THE CAT'S MEOW: What's Good on the Shelf This Week  

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PET ROBOTS (All Ages)

Scott Christian Sava (w); Diego Jourdan & Villagran Studios (p/i); Frank Villarreal (c)

Publisher: Blue Dream Studios

Format: hardcover

Concept: Four students—Jake, Chris, Tammy, and Tommy—lose their way while on a field trip to the Rooty Tooty Toy Company. In their quest to find their way back to the rest of the class, they stumble upon a room inhabited only by four military-looking toy robots. The field trip ends, but unbeknownst to Jake, Chris, Tammy and Tommy, the robots follow them home. Now, as they learn the wonders of their new robotic friends Rock, Wind, Aqua, and Skye, our four young heroes must also avoid the evil owner of the Rooty Tooty Toy Company, Vandenburger Meisterburger. He wants his robots back. And he'll stop at nothing. (from newsarama.com)

Review: I placed this review first, but it's actually the last review written for this week's column. It's a few minutes after midnight as I finish typing this, yet I just read this story from first page to last nonstop in one sitting. That's how involved I was in it. Sava is a writer/3-D artist whose works I am familiar with (including THE LAB, DREAMLAND CHRONICLES and SPIDER-MAN: QUALITY OF LIFE). Here he sticks to writing, and he does a nice job of making the story flow smoothly. Nothing feels too long or too short; scenes go in and out when they should. Each character has a personality, and the robots are great. You can tell they really care. Seeing them defend the kids gave me a warm feeling, like watching THE IRON GIANT all over again. There is a bit of potty humor which, while not this reviewer's cup of tea, will undoubtedly give the younger readers a laugh while the older ones are enjoying the action. Jourdan's art has a sort of Nicktoons-ish look to it, something along the lines of RUGRATS or HEY, ARNOLD . This is an all-ages book in the truest sense of the phrase; it offers something for everyone. Highly recommended! It's available from amazon.com.

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FANTASTIC FOUR/POWER PACK #2: “The Utterly Awesome Adventure of Mass Master & Fabulous Frank!**” (All Ages)

**Which have absolutely, positively nothing whatsoever to do with the Fantastic Four or Power Pack!!

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

Publisher: Marvel

Format: four-issue miniseries

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

In this issue: Stop! Read this! Have you seen these missing children? JACK POWER, brown hair, brown eyes, can expand his density into a cloudy mass or shrink down to a fraction of his size, also answers to "MASS MASTER." He is probably with FRANKLIN RICHARDS, blond hair, blue eyes, wearing a t-shirt with a "4" on it, also answers to "SON OF A GENIUS." They've run away from home together to make careers as solo heroes, and Power Pack has to track them down before KRAVEN THE HUNTER does! (from marvel.com)

Review: Jack and Franklin are on their own, and as the subtitle above indicates, they are still holding grudges against their respective families. Of course, their adventure has EVERYTHING to do with the Four and the Pack; otherwise, this comic would have to be titled something else! For good measure, Van Lente throws in two classic villains (Kraven and the man who paid him to find Franklin), nanomachines, old treehouses, Kraven's “pack,” flying baubles, and furry were-vampires. Yes, FURRY WERE-VAMPIRES. It all comes wrapped up in Gurihiru's beautiful-as-always artwork.

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MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #30: “Whirlwind Tour” (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 : There's a stiff wind rustlin' its way through Manhattan , straight towards Spidey! Awfully hard for our resident Wall-Crawler to crawl said walls when Whirlwind's blowin' ‘em down! (from marvel.com)

Review: On the surface, this issue is about Spidey fighting Whirlwind. But peel back a layer or two, and you'll find that this story is really about family. Using the Thanksgiving holiday as the setting, David allows us into the homes of Aunt May and Whirlwind's dad. One provides a loving environment, but the other does not, and that manifests itself in the two main characters' personalities. David nicely illustrates this by allowing both guys several moments in the story where they have the opportunity to take anything they want and easily get away with it; one does and the other doesn't. In the end, what matters most is not a family's size, but rather a family's love. As Aunt May puts it, “Family isn't measured in quantity. It's measured in quality.”

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SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #178: “House of Cards, part 1” (All Ages)

Ian Flynn (w); Tracy Yardley! (p); Jim Amash (i); Jason Jensen (c); John Workman (l); cover by Yardley, Amash & Jensen

Publisher: Archie

Format: monthly series

Concept: Follow the adventures of Sonic and pals, based on the hit video game.

In this issue: Sonic's hometown of New Mobotropolis has been devastated by unspeakable threats from beyond... but what about those within? There's talk of revolution, and Sonic will have to choose sides! Will the leaders of the rebellion drive a wedge between Sonic and Tails forever? It's the fight everyone's feared but never thought they'd see - friend vs. friend, Sonic vs. Tails! (from grahamcrackers.com)

Review: Having read two issues of SONIC X and enjoyed them, I figured I would give the regular series a try. Boy, did I pick a heck of a jumping-on point! Granted, some things might have made a bit more sense had I read previous issues, but c'mon, who wouldn't be intrigued by that cover image? Everything serves as a buildup to the last few pages, when Sonic and Tails go at it…and things probably won't be pretty.

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SPIDER-MAN AND THE FANTASTIC FOUR #4 (Teen/Young Adult)

Jeff Parker (w); Mike Wieringo (p); Wade von Grawbadger (i); Pete Pantazis (c); Nate Piekos (l); cover by Wieringo & Kesel

Publisher: Marvel

Format: four-issue miniseries

Concept: It's a hero-filled limited series as Spidey teams up with the Fantastic Four.

In this issue: Reed Richards is back, and so is someone else. And that someone is MAD. And not as charming as he was when we saw him last. Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four have figured out how to save the human race, but now they have to save the alien invaders as well! (from marvel.com)

Review: Parker and Wieringo say farewell to the series in this last issue. A certain green man—or make that a whole green species—arrives and wants to populate the Earth. How can they save the planet with ANOTHER alien species! Things are nicely wrapped up (or are they?) by Parker, and Wieringo & crew produce one more issue of fantastic artwork.

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This week, we take a look at five different TRANSFORMERS. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…

TRANSFORMERS: SPOTLIGHT (Teen/Young Adult)

Simon Furman (w); art and letters by various artists

Publisher: IDW

Format: trade paperback

Review: This trade collects five stories featuring five different characters: Shockwave, Nightbeat, Hot Rod, Sixshot and Ultra Magnus. Shockwave is the coldly logical one, Nightbeat is the loner detective, Hot Rod is the daredevil, Sixshot is the living weapon, and Ultra Magnus is the “long arm of the law.” Furman does a nice job of making each story self-contained, yet tying them into the grand scheme of the TRANSFORMERS IDW universe. It includes a cover gallery and is available at bookstores everywhere.

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To be reviewed in next week's column:

THE BATMAN STRIKES! #36

NEW AVENGERS/TRANSFORMERS #2

PHANTOM vol. 6 #18

John “Figaro” Norris

Aug 05 , 07