Comic Book Reviews for the Week of Dec. 17, 2008 (On-Going Series)

Amazing Spider-Man #581

All right, this is more like it. I’ve been waiting for this story for quite some time. I can’t say that I’m please with Harry’s return or how he was brought back, but I’m extremely happy it was explained, and I’m even happier that, after being told time and time again that everything was still in continuity after Brand New Day, we’re shown proof. Spectacular Spider-Man #200, where Harry “died”? Still good. Normie’s hate for Spider-Man? Still good. Hell, Normie himself? Still good. I didn’t know what was going on with Harry’s family since he’s been written as a younger character, but the marriage, birth of his son, and his death are all still cannon. Even Charlie Weiderman, from Stracyznki’s run, was mentioned. Out of everything that was brought up with BND, the Harry situation was the one thing I really wanted answered, and here we go. Good job Mr. Slott.

Avengers: The Initiative #19

A story well-told involving a lot of characters in a lot of battles during the invasion. There’s death (Spinner, possibly Shooting Star, Whiz Kid and Crusader), new-found heroism (3-D Man and Crusader), and an invasion foiled. I was taken aback by the suddenness of Crusader’s death. It made sense, though, and with his wish we might not have heard the last of Crusader. The future of the Initiative will be very interesting indeed with Norman Osborn now running the show. And what of the Negative Zone prison? What’ll happen with that?

Deadpool #5

This is nothing but ridiculous fun. I liked how Way went non-linear for the story; it was very effective. And Deadpool ended up double-crossing EVERYBODY in the end. And he still didn’t get paid. What a poor, poor mercenary. And it doesn’t look like he’ll be making any money next issue when he goes up against Tiger Shark.

Doktor Sleepless #10

That was more like it. I actually understood what was going on in this issue. Of course, the good Doktor wasn’t in it at all, so that might account for some of the understanding. Basically, the police commissioner has just sanctioned the killing of Sleepless, and the cop who found out who the killer is gets to kill HIM after everything is all said and done. Pretty straight-forward issue, actually. Too bad they’re not all like that.

Angel: After the Fall #15

This is my favorite issue of the series so far. This is the only issue I’ve read where I could actually hear the voices of the characters as I read it. That means the writing was spot on. I could hear a smirk in everything Spike said. I could hear Wesley’s Britishness. Gunn, Angel, Conner, they were all there. After a questionable start to the series, I’m really liking where it is, and I hope I’m going to like where it’s going. I don’t know if I’m all that sad about Conner. I really didn’t like him before Season 5, and likeable Conner wasn’t around enough. I enjoyed him in this comic, though, so I guess he will be missed. I wish they’d find a way to bring Fred back, but I guess that’s over and done with. I DO miss her.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 #20

Eh, it was a nice, campy little throw-back to the first few seasons of the show, but that’s it. Just a nice, quick little rest until we get back into the thick of it…I hope. I’ve never really liked any cartoon adaptions or cartoon-like comics. [sarcasm] I’m way too old for that. [/sarcasm] I’ll be happy next month when we’re all back to normal.

Ex Machina #40

Oh, Christ, that was a classic issue. One of the best of the series, actually, and that’s saying a lot. Vaughan wrote himself and Harris into the story. Mayor Hundred wanted to do his memoirs as a comic book, and they were interviewing for the gig. By all accounts, both artist and writer scored high marks in their respective interviews, but who should get the job? Garth Ennis and Jim Lee. And the last two pages are even by the duo. Frickin’ classic. Vaughan at one point makes reference to Grant Morrison and his meta approach to comics, and this was definitely different from that. As much as I loved the end of Morrison’s Animal Man run, it was like he was stroking himself for all the world to see. Vaughan and Harris’ appearance in this issue wasn’t like that at all. It was very natural. And again, the ending was classic. Kudos, gentlemen.

Fables #79

The residents of Fabletown don’t get minor disturbances, do they? They also don’t get a month or two to rest their bones. They’re just done with the war, and now something possibly worse than the Adversary is breaking down all of their binding enchantments, which results in all of the Fable building collapsing. I’m not all that thrilled with the Mowgli back-up, but I have faith that I’ll end up loving it. I do like the robotic tiger and the drunk monkey. That’s funny.

Fallen Angel #32

I hear this book is ending next issue to be restarted in a couple of months. I don’t understand that. I know #1 issues sell better, but I think this breaks up the flow of the work…unless that’s what David is going for, then okay. This was a decent penultimate issue. The gang stops fighting with each other and get back to Bette Noir with the sword that can kill Moloch. Too bad he breaks it. And I assume that was God that showed up in tennis garb. We’ve got angels and demons running around, I guess it was inevitable that God would show up.

Greatest American Hero #1

Nostalgia can be cruel sometimes. I remember watching this on TV and I have fond memories of it. This issue though was, well, it wasn’t horrible, but there was nothing there to keep me coming back.

Invincible Iron Man #8

Have I mentioned how much I love this book? I like it when smart characters can just be smart without having to be dumbed down for the masses. This is really the first glimpse we’re getting of Osborn running the show, and yay for Tony for sticking it to him just a little bit. I really, really think this Dark Reign era of Marvel is going to make for some great stories.

Mighty Avengers #20

This was the Wasp’s funeral, and our reintroduction to Hank Pym. I thought his outburst at Tony was totally justified, and I’d like to see where he and Thor went. Knowing Thor, I’m sure it was a place to either drink or fight or maybe both. I do believe Osborn is going to be a lot of appearances this year. I’ve got a question, though. Is Mighty Avengers over? Will Dark Avengers replace it or just supplement it?

Squadron Supreme #6

I’d probably like this book a little more if the artwork didn’t distract me so much. It’s hideous. That and all of the regular 616 analogues are pretty redundant. I mean, that’s what the Ultimate universe is for. Hell, Fury is even from that universe. At least at the end we got an appearance from Superman and Green Lantern, I’m sorry, I mean Hyperion and Dr. Spectrum. Are we building up to a battle between the Squadron, who have yet to show up in their own title, and Fury’s new S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Thunderbolts #127

This was an excellent issue that let all the really bad baddies have their day. I was almost rooting for them to kill Songbird. This title is going to be the one to watch, I think, now that Norman is running things. I’m guessing these guys are going to be his go-to, behind-the-scenes strike team. I’m also anxious to see where Songbird is going to end up. Dark Reign just started and it already rocks.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #59

Well, Sue is back, so that’s good. But apparently Reed infected her with some nanobots, so that’s not good. And the duo, instead of going after Reed, is going to look for Johnny. I can’t say that I blame them. Infecting them (assuming he did that to more than just Sue) was a pretty dick move.

Walking Dead #56

I think I’m just about done with zombies. I AM interested in seeing what Washington D.C. is like, but I think I’m going to put this book aside for a few months and see if it comes back any fresher. Right now it’s just the same old same old. Group of people traveling, tensions running high, that sort of thing. Maybe things will be different once they make it to a big city.

Comic Book Reviews for the Week of Nov. 12, 2008 (On-Going Series)

Action Comics #871

It seems like every five years or so I start picking up the Superman titles again, only to drop them in less than a year. This time it was the New Krypton storyline that brought me back in. I’m actually surprised I haven’t jumped in sooner since the books have Geoff Johns and James Robinson writing the stories with Alex Ross providing covers. But the New Krypton stuff brought me back. I want to see what happens when the Earth has to cope with 100,000 Supermen. I wasn’t too terribly lost with this issue. It seems like every time I pick the books back up, Brainiac looks different. I’m sure I’ll read the back issues at some point. General Lane shot Luthor. That was cool. And Agent Liberty is still alive? How is that possible? I would have figured he would have been cannon fodder a long time ago. And it was nice seeing Doomsday getting his evolving ass handed to him by a small army of Kryptonians. I’ll definitely stick around for a few more months.

Amazing Spider-Man #577

My favorite Spider-Man/Punisher team-up is when Garth Ennis brought him in for an issue of his Marvel Knights on-going series. Hilarious. This one wasn’t bad. I’m starting to enjoy Zeb Wells. He seems to have just as good of a handle on the Spider-verse as the other writers on the series. I’m not as big of a fan of Paolo Rivera. Actually, it was just his Spider-Man that I didn’t care for that much, but he’s the title character, so that’s kind of important. I hope we’re close to seeing the end of this Spider Tracer Killer sub-plot. It’s gone on long enough, I think.

Booster Gold #s 13 and 14

"M-magic hand! A magic hand took my freeze-gun!!"
"Thank you, magic hand."

I don’t know how I missed last month’s issue, but I did. It looks like we’ve got a new creative team here: Rick Remender and Pat Olliffe. Sounds like it should be a solid team. Halfway through issue 13, I was thinking that this felt a lot like the most recent Atom series, and then who should show up but Chronos and Lady Chronos, whom I last saw in The All-New Atom. This was a great start for Rick and Pat. They immediately jumped into a world conqueror and managed to take Rip out of the picture so all the focus can be on Booster. Good call. Okay, pretty much because of the magic hand scene, Remender has sold me. He’s perfect for this book. This little two-parter really showed us how he’s going to handle Booster, and I think it’ll be great.

Captain Britain and MI-13 #7

"Lady J, I like the way you fight. Promise I won’t kill you. Until we’re out of this."

This has been a surprise hit (for me, at least) springing out of Secret Invasion. I think it’s so awesome when I can pick up a book at random and a writer can just blow me away with great stories about characters I’ve never cared about. This issue see Brian getting his fondest wish, having Meggan back. But his insane brother Jamie returns, and I have no idea if that’s part of his dream or if Jamie is somehow snapping him out of this. Or if Meggan will eventually come back with him when this is all over. Also, there’s a small matter of the Black Knight not actually having the Ebony Blade. I don’t know what that means, but I remember a small kerfluffle a few years ago regarding the Blade and the Black Panther and there being two blades floating around the Marvel Universe. I guess we’ll get the final answer to that next issue.

Fables #78

"But, Miss Beauty, this wasn’t the usual poop! It was all wet and messy and explosive even! It’s splattered everywhere."

Ah, Buffkin. Even flying monkeys have a fascination with poop. Boy Blue sure has had a rough time of it. Red Riding Hood wasn’t really Red Riding Hood, Rose Red wasn’t into him like he was into her, and now he’s lost an arm. Sucks to be him. The backup story was just...weird.

Fallen Angel #31

"As for you...you were right the first time. You are just a bitch."

I like that the farther we get into the story, David is throwing more and more Biblical references in here. It makes sense since Lee is ACTUALLY a Fallen Angel. We also got a lot of information here concerning the roles of various characters, specifically the original sinners.

Ghostbusters #2

"You got beat up by conjoined twins in high school?"

Eh, it’s okay. I think I enjoyed the first issue more just because I hadn’t even watched the movies in so long, it brought back some memories. But really, this isn’t anything that hasn’t been done over in Marvel or DC before.

Gravel #6

"I’m sorry I had to kill your special magic daddy."

I thought Ellis’ idea for Gravel, a combat magician, was brilliant. If there’s magic in the world, why WOULDN’T a government put it to a military use? This issue sees Gravel coming to terms with his inheritance after killing Royston. He gets money, he gets an estate, and he gets a semi-trained group of fighters, and he wants none of it. I can’t necessarily say I’d make the same choice.

Green Lantern Corps #30

I thought the Zamarons were relatively human looking females,. These are not the Zamarons I remember from the Millennium crossover from two decades ago. Peter Tomasi is doing a great job of showing that the Guardians have blinders on when it comes to their cause, just as the Zamarons do with theirs. So now another directive, one that prohibits relationships between Green Lanterns, will be written into the book of Oa. Oh, the Guardians are just bringing this war upon themselves.

Sir Apropos of Nothing #1

"The man in black fled across the desert."

I’ll buy just about any comic with Peter David’s name on it. As for his books, I’ve only read two (both of the Imzadi ones), but I’ve been meaning to get a hold of the Sir Apropos books. Now I can about him in comic book form. Okay, the first page? Any reader of the Dark Tower books or people who read the first issue of Peter’s adaptation of the Gunslinger will find it hilarious. From the first two pages we’re already getting Peter’s love of wordplay. I have high hopes for the rest of the book. Heh, the Aybee Sea. And the ending recalled more of the Gunslinger. Very nice. Peter has won me over again. I’ll be back next month for the next installment.

The Walking Dead #54

"The thing about smart mother fuckers is that sometimes, they sound like crazy mother fuckers to stupid mother fuckers...I hope you guys aren’t a bunch of stupid mother fuckers...because Eugene here sure as fuck ain’t crazy."

I don’t remember quite so many f-bombs before in this book. But we’re finally getting back on track. Now, with the group joining up with the people heading to D.C., the book has a purpose again. It was too boring, too same-old same-old when they were just sitting around at the prison. Now they’ve got a purpose, some new characters, and we may find out how this all happened. Oooh, something to look forward to! That hasn’t happened in a while!

Titans #7

Okay, that’s just stupidity on the part of the Titans. Since he returned in Teen Titans, Jericho has been nothing but a villain. I still can’t tell if this comes before or after DC Universe: Decisions. If it’s after, that means that the end of Decisions ruined the end of this and the Titans will retrap Jericho in Match and ship them back to Star Labs. If it’s before, then Jericho was still bad and the Titans shouldn’t have trusted him. I call this very sloppy writing since Winnick wrote (or was at least co-writer) of both books.

Trinity #24

"Air is for cowards!"

It looks like we’re finally on our way to seeing the fixing of Earth, now that the "trinity" of the JSA are somewhat back in their own minds. And there’s still more villainy goodness to be had in the back-up, with Krona taking John Stewart, and Despero and Kanjar Ro about to form an alliance with the "trinity" from the Crime Syndicate of Amerika.

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Listening to: Alien Ant Farm - Tragedy (Hidden Track)
via FoxyTunes

Comic Book Reviews for the Week of Oct. 8, 2008

Cream of the Crop

Deadpool #3

An unforeseen double-cross in the first issue was followed by an expected double-cross in the last issue, and this issue we get a very unexpected sort-of-double-cross. This issue had less of the funny and more of Deadpool kicking Skrull ass. We learn his true purpose for being where he is, and ultimately why he allowed the Skrulls to use his genetic material. He’s pretty devious for a guy who’s nothing but a smart ass who kills really well.

Fallen Angel #30

For a book with such religious overtones, it’s about time we get to the big question. I think David handles this very well. Jude’s question to his mother isn’t answered, but at least she tells him why. And in an issue devoted to faith, Lee and Jude make the ultimate leap of faith (with a much more convincing outcome than in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). And there goes Black Mariah following. Will something different happen to her because she fell rather than believed and leaped? I guess we’ll find out next issue.

Ender’s Game: Battle School #1

I can’t remember if it was my freshman or sophomore year of college, but for one semester I took a class called Sci-Fi and Fantasy. We read books, we wrote stories, and we watched movies. It was awesome. Because of that class I read Frankenstein, Wizard of Earthsea, Brave New World, Stranger in a Strange Land, Dune, and Ender’s Game. Out of the three books in that list whose stories continued on into other books, the future of Ender Wiggin was the only one I was concerned with. I followed him through Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind. I haven’t read any of the short stories or Shadow books, but I’ve been meaning to. I think after finishing this comic, I may have to go back and reread the series. From what I can remember, this comic is pretty faithful to the book. Since it has been about a decade since I read the book, I can’t call forth any details, but the comic is ringing true for me. This is going to be a book I’ll be looking forward to every month.

Green Lantern #35

Great writing, beautiful art…yet I can’t help feeling that I was cheated a bit. Johns gave us a seven-part origin story, which updated and tweaked Hal’s origin to account for current happenings while setting the stage for The Blackest Night. That’s okay, I have not problem with that, but that’s seven months not knowing what Hal is doing NOW. Couldn’t this have been a mini-series, or at least trimmed down and made into back-up stories or used as flashbacks while telling a current story? I’m okay with Johns replacing Legion with Atrocitus and totally removing Hal’s DUI and prison sentence (Emerald Dawn I and II), but rather than moving Hal forward, we’re taking a look back. Still, it was a great story.

Green Lantern Corps #29

This series is just as good as the main Green Lantern book. With this, we’ve got all the Earth GLs taken care of (I think…John is still a member of the Justice League, right?). As with Hal’s GL book, this is setting us up for The Blackest Night, but at least with this one we’re moving forward instead of reinventing the past. Guy and Tora explore their relationship. A new Star Sapphire (Pink Lantern) is born, thus leading me to believe that Tora might be recruited as Batman was recruited by the Yellow Lanterns. We’ve also got the Lantern who talks to the dead following a giant cosmic hand around the galaxy. The giant hand has got to be Chronos, but I can’t remember what happened to him after the JLA/Avengers crossover, which was supposed to be in continuity. I think he’s showing up in Trinity, so I wonder how that’s going to fit in if at all.

Invincible Iron Man #6

While still a good issue, after the past five GREAT issues, this was a bit of a let-down. Tony using various past armors to help him save the day has been done before. He’s a super genius, a futurist, and this is his fallback plan that he has to go to every time something big comes up? C’mon, man, think of something new!

Marvel Zombies 3 #1

And I thought they mined all the stories they could out of this. So they first showed up in the Ultimate Universe, the 616 Black Panther traveled there I believe, and now the zombies are traveling to the 616 world. I liked seeing Florida’s Initiative team, as well as the A.R.M.O.R. crew. I stopped reading Darkhawk somewhere in the early teens of the series, but I recognize Portal. That’s one good thing about the Initiative, a lot of obscure characters are showing up, if only to be cannon fodder (poor Siege and Conquistador). Right now it looks like Morbius is going to be the Black Panther of this series. It’ll be interesting to see how far this reaches out into the 616 universe. Consider me hooked.

Dark Tower: Treachery #2

And now we’ve got a female gunslinger, or at least a girl who wants to be a gunslinger. I think that’s totally new. I don’t remember any mention of her in the books. Another great and beautiful issue, if not somewhat slow. Other than introducing Aileen and showing us her skill and having Steven stop his fellow gunslinger from bleeding to death, nothing happened. It seems like we’re being set up for what might happen in the next issue.

The Stand: Captain Trips #2

I really hope that the TV movie hasn’t ruined me on this. I’ve already got character faces in my mind: Gary Sinese as Stu, Rob Lowe as Nick, Dr. Kelso from Scrubs as Frannie’s dad, Jamie Sheridan as the Walkin’ Dude, the guy who played Parker Lewis from Parker Lewis Can’t Lose as Harold, the dad from Alf as one of the scientists at the CDC, Dauber from Coach as Tom (M-O-O-N, that spells Dauber), Molly Ringwald as Frannie, and Ed Harris as the General who keeps watching the monitors. Oh, and Kareem Abdul Jabar…can’t forget him. Some of the casting choices never sat right with me. I always envisioned Stu as younger than Sinese (I think I’m spelling his name wrong, but I’m too tired to check), and I didn’t like Parker Lewis as Harold. So far I’m okay with the portrayals here. Perkins is doing a great job visually differentiating all of the cast member from each other. Aguirre-Sacasa is doing a good job so far at chopping the massive novel up, and it looks like the script is lifted straight from the book. I thought this issue ended in a weird place though, rather abruptly. But that’s minor. This is my favorite book, and as long as Aguirre-Sacasa stays true to the story, I think I’ll probably geek out with every issue. BUT (all caps, what could it mean?), this week in his Lying in the Gutters gossip column at www.comicbookresources.com, Rich Johnston mentioned that King would be moving his comics from Marvel to…Del Rey? Does that sound right? It’s a publishing company, but I didn’t realize they were in the comic book business. We’ll see how that goes, and how that’ll affect the two books already at Marvel.

Trinity #19

This book has really gotten a lot better since it started. And I love alternate reality stories. I love getting glimpses of how this “new” world is different yet the same. It looks like Busiek is working on something massive here, and I’m glad I’m along for the ride. The back-up story was pretty good. I like how it brought up Invasion, tying it to both realities. It looks like this artist is taking the place of Tarot, who has moved up into the main story.

X-Men: Magneto – Testament #2

I have one complaint and one complaint only about this issue. At the beginning, when Max’s father takes his book away, I thought it was a picture of a boy he was looking at. If it weren’t for his father’s comment about it always being a girl and then me noticing the pig-tails, I never would have thought that was Magda, or that she was a she. Other than that, this was another powerful story from Greg Pak. It’s sort of nice to see that I haven’t been totally desensitized to this type of violence. It lets me know that I’m not a total robot. Max and his family’s flight from Germany as the Nazis raid homes and businesses was heart-wrenching. I don’t know if this story will make Magneto any more sympathetic, but it’s very interesting to see what this mutant figurehead witnessed and lived through as a boy, and we see why he is so militant about not being persecuted again.

Leftovers

Crossed #1

I went back and forth on where to put this, Cream of the Crop or Leftovers. It’s a very well-written and well-illustrated book, but are there really more zombie stories to tell? And essentially, isn’t that what the Crossed are? I’m going to stick with it and see where Ennis takes us, but I’m just wondering if it’s an excuse for him to just be ultra-violent and deviant. I think I prefer Ennis when he’s working with a more realistic storyline such as his war books or The Punisher. Even Preacher with it’s religious overtones was still grounded in reality. With this book, it seems like he was trying to be Warren Ellis.

Dead of Night: Devil-Slayer #2

That’s a pretty big change of tone from last issue. We go from a pretty standard war story to a horror show in an eye blink. Everything seemed to work pretty well. We met Isaac last issue, so his appearing out of nowhere to save the day isn’t a stretch. And Bloodstone’s methods make sense. Never let it be said that demons aren’t smart or can’t take advantage of a situation. I guess the big question is why the name Bloodstone? Will Elsa (is that her name?) be showing up at some point?

Presidential Material: Barack Obama & Presidential Material: John McCain

These are decent biographies of both of the 2008 major-party Presidential candidates. McCain’s book focused on his military service legacy and record, which seems to be lousy with destroyed planes. Obama’s is more of a full biography (which should be easier since there are fewer years to go through), beginning with his birth in Hawaii. These books should not be used by fence-sitters as decision makers for who they will vote for in the election. It’s useful for anyone who wants to know a general backstory on the two, and that’s it.

Secret Six #2

Not a bad issue. Catman travels to Gotham to keep Batman occupied while the rest of the team infiltrates Alcatraz in order to break out Tarantula. The team runs into trouble in the form of Mammoth, and Catman matches Batman just about punch for punch. Catman sure has come a long way since his appearance the Archer’s Quest storyline that ran in the Green Arrow series.

Walking Dead #53

Oooh, the book gets a reprieve. I don’t like that it was so easy for Rick to find so many friendlies so quickly. But I think it was necessary. He and Michone now have a connection. He and Dale have a connection. And assuming he’s not lying, a new character may just be able to tell us what happened. It was a decent issue, a touching issue that wasn’t nearly as sappy as it could have been. And it took a little longer to read than usual, so bonus.

X-Men: Manifest Destiny #2

Not a bad issue, this. I’m not moving into the CotC pile mainly because I’m not fully up on all the goings on, such as the history between Iceman and Raven, but I’m not turned away by it, so that’s good. And damn, another Dan Panosian story where I don’t want to throw up after looking at it. This is how it works, kids. You’re crap when you start out, but you practice, and you hone your craft, and once you stop trying to be Rob Liefeld and find your own style, you start getting more appreciation from critical nonartists like myself. The Emma story was good too, but how many times have we seen variations of it? Rogue, Magneto, Wolverine…the first two villains before joining the X-Men, Magneto later returning to his roots, and Wolverine a cold-blooded killer and loner before finding a family like the X-Men. But really, with Emma, how many readers have been saying the exact same thing about her that she was thinking?

X-Men: Original Sin #1

Good opening, good enough to know who Daken is if you haven’t read Wolverine: Origins. I’m still not up enough on the X-verse to know why Xavier is out of the picture. While it doesn’t look like I’d need to be expertly versed on recent happenings, I think I’ll wait for the trade of this. I’m slowly revisiting and catching up on the X-verse by starting at the very beginning, and I’m almost to the Mutant Massacre, so I’ve still got a lot of books to read. I would imagine, though, that this would be a great read for X-fans.

Compost

13 Chambers #1

This book actually had a lot of potential, but it fell way short. The plot was very interesting, but there were just too many holes. There were a lot of scene shifts with too little explanations. There’s apparently a follow-up book in the works, but the creators needed to give us more story in this one rather than expecting us to come back for more.

Ferryman #1

The beginning of this book was promising. I thought it was going to be a tongue-in-cheek shoot-‘em-up type of book, but like the move Shoot ‘Em Up, it didn’t know when to just stop. The narration was annoying and the action was improbable. The sketchy art didn’t help either.


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Listening to: Shinedown - Save Me
via FoxyTunes