I know, I said I'd get the Zuda reviews up at some point. I'm about half way through typing them up but I've been swamped at work as of late so they got delayed. Here are my normal reviews for now. I had three books this week, Elephantmen: War Toys #1 (of 3), Captain Carrot...The Final Ark #3 (of 3), and Marvel Adventures: Hulk #6.
Elephantmen: War Toys #1 -- Synopsis: Africa and China go to war with Europe, having been almost entirely wiped out by a virus, serving as the battlefield. And here we have the Elephantmen (MAPPO's "War Toys") entering the fight. The stories coming out of the Elephantmen universe continue to blow me away with some great writing and amazing art. Perhaps you could say that this issue spends a lot of time telling us what we already know about the Elephantmen in the narrative but you don't notice it too much with the events going on along with the narrative. This is a war story so be prepared for some graphic violence and some mature themes. The ending of this book really had me psyched for the next issue, I can't wait to see what comes next. This definitely makes my recommended reading list.
Captain Carrot and the Final Ark #3 -- Well, it seems the "Ark" is now fully understood. I was actually enjoying this issue more so than the previous two up until the end. Then I just felt let down. Yes, I understand it was meant to be a cliffhanger of sorts but this really didn't feel like an ending at all. Their planet is being flooded, some (including Pig Iron) are left behind presumably to die (especially Pig Iron), and the survivors are left in animal form on the main DC Earth with still human level intelligence (no way of talking though) and their powers (minus Captain Carrot himself who needs his magic carrots). And speaking of Captain Carrot, he's now part of Zatanna's act. Honestly, it's just too much left open and not enough closure for me. I guess it's been said on the DC boards that if there is enough demand they'll continue the story but this just seemed like a cheap tease to me. It was solicited as a 3 issue series and it didn't even seem to finish any sort of storyline. So no, it doesn't make my recommended reading list. And as someone who actually hoped to see Captain Carrot return I'm now saying he should disappear. Or if he does come back I'll probably stay away unless DC can convince me they'll handle it differently.
Marvel Adventures: Hulk #6 -- I was actually somewhat disappointed in this issue. Not enough to give up on the series but I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the previous issues. I didn't find the artist was the right fit for this book though I didn't find it all that strong to suggest moving the art team to a more mature book either. And I found the writing somewhat missed its mark with all the jumping around in time and having the various characters narrating. It just seemed difficult to get into any of the story. It's still a pretty decent kids book but not quite as good as it has been. So it doesn't quite make my recommended reading list, it's more of a "suggest checking out if this sort of thing is your 'bag'" kinda thing.
Well that's it for now. I'll try to get those Zuda reviews done soon. But for now it's back to work. It's oddly quiet around the office as everyone else has gone off to the holiday lunch. No rest for the wicked I suppose.
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