Catwoman #3 and #4

Cover by Guillem March, Tomeu Morey

Catwoman #3 (November 16, 2011) Catwoman  #4 (December 21, 2011)

Writer: Judd Winick

Penciller: Guillem March

Colorist: Tomeu Morey

Letterer: Sal Cipriano

I was prepared to give up wholeheartedly on this Catwoman series after the debilitating awfulness of the previous two issues. Winick had managed to totally embarrass me and make me dislike one of my absolute favorite comic book characters. Perhaps because of my profound love for Selina Kyle, I found myself reluctantly picking up Catwoman #3 and Catwoman #4.

Now, these are still in no way really well written or even particularly gripping issues. The art is still rather slapdash and March’s Selina Kyle is becoming more and more cartoony. Nonetheless, they were improvements from the first two issues. By improvements, of course, I mean there weren’t any unnecessary nudity and no Batman-Catwoman sex. Other than that, the plot is thin and barely interesting.

The Ultimates #4

Cover by Kaare Andrews, Christ Stevens

The Ultimates #4 (November 30, 2011)

Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Penciller: Esad Ribic

Colorist: Dean White

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

I think something happened either to me or the creators of this series between the last issue and this one because The Ultimates #4 took a serous nosedive.

I’m just not feeling this one: the plot wasn’t terribly exciting, the pacing felt awkward and I especially did not care for the artwork. And I loved it in the last issue! Maybe I’m just easily bored, I don’t know.

I think the trouble lies in the fact that since series has segued from a Ragnarök-esque tale to a very angry, very bloated action comic with little heart. I enjoyed the earlier issues because the characters were dynamic and emotional against the backdrop of epic fight scenes, debilitating battles and creepy villains. Plus, I’m still mourning the loss of all my Norse gods. Now everyone just feels like caricatures: Nick Fury wasn’t very interesting, Hawkeye and Iron Man were thrown to the sidelines, the villains weren’t gripping and Thor was kind of silly.

Swamp Thing #4

Cover by Yanick Paquette, Nathan Fairbairn

Swamp Thing #4 (December 7, 2011)

Writer: Scott Snyder

Penciller: Marco Rudy

Colorist: David Baron

Inker: Sean Parsons, Michael Lacombe

Letterer: Travis Lanham

Swamp Thing #4 is mostly concerned with exposition: a brisk history of the Green, the Parliament of Trees and previous Swamp Thing incarnations was the focal point of this issue. And I loved every second of it.

Rather than feeling like dull filler, Swamp Thing #4 was still very gripping and disturbing. Again, I adore the eerie and mythological atmosphere so I’m content learning more about this universe than just having action scene after action scene.

House of Night #1

Cover by Jenny Frison, Steve Morris

House of Night #1 (November 9, 2011)

Writer: Kristin Cast, P.C. Cast, Kent Dalian

Penciller: Karl Kerschl, Joëlle Jones

Colorist: Ryan Hill

Letterer: Nate Piekos

So I know the House of Night series is a young adult series that I always assumed was about vampires or ghosts or something supernatural. It’s always in the Paranormal Romance section of the teen department in bookstores so it’s got to be at least vaguely vampire-related. I don’t know, I never read them.

I obviously picked up this comic not really expecting anything one way or another. I figured I’ve never read a comic that was based off of a real novel and this would be a really quick and easy way to find out just what this series are about. Turns out, it is vampires.