Batman: Arkham Reborn (comics)

Writer: David Hine
Artist: Jeremy Haun
Collects: Battle for the Cowl: Arkham Asylum, Arkham Reborn #1-3, Detective Comics #864-865

Man, that's a striking Cliff Chiang cover, innit? I love the guys work. Wish he did more interiors.

Anyways, despite his prominence on the cover, Batman doesn't figure much into this story; he's in it, but he's only an element in the story instead of the protagonist. The star of the show is Jeremiah Arkham and Arkham Asylum itself. The whole of the Arkham Reborn saga is kind of a parallel plotline to the "Batman Reborn" retooling of the Batman line; while the rest of the line was fooling around with the shiny new status quo, David Hine quietly crafted a story of Arkham's rebirth into something quite possibly even more sinister than ever before. It's status as a parallel plot is both a blessing and a curse, however, which I'll get to later.

During the events of Batman RIP, Jerimiah Arkham was ejected from his beloved asylum by the Black Glove. Not long after, the asylum was destroyed by the new Black Mask while a battle for Batmans cowl raged. Unwilling to give in, Jeremiah decides to rebuild Arkham, but what it turns into may be even more dangerous than what it was before. Mysterious incidents involving the inmates occur and it almost seems as if the asylum itself is working against him. The question quickly goes from asking if anyone can be rehabbed in Arkham to asking if the asylum itself can drive a man to insanity all on it's own. The title - Arkham Reborn - is apt, as in a way this story is something of a rebirth for more than just the infamous home of Batmans rogues.

In all, it's a compelling read. David Hine writes a tight story with plenty of tension. You just know everything is going to go horribly wrong - it is Arkham Asylum after all - but there's the question of how it's all going to come crashing down. Hine brings in elements of past Arkham Asylum related stories to play off of and the result is gripping. Jerimiah Arkham has always struggled to keep some semblance of control over the asylum and there has always existed the question of whether it's affected his sanity. This book seems to settle that question rather definitively and I'm interested in the changes it brings to the asylum.

An action packed book this is not, so if that's what you're looking for, this probably isn't for you. A lot of the page time is spent on Jeremiahs thoughts and mental health. Even when a riot occurs a bit after the halfway mark of the book, it doesn't focus on the action or Batman getting things under control. After all, there's no need; that's just another Tuesday in Gotham. It's used as a device for the story, wrapped within a few pages and putting more pressure on the principal character.

If there's a problem with the book, it's that it's abundantly clear that it was hampered by the need to keep from spoiling events in another book; events I'm now forced to dance around while talking about it in case I have a reader who doesn't want to be spoiled. The presence of the new Black Mask - a plotline handled in Tony Daniels "Life After Death" storyline - is made clear throughout the book, but Hine is forced to work around the subject for most of the storyline. But between the Arkham Reborn mini and the publishing of the Detective two-parter that ends the story, that whole business had been resolved, so the Detective issues open with it clear who Black Mask was, assuming that we read that storyline. Also, a character incarcerated at the end of the mini is suddenly walking free in the 'Tec issues with absolutely no context; again, I assume it's a question answered elsewhere, though I'm not entirely sure, as I haven't read "Life After Death". It's very jarring, as some of this stuff simply does not flow from the ending of Arkham Reborn. It harms what's an otherwise compelling read; even just a few pages showing what happened between them would have helped with the transition. Instead, the knowledge is assumed; not good, especially when it isn't something minor or easily ignored.

Why this happened, exactly, I just don't know; the Battle for the Cowl: Arkham Asylum one shot collected here summarized the events that affected this story, effectively getting us up to speed. Why it didn't happen with the Detective issues that desperately needed it, I haven't a clue. Hell, the fact that this story was being finished up in a book that had nothing to do with Arkham prior - Batwoman was starring in 'Tec right before the two part wrap-up of the Arkham story - should have been reason enough to get readers up to speed. It makes no sense whether you put it in the context of a trade or a monthly.

The art by Jeremy Haun is good, solid work, but I'm not entirely sure it was suited for this sort of story. The bulk of the story deals in madness and insanity; I don't want to rag on this too hard, as Hauns work here is quite good, but my point is that it seems more suited to a superhero book. I personally think this mini needed the work of an artist whom's style is more apt to dark, haunting imagery. So, basically, very good art paired with a story it wasn't suited for.

Still, despite the flaws, I felt that the story still managed to come together. Arkham Asylum's always been an interesting part of the Batman mythos to me. It's pretty over the top by this point - we're at the junction where even characters are referring to it as a revolving door for the insane - but nonetheless fascinating in it's own way. Not too many stories really focus on it a lot though; it's more of a backdrop in most regular Batman adventures. But it seems that every now and then we get a story spotlighting Arkham and its crazies. When they're this good, they're welcome.

I just wish the choppy transition late in the book didn't hurt it so much.

The Score: 7.5 out of 10

In all, the book is still a good read despite everything. I wish I could give it a higher score, but I felt that the trouble late in the book surrounding the jarring shift hampered the book too much. But it's still a worthwhile read. Maybe even worth a purchase, especially if you like a good Arkham story.

Hulk: Red & Green (comics)

Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artists: Arthur Adams, Frank Cho, Herb Trimpe
Collects: Hulk #7-9, King Sized Hulk #1

The Jeph Loeb Hulk run gets a lot of hate. It's not unfounded; all you need to do is take a look at one of the free five page previews from one of the issues to know the comics are dumb as a post. Loeb doesn't even try to make it anything but, so a spade may as well be called a spade. At some point this past decade, Jeph Loebs scripting abilities went to hell, but at the same time, the man is practically magic when it comes to attracting top tier artists to his projects. This volume boasts the talent of Arthur Adams and Frank Cho; so on those grounds I gave it a read.

After reading it, all I can say is... well, at least it all looks really good.

The book has two main "stories" here. See, at the time, the Incredible Hulk series had been renamed Incredible Hercules and followed that particular character. But since then, Green Hulk was running around and there was only one Hulk book. So they decided to go in halfs. Half an issue would follow Hulk classic and the other half would follow the new Red variety.

Anyways, the one starring Green Hulk finds him in Las Vegas. Apparently, Wendigos are all around and infecting the whole of Vegas. Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel and the Sentry drop by and Banner Hulks out. By the end an entire section of Vegas likely needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and for some reason known only to the creators it's actually snowing. Over in the Red Hulk tale, She-Hulk decides she wants some payback for being smacked around by the Red Hulk in times past. So naturally, instead of actually coming up with, you know, a plan, she just rings up a few of her gal pals, announces their arrival to the Red Hulk - I guess she's never heard of the element of surprise - and then proceeds to try beating the hell out of him. Since, of course, we're talking about Red Hulk here - who is a villainous Gary Stu if ever I saw one - it's no spoiler to say this doesn't work out so well.

The writing is pretty bad. Loeb does not even bother to humor us with even the slightest hint of coherent continuity or plotting. It's basically the equivalent of a kid taking his action figures and smashing them together. Seriously, there are a lot of basic questions here that do not even receive lip service. For example, at a couple times during the story, we see that Banner is in captivity - where he has apparently been since World War Hulk - which begs the question of how the hell he's running around in Vegas, beating on a bunch of furry monsters. No answers; not even a hint that Loeb even cares. That's just one example of the story just plain not making sense. Out of nowhere the Joe Fixit personality emerges from Banner for no real reason and is gone within a handful of pages, having served no purpose.

By the time one of Marvels mystics shows up to Deus Ex Machina the problem away, you've pretty much given up trying to make sense of any of it. Hell, how the Wendigo's infect isn't even explained properly; Banners monologue explains it as the result of humans engaging in cannibalism, but then later in the story it seems to just forget it established that and suddenly it's done by being bitten by one, a la zombies. We get an amusing sequence with Hulk out of it, sure, but goddamn; retconning is one thing, but within the same story? It's all a mess.

The Red Hulk tale mercifully lacks the variety of problems the previous one had. But that's mostly because it's nothing more than a big fight scene. Red Hulk spouts about some plan every now and then, but we never get the idea that he has one outside of him telling us he does. Perhaps it was a bit clearer in the last volume, but judging by this one, I doubt it.

The last real story is a summation of the life of Abomination told from his death on backwards to when he was "born". Why it's even here, I haven't the foggiest; after all, the Abomination was killed in the last volume and plays no part in this one. But whatever, right? I just kind of look at it as an out of place extra.

Where the scripting fails, the art prevails. Seriously, for every bad moment brought by the writing, there's a gorgeous panel of art to look at. Arthur Adams draws the hell out of the Vegas story; the story may be stupid as hell, but it's kind of hard to really argue with Hulk smashing through a city of neon lights and busting up Wendigos in a casino. Though I will say that I found it kind of funny how he makes Ms. Marvel look like Empowered.

Frank Cho draws the Red Hulk story because of course Frank Cho is going to be called upon to draw a story where eighty percent of the cast consists of women. Ass shots aplenty. I love Cho's work and really, this kind of thing is pretty much his specialty. The dudes good at drawing beautiful women. This is a story where a bunch of beautiful women fight Red Hulk. The math's definitely sound and the man can draw some good facial expressions too. I like it, even if he does sometimes work to get in an ass shot; though to be fair, I didn't think it went to the levels of, say, an Ed Benes this go around.

Now, I've railed on this book pretty heavily, so it's understandable if you think I loathed it outright. These are, after all, comics that don't even manage to come within a mile of being genuinely good. But I have to admit, there is some enjoyment to be had. If you go in like you might a regular comic, you'll probably rip your hair out, because the book - and hell, most of the characters in it - borders on retarded. But if you stop thinking about and just enjoy it as a fight comic, you can find some fun within. It's basically two big fights drawn by some of the industries greats. Sometimes that's all you really need.

The Score: 5.5 out of 10

I kind of hesitate to give this book a score even on the level of a five point five, but fun is fun, even if it's retarded fun. There's plenty of reason for most readers to hate this book; and honestly, I agree a hundred percent with most of the criticisms. But this volume at least had some merit. If the art wasn't even half as good, this probably would have gotten a four. I'd never recommend a purchase, - and I doubt I'll be back for future volumes, because I fear my IQ would drop sharply - but if, say, you were to find it at the library, the art makes it worth a check-out. But only one.

One last thing; can writers please be banned from writing "omigod"? It's horribly obnoxious. I do not know any real people who say that. If I did, I probably wouldn't want to hang around them.

Batman and the Outsiders: The Chrysalis (comics)

Writer: Chuck Dixon
Artists: Julian Lopez, Carlos Rodriguez
Collects: Batman and the Outsiders #1-5

Is it just me, or is it a bit sad when the circumstances surrounding a book are more entertaining than the book itself? It seemed like this book pissed through creative teams on the way to being published. At one point Judd Winick was slated to write the book, then Tony Bedard, then one more if I remember right before Chuck Dixon was finally solidified as the writer. The cast of the book was almost as much of a question mark. At one point I was interested - putting Batman in a books title is an easy way to get my attention - but between all the ruckus leading to the books debut and Batman RIP making it clear the pointy eared ones involvement in the title would not last, the interest more or less bottomed out.

Turns out I didn't really miss anything.

So after a relatively disastrous team-up with the forces of Checkmate, Nightwing decided it would be a fairly ballin' idea to give the reins of the team up to Batman. It's a logical move for ol' Dick to make; after all, the Bat is the one who initially created the team to start with and has flitted in and out of their lives since. Batman does some trial by fire recruiting and this book starts up after all that has taken place. The first mission quickly leads them into hot water, OMAC's are involved and nasty folks need stoppin'. Sounds right up Batmans alley.

The book is pretty straightforward, yet still manages to be something of a mess. It feels like the book was trying to work out its creative nightmares as it went along, which leads to some odd instances within the comic itself. Several promised members featured prominently on the cover are gone by the end of the second issue - remnants of the plans of a different writer - and new members drop in seemingly at random, only to kind of hang around and not do much, at least not in this volume. Dixon works to get things to where he wants them to be, but even if you didn't know of all the behind the scenes malarky it's easy to get the feeling that the book did not go as planned.

The writing is solid, but not much more. To tell the truth, I'm not a huge fan of Chuck Dixon; I like some of his comics, but he is not one of those guys whose work I'll actively seek out. To me, he's always been middle of the road; one of the dependable workhorses of comics, if you will. You can depend on him for a solid script and timeliness - and hell, to be fair, sometimes you just want a straight up superhero adventure with no subtext - but if you want comics that really push boundaries or rise to great heights he's not exactly the writer you want to look for. Aside from some of his Batman and Punisher work, I have a difficult time remembering any stories he's written that didn't have the title "Year One". Sometimes I just find his work bland.

To that sense, this book definitely feels like one of his. Despite it's creative woes, he manages to pull the book into readable territory, which is no mean feat. But it's not something you're likely to remember afterwords, which is never a good sign.

I will give credit where it's due, however. Dixon makes use of several characters we haven't seen in a while. It's interesting to have Francine Langstrom as part of the supporting cast of the book, for example, as it's her husband - also known as Man-Bat - that usually takes up the page time. It's also nice to see something done with the Dibny's, who, despite receiving a fantastic setup for adventures as ghost detectives, have appeared in jack all since 52.

The art only compounds problems. Frankly, it feels rushed. Hell, it probably was, considering the trouble getting the book out there. The second issue has a guest artist and neither really turn in work that goes to a level much higher than "solid". One particular quirk to note is that Julian Lopez - the primary artist - has a tendency to overdo expressions; some of Geo-Forces midway through the book are almost comically overdone. The artist couldn't seem to settle on a consistent costume for Katana either, as it seems to change from issue to issue.

Oh well, at least Metamorpho has pants now; never could take him too serious prior.

The Score: 6.5 out of 10

Solid, but ultimately forgettable. It has its pluses, but the flaws seem to outweigh it; and Dixon isn't exactly an exciting enough scripter to make the entire exercise worthwhile on his own. It's a shame too, as the hook has potential; alas, it never truly seizes it and considering there's only one more volume from Dixon I highly doubt anything introduced in this book got to play out in any interesting way. You won't miss much if you skip it.

Daredevil Noir (comics)

Writer: Alexander Irvine
Artist: Tomm Coker
Collects: Daredevil Noir #1-4

This book kind of confuses me. Not in a sense that I couldn't understand the story. More in the sense that I can't understand why it exists.

I know, odd statement; why does any story exist? But seriously, this book didn't exactly feel too far removed from the norm for Daredevil. I admit I'm not a regular Daredevil reader. I've only read a couple scattered stories. I'm not overly familiar with noir either, aside from enjoying a couple classics. But what I have read of Daredevil already felt immersed in noir - or at least to my admittedly limited understanding of it - which kind of makes the choice to do a book like this an odd one. If the main book dabbles in the genre semi-regularly, why bother creating a standalone alternate continuity story based around it?

I guess one could say they just felt like hitting all their icons with this noir line; actually, now that I think on it, that's probably it.

Still, it makes for an odd read. What little noir I've read tends to have a nihilistic view of the world; and to some extent, that continues here. But in trying to suss out what's different, I couldn't really find anything. This book has Matt Murdock as a blind PI with partner Foggy Nelson and Matt moonlights as Daredevil. The typical dame shows up, Matt's drawn into her world, including a coming gang war and everything just goes to hell for him. But, you know, isn't that more or less what happens to Daredevil Classic? Seems like every five minutes you hear about one of his love interests overdosing and his life literally being broken down piece by piece. Maybe it just seems that way because I don't read the book much. Regardless, that's how it comes off. I guess the biggest difference with this book is that instead of being dredged in noir like the regular Daredevil, this is soaked in it before being sauteed in the proverbial noir juices.

Regardless of all that, it's quite competently written. It read about as I expected and I generally enjoyed it, so I suppose in some regards it's a success. The inner monologues can get a bit purple, but as I understand that's pretty much how noir is done and such is done well enough that I didn't feel like it was a distraction. I suppose I could fault it for being so much like what I expected that little it did was a surprise, but there's something to be said for getting what you want out of a book. Still, I'm not sure there's anything in this story that made it a completely worthwhile exercise.

The art looks great and fits the story perfectly, but it too has its problems. I understand that a noir story is supposed to be pretty dark - lots of shadows, muted colors and so on - but there are times where I think this book goes a bit overboard. There are a couple fight scenes that contained panels where I just flat out could not discern what was going on. Did the Bullseye killer just stab him with a piece of wood in the water? Does that character have Daredevil in a headlock? Why do the limbs seem kind of off in that panel? Why does this panel look more like they're having a dance-off than fighting? What the hell is coming out of that pipe? How did that building suddenly set on fire? And so on. It's really the fight scenes that are the problem. For the most part, the book has solid storytelling through art, but it seems that when a fight scene comes about the books very genre gets in the way. I guess if nothing else, it proves a noir comic can be a bit too shadowy.

The Score: 7 out of 10

When you get down to it, I'm still not sure this book justified its own existence. It was a fairly enjoyable read, however, so it's not a total waste. It's not something I'd jump to recommend, however. I guess it depends on how much noir you like on your Daredevil. For me, it didn't dissuade me from trying others from the Noir line, but... well, it doesn't exactly inspire me to go out of my way to read any more either.

The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite

Writer: Gerard Way
Artist: Gabriel Ba
Collects: Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite #1-6, two page internet preview story, Free Comic Book Day 2007 story

Holy hell, talk about defying my every expectation.

Listen. Between you and me? There was absolutely no reason for this to be any good. It's written by a singer in an alternative rock band. I've little experience with My Chemical Romance aside from hearing a song or two that I thought sounded kind of cool, but even if they're the best - or worst - band going, there's a difference between writing music and writing comic books. Besides that, the track records for any comic book written by a musician of any kind is piss poor. Remember those Insane Clown Posse comics? No? Good, you must have blocked them out of your memory. Couple this with the fact that I had never heard of the artist before and man I thought this was going to suck harder than a cheap hooker; Grant Morrison giving it praise is why I ultimately took it out for a read.

I'm sorry for not giving you the benefit of the doubt, Gerard Way; at the very least, you've proven you can put together a good comic.

The story starts with seven kids with extraordinary powers being born after a wrestler drops the atomic elbow on a space octopus. The seven are taken in and adopted, later becoming a dysfunctional family and superhero group, the Umbrella Academy. After seeing their first adventure, we jump forward twenty years. They've all grown up, one of their number is dead and by this time the team has long since disbanded. But now, their adopted father has died and the apocalypse is on the horizon. The remaining members of the team need to put their differences aside and reunite if there's any hope for the world.

First off, it's easy to tell Gerard is a fan of Grant Morrison. More than once this comic reminded me of the style of rapid fire ideas that can make Morrisons comics the most interesting thing to hit a page. From a living white violin with the power to bring the apocalypse through song to the Academy fighting an insane Eiffil Tower piloted by Zombie-Robot Gustave Eiffil, this comic is just bursting with the kind of insane fun that draws me in every time. He's also got a knack for writing a bit of dark humor here and there, which is more than welcome; juxtaposing an "isn't this worth fighting for" speech against a seedy streetcorner with triple X signs and hookers fighting next to a homeless guy is just morbidly hilarious.

To my surprise, it's all very well written. Way manages to craft some believable drama in the midst of the insanity, with the different relations between the dysfunctional kinda-sorta-not-really-a-family bringing some emotional weight to the proceedings. None of them are actually blood related and within the dynamic lie grudges, chaffing personalities and serious dysfunction. Some members get along well while others might come to blows. Way manages to make us feel like we know the members of the Academy fairly quickly, which I think is high praise. By the end, it's easy to be attached the the team and their insane world. It's even easier to want to see what might be next.

If Gerard Way is not a comic fan, I'll be surprised, because there are aspects to this comic that seem to homage some of the greats. Late in the book, when attempting to piece things together, The Kraken meets with a very Commissioner Gordan-esque inspector. The scene feels like a reference to Batman, right down to Kraken disappearing while the inspector is still talking. The team itself - including the power sets and general looks - feels very much like an homage to the Doom Patrol; hell, the fight with an insane Eiffel Tower made me think of the Painting That Ate Paris from Morrisons Doom Patrol run. Also, some character interactions remind me of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. By that, I'm thinking largely of the rivalry between The Kraken - a hot headed brawler who doesn't like taking orders, just like Raphael - and the team leader Spaceboy, who reminds me of Leonardo of the Turtles, only far more interesting (lets face it, Leo can be kind of a bland cliche of the stern leader just as often as he can be awesome). Some of it's probably intentional, some of it might not be, but it's nice regardless.

I mentioned earlier that I'd never heard of Gabriel Ba before and that's true, but I'll remember him from now on. His art is at times a bit too blocky for my liking - not really a fan of that sort of style - but he clearly has an eye for detail and skills in telling a story with art. The details in his art can convey as much about the story as the words. To elaborate on that a bit, one thing he did I liked happened midway through the first issue when we jump ahead twenty years to the time period the rest of the comic takes place in. The first thing we see is Spaceboy. In the twenty years since, his head has somehow been grafted onto an apes body. There is no exposition explaining this, the comic just moves forward; instead, in the background, we see newspaper clippings that give you everything you need to know about what happened without any exposition. Good stuff.

Also included in the collection is a two page story that was put up on the internet as a teaser of sorts and the Free Comic Book Day offering. The former is nice to see included - though it may be non-canon - but doesn't offer much. The FCBD offering, however, holds more value. Seeing as it takes place before the Umbrella Academy originally broke up as a team, it offers a look at the group in their prime, something we didn't see at all in Apocalypse Suite proper. It's very much in the same vein as the main series and I'm glad it was included. To round it off, there's a sketchbook section at the back, showing a lot of the original concept art of the series numerous characters. It's worth a look to see how the designs evolved prior to the project.

The Score: 8.5 out of 10

Man, was this a great read. This was definitely a surprise in regards to how good it is; I'd heard the praise, but I couldn't believe it until I'd seen it. It's great folks. I'd recommend dropping the coin - followed by the Atomic Elbow Drop - as soon as possible. No hype; it's just great comics. I'll be back for Dallas and whatever else Gerard Way feels like writing.

Metroid: Other M (video games)

Platform: Wii
Developers: Team Ninja, Nintendo
Genre: Action, Adventure
ESRB Rating: Teen
Release Date: August 31st, 2010

I've been a fan of the Metroid games for a long time. I was a bit late to the party - my first experience was Fusion and I never got to play Super until just a couple years ago - but once I got into the franchise I've been there for most installments. Up comes the latest adventure for Samus, Other M. The question of whether I was going to play it would be met with a resounding "duh".

Before I go much further, I may as well address the elephant in the room and get it out of the way. There's been some outrage over this game and its portrayal of Samus. This was to be expected, really - even when she had the few story sequences in Fusion some people bitched - but it's louder now. There are calls of sexism and even claims on Big Time Gaming Sites that try and say the game has ruined the character of Samus Aran.

It's bullshit, folks, but probably not for the reason you think. The truth of the matter - and what some either cannot or or simply will not see - is that Samus never had a character. Prior to Fusion she was nothing more than a cypher; a character in the very loosest sense possible. A player stand-in. Link with breasts, basically; and that space suit is so androgynous ninety percent of the time you can't even tell. But somewhere along the line, some folks seemed to decide she was some sort of feminist icon or a shining example of a female character. This is a very stupid notion - I mean, Christ, the main reward for completing the first three games quickly was seeing her in a swimsuit, which doesn't exactly scream "feminism" - but it's there and over the years it seems to have taken root deeper than I previously realized.

What happened here is that the absence of a defined character led people to draw their own strict conclusions of what she was like. A lot of them seem to be that any emotion on her part is out of character. Wipe out an alien race without a shred of remorse? Stare down your parents killer without even a twinge of emotion? Blew up several planets without even a second thought? That's what they seem to think happened. They seem to think it makes her "strong". There's a word for that, and it tends to be "sociopathic", not strong; and while the games never went out of their way to give Samus depth as a character, she never struck me as a sociopath or much of anything really aside from someone who kicks ass on her own.

But I digress; my point is that you can't ruin a character with no personality whatsoever and what people really seem to be mourning is the loss of the notion that the character might be the way they envision her.

With that cleared up, lets move on. Now, while I've established that there isn't really a character to Samus, there are things I'm still not sure about. The game has a standard set-up. Samus receives a distress call from the "Bottle Ship" and she bolts to check it out. She finds her old unit in the military there and tags along with them. Things go south pretty quick as you find more than a few nasty beasties inside wanting to crack open your armor like a can opener might and chow down.

The games story has an obvious goal of giving more depth to Samus than has ever been attempted before. They don't really hold back much, showing her time in the Galactic Federation army and other flashbacks. Quite a few of these things feel right. It made sense to me that she would mourn the baby Metroid, as you don't tend to brush off the death of something that gave its life protecting you, unless you're a few knives short of a full block. Having her as ex-military also goes a long way towards explaining why she is as skilled as she is, much less how she got the sort of combat experience she might need to quickly make a name for herself as a bounty hunter.

Others don't feel right, however. They try to do something new with how you progress, instead of having Samus lose everything at the start, she turns them off until Adam - the CO of the Federation Squad you're chillin' with - gives authorization. It's stupid, frankly; she already has her entire arsenal, but her former boss distrusts her so she turns them off and lets him decide when she can use what? She's got access to the stuff; at the very least you'd expect she wouldn't be skulking around in lava pits for too long before deciding "screw this" and turning on the Varia feature, authorization or not. Even if you buy it, there's no reason for something as harmless as a grapple beam or low grade ordinance like morph ball bombs needing the okay from a guy you don't even work for.

Probably the iffiest moment in the games story comes about due to the series stalwart villain, Ridley. When he shows up, Samus outright freezes in fear. While it makes sense to me that at some point she was afraid of Ridley - after all, this is the creature who murdered her parents right in front of her when she was a little girl * - this late in the series it's almost laughable. By this point, depending on whether you include the Primes, she's fought some variation of Ridley two to five times now. Shock at the fact that he wasn't dead anymore, I could see; freezing in fear to the point Ridley gets in some serious damage before she snaps out of it, not so much. It might have worked for a 3D remake of the original Metroid or something, but here it just does not work and is the one scene people complained about that does make Samus look somewhat weak.

Other than the iffy points, the story isn't all that bad. I've certainly experienced better - and some lines, like Samus calling the traitor "The Deleter", are straight up comical - but I've dealt with enough Japanese product that I've also experienced far worse. If anything, that's the stories problem. It feels way too Japanese in that stock manga or anime way. The Japanese are creatures of habit when it comes to storytelling; they tend to stick within a certain set of tropes and don't really deviate far from it. This is probably why Nintendo's managed to keep relevant to those sick of Japanese storytelling over here; for the most part they've kept story as a secondary concern for most of their existence. Unfortunately it does plague Other M a bit, so I hope the next time they take a shot at a story with the series it's a bit more minimalistic. I loved Metroid Fusion - story included - so I'm thinking more along those lines.

Oh, one more thing about the story and really the game in general. It's actually nice to have a Metroid game that recognizes that the Metroid species can morph beyond the larval stage we so often see. Aside from the fight against an Omega Metroid in Fusion, this game is quite possibly the first time since Return of Samus - which is the game that introduced the evolution chart of the Metroids - that we've actually seen a form past larval. I'd very much like to see more of this, because one of the things that has annoyed me with the series is that either we've just seen the primary stage everyone is familiar with or it goes off into some completely different evolution because of Phazon or whatever.

Anyways, what really lets down the story here - and is part of why some scenes fall flat - is the voice acting. Talk about a "for the paycheck" performance. The voice actress for Samus in particular emotes about as well as the boulder out to the side of my driveway, which really hampers any emotional weight a lot of scenes might have. I don't know why they didn't just tap Jennifer Hale again. If they'd put her as Samus here and let her do more than grunt like in Prime, I imagine the game wouldn't have had this problem.

So the story doesn't quite live up, but it's not as bad as everyone's said. Should be smooth sailing from here on, right? I mean, the Metroids are renowned largely because of the great gameplay. Well unfortunately that's where the game really cements itself as a letdown. In the past, a Metroid game has been either in the third or second dimension. This time around, they try to mash the two up. It's an idea with merit; other companies have taken a similar approach in the recent past and it's worked out well. Here, they've found an approach with merit, but there's a long way to go to mold it into something truly great.

The problem is partly one of controls. The nunchuck is passed over entirely, instead asking you to turn the Wiimote to the side like an NES controller to play. When you want to switch to first person mode, you point at the screen. Cute idea in theory, but in execution it doesn't work out.

See what this means is that you now move using the directional pad. You're in a 3D space, but you can only move in eight directions. Which means you can only fire in eight directions while in third person mode. Now, I probably don't need to tell you that enemies aren't kind enough to stay in one of those eight directions. You see the problem. I'd gladly trade the novelty of holding my Wiimote like an NES remote for use of the thumbstick, thanks.

Then there's the first person mode, activated by pointing the remote at the screen. Someone had the bright idea of making it so you can only use missiles while in this mode. In case I didn't mention, you also cannot move while in first person mode. So have fun taking damage while you try to line up the lock-on for the missiles! This pretty much makes this staple of the franchise more or less useless for any enemies not designed to be beat with missiles. Worse still, there are times when you are automatically put in first person because the game wants you to notice something. Unfortunately, unlike the Prime series, things of interest are not highlighted in any way. So when you're forced to spend about five minutes in a dark place trying to find the goddamn thing the game wants you to notice, you're probably going to get annoyed.

As far as design of the game, well, this is part of what's painful about the whole thing. The mash up of 2D play and 3D has a lot of potential for future games. In fact, I really hope it's used in the future, because there are a lot of possibilities. But here it's not utilized in any interesting way, which is a goddamn shame. This manner of gameplay could easily bring forth new challenges, puzzles and ways to hide items, but it doesn't. Most of the areas are fairly straightforward, with you easily able to suss out any items in the room. They're really not all that well hidden, for the most part, and there's little reason to backtrack. You're probably going to be able to hit about seventy percent of the items in your first playthrough with minimal deviations.

Not that there's much room for deviation. This game is pretty linear for a Metroid game. Some people heckled Fusion for this, but Other M is much, much worse. There aren't a lot of clever alternate paths to be found and you won't have much difficulty finding anything. In a series known for dense maps and lots of things to discover, this is something of a shock. Couple that with very few occasions where backtracking through areas you've been to already is necessary and you've got a game that feels pretty damn short if you set aside any story sequences.

On the arsenal, there's good and bad on display here. On the negative side, some classic tricks from past Metroid games have been nerfed. You can just forget about the morph ball bomb trick, for example; you can do it if you're patient, but the game has a set height from the ground it allows the bombs to take you, making it essentially worthless. But on the other side of the token, almost all of the classic arsenal has finally made the jump to 3D. The Prime games were great stuff, but no matter how talented Retro Studios may be, there are some things they never figured out how to do in 3D. But this game finally brings out many of the mainstays that had been left in the 2D era. Things like the speed booster and the screw attack, for example, have finally made it into 3D and in the new gameplay design they work like a charm. It's something worth noting, because it's one thing this game definitely does right.

When you narrow it down, the question becomes, is there fun to be had with this game? Yeah, there is. To tell the truth, I really love the Prime games. But sometimes, it doesn't feel as much like Metroid as it should. It became something of a first person adventure, using most of Metroid lore and staples to great effect. But it also ditched a lot of what made the series popular to start with. In fact, a lot of the time I'd chill in morph ball mode in those games, since it was in the third person, which felt better than the first person perspective mode. This game, however, has more of a Metroid feel. The way this game is structured feels far more natural to the series than the jump to first person ever did and it feels like a natural evolution of the franchise instead of showing the round peg through the square hole. Sure, Retro managed to jam that round peg through, but that doesn't mean it felt like as much of a fit.

For all the games problems, I hope they don't scrap the gameplay wholesale; I'd much rather they improved upon this than going back to the first person, which I'd mostly had enough of after three games.

The Score: 6.5 out of 10

When you break it down, the game is a disappointment. But then, it had a hell of a pedigree to live up to. There's fun to be had here, but the gameplay hampers it. It might be worth a rent, but I hesitate to recommend it for purchase. Hopefully, Nintendo learns from its mistakes. There really is a solid foundation with the switch to third person, they just blew it when it comes to this game.

* With a backstory like hers, Samus should probably have a bat emblazoned on the front of her armor. She could be the intergalactic representation of Batman Inc.

Marvels (comics)

Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Alex Ross
Collects: Marvels #0-4

I like Marvel just fine - and I'll follow some of their characters as closely as anything else - but I must admit that I'm not a huge fan. Part of it has to do with the universe itself. The whole thing is founded on a root concept of making the world around the superheroes as real as possible. Not only do I find this to be folly, but sometimes, things get a little too real. How could the populace be stupid enough to put Norman Osborn - whose Green Goblin shenanigans were a matter of public record - in a position of power regardless of whatever positive actions he may have done? Well, there's a certain "Tea Party" running around that's about as racist, misogynistic and hateful as any cackling comic villain; and they've got far more followers who want them in power than any sane world would permit. Shouldn't the mutant race have been accepted by now by any real world standards? Not really; ask a black, indian or so on how "accepted" they feel even in this modern era. How could the populace turn on the heroes at the drop of a hat? Pfft, look at how we turn on our heroes in real life to see just how plausible that one is.

Frankly, it gets depressing sometimes; and if I wanted that, I'd read a newspaper, not a comic book with gods and dudes in colorful tights punching each other. It's comforting to know that on the occasions that I do want to read a story like that, I know where to turn to. But typically, I'm more interested in other things, which is probably why I devour the Distinguished Competitions books on a bit more regular a basis.

What I'm trying to say is that a lot of the time it feels like Marvel takes itself way too seriously. I don't care for it. I'm pretty sure I'm not picking up a Thor book to read about his visit to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina several years after it happened.

So, having said this, it probably comes as little surprise that this story set off every warning bell that I had. The story is through the eyes of an "Everyman" sort of character, attempting to give a man on the street perspective. So we pretty much witness the birth of the Marvel universe as the common man might see it. I read a summary a long time ago and boy howdy, just from that I could tell they were running through the events and themes Marvel built its foundation on like checking boxes off a list. They may as well have put a neon sign on the book saying it just wasn't for me.

But, as usual, my curiosity got the better of me. It had won a hell of a lot of awards in its day and the praise for it just doesn't let up. It was kind of like Marvel's own version of Kingdom Come in that it was a seminal story regarded by fandom on the whole as a classic. Oh, and it was illustrated by Alex Ross, to shoot for another similarity (man, the 90's were like a Golden Age for that guy). So while I'd put it off for years on end - any story with as many of my turnoffs as this one has often leads to me putting it off - it caught up with me eventually to the point where I just said "screw it".

In all... well, it does hit most of the things I feared it would. It also takes itself - and in turn the Marvel Universe - a bit too seriously. But the thing about it - and the reason I went to the trouble of detailing all of the previous - is that it worked out well for me regardless. Which, considering my views, is pretty high praise from me.

On the whole, Marvel touches on specific periods in time, from the capes that arrived in World War II on through the eras. For the most part, this series restricts itself; it sticks largely to the early years of the Marvel Universe, dropping the curtain just after the death of Gwen Stacy in Marvel continuity. It seems like a short period of time, but it keeps the book focused, allowing it to stick to the building blocks of the Marvel Universe as we know it. This also keeps it removed from having to deal with what would come. This story was, after all, released in the mid-90's; we all know the kind of crap that was going on at the time.

Where the story excels is that it uses the foundation of the Marvel Universe to tell different sorts of "man on the street" stories within the context of the greater story. The first of these "stories within a story" - set during World War II - seems to settle on the swaying public opinion depending on the involvement of the capes in the war. The second is content to settle on fear; the first appearance of the mutants seems to instill in regular humans an all consuming dread, mainly of being replaced as a species. The third is partly about an example of one of the first apocalyptic scenarios in the coming of Galactus and how the regular people might take that. The fourth seems split between a Marvel Universe style reflection of how easily we turn on our heroes coupled with the ease we can gain and lose faith in something we perceive.

Thankfully, Marvels isn't content with rehashing the events of the Marvel Universe and telling punchy, contained little "man on the street" stories - as it was originally intended to, which the project thankfully moved away from - instead working them into the overarching story of one man living through those it all. The main character is a photojournalist fascinated with the superheroes, watching them from the birth of that age up until his later days as an old man. This, I believe, is why it works; if it took these same themes, focused on different people in each one and separated them all like an anthology, this book might not have worked as well as it did. This also helps it avoid the pitfall of being a mere side story to the larger events going on; for the most part, there isn't a true retelling of any referenced comic. The events serve as more of a backdrop; even the recognizable heroes are less characters and more "super", which is not something a Marvel comic does often.

On the same token, there are some pitfalls with this approach, some of them really the sort that's impossible to get around when you're filtering a lot of early events through the lens of one character. As is to be expected, Marvels revolves around more than a few coincidences to get the title character in a position to witness some key events. For the most part, it's navigated by making the main character a photojournalist; after all, such a person is going to go chasing these sorts of stories, which makes it more believable that he might happen to be around when Namor or Hulk throw a tantrum. But there comes a point where even that doesn't help. So the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner just happened to slam into the same building Phil was on, causing his injury? He was in the same neighborhood when the original X-Men were cornered and managed to nail Iceman with a brick? It turned out to be his particular kids out of a whole neighborhood who sheltered a homeless mutant? When he just so happened to be there when the Green Goblin exited the apartment - Gwen Stacy saddled over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes - so he could follow Gobby to the bridge for the pivotal "death of Gwen Stacy" scene, I just kind of sighed. By the time we hit the last page cameo, credibility has long since gone out the window.

Eventually, it all adds up until you begin to have a hard time buying what they're selling. I'm used to the "amazing coincidence" in my comics. Normally, I'm not bothered. But a story like Marvels - which strives to give as much of a realistic, regular person view of things as it possibly can in a universe where Thor chills out with Hercules - has less room to get away with it by it's very nature. Unless Phil has the power of "Super Coincidence", it's hard to roll with it by about the fourth or fifth time he finds himself wrapped in a key event that his choice of job does not logically bring him to.

That said, on the whole the story is well written and engaging. The protagonist in particular is quite likable; while he does have a ridiculous knack for being at the right place at the right time, his reaction to said events is believable. When he feels sorrow at being swept up in mob mentality, it feels genuine. When he blows his top at civilians disparaging mutants late in the story, it feels earned. By the time he has become disillusioned with the public and its reaction to the heroes, we've seen how and why he has come to that. If your protagonist in this sort of story isn't good enough to invest in, the whole thing is going to fall apart; Kurt Busiek doesn't allow that to happen and deserves some props for keeping Phil Sheldon as an interesting lead in a universe where dudes get nuked and only suffer the side effect of becoming a massive green monster that smashes things. Given the choice, a lot of the time we'd probably prefer to read about the second guy.

Alex Ross manages to hold up his end of the bargain with the art. It's no secret that he uses models for his art, which has a tendency to ground some poses in reality. At the very least, it tends to keep anatomy proper. But I'm really not a big fan; hell, a lot of the time I don't feel like his style gels with the material. When he does pieces for DC, for example, he has a habit of making characters look way too old; not to mention a little out of shape, which would get some of them killed. His art doesn't have the same problem here, however. If anything, it's to the stories benefit; I suspect his work with models, for instance, is part of why the facial expressions in this story are very vivid. Not to mention the book has sort of an old fashioned painterly look, which helps sell the setting of the story in a different time.

One other thing worth noting is that this trade has some nice extras on the whole. Between each "chapter", or single issue of the mini, is a text piece by the creators and some others that were influential in regards to shaping the Marvel Universe. In the back are small interviews, along with a general list of the stories referenced throughout the story, the issue numbers included. That, in particular, was probably the most handy; I am, after all, a more casual fan of Marvel, so without it about half the references that didn't involve Galactus would have sailed clear over my head. Add in all the original covers and you have a pretty nice package.

The Score: 8.5 out of 10

There were a few things that bothered me with this story - and honestly, in any other instance the very concept would probably not have worked for me - but on the whole this is a very nice piece of work. I can see why it's hailed by some as a classic; at the very least, I'm willing to say that it's definitely one of the diamonds in the rough that was the 90's in comics. It definitely deserves a spot on the bookshelf.