Last Month's Comics...Today!!
Slowly making my way through the big box of last month's comics that
arrived yesterday:
Spectacular
Spider-Man 15-
16:
I ordered this "two-parter" for all the wrong reasons: Because I
liked the Steve Epting covers. Because I always enjoyed the old
Marvel
Team-Up series. Because I always thought Spidey and Cap
were a funny match up. Well, at least the Steve Epting covers
were nice. Other than that, these two issues were dismal.
The chemistry between Spidey and Cap was off; Spidey's humor felt
forced; and Spidey acted very out-of-character. (Having Spidey
refer to a woman--even a villain--as a "skank" is just wrong.)
Even worse, although this was billed as a two-part story, nothing is
resolved by the end of issue #16. There's even a little
"Continued..." caption at the end of "part two." (I think I'd
like to suggest an addendum to
Scott's S.C.R.U.B.S.
system:
+5 if a multiple-part storyline does not
conclude with part X of X.)
Adventures
of Superman #629: Not much to write about either
way. Lt. Leocadio's attempts to seduce Superman (and his
continued rebuffs) were somewhat interesting, but otherwise there was
nothing that made me want to return next month.
Wonder
Woman #205: Yes, Circe is
still
resurrecting Medousa. I think this sub-plot has been going on for
the past half-year. I'm glad this was the final issue I
pre-ordered.
After being so disappointed in the super-powered spandex comics offered
by the "Big Two," I turned to
Sgt.
Frog Vol. 2 as an antidote. As the flowchart in
the front (or back, depending on how natural the right-to-left
formatting of unflipped manga feels to you) of the book indicates, this
series has become an amusingly complicated soap opera featuring
unconventional attractions: A hard-boiled alien male frog falls
for a human teenage girl; a male soldier longs for his male superior;
and a young boy feels his heart race every time an androgynous boy with
wings and magical powers is nearby. I'm sure
it's
not for everyone, but
Sgt. Frog continues to delight
me.
