What You Should Have Read #64

Comic Book Reviews 

for the Week of June 13, 2012

I thought this week’s issue of Amazing Spider-Man was a good ending to the “Ends of the Earth” storyline. We got some good scenes with Mysterio. The Rhino with nothing to live for was truly a man to be afraid of. Doc Ock, as always, was defeated by his own hubris. Two things stuck with me, though. First, the Rhino. When did the Rhino stop being stupid? He was always just muscle that screwed everything up. He wasn’t a joke because he was so powerful, but I always got the impression that he could barely string two thoughts together. He was always a lackey, and his Russian background was either forgotten or ignored. Then, after Brand New Day, he’s VERY Russian and seems to be of average intelligence. What happened? I hit up Wikipedia, and it mentioned a Tangled Web story where he regained his intelligence but ended up having it taken away because it ultimately bored him. So really, what happened? The other thing had to do with the ending. Who exactly was Spidey upset about? He said, “Someone died.” By my count, there are four characters who might have died during this storyline: two from the Ends of the Earth one-shot and two from this issue. I guess that’ll be explained in next week’s issue of Avenging Spider-Man.

There is very little I’m enjoying about the Avengers side of the “Avengers vs. X-Men” crossover. This week’s issue of Avengers did nothing to change that. My complaints against focusing on Noh-Varr remain: nothing has been done with him to get us to care about him. Now he’s not allowed back on Earth. Big whoop. Also, why was he accepted so easily by the Kree? He’s not from this universe. I really liked Grant Morrison’s Marvel Boy mini, but the character has just been absorbed into continuity and left to grow stale. I’ll not shed a tear if we never see Noh-Varr/Marvel Boy/Protector again.

On to Avengers Assemble, which I AM enjoying. Maybe I’ve just got a soft spot in my heart for Bendis/Bagley collaborations. Although I don’t necessarily like WHY this specific team of Avengers has their own book, I am enjoying the story. My biggest gripe with this issue specifically ties into this week’s Amazing Spider-Man. In it, Thor, whose mind was being controlled by Doc Ock, could no longer lift his hammer. But in this issue, Hulk, whose mind was being controlled by Thanos, COULD lift Thor’s hammer. Bit of a continuity gaffe there, considering I don’t think Hulk has lifted Mjolnir even in his right mind.

There’s not much I can say about this week’s Batman without spoiling something that probably shouldn’t be spoiled if you haven’t read the issue yet. Personally, I loved it, but I can understand how long-time Batman fans might be put off a bit. This is a BIG thing, and I think Snyder is doing a wonderful job at making this Batman his own. He’s also done a great job of pulling his version of Owlman over into DC’s new continuity. I can’t wait to see how this ends next month. I ended up getting the regular cover for this issue, but I thought long and hard about picking up the Rafael Albuquerque variant. With as much as I’m loving this book, though, I’ve decided that it’s good enough to warrant me buying a copy of each cover in the future, as long as the variant is being sold for cover price.

I’m enjoying Robinson’s Earth 2, but I’m LOVING The Shade. It’s not a superhero book, although there are powers and “good” vs. “evil.” It’s not necessarily an origin book, although we are learning things about the Shade’s past. What this IS is a great story. It’s a great character on a quest. This is also Robinson at his best. Like I said, I’m enjoying Earth 2, and I really think it’ll get even better as the book goes on, but that’s a book that HAS to have some high-adrenaline action to keep it moving. Not so with The Shade. It’s a bit of a wordy book, but that’s perfectly alright. The words draw you into the wonderful pictures that adorn each issue. This issue had wonderful artwork by Frazer Irving. The faces are full of expression, the backgrounds are wonderfully textured, and the pages are expertly set up. I did have to go back to see if we’ve seen Dudley before, because it seems like we should know him, but I guess not. It just seems as if this is the Caldecott that’s gone after the Shade. I can’t wait to see WHY ol’ Dickie was targeted by his…great great grandson? I also bought both versions of this book, the Tony Harris cover and the Frazer Irving cover. If I can buy a variant cover for regular cover price, I’ll usually go that route unless I just really like the regular cover better. But in some instances, I want to lend as much support as possible to a book, so I’ll buy the regular cover AND the variants. I want the Shade to get another limited series after this, so I’ll buy all the covers as long as my LCS makes them available for cover price.

The comic I was most looking forward to this week was Spider-Men, and it didn’t disappoint. I never thought there needed to be a crossover between the 616 Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Marvel Universe, but so far I like what little interaction we’ve had with the 616 Spidey in the Ultimate New York. Bendis is a great Spider-Man writer, and I bet I wouldn’t have enjoyed his run on the Avengers titles as much had Spidey not been included, and now he’s finally getting his chance to write a solo 616 Web-Slinger story. The biggest question for me to come out of this issue is how long Mysterio has known about the Ultimate Universe (and tangentially, when this takes place in relation to “Ends of the Earth”). The best thing about the issue was the short interaction between Peter and the mugging victim he rescued. Bendis was able to get his “poor taste” running gag in the issue, and that was a gag I’ve loved in the new Ultimate Spider-Man book. Is it wrong that I want the next issue to consist of nothing but 9-panel pages of Pete and Miles talking with each other?

Ennis is really cleaning house with this last storyline in The Boys. Two of the team’s supporters are now gone, either directly or indirectly dispatched by Butcher. Hughie and MM are starting to piece together that Butcher has finally cracked and that some superpowered shit is hitting an incredibly massive fan. This isn’t shaping up to be a happy ending for anybody.

There’s a LOT of stuff going on in Uncanny X-Force. You’ve got two separate people after Fantomex, and I think it might be safe to say that they aren’t working together. Nightcrawler and Wolverine have been brought down by clones of Omega Red, and Wade, well, Wade has some fun with homemade assassin program at White Sky. Then you’ve got some X-kids on a field trip in Genosha, and it looks like they’re being tailed by Sabertooth. Also, Kitty’s father was in Genosha when the Sentinels destroyed it? Why? And it looks like Amahl Farouk is still alive and kicking, and I’d like to see that explained. I was under the impression that that body of the Shadow King was dead and gone. Also, bonus points for the Arrested Development reference. That’s quite a bit to absorb, but it’s still less confusing that the Otherworld adventure from a few issues ago.

My back issue buys this week were Amazing Spider-Man #s 661 and 662.

It looks like next week is an all Marvel week for me:

Avengers vs. X-Men #6

Dark Avengers #176

Invincible Iron Man #519

Journey into Mystery #640

New Avengers #27

X-Factor #238

And now for something a little different. I subscribe to a daily emailer called Daily Steal. They usually have some damn fine deals, although I haven’t bought much at all from them. A couple of weeks ago, though, they had a listing for some comic books. The pitch was 50-65 comics plus a handful of trading cards with a total value of $500…for only $29.95! Plus, it was Free Shipping Friday! Now, they had some stock pictures of various ‘90s comics (the only one that I can recall was Superman #75), so I knew not to expect much, but I was curious as to what this site thought $500 worth of comic books looked like. And, worst comes to worst, I bought a bunch of comics for $.60/book.

Here are my unbox videos from this purchase. Don’t expect this to ever happen again, because I generally don’t like these types of videos, but I wanted this experience recorded for posterity. And spoiler, there was nowhere near $500 worth of comics in this badly packaged box. Every single issue included would be lucky to find itself in a quarter bin at any reputable comic shop.

Also, huge apologies for the bad synching between the audio and the video. I have no idea how that happened.

What You Should Have Read #54

Thoughts on Last Week’s Comics

Animal Man/Swamp Thing #s 5 – These aren’t main DCU books, these are old-school Vertigo books, and I love them both. As much as I’d like to see some of these non-JLA characters and books stand on their own for a bit in this relaunch without crossovers and team-ups and stuff, Animal Man writer Jeff Lemire and Swamp Thing writer Scott Snyder have done a wonderful job of weaving The Red and The Green together. I think that NOT having a crossover would be a disappointment. I like how this is shaping up to be a battle between the kids, Maxine vs. William, with probably the obligatory Animal Man vs. Swamp Thing superhero misunderstanding as an undercard.

Avengers Annual #1 – Gabriele Dell’Otto was a wonderful find for Marvel, and it pains me that he hasn’t been used as much as he should be. I’m guessing it’s a speed thing? He’s my new Alex Ross, which is a pretty poor comparison considering their styles are so different. Dell’Otto doesn’t drip with realism like Ross does, but he’s got energy. Now, you know I love Brian Michael Bendis, but I was expecting more from this issue. I was expecting a battle royale, but I guess we got all our fighting from the New Avengers Annual (with just a bit here). All this annual seemed to do, though, was set up more stuff. So the world is going to start looking at the Avengers with a bit of mistrust? They’re going to turn into the X-Men? If anything, I expect Beast to do exactly what Simon asked of him. He took Cyclops to task, why wouldn’t he do the same thing with Steve or Tony?

Avengers Academy #24 – Too much hand wringing and self-justification from Reptil to really make this issue enjoyable. It was the brief interpersonal moments that barely saved it.

The Boys #62 – Looks like everything is about to hit the fan. I’m enjoying the ride that Garth Ennis is taking us on with these amoral superheroes, but I REALLY want them to get their asses handed to them, every single one of them.

Defenders #2 – This was a rather quick issue. The Defenders get their butts kicked, they get captured, they escape, and they hear the “villain’s” plans. That’s a lot of stuff for 22 pages.

Thunderbolts #168 – Really, who would have thought that Luke Cage would have been such an important fixture in the Marvel Universe? This issue felt like filler. Luke is trying to round up some of the Raft escapees while Songbird and Mach-V have it out with some suits. Yeah, kind of boring, since Luke spends most of his time in his own head. I’m hoping we’ll get more action or quasi-villainy next issue.

Uncanny X-Force #19.1 – So X-Force isn’t actually in this issue. This is all a set-up for the Age of Apocalypse…mini-series? I don’t think it’s an on-going. I know UXF writer Rick Remender isn’t writing the mini, but as long as it keeps the quality that this issue brought to the table, then I’m going to enjoy it.

Villains for Hire #2 – Like Purple Man, I’m not buying the Misty Knight thing. Something else is going on. As good as the writing is, though, it’s getting really tough to care at all about what’s happening to these fourth-rate villains.

Also, in case you've forgotten: When I can remember to add this to the bottom of my posts, I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But when you click ads, I get a little bit of money, and as a single father of three, every penny from every source helps...especially with Christmas bills here and an unsure/shaky work situation. So I’m going to keep this tiny bit of begging at the bottom of my posts, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. The only thing it costs you is time. :) Thanks so much!

What You Should Have Read #51

Thoughts on Last Week’s Comics

A couple of days late, and I apologize for that.

Amazing Spider-Man #675 – I really want Peter and Carlie to get back together. I thought that was a wonderful relationship for him. As much as I liked MJ, I think Pete needs a more down-to-Earth girl. I think having her and Carlie become good friends, two people who can talk about Pete and his extracurricular activities, would be a great treat for the readers…and the humor and uncomfortableness that can result from his ex and his (hopefully) current gal could be great.

Avenging Spider-Man #2 –I liked Jameson’s courage as a captive. I liked Spidey teaching Red Hulk (I refuse to call him Rulk) the difference between being a military man and being an Avenger. One thing jumped out at me, though. At one point Spidey calls Red Hulk “General.” I wasn’t aware that Red Hulk’s identity was widely known. I know he’s an Avenger now, but I thought he was still Red Hulk to everybody. I went through a handful of Avengers back issues, and I can’t find one where he tells everybody that yes, he’s General Ross.

Boys #61 – I’ve really been enjoying this series since it started. It’s a well-written adult series that I think depicts superheroes in the real world better (and maybe a tad more pessimistic) than any other series I’ve seen attempt it. Writer Garth Ennis can have a tendency to be a bit…graphic…with the violence and nudity/sexuality, but this is an adult comic that portrays adult situations. I haven’t loved everything Ennis has done. Preacher and Hellblazer, sure. Even his first Marvel Knights Punisher series. But Jennifer Blood? Nope. The Crossed? Too over-the-top, even for me. But this is good stuff, and I think eventually it’ll be remembered as one of his best tales, just behind the previously mentioned Preacher and Hellblazer.

Defenders #1 – I’ve never been a fan of the Defenders. They weren’t around when I first started reading comics, and anything starting with Secret Defenders to the present just didn’t grab me. I picked this issue up because of Matt Fraction. Between Iron Man and Thor (and I didn’t hate Fear Itself), I’m going to try everything he does…at least in the Marvel Universe. Casanova is good but almost too out there for me. With this title, he’s doing a great job of getting me interested in characters I’ve never given a second thought to. I’m somewhat enjoying Strange and Iron Fist in New Avengers, but Fraction makes them shine here.

Hellblazer Annual #1 – Stupid, stupid Vertigo/DC. This isn’t the first Hellblazer Annual. Have you forgotten about the 1989 one written by Jamie Delano and Bryan Talbot? It’s be more understandable if, in the indicia, if this were listed as Hellblazer Annual 2012 like it is on the cover, but nope. I can imagine that this would be difficult for my extremely OCD organizational style to adequately file this issue, but since I didn’t pick it up, no problem there. I just wanted to complain.

Villains for Hire #1 – I’m thoroughly enjoying Heroes for Hire, and this mini looks like it’s going to be a great foil to that series…especially with this issue’s last-page reveal. I loved the genuine surprise of the Purple Man when the second crew showed up.

X-Factor #228 – Do any readers of X-Factor wonder why Guido’s code name is so stupid or what a “blork” is? They’re questions I’d have had I not been reading the book the first time Peter David started writing this title in the ‘90s. I’m loving how he’s got his entire team back, though, except for Havok, Polaris and Quicksilver, two of whom will be coming back after this storyline, I think. And David, ever the consummate professional, apparently did his homework on the exorcism. It’s similar with what I’m assuming are negligible variances from the spell used in the show Supernatural. I’m assuming it all depends on who did the translation you’re using. And I love Supernatural. Also, the thing where Bloodbath skewered himself to get Rhane off his back? I remember Shatterstar doing that in…either New Mutants #100 or X-Force #1, I think. Just thought it was weird.

The last two weeks were an experiment, and I've decided I don't like including the entire shipping list for THIS week's comics. I thought it looked cluttered. I WILL include a list of things I'm (or was, since Wednesday has come and gone) looking forward to, and I'll welcome a discussion about anything you picked up last week, this week, or will pick up in the future.

The Shade #3 (both covers)

New Avengers #19

Carnage U.S.A. #1

Uncanny X-Force #18

Locke & Key: Clockworks #3

Also, in case you've forgotten: When I can remember to add this to the bottom of my posts, I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But when you click ads, I get a little bit of money, and as a single father of three, every penny from every source helps...especially with Christmas looming on the horizon. So I’m going to keep this tiny bit of begging at the bottom of my posts, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. The only thing it costs you is time. :) Thanks so much!

Comic Book Reviews for the Week of Dec. 24, 2008 (Limited Series)

Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch #3

So Danny is a Ghost Rider again, but he’s not at full power. And I know I said I didn’t like the idea of a Spawn-like Ghost Rider, but I’m not minding it so much now that it’s been explained. Having GR be an instrument of Heaven makes his penance stare make more sense. I wouldn’t think Hell would care all that much about penance.

Greatest Hits #4

If I had the time and inclination, I’d take a look back at Vertigo and see how many writers and artists have been British and how many haven’t. I’m betting you’re looking at at least 65% British. Not a gripe, just an observation. I wouldn’t mind seeing this continued as a regular series if that were possible. The story we’re getting is very interesting, and we’re finally going to figure out what the mystery behind the Mates is. Great art and rock-solid story telling always make for a great comic.

Punisher: War Zone #3

Y’know, for the past two issue I’ve been saying that this book is a direct pick-up from Ennis and Dillon’s last Punisher mini, but it really isn’t. I had been waiting for the humor to come back, but it hasn’t, and I’m pretty positive that it won’t. Garth is taking the series a bit more serious, and that’s not a bad thing. While I’ve enjoyed almost all of his work that I’ve read, I think his best stuff has been the serious stuff. This book definitely has the feel of the old series, it’s just more bitter than humorous.

Rann-Thanagar Holy War #8

The last issue goes out with a bang. The heroes destroyed Rann after teleporting the population to Throneworld. A people who are now believed to be dead are living on a planet whose population was killed. Fitting. Bizarro is home, which makes me wonder how he appeared in one of the Superman titles in the last month or so. I was pretty ambivalent about this mini, but seeing Synar’s new form made me think there’s a good story waiting for the character.

Reign in Hell #6

I don’t know a whole helluva lot about the DCU spiritual stuff, so I don’t know if powerful demons can actually be killed, but it sure looks like Neron is dead. That leaves Blaze and Satanus as the new rulers of Hell rather than just Purgatory. I have no idea how that will affect things. Are we supposed to get some proactive Hell stories throughout the DCU in the future? Will this have anything to do with Blackest Night? Only time will tell.

Dark Tower: Treachery #4

It seemed there was a little more meat in this issue than in issues past, a bit more narrative. That’s a good thing since the issues seem to go by so fast (and I don’t read the prose in the back). Roland has finally given up the grapefruit, but is it too late for him? Well, we know it’s not since we’ve read the books. There wasn’t any mention of Cort’s niece, and I can’t remember where we left her last issue. I hope the Del Rey books are just as good as the Marvel ones when King switches over. I loved Lee’s portrayal of Farson. Other than mentions of him in the books, I never really formed a good picture of him in my mind. I’ll take Lee’s. It was beautiful.

Trinity #30

Okay, so the legends of the aliens’ God is starting to make sense. This whole damn thing is Krona’s fault. But the Trinity are energy beings now, or are they abstract concepts given form, forms that we as readers are familiar with? I think it would be pretty cool if DC were to market a couple of Tarot sets featuring the villains and the heroes that are in this comic. Didn’t Vertigo do that with Sandman? Get some popular artists to do the art, have Busiek write a manual, and make it a limited collectible. Well, I think it would be neat.

Ultimatum #2

Wow. Pretty powerful and disturbing issue. Let’s do a rundown. The Hulk is helping Spider-Man. Why isn’t he eating anyone? I guess that’ll be addressed in the next issue of Ultimate Spider-Man. Reed and Doom are going to the Squadron Supreme universe to get Fury back. I wonder how that will impact the Squadron Supreme book, and if any of this stuff will happen in that book. That’d be pretty neat. Cap is in Valhalla, so he’s dead. I wonder if he’ll stay that way or if Black Panther will take up the mantle since Steve did the opposite in Ultimates 3. Since when was Blob a cannibal? That was damn disturbing. So Wasp is another casualty. And then the big one at the end, the death of Professor X. I definitely didn’t see that coming. And how did HE not see it coming? This really is shaking up the Ultimate universe.

Unknown Soldier #3

Jesus Christ this is a brutal and uncompromising comic. Kidnapping girls from a Catholic school so the boy soldiers can have wives. That’s rough. And our hero has to kill those boy soldiers, boys who have had no choice but to do this, who have lived their entire lives in the shadow of this war. It hits you pretty hard.

Comic Book Reviews for the Week of Dec. 17, 2008 (Limited Series)

Black Terror #2

Black Terror breaks into the White House to rescue Tim, and he does it in a very dramatic way, rather than just storming the gates and forcing his way inside. It didn’t make any sense to me. He says he needs to announce his coming, but wouldn’t tearing through the ground forces work just as well? I guess it wouldn’t make for an as dramatic comic book. Eh. I had assumed the twist at the end would be Tim there ready to take him down, not other heroes from the urn we haven’t seen before.

Dead of Night: Devil Slayer #4

This mini started out a little differently, not like the same-old same-old comic. I’m not just talking about the cussing. I had expected some commentary on war, some real heart-breaking stuff. But it turned out to be a standard comic…with cussing. This issue ended the mini with our hero thought of as a bad guy, even though he saved the world. That NEVER happens.

Punisher: War Zone #2

It’s just like Ennis and Dillon’s first Punisher mini ended a few months ago. There was a lot of death, but it really wasn’t as disturbing as you might expect from Ennis. Just normal shootings and stabbings. I like Dillon as an artist, but his characters look a bit stiff. The facial expressions are wonderful, though.

Spider-Man: Noir #1

The best thing I can comment on with this issue is the cover. It’s a beautiful play on a classic Spider-Man pose. The story was your run-of-the-mill alternate reality story with Spidey and his supporting characters shoe-horned into various roles. The art was very muddled, especially whenever it was snowing. The flakes covered a lot of the frame. Yet another mini I’ll pass on.

Tangent: Superman’s Reign #10

So this whole thing is going to come down to a battle between the Tangent Superman and his New Earth Villains vs. his wife and a combination of New Earth and Tangent heroes. Sounds a bit one-sided to me, especially of Lola really does have the same powers as Tangent Superman. How many times do we have to read an absolute power storyline (Squadron Supreme, Authority) to realize in the end it never works out. There is no perfect solution.

Trinity #29

One thing I’ve been liking about this series is that there have been tiny storylines inside this massive, weekly, year-long book. But this latest tale about the three heroes being gone and the world attempting to fix the vacuum is starting to wear thin for me. I sort of like where it’s going (where the heck ARE they?), I just wish it would get there a little quicker.

X-Men: Kingbreaker #1

I know I say this each time I start reading a new X-Men title, but I’ve missed a BUNCH of stuff. I think I’m going to put this away until I’ve caught up on my X-history. I knew about Vulcan, but I had no idea about his takeover of the Shi’ar empire. I’ve got some research to do.

Comic Book Reviews for the Week of Dec. 10, 2008 (Limited Series)

Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #2

Now this looks like it’s going to be a good series. Last month I made a comparison between Blue Marvel and Sentry, noting how they were both extremely powerful characters that were written into Marvel’s past. Now a comparison can be made between Blue Marvel and Isaiah Bradley (I think that’s his last name), the black Captain America. Not necessarily their powers or their situations, just that these two black men had very important roles in history, but they were covered up. It didn’t take Tony all that long to dig up the dirt on Adam, though. Let’s see how it’s going to be used.

Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Boxes #2

Well, this was a thoroughly depressing comic. Nothing like suicide and murder in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future to get you going in the morning. While the stories were good, I’d rather read about what’s actually going on in AXM rather than what might have happened.

Civil War: House of M #4

I understand how the mutants took over in the House of M universe, I just don’t understand how there became so many. In the Age of Apocalypse universe, the death of Charles Xavier led to a more level headed Magneto. Really, though, can you blame the guy? I guess there’s no compromising with bigots, though, so diplomacy goes out the window. I guess we’ll see next issue how the HoM universe of yesterday becomes the HoM universe that we were first introduced to.

Final Crisis #5

I have no idea what is going on. Darkseid is back, and I get that. He took the body of Dan Turpin. I’ve got no clue about anything else. Grant Morrison is just getting too weird for me. I love Carlos Pacheco’s artwork, though. I would like to see a lot more of it on a regular basis.

Final Crisis: Revelations #4

So Vandal Savage was Cain all along, or Cain was reborn IN Vandal Savage? This whole damn event is just messing with me. At least Marvel tries to keep theirs somewhat simple. I’m hoping for a great and heaving explanation next issue.

Punisher: War Zone #1

The only time I ever liked the Punisher was when Ennis was writing him humorously, so it’s great to see him and Dillon back (even though Ennis stayed around, but used a totally different writing style). And it really picks up right after that mini, and I’m no worse the wear for not having followed Frank since then. He’s back to nipping the comeback of the Gnucci family in the bud before anything sprouts. Not really any humor this issue, but some decent gore.

Death Defying Devil #1

Continuing some solo stories from Project Superpowers, where some classic heroes were brought back into the mainstream. I would imagine it would be difficult to write a book with a silent main character, hence everyone else explaining everything. I’m not sure if these little spin-offs are on-going series or mini series. I don’t know if there’s enough here for a monthly series, across the whole line not just with the Devil, but I’ll probably stick around as long as Alex Ross is involved.

Trinity #28

I’m just about ready for all the alternate reality wackiness to be over with. I guess we are making some progress in that direction if the Trinity’s friends are starting to get a bit of their personalities back, and they’ve stumbled upon where the trio might be. That part is the more interesting out of the two stories. It’s got the characters using their brains (or at least Alfred is) instead of a bunch of fighting, which is what’s going on in the second part of the issue.

X-Men/Spider-Man #2

I like how the mini is tying very well into the past. Spider-Man is my #1 hero, and the Claremont/Silvestri X-Men (the Australia X-Men) are my favorite team, so this issue was a great treat. It looks like Gage is setting up a pretty good surprise for us, and I’m wondering if it has anything to do with the Kraven that recently showed up in Amazing Spider-Man. And I’m enjoying Alberti’s art. It can be a bit muddy at times, but it’s still very vibrant and exciting.

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Listening to: Beck - Clap Hands
via FoxyTunes

Comic Book Reviews for the Week of Dec. 3, 2008 (On-Going Series)

Amazing Spider-Man #579

So now there’s mystery surrounding JJJ and his dad. And really, without being webbed up, did anyone actually expect the Shocker to stick around once they found safety? Waid’s first arc was decent, but pretty standard. We had a classic villain show up, we had Spidey defy the odds, and we had the introduction of a new character. Check, check, and check.

Criminal #7

Well, Mr. Brubaker took me by surprise with the end of this issue. And he showed us how everything worked out, too. I also like that Jacob didn’t get off scott free. Although, I guess you could say it’s poetic justice. It looks like everyone got what they deserved.

Justice Society of America #21

That was a pretty short issue and a pretty quick reversal by Gog’s followers. I would think there would be more anger toward Gog by the JSAers that followed him, or at least some pleading with him. But no, they went right to the fighting. More Kingdom Come-age, we saw Alan in his KC armor, and it looks like Jay was turned into the KC Flash. I wonder if that’ll be permanent. We’ll finally get to the conclusion next month. I hope that doesn’t mean it’ll be the last Alex Ross cover. I’ve been enjoying them.

New Avengers #47

I like what Bendis has done in New Avengers and Mighty Avengers, showing us events in the past that set up the Secret Invasion. This issue shows some key points in the blossoming relationship between Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. It ends with the two realizing that Skrull Jarvis has taken their baby. I would NOT want to be Skrull Jarvis when they find him. Of course, the baby is a Skrull too, right?

Sir Apropos of Nothing #2

Let’s see how many of the reference I can get: Chicken Little, Wizard of Oz, Bart Simpson, The Spirit (?), The Beatles, Snoopy and Charlie Brown, Thor, Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, Zorro, The Hulk, Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Who, Don Quixote, Peter Pan and Wendy, The Gunslinger, Fallen Angel, Popeye, Wizard of Oz again, Wolfman (?), Mutant Enemy, Bella Lugosi, and last but not least The Wizard of Oz yet again. David sure does like throwing all this crap in there. Of course, I still found it funny.

The Boys #25

This issue is more cryptic than anything. Hughie meets Godolkin and plants a bunch of bugs in the G-Men’s house and learns that Nubia isn’t quite as dead as everyone thinks she is. There’s some conspiring and some porn, and I like how Critter has his little neck shield on, I guess so he won’t lick himself. Other than that it’s just a lot of talking.