I should push this entry on last week’s comics out the door before this week’s comics come out, huh?
- Countdown #36 of 52 (backwards), by Paul Dini, Tony Bedard, Jim Calafiaore & Jack Purcell (DC)
- Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #33, by Tony Bedard & Dennis Calero (DC)
- Starlord #2 of 4, by Keith Giffen, Timothy Green II & Victor Olazaba (Marvel)
- Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 #1 of 6, by David Petersen (Archaia)
- Invincible #45 by Robert Kirkman & Ryan Ottley (Image)
The problem is that I didn’t have a lot to say about this haul. Countdown muddles on, Supergirl and the Legion and Starlord are both okay, Invincible is a lot of fun.
The most significant book here is the first issue of the new Mouse Guard series. For a change, I’ve been on board with this surprisingly popular series since issue #1 of the first series, and I do enjoy it. The first series concerned a traitor trying to overthrow the Guard and the ruler of the mouse nation, and the second opens with the mice trying to survive a particularly harsh winter, with a band of our heroes making the trek to one of their outer towns to procure some supplies for the main city of Lockhaven.
The big flaw in the series, I think, is that it’s hard to keep the characters straight: For the most part, all the mice look the same, albeit in different colors (the coloring is actually quite lush and carries the artwork at times). And characterization tends to range from simplistic to nonexistent. This makes the book a slightly more challenging read, and not in a good way. But Petersen’s depictions of the landscapes and the mouse townships are the art’s strength, evocative of Mark Oakley’s Thieves & Kings, Mark Smylie’s Artesia (from the same publisher), or even David Macaulay‘s books about history and architecture. Although I don’t think it’s a “visually stunning comic book” like Brian Cronin does, it’s still a fun read. I just feel that there’s room for development on both the writing and the art side.
You can also visit David Petersen’s blog.