MARVEL ZOMBIES 4 No. 1

Okay, Zombies and Super Heroes! Perfect combo. Spiderman going all undead and chewing off some poor saps face? Comedy gold. And as Marvel is the master of proving you can never have too much of a good thing, they're back with Marvel Zombies 4, a four book mini-series.

Along with my firmly held belief that white chocolate cannot be classified as chocolate, I also believe you can never go wrong by adding Zombies to just about any literary form, and that includes comics. And having read the first three Marvel Zombies installments, I was pretty happy to find Marvel Zombies 4 on the shelf.

And then I read it.

And it's okay, but it's not what I was expecting. For one thing, Marvel Zombie 4 sort of tries to but not really, take it's self seriously. The main character is Morbius and the problem with Morbius is that he's always been A) a vampire and B) morbid. There's also werewolves and witches and you'd think: cool! But not so much.

First we get an angst ridden last will and testament from Morbius and the other characters where they talk about their feelings and concern for the other people and snacks in their lives. And it interrupts the action. When I pick-up a Zombie comic story, I want slashing and dashing. Less hashing and more clashing.

And one other thing, I want my Zombies created by a Zombie virus, not from some 'other dimension'. Lame. What worked well in Marvel Zombies 1 and 2 is that it was tongue in cheek, like Sean of the Dead, and it was fun to watch Wolverine complain about being hungry all the time.

That said, there are some fun parts in issue #1. Deadpool's talking head is hilarious and hearkens back to the original stories. But unless you're a big fan of Morbius, me thinks you're going to be disappointed.

Problem One: A Zombie story should just be a lot more fun.

Problem Two: See Problem One.

Dark Avengers Issue 4

How could a super criminal - they actually call them that, you know, in Marvel land - end up helming one of the world's foremost domestic and foreign intelligence agencies? How, how, how?

Well, the how's aren't answered and probably never will be (suspension of disbelief, anyone?), but issue 4 starts showing a little bit more of that Bendis magic. Maybe, just maybe, the whole ridiculousness of this Dark Avengers run might have some excellent moments:

• We have Doom, eyes aglow, rebuilding his Kingdom brick by brick, and he is - umm - mad at Tony Stark and Nick Fury. Real mad.
• The Sentry finally shows some of that Hulk-like dangerousness. He's like a crocodile - he doesn't move very often, but when he does, you're missing an arm.
• Norman Osborn suddenly looking even more like Tony Stark - wide eyed and feeble, swept up by that elusive thing called public opinion.

Problem 1: What's really not that interesting about this whole thing is the escapades. How many damn teams have their own jets? What the Informant wants to see more of is the Norman Osborn personality quirks, the unhinged moments when he runs some nobody through with a sword.

Problem 2: Sort of getting tired of the magic. But this problem is just a sub-layer of Problem 1. It seems like just seeing Norman in a Hellicarrier, or at a desk in Avengers Tower, or in a cabinet meeting with the president, or anything not all action-packed would be preferable.

Where it works: The Sentry, believe it or not.

Buy it: Yes, until further notice.

THE FLASH: REBIRTH

Last summer, as we patrolled the aisles of Artists Alley at SDCC, we stopped dead in our tracks when we spotted colorist Moose Bauman's table and his cover print of FLASH: Rebirth. It was by far one of the coolest images we've seen to grace the cover of a comic in quite some time. We're not ashamed to say that a Moose signed print is framed and hanging on the wall right now. And as we listened to Moose explain a little bit about what was going to happen to the world's fastest human we were intrigued.

Writer Geoff Johns has brought Barry Allen back and while what we've heard on the forums and panels about the return of the original Scarlet Speedster sounded lame, the cover gave us hope. It is an awesome image. The original Flash, pulling on the boots, and getting ready to run for justice while the lighting bolts swirl around him. An intriguing concept and we couldn't wait until the issue arrived to see if the story actually lived up to the cover.

What is the answer to that question, you ask? The answer is a resounding...maybe. Every good story must have a beginning, middle and end to be effective. And Flash: Rebirth has a great beginning and a fine ending that will make me want to read the next book, but in the middle it breaks down somewhat. Barry Allen and Hal Jordan spend a lot of time strolling around Central City exchanging a lot of existential mumbo-jumbo which is supposed to pass as "important dialogue" and most of the time it falls flat. They reminisce. They talk about what the world is now going to do with all these "Flashes" and yet they never answer the one essential question on every one's mind. How did Barry Allen come back from wherever he was?

There are some great set pieces in this book. Early in the story, a panel of Captain Frost and some of the Flash's enemies lamenting that they're going "to need more rogues..." is hilarious. And the ending when someone unexpected shows up (and doesn't someone unexpected always show up?) gives you hope for the story arc as we move to future books.

But I couldn't help feeling the overall effect of what should be a monumental, groundbreaking comic, came up short. Sigh.

Still, I'm not ready to give up on The new old Flash yet. If the cover for the next book is anywhere near as good as the cover for issue #1, that alone will be a reason to buy it.