Red Lanterns #1by Peter Milligan, Ed Benes and Rob Hunter
There's not much of a story here. Atrocitus messes up some dudes in space for harassing his cat, then he monologues about the massacre of his people and the waning of his rrrrrrrrage. Very little new information is given here. Oh, there's this pair of brothers on Earth who get into an argument about their grandpa getting beat up, and one gets annnggrrryyyy. For a corps. about rrrrrrage, this comic fails to evoke any emotion out of me. Gone is the blood prophet Atrocitus, replaced by some self-reflective dude with a family. It's clear that Milligan has a direction with these dudes, but it's not coming up quick enough for me. This is the kind of comic only comic readers would read, and even then, us crumb-bums will complain about it.
Captain America #1
by Ed Brubaker, Steve McNiven and Mark Morales
This thing was made in July to capitalize on the film hype. And it works. After 3 or so pages of Cap's whole deal, we're invited to a funeral, at which an assassin takes a shot at Steve Rogers' friend. The ordeal brings up a few ghosts from the past and it turns out to be Jimmy Jupiter, a teleporter. Spy thriller meets comic book here, and the art team of McNiven/Morales sells it. Each line has a purpose, the paneling is incredibly dynamic. Action scenes are beautiful and Cap's shield has never looked better. There's a shot where Cap throws it into a van, coming out the other side to hit two agents as well. Amazing. The funny book has a dreadful price tag of 3.99, but I've alleviated it by subscribing with Marvel. Highly recommended, whether you read comics or not.
