Man. So this week has been brutal. Work is crazy. Free time was obliterated by TWO concerts and a weekend of Home Depot adventures, so its left me precious little time to do the one measily post a week I like to do. Regardless, here was my list from yesterday, and I hope to get some Quick Takes up for last week soon, and then some proper talk for this week.
The (relatively weak) list:
dark horse:
USAGI YOJIMBO #105 always good news
dc:
ACTION COMICS #855
EX MACHINA MASQUERADE SPECIAL
WETWORKS #12
WONDER WOMAN #12
idw:
FALLEN ANGEL #19
TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT: OPTIMUS PRIME
image:
BRIT #1 maybe. i wish it was written by kirkman though.
MICE TEMPLAR #1 this is finally coming out. looking forward to it
WALKING DEAD #41
marvel:
AVENGERS: INITIATIVE #5
FANTASTIC FOUR #549
WORLD WAR HULK: X-MEN #3
oni:
LOCAL #10 really excited to see how this series ends
WASTELAND #11
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
marvel dominates: ncrl for august 22
Well, another week over 20 books. In the past it would bum me and my wallet out, but nowadays, it is what I craaaave.
The list:
archaia:
MOUSE GUARD WINTER 1152 #1 got this at comic-con already
avatar:
BLACK SUMMER #2
dc:
BATMAN #668 is this three times in two months?
CROSSING MIDNIGHT #10
GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #4
SPIRIT #9
image:
INVINCIBLE #45
STRANGE EMBRACE #3
TELLOS COLOSSAL HC you can support mr. wieringo at the link
WALKING DEAD #40
marvel:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #543
ASTONISHING X-MEN #22 this still gets me really excited
CABLE/DEADPOOL #44
HALO: UPRISING #1 i'm being sucked in by the art of maleev
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #8 i caught up with this at comic-con, i'm back on board
IRON MAN #21
THE ORDER #2
THUNDERBOLTS #116
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #45
WOLVERINE #56
X-MEN #202
The list:
archaia:
MOUSE GUARD WINTER 1152 #1 got this at comic-con already
avatar:
BLACK SUMMER #2
dc:
BATMAN #668 is this three times in two months?
CROSSING MIDNIGHT #10
GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #4
SPIRIT #9
image:
INVINCIBLE #45
STRANGE EMBRACE #3
TELLOS COLOSSAL HC you can support mr. wieringo at the link
WALKING DEAD #40
marvel:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #543
ASTONISHING X-MEN #22 this still gets me really excited
CABLE/DEADPOOL #44
HALO: UPRISING #1 i'm being sucked in by the art of maleev
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #8 i caught up with this at comic-con, i'm back on board
IRON MAN #21
THE ORDER #2
THUNDERBOLTS #116
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #45
WOLVERINE #56
X-MEN #202
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
weekly loot for august 15
Well, this was the most average week in recent memory. For one, it was a small week as I only got eleven books. Second, there wasn't many of my heavy hitters (or Top 25 if you will) in the pile, so it made for ho-hum reading at times. In fairness, my dealer was shorted his New X-Men copies so that will be pushed until next week, but something tells me that wouldn't have elevated the quality too much. Still, there was a fun book or two at the top.
On with the it:
CAPTAIN AMERICA #29: This series is just rocking along. A dense political thriller with good characters: the individual dramas of Sharon Carter and Bucky have my utmost attention.
LOVELESS #19: I feel a bit duped. I've been talking about how the last couple of issues have been more straightforward reads, and then we get this issue, where the exact status of Wes Cutter is in question again (And yeah, where the hell is Marcelo Frusin?)
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #112
(w. Brian Bendis, a. Stuart Immonen)
As much as I like Mark Bagley, for his professionalism (read: speed) and his great story telling, his actual line work sometimes was not always my favorite. Stuart Immonen has turned out to be a more dynamic artist without a doubt. The opening car chase sequence was pretty damn cool, and as much as I mean no disrespect to Bagley, Immonen has already raised the quality of art on this book five pages in. He has taken what he did with NEXTWAVE and added a little more detail, and it appears to be the best work of his career. Immonen has not only turned out to be a good artist, but a versatile one as well. His star rising has been a bit of a surprise for me, but with Nextwave and now this I'm finally on board. Immonen is the shit.
But what happened in the stoooory? Well, I love the hell out of the Kitty stuff. (Cool costume.) Bringing her into this title was a really good move, even though if they wouldn't have killed Gwen we might not have needed her here, but still, it looks like she is beginning to be integrated into the rest of the cast. And that's a good thing as it was starting to feel a little Fatal Attractions there. Staaaalker! The villain of the storyline is the Green Goblin again, and although that seems a little tiresome, I'm willing to see how it plays out. Good comic.
AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #55
(w. Tad Williams, a. Sean McManus)
So even though I'm unhealthily tapped into the pulse of the comic book world, I somehow just found out a couple of days ago that this book got canceled and will end with (I think) #57. Well, this is odd news indeed! As I've said the past few months, I've been having a really good time with Tad and Sean's take, even though at times I want to throw it across the room for its silliness. Couple this with the fact that I rather be reading about the real Aquaman, and its amazing that I'm actually enjoying the book at all. So bad news, Aquaman is cancelled and I won't have an Aquaman book to read. Good news, this should come back with some sort of new #1 again with (most likely) the real Aquaman, and that is something for me to look forward to. As for this issue, more of the same really. A fun comic with some guy posing as Aquaman.
TERROR INC #1: Well, this was... gory. Oddly enough, I was more into his back-history (the deer head was way cool) than seeing Terror in the present day.
RIPCLAW PILOT SEASON #1
(w. Jason Aaron, a. Jorge Lucas)
I don't really like Top Cow. Like everyone else, I read Cyberforce at the start of Image, and like the many others at the time in their early teens, I enjoyed the hell out of those early issues. I stopped getting it in the middle of the run for some reason (which I have since filled in quarter bins) and have mostly stayed away from the Top Cow ever since. I missed their rise with the likes of Witchblade and the tits-all-over-the-place comics, and aside from Wanted, I didn't come back until just last year when they finally published Cyberforce again. That was not even remotely good and I was done in one. The Top Cow Taint even fell over to Dini's Madam Mirage, which I was excited for, but that too turned out to be a little too much, well, tits-all-over-the-place comics. Then I read about Top Cow Pilot Season and I'm suddenly interested. Why? Not for the characters of course, but for the creative teams they have tapped. It appears that for Pilot Season, Top Cow is more concerned about who is making their comics, than what sexy pose Aphrodite or Magdalena will have on the 4th Variant Cover. (Okay, I sometimes get bitter about the Top Cow Taint.) Not sure if I'm interested in all six Pilot Season books however. The thee Cyberforce character ones for sure, but the aforementioned Aphrodite and some of their less interesting horror characters loom. So we'll see.
What about this creative team then? Well, Mr. Jason Aaron is of course the writer of the excellent Other Side Vietnam mini-series over at Vertigo, as well as the best new ongoing comic to spring forth in the last year, Scalped. What is such a unique Vertigo voice going to do with RIpclaw? The often derided character for being a Wolverine rip-off couldn't be interesting or worth your time, could he? Well, yes, yes he can. Aaron gives us a Ripclaw that for unknown reasons is being haunted by spirits, spirits that have unfinished business that Ripclaw needs to take care of. For this issue, it leads us to Japan and a small odyssey as Ripclaw has to fight through various levels of the heavily guarded headquarters of Boss Yamamoto. Ripclaw is quiet, violent and basically an uber bad ass. There were some levels of this place that were only hinted at, leaving me really curious what exactly Ripclaw even fought! Jorge Lucas's art is detailed and gritty, and what really struck for me about this book was that as violent as it was, aside from the final showdowns, a lot of the fights happened off panel.
Would I want to read an ongoing? Not sure. If its written by Jason Aaron I'd be checking it out no matter what, but a noble bad-ass that is on missions dictated by the spirits that haunt him, although simple and vaguely familiar, could be really cool. The reasons for the hauntings is yet to be explained, as is the reason he feels like this is a penance. Good things for Aaron to play off of, but are they good enough to sustain an ongoing series? Not sure. One problem I have, is that in one issue Ripclaw is set up to as such an almighty badass that I'm not sure where the threat will ever come from unless the book's villains go more into the supernatural. If he has to flex muscle every mission in this manner, it could become repetitive quickly. Still, with all that being said, for one issue, it ALL worked. In fact, it all REALLY REALLY worked. My BOOK OF THE WEEK.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #12
(w. Brad Meltzer, a. Ed Benes)
The Brad Meltzer era comes to an end, and I'm yet to read something by someone that has loved the run, make a convincing argument as to why. I chock it up to long time JLA fans getting something out of it that I am not. I mean, this was a very average and spotty run. Lets break it down:
I really liked the #0 book, as well as #1 where they start to choose the team. Good fun JLA comics. I was really excited at this point, even though the multiple narration was a bit much at times. Still, it worked for the story. The rest of the first arc was a bit clunky, over-written and mired by knowledge of past DC continuity, but it had some fun moments as the team came together in front of our eyes. I remember thinking at this point, that it misfired a bit, but hopefully it will get better from here. And it did! For an issue. With #7 we finally get the final team roster, complete with new headquarters (two), names (Red Arrow) and some nice character moments between the team. I was all set for the rest of the run. Then we get the intrusive, 500 characters in one story crossover with JSA (and LOSH) that just ran the momentum the book had into the ground. Its funny, compared to this thing, the clunky opening arc now appears to be the best multi-issue story of Meltzer's run. Something wrong with that I think. #11 was the gimmicky Gene Ha issue, that was pretty good. Then it all came to an end with this issue, "Monitor Duty." We get another quieter issue, with the appearance of any real villains taking the back seat to character work. Which is fine, it was well done. I feel like the stronger issues were #0, 1, 7 and this one, which means that Meltzer's run ends up being uneven, where he excelled at moments where characters were talking to each other and the bigger storylines failed to reach their potential. All of that is fine, I would like for more of the "action" issues to stand out in a Justice League comic.
Now my dilemma comes, what to do with this title. I really wanted to like JLA. I was fresh off of watching the cartoons beginning to end and I really wanted some JLA action. But what I got was an average run, drowning in DC continuity that this novice DC reader doesn't understand. And OH YEAH, incoming writer McDuffie is driving me a bit nuts with his not very good run on Fantastic Four. Funny, seeing as how McDuffie was so heavily involved with the cartoon, right? For that reason, I'm going to keep collecting for a bit. I feel like a guy that was partly responsible for me wanting to pick up the comic in the first place (regardless of how I feel about his FF run) deserves a shot. So I'm on board until one of two things happens: 1) Dwyane McDuffie writes more bad comics. 2) It gets bogged down in Final Crisis continuity hell.
THE PROGRAMME #2: This book left me a little confused, but I'm definitely interested. It was hard for me to remember names and motivations from the first issue. I think I'll need to read these together.
STORM SHADOW #3: Based on the following pattern so far in this series: Not good, Good, not good, the final part to this storyline should be kick-ass.
GRIFTER/MIDNIGHTER #6
(w. Chuck Dixon, a. Ryan Benjamin)
Well, THAT'S over. This six issue mini-series was completely forgettable, really. If both the Authority and Wildcats were being published regularly, I probably wouldn't have picked this up. On a whole, I think Dixon got Grifter a little better than he did Midnighter, but it was too bad he didn't give either of them something interesting to do. The alien antagonist was just kind of lame when all is said and done, and that's never a good thing. I'll give Dixon this, his use of the post Worldstorm Grifter's powers was pretty good. Ryan Benjamin, one of the better Jim Lee clones to come out of the 90's does good work, but as I said, there was just not much for him to work with. Avoid, unless you are a Wildstorm completest.
WOLVERINE ORIGINS #16: Not really sure what the point of echoing the Claremont/Lee story was, but perhaps that will come out in parts 2-5.
On with the it:
CAPTAIN AMERICA #29: This series is just rocking along. A dense political thriller with good characters: the individual dramas of Sharon Carter and Bucky have my utmost attention.
LOVELESS #19: I feel a bit duped. I've been talking about how the last couple of issues have been more straightforward reads, and then we get this issue, where the exact status of Wes Cutter is in question again (And yeah, where the hell is Marcelo Frusin?)
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #112(w. Brian Bendis, a. Stuart Immonen)
As much as I like Mark Bagley, for his professionalism (read: speed) and his great story telling, his actual line work sometimes was not always my favorite. Stuart Immonen has turned out to be a more dynamic artist without a doubt. The opening car chase sequence was pretty damn cool, and as much as I mean no disrespect to Bagley, Immonen has already raised the quality of art on this book five pages in. He has taken what he did with NEXTWAVE and added a little more detail, and it appears to be the best work of his career. Immonen has not only turned out to be a good artist, but a versatile one as well. His star rising has been a bit of a surprise for me, but with Nextwave and now this I'm finally on board. Immonen is the shit.
But what happened in the stoooory? Well, I love the hell out of the Kitty stuff. (Cool costume.) Bringing her into this title was a really good move, even though if they wouldn't have killed Gwen we might not have needed her here, but still, it looks like she is beginning to be integrated into the rest of the cast. And that's a good thing as it was starting to feel a little Fatal Attractions there. Staaaalker! The villain of the storyline is the Green Goblin again, and although that seems a little tiresome, I'm willing to see how it plays out. Good comic.
AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #55(w. Tad Williams, a. Sean McManus)
So even though I'm unhealthily tapped into the pulse of the comic book world, I somehow just found out a couple of days ago that this book got canceled and will end with (I think) #57. Well, this is odd news indeed! As I've said the past few months, I've been having a really good time with Tad and Sean's take, even though at times I want to throw it across the room for its silliness. Couple this with the fact that I rather be reading about the real Aquaman, and its amazing that I'm actually enjoying the book at all. So bad news, Aquaman is cancelled and I won't have an Aquaman book to read. Good news, this should come back with some sort of new #1 again with (most likely) the real Aquaman, and that is something for me to look forward to. As for this issue, more of the same really. A fun comic with some guy posing as Aquaman.
TERROR INC #1: Well, this was... gory. Oddly enough, I was more into his back-history (the deer head was way cool) than seeing Terror in the present day.
RIPCLAW PILOT SEASON #1(w. Jason Aaron, a. Jorge Lucas)
I don't really like Top Cow. Like everyone else, I read Cyberforce at the start of Image, and like the many others at the time in their early teens, I enjoyed the hell out of those early issues. I stopped getting it in the middle of the run for some reason (which I have since filled in quarter bins) and have mostly stayed away from the Top Cow ever since. I missed their rise with the likes of Witchblade and the tits-all-over-the-place comics, and aside from Wanted, I didn't come back until just last year when they finally published Cyberforce again. That was not even remotely good and I was done in one. The Top Cow Taint even fell over to Dini's Madam Mirage, which I was excited for, but that too turned out to be a little too much, well, tits-all-over-the-place comics. Then I read about Top Cow Pilot Season and I'm suddenly interested. Why? Not for the characters of course, but for the creative teams they have tapped. It appears that for Pilot Season, Top Cow is more concerned about who is making their comics, than what sexy pose Aphrodite or Magdalena will have on the 4th Variant Cover. (Okay, I sometimes get bitter about the Top Cow Taint.) Not sure if I'm interested in all six Pilot Season books however. The thee Cyberforce character ones for sure, but the aforementioned Aphrodite and some of their less interesting horror characters loom. So we'll see.
What about this creative team then? Well, Mr. Jason Aaron is of course the writer of the excellent Other Side Vietnam mini-series over at Vertigo, as well as the best new ongoing comic to spring forth in the last year, Scalped. What is such a unique Vertigo voice going to do with RIpclaw? The often derided character for being a Wolverine rip-off couldn't be interesting or worth your time, could he? Well, yes, yes he can. Aaron gives us a Ripclaw that for unknown reasons is being haunted by spirits, spirits that have unfinished business that Ripclaw needs to take care of. For this issue, it leads us to Japan and a small odyssey as Ripclaw has to fight through various levels of the heavily guarded headquarters of Boss Yamamoto. Ripclaw is quiet, violent and basically an uber bad ass. There were some levels of this place that were only hinted at, leaving me really curious what exactly Ripclaw even fought! Jorge Lucas's art is detailed and gritty, and what really struck for me about this book was that as violent as it was, aside from the final showdowns, a lot of the fights happened off panel.
Would I want to read an ongoing? Not sure. If its written by Jason Aaron I'd be checking it out no matter what, but a noble bad-ass that is on missions dictated by the spirits that haunt him, although simple and vaguely familiar, could be really cool. The reasons for the hauntings is yet to be explained, as is the reason he feels like this is a penance. Good things for Aaron to play off of, but are they good enough to sustain an ongoing series? Not sure. One problem I have, is that in one issue Ripclaw is set up to as such an almighty badass that I'm not sure where the threat will ever come from unless the book's villains go more into the supernatural. If he has to flex muscle every mission in this manner, it could become repetitive quickly. Still, with all that being said, for one issue, it ALL worked. In fact, it all REALLY REALLY worked. My BOOK OF THE WEEK.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #12(w. Brad Meltzer, a. Ed Benes)
The Brad Meltzer era comes to an end, and I'm yet to read something by someone that has loved the run, make a convincing argument as to why. I chock it up to long time JLA fans getting something out of it that I am not. I mean, this was a very average and spotty run. Lets break it down:
I really liked the #0 book, as well as #1 where they start to choose the team. Good fun JLA comics. I was really excited at this point, even though the multiple narration was a bit much at times. Still, it worked for the story. The rest of the first arc was a bit clunky, over-written and mired by knowledge of past DC continuity, but it had some fun moments as the team came together in front of our eyes. I remember thinking at this point, that it misfired a bit, but hopefully it will get better from here. And it did! For an issue. With #7 we finally get the final team roster, complete with new headquarters (two), names (Red Arrow) and some nice character moments between the team. I was all set for the rest of the run. Then we get the intrusive, 500 characters in one story crossover with JSA (and LOSH) that just ran the momentum the book had into the ground. Its funny, compared to this thing, the clunky opening arc now appears to be the best multi-issue story of Meltzer's run. Something wrong with that I think. #11 was the gimmicky Gene Ha issue, that was pretty good. Then it all came to an end with this issue, "Monitor Duty." We get another quieter issue, with the appearance of any real villains taking the back seat to character work. Which is fine, it was well done. I feel like the stronger issues were #0, 1, 7 and this one, which means that Meltzer's run ends up being uneven, where he excelled at moments where characters were talking to each other and the bigger storylines failed to reach their potential. All of that is fine, I would like for more of the "action" issues to stand out in a Justice League comic.
Now my dilemma comes, what to do with this title. I really wanted to like JLA. I was fresh off of watching the cartoons beginning to end and I really wanted some JLA action. But what I got was an average run, drowning in DC continuity that this novice DC reader doesn't understand. And OH YEAH, incoming writer McDuffie is driving me a bit nuts with his not very good run on Fantastic Four. Funny, seeing as how McDuffie was so heavily involved with the cartoon, right? For that reason, I'm going to keep collecting for a bit. I feel like a guy that was partly responsible for me wanting to pick up the comic in the first place (regardless of how I feel about his FF run) deserves a shot. So I'm on board until one of two things happens: 1) Dwyane McDuffie writes more bad comics. 2) It gets bogged down in Final Crisis continuity hell.
THE PROGRAMME #2: This book left me a little confused, but I'm definitely interested. It was hard for me to remember names and motivations from the first issue. I think I'll need to read these together.
STORM SHADOW #3: Based on the following pattern so far in this series: Not good, Good, not good, the final part to this storyline should be kick-ass.
GRIFTER/MIDNIGHTER #6(w. Chuck Dixon, a. Ryan Benjamin)
Well, THAT'S over. This six issue mini-series was completely forgettable, really. If both the Authority and Wildcats were being published regularly, I probably wouldn't have picked this up. On a whole, I think Dixon got Grifter a little better than he did Midnighter, but it was too bad he didn't give either of them something interesting to do. The alien antagonist was just kind of lame when all is said and done, and that's never a good thing. I'll give Dixon this, his use of the post Worldstorm Grifter's powers was pretty good. Ryan Benjamin, one of the better Jim Lee clones to come out of the 90's does good work, but as I said, there was just not much for him to work with. Avoid, unless you are a Wildstorm completest.
WOLVERINE ORIGINS #16: Not really sure what the point of echoing the Claremont/Lee story was, but perhaps that will come out in parts 2-5.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
itsy bitsy week: ncrl for august 15
This is the smallest week in recent memory with only twelve books. It's a bit on the average side too.
Here's what I'm getting:
dc:
AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #55
GRIFTER/MIDNIGHTER #6 (of 6)
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #12
LOVELESS #19 mystery to be solved: WHAT HAPPENED TO MARCELO FRUSIN?
THE PROGRAMME #2
devil's sue:
STORM SHADOW #3
image:
RIPCLAW PILOT SEASON #1 is it odd that I'm kind of excited for this?
marvel:
CAPTAIN AMERICA #29
NEW X-MEN #41
TERROR, INC #1
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #112
WOLVERINE ORIGINS #16 no longer the worst Wolverine solo title...
Here's what I'm getting:
dc:
AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #55
GRIFTER/MIDNIGHTER #6 (of 6)
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #12
LOVELESS #19 mystery to be solved: WHAT HAPPENED TO MARCELO FRUSIN?
THE PROGRAMME #2
devil's sue:
STORM SHADOW #3
image:
RIPCLAW PILOT SEASON #1 is it odd that I'm kind of excited for this?
marvel:
CAPTAIN AMERICA #29
NEW X-MEN #41
TERROR, INC #1
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #112
WOLVERINE ORIGINS #16 no longer the worst Wolverine solo title...
weekly loot for august 8
This was a pretty kick ass week of comics. As always, when one buys 20 books a week there are going to be some clunkers, but the top half was really good. Book of the week was not easy.
The books:
CRIMINAL #8: A perfectly kick ass chapter in the latest Criminal arc. Nothing wrong with it in any way.
BOYS #9: This was one of the weaker issues of the series so far: lots of word bubbles, not enough good comic.
BATMAN #667
(w. Grant Morrison, a. J.H. Williams III)
Now that's what I'm talking about! Grant Morrison's "All-Star" Batman continues, but this time more in line with what I wanted and expected from this title. Last issue's 666 future romp was fun, but nowhere near as fun as this little gem. Batman grabs Robin and heads to "The Island of Mister Mayhew" where he and a bunch of other C-List crime fighters (Robin's words) have been called to a meeting. To do what you might ask? Well, to be trapped on the island to start, and then to get killed one-by-one of course. Good times for this reader! A big WELCOME ABOARD to J.H. Williams III too, who comes on and does what he does best: illustrate the shit out of a comic with his unique eye for panel and page design. Looks great, reads great; I think this is the best issue in Morrison's BATMAN run to date. My FAVORITE OF THE WEEK. (First time the title has won this since #656.)
X-FACTOR #22
(w. Peter David, a. Pablo Raimondi)
Peter David is running on all cylinders here, on the heels of the last amazing issue he comes back just as strong. There is SO much going on in this series! The main storyline is of course Josef Huber approaching Madrox, where he begins to lay out some plans of his to protect the mutant population. The crux appears to be getting mutants to be categorized as an endangered species and therefore be protected by the federal government. Perhaps even getting a sanctuary when all is said and done. Its an interesting use of the current mutant predicament, and definitely one I didn't see coming (and that's always good). What else? Rahne and Rictor continue their entertaining little tryst, Rictor might have some of the Terregin crystals in his back, M and Siryn get smacked around by Solo* and Clay, and Layla not only didn't know about the pregnancy stick, but also didn't know that Nicole is about to try and kill her. Whoops. Another really good X-Factor, with really stunning art by Pablo Raimondi. This could be the best arc of the series.
*Is this the same Solo that was created by Erik Larsen? The Solo, that while he lives terror dies? SERIOUSLY:
Hahahahaha. AWESOME.
DMZ #22
(w. Brian Wood, a. Riccardo Burchielli)
The latest arc comes to end and well, in good old DMZ fashion it's pretty darn good. In a story like this that's set up the way it was, you knew that the people were going to riot, you knew that it was going to get ugly again, but what you didn't know was, that it was going to end with the enraged people literally being tossed the soldier blamed for it all. It was like tossing raw meat to a pack of hungry lions. "Raw meat" that just might have been the only one telling the truth in it all. Matty tries to do the right thing and stop the gang, but its too late. Matty Roth has not only become an entertaining protagonist, he's become a guy I really like. He's admirable in what he is trying to do, and therefore I applaud the moments that Z and he stole amidst the chaos. Long time coming. This was a dark ending, but a satisfying one.
POWERS #25
(w. Brian Bendis, a. Michael Oeming)
Powers has returned, and now with thicker paper stock and more pages! Good news I guess. It sounds like Bendis wants more room to play with his story and continue to have all the healthy back matter he likes. If the back matter continues to be interviews that I read on Newsarama, then I won't be sure why I'm paying an extra dollar, but for more story, any time. So what did happen here? Well, Deena has been AWOL since she found out about Walker that they've gone ahead and given him a new partner. So far she's okay, but not too much time is spent on her character. Whether she gets any might depend on whether or not she ends up a corpse before the end of the storyline, I suppose. Walker also has a girlfriend who loves it when he super comes. No, seriously. STUPID ALERT: We find this out by one of the most pointless two page spreads I've ever seen in a comic: a SEVENTY PANEL sex scene. Um, okay. Anyway, the main thing I'm interested in at this point, is Deena and Walker having a talk, or at the very least a confrontation. So in that respect the issue was treading water for me. Still, it was a good comic whose last page appears to be promising me what I'm looking for.
FABLES #64
(w. Bill Willingham, a. Aaron Alexovich)
When this title was shown at the Vertigo panel slide show in San Diego the place lit up like a buzzer beater at a basketball game. I forget who, but someone was even trying to joke that their book was loosely connected to the Fables-verse in the hopes of gathering more readers. There is really no explanation needed either, as its a damn good funny book. This issue specifically takes a break from the main Flycatcher plot (damn) to take us to the farm where Snow, Bigby and the Kids take center stage (cool). Basically, its their 5th birthday and the 'rents have decided to let them in on Ghost, the invisible 7th cub of the littler. We also get some cute moments with the farm Fables preparing for war mixed in for good measure. All of this was guest drawn by Aaron Alexovich, which was really pretty good, even though everyone had really cutesy faces making characters like Rose Red and Boy Blue look a little younger than they actually are. Still it was nice.
NEW AVENGERS #33
(w. Brian Bendis, a. Leinil Yu)
Two months into Skrull-watch and even though there has been some "Fuck You Bendis" thrown about, I think we are getting a really good comic here. There is a little more of the "Are you a Skrull?" questions, which means we are going to be moving along the paranoia coaster a little faster than I expected. Luke Cage especially is on edge; not only does he distrust Peter Parker, he is not too sure about his wife either as he has some pretty choice words to throw her way. All of this could be really annoying, but so far this is working for me.
This issue was also important for the re-introduction of The Hood into the Marvel Universe. This time no longer a small time crook as in the Brian Vaughan mini-series, but a serious underworld threat that murders the competition to scare everyone. The victim here was The Owl, which I'm sure some people will be up in arms about, but Idoesn't bother me any. If the Hood is going to be built up to be this new Kingpin, then some thinning of the villain populace makes sense. My only complaint is with the Hood's design. I wish he would have been taken just a little bit more towards a super villain level. Brown pants and nondescript shirt? I mean, keep it simple, keep it street, but letting Yu slightly update the design would have been cool too. Some other items he's pickedup along the way maybe. Body armor, something sleek underneath the cloak. Whatever, I'll deal.
DAREDEVIL #99
(w. Ed Brubaker, a. Michael Lark)
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Brubaker is quietly putting together a nice little run over here at Daredevil central. In fact, as much as I like the X-Men, his Uncanny run is probably his weakest book right now, because this, Cap and Criminal are definitely not it. This issue climaxes with the villains behind it all, The Enforcers. I have no idea who they are, but something tells me there is some old Marvel fan that is happy they turned up here. More shocking for me (and frankly, that's what it's all about here) was the climax with Milla, and her Lily-induced jealous rage that resulted in an innocent bystander being killed in the subway. Holy shit! She's gonna need a good lawyer, oh wait... Good issue.
STORMWATCH PHD #10: Back to good Stormwatch issues where I don't have to be annoyed with Gage for turning Christine into a peice of shit. Except for those couple of panels where they talk about it.
CASANOVA #8
(w. Matt Fraction, a. Fabio Moon)
So far I have had a weird relationship with Mr. Fraction and this here book called Casanova. First, I genuinely think that Matt Fraction is a writer to be watched with a unique voice and all the jazz that goes along with that. Still, I couldn't help but be a little put off after I read the drug induced trip that was Issue #1. I did think there was enough there to give it a second issue, and in fact, I bought it from the man himself at Comic-Con 2006. I read it that night, and decided that this Fraction guy was trying too hard to be cool and that there really wasn't that much substance here. I moved along. After #5 came out, I had spent somewhere in the vicinity of three months hearing RAVE reviews, and as a guy that tries to read most good comic books (and Wolverine Origins), I felt like I had to give it another chance. So I bought the ones I had missed and jumped back on.
On second chance, the book definitely read better. It's still a drug induced trip, that's for sure, but an entertaining one. I finally caught on to the ride that Casanova Quinn himself was having, and was able to be entertained by the unique brand of Fraction crazy that for some reason was eluding me the first time I read the book. The issue with Coldheart island is probably my favorite. One thing must be said too: these covers are quickly becoming some of the best in the industry.
But what does this have to do with #8? Well, good news for die hard fans, and just fans like me, is that it is more of the same. Casanova continues to entertain, this time in a bit of a sleeker set. I mean, the story isn't AS complicated (read: all over the fucking place) and it had some good laughs while moving some plot forward. This comic is definitely a unique experience, and it will always get points from me in that regard. The only negative the book has, is the color hue. I think the greenish tints it had in the first storyline was a better aesthetic for sure, but the blue doesn't detract too much. I'm glad to have this comic back, all things be told.
GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #3: What a fun series this is turning out to be.
INCREDIBLE HULK #109: After last issue's emotional segue with the lame ass giant roach warbound guy, we step back into the "pretty solid Hulk book" realm.
G.I. JOE AMERICA'S ELITE #26: Pretty good issue, even though I was starting to get worried that Firefly might die. Mike Bear and team are really kicking ass on the art.
UN-MEN #1
(w. John Whalen, a. Mike Hawthorne)
Its time for a new Vertigo series, and this time we have a title thinly connected to some characters that popped up in a Swamp Thing story. That doesn't matter however, because this is all new fun. The first issue is about an albino detective that is investigating the murder of a "freak", who until his death had been spending his time in Abberance, USA. Which is essentially a reservation of sorts for freaks to live on and have their own community. Abberance also doubles as a tourist attraction as well, and there are all sorts of politicking going on behind the scenes amongst the hierarchy. We even have a mad scientist running around making his own freaks! The issue of real freak vs. fake freaks (aka gaffs) appears to be another ongoing plot point. The issue was not great, but there is enough clay here to definitely mold a good story out of. So far, everyone at Abberance is pretty boring, but our main character Agent Kilcrop definitely had some moments. The art by Mike Hawthorne (Queen & Country) is pretty good, so there is no problems there. I'm back for #2, but this title will be on an issue-by-issue status for a bit.
GEN 13 #11: At last an explanation. Okay. But more importantly, how fucking cool was Kid Apollo? Um, REALLU fucking cool in case you were waiting for an answer.
WORLD WAR HULK: FRONTLINE #3: Nothing is sustaining my interest here. I like Martinbrough's art though.
PUNISHER: WAR JOURNAL #10:
(w. Matt Fraction, a. Ariel Olivetti)
So a few books back I talked about my early confusion over Casanova, and I'm having that same kind of thing here. Except we are ten issues in now and I still don't like the book all that much. I'm an admitted fan of the Garth Ennis Max version and it clouds my judgment I think. In fact, Iif I'm honest with myself, it completely does, because over the past 7 years now Ennis has made the character his and that is the Punisher I want to read month-to-month. On the surface, there is not that much wrong here. Punisher gets in adventure with some Nazis along the border, he goes under cover, fights a bull and saves the day. Fun, harmless stuff, and you can see Fraction's intelligence showing throughout. And that's why I'm still reading. I will continue to read through at least the- fuck yeah- Cory Walker drawn issues and then I'll re-evaluate.
JACK OF FABLES #13: This book has a little crossover of sorts with the main title. Um, why doesn't Jack just return to the title? Maybe because this is Vertigo's second best selling title.
ULTIMATE X-MEN #85: Well this is a really odd thing to say: when does Jeph Loeb take over?
The books:
CRIMINAL #8: A perfectly kick ass chapter in the latest Criminal arc. Nothing wrong with it in any way.
BOYS #9: This was one of the weaker issues of the series so far: lots of word bubbles, not enough good comic.
BATMAN #667(w. Grant Morrison, a. J.H. Williams III)
Now that's what I'm talking about! Grant Morrison's "All-Star" Batman continues, but this time more in line with what I wanted and expected from this title. Last issue's 666 future romp was fun, but nowhere near as fun as this little gem. Batman grabs Robin and heads to "The Island of Mister Mayhew" where he and a bunch of other C-List crime fighters (Robin's words) have been called to a meeting. To do what you might ask? Well, to be trapped on the island to start, and then to get killed one-by-one of course. Good times for this reader! A big WELCOME ABOARD to J.H. Williams III too, who comes on and does what he does best: illustrate the shit out of a comic with his unique eye for panel and page design. Looks great, reads great; I think this is the best issue in Morrison's BATMAN run to date. My FAVORITE OF THE WEEK. (First time the title has won this since #656.)
X-FACTOR #22(w. Peter David, a. Pablo Raimondi)
Peter David is running on all cylinders here, on the heels of the last amazing issue he comes back just as strong. There is SO much going on in this series! The main storyline is of course Josef Huber approaching Madrox, where he begins to lay out some plans of his to protect the mutant population. The crux appears to be getting mutants to be categorized as an endangered species and therefore be protected by the federal government. Perhaps even getting a sanctuary when all is said and done. Its an interesting use of the current mutant predicament, and definitely one I didn't see coming (and that's always good). What else? Rahne and Rictor continue their entertaining little tryst, Rictor might have some of the Terregin crystals in his back, M and Siryn get smacked around by Solo* and Clay, and Layla not only didn't know about the pregnancy stick, but also didn't know that Nicole is about to try and kill her. Whoops. Another really good X-Factor, with really stunning art by Pablo Raimondi. This could be the best arc of the series.
*Is this the same Solo that was created by Erik Larsen? The Solo, that while he lives terror dies? SERIOUSLY:
Hahahahaha. AWESOME.
DMZ #22(w. Brian Wood, a. Riccardo Burchielli)
The latest arc comes to end and well, in good old DMZ fashion it's pretty darn good. In a story like this that's set up the way it was, you knew that the people were going to riot, you knew that it was going to get ugly again, but what you didn't know was, that it was going to end with the enraged people literally being tossed the soldier blamed for it all. It was like tossing raw meat to a pack of hungry lions. "Raw meat" that just might have been the only one telling the truth in it all. Matty tries to do the right thing and stop the gang, but its too late. Matty Roth has not only become an entertaining protagonist, he's become a guy I really like. He's admirable in what he is trying to do, and therefore I applaud the moments that Z and he stole amidst the chaos. Long time coming. This was a dark ending, but a satisfying one.
POWERS #25(w. Brian Bendis, a. Michael Oeming)
Powers has returned, and now with thicker paper stock and more pages! Good news I guess. It sounds like Bendis wants more room to play with his story and continue to have all the healthy back matter he likes. If the back matter continues to be interviews that I read on Newsarama, then I won't be sure why I'm paying an extra dollar, but for more story, any time. So what did happen here? Well, Deena has been AWOL since she found out about Walker that they've gone ahead and given him a new partner. So far she's okay, but not too much time is spent on her character. Whether she gets any might depend on whether or not she ends up a corpse before the end of the storyline, I suppose. Walker also has a girlfriend who loves it when he super comes. No, seriously. STUPID ALERT: We find this out by one of the most pointless two page spreads I've ever seen in a comic: a SEVENTY PANEL sex scene. Um, okay. Anyway, the main thing I'm interested in at this point, is Deena and Walker having a talk, or at the very least a confrontation. So in that respect the issue was treading water for me. Still, it was a good comic whose last page appears to be promising me what I'm looking for.
FABLES #64(w. Bill Willingham, a. Aaron Alexovich)
When this title was shown at the Vertigo panel slide show in San Diego the place lit up like a buzzer beater at a basketball game. I forget who, but someone was even trying to joke that their book was loosely connected to the Fables-verse in the hopes of gathering more readers. There is really no explanation needed either, as its a damn good funny book. This issue specifically takes a break from the main Flycatcher plot (damn) to take us to the farm where Snow, Bigby and the Kids take center stage (cool). Basically, its their 5th birthday and the 'rents have decided to let them in on Ghost, the invisible 7th cub of the littler. We also get some cute moments with the farm Fables preparing for war mixed in for good measure. All of this was guest drawn by Aaron Alexovich, which was really pretty good, even though everyone had really cutesy faces making characters like Rose Red and Boy Blue look a little younger than they actually are. Still it was nice.
NEW AVENGERS #33(w. Brian Bendis, a. Leinil Yu)
Two months into Skrull-watch and even though there has been some "Fuck You Bendis" thrown about, I think we are getting a really good comic here. There is a little more of the "Are you a Skrull?" questions, which means we are going to be moving along the paranoia coaster a little faster than I expected. Luke Cage especially is on edge; not only does he distrust Peter Parker, he is not too sure about his wife either as he has some pretty choice words to throw her way. All of this could be really annoying, but so far this is working for me.
This issue was also important for the re-introduction of The Hood into the Marvel Universe. This time no longer a small time crook as in the Brian Vaughan mini-series, but a serious underworld threat that murders the competition to scare everyone. The victim here was The Owl, which I'm sure some people will be up in arms about, but Idoesn't bother me any. If the Hood is going to be built up to be this new Kingpin, then some thinning of the villain populace makes sense. My only complaint is with the Hood's design. I wish he would have been taken just a little bit more towards a super villain level. Brown pants and nondescript shirt? I mean, keep it simple, keep it street, but letting Yu slightly update the design would have been cool too. Some other items he's pickedup along the way maybe. Body armor, something sleek underneath the cloak. Whatever, I'll deal.
DAREDEVIL #99(w. Ed Brubaker, a. Michael Lark)
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Brubaker is quietly putting together a nice little run over here at Daredevil central. In fact, as much as I like the X-Men, his Uncanny run is probably his weakest book right now, because this, Cap and Criminal are definitely not it. This issue climaxes with the villains behind it all, The Enforcers. I have no idea who they are, but something tells me there is some old Marvel fan that is happy they turned up here. More shocking for me (and frankly, that's what it's all about here) was the climax with Milla, and her Lily-induced jealous rage that resulted in an innocent bystander being killed in the subway. Holy shit! She's gonna need a good lawyer, oh wait... Good issue.
STORMWATCH PHD #10: Back to good Stormwatch issues where I don't have to be annoyed with Gage for turning Christine into a peice of shit. Except for those couple of panels where they talk about it.
CASANOVA #8(w. Matt Fraction, a. Fabio Moon)
So far I have had a weird relationship with Mr. Fraction and this here book called Casanova. First, I genuinely think that Matt Fraction is a writer to be watched with a unique voice and all the jazz that goes along with that. Still, I couldn't help but be a little put off after I read the drug induced trip that was Issue #1. I did think there was enough there to give it a second issue, and in fact, I bought it from the man himself at Comic-Con 2006. I read it that night, and decided that this Fraction guy was trying too hard to be cool and that there really wasn't that much substance here. I moved along. After #5 came out, I had spent somewhere in the vicinity of three months hearing RAVE reviews, and as a guy that tries to read most good comic books (and Wolverine Origins), I felt like I had to give it another chance. So I bought the ones I had missed and jumped back on.
On second chance, the book definitely read better. It's still a drug induced trip, that's for sure, but an entertaining one. I finally caught on to the ride that Casanova Quinn himself was having, and was able to be entertained by the unique brand of Fraction crazy that for some reason was eluding me the first time I read the book. The issue with Coldheart island is probably my favorite. One thing must be said too: these covers are quickly becoming some of the best in the industry.
But what does this have to do with #8? Well, good news for die hard fans, and just fans like me, is that it is more of the same. Casanova continues to entertain, this time in a bit of a sleeker set. I mean, the story isn't AS complicated (read: all over the fucking place) and it had some good laughs while moving some plot forward. This comic is definitely a unique experience, and it will always get points from me in that regard. The only negative the book has, is the color hue. I think the greenish tints it had in the first storyline was a better aesthetic for sure, but the blue doesn't detract too much. I'm glad to have this comic back, all things be told.
GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #3: What a fun series this is turning out to be.
INCREDIBLE HULK #109: After last issue's emotional segue with the lame ass giant roach warbound guy, we step back into the "pretty solid Hulk book" realm.
G.I. JOE AMERICA'S ELITE #26: Pretty good issue, even though I was starting to get worried that Firefly might die. Mike Bear and team are really kicking ass on the art.
UN-MEN #1(w. John Whalen, a. Mike Hawthorne)
Its time for a new Vertigo series, and this time we have a title thinly connected to some characters that popped up in a Swamp Thing story. That doesn't matter however, because this is all new fun. The first issue is about an albino detective that is investigating the murder of a "freak", who until his death had been spending his time in Abberance, USA. Which is essentially a reservation of sorts for freaks to live on and have their own community. Abberance also doubles as a tourist attraction as well, and there are all sorts of politicking going on behind the scenes amongst the hierarchy. We even have a mad scientist running around making his own freaks! The issue of real freak vs. fake freaks (aka gaffs) appears to be another ongoing plot point. The issue was not great, but there is enough clay here to definitely mold a good story out of. So far, everyone at Abberance is pretty boring, but our main character Agent Kilcrop definitely had some moments. The art by Mike Hawthorne (Queen & Country) is pretty good, so there is no problems there. I'm back for #2, but this title will be on an issue-by-issue status for a bit.
GEN 13 #11: At last an explanation. Okay. But more importantly, how fucking cool was Kid Apollo? Um, REALLU fucking cool in case you were waiting for an answer.
WORLD WAR HULK: FRONTLINE #3: Nothing is sustaining my interest here. I like Martinbrough's art though.
PUNISHER: WAR JOURNAL #10:(w. Matt Fraction, a. Ariel Olivetti)
So a few books back I talked about my early confusion over Casanova, and I'm having that same kind of thing here. Except we are ten issues in now and I still don't like the book all that much. I'm an admitted fan of the Garth Ennis Max version and it clouds my judgment I think. In fact, Iif I'm honest with myself, it completely does, because over the past 7 years now Ennis has made the character his and that is the Punisher I want to read month-to-month. On the surface, there is not that much wrong here. Punisher gets in adventure with some Nazis along the border, he goes under cover, fights a bull and saves the day. Fun, harmless stuff, and you can see Fraction's intelligence showing throughout. And that's why I'm still reading. I will continue to read through at least the- fuck yeah- Cory Walker drawn issues and then I'll re-evaluate.
JACK OF FABLES #13: This book has a little crossover of sorts with the main title. Um, why doesn't Jack just return to the title? Maybe because this is Vertigo's second best selling title.
ULTIMATE X-MEN #85: Well this is a really odd thing to say: when does Jeph Loeb take over?
Monday, August 13, 2007
mike wieringo passes away
Wow. He was still so young too. Details here.
I do not pretend to be the world's biggest Wieringo fan or anything, but I can tell you that every time I opened a book by him it was slick, professional, and damn good. Never did I go, "the story was good but Wieringo's art really brought it down". Never! My favorites things of his were his Fantastic Four run with Mark Waid and his fantasy book, Tellos. Not a surprise as they are the things he is most known for.
Something that always made me happy about Wieringo's art, is that he was a true COMIC BOOK artist, in every sense of the word. His clean cartoony style was all-ages friendly, and if you were a newbie to comics, and you opened one, it is exactly what you would expect (and want).
Sucks.
Here is some of his art after a quick google image search, but this does not do the guy justice at all. Check out his AMAZING deviantART gallery and his web page, mikewieringo.com. And better yet, buy one of his books.
I do not pretend to be the world's biggest Wieringo fan or anything, but I can tell you that every time I opened a book by him it was slick, professional, and damn good. Never did I go, "the story was good but Wieringo's art really brought it down". Never! My favorites things of his were his Fantastic Four run with Mark Waid and his fantasy book, Tellos. Not a surprise as they are the things he is most known for.Something that always made me happy about Wieringo's art, is that he was a true COMIC BOOK artist, in every sense of the word. His clean cartoony style was all-ages friendly, and if you were a newbie to comics, and you opened one, it is exactly what you would expect (and want).
Sucks.
Here is some of his art after a quick google image search, but this does not do the guy justice at all. Check out his AMAZING deviantART gallery and his web page, mikewieringo.com. And better yet, buy one of his books.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
the best news i've heard all weekend
Mark Millar and Brian Hitch take over FANTASTIC FOUR:
know that there are a lot of people out there that are enjoying McDuffie and Pelletier do their old school riff over on Fantastic Four, and although I was amongst those that had some problems with Civil War, this is a great idea. This book could use Millar, and Hitch especially. I mean, hol shit, can Pelletier do images like this?
I'm even hoping that Millar can clean up some of that mess that he caused during Civil War. Or at least play with some of the Sue/Reed ramifications.
I have my doubts that it will be monthly, but regardless, I'll take some widescreen Fantastic Four over what we are getting now any day.
(The full newsrama story with interview here.)
know that there are a lot of people out there that are enjoying McDuffie and Pelletier do their old school riff over on Fantastic Four, and although I was amongst those that had some problems with Civil War, this is a great idea. This book could use Millar, and Hitch especially. I mean, hol shit, can Pelletier do images like this?
I'm even hoping that Millar can clean up some of that mess that he caused during Civil War. Or at least play with some of the Sue/Reed ramifications.
I have my doubts that it will be monthly, but regardless, I'll take some widescreen Fantastic Four over what we are getting now any day.
(The full newsrama story with interview here.)
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
ncrl for august 8
Back on the old twenty comic books a week gig, but this time I don't have two other piles waiting to be read from previous weeks. (Although I still have stacks of shit I bought from Comic-Con, but I'll get to those eventually.)
The list:
dc:
BATMAN #667 these are coming out quick all of the sudden
DMZ #22
FABLES #64
GEN 13 #11
GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #3
JACK OF FABLES #13
STORMWATCH PHD #10
UN-MEN #1 maybe
devil's due:
G.I. JOE: AMERICA'S ELITE #26
dynamite:
BOYS #9
image:
CASANOVA #8
marvel:
CRIMINAL #8
DAREDEVIL #99 brubaker hyped this big time on his myspace blog
INCREDIBLE HULK #109
NEW AVENGERS #33
POWERS #25
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #10
ULTIMATE X-MEN #85
WORLD WAR HULK: FRONTLINE #3
X-FACTOR #22
Also:
SHARKMAN #2 came out last week. A while ago, I remember coming across a copy of #1 for free somewhere and I had a blast with it. I didn't even know there was another one coming out.
Anyway, off to the store.
The list:
dc:
BATMAN #667 these are coming out quick all of the sudden
DMZ #22
FABLES #64
GEN 13 #11
GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #3
JACK OF FABLES #13
STORMWATCH PHD #10
UN-MEN #1 maybe
devil's due:
G.I. JOE: AMERICA'S ELITE #26
dynamite:
BOYS #9
image:
CASANOVA #8
marvel:
CRIMINAL #8
DAREDEVIL #99 brubaker hyped this big time on his myspace blog
INCREDIBLE HULK #109
NEW AVENGERS #33
POWERS #25
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #10
ULTIMATE X-MEN #85
WORLD WAR HULK: FRONTLINE #3
X-FACTOR #22
Also:
SHARKMAN #2 came out last week. A while ago, I remember coming across a copy of #1 for free somewhere and I had a blast with it. I didn't even know there was another one coming out.
Anyway, off to the store.
catching up on some comics 7/18 - 8/1
So I've been busy. Excuses: Harry Potter and San Diego Comic-Con. They have left me unable to produce weekly reactions for three weeks now. Since I'm finally caught up, I post this for posterity's sake:
7.18.07
STRANGE EMBRACE #2
(w/a. David Hine)
Mr. Hine surprised me with the first issue, and now I'm fully converted looking to spread the word. This is really good comic book. Issue #2 delves deeper into the past of our mysterious creep, Alex, showing us his dark and tragic back story. Simply put, I can't wait for more of this story. If I remember correctly, the difference between this new release and the original is the color. And I could see this working as a black & white, but its just hard for me to imagine this story in any other way that it is right now. Also, the six-pager in the back was pretty damn good and could almost sustain a comic on its own. FAVORITE BOOK OF THE WEEK.
Other real good comic books:
LONE RANGER #7
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #111: A really good character issue as we say good bye to Mark Bagley. Stuart Immonen's style for this book looked spectacular as well.
3 star comics:
THE ORDER #1
CAPTAIN AMERICA #28
WORLD WAR HULK #2: Nothing extraordinary here, but the smackdowns have been worth it.
THE PROGRAMME #1: Another interesting take on the super hero comic, this time with Cold War trappings and stylized moody art.
AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #54: Tad Williams is writing a perfectly good comic book: If you are okay with extreme doses of almost-bad-silly and surprised-it-works-serious. And I really am apparently.
GODLAND #19
THE SPIRIT #8
AVENGERS: INITIATIVE #4: Probably the best issue of the series so far, even though its a shameless crossover with World War Hulk.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #11: Brad Meltzer decides to experiment with the panels, and it mostly works.
THUNDERBOLTS: DESPERATE MEASURES #1
ZERO KILLER #1: Its not very original in its plot or execution, but the artist was really good. Reminded me of Tony Harris a bit.
Comics with problems:
SHAZAM: THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL #4: Good solid comic, but I was just bored by it. I've said it before, but I definitely wasn't the audience for this.
WORLD WAR HULK: FRONTLINE #2: The journalist half is good, but the Cop storyline hasn't done anything for me. Although Martinbrough's art is solid. The two pager was funny, but pointless.
NEW X-MEN #40
WOLVERINE: ORIGINS ANNUAL #1
MODOK'S 11 #1: I really wanted to like this comic, I did. And at times it works, but its just too goof ball for me, with too many cringe inducing moments (read: bad writing).
Um, just don't:
WORLD WAR HULK: X-MEN #3
Other notes:
I decided to go ahead and skip ALL FLASH #1. But I did buy Eddie Campbell's THE BLACK DIAMOND DETECTIVE AGENCY. Which I'm really excited to read. Its on the "Graphic Novels to Read" pile. Moving along...
7.25.07
USAGI YOJIMBO #104
(w/a. Stan Sakai)
FAVORITE BOOK OF THE WEEK. This was close this week because I really enjoyed a couple of other books, but Part 2 of Jei's origin was just too damn good. The saddest thing about Jei, is that I really liked the man that he was prior. A former samurai turned priest, its almost sad what became of him. Also scary. Jei mows through an entire town to prove his point. This issue is also of note because Sakai can knock em out of the park even without the title character, as he is nowhere to be seen. Also, David Peterson's back cover pin-up is one of the coolest pin-ups I've seen in a long time. Simply beautiful. Check it out:
Other real good comic books:
QUEEN & COUNTRY #32: This was awesome. I missed this book almost as much as I miss Rucka. I look forward to its return.
BLACK SUMMER #1: Has there been a better fight scene recently? I'm excited for this series.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #5
BATMAN #666: A bit odd, and I'm not sure how it goes with anything else, but good times.
3 star comics:
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #1: This didn't blow me away like Transmetropolitan #1 did years ago, but this is a good enough start, and a good place to explore the things that Warren is interested in.
CRECY
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #44: Um, this was a damn good comic book. Nice job Mike Carey!
THE WALKING DEAD #39
FEAR AGENT: THE LAST GOODBYE #2: I kind of wish the overall comic was about the war and not just this mini.
CROSSING MIDNIGHT #9
GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #2: This is turning out to be pretty damn good.
X-MEN #201
ELEPHANTMEN #10
INVINCIBLE #44
THE MIGHTY AVENGERS #4
ALL STAR BATMAN & ROBIN #6
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #542: Good issue, but its still annoying that this doesn't mesh with anything else Spider-Man is doing.
CABLE & DEADPOOL #43: I'll say it now, I love Bob the sidekick.
Comics with problems:
IRON MAN #20
INCREDIBLE HULK #108: I'm so uninterested in the aliens that the Hulk brought in tow, making this issue mostly annoying.
WETWORKS #11
WONDER WOMAN #11: When does Gail Simon start again?
MEGATRON: ORIGIN #2 DEATHBLOW #6
Um, Just don't:
WOLVERINE #55: PLEASE READ PAUL O'BRIEN'S REVIEW -- ITS AMAZING
8.1.07
SCALPED #8
(w. Jason Aaron, a. R.M. Guera)
Its one of my favorite books right now, and its hard for it to do wrong. We are introduced to another character: a "white guy" that is 1/16th Native American but who plays it like he is more Native American than anyone else. At first I was turned off by the character, but as we got his back story, he turns out to be a welcome addition to the already deep cast this book has. Not sure if I completely like the last page reveal, but it only makes things more complicated, and in this book that's a good thing. This book is on fire. FAVORITE OF THE WEEK
Other really good comic books:
NEW WARRIORS #3
DARK TOWER #7: A really good end to the series. Especially the last two when things picked up. I still wonder what Stephen King/non-comic book fans are thinking about this.
3 star comics:
WORLD WAR HULK #3
FAKER #2: I almost didn't get the second issue, but as it turns out, I'm really glad I did. This was pretty good.
WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY #9
NEW AVENGERS ILLUMINATI #4: Best issue of the series. I really wish they would do something more significant with Marvel Boy. Will he get some love in WORLD WAR SKRULL next year?
THE EXTERMINATORS #20
SHE-HULK #20
PUNISHER #50: Is this series about to turn into LONE CASTLE & CUB? That would be fucking awesome.
UNCANNY X-MEN #489
Comics with problems:
THOR #2
FALLEN ANGEL #18
FANTASTIC FOUR #548: Why am I the only one annoyed with this series?
Um, just don't:
NONE
***
So that catches me up, just in time for this week's new books. I'll definitely have my more normal reactions this week.
7.18.07
STRANGE EMBRACE #2(w/a. David Hine)
Mr. Hine surprised me with the first issue, and now I'm fully converted looking to spread the word. This is really good comic book. Issue #2 delves deeper into the past of our mysterious creep, Alex, showing us his dark and tragic back story. Simply put, I can't wait for more of this story. If I remember correctly, the difference between this new release and the original is the color. And I could see this working as a black & white, but its just hard for me to imagine this story in any other way that it is right now. Also, the six-pager in the back was pretty damn good and could almost sustain a comic on its own. FAVORITE BOOK OF THE WEEK.
Other real good comic books:
LONE RANGER #7
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #111: A really good character issue as we say good bye to Mark Bagley. Stuart Immonen's style for this book looked spectacular as well.
3 star comics:
THE ORDER #1
CAPTAIN AMERICA #28
WORLD WAR HULK #2: Nothing extraordinary here, but the smackdowns have been worth it.
THE PROGRAMME #1: Another interesting take on the super hero comic, this time with Cold War trappings and stylized moody art.
AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #54: Tad Williams is writing a perfectly good comic book: If you are okay with extreme doses of almost-bad-silly and surprised-it-works-serious. And I really am apparently.
GODLAND #19
THE SPIRIT #8
AVENGERS: INITIATIVE #4: Probably the best issue of the series so far, even though its a shameless crossover with World War Hulk.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #11: Brad Meltzer decides to experiment with the panels, and it mostly works.
THUNDERBOLTS: DESPERATE MEASURES #1
ZERO KILLER #1: Its not very original in its plot or execution, but the artist was really good. Reminded me of Tony Harris a bit.
Comics with problems:
SHAZAM: THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL #4: Good solid comic, but I was just bored by it. I've said it before, but I definitely wasn't the audience for this.
WORLD WAR HULK: FRONTLINE #2: The journalist half is good, but the Cop storyline hasn't done anything for me. Although Martinbrough's art is solid. The two pager was funny, but pointless.
NEW X-MEN #40
WOLVERINE: ORIGINS ANNUAL #1
MODOK'S 11 #1: I really wanted to like this comic, I did. And at times it works, but its just too goof ball for me, with too many cringe inducing moments (read: bad writing).
Um, just don't:
WORLD WAR HULK: X-MEN #3
Other notes:
I decided to go ahead and skip ALL FLASH #1. But I did buy Eddie Campbell's THE BLACK DIAMOND DETECTIVE AGENCY. Which I'm really excited to read. Its on the "Graphic Novels to Read" pile. Moving along...
7.25.07
USAGI YOJIMBO #104(w/a. Stan Sakai)
FAVORITE BOOK OF THE WEEK. This was close this week because I really enjoyed a couple of other books, but Part 2 of Jei's origin was just too damn good. The saddest thing about Jei, is that I really liked the man that he was prior. A former samurai turned priest, its almost sad what became of him. Also scary. Jei mows through an entire town to prove his point. This issue is also of note because Sakai can knock em out of the park even without the title character, as he is nowhere to be seen. Also, David Peterson's back cover pin-up is one of the coolest pin-ups I've seen in a long time. Simply beautiful. Check it out:
Other real good comic books:
QUEEN & COUNTRY #32: This was awesome. I missed this book almost as much as I miss Rucka. I look forward to its return.
BLACK SUMMER #1: Has there been a better fight scene recently? I'm excited for this series.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #5
BATMAN #666: A bit odd, and I'm not sure how it goes with anything else, but good times.
3 star comics:
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #1: This didn't blow me away like Transmetropolitan #1 did years ago, but this is a good enough start, and a good place to explore the things that Warren is interested in.
CRECY
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #44: Um, this was a damn good comic book. Nice job Mike Carey!
THE WALKING DEAD #39
FEAR AGENT: THE LAST GOODBYE #2: I kind of wish the overall comic was about the war and not just this mini.
CROSSING MIDNIGHT #9
GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #2: This is turning out to be pretty damn good.
X-MEN #201
ELEPHANTMEN #10
INVINCIBLE #44
THE MIGHTY AVENGERS #4
ALL STAR BATMAN & ROBIN #6
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #542: Good issue, but its still annoying that this doesn't mesh with anything else Spider-Man is doing.
CABLE & DEADPOOL #43: I'll say it now, I love Bob the sidekick.
Comics with problems:
IRON MAN #20
INCREDIBLE HULK #108: I'm so uninterested in the aliens that the Hulk brought in tow, making this issue mostly annoying.
WETWORKS #11
WONDER WOMAN #11: When does Gail Simon start again?
MEGATRON: ORIGIN #2 DEATHBLOW #6
Um, Just don't:
WOLVERINE #55: PLEASE READ PAUL O'BRIEN'S REVIEW -- ITS AMAZING
8.1.07
SCALPED #8(w. Jason Aaron, a. R.M. Guera)
Its one of my favorite books right now, and its hard for it to do wrong. We are introduced to another character: a "white guy" that is 1/16th Native American but who plays it like he is more Native American than anyone else. At first I was turned off by the character, but as we got his back story, he turns out to be a welcome addition to the already deep cast this book has. Not sure if I completely like the last page reveal, but it only makes things more complicated, and in this book that's a good thing. This book is on fire. FAVORITE OF THE WEEK
Other really good comic books:
NEW WARRIORS #3
DARK TOWER #7: A really good end to the series. Especially the last two when things picked up. I still wonder what Stephen King/non-comic book fans are thinking about this.
3 star comics:
WORLD WAR HULK #3
FAKER #2: I almost didn't get the second issue, but as it turns out, I'm really glad I did. This was pretty good.
WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY #9
NEW AVENGERS ILLUMINATI #4: Best issue of the series. I really wish they would do something more significant with Marvel Boy. Will he get some love in WORLD WAR SKRULL next year?
THE EXTERMINATORS #20
SHE-HULK #20
PUNISHER #50: Is this series about to turn into LONE CASTLE & CUB? That would be fucking awesome.
UNCANNY X-MEN #489
Comics with problems:
THOR #2
FALLEN ANGEL #18
FANTASTIC FOUR #548: Why am I the only one annoyed with this series?
Um, just don't:
NONE
***
So that catches me up, just in time for this week's new books. I'll definitely have my more normal reactions this week.
Monday, August 6, 2007
san diego comic-con, part 2
So I'm back with Part 2 of my Comic-Con Adventure (a week later). Which has nothing to do with my adventure at all really, but more my reactions to all the news that came out of the show itself.
Part 1 was a rundown of the show itself. Click here.
BIGGEST NEWS OF THE CON
MARVEL vs. DC!
FINAL CRISIS vs. ASTONISHING X-MEN!
GRANT MORRISON vs. WARREN ELLIS!
J.G. JONES vs. SIMONE BIANCHI!
The winner:
Warren Ells & Simone Bianchi on ASTONISHING X-MEN
Grant Morrison writing the we-knew-it-was-coming Final Crisis mini is nowhere near as surprising as Warren Ellis doing the flagship title for the X-Books. Even though this is a long way off (Warren himself said that it was announced rather early, he doesn't start writing for another month), it's still a pretty exciting turn of events. Just reading Ellis talk about Nigeria proves to me that he will bring an interesting take to the X-Men. This will be well after the Messiah Complex crossover, so there should be a wide open and clear landscape to work with. Simone Bianchi is a really talented artist, who deserves to have something more interesting to draw than the Jeph Loeb's Wolverine. UGH. (I wanted to get a sketch from him at con, but that line was ridiculous.) And even though Final Crisis isn't as interesting to me, the creative team itself miiiight get me to take a look. Morrison is good, and its really exciting to hear that the talented Jones will do some more pencil work. WANTED was what, three years ago now? His covers are good, but his art was so dynamic with choice of "camera angles" that it was sad that he kind of stopped. Should be fun.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN CREATIVE TEAMS ANNOUNCED
They announced the creative teams for the three times a month AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Now, apparently these writers and artists won't always match up, but for their first arcs, here they are:
Dan Slott & Steve McNiven
Marc Guggenheim & Salvador Larroca
Bob Gale & Phil Jimenez
Zeb Wells & Chris Bachalo
Writers:
Slott of course is PERFECT for Spider-Man. Exciting.
Guggenheim (for me) has only written that average Wolverine Civil-War story, but I'm open minded.
Bob "Back to the Future" Gale wrote a Daredevil story I read long ago, and I remember it being pretty good.
And Zeb Wells has never done anything I've been excited about, but he appears to have his fans (at least at Marvel).
So a YES, maybe, maybe and not really. Which is not the greatest odds, but we'll see.
Artists on the other hand:
Steve McNiven is just flat out amazing (no pun intended), and even though I eventually want him to draw X-Men for a healthy run, I'll take a little Spider-Man for now:
Salvador Larroca is another pretty good choice for Spider-Man.
Phil Jimenez is my least favorite of the four, but he does some really good work when he is on.
Chris Bachalo, I love. And I think his art is pretty damn perfect for Spider-Man.
The verdict is definitely out on how the storylines amongst the different writers will flow from one to the next. And it still stinks of a little too much editorial input than I would like, but I've wanted something to be done for the Spider Books for a long time, so I can't bitch about it too much. One things for sure, its gonna look nice.
JEPH LOEB AND MARVEL ANNOUNCE ULTIMATUM
And how we should make sure we read ULTIMATE POWER #7-9 first, and then ULTIMATE ORIGIN and then come back for ULTIMATUM which runs through ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR and ULTIMATE X-MEN for six issues.
(ultimates vol. 3 cover)
This is odd news for sure, but I'll get to that in a minute. I've been really frustrated with the current state of the Ultimate Universe and I'm happy that someone is finally addressing the obvious fact that this truck has lost a couple of wheels in the last couple of years. Unfortunately, the universe has stumbled into something shitty, and the fire that this imprint had when it started is almost completely gone.
Now its not ALL bad. Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimates (when it is published) are pretty good comics. The adventures of young Peter Parker is nothing like the "married guy" in 616, and although the Ultimates appear to be the Avengers on the surface, the Ultimate version has a completely different attitude and makeup. Hell, this one even has a Captain America now! Obviously, these two books share being removed enough from their 616 counterparts to be worth their own book. (And yeah Tom Brevroot and Joe Quesada, I'm using 616!)
We can not say the same thing about Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men. In fact, Ultimate X-Men has devolved so far from Mark Millar's original take, that it has become a really bad 616 version, which we definitely don't need. Ultimate Fantastic Four boasts a younger version of the Richards family, but really, there is not too much that separates them from what we get in the real book. And unfortunately, as hard as Mike Carey is trying, that is hurting the title. It comes across as just another Fantastic Four book.
So the Ultimate Universe needs a face lift. This is where the news is odd. Enter: Jeph Loeb.
I'm not a big Jeph Loeb fan. Until the recently disastrous Wolverine run coupled with Fallen Son, I never really had anything bad to say at all. In fact, I've only read him a couple of times here and there (some SUPERMAN/BATMAN, DAREDEVIL: YELLOW, SPIDER-MAN: BLUE) and those were all mostly good comics. And although I have not read them, everyone that has speaks well of BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN and SUPERMAN: FOR ALL SEASONS. Point is, he has and can do good comics. So I'm open minded about this, and what especially excites me is that he gets that this is the Ultimate Universe. That anything can happen. He seems prepared to have fun and make some changes. And shit, maybe he will. And if we're lucky, it will be good too.
(Recently there have been rumors of there being a real big shakeup with both the Fantastic Four and X-Men titles being canceled. I'm all for it. Lets mix this thing up a little.)
SMALLER NEWS BITS
Mark Waid becomes EiC over at BOOM! Studios. This is big news to some, but I don't pick up any of their books and I haven't read anything Waid has written in quite some time, so I'll take a closer look at their offerings from now on, but this is almost non-news to me.
The Knaufs are writing an ETERNALS series. I'm game. I feel like the Knaufs keep getting fucked over by crossovers with Iron Man (Civil War, World War Hulk) but there is a real nice take on Iron Man going on underneath all of the noise. This could be really good.
Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos on RUNAWAYS:
FUCK. And YEAH. See this is putting talent where it should be. Terry Moore has a bit to prove as far as Super Hero action goes, but he has absolutely nothing to prove as far as character goes, so this should fit well. And as much as I bitch and moan about Humberto's art over on X-Men, its only because I feel its miscast there. BAM! This is the perfect book for his style. Nice job Nick Lowe.
Darwyn Cook is leaving THE SPIRIT with #12. I probably will be too.
Peter Pan, soon to be in public domain, will be in Fables next year. I kinda hate Peter Pan, but I want to see how Willingham will use him.
Vertigo's THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER looks pretty bad ass:
The writer, Josh Dyasrt went to Uganda himself and did a bunch of research about the area and the conflict that is raging there. I'm excited for this.
Todd McFarlane's big announcement is that he will be doing covers. LAAAAAAME. Fucking draw something already Todd. (I wouldn't bitch if I didn't want it that bad.)
Greg Rucka announces his new series. STUMPTOWN:
I'm always happy when Rucka does something non-super hero in black and white. This time we get a female private eye, getting involved in some private eye shit. I'm in for sure. Especially on the heels of the kick ass "final issue" to Queen & Country.
The other book that grabbed a testicle was Rick Remender and Mat Broome's THE END LEAGUE:
Remender is pretty good, and I was a fan of Mat Broome back in his X-Days, and I'm kind of scratching my head because I haven't heard his name in a good long while and he's getting pretty good.
Simon Oliver comes on for an arc of GEN 13 after Gail Simone. Oliver has been doing the mostly good, always entertaining EXTERMINATORS and I can't wait to see what his super hero comic "sounds like."
And while on the subject of Wildstorm, they announced the Christos Gage penned WILDSTORM: ARMAGEDDON mini-series. I'm not too excited for this, but again, just happy that the Wildstorm characters are getting some play while Morrison writes a page a week on Authority and Wildcats.
There were other bits here and there, but these were the things that caught my eye. Lots and lots of things on the horizon, and hopefully some good comics because that's what we are here for, right?
Part 3 soon, once I get my sketches all scanned.
Part 1 was a rundown of the show itself. Click here.
BIGGEST NEWS OF THE CON
MARVEL vs. DC!
FINAL CRISIS vs. ASTONISHING X-MEN!
GRANT MORRISON vs. WARREN ELLIS!
J.G. JONES vs. SIMONE BIANCHI!
The winner:
Warren Ells & Simone Bianchi on ASTONISHING X-MEN
Grant Morrison writing the we-knew-it-was-coming Final Crisis mini is nowhere near as surprising as Warren Ellis doing the flagship title for the X-Books. Even though this is a long way off (Warren himself said that it was announced rather early, he doesn't start writing for another month), it's still a pretty exciting turn of events. Just reading Ellis talk about Nigeria proves to me that he will bring an interesting take to the X-Men. This will be well after the Messiah Complex crossover, so there should be a wide open and clear landscape to work with. Simone Bianchi is a really talented artist, who deserves to have something more interesting to draw than the Jeph Loeb's Wolverine. UGH. (I wanted to get a sketch from him at con, but that line was ridiculous.) And even though Final Crisis isn't as interesting to me, the creative team itself miiiight get me to take a look. Morrison is good, and its really exciting to hear that the talented Jones will do some more pencil work. WANTED was what, three years ago now? His covers are good, but his art was so dynamic with choice of "camera angles" that it was sad that he kind of stopped. Should be fun.AMAZING SPIDER-MAN CREATIVE TEAMS ANNOUNCED
They announced the creative teams for the three times a month AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Now, apparently these writers and artists won't always match up, but for their first arcs, here they are:
Dan Slott & Steve McNiven
Marc Guggenheim & Salvador Larroca
Bob Gale & Phil Jimenez
Zeb Wells & Chris Bachalo
Writers:
Slott of course is PERFECT for Spider-Man. Exciting.
Guggenheim (for me) has only written that average Wolverine Civil-War story, but I'm open minded.
Bob "Back to the Future" Gale wrote a Daredevil story I read long ago, and I remember it being pretty good.
And Zeb Wells has never done anything I've been excited about, but he appears to have his fans (at least at Marvel).
So a YES, maybe, maybe and not really. Which is not the greatest odds, but we'll see.
Artists on the other hand:
Steve McNiven is just flat out amazing (no pun intended), and even though I eventually want him to draw X-Men for a healthy run, I'll take a little Spider-Man for now:
Salvador Larroca is another pretty good choice for Spider-Man.Phil Jimenez is my least favorite of the four, but he does some really good work when he is on.
Chris Bachalo, I love. And I think his art is pretty damn perfect for Spider-Man.
The verdict is definitely out on how the storylines amongst the different writers will flow from one to the next. And it still stinks of a little too much editorial input than I would like, but I've wanted something to be done for the Spider Books for a long time, so I can't bitch about it too much. One things for sure, its gonna look nice.JEPH LOEB AND MARVEL ANNOUNCE ULTIMATUM
And how we should make sure we read ULTIMATE POWER #7-9 first, and then ULTIMATE ORIGIN and then come back for ULTIMATUM which runs through ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR and ULTIMATE X-MEN for six issues.
(ultimates vol. 3 cover)This is odd news for sure, but I'll get to that in a minute. I've been really frustrated with the current state of the Ultimate Universe and I'm happy that someone is finally addressing the obvious fact that this truck has lost a couple of wheels in the last couple of years. Unfortunately, the universe has stumbled into something shitty, and the fire that this imprint had when it started is almost completely gone.
Now its not ALL bad. Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimates (when it is published) are pretty good comics. The adventures of young Peter Parker is nothing like the "married guy" in 616, and although the Ultimates appear to be the Avengers on the surface, the Ultimate version has a completely different attitude and makeup. Hell, this one even has a Captain America now! Obviously, these two books share being removed enough from their 616 counterparts to be worth their own book. (And yeah Tom Brevroot and Joe Quesada, I'm using 616!)
We can not say the same thing about Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men. In fact, Ultimate X-Men has devolved so far from Mark Millar's original take, that it has become a really bad 616 version, which we definitely don't need. Ultimate Fantastic Four boasts a younger version of the Richards family, but really, there is not too much that separates them from what we get in the real book. And unfortunately, as hard as Mike Carey is trying, that is hurting the title. It comes across as just another Fantastic Four book.
So the Ultimate Universe needs a face lift. This is where the news is odd. Enter: Jeph Loeb.
I'm not a big Jeph Loeb fan. Until the recently disastrous Wolverine run coupled with Fallen Son, I never really had anything bad to say at all. In fact, I've only read him a couple of times here and there (some SUPERMAN/BATMAN, DAREDEVIL: YELLOW, SPIDER-MAN: BLUE) and those were all mostly good comics. And although I have not read them, everyone that has speaks well of BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN and SUPERMAN: FOR ALL SEASONS. Point is, he has and can do good comics. So I'm open minded about this, and what especially excites me is that he gets that this is the Ultimate Universe. That anything can happen. He seems prepared to have fun and make some changes. And shit, maybe he will. And if we're lucky, it will be good too.
(Recently there have been rumors of there being a real big shakeup with both the Fantastic Four and X-Men titles being canceled. I'm all for it. Lets mix this thing up a little.)
SMALLER NEWS BITS
Mark Waid becomes EiC over at BOOM! Studios. This is big news to some, but I don't pick up any of their books and I haven't read anything Waid has written in quite some time, so I'll take a closer look at their offerings from now on, but this is almost non-news to me.
The Knaufs are writing an ETERNALS series. I'm game. I feel like the Knaufs keep getting fucked over by crossovers with Iron Man (Civil War, World War Hulk) but there is a real nice take on Iron Man going on underneath all of the noise. This could be really good.
Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos on RUNAWAYS:
FUCK. And YEAH. See this is putting talent where it should be. Terry Moore has a bit to prove as far as Super Hero action goes, but he has absolutely nothing to prove as far as character goes, so this should fit well. And as much as I bitch and moan about Humberto's art over on X-Men, its only because I feel its miscast there. BAM! This is the perfect book for his style. Nice job Nick Lowe.Darwyn Cook is leaving THE SPIRIT with #12. I probably will be too.
Peter Pan, soon to be in public domain, will be in Fables next year. I kinda hate Peter Pan, but I want to see how Willingham will use him.
Vertigo's THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER looks pretty bad ass:
The writer, Josh Dyasrt went to Uganda himself and did a bunch of research about the area and the conflict that is raging there. I'm excited for this.Todd McFarlane's big announcement is that he will be doing covers. LAAAAAAME. Fucking draw something already Todd. (I wouldn't bitch if I didn't want it that bad.)
Greg Rucka announces his new series. STUMPTOWN:
I'm always happy when Rucka does something non-super hero in black and white. This time we get a female private eye, getting involved in some private eye shit. I'm in for sure. Especially on the heels of the kick ass "final issue" to Queen & Country.The other book that grabbed a testicle was Rick Remender and Mat Broome's THE END LEAGUE:
Remender is pretty good, and I was a fan of Mat Broome back in his X-Days, and I'm kind of scratching my head because I haven't heard his name in a good long while and he's getting pretty good.Simon Oliver comes on for an arc of GEN 13 after Gail Simone. Oliver has been doing the mostly good, always entertaining EXTERMINATORS and I can't wait to see what his super hero comic "sounds like."
And while on the subject of Wildstorm, they announced the Christos Gage penned WILDSTORM: ARMAGEDDON mini-series. I'm not too excited for this, but again, just happy that the Wildstorm characters are getting some play while Morrison writes a page a week on Authority and Wildcats.
There were other bits here and there, but these were the things that caught my eye. Lots and lots of things on the horizon, and hopefully some good comics because that's what we are here for, right?
Part 3 soon, once I get my sketches all scanned.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
ncrl for august 1
A week after con, and I'm still stumbling through the last remaining books from last weeks 27 book opus, since there was too much time doing the con thing and not enough time reading. I hope to get something up this week about that. There was some good comics in there.
For this week, its the all Marvel/DC show.
dc:
EXTERMINATORS #20
FAKER #2
MIDNIGHTER #20
SCALPED #8 my face LIGHTS up when i see this on the list
WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY #9
marvel:
DARK TOWER: GUNSLINGER BORN #7
FANTASTIC FOUR #548
NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI #4
NEW WARRIORS #3
PUNISHER #50
SHE-HULK 2 #20
THOR #2
UNCANNY X-MEN #489
WORLD WAR HULK #3
For this week, its the all Marvel/DC show.
dc:
EXTERMINATORS #20
FAKER #2
MIDNIGHTER #20
SCALPED #8 my face LIGHTS up when i see this on the list
WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY #9
marvel:
DARK TOWER: GUNSLINGER BORN #7
FANTASTIC FOUR #548
NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI #4
NEW WARRIORS #3
PUNISHER #50
SHE-HULK 2 #20
THOR #2
UNCANNY X-MEN #489
WORLD WAR HULK #3
san diego comic-con, part 1
So I got back from Comic-Con on Sunday night, but with my long work hours (making movies) in addition to needing a couple of days to decompress a little, there just hasn't been any time or energy to put anything up on the blog yet.
In short: It was FUUUUUN.
This was my fourth year attending. Each year has been a different experience, mostly because of the company attending...
2004: Me, Juice and (then) roommate Mike attended our very first Comic-Con. Complete with hangovers, puking and a big wake up call to how big this thing really was. I was too chicken-shit to talk to anyone really, so aside from an awkward moment with a creator or two, we sat in panels: The biggies being the REVENGE OF THE SITH unveiling, as well as the still VERY memorable SERENITY panel where Joss Whedon had the entire cast with him.
2005: Me and the Juice return for Year 2 by ourselves. I remember being surprised and blown away at Darren Aronofsky's trailer to THE FOUNTAIN. They showed it at the tail end of the Vertigo panel, which was a nice surprise considering I was bummed that we didn't get to see it in the Hall H show they had. This was also the year we were treated to the mysterious "KING" at the end of the Cup of Joe panel.
2006: Me and the Girlfriend attend. At the time she had read a lot of my comics so she wasn't in the dark or anything, but she was a huge sport and went along with almost everything I wanted to see. The best thing we probably did was the SNAKES ON A PLANE show. Samuel Jackson still is the best celebrity appearance I've seen at the con. Got my first ever sketch from Stan Sakai and attended the entertaining madness that is the Masquerade.
But enough about past years!
2007:
Me and the Girlfriend go again. With the Juice making his triumphant return, this time with his lovely wife accompanying.
This year was spent much like the previous three: Catching the sites on the floor, attending panels and shopping. In some ways, I feel like I did less of all three, and some how ended up doing a lot more overall. The new thing this year for me was the sketchbook. I had a lot of fun getting one from Stan Sakai last year and more than anything, its a great way to have a conversation with some of my favorite artists. The sketches that I got will come later in the week once I get them uploaded.
FRIDAY PANELS:
I attended Cup of Joe for the fourth year in a row, which is always entertaining. But this one was kind of boring, maybe because in past years something HUGE has been announced. This year it was the exclusivity of Phil Jimenez. Nothing against Phil, but come on. Otherwise, it was okay. But MAN, Joey Q has lost some weight.
I also attended the not-quite-a-panel of Simone Bianchi cutting his hair and being announced as the the new artist of Astonishing X-Men. It was a lot of fun, but I couldn't stick around for the final look since I had to race for a panel.
But man did Marvel sorta screw this up. I saw all of these things advertised for 3:00 at Marvel's stage:
Vertigo Panel was good. There was the usual talking of books already out, as well as books coming up. Not too much that fans of Vertigo haven't heard about. But this was just one of the times I saw Brian Azzarello thoroughly annoyed that he was even IN San Diego. He entertained me, as he was off to the side looking angry, and giving short sarcastic answers whenever anyone made reference to him.
One of the surprise panels of the trip, was Scott McCloud and Family. What a blast. For those that don't know, Scott McCloud and his family have been going all around the United States (and more) on a year long adventure, while Scott does various lectures and what not. More on that here. So this panel was basically Scott and the eldest, slightly more precocious daughter narrating a slide show. No questions got to be asked really, because this ran way long to the point where the last 15 minutes was told in super speed, reminding me a little of the Europe segment in Roger Avery's Rules of Attraction. All of the McClouds talked over each other, butting in with high energy and lots of laughing. It was a good time, and you can tell that this year will go down as a memorable one for the family.
SATURDAY PANELS:
I'm a long time David Morrell fan. Not that I think his books are the second coming of Hemingway or anything, but damn if he doesn't do a fun action novel. My first and favorite, is "Brotherhood of the Rose" although he is best known for creating the character of John Rambo in "First Blood." He was there to talk about the upcoming Captain America comic he is doing (which I am all over), but really it was a chance to just hear him talk period. A lot of conversation went into his influences and interests that helped create Rambo, and how growing up without a father and then losing his 15 year-old son influenced his writing over the years. A really good panel.
Then after an afternoon of shopping and sketches, went and got in line for the Marvel Studios panel in gigantor Hall H. We were so far back in line that I didn't think we were going to get in. I read Ennis' Streets of Glory preview while I melted in the sun. We eventually got in and it was a fun panel. Edward Norton seemed genuinely happy to be playing the Hulk and a bit humble at the size of the audience. Liv Tyler was sweet: at one point a girl steps up to ask her a question dressed like Arwyn and she almost seemed moved. "Oh my gooooodness, its Arwyn! You look beautiful!" Interestingly, both Norton and the Director talked about Bruce Jones' run as inspiration. Which might bug some people, but I really liked the run, especially the first half. I still would prefer if it was a continuation of the movie they just made with Ang Lee, but what can you do. The Iron Man half was better. Mainly because John Favreau had SO much energy and excitement over the project. And he brought footage:
Looks like fun. I actually watched the guy filming this a few rows in front of me. There was security close by too, but I think they were too busy watching it themselves. Robert Downey Jr. was hilarious! He was being a sarcastic asshole and basically never really being serious about anything. Gwyneth Paltrow was laughing at Robert the whole panel and didn't say much. Terrance Howard was also there, and he was outed as a long time Rhody fan and REALLY wants to strap on the War Machine armor in future movies. Good panel. This is the second year in a row that I ventured into Hall H only once. Helps keep my sanity.
Marvel Movie Side Bar: I'm wondering with the start of Marvel Studios, if we are going to see little nods towards continuity in these movies. Perhaps why they started over with the Hulk continuity? They mention the plan to get to an Avengers movie, so I guess we have to get these knocked out first. Will we start to see Marvel characters cameo in each other movies I wonder.
So then it was a race to catch the rest of the Wildstorm panel that had already started. Nothing to note, really. They talked about the upcoming Armageddon mini that Christos is doing and seem to gloss over the fact that Worldstorm appears to not have gone over well. Creative teams changing like crazy as sales dwindle. A brave soul finally asked about Authority and Wildcats. Jim Lee said that Wildcats is coming, he's getting Batman back on track and now that Morrison is returning to the scripts he'll get to them when he can. Authority the same. As soon as Ha gets the scripts, he'll start drawing. Too bad that they didn't have a more concrete announcement about it. Brian Azzarello was here once again, being surly as ever: the final question of the panel was a long winded question about comics vs. movies on the internet or something and would comics be successful first and Brian jumped in with a "No." Cracked me up.
After more shopping, the con proper ended for me. We went to the pub, pigged out and slammed down a few pints of Guinness to get us in the mood for Mr. Warren Ellis. Earlier in the day, my girlfriend and I met him at the annoying ass Avatar booth, where we got her copy of Crooked Little Vein signed. He and the Girlfriend exchange e-mails with odd links in them, so he was happy to finally meet her in person, and put a face to the e-mail name. He was really nice about it all. On to the panel:
This was definitely the HIGHLIGHT of the show for me. Two hours of good Warren Ellis fun. I've been a fan of Warren's since his Excalibur run, and a Fan for Life with Transmetropolitan, which is one my absolute favorite things in this medium. (I should have worn my Warren Ellis Tour shirt from 1997, but I forgot.) Needless to say at this point, but I was really excited. Basically, people got in line and asked questions, and he fired back in the Warren Ellis way: foul mouthed, with hints of alcohol and cigarettes on his breath. Just like his characters. Publisher of Avatar William Christiansen kept interrupting, and although he was an annoying git, it didn't ruin the panel at all. Highlights for me was his Alan Moore story and the fiasco where he was goaded into drinking the Sparks after being called a pussy. I have video of it, but its not very good and its too large to upload to youtube, so until I figure that out, here's a screenshot:
There was so much asked and answered that it is hard to relay it all. This is the best thing I've seen as far as wrap ups go. I wonder if it will be another decade before he returns.
And that for me was the panels I attended over two days. I didn't take very many pictures this year (I always seem to be too busy DOING to have time), but here are some that I took:
First, the obligatory shot of the masses:
Then there was of course a couple of big crazy floor items.
Jabba the Hutt:
And then there was Iorek from the upcoming Golden Compass movie:
Then there is also some of your favorites from film.
Old School -- Blade Runner:
New School -- Hot Fuzz:
And I actually got a real star as well, up close and personal. Rosario Dawson, who never mind what Ellis says, DOES have tits even though she is really skinny in person. I just missed the cleavage shot, so no selling of it to websites:
Then there are a couple of the con faithful in all their wacky glory.
Does ANYONE know where these guys are from?
And my personal favorite of the con, what I am calling DARK GALACTUS.
Note the skirt, and the big anime shoes. BRAVO MY FRIEND! BRAVO !!
So that's my report. Part 1.
Part 2 will be a reaction to actual real life Comic Book News. There was a ton!
Part 3 will be my Sketches. Gotta get em all scanned in first.
(And I hope I can figure out how to get that Warren Ellis video up.)
In short: It was FUUUUUN.
This was my fourth year attending. Each year has been a different experience, mostly because of the company attending...
2004: Me, Juice and (then) roommate Mike attended our very first Comic-Con. Complete with hangovers, puking and a big wake up call to how big this thing really was. I was too chicken-shit to talk to anyone really, so aside from an awkward moment with a creator or two, we sat in panels: The biggies being the REVENGE OF THE SITH unveiling, as well as the still VERY memorable SERENITY panel where Joss Whedon had the entire cast with him.
2005: Me and the Juice return for Year 2 by ourselves. I remember being surprised and blown away at Darren Aronofsky's trailer to THE FOUNTAIN. They showed it at the tail end of the Vertigo panel, which was a nice surprise considering I was bummed that we didn't get to see it in the Hall H show they had. This was also the year we were treated to the mysterious "KING" at the end of the Cup of Joe panel.
2006: Me and the Girlfriend attend. At the time she had read a lot of my comics so she wasn't in the dark or anything, but she was a huge sport and went along with almost everything I wanted to see. The best thing we probably did was the SNAKES ON A PLANE show. Samuel Jackson still is the best celebrity appearance I've seen at the con. Got my first ever sketch from Stan Sakai and attended the entertaining madness that is the Masquerade.
But enough about past years!
2007:
Me and the Girlfriend go again. With the Juice making his triumphant return, this time with his lovely wife accompanying.
This year was spent much like the previous three: Catching the sites on the floor, attending panels and shopping. In some ways, I feel like I did less of all three, and some how ended up doing a lot more overall. The new thing this year for me was the sketchbook. I had a lot of fun getting one from Stan Sakai last year and more than anything, its a great way to have a conversation with some of my favorite artists. The sketches that I got will come later in the week once I get them uploaded.
FRIDAY PANELS:
I attended Cup of Joe for the fourth year in a row, which is always entertaining. But this one was kind of boring, maybe because in past years something HUGE has been announced. This year it was the exclusivity of Phil Jimenez. Nothing against Phil, but come on. Otherwise, it was okay. But MAN, Joey Q has lost some weight.
I also attended the not-quite-a-panel of Simone Bianchi cutting his hair and being announced as the the new artist of Astonishing X-Men. It was a lot of fun, but I couldn't stick around for the final look since I had to race for a panel.
But man did Marvel sorta screw this up. I saw all of these things advertised for 3:00 at Marvel's stage:- Simone Bianchi has a special announcment about his new series at 3:00.
- Simone Bianchi gets his hair cut at 3:00 in honor of his new series.
- The new creative team to Astonishing X-Men will be announced at 3:00.
Vertigo Panel was good. There was the usual talking of books already out, as well as books coming up. Not too much that fans of Vertigo haven't heard about. But this was just one of the times I saw Brian Azzarello thoroughly annoyed that he was even IN San Diego. He entertained me, as he was off to the side looking angry, and giving short sarcastic answers whenever anyone made reference to him.
One of the surprise panels of the trip, was Scott McCloud and Family. What a blast. For those that don't know, Scott McCloud and his family have been going all around the United States (and more) on a year long adventure, while Scott does various lectures and what not. More on that here. So this panel was basically Scott and the eldest, slightly more precocious daughter narrating a slide show. No questions got to be asked really, because this ran way long to the point where the last 15 minutes was told in super speed, reminding me a little of the Europe segment in Roger Avery's Rules of Attraction. All of the McClouds talked over each other, butting in with high energy and lots of laughing. It was a good time, and you can tell that this year will go down as a memorable one for the family.
SATURDAY PANELS:
I'm a long time David Morrell fan. Not that I think his books are the second coming of Hemingway or anything, but damn if he doesn't do a fun action novel. My first and favorite, is "Brotherhood of the Rose" although he is best known for creating the character of John Rambo in "First Blood." He was there to talk about the upcoming Captain America comic he is doing (which I am all over), but really it was a chance to just hear him talk period. A lot of conversation went into his influences and interests that helped create Rambo, and how growing up without a father and then losing his 15 year-old son influenced his writing over the years. A really good panel.
Then after an afternoon of shopping and sketches, went and got in line for the Marvel Studios panel in gigantor Hall H. We were so far back in line that I didn't think we were going to get in. I read Ennis' Streets of Glory preview while I melted in the sun. We eventually got in and it was a fun panel. Edward Norton seemed genuinely happy to be playing the Hulk and a bit humble at the size of the audience. Liv Tyler was sweet: at one point a girl steps up to ask her a question dressed like Arwyn and she almost seemed moved. "Oh my gooooodness, its Arwyn! You look beautiful!" Interestingly, both Norton and the Director talked about Bruce Jones' run as inspiration. Which might bug some people, but I really liked the run, especially the first half. I still would prefer if it was a continuation of the movie they just made with Ang Lee, but what can you do. The Iron Man half was better. Mainly because John Favreau had SO much energy and excitement over the project. And he brought footage:
Looks like fun. I actually watched the guy filming this a few rows in front of me. There was security close by too, but I think they were too busy watching it themselves. Robert Downey Jr. was hilarious! He was being a sarcastic asshole and basically never really being serious about anything. Gwyneth Paltrow was laughing at Robert the whole panel and didn't say much. Terrance Howard was also there, and he was outed as a long time Rhody fan and REALLY wants to strap on the War Machine armor in future movies. Good panel. This is the second year in a row that I ventured into Hall H only once. Helps keep my sanity.
Marvel Movie Side Bar: I'm wondering with the start of Marvel Studios, if we are going to see little nods towards continuity in these movies. Perhaps why they started over with the Hulk continuity? They mention the plan to get to an Avengers movie, so I guess we have to get these knocked out first. Will we start to see Marvel characters cameo in each other movies I wonder.
So then it was a race to catch the rest of the Wildstorm panel that had already started. Nothing to note, really. They talked about the upcoming Armageddon mini that Christos is doing and seem to gloss over the fact that Worldstorm appears to not have gone over well. Creative teams changing like crazy as sales dwindle. A brave soul finally asked about Authority and Wildcats. Jim Lee said that Wildcats is coming, he's getting Batman back on track and now that Morrison is returning to the scripts he'll get to them when he can. Authority the same. As soon as Ha gets the scripts, he'll start drawing. Too bad that they didn't have a more concrete announcement about it. Brian Azzarello was here once again, being surly as ever: the final question of the panel was a long winded question about comics vs. movies on the internet or something and would comics be successful first and Brian jumped in with a "No." Cracked me up.
After more shopping, the con proper ended for me. We went to the pub, pigged out and slammed down a few pints of Guinness to get us in the mood for Mr. Warren Ellis. Earlier in the day, my girlfriend and I met him at the annoying ass Avatar booth, where we got her copy of Crooked Little Vein signed. He and the Girlfriend exchange e-mails with odd links in them, so he was happy to finally meet her in person, and put a face to the e-mail name. He was really nice about it all. On to the panel:
This was definitely the HIGHLIGHT of the show for me. Two hours of good Warren Ellis fun. I've been a fan of Warren's since his Excalibur run, and a Fan for Life with Transmetropolitan, which is one my absolute favorite things in this medium. (I should have worn my Warren Ellis Tour shirt from 1997, but I forgot.) Needless to say at this point, but I was really excited. Basically, people got in line and asked questions, and he fired back in the Warren Ellis way: foul mouthed, with hints of alcohol and cigarettes on his breath. Just like his characters. Publisher of Avatar William Christiansen kept interrupting, and although he was an annoying git, it didn't ruin the panel at all. Highlights for me was his Alan Moore story and the fiasco where he was goaded into drinking the Sparks after being called a pussy. I have video of it, but its not very good and its too large to upload to youtube, so until I figure that out, here's a screenshot:
There was so much asked and answered that it is hard to relay it all. This is the best thing I've seen as far as wrap ups go. I wonder if it will be another decade before he returns.And that for me was the panels I attended over two days. I didn't take very many pictures this year (I always seem to be too busy DOING to have time), but here are some that I took:
First, the obligatory shot of the masses:
Then there was of course a couple of big crazy floor items.
Jabba the Hutt:
And then there was Iorek from the upcoming Golden Compass movie:
Then there is also some of your favorites from film.
Old School -- Blade Runner:
New School -- Hot Fuzz:
And I actually got a real star as well, up close and personal. Rosario Dawson, who never mind what Ellis says, DOES have tits even though she is really skinny in person. I just missed the cleavage shot, so no selling of it to websites:
Then there are a couple of the con faithful in all their wacky glory.
Does ANYONE know where these guys are from?
And my personal favorite of the con, what I am calling DARK GALACTUS.Note the skirt, and the big anime shoes. BRAVO MY FRIEND! BRAVO !!
So that's my report. Part 1.
Part 2 will be a reaction to actual real life Comic Book News. There was a ton!
Part 3 will be my Sketches. Gotta get em all scanned in first.
(And I hope I can figure out how to get that Warren Ellis video up.)
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