Zadzooks: Comic book reviews, Blackest Night, X-Force/Cable and more

This chronic feature lets me review what recently has passed my bloodshot eyes. So pull up a chair, break out the sarcasm filter and welcome to … Mr. Zad’s comic book critique

* Geronimo Stilton: The Secret of the Sphinx, graphic novel (Papercutz, $9.95) - The time-traveling mouse that has thrilled young chapter-book readers is making his U.S. sequential art debut in some brand-new adventures.

Editor of the Rodent’s Gazette, the famed newspaper of Mouse Island, Geronimo Stilton also spends his time crushing the plans of the Pirate Cats, who are always looking to rewrite history.

With assistance from his cousin Trap, nephews Benjamin and Pandor, TV journalist Patty Spring and Professor Volt’s Speedrat time machine, Geronimo’s latest journey finds him in hot pursuit of the nefarious felines. The cats have traveled to 2484 B.C. in an attempt to change the Sphinx’s face.

With a seemly limitless supply of catchphrases, the team finds itself in Egypt hanging with the hip fourth-dynasty pharaoh, Chephren.

Papercutz offers a quality Geronimo product here with a sturdy, 56-page hardcover filled with humor, a lively anthropomorphic cast and colorful illustrations by Italian artist Gianluigi Fungo.

Most importantly, the books liberally mix history in with the action. Scattered parchment panels share facts about early Egyptian civilization, touching on topics including hieroglyphics and the Nile.

The tight layout of art and abundance of text might turn off the tween comic fan used to the more airy arrangement of splash-panelized superhero pop art. However, Geronimo fans will eat this up quicker than a wheel of cheddar. Also, the inquisitive child familiar with the Disney Comics style will find a satisfying story and new rodent friends to love.

* Charlatan Ball: Book One, trade paperback (Image Comics, $24.99) - Ben 10 co-creator Joe Casey has teamed up with animated character designer Andy Suriano to tell the story of an unusual warrior who has fallen down the wrong rabbit hole.

If Jack Kirby had worked while under the influence of LSD, I believe he might have come up with something like the adventures of Chuck Amok. This lowbrow stage magician finds himself an interdimensional pawn in combative worlds where magic is real and his furry rabbit pal has become his monstrous bodyguard.

It’s all the fault of sorcerer Demon Empty, who’s trying to gain an advantage in the Tournament and keep his castle out of foreclosure. Of course, Mr. Casey keeps the action rolling with a frenetic cast of characters.

After absorbing Mr. Suriano’s hue-soaked chaos, my eyes feel as if they have been dipped in a vat of Easter egg dyes. The creators also have no problem breaking down the fourth wall as they occasionally pop up in the pop art to question exactly what they are doing.

This trade compiles the first six issues of a series that requires a punch-drunk approach to reading comics.

* X-Force/Cable: Messiah War, one shot; X-Force, nos. 14 to 16; Cable, Nos. 13 to 15 (Marvel Publishing, $2.99 to $3.99) - The soap-operatic X-Men saga continues in the second crossover series of the Messiah Complex epic, showcasing the struggle of the Home Superior population decimated by a Scarlet Witch and civil war.

Protecting the mutant child Hope Summers will pit the X-Force team and Cable against Bishop and Stryfe (the clone of Cable), with the stakes being the survival of their species.

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