Martin Skidmore - Review

Iron Age Alpha 1

I’m not sure if this is heading for a crossover or miniseries or what, but the setup has decent plot potential. A dying mad scientist with a grudge against Tony Stark kidnaps him and makes him watch as he uses one of Doctor Doom’s time machines to somehow pluck Dark Phoenix out of time. He provokes her and Tony gets to see her destroy the Earth – but he also gets thrown back in time, so I assume the rest of the story is Iron Man gathering forces to somehow prevent this.

Ka-Zar 1

I’ve read some first issues and one-shots that were, in craft and technique terms, significantly worse than this, but I don’t recall any that were so unutterably boring. I’m amazed that the first-issue synopsis was approved by editor Tom Brevoort.

Mystery Men 1

I have my qualms about these retro series (this is set in 1932): I think they can undermine the importance of the first Marvel heroes as currently established, and aren’t always plausible in how they fit in with their world’s history. Nonetheless, this one is rather good, so I’ll put those doubts aside – at least until any of the promised links with the existing Marvel Universe materialise, for better or worse.

Ghost Rider 0.1

Another 0.1! Why do we need a jumping-on point before the first issue? How is a first issue not a perfect jumping-on point? I’m mystified by this, but let’s treat it as a starting point, and see if it does the job.

Simon & Kirby Superheroes

Nearly 500 pages of beautifully reproduced old comics by one of the medium’s key teams.

Supreme Power 1

This feels very much like a comic not designed for those who haven’t read previous series. I know this world is based on the JLA pastiche Marvel introduced decades ago, but I am totally out of touch about recent events.

Reed Gunter 1

This is a lighthearted fantasy cowboy strip, in which Reed and his companion bear have adventures. This issue a female rancher is having problems with a giant snake eating her cattle. It was originally self-published in B&W, but is now in full colour – apparently there are four issues to be reprinted, then it moves on to new material.

Avengers Academy 14.1

This is one of the better .1 issues, on nearly every level. It introduces the characters, all of whom are pretty new to me, gives us some action, presents an interesting and ambiguous new character connected to the team, and presents some actual moral ideas for them to think about.

S.H.I.E.L.D. 1

I take it much of this stuff was set up in a previous S.H.I.E.L.D. series – we’re thrown right in the middle here – but the first thing to do is to dismiss all thoughts that it has any discernible connection to S.H.I.E.L.D.. No Nick Fury or helicarriers or secret agents or anything like that. We have instead the Brotherhood of the Shield, a secret mystic/scientific organisation that has existed for thousands of years. We get 20 pages of story, one intro page, and at the back ten pages of mostly Marvel Handbook style background material (useful when I looked back at the otherwise information-free final splash, since the backup material tells me who these people are). I still don’t have much idea of what is going on.

Criminal: The Last of the Innocent 1

I was very slow in getting onto Brubaker, but I’ve become a big admirer in recent months. Criminal tells different stories with different characters with almost every run (apparently a sequel to ‘Coward’ is coming, so this isn’t always true), so it’s easy to jump on here with no prior knowledge. And it’s well worth doing so.