The Ricochet Reviewer: Books, Movies, and Comics

Author: Steve Englehart Artists: John Buscema & Dave Cockrum Our story opens in the moments after the resolution of an Avengers adventure, as Captain America arrives, torn by recent events in his own magazine. It soon becomes clear that we are in the moments before the Thanos Saga began, and some time is spent filling in Avengers readers who may not have been keeping up with events in the pages of Captain Marvel. Then we rejoin our story in progress. And we’re off to the races! A mysterious force field is detected… …and a group of Avengers is chosen to investigate. A vast starship lies within. Despite some juvenile sniping among themselves, they take control. It may not make much sense that a device vital for translating among the various races of the task force would be located on a completely separate ship, but it certainly works to the Avengers’ advantage. Some of the Avengers are not completely secure in their victory, and it seems that they may be right. A fun little diversion...

by Larry Maddock (AKA Jack Owen Jardine) A time-traveling agent and his alien partner strive  to foil the plan of an evil mastermind who intends to use a device that drives people mad to change the past.  The four-book series Agent of TERRA was one example of the 60s tsunami of secret agent storytelling that followed the immense success of Ian Fleming’s James Bond series.   Hannibal Fortune, who has been granted a “license to tamper,” works to preserve the integrity of the timeline for the Temporal Entropy Restructure and Repair Agency.  Webley, his partner, is a ball of wisecracking sentient protoplasm that has the ability to inhabit a functional replica of a human being when needed. Gregor Malik of EMPIRE is the evil mastermind. This is a light fun adventure with some timey-wimey nonsense thrown in for spice. You could do worse for a quick read.

by Edgar Rice Burroughs Bridge, the poetry-spouting hobo from Burroughs's  Mucker novels, goes out on his own for a solo adventure involving theft, murder, missing persons, mistaken identities, and possible ghosts.  This was one of ERB’s few (his only?) mystery stories.  The genre is not as suited to his headlong style in which coincidence tends to figure prominently as is his usual territory of the chase and the quest.  It all kicks off when an heiress goes missing, her possessions are stolen, and a mysterious figure who goes by the name of the Oskaloosa Kid runs afoul of some murderous tramps. Bridge and the Kid team up and the result, at the risk of spoiling a twist that most will see coming, is simultaneously among the most homoerotic and homophobic relationships I have encountered in a book. Check it out for yourself to see what I mean. It’s not among Burroughs best by any stretch of the imagination, but it goes down pretty smooth.

Director: J.J. Abrams Writers: Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci & J.J. Abrams Stars: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell Pulling off stunts that could only be accomplished by  Batman or a committed Scientologist, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), backed up by his IMF team (Ving Rhames, Maggie Q, & Jonathan Rhys Meyers), leaps into action once again to rescue his wife (Michelle Monaghan) and prevent sinister arms dealer Owen Davies (Philip Seymour Hoffman) from getting his mitts on a mysterious weapon known only as the Rabbit's Foot.  This is a hugely entertaining film.  TV auteur J.J. Abrams showed that he had what it took to make it on the big screen, efficiently stringing together an exhausting sequence of major action set pieces with just enough plot to provide context without getting in the way of the thrills.  Some reviewers have complained that we never learn what the Rabbit's ...

  Writer / Director: Nicole Holofcener Stars: Rebecca Hall, Elizabeth Keener, Elisa Ivy, Catherine Keener, Josh Pais, Sarah Steele, Ann Guilbert, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Griffin Frazen Kate (Catherine Keener) and Alex (Oliver Platt) are  a comfortable New York couple who make their living selling used furniture that they pick up at estate sales.  Kate is guilt-stricken about what she sees as the predatory nature of her business and the fact that they are waiting for their elderly neighbor Andra (Ann Guilbert) to die so they can take possession of her apartment and enlarge their own.  They have a surly, unhappy teenage daughter with skin issues (Sarah Steele).  Andra, a selfish and unkind old lady, is cared for by two granddaughters; Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) is dutiful and forgiving, always the peacemaker, while Mary (Amanda Peet) is self-involved and resentful.  Director Nicole Holofcener's fine film shows how these characters interact with each other...

Director: Quentin Tarantino Writers: Quentin Tarantino, based on the character of The Bride created by Q & U Stars: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Julie Dreyfus, Chiaki Kuriyama, Sonny Chiba Writer-director Quentin Tarantino indulges his  love for revenge flicks and martial arts movies in the story of a former member of an assassination squad (Uma Thurman) who seeks revenge against her former teammates (Viveca Fox and Lucy Liu) after they wipe out the members of her wedding party.  The result is highly watchable but not completely satisfying.  Tarantino's films have always been as much about style and homage as substance, but with "Kill Bill" he threatened to tip over into self-parody.  Had he been reading too many worshipful articles about himself?  His films have always been exercises in hip and cool, but this one seems especially self-consciously so.  The well-realized characters of previous films...