Comic Reviews for July 24, 2002

Wow, a short week for once. You know how happy I am?
Hell, I didn't pay a single cent this week...not yet anyway.

Amazing Spider-Man 43
Cold Arms - By J. Michael Straczynski, John Romita Jr., and Scott Hanna; Published by Marvel
Interlude issue, as Doctor Octopus is in the process of being brought back. Meanwhile, Peter Parker and Aunt May fly to the set of Mary Jane's new movie to talk to her about Peter missing her last issue. The writing is solid, to say the least. There are some good moments in there. The art is somewhat lacking this month, though. Some spots lack Romita's usual flair. His narrative drawing is good, however. It's the art that brings it down slightly this month.

Score: 6/10

Apache Skies 1 *New* *Pick of the Week*
Chapter One: Warpath - By John Ostrander and Leonardo Manco; Published by Marvel Comics/MAX
The Rawhide Kid and the former woman of the Apache Kid are on the trail of the man who setup the ambush that killed the original Apache Kid. You still with me? Good. Good amount of exposition this issue, setting the boundaries for what's going to happen. Spectacular writing overall. The painted art is what makes this over the top. The first four pages are definitely the best. It reminds me a lot of Origin, artwise. It is much grittier, however, with the setting in the Old West. Fantastic overall.

Score: 9/10

Deadline 4
Part Four - By Bill Rosemann and Guy Davis; Published by Marvel Comics
Rosemann's mini-series about a rookie reporter comes to a close on a solid note. Kat Farrell discovers who whacked her fish and also discovered the mystery of Judge Hart. Solid writing all told. Davis art is nice and solid as well. Solid, huh?

Score: 7/10

Fused! 2
Canned Heat Part Two - By Steve Niles and Paul Lee; Published by Image Comics
Not sure of the reason why this was delayed, but it's here, and it's safe to say it's continuing on the same track as before. Mark gets stuck in the suit and the hunt begins for him and Dr. Fard. Good stuff. Art is good. Matches the mood of the book nicely. Backup strip serves to introduce next issues hero squad fighting against Mark and the bot. Good product all told.

Score: 8/10

Green Arrow 15
Part Three: Modulation - By Kevin Smith, Phil Hester and Ande Parks; Published by DC Comics
Kevin Smith's run comes to a close as Connor survives the operation and the villain gets away, although badly mishappened. Smith writes Ollie nice here, giving him command of the situation in the current shape that he is in. Nice dialogue moment in the end as well. Hester and Parks put in a good performance this month, though there were some glitches in the art along the way. Solid product overall.

Score: 7/10

X-Treme X-Men 16
While I Live, You Don't Die - By Chris Claremont, Salvador Larroca and Liquid!; Published by Marvel
And the award for the most incredibly cheesy title of a comic story this year goes to...X-Treme X-Men! The only thing good about this, thank God, is that this arc is finally over. Everything moved too quickly and the art was lacking in places. Maybe if Claremont didn't spend too much time on so much irrelevant stuff, I would care. But this damn arc went on too long for my tastes and a lot of other people's tastes. Which brings me to my final conclusion: Claremont hasn't writtin anything good since the damn 80's. Thank you.

Score: 4/10


Core got me a Daredevil TPB as a half-birthday present. I won't be reviewing that, even though it's new. I'm just going to read it and place it in the box. I got my hands full as it is. As most of my readers know, my grandfather passed away on Sunday, so this weekend is going to be busy with the funeral. I'm always working, and I'm also writing fanfiction just for the heck of it. Maybe I'll post my work somewhere on this site someday.
On to next week though, as so far, it's another short week. I believe that'll quickly inflate itself to over ten books. Who knows. Until then, peace.