Right, there isn’t actually much time before it’s Wednesday, which to most people reading this (i.e. our friends in the West) is new comics day. So regardless of the fact that I’m just back from the pub, it’s time to review the books of last week. It’s an exercise in random impressions and possibly completely unfair snap judgements – it’s Last Week in Comics!

THE SHIELD 1: I should point out at this juncture that Paul is just back from his holiday in the States (literally just back – he landed this morning. Although he did make it out to the pub this evening, which is fairly heroic, to be honest. But anyway.) and so we haven’t had time to put our heads together and decide what we’re going to be reviewing on this week’s podcast. I had originally ordered this book on the basis that it might make for podcast fodder, but to be honest, it’s rather unremarkable in what it does and it’s unlikely to make the cut. Reader’s Digest version: DC licensed the Red Circle heroes years back from Archie Comics, they published the !mpact line, and have recently re-licensed them in order to publish a couple of ongoing titles – the Shield, with a backup strip starring Inferno, and the Web, with a backup strip starring Hangman. Now, taken completely in isolation, the Shield isn’t a bad book at all. It’s a fairly generic patriotic hero, and aside from the rather over-the-top flag-waving might makes right message in this first issue, it’s perfectly palatable. The backup is nigh-incomprehensible (the hero has a different physical appearance when his powers are activated? Maybe? I have no idea) but the main feature is inoffensive enough. That’s the first sign of the problem, though. Who was asking for this character’s return? Who was asking for Eric Trautmann to write it and for Marco Rudy to draw it? Why is this comic being published? There’s nothing particularly outstanding about the writing, there’s nothing particularly dazzling about the art, and there’s certainly nothing compelling about the concept (nanotech-powered patriotic superhero operating in warzones, with no apparent nuance and some presumably unintentionally humorous moments). It’s the same problem I had with the first issue of Marvel’s Torch last week – is this just being published because DC can? Because that’s not a very good reason. I mean, fair’s fair. There’s not a whole heck of a lot that’s actively bad about this book – overly-simplistic depiction of war and the military aside. To say that is to damn with faint praise, though. If I can’t be motivated to evangelise about this book, why should anyone else be expected to? The audience for this book seems to be people who wish DC had their own Captain America, or the presumably miniscule fanbase for what is unarguably a footnote in comics history. If you’re excited about this book, then that’s great – it’s not a bad comic. If you’re not excited about it, then don’t worry, because taken purely on its own terms, it’s really not that exciting.

INCREDIBLE HERCULES 134: Back with Herc for the second part of his story while the late-summer bi-weekly overlapping stories run, and things are hotting up for the gung-ho faux-Thor, as he lets his libido lead him into what turns out to be a thoroughly ill-advised dalliance with the queen of the dark elves. As with the last few issues of this book, it’s a great rollicking read, with a few nice twists and turns in the plot to complement the always sharp dialogue, and a superbly amusing final scene. Greg Pak and Fred van Lente again turn in the kind of story that puts most of the rest of Marvel’s output to shame, and while Hercules may be the best-kept secret in Marvel’s line-up, it’s one that rewards its faithful every time.

ELEPHANTMEN 21: I’ll put my hands up and admit it – I’m a sucker for the world of Hip Flask. Ever since that first one-shot came out years ago, I’ve been a fan of Richard Starkings’s hippopotamus PI and his bizarre milieu. What we get in the current issue of the regular Elephantmen series (there is technically a miniseries, with art by Jose Ladronn, also running at present, but that’s been running for the last five years so it’s touch and go whether we’ll see it completed before the eventual heat death of the universe) is simultaneously a perfect jumping on point and part six of an eight-part story, and there aren’t many books that can claim that. In this installment, the remnants of the evil Mappo corporation decides that they’re going to test out the chips that had been implanted in the spinal cords of the Elephantmen back in the days of their bloody war, and pick Hip’s pal Ebony Hide as their test subject. What follows is a brutal fight sequence between Ebony and a number of alligator Elephantmen, with overlaid narration calmly discussing the role the Elephantmen played in the war, coldly at odds with the violent acts Ebony is carrying out on his enemies. It’s a great primer for the series, and a nice way to get new readers on board. My only issue is with the art – some of Boo Cook’s work on this issue is a little reminiscent of the kind of art you used to get on late-90s Image and Wildstorm superhero books, and isn’t representative of the kind of light work Marian Churchland and Moritat usually turn in. That’s a small complaint, though, and it’s one which is balanced out by the first sign of the book’s meta-plot moving forward for the first time in a while. Worth a look if you’ve been curious about this book.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 604: It’s that man again, as Fred can Lente once more puts his head above the parapet to take the slings and arrows of the notoriously hard to please Spider-Man fanbase. Thankfully, behind the cover from Leinil Yu (which manages to be both symbolic and literal at the same time, which is something it’s hard to get away with outside of Chameleon stories) there’s the final part of a story which has been one of the most satisfying since the Brand New Day direction began. Van Lente manages to make Chameleon into a genuine threat, something which hasn’t been done with him for quite some time, while also making him a properly creepy villain into the bargain. J Jonah Jameson also gets a few good lines in, a particular high spot being the moment when he declares that his lawyers have decided that Spencer Smythe’s work on the Spider-Slayers was work for hire and therefore Jonah owns it, although it’s probably about time that the Spidey office dialled JJJ back a little – he’s really coming across as a one-note, two-dimensional character at present and he works best when he’s a little more rounded. Mary Jane’s return to the book has been very well handled, her interactions with Peter being played fairly low-key – you get the impression that Peter and MJ are a couple who are bonded by more than just their erstwhile nuptials, and while I’d be surprised if they aren’t reunited romantically in the fullness of time, the path that’s being taken to get there is fine for the moment. Two small niggles, though – first off, if all these stories are going to tie in some way into the Gauntlet, then the Gauntlet should hurry up and get started, because at present it’s just made for a really abrupt end to what was otherwise a first-rate Chameleon story, and second, can we please have a moratorium on the faux-Boston accents in this book?

I also read the Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus one-shot (liked it, on the whole, although there are a couple of points that grate) and the Avengers: The List one-shot (about which I had more in the way of reservations) but as I say, I’m not sure what we’re going to talk about on the podcast and both of these are definite candidates – I’ll write more about both once I know what we’re going to say on House to Astonish proper but for the moment I’ll hold off.

What did you read last week?