Sunday, March 20, 2005

New comics 3/16

Cable & Deadpool #13 (Fabian Nicieza/Patrick Zircher, Marvel)
I really think this is the best X-book after Astonishing X-Men. It's kind of weird, but it's true, and it's all thanks to Nicieza, who's taken a crap concept with potentially dodgy characters and made it a great read, much like he did on his greatly underappreciated Gambit series a few years ago. This issue sets up a murder mystery at Cable's utopian compound Providence, which is really just an excuse for Deadpool to act goofy and make meta-references, all of which is highly entertaining. Plus, Nicieza completely takes the piss out of Avengers Disassembled in the letters page. A great read all around.

Ex Machina #9 (Brian K. Vaughan/Tony Harris, DC/Wildstorm)
While the ongoing mystery is intriguing, I still find Mitchell's romance with the reporter one of the most interesting things, since it gives Vaughan the chance to write some nice snappy dialogue. Otherwise, nothing to say about this issue that I haven't said about previous ones.

Noble Causes #8 (Jay Faerber/Fran Bueno, Image)
I'm glad to see Bueno back on art, and I like both the adventures on the alien world and the Doc Noble body-switching storlylines. I wonder about Faerber's revelation about Liz, though, since it seems a little too similar to what we learned about another character a few issues back. I have faith he'll turn into something different, though, and I like the character too much to want to see her torn down. In other news, the back-up strip still sucks, and I'd love it if Faerber went back to using the space to tell NC flashback stories.

Young Avengers #2 (Allen Heinberg/Jim Cheung, Marvel)
You know, this is a really good book, and it seems like a lot of skeptics are coming around to that. I've never cared about the Avengers and didn't read Disassembled, but Heinberg has put together a group of interesting characters and made them into a believable teen team. This book reminds me in many ways of Runaways, with the young heroes who make mistakes and don't always get along, the way it uses and respects continuity without being a slave to it, and (at least in the two issues so far) the effective use of the cliffhanger ending. One of the year's most pleasant surprises, and worth checking out for fans of Runaways or Young Justice or the old New Warriors. Or just good superhero comics.

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