The Good
The Sinister Six try to figure out who the sixth member of their group is and they come in contact with Punisher. Boomerang then has to go before the parole board to meet his new parole officer.
These characters are B-list jokes. They may have all, at one time, had their moment in the sun, but the world no longer views them as anything more than the annoying fly buzzing around your head. This book really isn't about finding a way to tie into SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN. It's about a group of villains trying to reestablish themselves as such. They live in a dangerous world, and we finally get to see what day-to-day life is like for these characters, but moreso Boomerang. This is a fantastic take on villains. This humanizes them, much like how SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #15 did the same thing with Hobgoblin, but this is on a much larger scale.
I never thought I'd say/write/think this, but I really feel for Boomerang. Writer Nick Spencer has given him a unique voice and struggle, and I empathize with him. Nick gives this character, as well as the others, an interesting story. Sure, they're nothing more than two-bit thugs right now, but I love watching these guys slowly move up the ladder of villainy. The story has an incredibly great flow to. You'll move through this issue smoothly and end up reading it again.
The final scene, however, really made this an amazing issue for me. Boomerang has to go to a parole hearing, after breaking parole, and he addresses the parole board. It's only four panels, but I found myself giggling during each one. It's a bit silly, but so are some of the people around him, especially his lawyer, Partridge, who has quickly become my favorite secondary character of this book. He calls his wife "Babe," then explains she could sue him. He calls himself "Daddy P." Every line of dialogue is ridiculous and reminds me of the over-charismatic lawyer who advertises on late night tv. My favorite moment between Boomerang and Partridge is when Boomerang imagines cutting off Patridge's head. At the end of it all, there's a pretty fantastic reveal page that got me super-excited for the next issue. I'm not going to spoil it though.
I LOVED the opening page to this issue. It's a splash page of The Punisher, firing away, and Boomerang explains the difference in dealing with costumed heroes and dealing with The Punisher. Boomerang's voice screams through. I read that first page a few times, just to see how he talks and the little things Spencer adds into his speech patterns. I'm a nerd for good inner-monologue.
Finally, before I yell at you to buy this, you need to know how rad Steve Lieber's art is. It's the perfect fit for the tone Spencer is putting out there in his writing. Lieber's art is flexible. It fits the comedic moments of this book like a glove, but it also fits the more serious moments just as well. Lots of credit needs to go to colorist Rachelle Rosenberg as well. Her usage of color and shading also add greatly to this book.
The Bad
This book is too awesome. That may be a bad thing.
The Verdict - Pick of the week!
I haven't given something a "pick of the week" stamp in a while. Many of you probably know that I'm more of a Vertigo, Valiant, and Image reader, but this is easily one of the most fun books I've read in months. I love this book. It has the same tone and feel as HAWKEYE. We may only be two issues in, but this is by far my favorite non-Ultimate book at Marvel. Yes, I like it more than HAWKEYE. Everything about this issue puts a smile on my face. If I could compare it to anything, I'd say it's a more down-to-Earth version of Slott's run on She-Hulk. This is something you're going to want to throw on your pull list.