Weekly Crisis Comic Book Quick Shot Reviews for 12/12/07

I'm coming back at you this week with the Quick Shot Reviews! If you missed yesterday's reviews, make sure you check out the Weekly Crisis Comic Book Reviews first. If you already read them yesterday, know that I updated that post with several more reviews this morning. I won't prattle on any longer, so hit the jump for the rest of this week's reviews!

BLACK ADAM: THE DARK AGE #5 (OF 8)
Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art by Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy

This was the first time I've been let down by an issue of Black Adam. It wasn't bad, per se, but it wasn't as insanely good as the previous issues either. However, I understand why this issue had to be like this. Tomasi had to move certain players into position and have Adam get the missing pieces of Isis' amulet which, in turn, made this mostly a set up issue.

Despite the slow pace of this issue, I still very much enjoyed it. I really liked the exchange between Atom Smasher and Adam. It was a nice throwback to the JSA days. I'm still not sure who is behind the UN forces chasing Adam or if they are just random governments ordering his capture.

Verdict - Check It.


COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #20
Story by Paul Dini
Breakdowns by Keith Giffen
Script by Adam Beechen
Art by Dennis Calero

This was a very forgettable issue of Countdown. It wasn't as bad as some of the earlier issues nor was is something I'd call good. Not much happens either and it focused mostly on the less favourable storylines.

Not sure where Mary Marvel's storyline is going now. I thought the whole point of it was to join up with Eclipso. Now even she's left Mary and I'm left scratching my head as to the point of the continuation of this storyline.

Piper seems to be taking Trickster's death a little hard. He appears to be cracking up and carrying out conversations with himself and the corpse he's dragging along.

Speaking of crazy, not sure what happened to Forager, but she's decided to attack Jimmy after he saved her.

Finally, Una and Karate Kid's relationship was a little over the top this week with the speech's on how they aren't a couple. That development came out of nowhere and I have no idea why it was even brought up or included in the storyline.
Verdict - Avoid It.


FANTASTIC FOUR #552
Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Art by Paul Pelletier

McDuffie's Fantastic Four is doing much better with this future Doom storyline. I probably should have seen the resolution to last month's cliffhanger, but it didn't even occur to me that future Black Panther and Namor were Doombots.

These Doombots lead to a nice brawl between the future Doom and Thing as well as the followup where Doom takes down the entire Fantastic Four. I really wanted to find out what Richards ended up doing in the future, but Doom got cut off while monologuing by the appearance of the supposedly evil future Fantastic Four, who came back to stop Doom. I'm not sure who to believe here, but I'm really liking this storyline so far.

Verdict - Check It.


NIGHTWING #139
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Don Kramer and Wayne Faucher

This issue felt like total filler. On top of that, it's predictable and I think the only purpose of it was to give a random Robin versus Nightwing battle, but even that fight was pretty much a dud, as it wasn't even something I'd call a fight.

Basically, Robin is tempted to use the Lazerus Pit or, at least, try to take a sample back to help him bring back Superboy, Spoiler and his father. Nightwing tries to stop him, with his fists and, later, with words. In the end, he let's Robin decide whether he wants to do it or not and Robin pours the vials out.

But what about Ra's and Batman and all this resurrection nonsense? Well, seeing as this isn't Batman or Detective, we don't get any story progression, whatsoever, and are expected to take this filler as a valuable and noteworthy addition to this crossover. So far, the entire story can be had if you only buy Batman or Detective. So, while there's nothing terrible about this issue, it's not good either and the fact it's filler in a line-wide crossover, I feel cheated.
Verdict - Avoid It.


ULTIMATE IRON MAN II #1
Written by Orson Scott Card
Art by Pasqual Ferry

I'm not sure what to make of this. I probably should have re-read Ultimate Iron Man I first, but ended up just diving back into Card's UIM expecting big things, but ended up with another odd, but decent 'origin' story for Ultimate Iron Man.

This issue deals with Tony Stark being forced to lend his robot, which is actually his Iron Man armour, to the government to deal with some terrorists. Tony suits up and takes Rhodes, in a War Machine variation of the armour, to go kill terrorists. The rest of the issue consists of him killing terrorists until a little boy tries to suicide bomb him. They stop him before he kills himself and then go and try to save his father, who is also a terrorist. Really. This is what happens. I'm not sure if this is some American propaganda machine or if there's actually something happening. It's not as bad as the summary makes it out to be, but it's definitely not the best start to a mini-series. Worth checking out if you enjoyed the first one though.

Verdict - Check It.


THE WALKING DEAD #45
Written by Robert Kirkman
Art by Charlie Adlard

I didn't even see this book in the Diamond listings earlier this week, so it was a pleasant surprise seeing it waiting for me when I made it to the shop this week. If you're not reading this book, there's not much else I can say to get you to give it a shot. I've given it Must Read ratings multiple times and plug it every chance I can get.

This month's issue deals with the aftermath of the Woodbury attack on the prison. Rick was shot and doubled over at the end of last issue, as did Andrea. Andrea was just grazed, but Rick survived only through the luck of a O- blood donor in the group.

While Rick was under, Tyrese and Michonne went chasing after the Woodbury army to pick off stragglers and put some fear into them so they never come back. Their little assault went bad and the cliffhanger ending was another shocker with Michonne supposedly killed while Tyrese is taken captive. For even more bad news, Andrea, their best marksmen who single handedly repelled the Woodbury army, has left the prison with Dale, Glen, Maggie and the kids, leaving the injured, one armed Rick and a couple others to defend the prison. Like Kirkman said, no one is safe in this book and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Verdict - Must Read.


WONDER WOMAN #15
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson

Hard to believe, but Simone's second issue on Wonder Woman is just as good as her first. Like I said last month, I'm not a Wonder Woman fan, never have been, but I took a chance on the word of mouth surrounding Simone's taking over the book and I'm really glad I did.

While I'm not a big fan of Diana's alter ego, Simone does a good job with her in the fight with Captain Nazi. Hypolita deals with the nazi army invading Paradise Island and it looks like those prisoners she visited last issue, whom had their backgrounds retconned into Wonder Woman lore this issue, will be freed to hunt Hypolita down next issue. It looks like Wonder Woman and her army of white apes will be coming to the rescue.

Verdict - Check It.

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