Welcome, fearless readers, to Wednesday. Let’s check in on this week’s crop of fresh grown comic books to see what might tickle your fancy. Each week, we take a look at the weekly releases and point out some titles worthy of your attention:
FF #4
With writing from Matt Fraction (who is also writing the awesome new Hawkeye series) and funky art from Mike Allred (Madman), this is a must-read title. Ant-Man (the Scott Lang version), Medusa, She-Hulk and Ms. Thing have been drafted to take over from the Fantastic Four during their absence (which was only supposed to last 5 minutes subjective time), and to look after the Future Foundation (superpowered kids, including Moloids, ex-Power Pack members, clones, androids, etc.). Needless to say, comedy ensues. Allred’s distinctive art style is perfect for this title. Buy it.
Deathmatch #3
Deathmatch #1 became a best-seller for BOOM! Studios. This work by comic book veteran Paul Jenkins (co-creator of Marvel’s The Sentry, among much else) is a solid effort and well worth the read. The story takes place in a superhero universe created specifically for the series. Virtually the entire superhero and supervillain population of the earth have been transported to some sort of high-tech arena complex and forced to fight in one-on-one matches to the death (hence the name of the series). None of the heroes or villains know how they got there, and none have been able to escape, despite their superpowers. What is more troubling is that something unknown is able to make even the best of friends fight to the death within the arena.
While the battles continue in the arena, the heroes and villains try to work together to determine what force could have trapped them and why.
The heroes and villains are all original creations for this series, but they bear some (surely intentional) similarities to familiar heroes.
Masks #4
This series from Dynamite Entertainment brings together their stable of vintage heroes: The Shadow, The Green Hornet, Kato, The Spider, Zorro, Black Terror, The Green Lama, Miss Fury… and more! The story started well, but as the all-star cast grows, it is becoming a bit more difficult to keep the story moving smoothly. Still, I’m a sucker for these old-time heroes and this series has fun playing them off each other.
Doctor Who Prisoners Of Time #2
IDW continues its celebration of the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who with this second of a 12 issue mini-series. Each of the first 11 issues will focus on one of the Doctor’s incarnations. The first issue saw a mysterious entity observing the Doctor in all his guises, and planning his downfall by attacking his only weakness… his companions. The first doctor is lured into an adventure in 19th century London, that he easily solves … only to find his companions taken from him. If you are not already a fan of classic Doctor Who, you may want to give this one a miss, but for those who love the man with two hearts, this is a tasteful toast to our favorite Time Lord.
Another Wednesday come and gone! Keep reading, folks!