Savage Dragon #149

I've been reading Savage Dragon since issue 1 and yet I barely remember this new Dart and her backstory. I assume she was involved in the series before now, but it didn't make a big impression on me. Erik Larsen spends the issue familiarizing us with Dart and her obsession with being bad (with no real reason given, it seemed). Dart is the mastermind behind kidnapping Dragon's kids and much of the Vicious Circle trouble, but I never really got a major-threat vibe from her. I always liked the original Dart in Freak Force, but she was eaten by Mako, correct? In any case, a dart-throwing gymnast works as a low-powered hero or flunky villain, but not as a big bad.

I did enjoy seeing Daredevil again. It seems he's joining the regular cast, which is a good move. His fun attitude brings some much-needed levity to a book that has been a lot less fun than it used to be. We have gone from the angst-filled missing kids story to some done-in-ones that I don't think are doing enough to set up a new status quo. We do meet a new police captain this issue, but I'd like some clue into the ongoing bad guy or to check in on the She-Dragon subplot. There are no plot elements that make me anxious to read the next issue.
I remain a sucker for Larsen's exaggerated penciling style. He draws bombastic action better than anyone else, and he brings it here. The book looked nice.

Average

Savage Dragon #148

Now this is more like it! Gone is the moping and gore that had turned me off of the last few issues of Erik Larsen's long-running series. This issue has good fighting, an entertaining new guest-star, and the resolution to the too-long missing kids story. The "classic" Daredevil shows up and offers to use his "newsboy legion" type buddies to help Dragon find his kids. While Dragon has been anguishing and busting up town, his new allies resolve the problem in one issue. I loved the flippant and confident attitude that DD exhibits all issue long. I don't know if he was like this in the old comics, but this guy was really likable, I hope he sticks around. Larsen likes to reward his long-time readers, having an old hero seemingly turn in this one, but at the same time, this is clearly new reader friendly. Dragon and DD each recount their origins in nice simple terms and it was nice to see the core elements of the title distilled so easily. I hope this is a sign of things to come, that the book will be a little more fun and not quite as tough to power through. I don't want to read the Dragon barely scraping by through a gruesome, sad life. I want to see him wallop neat bad guys and banter, so this was a fun book.

The fight had a few really great artistic moments too, like when the Viscious Circle goon turns around and gets a boot to the face for his trouble, the timing was well done between those panels. I do love it when Larsen is on his game.

Good

Invincible #60

The Invincible War! Complete in one issue! Robert Kirkman does his best work in his Image books. This issue picks up with Angstrom Levy sending 20 evil duplicates of Invincible to attack the Image Universe. Every super-hero in the publisher's stable shows up to start trying to take them down. I loved the frenetic nature of the issue. Invincible himself barely gets more panel time than the regular cast in this one, and there is even time for some quick cuts to more obscure guests like Pitt, Cyberforce, and Youngblood. I really dug the use of the Global Guardians and the Teen Team in this one, as we see a few members of both team sacrifice themselves for their team. I won't ruin who the deaths are, but I find myself REALLY hoping that at least one of them isn't permanent. I loved Robot's reaction to a team-member's sacrifice in particular. And I swear, the Immortal never comes out of these things well, does he? What a painful life that guy has. The final charge at Levy was great too, with Kid Omni Man, Invincible, and Bulletproof seeming to be the last men standing. I'm familiar with all these characters, so the stakes seemed high and the danger great. This really could have been a summer-long crossover, which was the feel I know Kirkman was going for.

The issue is another game changer for the ongoing series. It seems the world is pretty well devastated at the conclusion, and the world blames Invincible. I don't think things will go post-apocalyptic, but it could get rough. Levy is still around, although further disfigured, and we get some new villains too. The heroes only killed 12 of the 20 evil Invincibles, and the other 8 are still around, banished in another dimension, we could easily see them again. The weird surgeons are also taking a more active role, and they want Levy to work for them now. Very interesting.

Ryan Ottley is fantastic. I loved his take on Youngblood (Shaft charging forward with an arrow nocked was great). His Wolf-Man was tremendous too, he had a great take on the character. He draws many of his ladies sort of similarly, which works well on the Cyberforce ladies, but not quite as great on Witchblade.

Excellent

Savage Dragon #145

Well that was unexpected. The Obama appearance is pretty silly, as Dragon gets a few moments of mutual respect with the Pres, but it kind of made me laugh since Dragon is, relatively speaking, kind of small time in the comic scene. Larsen spends a lot of time reintroducing the core concept of Dragon on the force, even bringing back some characters from early in the series. While I didn't remember any names, I do remember faces from my prime-Dragon days. That's why I'm surprised at what seems to be a pretty big move at the end of the book, necessitating a cast changeover once again. I can't help but feel like Savage Dragon lost its way back around the Savage World story. While the multiple Earths and dimensions aren't confusing things now, it seems Larsen is burning the last bridges to the "core" Dragon that I enjoyed. I'm sure there is more to be seen, but I'm not sure I'll be picking this book up regularly to read it. I'm also wondering where She-Dragon is, I think we haven't seen her for a few issues.

Larsen's art has always been fun, and I continue enjoying it. No one draws bricks smashing it up like he does.

Average