A couple of quick reviews, Asgard-style! First, the always-good Power Pack in Thor and the Warriors Four (yes, it's a collection, not a single issue — I need to think of a new name for these posts), and then the Valkyrie one-shot from Bryan J.L. Glass. Read on to see what I thought.
Thor and the Warriors Four (Digest)
- Written by Alex Zalben
- Pencils & Cover by Gurihiru
- Backup Story & Art by Colleen Coover
Every collection of Power Pack gets an ‘A’ in my book. This one has the awesome art of Gurihiru, my favorite for Power Pack. The story isn't one of the best for this series (for that see Avengers Power Pack). It's not bad by any account, just not as good as some other Power Pack stories. And I'm not sure I like the idea of telling kids that people don't have to die if you want it enough, but it's a fun tale, anyway. We get baby versions of the Asgardians, and some awesome Beta Ray Bill — if for no other reason, buy this book to see him as a baby, or especially the younger version of him with an afro. Yes, this book largely rests on its gags, but it's enough to make it worthwhile.
And we get a backup! Usually the backups for the Power Pack titles have been Mini Marvels (back when that existed — sigh), Franklin Richards, Son of a Genius, or (I think) Super Hero Squad. But this time, we get a full-fledged backup by the always-awesome Colleen Coover. Her art is always adorable. The story is as good or better than the main title. It's a fun tale with Hercules as the impromptu babysitter of the Power Pack. He tells them the story of his Twelve Labors, and a little bit of craziness occurs. (Like HYDRA happening to attack as he tells of his battle with the mythological Hydra. For example.) It's a fun story with the charming art of Colleen Coover — you can't beat that.
Valkyrie #1
- Written by Bryan J.L. Glass
- Pencils & Inks by Phil Winslade
- Colors by Veronica Yanina Gandini
- Cover by Jay Anacleto
This was released as one of Marvel's “Women of Marvel” books, and as a way to highlight one of the characters from Secret Avengers. It does those jobs well. It's a book about a woman who decides to stop being a victim — to stop having her life dictated by the men in it. It gives a concise, easy-as-possible-to-follow recap of her convoluted history (and it must be very convoluted to have the character admit that even she can scarcely comprehend
it), and shows her to be fierce, passionate, and loyal. That's a character I can get behind.
Yet…. It's not an amazing book by any means. It's serviceable: it does its job and does it well, but doesn't quite push beyond that. I know it has a lot to do in a small space, and Bryan J.L. Glass does a good job telling who this character was and how she got here, but I wish there was more of who she is now and where she's going. We get the general idea that she's moving forward as her own woman, but we get little of who that woman is, exactly. After reading this, I know what type of character Valkyrie is, but not really how that applies to her as an individual. This doesn't make this a poor comic — it's good — it just doesn't go the extra mile that would make it a great comic.
A couple of small notes on the art: the opening shot of Valkyrie (here, Valerie) is one of those horrible faces that I see a lot of. It's almost a porn-face, and they never look natural. Also, the coloring of her face is completely different from the rest of the page, and her wrists look malformed. There are a few other spots with proportion issues, but otherwise the art is decent. Nothing awesome, but it does the job well, just like the comic overall.
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