Sparta U.S.A. #6

“Beyond the Mountain” (No Spoilers)

Why? Why? Why! Why did we have to waste so much time on those first four issues when there was such a great story to be told here at the end? The final issue of Sparta is what this entire series should have been, compelling, action-packed, and spinning off of what turns out to be a very cool premise!

This story could’ve easily been told in three issues, maybe four, but certainly not the six we got. Issue 1 was good as an introduction to this world, Issue 2 did a little better at setting up the mystery and solidifying the characters, but I could’ve completely ignored Issue 3 and 4 and just skipped to 5 and 6. I’m all for setting up characters, especially when you’re introducing a unique world like this, but there is such a thing as too much set up. I feel like I’ve sat through an hour and a half worth of a lackluster movie only for the last 30 minutes to be totally awesome!

The Authority #25

“This is Gonna Suck” (No Spoilers)

Don’t let the title of the issue fool you. It does everything BUT suck! But rest assured, Tom Taylor finds a clever way to present the title too. I personally thought it was hilarious how he did it.

After the events of the last few issues I figured things would show down a bit here and I was partially right. Taylor does take the first half to the issue to fill us in on the mystery of Jack’s secret weapon. There is also time to get genuine reactions from the other team members concerning Jack’s weapon. Each of their reactions makes perfect sense and you’re either going to feel really sorry for Jack at the end or hate him for being such a jerk. I personally felt sorry for him.

Garrison #4

(No Spoilers)

Action! Action! Action! That’s what I’m learning this story is about. I’ve called this Wildstorm’s summer blockbuster before and there’s no better description for it. There is a small thread of a story here but for the most part, it’s all action all the time.

I think I’m starting to see that this book would’ve been great in the 90’s. In the 90’s it was all about great art and less about story. I have to honestly say I think the saving grace with this comic for me is Francesco Francavilla’s art. There’s just no substance to this story but damn does Francavilla draw some amazing action scenes in this comic! If Michael Bay is looking for another movie to do after Transformers 3 is done, this would be a worthy candidate based solely on the amount of action.

Dv8: Gods and Monsters #4

“Calm Like a Bomb” (No Spoilers)

Ok, now we’re back on track with this issue! The series had slowed down a little bit, especially last issue, but now we’ve got an issue centered on Threshold. Did anyone really think we’d get a slow issue dealing with Threshold? I think not!

Since he first appeared in the original Gen 13 mini-series Threshold has always been a very interesting character to me. He’s psychotic but he’s well justified in being this way I think. He saw his parents murdered in front of him when he was just a kid. He was raised by Project Genesis to be a killer. And he had Ivana Baiul as a lover once upon a time, something I think would drive anyone crazy. He’s also a very angry character which means he could snap at any moment and believe me, snap he does.