Sunday 12 February 2012

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #166

You can't say fairer than that.

Sunday afternoon comics. Enjoy.

DEMON KNIGHTS #6 - written by Paul Cornell with art by Diogenes Neves, Robson Rocha and Oclair Albert.

The attack on the village of Little Spring begins in earnest and the group sort of known as the Demon Knights helps defend it against murderous hordes riding dinosaurs and dragons. Along the way, we learn that Madame Xanadu's not as cold hearted as she thinks she is; the Horsewoman is more of a horse telepathic whisperer and Exoristos can bring down a charging giant triceratops with a hammer.

It's fun and frenetic as usual - splendid issue.



FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #6 - written by Jeff Lemire with art by Alberto Ponticelli.

The humanids, the mindless drones used in the Ant Farm for menial tasks gain sentience and will thanks to last issue's attack on the structure by Brother Eye. Meanwhile, Frankenstein and crew go all Apocalypse Now as they head up the rivers of Vietnam to assassinate Colonel Quantum, a Captain Atom/Dr Manhattan analog. Back in the Ant Farm, the Bride (who's now being called Lady Frankenstein) and Nina face off against the inmates of the prison that were released by the humanids: the original Creature Commandos!

Excellent work as always.



GREEN LANTERN #6 - written by Geoff Johns with art by Mike Choi.

Hal and Carol are back together with Jordan trying and apparently succeeding in leaving the ring behind. Sinestro tracks down his old enemy Starstorm and forces him to help find Lyssa Drak who's been running round with the Book of the Black since the end of Blackest Night (so I guess that definitely happened post-Flashpoint.) Defeating his former soldier, he heads to Earth and forces Jordan to once more put on a power ring and help him.

A splendid issue, the highlight being Sinestro's glimpse of the future when he grabs a page from the Book of the Black: he sees the Guardians destroying the Corps; himself as a prisoner of the Indigo Tribe; the death of Jordan apparently at the hand of . . . er . . . Black Hand; one of the Guardians with a white power ring; and himself dead on the floor.

Johns obviously has a lot planned for Green Lantern!



KIRBY: GENESIS - SILVER STAR #3 - written by Jai Nitz and Alex Ross with art by Johnny Desjardins.

Silver Star's captured by a bunch of Moreau-esque human/animal hybrids and shares an almost intimate moment with one feline female before a battle erupts, interrupting them. A bunch of bad guys invade and kidnap Silver Star's sort of girlfriend Norma (the one he'd obviously forgotten about when he almost kissed the cat-lady) and then there's a Dr. Strangelove-riding-the-bomb moment before Star's apparently killed.

Oh, if only that were true.

The main Kirby: Genesis title isn't too bad; this, however, is very poor, from the scrappy artwork and bizarre bodily proportions, to the robot in the battle that seems to be there simply to repeat one of Bender from Futurama's catch-phrases, "Kill all humans!"

Please tell me the next issue is the last one.



MISTER TERRIFIC #6 - written by Eric Wallace with art by Oliver Nome.

Terrific fights a French mercenary who's attempting to steal some high-spec tech from an old girlfriend of T's while back at Holt Industries, the simmering sub-plot about corporate shenanigans and takeovers starts coming to the boil. I use that metaphor lightly - the simmering has been on a very low heat since the start so I'm not particularly worried by next issue's promise of it all coming to a head.

Still, this issue wasn't terrible and guest/new artist Oliver Nome at least managed to get the characters looking consistent from one page to the next, something that regular artist Gianluca Gugliotta hasn't really mastered.



THE NINJETTES #1 - written by Al Ewing with art by Eman Casallos.

Spinning out of the pages of Jennifer Blood comes the story of three girl assassins that were killed by Ms Blood back in issue #4 of that title. So this should be a short series then if the main characters are already dead? Writer Al Ewing starts this with some back story, leading up to how the three girls became the Ninjettes but after their deaths, promises to continue.

It's a bit of a mish-mash, with three female assassins looking to be set-up as the inspiration for the Ninjettes, as well as tying in with the ongoing story Ewing's writing in Jennifer Blood. Blood and guts top and tail the issue and I'll certainly be back for more at the moment but it's not completely won me over yet.



PUNISHER MAX #22 - written by Jason Aaron with art by Steve Dillon.

Reality bites, doesn't it? Following the ending of last issue where the Punisher was shot and stabbed numerous times before collapsing and bleeding out on the pavement, it's no real surprise that this last issue starts with him dead on a slab in the morgue.

Nick Fury oversees the last moments of the Punisher when Frank Castle's story comes to its logical conclusion. It's an excellently done issue as the vast majority of this short series has been and while Frank might be up and running in the regular Marvel universe, his Max incarnation gets the ending that we all knew was coming.

Sorry to see you go, Frank.



RESURRECTION MAN #6 - written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning with art by Fernando Dagnino.

What's a Resurrection Man to do when he's incarcerated in Arkham Asylum and isn't allowed to kill himself to gain new powers? Here he antagonises the guards to such an extent that they end up putting him in solitary where his meds wear off and he's able to not only break out but also stop most of a large breakout. Of course, at the end he gets a bullet through the brain from the corrupt guard who arrange the mass escape but while that would mean the end of most everyone else's story, it just means Mitch is able to get back up and running for revenge.

Another fine issue, this done-in-one is a nice change of pace from the main plot. So glad I took a punt on this series as it's damn good.



And what made me smile:


Oh, Vandal! If this ever gets filmed, I insist Brian Blessed gets to play Vandal Savage.

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