by Brian Bendis and Chris Samnee
20 story pages, $3.99
This issue concludes Samnee's two-part run with the Ultimate Universe's all-new Spider-Man, but it doesn't feel all that "concluding." Bendis continues the story pattern of, "Miles tests his powers as Spider-Man, while other things happen in the background." It just so happens that it all looks so awfully nice, and that I don't have the willpower to cancel my subscription to Marvel Comics, that I keep reading this title.
There's a cute page at the end with a sticker that you peel, in order to find the redemption code for your digital copy. It's a much more waste-efficient strategy then stuffing every issue into a plastic bag so customers can't peek into the comic and take the code. I approve!
Now, we enter the portion where I gush about Spider-Man art:
I'm very fond of this panel. I love the way it uses the page space to show Spider-sense. Innovative!
Here's Miles, doing a fist pump after beating up Omega Red. Fist pump!
Lobster Johnson: The Burning Hand #1by Mike Mignola and Tonzi Zonjic
22 story pages, #3.50
So I read this about 3 weeks ago, and I'm afraid I've just lost whatever opinion I ever had on it. It takes place in the 50s, so the fashion is legitimately fun to look at, but I didn't really understand what was the point of the comic: I was hoping to see Lobster Johnson brand somebody with that palm of his, but we only get to see it after the fact. There are 22 pages worth of story, but I don't feel that there was enough of a lead to hook me for the future issues. I'm afraid I have to pass on this miniseries.
I don't have any highlights to show you, but there was this one two-page spread that had a particularly awesome picture of a horse:
I love those horse-y legs. Human beings don't have inverted joints on their forearms, but horses do.
. . . what if we're the inverted ones?
Secret Avengers #24by Rick Remender and Gabriel Hardman
20 story pages, $3.99
Here comes Venom, in Remender's second installment of the high-octane, spy-fi version of Marvel's Avengers! The cover's a bit of a mislead, because Venom doesn't really show up, and Flash (the current holder of the symbiote suit) Thompson's main role in the issue is to be pointed at by Hawkeye and be told that he can't join the cool kids club. It's actually an excellent panel:
Hardman knows how to take Remender's script and turn it into a visual story. The layouts have a high level of creativity, and so does the story. This time around the story's about Ant-Man's need to redeem himself, and it closes on an excellent note to bookend that story.
Secret Avengers doesn't get a lot of hype: it's not a loud comic book from a superstar creative team, but it's telling a worthy comic book story that could use a bit more attention. But -- you gotta keep it on the down-low okay? These Avengers are secret.
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