Short Review for 28 June 2006

Superman Returns opens tonight!  I got one free admission coupon with my DVD of the Superman: Braniac Attacks! animated film (which super-sucks, by the way - only worth it if you can get it for super-cheap w/ the free ticket...I like to think that I paid for my admission to Superman Returns, & got a crappy complementary DVD instead of the other way around).  I'm going to see it tonight after work, leaving me little to no time to sit down & read the fairly large pile of books I grabbed today at Cosmic Comics.  So I'll post a brief review of the one book I did read, & later post a super-short thumbs up/thums down style review via Mobile Phone.  Probably won't get a chance to properly review the rest of the books until this Sunda due to dedicating myself to work on this writing thing I told you about for a website far better than anything Josh or Eli would ever be associated with in any capacity. At some point I'll want to write about the "Face2Face"  & "Up, Up, & Away!" story arcs that just finished up today, but for now, I'm busy.  Anyway, here's some actual "content"

Invincible #33

Who's that dude on the cover with the brain-head thing?  That's Angstrom Levy!  I actually considered naming a son after this character, but this issue could potentially have ruined that for me.  Straight off the 2-part "Mark & Amber go to Africa" (not the actual title) which served as a buffer to the intense, action-packed "A Different World" arc (actual title), the conflict between Angstrom & Mark has finally come.   It seems as if this had been set up ages ago, & due to babies being born & comic industry successes, it very well could have been.  But unlike many of the other sub-plots in Invincible, the Angstrom Levy story built to a climax & was never addressed until last issue with a classic Stan-style one-page cliffhanger.  Not much goes on plot-wise that we couldn't have gathered from the now classic Marvel Team-up #14 featuring Invincible & Spiderman (which we do catch a few glimpses of in this issue), but Kirkman's ability to throw in intense drama fueled by high-octane superhero violence is what makes this issue one of the best issues of Invincible I've read since the Guardians of the Globe were killed.  Kirkman's usual style of throwing in highly effective dramatic moments in a sea of Teen-Superhero jokes is inversed to create a very interesting effect.  The final moment of this issue is definately a turning point, & in the context of the "A Different World" featuring Mark's reuniting with his father Omni-man, an interesting twist in Mark's development as a character.  My favorite thing about the teen-hero genre is that we get to watch these characters grow up & become people that they weren't when they started.  This is not necessarily possible with older characters in on-going series for the sake of maintaining a certain ambiguity of their age in relation to the current era & the age of their audience.  Kirkman has pulled out all the stops & in retrospect has not stopped putting Mark through the ringer issue of after issue, forcing him to become someone no average teenager should ever be forced to.  Kirkman makes Mark do things in the name of vengeance that we all want him to, but regret having done so the minute we see it happen.  As usual, definately a must-buy book for good superhero action & violence, as well as the occassional joke & mockery of superheros who don't bother to come up with better names.  Also, pick up Marvel Team-up #14 if you get a chance.