Banana Sunday 3 (Oni Press): Mischievous talking primates, an inquisitive new friend, and a budding romance seem like plenty for teen heroine Kirby to juggle in this mostly adorable mini-series. So why did writer Root Nibot and illustrator Colleen Coover feel the need to give so much panel time to Skye, a stereotypical queen bee? Skye’s jealous antics aren’t nearly as interesting or engaging as the rest of the book, and they feel extraneous. Fortunately, there’s plenty of Go-Go to help me overlook the unsuccessful bits. And Coover’s illustrations are an unqualified pleasure.
Manhunter 15 (DC): In this issue, writer Marc Andreyko and a quartet of artists take readers through the lost-and-found box where Kate Spencer found the various bits of her costume. I’m familiar with most of the characters and some of the storylines that are referenced here, but wow, there’s some backwater continuity on display here (a C-list riff on the Green Lantern Corps, an Image-ready Batman fill-in, and an even-more-cannon-fodder-than-usual version of the Suicide Squad). It’s a weird way to follow a story arc thick with similar DC minutiae where Manhunter was essentially a supporting character in her own title.
Seven Soldiers: Klarion 4 (DC): Whenever I read what Jog has to say about these books, I always feel like anything I could contribute would amount to “Hee! Look at funny cat-boy!” I’m fine with that, actually. And it gives me an excuse to link to his latest Komikwerks column:
“‘I think people are afraid. They’re saying “Jog, I’m really really afraid.” They’re just big fraidy-cats.’
“That’s what I told the New York Times when they came knocking, just as I knew they would, in reference to the brilliant sophistication myself and my crack team had loaned to the Princess line. Oh sure, I guess the ‘physical assault’ aspect of some of my fresh plot twists was a little ‘playing to the bleachers,’ but people loved it.”
She-Hulk 2.1 (Marvel): As happy as I am to see this title return, I’m a bit worried that writer Dan Slott is suffering from a surplus of conscientiousness. After reintroducing his cast and their workplace (the super-human law division of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg, & Holliway), Slott then seems headed towards an attempted reconciliation of his She-Hulk (funny, independent, smart) with everyone else’s (a gamma-irradiated plot device who can reliably generate wholesale destruction when things get too talky). I like this book because it’s an oasis from the maudlin doings of the rest of Marvel’s line, and I’m not particularly interested in a dissection of the counterpoint. There are plenty of good bits, like She-Hulk’s don’t-call-me-I’ll-call-you encounter with the New Avengers, but all of the tethers to Marvel’s grim plotlines aren’t very encouraging.