Milligan is really moving forward with the story of the Enchantress here - we finally understand the connection between she and June Moon and what she is doing to find June. To get such a clear picture of the villain's motives lends a lot to the various cryptic scenes here and adds stakes to the conflict. I like what the Enchantress is after - she has been separated from June, who is
her other half, and is struggling to stay alive without her. Her semi-coherent ramblings feel desperate and the fact that we now understand the chaos she is unleashing adds a lot of substance to this title. I love the brigade of June-creatures she sends out to look for the original, as well as how disposable they are (she blasts one of their heads off without a second thought). Milligan touches in on every member of the cast in their struggle to keep up with the Enchantress. Deadman and June remain the focus, and the trust building in their relationship is fun to watch. John Constantine, Zatanna, and Shade all get moments to shine here, as well. Madame Zanadu gets a stronger focus than she has yet, and the personal troubles she faces seem to be as strong a threat to the heroes as the Enchantress. Even Dove gets a return, arguing with John about Deadman. The book feels layered and deliberate in its build-up. The characters are all handled lovingly and the plotting is meticulous. At the same time, it's unsettling and unusual in its presentation of the villain's plots and the damaged protagonists. There still isn't a central premise to this as an ongoing series, but the progression of this individual story is enough to overlook that. Mikel Janin's artwork strengthens with each issue. His posed figures and faces are getting a little gruffer as the story progresses. In some instances, like the attack on Zatanna, seeing such a beautiful figure in the midst of such violence is effective. The soft colours bring a nice layer of realism to the characters, as well. Janin's also pulling off some great images, such as Deadman learning the Enchantress really is empty inside without June. This book requires patience, but it is coming together very well.Flash#4 - Francis Manapul, Brian Buccelato/Francis Manapul
Manapul and Buccelato do a lot of interesting things with this one, including omitting our protagonist from the story altogether until the final three pages (apart from a couple of flashbacks). Instead, they focus on the story they have been building, and the supporting cast that populates the book. It made me realize what a strong world they are building for the Flash in Keystone City, along with a layered mystery at the heart of the
Manuel Lago story. The story ably weaves itself through flashbacks, checking in on various supporting characters, and finally winding up at the fate of the Flash after last issue's gunshot. There's a lot of exposition here - we basically get the entire background behind the Manuel mystery - but it never feels cumbersome or overdone. Instead, the issue has an almost dreamlike quality to it, with one character literally falling into one of the flashbacks and each of them so expertly designed that they feel like compelling slices of history, not exposition dumps. I guess I was surprised how well this issue held up without the Flash. It jumps through the various plot threads the writers have set up so far without even needing the main character. Manuel, Patty, Iris, and even Manuel's clones all acquit themselves as strong characters on their own. In her first appearance in a brief flashback, even Manuel's mother feels well-rounded. The story is also quite interesting, ostensibly tied to terrorism without feeling heavy-handed and with an unsettling element of body horror to Manuel's condition. His clones, initially set up as the villains, are surprisingly sympathetic. After all, they just want to live. The art remains fantastic. The flashbacks are wonderfully designed, the fights are perfectly choreographed, Flash's reignition at the end looks great, and the characters have a fun, vibrant look to them. I remain impressed with the colours, which go for muted oranges, browns, and purples to give Manapul's work a more ethereal quality. As usual, Manapul integrates art and story in innovative ways. In addition to the flashbacks, the cover itself actually gets into the storytelling. It catches us up on the various plot lines, even showing how Patty and Manuel got from the end of last issue to where they first appear in this one. Great stuff, once again.X-Men: Legacy#260 - Mike Carey/Khoi Pham
Mike Carey wraps up his lengthy run on this title here, where Rogue and co. rescue Ariel from her interspacial captivity and Rogue decides whose side she sits on in the Schism. The central plot is enjoyable, if a little slight. I can imagine a lot of people don't care about Ariel or understand why so much page time is devoted to her. I think it's kind of cute to have Mike Carey's obsession with minor continuity points continue into his
final storyline. This issue really is about the characters, though, as Carey's stories tend to be. Through all the intrigue of Ariel's return and tying up loose ends (Korvus will escort the Shi'ar pirates home, Rogue confronts Julian), Carey traces Rogue's decision to stay with Cyclops on Utopia or go to Wolverine in New York. I particularly like her interaction with Rachel. It feels natural and familiar. The two are old friends, so they should have a comfortable dynamic with each other. I hope Christos Gage continues their friendship when he takes over as writer. In the final scene, Rogue tells Cyclops she is leaving, and it's a nice coda to Carey's time on the book. Rogue's relationship with Cyclops has been tenuous throughout this run, and it's nice to see them find common ground and value in each other. Her words about not making mistakes shows that Carey gets Cyclops better than the recent portrayals of his crazy militant side have been able to. It's a touching scene, and one that shows the sure hand Carey displayed with Rogue, who has grown under his pen into a teacher and leader. The future of this book will depend on the strength of her portrayal. The commitment seems to be there to continue focusing on her and the characters Carey did strong work on (Gambit, Rachel, Frenzy, Iceman), so I'm hopeful for Gage's tenure.FF#13 - Jonathan Hickman/Juan Bobillo
I remain pleasantly surprised with this title, to the point where it is turning me back on to Hickman's Fantastic Four mega-story, something I had been slightly losing interest in. The highlight of this issue for me was learning even more about how everything Hickman has been doing on these two titles fits together. We're finally seeing key conversations between Valeria and Nathaniel that explain how some of the elements
Hickman has more recently started (Black Bolt's return, the Kree attack, Galactus' arrival), which I have been less interested in, fit into the bigger picture of the Four Cities and the alternate Reeds. We don't have all the details, but we have some key information, and I'm impressed with the level of planning Hickman has put in. It helps that Val and Nathaniel have an endearing relationship, a grandfather and granddaughter able to communicate on a level only the other person understands. In the present day, the action remains fun. I love the execution and visuals when this rag tag group of kids and aliens venture into battle together. The story here is a little thin, but it's certainly moving things along and setting some of the players up for a finale. I still think this title has the better plot elements than Fanatastic Four proper does right now, so I find the book more compelling. And I really like Bobillo's art. His kids look like the quirky, off-centre groups of youths that they are. And I like his take on iconic Marvel characters (Doom, the Celestials, Galactus, the Supreme Intelligence). They lose some of their regal qualities when he puts his unique style onto them, and I like it. And he continues to play with blank space very well, particularly in the outer space scenes.Uncanny X-Men#3 - Kieron Gillen/Rodney Buchemi, Paco Diaz, Carlos Pacheco
The relaunch of Uncanny marches on. This issue is significantly less depressing, if only because it's so dull and pointless. The X-Men's confrontation with Sinister ends (for now) with a whimper - after an issue of the villain speechifying around his hideout, he departs with a number of cryptic warnings for the future. The X-Men staredown the Celestials, proving how tough they are, and the issue ends. And all along, I get the feeling I'm supposed to be impressed by how "brutal" and "real" this all is, because poor Emma is walking around without an arm. Instead, it just
comes off as a weird attention-grabbing stunt to me. This new iteration of the X-Men is so desperate to be the Authority it's getting annoying. But what the best Authority incarnations had in verve and energy, this makes up for with lethargy and boring characters. Where the Authority proved themselves a superhero militia through their actions, this team only proves it by telling us they are in Cyclops' big speeches. Some of Sinister's dialogue is amusing, if only because he has a sense of humour about these mutants and they don't whatsoever. But it goes on far too long with no point. The X-Men are lifeless here - at 9 members, most of them don't say or do anything of value, and those that do are wooden and boring. I'll keep harping on this until I see any evidence of it - there is no team dynamic or interesting relationships in this group of characters. The Celestial stuff is weak to me. I actually like the X-Men's staredown with them here for its simplicity, but I hate them as a plot device. Since the X-Men moved to San Fransisco in #500, the Dreaming Celestial has sat there as some undefined opponent, threatening to become a story whenever the writers remembered him. I still don't know what he is and why he is standing on a lawn in San Fran. The art is another hodgepodge - Pacheco ably draws the final scene, and Buchemi and Diaz ape his new, smoothed out style for the rest of the issue. It looks fine, but not particularly exciting, mainly because Pacheco's new style is intent on removing all the unique or powerful elements of his previous style. I believe Gillen is way better than what he has done on this relaunched book. He was significantly better before the relaunch. This has been a dull affair since it started.
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