THE CAT'S MEOW: What's Good on the Shelf This Week-Year 2 - Week 27 _ _________________________________________________________________________
Reviews by John Norris, March 10 , 2008

INVINCIBLE PRESENTS ATOM EVE #2 (Teen/Young Adult)

Benito Cereno (w); Nate Bellegarde (p/i); Bill Crabtree (c); Rus Wooton (l); cover by Cory Walker & Crabtree

Publisher: Image

Format: two-issue miniseries

In this issue : From the pages of INVINCIBLE! You know her, you love her – it's the girl after Invincible's heart: ATOM EVE! Find out how she got her powers and what shaped her into the woman she is today. ROBERT KIRKMAN presents a tale of tragedy and triumph that will have lasting effects on the INVINCIBLE series. (from imagecomics.com)

Review: Man, oh man. Eve shows up to stop what she thinks is a robbery and ends up learning more than she thought possible about her past…and folks, it ain't pretty. How the “robbers” she fights are related to her makes me feel sorry for them (even as they try to thrash Eve). It also makes my blood boil when it's revealed why they were created…and, more surprisingly, HOW. But the way in which Eve resolves things (versus the way she COULD have, with her powers) says a lot about the strength of her character.

Look out for: blood and lab test subjects

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JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #43: “Wannabes” (All Ages)

Keith Giffen (w); Christopher Jones (p); Dan Davis (i); Heroic Age (c); Randy Gentile (l); cover by Jones

Publisher: DC

Format: monthly series

Concept: Follow the adventures of the Justice League, based on the hit cartoon.

In this issue: An untold tale of the Justice League by 52's Keith Giffen! Meet the early Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, who want to join the League — because that's where the big money is! They have much to learn… (from dccomics.com)

Review: From DVDs to comics to T-shirts and much more, you can't go anywhere without seeing the Justice League, and that's just what Blue Beetle and Booster Gold want: the fame and the fortune. With that, Giffen provides two great life lessons and manages to avoid sounding preachy. Green Lantern would certainly agree with Spider-Man's “with great power comes great responsibility” philosophy. For a true hero, responsibility comes first, and whatever happens as a result of that is secondary. And since Beetle and Booster botch up the League's efforts, Batman is compelled to tell them to do it right, or don't do it at all. Despite their shortcomings, Beetle and Booster still make an entertaining team, and there's some wonderful banter between them.

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MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #37: “School of Hard Knocks” (All Ages)

Marc Sumerak (w); Ale Garza (p/i); Guru eFX (c); Dave Sharpe (l); cover by Sean Murphy

Publisher: Marvel

Format: monthly series

Concept: Bitten by an irradiated spider, which granted him incredible abilities, Peter Parker learned the all-important lesson, that with great power there must also come great responsibility. And so he became the amazing Spider-Man!

In this issue: They say the best defense is a good offense and Peter Parker doesn't find anyone more offensive than Midtown High's biggest bully, Flash Thompson! When Peter starts taking self-defense classes, he figures he can finally stand up to Flash without giving away his secret life as the Amazing Spider-Man. Too bad the Taskmaster has other plans for our webbed wonder... (from marvel.com)

Review: This issue features a fantastic ‘daydreaming' sequence in which Peter finally takes it to Flash and wins before reality hits again. It's hilarious and seamlessly integrated into the story, in which Peter discovers admirers he didn't know he had and enrolls in the self-defense class they all take. The sensei, however, seems a bit TOO interested in Peter, and if something seems too good to be true—like a sensei taking a personal interest in honing your skills—it just might be. This is a great issue for parents to read with their children because through Spidey and Taskmaster's verbal exchanges, Sumerak talks about why bad guys target young people and why said targets could find the bad side so appealing.

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COLLECTIONS

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #9 collects MA AVENGERS #9 and MA IRON MAN #1.

To be reviewed in next week's column:

ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #5

THE BATMAN STRIKES! #43

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES IN THE 31 st CENTURY #12

MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #7

MARVEL ADVENTURES HULK #9

TINY TITANS #2

By thy side,

John “Figaro” Norris

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