Also this week...

LONERS #6 - After an extended delay, C B Cebulski and Karl Moline finally wrap up their miniseries about the Teen Superheroes Anonymous group from Runaways.  Cebulski apparently wants to do 18 issues on these characters, and it shows.  This reads like the opening arc of a longer storyline, with characters running away at the end of the story as if to set up a sequel down the line.  Given the sales on this miniseries, I'm not holding my breath for that sequel to appear.  Nor am I convinced that these characters would work in a longer series - their central gimmick is that they want to retire as superheroes, but if they do that, the series ends.  It doesn't lend itself to an open-ended series.  Still, Cebulski and Maline have really entertained me with this series, and they've certainly demonstrated that the Z-list cast (Darkhawk, the teen Green Goblin, Turbo and so forth) have more potential than you might think.  A little bit against my better judgment, I'd quite like to see them get that sequel.  B+

UMBRELLA ACADEMY #3 - Most people understandably expected this series to be a gimmick, commissioned on basis that My Chemical Romance fans were bound to pick it up.  But it's proving to be a remarkably fun little series about an estranged family of underage superheroes grudgingly reunited to fight rather off-kilter threats.  It's Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol via Wes Anderson, I suppose, and the result is one of the most fun superhero comics of the year.  It really is a little gem.  A

WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #19 - Continuing the World War II flashback storyline, which seems to be largely an excuse to guest star Captain America for months on end while he remains a relatively hot character.  This is actually quite good fun, since it's mainly a load of running around in secret bases fighting Nazis with a young Captain America and Nick Fury.  And that's always good for a laugh.  As you'd expect, it comes with a convoluted piece of Daniel Way's tiresome conspiracy storyline, and the story would be better off without it.  Still not bad, though.  B

X-MEN: EMPEROR VULCAN #3 - In which the good guys and the bad guys team up to fight the even worse guys.  This series is an odd mixture of competent superheroics with moments of inspiration.  The basic idea of the Shi'ar coming under attack from a race that they more or less wiped out in a fit of religious zealotry has plenty of potential, and the notion of them teleporting stars around as weapons of mass destruction is rather neat.  But there's also a lot of conventional superhero material which is a bit plodding in comparison.  Do we really care about Marvel Girl's feud with the Shi'ar Death Commandos?  It doesn't do much for me, although I admit that it's nice of writer Christopher Yost to try and tie it up while he's in the vicinity.  On the whole, though, this is generally okay with moments of being quite good.  B+

There's more from me at If Destroyed, and if you're desperate for more Article 10 columns, you can always hunt through the archives on Ninth Art.

Next week, "Messiah Complex" continues in New X-Men #44.  Captain America is still guest starring in Wolverine: Origins #19.  And X-Men: Emperor Vulcan #3 continues the new Starjammers' miniseries.

back | continue