Sometimes a good comic story needs more time to fully develop. When that happens, publishers add more issues. And three titles hitting store shelves this week needed more than one issue to fully tell their tales.
‘Wolverine’ No. 64
During the course of the cross-title story “Messiah Complex,” Mystique doublecrossed the X-Men.
The shape-shifting mutant did so in a failed attempt to save her adopted daughter, Rogue. Ultimately, Rogue recovered. However, during the past three issues, we’ve seen a Wolverine bent on revenge. Issue No. 64 ends with a pinup-style image and the promise, “to be concluded.”
Writer Jason Aaron has a good bead on Wolverine, and Ron Garney’s art is top notch. The fast-paced action still leaves time for the book to advance the story between these two characters. This issue is really a fun read that I recommend any Wolvie fan.
‘Fantastic Four’ No. 556
The Fantastic Four for a long time has been considered the “World’s Greatest Comic Magazine,” but in recent years it’s been seen more like “The Mr. Fantastic Show.” But Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch are changing that. They are focusing more on Reed rather than Mr. Fantastic.
The story is strong and this issue is great. A mechanical menace is on a rampage and the heroes must answer the call for help without Reed. The final page promises a finale in the next issue. I’ll definitely be waiting for it.
‘Nova’ No. 12
Nova No. 12 pulled me in. The writing team of Dan Abnett and AndyLanning has been a hit-or-miss, but this issue is a definite winner. Warlock, formerly of the New Mutants, returns to the comic company’s stable with this issue. The story won’t end here — it concludes with “Annihilation Conquest” No. 6 — but this issue provides a solid entry for the title and sets up the end fantastically.
Shawn Munguia does graphics and layout for the Valley Morning Star. He also maintains a blog about cartoons and comics at http://toontalk.freedomblogging.com/. Munguia can be reached at 956-421-9870 or you can e-mail him at shawnm@valleystar.com.
