I'm going to be completely honest, I almost skipped this week's installment of The Pull List. You see, I have been fighting a real killer cold for the last week or so. Headaches, neck aches, nose and throat full of gunk... it's really effected my mood in new and interesting (and when I say interesting, I mean mostly negative) ways. But here I am, ready to review six randomly selected comic books from my weekly subscriptions. And why am I doing this, when I could have just as easily knocked myself out with some cold medicine and fallen asleep while watching reruns of Family Matters? For you, dear readers. All six of you.
Anyway, you're here, I'm sick... let's get this over with.
Resurrection Man #4 (Abnett, Lanning, Dagnino)
Plot: Every time Mitch Shelly dies, he comes back to life with a different super power. He was hunted constantly in his previous book from the early-to-mid-90s, and this series is no different. Although this time, it's not just evil military sects and powermad kinda-sorta zombie guys after him, but agents of Heaven and Hell as well.
This book picks up in the middle of a battle between the Body Doubles, two supermodel mercenaries with dealy skill with firearms and vague superhuman abilities, and the newly-introduced Transhuman, an old guy in a robot suit who had befriended Shelley. There's some fighty-fighty, then Suriel, one of Heaven's collection agents, comes down and disintegrates our hero.
Opinion: Resurrection Man has, thus far, been pretty great, with a nice mix of action and exposition. Unfortunately, this issue kind of stumbles for me. There's a character reveal about halfway through the book that I think would've fallen a bit flat for anyone who was not familiar with the previous run (I, on the other hand, was delighted by it). And the cliffhanger would normally be great for other books, but when your main character regularly dies, all of the suspense was gone. On the other hand, there were a lot of panels of hot chick fighting an old robot guy, and that's awesome.
Grade: Skim
Plot: X-Factor is currently a team of mutants led by Wolverine who are willing to take on missions that the other X-Men teams won't, namely missions that involve killing. Right now, the team is neck-deep with problems dealing with an major baddie named Apocalypse and an alternate timeline wherein Apocalypse took over the world. I'm skimming over a lot of stuff here, but to be honest, a lot of this stuff is ridiculously confusing.
Anyway, on our Earth, Apocalypse has been killed, however a member of X-Force named Angel (or Archangel depending on his mood) has become the new Apocalypse. Angel-pocalypse is currently trying to wipe out humankind in order to rule whoever is left over. The leftover team of X-Factor are in the process of stopping him, and are currently being helped out by the alternate timeline's version of the X-Men. This issue is the conclusion of this story arc. Not gonna spoil it, but here's a hint... good guys win, bad guys lose, sacrifices are made.
Opinion: First off, this comic was polysealed, meaning there was a solid plastic bag preventing a reader from actually reading this book. This is done to make collectors think they have purchased a rare item. Now, I can understand why DC pulled this stunt for the Death of Superman arc, and why Marvel did to more recently for the return of the Human Torch in FF #600. But Uncanny X-Force #18? That is just dumb.
This book is OK. Super confusing and near impossible for an non X-Men fan to crack, but the art is very nice, especially the few panels that take place inside the mind of a character. Also, I hope to see more of the new hero Genesis and his crazy southern accent.
Grade: Pass* (The asterisks is because this would definitely be a Skim, but in order to read it you have to buy it, and if you're not a die-hard fan, there's no reason to drop $4.)
Plot: Frankenstein's Monster is a member of a supernatural peacekeeping agency and leader of a unit consisting of a suck-up Werewolf, a surly Vampire, a genius Creaturette (of the Black Lagoon), a mystic Mummy, and Franks's ex-wife, who is a four-armed Bride of Frankenstein.
If this doesn't sound awesome to you, I don't know if we can be friends anymore.
Currently, Frank and Co. are fighting an alien planet made out of monsters. That is all.
Opinion: Pure joy. That's what I feel every time I read this series. Lemire doesn't pull any punches with the off-the-chain action and insane concepts. The art, while not my favorite, works with the style of story that is being told.
Grade: Buy
Plot: Task Force X, codenamed The Suicide Squad, is a reluctant team of supervillains who do impossible jobs in exchange for time off their prison sentence.
The team has infiltrated a bland secret society and abducted a scientist. Flash villain Captain Boomerang is left for dead, and no one really cares.
Harley Quinn's rebooted costume still sucks, but at least she's not referring to her ladyparts as a clown car.
Opinion: I don't know why I keep buying this book. It's like a train wreck, I guess... it's horrible but you just can't look away. Easily the worst of the rebooted DC titles.
Grade: Pass
Plot: Green Lantens are space cops. Hal Jordan of Earth was recently fired during a storyline that is too long to explain here, and was replaced by long-time baddie Sinestro.
Sinestro has recruited Jordan to help clear out his old throng of evil Yellow Lanterns, who have taken hold of his home planet. Right now, that's not working out too well for either of them.
Opinion: Much like Red Lanterns from last week, this book is nigh-impossible to crack without a lot of pre-reading. However, I think maybe a little bit of enjoyment from a casual fan can be gotten from this book. And I trust Geoff Johns enough to ultimately write a satisfying Green Lantern story, even if it takes way more issues to tell the story than it should.
Grade: Skim
Plot: The basics – the Legion of Super-Heroes is a team of teenage aliens from the future who, back in the 1960s, time traveled to the present to pull pranks on a young Clark Kent. There is a versed and extensive history behind this team, most of which I know nothing about. And the Star Trek in question here is the original, William Shatner cast.
This is the point where the two groups square off, believing each other are enemies. The soon discover they're on the same side, then team up to fight some amalgamated Legion/Trek villains. Eventually they discover that somehow both their timelines have been mixed up, and they need to split up in order to save the day.
Opinion: I don't know how this book exists. By all accounts, this book shouldn't work... but for the third issue in a row, it does. I just hope the quality and story will last another three issues. There's really only one qualm I have with this crossover: NO SCOTTY.
Grade: Buy
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