Comics Reviews and Releases

Yeah, very late as I was in Bournemouth this week.

Captain Britain and MI13 #13

W: Paul Cornell

A: Adrian Syaf/Leonard Kirk

Just started collecting Captain Britain, also bought the previous three issues at the same time to catch up with Vampire State, and then it goes and gets cancelled.  Having read the current arc and the first trade now, that seems like the kind of decision typical of entertainment companies these days, not to mention the wider economy as a whole, only thinking in the short-term and making decisions based only on a narrow range of business criteria.

But anyway, a great issue that shows Dracula's strategic brilliance without making MI13 look like blundering idiots with no capability for strategic thought as can sometimes be the case when trying to depict an enemy's military genius.

There are two different pencillers on this issue, but the transitions do not jar or ruin the story and both Syaf and Kirk produce good, consistent work.

I am greatly looking forward to seeing how Paul Cornell wraps up the arc as well as the series in the next two issues plus annual.

A - Book of the Week

X-Factor #43

W: Peter David

A: Valentine de Landro/Marco Santucci

Another book I've just decided to pick up, and though I haven't got any of the issues leading up to this one, I had no trouble understanding what was going on.  There are several strands of story going through this issue and all of them were interesting with good characters.  The different plots do seem though to be linked even though Madrox is 80 years in the future.

Again, two different artists on this issue, but both styles match well and I didn't really even notice any difference, and both de Landro and Santucci produce very good work.

A

War of Kings: Ascension #2

W: Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning

A: Wellington Alves

Part 2 of a 4 part tie-in to War of Kings, as of yet not directly linking to the main story, but this issue gives hints of the Fraternity of Raptors' future influence on the conflict.  Its interesting to see a group of evil characters playing a part in an event, as usually the ongoings and miniseries that make up such an event tend to be focussed on the good guys.

I'm also interested in how Chris Powell will manage to reassert control over his Darkhawk armour, if he does before the end of War of Kings or the Raptors' damage is done.

Wellington Alves' art is very good again, so I think that the War of Kings event has one of the best groups of artists across the four main books: Paul Pelletier on WofK itself, Andrea di Vito on Nova and Brad Walker on Guardians.

B

Of this week's releases, I've ordered Batman: Battle for the Cowl #3, Wolverine: Weapon X #2 and also Secret Six #9 from earlier.