One-paragraph reviews: Axe Cop, Sweet Tooth, Astonishing Thor, Captain America and the Falcon

Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #1
Written by Malachai Nicolle; art by Ethan Nicolle; Dark Horse

The story here is pretty much what you might expect from a comic written by a six-year-old: the plot is disjointed, occasionally surreal, every character is either a "bad guy" or a "good guy," and there are lots of dinosaurs involved. All of which is both part of this book's appeal, but also part of its limitation. The randomness of the ideas doesn't bother me at all, and it's always a pleasure to witness the unrestrained imagination that could only come from a child's mind. I do wish, however, that Ethan wouldn't feel the need to stick to his six-year-old brother's narration style. Often, it feels like the captions are basically telling the story, and the drawings merely illustrate the information that has already been conveyed in words. For example, the caption says: "Axe Cop then pushed the rocket button," and the panel shows a close-up of Axe Cop pushing a big butter with a rocket on it. This kind of redundancy between words and images is usually considered a sign of a bad comic book, but here I guess we're supposed to forgive it because it adds to the six-year-old narrative voice which is part of the book's gimmick. It doesn't quite work for me. Not only is it a little bit condescending to the reader ("I'm telling you what happens and I'm showing you at the same time, just to make sure you understand..."), but it also does the writer a disservice. It's not necessary to draw attention to the fact that it's a kid writing the book. We already know and accept this, because it's mentioned right at the top of the cover above the title. I think the book would benefit from having less narration and from letting the images tell the story. Nevertheless, this is a very enjoyable book. Some of the scenes are very funny, the art is always fantastic, and the colours (by Dirk Erik Schulz) are absolutely gorgeous.

GOOD

Sweet Tooth #19
Written and drawn by Jeff Lemire, Nate Powell, Emi Lenox and Matt Kindt; Vertigo

This is a special issue of Sweet Tooth (but then again, they're all special, aren't they?) featuring short stories from three guest writers/artists. Jeff Lemire handles the framing narrative and allows each guest to tell a flashback or mini-origin story for one of of the supporting characters. It's handled quite nicely, giving us a lot of new insight into the characters, while also setting up the stage for the next big story arc. The different styles used by all the artist work well together, since they all represent a different point of view. Of the three guest artists, I was only familiar with Matt Kindt's work, but all three of them are quite good. Emi Lenox was the one who surprised me the most, as based on what little I'd seen of her work online, I wasn't sure how well her more "cartoony" style would mesh with Lemire's bleak post-apocalyptic world. But it was perfect for her short story. Her layouts were great and Jose Villarubia's vibrant colours really helped to establish the tone of that section as well. Another excellent issue.

AWESOME

Astonishing Thor #3
Written by Robert Rodi; art by Mike Choi; Marvel

For whatever reason, I'm not really into this book as much as I was when it started. The art in the first couple of issues really impressed me, but now I'm growing weary of it. And the story... I don't know. It's just not doing much for me. I'm sorry, this is the lamest review I've ever written. I can't pinpoint anything wrong with this book. I'm just kind of indifferent toward it. In any case, there's only one issue left, so I'll stick with it. I am kind of curious to find out what happens when these two living planets finally meet each other.

OKAY

Captain America and the Falcon (one-shot)
Written by Rob Williams; art by Rebekah Isaacs; Marvel

This is one of those stories about a character returning to his roots (i.e., poor neighbourhood), which he'd previously turned his back on and lost touch with. The character then realizes that this is still an important part of who he is and that he should do everything he can to help the people he left behind. In this case, that character is Falcon. To be honest, that's not terribly original or even very interesting. Maybe it would be if this was the start of an ongoing series which would then explore that further. I would read a story about Falcon protecting and helping the people of his old neighbourhood, while also dealing with "bigger" or "more important" missions with the Avengers or Captain America. Especially if Rebekah Isaacs was the regular artist on it, because she's fantastic. But as a one-shot, I can't help but wonder what's the point? Not because this is a bad comic, but because I feel like it's not going to go anywhere. This whole idea of Falcon returning to his roots is just going to be abandoned, unless someone is working on an ongoing title for him in the near future. Which doesn't seem all that likely to happen. Then again... there's a "Fear Itself" logo on the cover of this book, so maybe this is setting up something that's going to tie into that event.

OKAY

One-paragraph reviews: Flash, Red Robin, Magus, Starborn

Flash #9
Written by Geoff Johns; art by Francis Manapul; DC

It's so good to have Francis Manapul back on this title. Scott Kolins's two-issue interlude was good, but Manapul's art just blows my mind. I know his style is not to everyone's liking, and some people feel that it's wrong for this particular book, but I coudln't disagree more. I love his clean layouts, the beautiful painted textures, the character's faces, the look of the city. There's always a strong sense that we are in a clear, distinct place, whether it's a random crime scene in a parking garage, or the park where Barry Allen's family is having a picnic, or the crime lab where he works. As for the story, this is like the introduction to the prelude to this summer's big event, "Flashpoint." It sets things up nicely, without any big surprises for anyone who's been paying attention to the hype around the event that's coming. I'm still not sure whether I'm onboard for this mega-event or not, but so far I've been very pleased with what Geoff Johns has been doing with this book.

GOOD

Starborn #3
Written by Chris Roberson; art by Khary Randolph; Boom

This continues to be my favourite of the three new Stan Lee comics from Boom Studios. I read a review somewhere that complained about how slow this issue was, but the pacing seems spot-on to me. Certainly easier to take in than the frenetic chaos of The Traveler. Considering we're only three issues in and the protagonist has gone from an aspiring writer with a boring office job to a hero with high-tech weapons apparently being attacked by several difference alien races simultaneously, I think there's plenty going on. There's one part I thought was really clever in this issue, where he's learning how to use a weapon that is controlled by his mind. He's instructed to visualize a blue sphere inside a glass pyramid, which initiates the weapon, and then to picture the sphere turning red, which triggers it. It's really weird and abstract, and yet you can sort of see how it might actually work. I hope we'll eventually learn more about this mental visual interface, because it's kind of fascinating. The only thing I'm not a very big fan of in this series is the colouring by Mitch Gerads. It's way too dark and the colours seem oversaturated, though the problem might be with the printing.

GOOD

Magus #2
Written by Jon Price; art by Rebekah Isaacs; 12-Gauge

I'm mostly getting this for Rebekah Isaacs' art, which I think is very, very good. The premise, in a nutshell, is that magic is returning to the world, causing a lot of chaos. There's nothing particularly remarkable about the story so far and the characters seem a little bit flat. The problem is that there wasn't really any setting up. Before the end of the first issue, these characters, whom we'd just met, had their whole lives turned upside down. There's a lot happening in several locations with characters that individually have very little total on-panel time, so I feel like all we're getting is a very superficial look at these events. Still, it is a cool premise and I'm curious to know where it's going to go. I've seen conflicting information about whether this is just a mini-series or the start of an ongoing. I hope it's an ongoing because I don't think this will be satisfying as a limited series, but with more time to establish the characters and the world they live in, it could develop into something very good. Especially with such gorgeous, top-notch art.

OKAY

Red Robin #20
Written by Fabian Nicieza; art by Marcus To and Ray McCarthy; DC

Something about this book keeps getting on my nerves, and I'm having a really hard time figuring out exactly what it is. Maybe I'm just not a fan of Fabian Nicieza's writing style. It relies too much on narration. I think he expression "show, don't tell" is often an oversimplification that gets abused a little, but in this case I think it might apply. I just get the impression that we're constantly in Tim's head and he's explaining everything to us, and it doesn't help that what he's explaining is really convoluted and barely makes any sense half the time. Like, what exactly is Catman doing in this comic? Did the Russian mobster hire him, or was it the Calculator? And to do what, exactly? The issue then derails into a crossover with the Teen Titans, which was actually kind of nice. Tim reuniting with the gang and bossing everyone around. And Nicieza has a much better handle on Damian's character and voice than Krul does (in Teen Titans). Marcus To's art remains solid.

OKAY