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Infinity Inc. #3

Infinity Inc. #3

Scheduled to arrive in stores: November 7, 2008

Cover date: January 2008

"Luthor's Monsters - Part Three" and "Persona - Part 1"

Writer: Peter Milligan
Penciller: Max Fiumara and Travel Foreman/Michael Southworth
Inker: Matthew Southworth/Stefano Gaudiano

Neal Bailey Reviewed by: Neal Bailey

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"Luthor's Monsters - Part Three" Writer: Peter Milligan
Penciller: Max Fiumara and Travel Foreman
Inker: Matthew Southworth

Erik talks with his therapist about "Tiger," his stutter.

Kid Empty keeps sapping John Henry until Natasha appears from nowhere, grabbing Kid Eternity and sending him scurrying away.

She identifies Kid Empty's victim as Sally Dwyer before John Henry collapses, intent on finding out what caused Natasha's disappearances. In the hospital, she tells him that she wasn't the one he chased last issue.

Natasha, Fury, and Nuklon move in together, and decide to unite to stop Kid Empty.

They find underwear, and follow the trail to a house, where a woman attacks them with replicating powers, pulling the team apart. Erik loses his concentration, and turns into a woman, Erika. She punches the woman out.

John Henry finds someone strange at his house.

As the others file out, Natasha remains. Kid Empty appears, grabbing her.

3Story - 3: Not too incredibly much happens here, and it's essentially a repeated dilemma, but it's still compelling from the character standpoint. We go from John Henry in Kid Empty's grip to Natasha, and we don't really learn that much more about the plot.

Natasha returns without explanation, and John Henry is again hunting down ghosts. It's getting a bit repetitious. This author likes to use a lot of the same dilemmas over and over again, to beat it into the reader's skull, like showing that Empty is a murderer, Henry is in pursuit of something, Empty can decimate strong people (despite being taken out by a kick? Huh?).

Erika, while cute, doesn't really seem much of a superpower. As a character, it's intriguing to think of someone who can change sexes, but I don't get why that makes him able to take out replicating lady. Or her able. Either way. It's just kind of... odd.

I was gearing up to like this story, and I do still admire its character traits, but this issue devolved a bit into repeated dilemmas. It also, for some strange reason, decided to start another frayed storyline from nowhere, observe the next review below...

3Art - 3: The art is strong, but also inconsistent. It goes from very dark and gloomy to bright at times, and there are places where "mood color" is used to cover the fact that there aren't any backgrounds. Still, much of the character work is quite compelling, and each character is again distinctive. It balanced out.

"Persona - Part 1"

Writer: Peter Milligan
Penciller: Michael Southworth
Inker: Stefano Gaudiano

Gerome McKenna struggles with his persona, appearing as a shape-changed old woman in Nuklon's place at the point that Infinity Inc. moves in. He causes a stir as a crotchety nosy lady before being kicked out. He later struggles with confronting his loss of powers, and thinks to himself of having a member of the group get injured so he could be a part of the new team. John Henry rings his bell.

3Story - 3: Interesting concept, a kid who is willing to kill to join Infinity Inc. The problem is, the team isn't formed, we're jumping out into an ancillary tale when things aren't yet defined, and I can't for the life of me figure why there's a backup story in the third issue of an ongoing when the dilemma of the main tale is already a bit padded.

Also, for that matter, the motivation of the kid is very Smallville. "If I kill someone, they'll let me join their team!" It's harder to buy than the story seems to indicate. It takes a lot to draw people to murder, and it takes away from the story when it's just to "fit in."

3Art - 3: Not bad, not good. There were a few panels that could have used backgrounds, and some compelling character work, like the main story. It balances out.

2Cover Art - 2: "Eureka!" Well, that's KIND of like Erika. But in the end, it's just a girl with her arms swept back in a field of rather weird, odd, ghosts, and not very compelling compared to, say, the first cover for this series.

Mild Mannered Reviews

2008

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

January 2008

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