book of the week:
POWERS #26(w. Brian Bendis, A. Michael Oeming)
New format! More pages! New Story! Well, that's what the cover says, even though the story is a continuation of pretty much everything since this volume's inception. But nonetheless, Walker and Deena finally have their confrontation and it didn't go quite as smooth as Walker probably wanted because Deena has a virus and she is fucking crazy. Basically. The scenes with the Enki the new partner were all pretty good, as she really starts to nicely settle in to the cast. And I mean every scene. From the opening with I.A., to the Deena scene, to the genuine scenes she has with Walker afterwards. Allllll good stuff. The sequence with the high school kids was creepy enough on its own, then got downright scary with the cliffhanger. Best Powers issue in a while. [First time this has won this since February 1, 2006]
runner up:
DMZ #24: This was damn close to BotW. A few issues ago Matty saved this girl called Amina, and boy am I glad he did. This issue focuses on her current life, what she does to survive and how by doing just that she has been placed between a rock and a hard place. Basically, two motherfuckers that care more about killing each other than her nothing life. "Welcome to the shit Amina." Indeed. Really good issue with fantastic Burchielli art.other real good books:
EX-MACHINA #31: This title had a bit of a hiatus not too long ago, and it has always been over shadowed by Vaughan's more popular books (Y: The Last Man, Runaways), but now that Brian and the always awesome Tony Harris are back on track the book is as good as it has ever been.UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE #2: After being completely surprised by how much I liked the first issue, this issue fires back with more plot this time, like why it is named Apocalypse Suite. And although it didn't get my Book of the Week, it still maintains the same quirky, clever flavor that the first issue had. Gabriel Ba is awesome AGAIN.
FABLES #66: Have I mentioned how much I'm adoring Flycatcher as a mastermind and bad ass? Well, I am. The Good Prince rolls on, with a cliffhanger that promises a battle.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #31: When Brubaker said that this book would still be interesting without Steve Rogers, I'm sure everyone had a little bit of doubt. But seven issues into the storyline and it turns out he is STILL right. Winter Soldier being the shit helps, and being that this is in many ways HIS arc, is there any way he ISN'T the next Captain America when all is said and done?
three-star books:
THE PROGRAMME #4: Sales are apparently shitty, but no matter, I'm enjoying this. This series about Cold War Russian and American super heroes is getting better and better. C.P. Smith's art is pretty perfect for this title.ELEPHANTMEN #11: Elephantmen returns after a bit of a gap thanks to Moritat having a bout with carpal tunnel syndrome. One of my favorite encounters at San Diego was with Moritat, so I don't mind waiting for this title if it means waiting for him. Oh yeah, good issue too.
BOYS #11: Fresh off of a character fucking an asteroid with a vagina like orifice, comes a little more down to Earth storyline for Da Boyz. This time off to Russia to solve a murder. Some good character stuff, I still love Hughie, and this arc looks promising.
SUBURBAN GLAMOUR #1: A teenager has an odd day where amidst normal teenage hijinks, her imaginary friends from childhood start popping up (!). There was a lot of scenes of "getting to know the characters" with little plot movement, but in a first issue that is welcome. This is definitely more accessible than Phonogram was, and the McKelvie art is really quite good.
SWORD #1: The Luna Brothers are back! I really liked Ultra and most of Girls, before Ithe second half meandered, but these guys are still young and making some really fun comics. As far as first issues go, the other two titles have it beat, but this was still pretty good and its all about how it finishes rather then opens. The violent attack in the latter half of the issue was pretty gnarly, and what you would come to expect as far as violence goes from the Lunas. Good start.
PENANCE: RELENTLESS #2: This mini is turning out to be pretty entertaining. Norman has been good, Robbie is interesting and I like the idea of Latveria as a villain. Doom cometh.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE CHOSEN #3: Well this stepped up a notch. We get some of the answers we wanted here, and for an Elseworlds story, I dig 'em. Good job Morrell.
MIGHTY AVENGERS #5: Well this is running a bit late isn't it? Some cool Cho art with some fun fight sequences. Who knew that Ares was so damn resourceful? Great cliffhanger with Ares entering the mouth of Ultron thanks to some Pym particles.
G.I. JOE: AMERICA'S ELITE #28: WW3 continues... Mike Bear is back with some nice art, and we get some young Duke flashbacks. Perfectly good Joe entertainment, but this is the second time that Mark Powers has written another MADDENING SCENE where a trained GI Joe can somehow miss someone with a MACHINE GUN at point blank range! Stupidest fucking thing in the world. Seriously: STUPIDEST FUCKING THING IN THE WORLD.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #14: I'm having a lot of fun with McDuffie's JLA. Why is it so much easier for me to enjoy this than it is his Fantastic Four run?
WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #18: This has been the best storyline in Origins thus far, highlighted by another bad ass Bucky appearance. The "Shield" joke was horrible.
PRIMORDIA #1: Archaia's three-issue fantasy mini about a Wood Nymph that finds two human babies that grow up to be opposites (Sun and Moon). The story so far reads like pieces of other fantasy series, but the real strength of the book was in the artwork. Both the pencils and colors were excellent.
AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #57: Being the last issue, it felt like Tad Williams tried to fit in as much as he could, and you can feel it. Regardless, what was making the series fun before, is still here regardless if not all the sub-plots were finished. In the next issue box, it says to follow the new Aquaman to Outsiders, but with the change in creative team over there, I wonder if that is still the plan.
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #47: Just barely makes it in the three-star section, but it was perfectly good start to a FF story. Too bad Pasqual Ferry isn't here. Unfortunately, Brooks doesn't compare.
comics with problems:
TERROR, INC #3: The super violent action scenes are the best part of the title, but the rest of the storyline is still kind of ho-hum.ULTIMATE X-MEN #87: So this was all some master plan between Cablerine and Bishop to get the X-Men into fight shape? Its not a hoooorrible idea, but I'm still bored with the title. After 87 issues, I'm around to see what Loeb is planning, then we'll see.
X-MEN: EMPEROR VULCAN #2: Scy'Ar Tal huh? As I said last time, this storyline didn't really need a third party villain. Especially not a badly designed one.
just bad:
WOLVERINE #58: Um, wow. I don't even know where to start hating on this. Never mind, I do. How about this storyline hinging on the fact that he fell in love with some girl off-panel and her death takes away his will. To do what you ask? His soul's will fight Azreal in Purgatory so that he can come back to life. You know, like he has been doing every time he dies!? Granted, I've only been reading Wolverine since about 1991, but this, coupled with Loeb's "cat people" arc could be the two worst things ever written for the character. Seriously, it's that bad.
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