By P&P Staff
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Matt Fraction rides the momentum of 2008’s hit Iron Man movie and crafts a tale that simultaneously reintroduces readers to Tony Stark and builds an intriguing tale for old-time readers to latch onto. This massive collection contains the first 19 issues, and Salvador Larocca’s art makes this the perfect book for any coffee table. (more…)
Title: Batwoman: Elegy (Deluxe Edition)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: J.H. Williams III
Rating: 
Review by: Eric Stuckart
DC stories don’t get much better or much more epic than this. Greg Rucka knows how to weave a thrilling tale, and his ability to walk the tightrope between boilerplate action and nuanced drama is bested only by the book’s excellent artwork. Elegy essentially tells three stories weaved into one: Batwoman’s hunt for Alice, the new leader of a crime-based religion, who already tried to kill her once; an origin tale of how the erstwhile Kate Kane became Batwoman; and a short look back at her childhood, which ends up overlapping into the other two stories in very well-integrated fashion. While Williams’ artwork fantastically tells the story, it’s Dave Stewart’s colors that really steal the show. While most of the book is saturated in deep reds, Batwoman’s scenes with Alice are portrayed in a dreamy color palette, dominated by blues, purples and greens. Especially enjoyable is how the flashback sequences to Kate’s past look more reminiscent of the comics of old, compared to the more modern, gritty present day artwork. As a bonus, the Deluxe Edition of the book features a covers gallery and a few script pages and draft sketches, making Elegy Deluxe worth every penny. (more…)
Title: Marvel Super Hero Squad
Platform Wii (DS)
ESRB: E10+
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Blue Tongue Entertainment
Rating: 
Review by: Jason King
Where the Marvel Super Hero Squad Show works well (and it never even works all that well) for children, the game fails miserably for children. And where Super Hero Squad works well for adults…well, to be honest it never works well for adults.
The premise of the video game is very similar to the premise of the show – Dr. Doom wants to recreate, from Infinity Fractals, a sword through which he can rule the world. The role of the characters – because there are never less than two characters on the screen, even in a single-player game – is to stop this from happening. The means through which the characters will stop Dr. Doom is apparently by hitting one button over and over and exploiting painfully bad AI. The main methods Dr. Doom uses to stop the characters from succeeding is a nightmarishly horrible camera and crippling lag. (more…)
Title: Invincible Volume Four: “Head of the Class”
Publisher: Image
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artists: Ryan Ottley, Bill Crabtree
Rating:
Review by: Bill Jones
Trade #4, “Head of the Class,” is the largest trade of the first four volumes, compiling six issues of the comic, plus the Image Summer Special #1. It’s also the most scattershot of the bunch. In the wake of the events of the third trade, Invincible is trying to piece together his life, both on the personal end (with his mother, school and friends) and his role as the planet’s premiere defense system now that Omni-Man has left the planet and the new Guardians of the Globe are failing to live up to expectations. The small stories included are rather amusing – such as an underwater marriage with fish people that Invincible is thrown into – but the fourth trade is one of those Robert Kirkman uses to plant the seeds of later events. So, it’s a bit of bearing with the build-up rather than receiving the payoff, but it’s still relatively entertaining. Fortunately, Ryan Ottley’s art really hits his stride around this point, and the trade provides some of the most interesting visual storytelling in the series yet. (more…)
Title: Invincible Volume Three: “Perfect Strangers”
Publisher: Image
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artists: Ryan Ottley, Bill Crabtree
Rating:
Review by: Bill Jones
The third trade of Invincible, “Perfect Strangers” picks up where the second left off. That may seem like an obvious statement, but Robert Kirkman’s construction of Invincible is a bit scattered, often planting many seeds for things to come in later issues. The arc of the second trade revealed that Invincible’s father, Omni-Man, violently murdered the Guardians of the Glove. Now, Invincible finally becomes aware of this fact, and it sets in motion an epic confrontation between father and son. The battle is the highlight, along with an alternate telling of Omni-Man’s origins that craftily parallels the images of an earlier issue. In the aftermath, Invincible also takes a new job. (more…)
Title: Invincible Volume Two: “Eight is Enough”
Publisher: Image
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artists: Cory Walker, Ryan Ottley, Bill Crabtree
Rating:
Review by: Bill Jones
The second major arc of Invincible sees Robert Kirkman turning things on their head almost as fast as it got started. The first couple issues simply feature Invincible battling some seemingly harmless threats, and even using his linguistic skills to resolve a conflict at the outer edge’s of Earth’s atmosphere. The real draws of “Eight is Enough,” however, are the introductions of the Guardians of the Globe, who are essentially parodies of popular Justice League characters, and then the (SPOILER ALERT) violent murder of all of them. And the reveal of the person who did it will ultimately turn Invincible’s world on its head, though he isn’t privy to the same information as the audience up front. “Eight is Enough” also sees the transition from Cory Walker as series artist to Ryan Ottley, who seemingly picks things up, first blending in seemingly without effort, then making the comic his own. It also contains one of the funniest panels in the series. After a friend discovers Invincible’s powers and begs, the young hero takes his guy friend for a flight, Superman style, and simply says, “This is so gay.” (more…)
Title: Invincible Volume One: “Family Matters”
Publisher: Image
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artists: Cory Walker, Bill Crabtree
Rating:
Review by: Bill Jones
“Family Matters” is the trade that started it all for Robert Kirkman’s Invincible series. It tells the tale of Mark Grayson, who is dealing with the same issues of almost any American high school student – girls, friendships, preparing for college and dealing with his strange family. Only Grayson’s family is strange in a very unique way – his father is the world’s most prominent and powerful superhero. As if the rest of his growing pains weren’t hard enough, Grayson is also beginning to acquire the powers his father has always had, so he can add fighting super-villains to the mix. Like Kirkman’s handling of The Walking Dead, Invincible isn’t a parody of its genre, nor is it necessarily breaking new ground. Kirkman revels in the superhero genre and all its trappings, and simply tries to do it better than anyone else has. “Family Matters,” bookended by similar scenes, already sets up Kirkman’s knack for the planting seeds to payoffs later in the series. Cory Walker’s art and coloring by Bill Crabtree make it feel like a classic superhero affair. (more…)
Title: All Star Superman (Volumes 1 & 2)
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: Frank Quitely and Jamie Grant
Publisher: DC Comics
Rating:
Review by: Joe Anderson
Superman has a lot of potential to be boring. A man gifted with the ability to do practically everything while possessing no real flaws (exception to Kryptonite notwithstanding) runs the risk of being a flat character. Luckily, Grant Morrison’s All Star Superman may pleasantly surprise skeptics of the Man of Steel. (more…)
