The dreaded
fifth week has struck again! With five Wednesdays in July, this week was short on new releases, but that didn’t stop our review team from coming out and delivering a few tidbits for you. From Archie Andrews to Stephen King, there’s no telling what’ll turn up in the
Comixtreme Done-In-One Reviews!
Archie's Double Digest #200 (Archie Comics)
By Melanie J. Morgan & Norm Breyfogle
The latest "New Look" story begins here with the four-part "Goodbye Forever." Betty is invited over to the Andrews' house for a special dinner, as Archie's dad prepares to announce whether or not he got a big promotion at his job. When the promotion appears to come through, though, there's a catch: to get the job of a lifetime, the Andrews will have to move away from Riverdale. The idea of Archie actually leaving, at least permanently, is about as believable as the idea that Bruce Wayne will never be back in the DC Universe, but that doesn't mean we can't tell an interesting story dealing with the emotions of Archie and his friends. Morgan does a good job of showing both Archie and Betty attempting to put on a brave face for the sake of Archie's dad. It'll be interesting, next issue, to see how the rest of the gang reacts to the news. Norm Breyfogle's art style works surprisingly well for this book. The characters maintain the basic feel of Archie and the rest of the gang while still fitting into a style that's really quite similar to what Breyfogle used to bring to the table in Batman and Prime. The rest of this giant-sized book, as all the Archie digests, is filled with reprints from Archie's extensive library. Some of them are good, some of them not so much. Only one is really worth mentioning -- a "Little Archie" story featuring the child version of Archie and his father on a fishing trip when a storm tosses them around. The story isn't credited, but the writer and artist managed to nail a surprisingly deep, emotional moment when Mr. Andrews thinks his son is lost at sea. The "New Look" story, though, is really what sets this book apart from any other Archie digest, and it's a pretty good one.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
House of Mystery #15 (DC Comics/Vertigo)
By Matthew Sturges, Luca Rossi, David Hahn & Esao Andrews
Harry finally realizes the truth about himself -- he is the embodiment of the House of Mystery, and the reason none of his friends can leave the house is because, subconsciously, he doesn't want them to go. This realization comes at a pretty inconvenient time, as the House soon finds itself under siege. There's more action than usual this issue, a pretty long battle sequence that ends with a fantastic cliffhanger. Luca Rossi illustrates it perfectly as well, and the whole thing builds up to a pretty surprising return at the end of the issue, something that fans have no doubt been waiting for. The story-within-a-story is a quickie this issue, taking the form of a three-page movie pitch that provides some much needed (and excellent) comic relief before the battle really swings into gear. In fact, it's one of the funniest sequences I've read in any comic in some time, and this is an issue that needs it to lighten up just before things get intense. A very strong issue, a very strong end to the third story arc of this series.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
The Stand: American Nightmares #4 (Marvel Comics)
By Stephen King, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Mike Perkins & Laura Martin
With the Superflu winding down, people begin dying off of lesser diseases, disasters that have no rescue, easily-survivable accidents that lack first responders... basically, everything that killed people before civilization. In the case of Lloyd Henreid, he's locked in a jail cell in Arizona about to starve to death when the Dark Man, Randal Flagg, makes his appearance. He's got an offer -- one that Lloyd would be a fool to turn down. Meanwhile, Stu and Glen discuss the new world ahead of them, and Frannie and Harold begin to plan their journey to the CDC in the hopes of finding answers. While the story movies along nicely here, and the artwork is fantastic, there's still a bit of a disconnect in the writer's overuse of captions. It's getting a little better. The Stu/Glen scene begins with exposition in the captions that could easily have been dialogue, then glides into real dialogue for a few pages. At the beginning of the first series, I suspect the whole scene would have been told in caption. It's improving. It's just not knocking my socks off, story-wise, yet.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
The Unwritten #3 (DC Comics/Vertigo)
By Mike Carey, Peter Gross & Yuko Shimizu
Tom Taylor's investigation into his father's disappearance brings him to the house where he disappeared -- the same house where Mary Shelley concieved of Frankenstein and John Milton began work on Paradise Lost. He's not there alone, though -- a gathering of horror novelists is at the house, debating their craft and studying the impact of Shelley's work. Only Tom is looking for something hidden under the surface, something that his father left for him to find. As he continues his search, something deadly begins to roam the grounds. Carey's exploration of fiction is getting really intense, really exciting. Between some really entertaining characters (who have stepped off the pages of the books by writers they lampoon), and some excellent artwork by Peter Gross, this book is quickly rising in the ranks of my favorite comics month-to-month.
Rating: 4.5/5 --Blake M. Petit
July 11th 2009, 11:40 AM
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