2.28.07 Reviews - Part 1

Doctor Strange: The Oath #5 (Marvel): I like the compelling argument that's presented for scientific discoveries in medicine, as well as the continued theme about accepting responsibility for one's actions. Marcos Martin's art is at an all time high, love the shot of Stephen Strange during the rooftop teleportation sequence, where he looks ominous, powerful, and in control. This ends in a surprisingly physical confrontation (not a magical one) that also requires Stephen to make a moral choice. And it's a refreshing change of pace, not to mention a nice nod to Iron Fist. Strange's ultimate choice tells us a lot about his character and is also a nice tidy wrap up to this enjoyable mini-series. Vaughan flirts with homoerotic innuendo between Stephen and Wong, but does indeed answer the speculative questions about his sexuality with a beautiful last page pin up of an embracing Dr. Strange and the Night Nurse. Bravo! Grade A.

Godland #16 (Image): This book was not released this week. Yes, the framing device for this special "catch up with everything to date and and hop-on-board" issue is painfully transparent, but hey it's .60 cents and there's a lot of bang for that bit of buck. It catches new readers up pretty painlessly, kicks off a new plot thread, boasts its trademark humor ("It's just how I roll"), and is a nice price break for regular readers - a chance to catch their breath before the next arc gears up. As a huge Joe Casey fan, the text piece in the back was also a nice touch and interesting to wander through. Grade A.

The Eternals #7 (Marvel): Of course, Romita's art looks great. It's the right balance of kinetic enrgy and static detail, I particularly like his rendition of Tony Stark. Gaiman is just off here from a plotting standpoint. There are some interesting ideas, but they're scattered around aimlessly, not connected with any readily apparent throughline that I can discern. I feel like no matter what happens, if it's consistent with what's come before, is logical in terms of what's supposed to happen, or deviates significantly from expectations, I just wouldn't know. I don't get the sense that a set of planned, specific elements were put into motion with the intent to be resolved, evidenced by this being the 7th issue of a *SIX* issue series. The tired Civil War registration references don't help either, cuz' that's like, done and stuff. The last page leaves it very open-ended for more, but curiously, I don't want any more. Grade C.

52: Week Forty-Three (DC): Thank heavens this ended the way it did because Osiris is really starting to piss me off. Sobek is sorta' fun as a new character, especially with that unexpected (albeit head-scratching end), but sorry, I just don't like Osiris' manic-depressive ways. In one panel he's all heated up with expository drivel like "All of the meat in Khandaq has spoiled! The water has made the people sick! Our land is dying!" And then we get the suicidal "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. This is all my fault. I've cursed Khandaq because of what I've done." It's also funny (no, not in a good haha way) when a balloon says "you're bleeding," but the character clearly isn't. Perhaps this is the result of 3 guys doing the art (yes, that's Giffen on breakdowns, Jurgens on layouts, and Rapmund on finishes). Wow, and to think most books only have one guy on art and those look better and make more sense! "I could really go for some hummus and lamb right now" is about the only good thing here. Grade D+.