The Pull List #43 for February 17 2016

A weekly column in which Jake gives short blurbs about the comics he’s picked up that week. Reviewed in the order read, which varies but generally by increasing anticipation.   Disclaimer: he knows very little about art, at least not enough to considerably honor such tremendous undertakings, so…yeh, there’s that...

Script: Greg Rucka

Pencils: Carmen Carnero

Inks: Terry Pallot

Colors: Michael Atiyeh

Lettering: Michael Heisler

Dark Horse

With the comic finally caught up with the beginning of the Inquisition video game, Rucka takes some time to give us a great action sequence and put in some excellent character work, making for a pretty damn good issue.  Rucka’s script doesn’t really change the working formula; we still get most of our insight through Tessa’s pitch-perfect narration, but it’s a narrative tool that never wearies the reader and continues to expose more about her life before Marius.  There’s also a great comedic bit in the latter half of the book that works extremely well.  The art continues to be of excellent quality thanks to the smoothness of Carnero’s lines and Pallot’s inks, as well as the explosiveness of Atiyeh’s colors.  The aforementioned fight is another of the best of the series so far, and considering what came before it, that’s quiet an accomplishment.  Three issues in, Dragon Age: Magekiller continues to impress.

Spider-Woman #4 BOOK OF THE WEEK

Writer: Dennis Hopeless

Penciller: Javier Rodriguez

Inker: Alvaro Lopez

Color Artist: Rachelle Rosenberg

Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham

Marvel

Dawww, Spider-Woman’s having a baby…at the worst possible moment because Skull commandos are trying to break down the door to the operating room where she’s having her emergency C-section.  It’s a tense issue but not one devoid of laughs.  Hopeless manages what might be a perfect script, deftly managing the terror and tension while allowing for great character moments from Jessica, Carol, and the target prince.  Every plot point is as emotional for the reader as it is for the characters.  Once again, the art astounds.  Rodriguez’s decision to use unconventional panels works extremely well and Lopez and Rosenberg compliment the work incredibly.  It’s going to be interesting to see where the story goes from here, but if it’s anywhere near the quality of what came before, it’ll be fantastic. 

Superman: American Alien #4

Writer: Max Landis

Illustrator: Jae Lee

Colorist: Junie Chung

Letterer: John Workman

DC

It’s a strange new world for Clark Kent as we join him in his first days in Metropolis, on his own, on assignment to cover a financial meeting between Oliver Queen, Bruce Wayne, and Lex Luthor.  As one would expect, the issue is a lot of talking, most of it good.  Landis deftly catches up those unfamiliar with the men involved in the story while putting his own spin on their situation.  It’s fun to see Clark and Ollie’s interactions from the previous issue carry over here and how time has found them both in different places and of different minds.  In fact, every one of Clark’s interactions feels incredible, except for the one with Lex Luthor, which has its highlights but has a bit that feels overly coy which sours the moment somewhat.  Lee and Chung on art are fantastic and both fit the feel of this issue incredibly especially when one considers its place in the whole series.  Barring issue 2 which had its own purpose, gone are the crisp, clean lines and colors of the past, instead replaced with the murky, scratchy depiction of the new world, the modern world that Clark Kent has entered.  It’s a lovely choice, even barring the exceptional “fight” that occurs in the closing moments of the story.  While certainly not the strongest of the series, the fourth issue of American Alien boldly takes the story out of the halcyon past and closer the somewhat uncertain present.

  

So what did you pick up this week? Agree or disagree with anything said here? Let us know in the comments.