby, Ditko, Haney, Infantino and others DC Comics $5.95 BRAVE & BOLD gets the reprint treatment with this very oddball, not-at-all-in-demand collection. So, of course, I picked up a copy. We get a very funky art job of the first (and last?) teaming of Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter (a real goofy piece of work already reprinted in the 70's); an Infantino Batman/Flash story - Okay; a real nifty Simon/Kirby teamin of the Boy Commandos and the Golden Age Sandman (never heard of that one!); and the best piece in the book - a Ditko Capt. Atom/Shade team-up - the first Charlton story included in a DC anthology. The only thing missing is a text piece explaining this misfit! Oh well...keep 'em coming, boys! (AB)
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