weekly loot: may 9

Y: THE LAST MAN #56: Beth! Finally! And the scenes between Yorick and 355 were pretty awesome.

THE KILLER #4
(w. Matz, a. Luc Jacamon)
I never knew that I really needed a comic about a Killer as the protagonist until this comic hit the stands. God bless the French. We return to our story with our Killer back in Paris trying to find out what the fuck is going on, and he takes a job from his Fixer just to waste some time. Turns out that was a job for him. Which means that the guy trying to kill him is dead AND he comes back and kills the Fixer as well. Did I mention our hero is a bad ass? So with our only connections to the character now dead, our mystery continues. Where does our “hero” go from here? He just wants to retire with his lady friend. The art is a little scratchy, but it's good and fits the story. There is a gap in publishing schedule from this one until I think August, which is odd since I think they are just reprinting, but I don’t know how far ahead the French book is. Anyway, I’m a bit bummed I have to wait that long.

DMZ #19
(w. Brian Wood, a. Riccardo Burchielli)
We’re back with the second part of the “Friendly Fire” storyline, and damn if this storyline isn’t getting better. It’s turning into a bit of a Rashomon type story, but that’s okay with me. This time we hear from Sergeant Nunez, and his side of the story seems to stand strong from his point of view. But that’s how it always works. This tragedy has at least one more point-of-view from the people that live there, according to Matty Roth, leading us into next issue. I’m starting to think that the outcome of this trial might lead to another tragedy. This series continues to be one of a kind, and stands as one of Vertigo’s best. BOOK OF THE WEEK

THE NEW AVENGERS #30
(w. Brian Bendis, a. Leinil Francis Yu)
This issue pretty much revolved around who the hell Ronin II is, and well, it’s Clint Barton, the former Hawkeye. Cool. I can deal with that. (WAY better than just putting Steve Rogers here as some had badly guessed) He needs to be somewhere after his story limbo, and this is as good a place as any. It totally makes sense that he would choose to fight for the cause Captain America was going for and against the Registration nonsense. I love that it came from an organic place too, since Dr. Strange was the only guy that knew he was around. So I really hope he’s not some double agent, because that would be pretty stupid. As for the end battle and cliffhanger, we have Maya turning on our heroes and stabbing Strange. I’m honestly not sure what is coming next issue, but I’m a bit excited to find out what this big reveal is.

STORMWATCH PHD #7
(w. Christos Gage, a. Doug Mahnke)
So this is the best book that Wildstorm is putting out, right? I hope its sales keep it alive for a bit longer, because I’ll be sad if this one gets canceled. I believe this is Doug Mahnke’s last issue, and that’s too bad, because his detail and grittiness is perfect for this series. Nothing against Andy Smith, but Doug is going to be missed. This issue was supposed to be the humans fight back, but one-by-one the members with powers came into the fray and basically, they all kicked the living shit out of Defile and his minions. This was highlighted, of course, by Paris ripping the throat of Amadeus out with his teeth. Disgustingly awesome. Paris is scary. The last two pages were a delight, as Batallion lets Lauren off for causing this mess, and then lets John knows that she was indeed responsible. Christos Gage, a writer thinking ahead. Kick ass fun.

INVINCIBLE #41

THUNDERBOLTS #114: Really nice action issue, but I say again, WHERE IS BULLSEYE?!?!

NEW X-MEN #38: Good times. I’m really happy with Skottie Young on this title.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #540
(w. J. Michael Straczynski, a. Ron Garney)
First off, I like this issue on its own merits. I like the attitude Peter has, breaking bones, chasing down with authority in response to Aunt May’s injury. I mean, it’s a little out of character, but I think that will just make Peter feel even worse later once he gets to reflect on what he has done. The thing that bugs me the most, is just how out of whack/sync this is with everything else that is out there. Not just the Spider books, but New Avengers and Daredevil too. Having the Kingpin as the villain here was just a horrible choice. I understand that it takes place before the Daredevil issue, but it just feels BLAH here. Now we know Spider-Man won’t actually do anything to him. Sometimes Marvel just chooses the wrong things to keep continuity with. Here we could have really used it: Sit Peter out of a New Avengers arc (happy go lucky guy there), and give him his dark arc here. But noooo, that’s not what we get. I’m sure this is fine if you just read Amazing Spider-Man, but for those of us that read a lot of the Marvel Universe, I’m left with a harder time getting into Peter’s emotions here. Really nice Ron Garney art.

NOVA #2
(w. Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, a. Sean Chen)
Another really good issue. Too bad that I’m going to drop it after #3 because of the Annihilation crossover. But until then, these are the things that made Nova #2 an awesome super hero comic book: A) Richard Rider’s dinner conversation with his parents was real and sad, as he found out about the New Warriors involvement in Civil War. B) An even better conversation between Nova and Tony. I especially liked, to paraphrase, “I’ve been saving the Universe, Tony, what have you done lately?” C) His response to finding out that Spider-Man is Peter Parker. Hilarious. D) Rider’s Dad coming downstairs only to have a conversation with Worldmind controlling Richard’s body. Creepy. And E) His conversation with Vance. A lot of talking this issue, but it all made sense and made it a really strong comic. Not freaking out about the Thunderbolts, but we’ll see if Robbie reveals himself to Nova.

COUNTOWN #51: There was a lot of DC stuff going on here that I don’t completely get. Still, I’m giving the weekly series at least five issues to hook me in.

GEN 13 #8
(w. Gail Simone, a. Carlo Barberi)
So the Kids are back on the road after fighting dinosaurs, and even though they don’t know it, on their way to Tranquility. Before long the Authority show up and show they can indeed piss a lot farther, but not before we get some more hints about the current Wildstorm Universe and what is going on with it. Swift obviously remembers Grunge, even though she doesn’t know it. She fucked him high on something, I’m sure, back during a party on The Carrier in the previous universe. So I would say it's safe to say these kids are definitely the previous versions, with their brains mucked with somehow. Though Midnighter said they aren’t supposed to be there at all, so who knows what the deal with that is. The Authority team talks about the Wildstorm Universe again as if its security is at stake while knows-more-than-she’s-telling Jenny says leave the "important" kids alone. Hmm. Is there any chance, especially after 52 showing Wildstorm, that what these characters are talking about has NOTHING to do with what DC is counting down to? Yeah, I guess not. And that kind of sucks. And oh yeah, this title is better off with Barberi over Caldwell. He can do the same T&A if he wants (even though he doesn’t resort to it as much), but is just more talented. No pun intended at all.

PUNISHER: WAR JOURNAL #7
(w. Matt Fraction, a. Ariel Olivetti)
Sorry guys, just not loving this like everyone else. I mean, it’s a fun story, Fraction’s sense of humor shines, but it's all too silly for a Punisher story for my tastes. There was a time when I thought this was appropriate, and much needed with Ennis’ first 12-issue arc, but the transformation that he has gone through in the MAX title has become more definitive for me. I feel like I’m saying this every month though. The bullfight was legitimate funny, but then the main villain is just too much for me. The whole Captain American angle is bugging me just a bit. Feels like an attempt to sell more comics on the Death of Cap ride, which is fine, but just too transparent for me. I do like Fraction, and he cracks me up, and he’s at his best with things like the 2-page sequence where Clarke ranted about immigration. That was fun.

JACK OF FABLES #10

ULTIMATE POWER #5: I would stop getting this, but I have a weakness to getting the whole thing when it’s a mini.

GRIFTER/MIDNIGHTER #3: See above.

WOLVERINE ORIGINS #14: As bad as this is, it might be better than the main Wolverine title right now.

DREADNOKS DECLASSIFIED #3
(w. Josh Blaylock, a. Robert Atkins)
I think this is the last book I get of its ilk from Devil’s Due, unless I REALLY want to read it. The price is way too high for filler G.I. Joe stories. And I love me some G.I. Joe too! The series story was okay, some ho-hum filling of background of the Dreadnoks characters, who aside from Zartan have always been uninteresting in the first place. Nothing here made them any cooler, with some clunky plot pieces (the stuff with his brother and sister) and a race towards the status quo that we do know. I still kind of miss the in-between Zartan that existed with Billy in the tail end of the Marvel Comics run. The biggest complaint though is the price compared to the quality. This second issue was the most embarrassing of the three, with some horrible fill-in art which looked like 'zines that are free by locals at my comic book store. Just not very professional looking, and to make me pay $5.50 for that is annoying. And there is a variant cover that goes for like $8.50-- I pity anyone who gets that one. So yeah, the last I get in this format.

MADAME MIRAGE FIRST LOOK: This has a bit too much Top Cow for me, if you know what I mean, but based on Dini, I’ll still get #1.