Sunday, January 15, 2006

Four Color Commentary - Books Shipped 1-11-06

Ultimate Extinction #1 (of 6)
Warren Ellis, Writer
Brandon Peterson, Artist

I have been following the events in the Ultimate Nightmare and Ultimate Invasion mini-series, which have been leading up to the Ultimate Extinction mini-series because I have faith that Warren Ellis will deliver the goods. I certainly felt he did in Ultimate Nightmare, but I would have to go back and reread the Ultimate Invasion series to refresh my memory on whether I liked it or not, so I am going to have to say it was less than memorable.

Ultimate Extinction is off to an interesting start. First we get Ultimate Reed Richards’ prediction of what Ultimate Gah Lak Tus is going to do to Ultimate Earth to ultimately render it lifeless. Then we meet the Ultimate Silver Surfer, who has wings, not a surfboard, which really makes him look more like a Polygram Pictures logo come to life. We then end with a gun-fu cat fight between Misty Knight and some bald sniper girl who made me think of Mondragon for some reason. End of the world? Sentient art deco hood ornaments from beyond the stars? Chick with gun on chick with bigger gun action? I am in for the next five issues Mr. Ellis. Please deliver the goods.


DMZ #3
Brian Wood, Writer
Riccardo Burchielli & Brian Wood, Artists

I actually started a review of the first issue of this series, but, as you can tell, I never got around to finishing it up and posting it here. I found the concept of the series interesting. A young photojournalist trapped on Manhattan Island, which has become a no-man’s land during a second Civil War. While I find the idea of Manhattan Island being between two warring factions in a second Civil War a bit far-fetched, I was willing to set that aside and give Mr. Wood’s book a spin. After all, he has a good last name.

The first issue of this series blew my socks off. I turned around and read it three or four times right then. I then came back to it a couple of days later as I was struggling to write something about the series to recommend it to my readers. Then I got the second issue and kind of had a change of heart. Wood is really beating us over the head with his message, and while there are times I do not mind being beat over the head or shown the way, I do not think the point he is trying to make is so subtle as to be missed. Having said that, I still enjoyed the issue. This brings us to the current issue, which is the finale of the first story arc, about three issues earlier than I would have expected, which is nice. I am interested to see where this series goes from here.

The rest:
  • Exiles #75
    • Tony Bedard, Writer
    • Jim Calafiore, Penciller
    • Mark McKenna, Inker
  • Fables #45
    • Bill Willingham, Writer
    • Mark Buckingham, Penciller
    • Steve Leialoha & Andrew Pepoy, Inkers
  • Green Arrow #58
    • J. Calafiore, Writer
    • Paul Lee, Penciller
    • Dan Davis, Inker
  • JLA #124
    • Bob Harras, Writer
    • Tom Derenick, Penciller
    • Dan Green, Inker
  • Legends of the Dark Knight #199
    • Will Pfeifer, Writer
    • Chris Weston, Artist
  • New X-Men #22
    • Craig Kyle & Chris Yost, Writers
    • Mark Brooks, Pencillers
    • Jay Leisten & Jaime Mendoza, Inkers

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