The Main Event Comic Book Reviews 5.24.08
Posted by Dennis Twigg on 05.24.2008
Checkmate checks out and the Sentry goes nuts!
Checkmate #25 General: Writer Greg Rucka had an amazing 24 issues run on Checkmate, carving out a little niche of high politics and intrigue amidst the clutter of the DCU. It was a book that too a bunch of characters that mostly have no other role in the DCU (save for Mr. Terrific and old Green Lantern) and created a great story and place for them. Now, its over, and Bruce Jones has the unenviable task of stepping into the shoes of the previous team. Sadly, it seems like Jones lacks even the basic idea of what makes Checkmate tick, and utterly fails to comprehend what Checkmate is about. Writing: Well, Jones certainly can't be accused of simply aping the previous writers. He has a unique vision, but its something I wish I had never seen. We jump around to various poorly linked events and have a monster of the week, created by Checkmate, for the purpose of… a story? I don't know why, but Jones just decides that Checkmate is in the monster-making business, pulling a page out of the Robocop and Six Million Dollar man playbook. Some Checkmate characters actually appear, but none of the characters that have made the book great seem to have any resonance or soul. Art: Well, Checkmates sales figures are pretty bad, so I think they assigned an artist to compliment Jones' quality in writing. That's a nice way of saying the art is bad. Its not offensive, but the lines used are overly heavy and its hard to discern finer details. Overall Score: D. Readers may have noticed I don't normally give bad ratings. Don't think its because I'm soft, its just I don't make a habit of buying books I don't like. Well, DC managed to pull a fast one and convince me to give Checkmate a shot despite the switch in creative teams. Big mistake, DC should have just canceled the title last issue rather than giving it such an ignominious drawn out Bruce Jones death.
Mighty Avengers #14 General: Oh, Sentry. You sure are a whacked-out piece of work. For some odd reason, Marvel decided it WANTED to deal with the Superman dilemma: why doesn't Superman just fix everything? In Secret Invasion, to his credit, Brian Michael Bendis actually remains aware of this possibility rather than simply brushing it under the rug. However, the pop that the rest of Bendis' tie-ins seems to be somewhat lacking in this installment. Writing: Bendis' Skrull schemes are extremely on point in that the whole lot of them are paranoid as hell about the Sentry ruining their invasion. Their solution to it, is likewise equally plausible. However, this issue falters in its timeframe. The previous issues jumped around a fair amount, but this one just feels rather disjointed. Moreover, the Sentry just has never done it for me. So have a linear but jumpy look into the head of the Sentry during the Secret Invasion and its lead up is not all that satisfying. Art: Koi Pham does a serviceable job. There's one scene where I have trouble identifying the various Skrulls-as-humans, but part of that may be my almost complete unfamiliarity with Shield characters and what certain heroes look like out of costume. On the other hand, it would be a shame to miss a Skrull-clue due to sloppy artwork. Overall Score: B-. The reveal at the end is interesting, but unless you're dying to know about how Sentry will play in (or not play in) to Secret Invasion you can probably pass this one by.
