Mini-Review Wednesday

Nothing jumped out at me this week to make me want to write any full blown review, but I like to try and do something for Wednesday so I thought I would wing six quick snapshots of the first six books I read this week.

Catwoman #83 – The Blackest Night book of another revived title for one more issue. I liked this book a lot. Tony Bedard took the story point of Catwoman killing Black Mask and made it into one heck of a story. On top of that he tied it into Gotham Sirens and added a nice twist with Selina’s sister escaping the asylum she was in and setting her up as enemy of Catwoman. This was a heck of lot to do in what could have been a total throw away issue.

Absolution #6 (of 6) – A very good issue that explored what John Dusk had done and how it was being viewed by various cast members and the world at large. I’m still not sure if I liked how the book ended or not, because it left it wide open for a sequel. If no sequel is ever forthcoming then the ending is fine, if he does a sequel it will need to be a very different kind of book as killing for the right reasons works as a mini-series but not a series of series. One reason I liked this book is because I have come to believe right or wrong is often situational and this book showed John Dusk coming to that same conclusion.

Army of Two #1 – This was an EA Comics/IDW co-production. My track record for not liking books tied to video games continues. This book never felt like a Peter Milligan book and the writer could have been almost anyone. It was a very empty story that had lots of violence and tried to throw a pretty girl into it. Maybe it is better if you know the video game.

Weekly World News #1 – Now I’m totally on the fence about this book. Since I never really read the WWN, but just glanced at the headlines I was unaware that there was a set cast of characters. This Ed Anger guy was a fun parody, but I felt the book was trying to be a little too preachy in delivering a “message”. The art was excellent and as I said the cast of characters was enjoyable, but I’m not 100% sold. I’m coming back for issue #2 before I decide if I’m dropping this mini-series or not.

Marvel Projects #5 (of 8) – It feels like it is taking a very long time between issues and as this book has a slow pace the delays are hurting my enjoyment of the book. Also I have seen the origin of Captain America a thousand times and so far this has added little that was new. It is definitely being written to be better as a trade and at this point I think I would have been happier buying it as a collected edition. Ed Brubaker is writing a solid story and making the Golden Age of Marvel more unified then it ever was and Epting is doing great work with the art, but it is not strong as an episodic comic.

PunisherMax #3 – This issue Wilson Fisk and Frank Castle kill a nasty old woman who was married to the former head of all the families. Then we see that an assassin that has been a Mennonite is called in to take out the Punisher. It was a middle chapter in the story and feels a little like filler. It is bad enough that Frank is a co-star at best in his own book and Wilson Fisk is the star, but now we add another character who gets as much face time as Wilson and relegates Castle to an almost bit player in his own title. I would prefer to see Wilson working his way up to being the real Kingpin and Frank working his way through the mob ready to take him down. Still a decent issue, just not as strong as the first two issues and gives cause for concern on the long term strength of this run.

Come back Tuesday and see if any of these books made the final cut.