SUPER QUICK REVIEWS: Nova 17, Magneto 4

Nova 17
Duggan (w) and Medina (p) and Vlasco (i) and Curiel (c) and Deschesne (l)

Sam wants to help his mother out of their financial woes but, as so many have learned before him, there's not a lot of money in superheroing. Meanwhile, his comings and goings have attracted the attention of plenty of UFO-seekers and his mom requests he keep a lower profile. They talk about the possible eviction and about his dad, who Sam tells his mother is alive, according to the news he received from the Watcher. Sam decides he'll talk to the Watcher more to try to get help (but he won't, because ORIGINAL SIN).

It's a little bit of a rest issue here after the long space-based arc with Beta Ray Bill but it does its work to ground Sam a little more. One of the challenges of such a book is to make sure that it still feels human, even with all of the space travel and such. It's helped by the fact that Sam is just a child so he's limited in how long he can go without returning to Earth. As such, it's a nice break issue and it helps to keep this series feeling pretty human, even if it means we're not seeing a huge advancement in the plot. The writing is still pretty strong and the characters get a chance to really shine through in this one. Medina and Vlasco do some solid work here as well, I don't usually have anything to complain about with them.

Total Score: 5/5


Magneto 4
Bunn (w) and J. Fernandez (a) and Bellaire (c) and Petit (l)

Magneto has found a base of Purifiers who have been taking unsuspecting mutants (particularly those with more evident physical mutations) to "a farm where they can be free" which, of course, means to their death so they can be studied. Magneto wrecks through the compound and adds the names collected by the Purifiers to his giant list of lost mutant names.

With the first arc over, we get a standalone issue here, a sort of standard "this is my mission" issue which finds Magneto going after standard hate-based enemies the Purifiers. It's not a bad issue, per se, and it's a good standalone of "this is what Magneto does," but it does feel a little perfunctory, as if it knows it's just filling space. Javier Fernandez does a pretty good job stepping in for Gabriel Walta but the art star here is Jordie Bellaire, whose colors take us all over the world to all sorts of environments and still she manages to keep the book feeling like the series has so far and make the art leap off the page. Full marks, as ever, to Bellaire.

Total Score: 4/5