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November 28, 2004

Subway Reading: Ultimate FF, The Losers, Black Widow

Ultimate Fantastic Four #13 - Despite my promise last month to wait for the trade on this series, I still walked out of the store on Wednesday with #13 in my hands. Science -- or, more accurately, pseudo-science -- is the engine that drives the story here, and Ellis shows off his ability to make drama out of the process of discovery and invention. Penciller Adam Kubert and inker John Dell take over the artistic duties in this arc, and they maintain the high level of visual appeal established by Stuart Immonen. Kubert has the unenviable task of pencilling a virtually action-free, dialogue-heavy script. Sometimes he overshoots with unnecessarily unusual camera angles. More often than not, however, he hits the mark. I especially like the 2-panel sequence on the top tier of page 7, where he expertly uses Reed's contorting, stretching figure to pull the reader's eye through the action. Also worth noting is the texture that Kubert, Dell, and colorist Dave Stewart give to Ben Grimm's rocky hide.

Ellis' usual decompression is on full display in this opening chapter of a new story arc. It's little more than 23 pages of set-up, but honestly it worked for me. He introduces a couple of interesting character development ideas and teases us with the promise of a visit to the Ultimate version of the Negative Zone. I'm eager to see this one play out. 3.5 stars.

Black Widow #3 - Is anybody reading this miniseries? If not, it's a shame, because this definitely rises above the usual Marvel B-level character vehicle. Writer Richard K. Morgan can be a little heavy-handed with the feminism; I think the plot communicates it effectively enough without preachy dialogue from the characters. Sub-text is more effective than explicit text for that sort of thing. There is a weird bit of unintentional dissonance at play in this book, with Greg Land's typically cheesecake covers and Natasha's frequent underwear scenes somewhat undermining the feminist themes. But, hey, consider the source. The fact that a Marvel book is at least nodding its head in this direction is commendable. 3 stars.

The Losers #18 - Usually I try to read my comics slowly. The alternative is to run out of comics by Friday and then face 5 comic-less subway rides until I can get a new fix. Unfortunately, this issue of The Losers confounded my efforts. No matter how hard I tried to pace myself, I had to keep flipping the pages! In the last year and a half, writer Andy Diggle has emerged as the heavyweight champion of pulse-pounding comic-book action. This arc is a flashback story of how The Losers attained their current A-team-like fugitive status, and this chapter shows the turning point in that fateful mission gone wrong.

Artist Jock continues to do the most with the least. His expressive minimalist line work is marked by silhouettes and sparse backgrounds, and colored with broad, abstracted strokes by Lee Loughridge. This style complements the story's brisk pace nicely. There are no details, hatching, or gratuitously blended shading for the eye to get caught up in. Instead the reader zips through the action, loving the ride, and then slamming to a delicious moment of frustration with the cliffhanger on the last page. All in all, a very nice job. 4 stars.

Posted by jdonelson_nyc at November 28, 2004 03:26 PM

Comments

Posted by: Jog at November 29, 2004 06:28 AM