Iron Man #2, Ultimates 2 #5, Fables #36

I wish Warren Ellis would realise that he's writing for a comic, and not a movie. The slow, deliberate pace of Iron Man #2, coupled with the absolutely lack of any sound effects makes me feel that I'm watching a movie with the volume on mute, and subtitles on. That's not a particularly good feeling. This is quite similar to his Ultimate Secret #1, with the first few pages having some dialogues and the rest just a big fight scene, one that doesn't even conclude here.

I'm not a fan of Adi Granov's art either. While rendering a great Iron Man armour, I just can't get into how he portrays his humans. I don't know if it's the fact they seem creepy, like stuffed mannequins, or if that this photo-realism reminds me of all those photo-romance magazines that were so repulsive when I was a kid (and most likely still are), but whatever the reason, Granov's art just doesn't cut it for me.

It's not all bad though. The Iron Man armour has some interesting moves, the Extremis explanation sounds fairly interesting, and the villain seems like a believable threat. For all that they have, maybe they should take a cue from Millar and Hitch's work on the Ultimates vol 2. Mark Millar is have a much better run this time round, and while Hitch's pencils aren't as polished as they were in the first series, as a team, they are kickin' the combined ass of Ellis and Granov (I realy shouldn't be comparing the two teams, and if at all, it should be Ultimates 2 vs Ultimate Iron Man, but since i can't see the second issue of the latter anywhere, I'll settle for the 616 Iron Man).

Ultimates v2 #5 has everything a big blockbuster movie could hope to have; a fantastic cast, the oppressed good guy whom everyone's cheering for, the self-righteous government hicks who take on the good guy, the sneaky snakey slimy character who's secretly manipulating everything from behind the scenes, and finally, most importantly, the magnificent, large scale spectacular action that seems totally real, and full of life and danger and just oozes adrenaline. Ok, that's a little overboard, and i'm dissapointed that Captain America is still standing when the dust settles, but what the heck, it was a great issue nevertheless.

However, for pure comic book madness, nothing beats Fables #36! The Jack-in-Hollywood storyline was entertaining, no doubts about it, but this is the real deal! Our first real glimpse of the homelands! The book is usually as much Willingham's as it is Buckingham's (seems like a made-for-each-other duo, if there ever were one), but not this time around, because wow, Buckingham has really outdone himself! From the lush green serenity on the opening pages to the foul, desolate route to the Imperial Throne World, the environment is stunningly rendered. The larger-than-life comic book effect is in full flow here, with the varied fauna on display: the tax-collecting goblin duo, the beasts of burden at the gates, and the diabolically intimidating dragon who meets Boy Blue. Ah yes, Little Boy Blue, not so little anymore. He is, infact, surprisingly dashing as the goblin-terrorising Black Knight. Yes, I know what you're thinking, "Shouldn't he be the Blue Knight?". The goblins thought so too, you know, and well, it got them killed. So I'd shut up, if I were you, and just wait for the next issue!!