Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

By Sam Christopher

Straight to comics this week…

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #1 came out this week, offering readers a great take on the Cartoon Network show with a hero we haven’t seen on the show yet, Power Girl. In “The Panic of the Composite Creature” writer Matt Wayne (JLU, Static)—who may well be the long-lost twin of Bruce Wayne (y’know, the one Deadman took over in that long ago ish of World’s Finest)—and artist Andy Suriano (Labman, Charlatan Ball) send the Dark Knight to London to foil the evil plans of Lex Luthor. And Luthor’s main evil plan is to use his “concatenation ray” to fuse hundreds of Brits into one giant monster who follows Luthor’s orders to steal the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom from the Tower of London. Luckily, programmer Karen Starr is in London speaking at a convention and can lend a hand as Power Girl; whose costume has been toned down for this kid-friendly comic. This story contains the first mention of Alfred the Butler in the B:BatB-verse. There is also included a one page “Secret Bat-Files” with info on the villain (where we’re told, curiously enough, that Luthor turned his genius to crime in part because of the extreme poverty in which he grew up) and guest hero of the ish. Aquaman and Bats fight the fiendish computer Carapax in the prologue. An excellent adaptation of the ‘toon, which I also love, this comic offers a bit of no thinking, no continuity slam-bang fun that should thrill kids of all ages and reminds those like me why we started reading comics in the first place.

Fantastic Four #563 brought us another small prologue to the upcoming “Masters of Doom” storyline. Dr. Doom has masters? WHAT?!? I thought this notion dumb when I first read of it at the end of the last ish and nothing I saw here changed my mind. Ben’s engagement is nice, as was the very human response of Sue Richards to warn Ben’s betrothed of the life she’s getting herself into. But maybe they should’ve left out the Johnny Storm “groupie” scene at the beginning of the book. On the other hand, I’m sure all the 14-year-olds reading found it titillating (not to slam the creative team). Mark Millar (Ultimate Fantastic Four, The Flash) is an excellent writer, bringing a human element to his characterizations that serves him very well in most instances. But the human element he adds most here is tingeing these characters with a dark side that just seems off-base for me. Not nearly as bad as the Vegas motel scene between Ant Man and The Wasp from Avengers a few years ago but just wrong for these characters. Still, he is talented enough to overcome all my reservations on this title’s direction so I’ll keep reading and recommending. And, on a totally unrelated note, Bryan Hitch (Ultimate Fantastic Four, JLA) is doing his usual bang-up job in the art department.

Superman #684 purports on the cover to be Part 12 of the 10 Part “New Krypton” storyline, sending us all scrambling to find the little “11” shield that should have adorned the cover of Supergirl last week. Maybe they just didn’t want to take away from the pinup sized picture of Superwoman there, a consideration they didn’t have with this FOE tie-in—who cares if you take attention away from Parasite? Inside the book we learn that Parasite, who Supes is releasing from The Phantom Zone for some reason (I know the Kryptonians had no legal right to imprison any Earthlings there but…), finagles his way to obtaining Mon-El’s Daxamite superpowers (which are the same as Superman’s only greater) for just long enough to escape the Science Police—after he waits just long enough for The Big Red “S” to disappear around a corner. Also, speaking of the SP, they get a new commandant in this story: The Guardian. And, speaking of The Phantom Zone, Superman learns from Mon-El of Zod’s escape, along with a good number of the would-be tyrant’s allies. The Man of Steel then flies to Kandor to warn Alura. Imagine his surprise…

Other comics:

Dead Ahead #2- Our crew sacks a cruise ship, thinking they’ll be able to get enough supplies to keep them going nearly indefinitely. There are, of course, obstacles. Shambling, hungry obstacles. And, then, just because our story follows this crew of a ship doesn’t mean it’s the only one out there.

Final Crisis: Revelations #5- The final showdown with Cain—the artist formerly known as Vandal Savage—ends with a whimper… Cain’s. This was truly the best thing to come out of FC, much better than the parent comic. Writer Greg Rucka (Elektra, 52) and artist Philip Tan (Spawn, Nightwing) tell the tale.

Final Crisis #7- Well, the greatest, most wonderfulest, most marvelost epic in all of the DCU’s historic historicalness is over… and I have no idea what the hell happened. To be fair, this was a pretty complex story and I read a lot so now that it’s over I’ll take a little time over the next few weeks and reread the series all together in order to provide a better, more fair report. Stay tuned.

Fringe #2- Not bad, especially good for a prequel to a tv show. And with any luck we’ll have the third part of this 6 ish series in time for the show’s second season premier.

The Incredible Hercules #125- The last chap of “Love and War” proves once again that women just aren’t equipped to handle power; that only a Real Man can be trusted… with… (Ah, c’mon, honey, it’s just a little joke. I didn’t mean any—hey, hey, HEY! Put that DOWN! I didn’t know we even had a frying pan that large. Wait! STOP!!! <clang!> Ooooooooowwwwww!) Seriously, Greg Pak (Skaar: Son of the Hulk, Battlestar Galactica) and Fred Van Lente (Marvel Adventures: Iron Man, Amazing Fantasy) bring us a fun, if retold, tale, with the usual excellent art by Salva Espin (Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four, Iron Man/Hulk/Fury) and Clayton Henry (Alpha Flight, Fantastic Five).

Justice Society of America #23- A FOE tie-in with Black Adam on the cover and in the story finding his beloved Isis and sacking The Rock of Eternity. All of this as the JSA regroups and recoups in the aftermath of the epic “One World Under Gog”. Geoff Johns (52, The Flash) and long-time favorite Jerry Ordway (Superman, Crisis on Infinite Earths) write, with Ordway pencils, this, the first chap in “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”.

New Avengers #49- The hunt for Luke and Jessica’s baby concludes and Norman Osborne shows his true colors. The end sets up next issue’s battle between the New Avengers and the Dark Avengers. I really don’t understand Osborne being alive after the events of this ish—but then I often think that.

Orson Scott Card: Ender’s Shadow: Battleschool #2- Bean’s origins begin to unfold as Sister Carlotta prepares him for battleschool. And the menace of Achilles is still lurking just beyond Bean’s field of vision.

Skaar: Son of the Hulk #7- Awash with his newly-granted Oldpower, Skaar begins to cleanse Sakaar of any he deems evil. But then the Silver Surfer comes with the threat of Galactus to stir the waters a little.

Wonder Woman #28- Gail Simone (Birds of Prey, Gen13) is just an outstanding writer. I have no idea where she’s going with this story. I love Diana’s armor, I love the switch at the end of this installment, and I love the absolute insanity we see in Zeus. A FOE cover starring Cheetah.

Xena: Warrior Princess and Army of Darkness: What… Again?! #4 Final ish! Find out the origin of “Deadite Xena”! Find out the identity of Solan’s father (sort of)! If only we could see the diagrams… (if you read the ish you know what that’s about) they make it seem as though this was the last of this series of teamups in total, but we can only hope that isn’t true. Just too fun to let end.