Short Shrift
Week 44

Classic Battlestar Galactica #1

 3.00 of 5 stars

Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Carlos Rafael
Colors: Carlos Lopez
Letters: Bill Tortelini
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment

Dynamite Entertainment is publishing a boatload of well-known science fiction and fantasy properties in comic form, including Xena Warrior Princess, Highlander, Red Sonja, Army of Darkness, and Battlestar Galactica. Dynamite actually publishes both the original and the new versions of Battlestar Galactica, and the original has been dubbed Classic Battlestar Galactica, although the word “classic” appears nowhere on the front cover. One imagines the audience for this book may be thirty-something readers who have a nostalgic pull towards Lorne Greene's Commander Adama. This first issue features all the classic characters, even the ever-superfluous little boy Boxey and his robot pet Muffit. Mr. Remender fits the characters' introductions into the story nicely with very little exposition. Readers who want to just jump in and figure some things out for themselves will like that. Carlos Rafael’s art is done just the way this sort of book should be done: he draws the characters, not the actors who portrayed them.

There are no real surprises in this story, but it's executed well enough that I may well be back for the second issue.  (Louis Vitela)

Black Panther #21

 3.20 of 5 stars

Writer: Reginald Hudlin
Artist: Manuel Garcia
Colors: Matt Milla
Ink: Jay Leisten
Editor: Axel Alonso
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Now that the Black Panther has fulfilled his royal duty of marrying, he and his new wife Storm embark on a goodwill tour of foreign governments. Oddly, they choose Latveria, Attilan — on the Moon — and Atlantis as their first stops, somehow skipping Russia, China, Japan, the United Kingdom… In Atlantis, Prince Namor tries to convince T’Challa to oppose the Superhuman Registration Act in the United States before it spreads to Europe and the rest of the world. This issue sets up T’Challa’s position in Marvel’s Civil War and we can probably expect the big red stripe on the cover of the next issue when T’Challa goes to the U.S. to enter the fray. It’s good to see him get involved, but a lot of the plotting in the series has been too contrived and the story doesn’t flow naturally. Now that he joins the rest of the Marvel’s characters in the conflict, perhaps the storytelling will improve.  (J.W. De Bolt)

Ultimate Spider-Man #101

 4.00 of 5 stars

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Mark Bagley
Colors: Justin Ponsor
Ink: Drew Hennessy
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Spoiler warning!

The fun of the Ultimate Universe is how different it can get from the regular Marvel Universe while still resonating with the decades of memories that have sunk into our consciousness. And with the number of surprises and changes that happened in issue #100, #101 keeps the excitement level high, with Mary Jane a captive of a clone with genetic manipulation on his mind and the previously deceased Gwen Stacy showing up at the Parker residence and suddenly transforming and Richard Parker showing up, not to mention Nick Fury and his assault force surrounding the house while May has a heart attack and so much is going on that the explanations will have to unravel over future issues! Whew! I regret dropping this title a couple of years back and missing the lead-up to this point!  (J.W. De Bolt)

Perhapanauts: Second Chances #1

 3.50 of 5 stars

Writer: Todd Dezago
Artist: Craig Rousseau
Colors: Rico Renzi
Editor: Dave Land
Publisher: Dark Horse

I’m a newcomer to the Perhapanauts, and I thought this first issue of a four-part mini would be a good jumping on point. What I found was a very solid piece of writing, highly reminiscent of a Joss Whedon ensemble television show like Firefly. Each of the characters in Perhapanauts: Second Chances has a past — depth that is hinted at and revealed only in small, tantalizing pieces. The story is compelling and the action understated. The book is not written to be a jumping on point, which is good for those of us who like to glean the characters’ history from the story itself. Dezago and Rousseau are not only comfortable writing and drawing these characters, but they’re clearly invested in the story. When the creators are invested, it’s easy for the reader to be invested too.  (Louis Vitela)