THE CAT'S MEOW: What's Good on the Shelf This Week / Year 2 - Week 5 ___________________________________________________________________________
Reviews by John Norris, October 07, 2007

FANTASTIC FOUR & POWER PACK #4: “Bad Seed” (All Ages)

Fred Van Lente (w); Gurihiru (p/i/c); Dave Sharpe (l); cover by Gurihiru

Publisher: Marvel

Format: four-issue miniseries

Concept: The Pack meets the Four in this all-ages limited series.

In this issue : The FANTASTIC FOUR has been commanded to destroy POWER PACK ... by FRANKLIN RICHARDS?!? The full horror of Dr. Doom's master plan is revealed! The world hangs in the balance! And, worst of all, by the end of this issue, one of these heroes will be grounded! BUT WHICH ONE?!? (from marvel.com)

Review: What's this? The Fantastic Four are being controlled by Reed and Sue's own son? Well, not really…if you recall, Doom switched bodies with Frank at the end of the last issue. To make matters worse, Doom paralyzed his armor, so Franklin has no means of communication! Gurihiru make Franklin look both cute and sinister at the same time, and hearing him use “Doom-speak” (for lack of a better term) when he talks is cool, especially his response to two bullies. I like the fact that Jack, who is usually the irresponsible one, is actually the first one to notice Franklin 's change in behavior, thus proving he isn't ALWAYS irresponsible. And just wait until you see what Katie does to H.E.R.B.I.E!!

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MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN #5: “Pirated!” (All Ages)

Fred Van Lente (w); Rafa Sandoval (p); Roger Bonet (i); Martegod Gracia (c); Dave Sharpe (l); cover by Skottie Young

Publisher: Marvel

Format: monthly series

Concept: Follow the adventures of billionaire inventor Tony Stark and his armor-clad alter ego, IRON MAN!

In this issue: Starting this issue, we kick off an arc spotlighting the many different armors of Iron Man! First up: Avast, ye swabs! COMMANDER KRAKEN and his TECHNO-PIRATES have captured Iron Man, stripped him of his DEEP-SEA ARMOR ... and are attacking HYDROBASE with it! Unarmed and unarmored, can Tony Stark take out Kraken's scurvy crew all by himself? Do pirates like booty? Arrrh! (from marvel.com)

Review: This issue sees the debut of Iron Man's deep-sea armor, and thanks to the talents of the art team, it looks mighty impressive. It's also rather bulky, which presents something of a problem when you're trying to escape techno-pirates and you have all this water pressure surrounding you. Van Lente strips Iron Man down, you might say, to his bare essentials—that is, Tony Stark. It's a good reminder that technology is no substitute for a human mind.

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MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #32: “Submerged” (All Ages)

Peter David (w); Pop Mhan (p); Norman Lee (i); Guru eFX (c); Dave Sharpe (l); cover by Scherberger, Lee & Guru eFX

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: Glub blub glub Spidey glub blub fights glub blub blub blub HYDRO-MAN!!!!!! (from marvel.com)

Review: Hydro-Man isn't the brightest villain, but given the fact that he controls an element that makes up three-quarters of the planet, he's still dangerous. And he's decided to stop thinking small-time and go global. I think Hydro-Man is a good villain for Spidey because it really takes brains more than brawn to defeat him. Watch for the scene with Hydro-Man and a briefcase and some hilarious bits between Spidey and Jameson.

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TRANSFORMERS: DEVASTATION #1

Simon Furman (w); E.J. Su (p/i); Zac Atkinson (c); Chris Mowry (l); covers by Su & Nick Roche

Publisher: IDW

Format: miniseries

Concept: The saga that began with INFILTRATION and ESCALATION continues.

In this issue : In the aftermath of Escalation's thundering showdown in Brasnya, factions on Earth stir into bold and demonstrative action. With both the Machination and Skywatch poised to strike, each possessing CYBERTRONIAN tech and inside knowledge of the alien enemy they face, the AUTOBOTS have no choice but to relocate. But the arrival on Earth of the DECEPTICONS' living super-weapon, SIXSHOT, promises only one thing... Devastation. (from idwpublishing.com)

Review: In this latest installment of the ongoing saga, plot threads start to come together, such as when Nightbeat examines the SM-40, which came into Verity's possession in the beginning of INFILTRATION…and which really started the whole series of events. This is also the point where things really start to kick into high gear. As with the other series, Furman and Su do great work. There's a fantastic transitional scene where we see Optimus with his hands clasped together, commenting on how it's high time to fight back (which in and of itself is a great moment)…and then we cut to Megatron in the EXACT same position giving orders to eradicate the Autobots. Those two panels capture the essence of the issue in a nutshell.

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COLLECTIONS

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #4 collects MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #4 and X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #4.

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To be reviewed in next week's column:

CAPTAIN CARROT AND THE FINAL ARK #1

GARGOYLES vol. 2 #6

MARVEL ADVENTURES HULK #4

NEW AVENGERS/TRANSFORMERS #4

RUNAWAYS vol. 2 #28

By thy side,

John “Figaro” Norris

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