Plenty of new stuff especially Marvel goodies during last week’s shipment. Yah, I know everyone’s talking about the Fantastic Four right now but here are some
other interesting titles out there that are worth a read or two.
Infestation #1
Published by IDW, I grabbed this cos it’s got G.I. Joe, Star Trek, Transformers and Ghostbusters on the cover. Guess what, not a single character from any of those titles or series appears in the story, at least not in the main one. You do get 2-page previews of them in their own titles (at the end of this story) cos Infestation #1 is actually a prologue, kicking off a multi-title, crossover event involving the above popular characters.
Now does this mean Infestation #1 sucks? Heck no, it’s a good read. Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, the same Brit team who gave us the popular Guardians of The Galaxy and now, Heroes for Hire from Marvel, this is a reader- friendly, jumping on point for newcomers to the world of Covert Vampiric Operations, a series of vampire-themed comics by IDW Publishing.
Definitely not your Twilight vamps here, expect crisp dialogue, lots of gunfights, vampires blowing up the undead and zombie robots. The art by David Messina seemed a little rushed at some pages and I guess it could had been better.
So what you got here is a team of heroic vampires doing their best to stop invading zombies from another world. Well, they didn’t do such a good job as the zombies managed to escape through a dimensional portal to four other worlds, quick, guess which four worlds!!! There’s a handy crossover checklist at the end so don’t fret. Good title to pick up although I can’t promise how the crossovers are going to turn out as they are all done by different writers and artists.
The Invincible Iron Man #500
I guess the best way to describe this standalone story is The Terminator movie meets Iron Man.
Writer Matt Fraction’s run on Iron Man has been consistently stellar so far and this double-sized story is no exception. It starts by tying up some Civil War loose ends especially Stark’s relationship with Spidey’s alter ego Peter Parker. Stark needs Parker’s help when the former learns that a super weapon that he was supposed to have been working on has fallen into the hands of … former villain Stilt-Man’s kids?!?
Fraction has managed to capture the relationship dynamics between the two heroes here perfectly, making it really fun and rewarding to watch.
So where does The Terminator movie part come in? Well, running parallel to the main story is another tale set in the near future, apocalyptic world where the Iron Men or War Machines are doing the big bad ‘Terminator’ thing while 22-year-old Ginny Stark (I’m thinking daughter here but she could be a granddaughter) is this story’s John Connor. It all ties in together as we see the same super weapon in a world ruled by Iron Man’s old enemy the Mandarin, now the Emperor of Earth. And if you enjoyed his appearance in last year’s Iron Man Annual, you would love the Mandarin here as Fraction delivers another truly evil portrayal of the classic Iron Man villain.
The Avengers #9 and The New Avengers #8
It’s not every week we get both of writer Brian Bendis’ Avengers titles. What’s more, this week’s two Avengers’ titles showcase Bendis doing what he does best. Yup, it’s less action and more talking in these two titles.
I know all you folks out there either love Bendis for his scripts and dialogues or hate them as much as Kang hates the Avengers. Well, like in his Daredevil days, it’s the talky parts that we get to see the best character developments and storytelling.
The Avengers #9 finally sheds some light on how the villain Hood found out of the Infinity Gems while Captain America and Iron Man engage in some domestic squabbling. Definitely worth picking up for any Avengers fan and the ever eyecatching John Romita Jr artwork certainly helps too.
Over in The New Avengers #8, it’s timeout for married Avengers Luke Cage and Jessica Jones as they go on what could well be their first and last date together. Lots of dramedy here as the heroes take a break that lasts till about dinnertime when Doctor Doom decides to pay New York city a visit. All in all, it’s a nice issue to get that if you want to start on a new Avengers storyline.
