August 14, 2002

Black Panther 48
Infinity Abyss 5
X-Men 130

Black Panther #48
Christopher Priest / Sal Velluto

I know no one will believe me because i'm hopelessly biased on this comic, but this was a particularly strong issue. No focus on humor this time, just a lot of character development. And the art is really good. The big spread with the Man-Ape is magnificent, and the nuances on people's faces throughout the book is as good as it gets, in my opinion. I've heard that Velluto and Almond are leaving the book, and i'm not happy about that at all...

Infinity Abyss #5
Jim Starlin

This was fun. A good "straight action story" (actually it was full of little plot twists and turns, interesting fight sequences, believable dialogue, and good characterizations, but that's what i mean by a "straight action story"). I'm glad i've stuck this one out. It reaffirms my suspicions that this will read better all at once. Warlock's narration is still a drag, but at least now that there are things going on and it isn't the focus, it isn't nearly so bad. There's at least one panel where Moondragon looks like a 70 year old man, but for the most part the art is still good in its "classic" sort of way.

X-Men #130
Grant Morrison / Igor Kordey

This is a Grant Morrison book. It isn't an X-Men book. The Morrison weirdness-for-weirdess' sake has taken over, and the few items with promise aren't going to return. I accept that now. And, while Morrison is entertaining, i have enough of his stuff in my collection that i don't need anymore. So, this is officially dropped. Maybe i'll pick up the rest of his run in the 25 cent bins one day, or maybe i'll stop in again when they get a regular good artist.

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