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

THE BATMAN STRIKES! #33: “Growth” (All Ages)

Jai Nitz (w); Christopher Jones (p); Terry Beatty (i); Heroic Age (c); Robert Clark, Jr. (l); cover by Dave McCaig

Publisher: DC

Format: monthly series

Concept: Follow the adventures of Bruce Wayne in his early years as Batman. Based on the current animated series.

In this issue: Poison Ivy's figured out the perfect way to get Batman out of her way…make The Batman into a Batboy! A now-young Bruce Wayne will have to fight alongside Batgirl and Robin through Poison Ivy's plant army and puberty! (from dccomics.com)

Review: I like stories that work on different levels, and this issue is a good example. Batman, Robin and Batgirl are trying to stop Poison Ivy and her pod-people from planting vines that will devour Gotham 's buildings, when Ivy injects Batman with a youth serum. Now in the body of a ten-year-old, Bruce must find an antidote while Batgirl and Robin track down Ivy. But in the middle of all this, Alfred sees an old photo and gives the youthful-looking Bruce a hug (much to his surprise—the look on his face is priceless), and what had been a rather typical STRIKES story becomes, in part, a meditation on the loss of youth (and youthful innocence) and the importance of family. That one scene elevates the story from a typical action-adventure yarn to something memorable and touching. For their part, Jones, Beatty and Heroic Age do outstanding work here, particularly with young Bruce's facial expressions…and his costume looks AWESOME.

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HULK AND POWER PACK #3: “It's Not Easy Being Green, part 1: Stop! Gamma Time!” (All Ages)

Marc Sumerak (w); Andy Kuhn (p/i); Gurihiru (c); Dave Sharpe (l); cover by David Williams

Publisher: Marvel

Format: four-issue miniseries

Concept: Ol' Greenskin meets the Power kids in this limited series.

In this issue: When a big, green monster tears up the streets of New York City , it looks like the Hulk has gone on another rampage...or has he? It's up to Power Pack to get to the bottom of the situation before their new pal gets blamed for all the destruction. But if the Hulk isn't the culprit, who is? And how can the kids possibly stand up to another Hulk-sized threat? Also featuring Mini Marvels! (from marvel.com)

Review: It's bad enough that they can't convince the cops that they're good guys. Now, Power Pack has to deal with a monster-size threat. Sumerak playfully reminds Jack—and us readers—that there's more than one big green monster in the Marvel Universe: Man-Thing, Drax, Super-Skrull, Lizard, Radioactive Man, Fin Fang Foom…and Hulk's old enemy, the Abomination! I like how Sumerak shows that Hulk knows Katie's his friend, even when she hits him with a blast. Kuhn does a nice job taking over for Williams on the art duties. Just wait until you see the final page!

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INVINCIBLE #41 (Teen/Young Adult)

Robert Kirkman (w); Ryan Ottley (p/i); Bill Crabtree (c); Rus Wooton (l); cover by Ottley & Crabtree

Publisher: Image

Format: monthly series

Concept: Follow the adventures of young superhero Mark Grayson.

In this issue: The battle with the SEQUIDS is over. The fate of Earth is decided. You didn't really think Invincible was going to lose, did you? (from imagecomics.com)

Review: This issue picks up where the last one left off, with our heroes in the heat of battle with the Sequids. Yes, they do manage to overcome them, but you will have to read about that for yourselves. We check in on Rex Splode and also on Amber. I really like the way that Kirkman handled Mark and Amber's inevitable conversation. They both knew that it would eventually come to this, and they handle it nicely. But as faithful readers of this book know, Kirkman doesn't allow things to stay calm for long. Props go to Ottley and Crabtree for their FANTASTIC splash pages in this issue. (Of course, the other pages are nice, too.)

Look out for: blood

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MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR #24: “The Taking of Tridents 1-2-3 !” (All Ages)

Fred Van Lente (w); Clay Mann (p); Terry Pallot (i); Lee Loughridge (c); Dave Sharpe (l); cover by Carlo Pagulayan, Jeffrey Huet & Chris Sotomayor

Publisher: Marvel

Format: monthly series

Concept: Irradiated by cosmic rays and transformed to possess superhuman powers, they joined together to fight evil. Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, the Human Torch and the Thing. Together they call themselves the Fantastic Four!

In this issue: A trio of priceless tridents has been stolen from Atlantis, and the prime suspect is ... the Invisible Woman! Can Mr. Fantastic trade his scientist's hat for a detective's and uncover the real culprits before the SUB-MARINER declares war on the surface world? (from marvel.com)

Review: Everyone knows that Sue Richards is lovable. And everyone knows that despite the fact that she is married, Namor (the Sub-Mariner) is in love with her, a fact that someone means to exploit. Not much to say here, but I like that Van Lente shows us his love for Sue is not above his sense of duty when Andromeda accuses her. And Ben and Johnny's idea of a distraction…hilarious.

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SPIDER-MAN AND THE FANTASTIC FOUR #2: “The New Silver Age” (Teen/Young Adult)

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

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: The invasion of Earth proceeds smoothly as no heroes can stop the process that will bring about the Silver Age of humanity! To find the key to stopping the aliens, Reed Richards leaves his planet and his team. Now with Spider-Man joining, the world still has a Fantastic Four ...but will it be enough to save the Earth? (from marvel.com)

Review: What's worse, the devil you know or the devil you don't know? Or fighting a known villain versus an unknown alien race bent on taking over the earth's population who seems to know exactly what they're doing? That's the situation our heroes find themselves in, sort of a superheroes-meets-“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” type of thing. No matter how serious things get, Parker always has some humor, particularly with Spidey and Johnny. As usual, Wieringo's style is wonderful, and props must go to Pantazis for his eye-popping colors.

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TRADES/DIGESTS:

MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN, vol. 6: THE BLACK COSTUME digest collects MA SPIDER-MAN #21-24.

SPIDER-MAN AND POWER PACK: BIG-CITY SUPER HEROES digest collects SPIDER-MAN AND POWER PACK #1-4.

To be reviewed in next week's column:

FLASH: THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE #12

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROS IN THE 31 ST CENTURY #2

MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #13

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #109

By thy side,

John “Figaro” Norris

5/13/07