All-New Captain America, Amalgam

All-New Captain America 1

Sam Wilson is the new Captain America.  Really nice cover.  Stuart Immonen art inside and out, which always warrants a look-see.  I can also understand why I didn't buy a second issue.  Rick Remender writes a by-the-numbers story, with main-character-narration over a fight scene that stretches over the entire issue.  Starts with the Hydra grunts, makes a stop at Batroc-the-mini-boss, and ends with a Baron Zemo reveal as the big bad.  The Immonen art is the only that's keeping this from the donation box.

Not a fan of the wings with the costume, but Immonen almost pulls it off.

Regret buying?  No

Would buy again? No

Would read again?  No

Rating: Fine

Assassins 1

JLX 1

Super Soldier 1

Super Soldier: Man of War 1
Amalgam!  DC and Marvel throw their characters into a blender and mix them into a delicious smoothie.  Though with the issues that I bought, the memories are fonder than the reality.  Which is really surprising to me, considering the quality of the creative teams;  Mark Waid and Dave Gibbons joined forces on Super Soldier, and revisited their work for Amalgam year 2.  Eh.  It was fine.  The pedigree of the team is keeping it on the shelf, and little more.

Waid also wrote the Howard Porter-pencilled JLX.  Hot mess.  With two teams fighting each other, not only did you have a huge number of characters to keep track of, you also had to figure out their component DC and Marvel inspirations as well.  I stopped trying when I saw the first splash page.

I’ve never been a big fan of Howard Porter.  More on him when I get to his JLA run (my first exposure to him), but I never understood why he was the choice for DC’s flagship title.  His character poses are stilted and awkward, and his faces are flat out ugly.  Couple that with a garish coloring job from John Dell, and this issue didn’t stand a chance.  

My brain can't even.

Dan Chichester and Scott McDaniel were a natural choice for Assassins, coming either at the tail end or after their run on Daredevil.  I’ve always been a fan of McDaniel’s unique style.  His storytelling is a little weak, but the energy in his work almost makes up for it; I feel his art more than I see it, similar to how his use of negative space implies rather than delineates the images.  That last sentence made more sense in my head.

Makes more sense now that you see it?  No?  Sigh.

Regret buying?  No
Would buy again? Yes for Assassins and Super Soldier.  No for the other two.

Would read again?  Yes for Assassins.  No for the others.
Rating: Okay.  Boring for JLX, which gets the cut.