Welcome back to the world of comics, party people! Mostly a quiet week for comics this week, I think, but we’ve got some strong issues of Iron Man and Power Rangers Prime.

Comic Book of the Week goes to Fury of Firestorm #1 for a very strong, very exciting first issue!

Meanwhile, my pals at Very Big Comics are humming along nicely with their Museum of the Uncanny Kickstarter. Check them out, they do good work and make good comics! I promise you won’t be disappointed. It’s a collection of spooky and fascinating short comic stories and could use all the love it can get!

Comic Reviews: Fury of Firestorm #1, Iron Man #4 and Power Rangers Prime #16.

The Fury of Firestorm #1
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Rafael De Latorre
Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer: Lucas Gattoni

I have never cared about Firestorm, but I’m more than willing to try out a Firestorm comic from this new DC initiative! How’d they do?

Firestorm arrives in Bedford Colorado and, over the course of a week or so, he uses his powers of molecular transmogrification to turn the whole town and its inhabitants into chalk and glass, and then he does even worse things to them after that seems to upset him. The military mount an operation and recruit Lorraine Reilly, Firehawk and Ronnie Raymond’s ex-girlfriend, to see if she can get through to him. When they arrive in the town, Firestorm disintegrates her team and blasts her out of town — with Firehawk realizing this isn’t Ronnie Raymond.

Where is he? Where is Professor Stein? And…is the Firestorm Matrix sentient?!

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

They did a phenomenal job! Hot damn, this is a fun comic! I know a little bit about Firestorm, so I didn’t go in completely blind, but it was nice to get a succinct explanation of his powers and character. That was handled very well in the issue. And then Lemire just did a great job setting up this new concern, that the Firestorm Matrix is somehow sentient and has taken control of the body. That’s a brilliant Firestorm idea! Has it ever be done before? Regardless, it’s handled very well here, slowly letting the reader in on what’s happening through storytelling and the use of Firehawk, a character I’ve always liked the look of, even if I don’t know anything else about her. She’s got a great look, and works great as the reader surrogate here.

I also really enjoyed the middle section, where we see that Ronnie Raymond is trapped in some kind of idyllic paradise created in his mind by the Matrix. It’s adorable and a perfect encapsulation of classic comics. Great use of history there to set up the danger our hero is in. And then I loved that final page cliffhanger, revealing a haggard Professor Stein burning old Firestorm science documents. That’s how you do a cliffhanger ending to a new first issue, really kick things up a notch with some curious reveals.

And the artwork easily and effortlessly keeps up with all of it, bouncing between different styles and really showing off the power of the Firestorm.

TL;DR: A great first issue kicks things off with the perfect amount of exposition, storytelling, mystery and shocking, exciting reveals.

Iron Man #4
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artists: Carmen Carnero with Jan Bazaldua
Colorist: Nolan Woodard
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

This Iron Man comic is moving along nicely.

I missed last issue, but basically, Tony figured out where Madam Masque was keeping her prisoners and then he got imprisoned himself. In this issue, the prize winner, Adam Ware, uses his communication technology to get in touch with Tony and they work out a way to save the others and escape — but Fixer isn’t about to let that happen!

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

I like it. This comic isn’t as amazing as some of Williamson’s other work, but it’s still a fine Iron Man comic. Tony Stark remains front and center and he does good work. He’s smart, clever and there’s technology involved. Madam Masque’s grand plan has fallen apart faster than I thought it would, but such is the pace of modern comic storytelling, I suppose. Best to just do the thing and get to work telling the story. I like the group of randos Tony has been partnered with, even if only one of them has had any development. But it’s good development. I like this Adam Ware fellow, and I think he’s being set up nicely as a future antagonist or ally. Fixer isn’t exactly a top tier villain, so I’m not exactly worried about Tony Stark making it out of this, but it’s fine. It’s all fine. It’s all an entertaining Iron Man comic, with new stuff happening every issue.

TL;DR: Solid and enjoyable continuation of the storyline, though it does feel like it’s either moving too fast or the story isn’t all that deep.

Power Rangers Prime #16
Writer: Melissa Flores
Artist: Federico Sorressa
Colorist: Joana Lafuente
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire

Welp, that’s it. No more Power Rangers Prime. I’m definitely prepared for the new relaunch coming out soon and I’ll be reviewing that too.

Lauren and her brother make amends and reject their evil father. The Gold Ranger merges with a rock monster Rita creates to become a giant monster, and Blue and Black show up with a giant TeeZee Zord to fight him. Rita and Pink use magic to create a portal to send the destroyer slugs away. The VR Troopers and the Eltarians show up to support everybody. And the day is saved, the Prime Rangers are still together and…I think Earth is still a captive planet?

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

So Power Rangers Prime ends with what feels like both a grand finale and also a whimper. It’s a big, exciting issue with a lot going on and some great artwork to support it…but who cares? We’re done. It’s over. We’re (probably) never coming back to this universe. Each of the Rangers mostly gets something unique to do in the issue, and fighting both Samurai Rangers and the classic Gold Ranger means there are some strong themes about what it means to be a Ranger. But it’s still all ultimately a rush job just to get it over with, too much crammed into too little space.

In my opinion, Power Rangers Prime started very strong. I love the premise, of Earth being a controlled colony of Eltaria. I love the idea of Rita coming to Earth and being the Zordon figure, gathering a seemingly random assortment of nearby teenagers. I love the look of the suits. I love how they all come together. I didn’t love the idea that there was an odd mix of existing Ranger characters and new characters, with a whole Samurai history to Lauren. It made the backstory complicated when the Prime Rangers could have been the first Rangers. And that issue made this final issue all the more troubling, with Lauren’s father and brother both being red Samurai rangers, and then the Gold Ranger being a villain for some reason. Wasn’t he a good guy? The Gold Ranger costume design is one of my favorites!

I didn’t like the idea of Rita becoming the Green Prime Ranger, especially since she just does it instead of giving the moment any build up. And I definitely didn’t like how the entire middle of the series wasn’t available digitally for months on end, completely killing any momentum this series had going for it. And when it finally became available and I was able to catch up, the story wasn’t all over the place and not nearly as strong as the start.

But there’s no need for a total autopsy on this series. It was good. The writing was usually great. The artwork was usually strong. And the potential was enormous, but problems that were probably out of a lot of people’s hands caused it’s downfall. It was a good comic, it deserved better and I guess now we’ll all just move on to what’s next.

TL;DR: The series ends on a fairly strong note with a big action issue, but the wind is already out of these sails.

The comics I review in my Hench-Sized reviews are just the usual comics I grab from Comixology any given week, along with a few impulse buys I might try on a whim. So if there are any comics or series you’d like me to review each week, let me know in the comments.

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