The Fab Four

Greatest Hits #1

This new Vertigo series could be summed up very briefly as “What if the Beatles had superpowers?” In this case, we’re talking about a ’60s British superteam called the Mates, consisting of the unpowered Solicitor (reminds me sorta of Lennon), the superstrong Crusader (seems like McCartney), magic-using Vizier (Harrison), and fun-loving speedster Zipper (definitely Ringo). In this first issue, everyone meets each other, goes through an extra teammate, goes on a rescue at a mine collapse, and enjoys being completely bloody famous. Mixed in with this is the story of Nick Mansfield, a washed-up screenwriter/director and the son of one of the Mates, who is trying to salvage his career by doing a documentary about the old superteam.

Verdict: Thumbs up, so far. Will it be something other than a bunch of old Beatles stories and anecdotes with superpowers tacked on? That remains to be seen. But for now, it’s pretty entertaining. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it’ll stay good.

Marvel Adventures: The Avengers #28

The Avengers want to recruit Luke Cage, but he’s more comfortable as a street-level hero making life better for the people in his community. Luckily, Luke’s mother arrives on the scene, scolds him for sassing her, and orders him to go help the team out with some missions. They take out some of Dr. Doom’s robots, wrap up some plant monsters, and stomp on the Brawl Brothers. And in a followup story, the team rescues an interdimensional cat from a tree. All in a day’s work!

Verdict: Thumbs up. Great funny stuff, excellent storytelling. I loved Momma Cage! I also enjoyed the casual diss of Dr. Doom, Luke’s ongoing fascination with Storm, Hammerhead’s inability to shaddap, and the awesome twist on the old saving-the-cat-in-the-tree gag.