Rich Johnston Comic Reviews

It's a title that clearly, once Cullen Bunn has thought it up, had to happen, by dint of the god of wordplay. And hey, if Marvel does need a radical departure for the third movie given the current dissatisfaction of the cast, this really might be a way to go, merging two franchises into one.

Batman Damned is an incredibly solid start, it poses plenty of mystery but grounds that mystery into the streets of Gotham and Bermejo is about 90% of the reason this comic works like it does. It sets a tone, an approach, a style that rather than making you throw it up in the air calling balony, encourages you to cheer along with its madness, and hoping that the guy steering this particular bus has a clue where he's going.

Dastardly and Muttley " based on the classic Hanna-Barbera characters " is a surreal story with a lot of setup, but ultimately an enjoyable ride.

Talking of painting, this is a beautiful book. Jesus Saiz is penciller, inker and colourist on this title and his mastery of superheroes here seems a mix of Alan Davis and David Marquez, slick characters who live on the page. Marry that to the paint-look of the monsters and marvels, and the smooth ink line for the central characters, from the same hand, the two blend well on the page. It's almost like" magic.

Unfortunately, Generations: The Iron is a waste of time, talent, and money. Spend yours elsewhere.

It's all sorts of psychological subtext made green flesh and it's a grand start. I enjoyed the multiple personalities of the Bill Mantlo and Peter David runs immensely, as I did Bruce Jones haunting run. It looks as if Al Ewing and Joe Bennett's run as The Immortal Hulk is fit to join them"

Andy Kubert does most of the work selling this, tapping into a style in parts before his time, in others back up to date. It's a good trick, and Matthew Wilson helps the colour, especially in the forest winter scenes, exude the bleakness of war, even when it's away from the front, while still providing the fire and the fireworks of the magic.

flat. Wolverine never really went anywhere " and he doesn't seem to here. He doesn't even get the hot claws we had been promised beyond an opening page. But it is a very pretty book, if you like BWS. In fact it may dazzle and distract, just like those Weaver birds...

Some will dismiss this as fanfic. A way to get away from what a writer originally wrote, with the audience given what they want rather than what they need. I don't know. I think these days giving the audience a bit of what they want, as long as it comes with a price, is no bad thing.

It's been a notable part of Cates' work at Marvel that he is using continuity as clay to mould something new. Rather than Brian Bendis' approach, taking what he wanted, ignoring whatever he found tiresome, this is more like Alan Davis' work on Excalibur, taking everything no matter how bad and finding an artful way to make it fit.

That's what X-Men Red is. Something closer in concept to zombie epics of the Walking Dead or 28 Days Later. It's about survival and a changing human/mutant landscape. This would be a fundamental change to the mutant books, if others fall into line.