Legacy Shorts: Comic Book Reviews for 3/25/09

Captain America #48

Creative Team
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artists: Butch Guice, Luke Ross, & Steve Epting
Colorist:Frank D'Armata

Story - Old Friends and Enemies Part 3 of 3

Review
What can I say about Captain America that I haven't already said before. Brubaker continues to make Captain America the rock of my pull list. And if he proved one thing with these past two 3-issue arcs is that there is still a lot of Bucky's past we do not know about which should lead to some great a stories in the future. Though I wished Dr. Chin and the Trench Coat man would have made it through this story as they could have been a nice addition to Bucky's Rogue list. This issue was filled with plenty of great action that gives this issue a much faster pace than previous issues.

I really like the relationship between Bucky and Namor as Namor acts as a perfect foil to Bucky. And it is interesting seeing a different side to Namor as we see how he interacts with one of the few people in the Marvel Universe he considers a friend.

I also got to give credit to editor Tom Breevoort for being able to find a group of artist that are able to maintain a consistent look to Captain America. I really did not now this issue was done by three different artist and I cannot say that about any other title than Captain America that is able to pull this off. Guice, Ross, and Epting combined for a great issue as they give this book a great dark espionage feel.

Issue Rating
Story: 9/10 - Brubaker continues to kick all sorts of ass with Captain America and I can't wait to see what he has in store for Bucky as we get close to issue #50 and #600(?).
Art: 8.5/10 - Only Captain America can pull off having an artist by committee and still maintain the great look it has always had.
Overall: 8.75/10 - At this point I do not care if Steve ever comes back as Bucky has become a great Captain America and I can't recommend this title enough for those who have yet to give this title a shot.

Guardians of the Galaxy #12

Creative Team
Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Artist: Wes Craig
Colorist: Wil Quintana

Story - Sacrifice

Review
I have to say that the cover to this issue is badass. Though this two part story has been a bit meh I will say that it is interesting to see were DnA set up Phyla. I'm glad that Wendell has the Quasar Bands back, though more them later, since I never liked Phyla as Quasar. Even though DnA wont be picking up on what the deal Phyla made to be the new Avatar of Death it should lead to some interesting stories after War of Kings as it looks like after that event the Guardians will be involved in another war.

Though I did not enjoy Wes Craig's artwork in the last issue I thought he did a much more impressive job with his artwork in this issue. I especially liked how he drew Moondragon and when Phyla escaped Moondragon by ripping through his guts. That was just a awesome scene.

Issue Rating
Story: 6/10 - Though it had its cool moments this, and the last, issue felt nothing more than DnA trying to buy time until the War of Kings tie-in.
Art: 7.4/10 - Craig's art in this issue was much better in this issue as he was given much more to do in terms of spreads.
Overall: 6.7/10 - Even though this mini-arc wasn't that I great I am looking forward to seeing the Guardians team up with the Starjammers in the War of Kings tie-ins.

Nova #23

Creative Team
Writer: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Adrea Divito
Colorist: Bruno Hang

Story - End of Story

Review
This was kind of a weird issue as it ties into what happened in this weeks Guardians of the Galaxy issue (see above). As you can tell from the cover Richard is given the Quasar Bands by Wendell and becomes the new Quasar. Though it is cool to Richard become the Quasar since he is a much more interesting character and it should be interesting to see how he wields his new powers when he goes up against the Worldmind's Nova Corps.

Though this issue was not boring I still found it to be a much more average issue when compared to previous issues as it felt I was reading more of a filler issue that sets up the next story arc than an end of an arc. And I don't really know how I feel romance between Richard and Dr. Necter since I don't know were DnA are going to take this relationship.

Issue Rating
Story: 7.2/10 - DnA do a nice job with this issue though this was much more of an average read than previous issues.
Art: 7.7/10 - Andrea Divito still gives this title a nice clean look but there were a few noticeable inconsistencies in this issue than his previous ones.
Overall: 7.45/10 - Though this was an average issue Nova still is one of the best titles on the market and with Nova being involved with War of Kings next issue we should see a lot of explosions in the next few issues.

Oracle: The Cure #1

Creative Team
Writer: Kevin Vanhook
Artist: Julian Lopez & Fernando Pasrin
Inkers: Bit and HI-FI's David Bryant
Colorist: HI-FI

Story- Home again, home again

Review
Barbara Gordon has always been a weird character for me because just like Dick Grayson I did not start reading comics until after Dick became Nightwing and Barbara became Oracle. And even though I have been able to read a lot of the back issues of Dick and Barbara's time as Robin and Batgirl (respectively) for me these two characters are much better off as Nightwing and Oracle. Through those identities they have been able to become their own superheroes that don't live in the shadows of Bruce when they were his partners. So for me I actually would prefer that the cure mentioned in the title of this mini-series actually refer to Wendy and not Barbara as she has had plenty of chances in the past to walk but has chosen not to.

While Kevin Vanhook did a good job with the writing I didn't find anything special about it. Still I am interested to see what happens with Oracle and he Calculator doing battle yet again with this time both going after what is left of the Anti-Life Equation from Final Crisis.

Issue Rating
Story: 7/10 - With this being my first exposure to his writing I found Vahook to do a nice job with the writing.
Art: 7.8/10 - Julian Lopez and Fernando Pasarin did a good job with the art though I could have done without the shower scene since it felt like it was just thrown in there for nothing more than fanservice.
Overall: 7.4/10 - This was a nice start to this mini-series and I am glad that while it has some connection to Battle for the Cowl it is it's own story with a minor connection to the big Bat-event.