THE CAT'S MEOW: What's Good on the Shelf This Week-Year 3 - Week 1 _ _________________________________________________________________________
Reviews by John Norris, date, 2008

Welcome to the third year of THE CAT'S MEOW, faithful readers! I hope you are enjoying the reviews; I'm sure having a good time writing them!

THE BATMAN STRIKES! #49: “School Day” (All Ages)

Matthew K. Manning (w); Christopher Jones (p); Terry Beatty (i); Heroic Age (c); Sal Cipriano (l); cover by Andie Tong

Publisher: DC

Format: monthly series

Concept: Follow the adventures of Bruce Wayne in his early years as Batman.

In this issue : What happens when Batman and Robin chase villains around Gotham all night? Dick Grayson falls asleep in class! Between his angry teacher and the monstrous Killer Moth Robin's in for one long day. (from dccomics.com)

Review: Staying up late at night fighting villains alongside Batman can take its toll on a young person, especially when the next day is a school day. (I must say, though, that I never found math classes to be very interesting anyway.) But this school day is going to be different, thanks to Killer Moth. Manning and Jones do a great job of showing Robin's struggle between trying to pay attention to both the teacher and the crime outside. Jones gives Robin some wonderful facial expressions, and he draws a great Killer Moth as well.

IRON MAN: GOLDEN AVENGER #1

Fred Van Lente (story); M. Blankier (script); Juan Santacruz (p/i); Chris Sotomayor (c); Dave Sharpe (l)

Publisher: Marvel

Format: one-shot

Concept: Billionaire inventor Tony Stark built a suit of armor that saved his life. He now fights against the forces of evil as the invincible Iron Man!

In this issue: They're baaaaaaaaack! Spymaster! Jolt! Plantman! Blacklash! Some of the worst baddies ever to stain the pages of Marvel Adventures Iron Man have teamed up in this one-shot to destroy Tony Stark's armored alter ego once and for all in the most cunning, evil plan ever conceived by ... Tony's secretary, PEPPER POTTS?!? (from marvel.com)

Review: When you receive Stark's Employee of the Month award as many times as Pepper Potts has, you've bound to make someone jealous—you own assistant Callee, for example, who plans to get Spymaster and the other bad guys to capture Stark, only to have her make a last-minute rescue, thereby ensuring her own employee award. Two things she didn't count on: the villains being smarter than she thought, and Iron Man. It's been a while since the last Marvel Adventures Iron Man story, so it's nice to see ol' Shellhead in action again. And he looks great, thanks to Santacruz and Sotomayor, who do a nice job with the art.

MARVEL APES #1: “Apes Of Wrath!” (Teen/Young Adult)

Karl Kesel (w); Ramon Bachs (p/i); Javier Mena Guerrero (c); Jared K. Fletcher (l); cover by John Watson; variant cover by Bachs, Kesel & Guerrero

Publisher: Marvel

Format: four-issue miniseries

Concept: Flingin' feces, True Believer-- the entire Marvel Universe has gone APE!

In this issue: Just when he thinks life can't get any worse or weirder, Marty Blank – a.k.a. that lovable loser, the Gibbon -- finds himself and the brilliant-and-beautiful Dr. Fiona Fitzhugh transported to a world where monkeys rule and humans don't exist!
SEE the spectacular simian city of Monkhattan !
MEET the hominoid heroes and villains – SPIDER-MONKEY! DOC OOK! IRON MANDRILL! SIMIAN TORCH! THE APE-VENGERS! And more!
THRILL to the return of Speedball!
CONTAINS No-Ads, as we are thrilled to present you backup tales exploring the Apeiverse!
LEARN the dark secret of the primate planet!
WORRY that the fate of the entire universe is in the hands of the Gibbon!
Not a hoax, not a dream, not an imaginary story - just the most not-to-be-missed mini-series of the season! If you only buy one (well, two) comics this month about super-powered, intelligent apes-in-capes, it must be MARVEL APES!

Review: I'm going to try my best to avoid using monkey terminology in this review. If you've ever felt like you're out of sync with the world, and that no matter how hard you try to get in the game you always end up on the sidelines, the Gibbon—so named because he has the strength, speed and appearance of a gibbon—can certainly sympathize. So what does he do? Offer himself as a test subject, of course. But when he and Dr. Fitzhugh are accidentally transported to Monkhattan, he may finally find a purpose when he helps Spider-Monkey, Speedball and Ape X take down Doc Ook. Kesel and Bachs have delivered an entertaining issue that is totally—sorry, folks, I have to say it—BANANAS!! It's a kick seeing Marvel characters in their simian versions, who act just like their human counterparts. Or do they? There may be a sinister side to Captain America . Also check out “The Official History of the Marvel Apes Universe,” part 1, by Tom Peyer and Barry Kitson—and learn how the idea behind this miniseries came about in the first place.

SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE SEASON 2 #2 (All Ages)

Terry Moore (w); Craig Rousseau (p/i); Guillem Mari (c); Dave Sharpe (l); cover by Moore

Publisher: Marvel

Format: monthly series

Concept: Mary Jane Watson returns in her own series.

In this issue: Eisner-award winner TERRY MOORE's take on everyone's favorite redhead rolls on! MJ's strapped for cash, so it's time to join the workforce…aaaaaand it doesn't go all that great. Oh, and who's spreading rumors about MJ being all spoiled and stuck up? Not the best idea in the world to be hatin' on Spidey's girl… (from marvel.com)

Review: It's Mary Jane's second day at school, and she experiences the joys of oversleeping, biology and phys ed, as well as starting a new job. Every page in this issue is filled with wonderful moments: being awakened by her cat, inventing an excuse for being late to acting class, talking with Peter in the health room, the on-the-job accident, just to name a few. Rousseau draws the cast beautifully, but my favorite panel is the one with Kraven and that awesome lion.

VENOM: DARK ORIGIN #2 (Teen/Young Adult)

Zeb Wells (w); Angel Medina (p); Scott Hanna (i); Matt Milla (c); Joe Caramagna (l); cover by Medina

Publisher: Marvel

Format: five-issue miniseries

Concept: Learn how Eddie Brock bonded with the alien symbiote and became Venom.

In this issue : When a man claiming to be the Sin-Eater -- the serial killer tormenting Spider-Man and all New York City -- contacts the young Eddie Brock at the Daily Globe, Eddie takes his shot at career-making news. Who cares if the story's full of holes? Watch the corruption that poisons Eddie's soul until it's as black as a certain alien symbiote…and witness the creation of one of Spider-Man's great foes! By writer Zeb Wells (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) and artist Angel Medina (SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN)! (from marvel.com)

Review: Once again, Venom does not actually appear in this issue, which just makes me all the more eager to read the rest of the story. And once again, Eddie utilizes his talent for manipulating situations to his advantage, taking a phone call meant for someone else and introducing himself to the serial killer known as the Sin-Eater. Wells shows us a man whose priority is getting on the front page, no matter the cost to anyone, including himself. Medina once again does a nice job with the artwork. Particularly effective is the transition from the Sin-Eater ending their phone conversation to Eddie in the editor-in-chief's office presenting his story. It makes one wonder if, in his own way, Eddie isn't just as bad as the killer he's trying to get a story on. While Venom doesn't appear yet, the symbiote does for a brief moment, and the way it's introduced is brilliant. And when Eddie's poor reporting finally catches up with him, we know it's only a matter of time.

Look out for: blood (two images of the Sin-Eater's victims)

COLLECTIONS

MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN vol. 10: IDENTITY CRISIS digest collects MA SPIDER-MAN #37-40.

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #15 collects MA AVENGERS #15 and X-MEN FIRST CLASS #3.

To be reviewed in next week's column:

INVINCIBLE #52

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES IN THE 31 st CENTURY #18

MARVEL ADVNETURES HULK #15

MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #43

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #191

SONIC X #36

SUPER FRIENDS vol. 2 #7

TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED: THE ARRIVAL #2

By thy side,

John “Figaro” Norris

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