the last comic blog

FAVORITE COMICS - 2009

2010-02-04T14:31:00.000-08:00

I should re-name this blog "Top Ten Comics of the Year Blog" and leave it at that, since that's basically all my lazy ass posts over the last few years. I do love looking back at the year though, so until I'm bored by it, or I post more, this will probably continue. Who knows.

As I've said in prior posts, I collect a lot of comics in their weekly floppy form, and although I read a lot of OGN's in a given year (i.e. Asterios Polyp, Cooke's The Hunter) that isn't what this post is really about. I've threatened with a separate post about that for a couple of years now because the books deserve it, but because of the high number of weekly comics I read, I'm always painfully behind on my OGNs (unless it's a new Jason comic) so i can't really "recap the year" fairly. So yeah, this is about mainstream comics in their weekly form.

I've changed my own rules a couple of times, but basically I'm staying the same as last year. I want at least a couple of issues of a comic to be out in a calendar year, because 1-issue is often just not enough weigh to get it on the list.

Last note: Jason Aaron's Scalped has "won" this for me 2 years in a row now. Will the streak continue? Backwards from ten then for minimal excitement:

FAVORITE COMICS OF 2009

#10 - BATTLEFIELDS

(w. Garth Ennis, a. Peter Snejbjerg, Carlos Ezquerra)

A book (thanks Edmiston) that I completely forgot about last year, was not easy to forget as 2009 started. To be honest though, it was a tough add this year because as much as I loved the "Dear Billy" arc, I hated the "Tankies" story and the first issue of "Happy Valley" snuck in before the end of the year, and that is pretty good. So on the back of "Dear Billy," one of Ennis' finest stories in recent years and one of the finest stories of the year, it sneaks on.

#9 - MOUSE GUARD: WINTER 1152

(w/a. David Peterson)

Up a couple of spots from last year, as even though all we got here were the final two issues of the Winter 1152 arc, I can't get enough of the world that Peterson is creating. However, the art on the book alone is worth recommending it. I look forward to the coming prequels and sequels.

#8 - CHEW

(w. John Layman, a. Rob Guillory)

You'll find this on a lot of people's lists this year, and I think it deserves it. A legitimate indie hit which is nice, but more importantly for being a pretty damn great comic book. Tony Chu works for the FDA (now law enforcement), he's a Cibopath (basically a psychic that gets info from the food he eats) in a world where chicken has been outlawed because of a bird-flu pandemic. Silly, yes, but this doesn't even touch the surface of the book. It has been nothing but surprises and funny turns, with plenty of wacky action all drawn perfectly by Rob Guillory.

#7 - BEASTS OF BURDEN

(w. Evan Dorkin, a. Jill Thompson)

The biggest surprise of the year for me. I didn't even want to read this book, until my girlfriend bugged me to get it coupled with some good reviews on the day of release made me cave. I'm so glad I did. A book about a group of dogs acting as occult investigators in a small town sounded iffy (idiot me, I know), but with the gorgeous art and how straight Dorkin plays it, it works perfectly. Issue #2, "Lost" was one of my single favorite issues of the year. A book that once it is collected, I will be passing around quite a bit.

#6 - ECHO

(w/a. Terry Moore)

This book was really close to making my list last year, but no debate this year. Terry Moore's little sci-fi story, although not terribly original (experimental tech, hero on the run, bosses want it back) is elevated by the care in which Moore reveals his story. I care for these characters. It helps that it is one of the best looking books on the stands, despite its black & white interior. Terry Moore is bar none one of the best cartoonists working in comics.

#5 - DMZ

(w. Brian Wood, a. Riccardo Burchielli & Others)

A book that has been high on my list before, just missed last year and is back with a vengeance. After the election of Parco Delgado in 2008, the title spent the early part of 2009 highlighting his early days in office, before taking a breather with the excellent "No Future" arc and then refocusing again with Matty, stuck between shit and a nuclear missile scandal. How far Matty has come in this title is pretty amazing. (Note: I wrote this before reading the game-changing issue #49. Wow. 2010 should be fun.)

#4 - FOUR EYES

(w. Joe Kelly, a. Max Fiumara)

My favorite book in the industry that no one talks about, mainly because it is only on its third issue with only two of those being published in 2009. Still, despite the slow publishing schedule, this depression era story about a young boy following in his dead father's footsteps in the underground DRAGON FIGHTS is easily one of my favorite comic books of the past year. To be honest, it might be higher if there were just more issues published. Highlight of these two issues, was definitely #3 where the kids are taken on a dragon hunt. Great, great stuff. Can't wait for more.

#3 - LOCKE & KEY

(w. Joe Hill, a. Gabriel Rodriguez)

We got the end of one mini-series ("Head Games") at the start of another ("Crown of Shadows") in 2009 and this book just keeps humming along as one of the best books on the stands. The journey of the Locke family (and supporting characters) continues to excite and surprise with each key reveal. Art wise, the unique and highly talented Rodriguez is what keeps it rolling. Nothing to complain about with this series, one of the best on the stands.

#2 - NORTHLANDERS

(w. Brian Wood, a. Ryan Kelly, Leandro Fernandez and others)

This book JUUUUUUUUUUST missed getting the top nod from me. This book was so good this year: Ryan Kelly's surprising, yet masterful jump to Viking comics, the two part "Shield Maidens," the one-shot checking-in with Sven and his family from the title's first arc, and the amazing start to the new long arc, "The Plague Widow." But what will stand out, is the brilliant issue #17, "The Viking Art of Single Combat" drawn by Vasilis Lolos. Easily one of, if not the best single issue I've read this year.

Man, just writing that has me almost wanting to re-think my #1. Almost.

#1 - SCALPED

(w. Jason Aaron, a. R.M. Guera and others)

In my initial rough draft of my ten, I actually had Northlanders #1, but when push came to shove I couldn't do it. This book still had more "Book of the Weeks" for me than any other title. The last half of the year has escalated the stakes so much, (especially with the "Gnawing" arc), and paid off so many of the character threads since #1 and done it all SO seamless and well that I could not remove this book from my favorite of the year. It's a gritty crime comic, and Aaron shows us that he will continue to surprise even as the series is only at the half way mark.

HONORABLE MENTIONS aka OTHER BOOKS I REALLY LIKED

100 BULLETS - This was just edged out by Battlefields, because I liked "Dear Billy" so much. Only two issues came out, #99 and the final #100, and although I liked the bloody issues enough to get Book of the Week when they came out, by themselves they didn't stand out enough. As a whole on the series, I wait to re-read the entire series to take them in their proper context. But without a doubt, this is one of my favorite series of the Decade if I were doing such a thing. I miss Risso's art. Where is he?

WALKING DEAD - This book still manages to be right below my elite, but above everything else. Leaving the prison and cutting half the cast is still the best decision Kirkman has done in years. And back on the road and meeting new characters (and villains) made 2009 a good time. Loved the horde stuff, not so much the cannibal stuff.

PLANETARY - What? The final issue came out? Some years after the last one? Yes, #27 did indeed come out. As a final issue it was a good tag for the series, and it reminded me how much I loved the series as a whole (another book, easily one of my favorite of the decade) and Cassaday's art.

CRIMINAL

WASTELAND - Two books that I love that were on my Top 10 last year, but spent most of 2009 on hiatus for one reason or another. Still, WASTELAND was great when it did come out (2 issues?) and CRIMINAL had just started the latest arc as the year was ending and so far the quality is what one would expect.

MYSTERIOUS: THE UNFATHOMABLE - A little Wildstorm creator owned book that could, from Jeff Parker and Tom Fowler. The story of a mischievous mystic (read: a pot-bellied Dr. Strange) taking advantage of those that don't know better, was a wonderful 6-issue mini in the Spring. We have been promised more in 2010.

SWEET TOOTH - Jeff Lemire did such great work with his "Essex County" OGN books, that Vertigo was smart to grab him for an ongoing. Early on, this title is treading some familiar ground as a post-apocalyptic story with some heavy feel from the novel/movie The Road. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. There is the odd twist of a boy with antlers, and Lemire's art is unique and interesting enough that the book has moved up the read pile. One to watch in 2010. Speaking of...

STUMPTOWN

DAYTRIPPER - Two books that although they only had one issue each, both were great, and both are definitely must watch for 2010. STUMPTOWN is Rucka's crime comic with a female protagonist, and if you know Rucka, you know he does that well. Has a CRIMINAL feel to it, but how long he and Brubaker riffed on Gotham Central, that's not a surprise (or a complaint). And DAYTRIPPER, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba's look at the life of Bras, an aspiring novelist in Brazil, was amazing. Each issue of the 10-issue series plans to be told out of order. The first, we see his death. Issue #2 takes us to his 20's, and the solicits of #3 have us at his childhood. Each one is stand alone, and with art by Ba and Moon (of Umbrella Academy and Casanova fame) it looks gorgeous.

WEDNESDAY COMICS - Just a note on a book that was my only other comic post of 2009. Honorable mention for the format alone and the excitement it brought. The excitement definitely started to tail off as the series went along and the good strips seemed to be outweighed by the bad strips. But I still think it was a great success. My favorites ended up being: Pope's Strange Adventures, Conner's art on Supergirl, Azzarello & Risso on Batman and probably Flash and Kamandi. Kamandi which was not one of my favorites when it started, but grew on my with it's Prince Valiant style. Debating on whether or not I want the collection because it was half good-half bad. Hmm.

FABLES - This almost didn't get an honorable mention. The crossover at the beginning of the year with "Jack of Fables" and the "Literals" was a waste of a few months for this reader. Jack and his odd villains sorta worked in his own book, but as a crossover, it didn't mesh for me. (I actually dropped Jack of Fables when the crossover ended.) Still, the main FABLES title has picked it up since then, returning to the kind of adventures I enjoy on THIS title with the new "Boogeyman" villain.

***

Oh shit! I forgot about super hero books! I always seem to "hate" on them when it comes time for my end of year list, but I do love reading the madcap adventures of my favorite men in tights. It's often frustrating, but has it's moments. So, Super Hero books that stood taller than the others:

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN - The epic 12-parter "World's Most Wanted" that took up most of the year will be read in TPB's for years to come. Awesome super hero comics.

DAREDEVIL - Still going strong even after Bendis left, and then Brubaker left; but Diggle continues to run with the baton.

THOR - Stracyznski's run was spectacular. Only sad to see it end WHEN it did. You can tell he had more in him.

POWER GIRL - Probably the funnest book on the stands, embracing the "comic book" name in all it's glory. Amanda Conner kills on art.

BATMAN & ROBIN - Barely. Grant Morrison has been a little up-and-down with this book, but when Quitely is on art, it is a big win.

SECRET SIX - A late converter, but Simone squeezes some great character moments out of these unabashed villains.

X-FACTOR - A long time X-fan I am, and this book continues to be the most consistent X-Book as far as characters actually squeaking through, while the main titles have problems with PLOT PLOT PLOT getting in the way. Peter David rocks.

MARVELS PROJECT - While Brubaker starts to squeeze the last bit of juice from the orange on the main Captain America title, he is doing awesome work here. This pre-World World 2 espionage story about the early Marvel Universe has been surprisingly engaging. Another must when it is in trade.

IRREDEEMABLE - The only non-Marvel on this short list, but Mark Waid's story about "Superman" becoming the world's biggest threat has been good. Mainly because of the supporting characters, his "Justice League" and how their lives have been impacted.

***

On to 2010. Where this Reader tries to cut back on his weekly comics (read: cut the super hero fat) and read more OGN's as he has a pile "To Read" embarrassingly long on his bookshelf.

Wednesday Comics #1

2009-07-09T19:13:00.000-07:00

A comic so fun it made me post a blog. And I was kind of leaning towards not talking about comics on here until the "Best of 2009" post because I personally thought that would be funny, but WEDNESDAY COMICS #1 just wasn't going to let that happen.

Is this the best comic to ever come out? No. But damn if it wasn't a ton of fun. From the format (newsprint!), to the size (HUGE), to the incredible art. And although I'm not sure if the feeling will last through all 16 weeks, I'm willing to see how long.

With any kind of anthology, there are going to be ones that work and ones that don't. Some of the strips really use the size (14" x 20") and others that do not. With only one page for each strip, it is hard to talk story because they are just getting started, but let's be honest here: this is mainly to showcase the art. And as a guy that LOVES LOVES comic book art, but chases writers with his purchases, this comic made me really happy. The inevitable over-sized collection should be a beauty.

Here's what I thought.

The Elite (so far):

STRANGE ADVENTURES

w/a. Paul Pope

The art, not suprisingly, was amazing, beautiful Paul Pope work. From the design of the characters to the use of that bad-ass tall panel, Pope hits this one out of the park. Story was pretty good too.

BATMAN

w. Brian Azzarello, a. Eduardo Risso

For both of you that read this blog, you know I'm a huge fan of Eduardo Risso and this was a really great start to a Batman Noir Azzarello story. Nice placement too, as the first story out.

METAMORPHO

w. Neil Gaiman, a. Mike Allred

This was pretty fucking fun. I like the whole team, I like the merging of story style with artist, and the floating head roll call at the bottom made me happy. One of the surprise successes for me.

SUPERGIRL

w. Jimmy Palmiotti, a. Amanda Conner

What a perfect little page this was. It helps that I have a huge crush on how great Amanda Conner's art is. Cute, but still dynamic and cool. And I don't know that I've ever read something with Streaky in it, so score.

(Note: Pic is from a future installment of Wedneday Comics.)

FLASH

w. Karl Kerschl & Brenden Fletcher , a. Karl Kerschl

Another one that surprised me by how much I liked it. The most original in design as the page is split into two strips: the Flash adventure one, and the IRIS WEST romance strip which seems to be telling the same story from her point of view. Kerschl's art is awesome. One of the best so far.

The Next Best:

GREEN LANTERN

w. Kurt Busiek, a. Joe Quinones

The Silver Age setting seems to be perfet for these two creators, and although we only saw the title character in the last panel, the cartoony Quinones art looks perfect. This strip could easily "move up."

HAWKMAN

w/a. Kyle Baker

Um, this one has the potential to be really bad ass. Baker's art, although in a much more realistic style than I am used to seeing, is really good. The bird talk is eerie and cool. I'm looking forward to the next installment of this a lot now that I'm thinking about it.

DEMON & CATWOMAN

w. Walter Simonson, a. Brian Stelfreeze

A team up strip? With these two? Ok. I like the adult-noir feel here so far, and I really like it when Selena comes across as sexy and not sleazy (ignore the saucy pic above if you don't think it fits what I'm saying here). And speaking of artist's working in a different style: I so rarely get to see Stelfreeze's art when it's not painted. Nice job here.

Ones I'm not sure about:

SUPERMAN

w. John Arcudi, a. Lee Bermejo

Although the story so far did nothing for me, Supes fights an alien with a dumb cliffhanger, Bermejo (of JOKER fame) is working his ass off on the art so I feel like it deserves the middle of the road response here.

DEADMAN

w. Dave Bullock & Vinton Heuck, a. Dave Bullock

This almost fell to the section below, but it stays here for the Bruce Timm-like art that won me over. We'll see how this one continues.

WONDER WOMAN

w/a. Ben Caldwell

I'm being suuuper kind to this one, as it was kind of a mess, but when I was first flipping through it the art looked amazing, with the use of the Chris Ware-like small panels and what not. But what we got was hard to read, with odd panel-to-panel work and a HORRIBLE fucking font. It's here because I WANT it to be good, and I'm finger crossing for the rest. The story seemed ok and the artist is talented.

The Ones that didn't work (for me):

SGT. ROCK

w. Adam Kubert, a. Joe Kubert

The hardcore military one just didn't work for me here with the fun I was having with the book, but the Joe Kubert art is fantastic as always. I reserve the right to take this one back.

KAMANDI

w. Dave Gibbons, a. Ryan Sook

Although the Sook art was good, and the Prince Valiant style worked well for the character, I was left a bit cold here. The best part to me was the Kirby bit at the bottom and that's not good. I will not be surprised if some dudes love this.

TEEN TITANS

w. Eddie Berganza, a. Sean Galloway

This was just not good. Maybe the strip that missed the mark the most for me. Galloway is not a bad artist, but I think the style lends itself better to the animation design work that he comes from. I just didn't care about anything happening here.

(Note: Pic is from a future installment of Wednesday Comics)

METAL MEN

w. Dan DiDio, a. Jose Luis Garcia Lopez

This could be the book that I differ the most from with the masses if what I've seen around the internet is to be believed. Fun story with awesome Lopez art is what I'm reading. What I saw? A really silly strip, that wasn't very entertaining with some really good Lopez art. This one was not for me, and I was rooting for Dan too!

***

Man, it feels a bit good to post.

in memoriam - 2008

2009-02-23T10:46:00.000-08:00

Over at Aint-it-Cool-News they did their annual Comic Book wrap up, and they did something I've never seen done before in comics. It was a really nice Oscar-esque look back at those that died this past year who in one way or another were influenced the medium. Unless they did it last year, its the first time I've seen something of its kind.

You'll have to scroll through a bunch of comic nonsense, but you can't miss the big black image about half way down.

SIDE NOTE: Was McGoohan really missing from last night's Oscar In Memoriam? Assholes.

BEST COMIC BOOKS OF 2008

2009-02-06T16:57:00.000-08:00

So this post comes in just about a month ahead of last year's "Best of" and also has the distinction of being the first post SINCE the 2007 list. Um, whaaaat? I liked reading comics and ranting about what I think, but the time for these blog things are just not there in a way that I would like. Kudos to all those that are timely with these things for years on end. Still, here I am talking about 2008, and who knows maybe I will post more in the upcoming year.

The geeky rules:

#1. Last year I had a strict at least four issues must come out of an ongoing series for it to make my list. Nothing of the sort this year, because that left really good books like Hine's STRANGE EMBRACE and Way's UMBRELLA ACADEMY off of the list. This year, its TWO ISSUES! Seriously, as long as you have a couple of books come out (ongoing, mini or maxi) you will be considered.

#2. This is for weekly floppies only. I read a gang load of OGN's this year, but in MY head, those belong on a different list.

#3. As always, these are my FAVORITE books. Yeah, I said "Best" up there, but it always rings false to me to make a list of the "best" of anything when who am I to make that kind of declaration. These are my favorites, and hopefully some of them are good.

***

MY FAVORITE COMICS OF 2008
(in reverse order this year)

#10 MOUSE GUARD: WINTER 1152
(w/a. David Peterson)

You know what's bullshit about this series? Is that unless my calculations are wrong, we only got two issues of this wonderful series in 2008. Mr. Peterson's fantasy series about mice, is not just a great story and not just great art, its a fucking clinic on good comic booking. There is no doubt in my mind that it will move up the accepted canon as time goes by. (I hope that ASP being bought out doesn't delay the last two issues of this mini too much longer.)

#9 LOCAL
(w. Brian Wood, a. Ryan Kelly)

This book has been slowly trickling out over the last few years,releasing the final two issues in 2008 as well as the beautiful hardback collection of the entire series. The hardback got a lot of attention when it came out, and rightfully so: the series is pretty damn good. It follows our heroine Megan from ages 18-30 with each issue being a different year of her life in a different American city. This year's #11 was one of my favorites of the series, with Megan meeting a stand-in for her younger self, and we get to see how much this girl has grown over the course of the series.

#8 WASTELAND
(w. Antony Johnston, a. Christopher Mitten)

This book just keeps getting better and better. I fear that the floppies might be losing folks, but if that's the case, I hope its because they are reading it in (the far more friendlier form) TPBs. The fantasy series gets more complex with its religion and social structure with each arc, and the cast of characters that I care about only grows. The way the art shows flashbacks can be confusing at times, but Mitten is turning into a brilliant artist.

#7 100 BULLETS
(w. Brian Azzarello, a. Eduardo Risso)

You are either still on board with this book and loving it, or you long ago tossed it aside as too confusing to read in floppies. And both reactions would probably be right. I love this series, it was made for me. Azzarello is slowly bringing this series to a close and with only two more issues in 2009 (I've read one of em!) I am going to be extremely sad that this book isn't coming out anymore. Eduardo Risso is one of my favorite artists in comics.

#6 FABLES
(w. Bill Willingham, a. Mark Buckingham and a couple of others)

2008 saw the end of the best story of the series in "Good Prince" and then the series went and had the climactic battle between good and evil with "War and Pieces" and now we are in the aftermath. Its an odd place to be because the first 75 issues built to that climax, but Fables has proved that the cast of characters is too good, and the source material too great for it to lose any luster. The book is as good as its been with no real signs of letting up. (Now if only I could say the same about JACK OF FABLES.)

#5 CRIMINAL
(w. Ed Brubaker, a. Sean Phillips)

Or technically, CRIMINAL VOLUME 2. This series is as steady as they come right now in comics. When you open an issue, its just going to be good. This volume increased the page count, giving Brubaker and Phillips more room to do their craft and I'm not complaining. From the first three stand alone issues to the 4-issue "Bad Night" centered on a cartoonist, we got the best most compelling crime comic on the stands. And I fucking love the back matter, leading me to great Noir in book, film and television.

#4 NORTHLANDERS
(w. Brian Wood, a. Davide Gianfelice, Dean Orstron and Ryan Kelly)

This book has catapulted up my favorite books, because like 100 Bullets this is another book that was just made for me. First "Sven: The Returned" wrapped up, with a surprising yet well crafted final issue, then Wood hits us with a little two-parter before rocking me with the first issue of my favorite arc to date, "The Cross + The Hammer." All these arcs star different characters and are in different time periods. Yeah, an anthology book basically, which so far so great. Wood's LOCAL co-hort Kelly comes on board and shocks the hell out of me with a gritty in your face style, which you can obviously make as the same artist that did LOCAL; but who the fuck knew that his art would be so perfect for THIS series!

#3 ALL-STAR SUPERMAN
(w. Grant Morrison, a. frank Quitely)

The genius series closes out its run with the last three issues in 2008. #10 was argueably the best single issue of the series, and in fact of 2008, period. Simple enough, these two guys made a classic. Far better brains than mine will go into the details of how-where-why, but things I do know: it will go down as one of the best Superman stories ever, and yeah, one of the best Super Hero stories of all-time. Quitely is a master comic book artist at the top of his game, and although Morrison's other super hero work this year was muddled and confusing (BATMAN, FINAL CRISIS) this series was near perfect. I miss it, and I want more.

#2 LOCKE AND KEY
(w. Joe Hill, a. Gabriel Rodriguez)

How is it that more people are not talking about this book? Seriously. Joe Hill (son of some guy) and Gabriel Rodriguez are doing a pretty fucking awesome comic. In fact, its the only book that got my "Book of the Week" every single week that it came out. The plot of this thriller, with the spooky house and the keys is great, but Hill gets this right by making the characters so damn good. You hear it every once in a while about a guy that comes in from another medium, but Joe Hill gets comics. His use of panels, the turn-of-the-page and cliffhangers is like a seasoned comics pro.* Gabriel Rodriguez's art is the shit. His people have a distinctive style and his choice of camera angles is always dynamic and fitting. Something must also be said about the presentation of the book itself, because the covers are all brilliant, and the quality of paper is top. So it's not just the story, the entire package is great. The new series has already started in 2009 and it's already taking names too.

*At ComicCon he talked crap about his only other comic work, an 8-page Spider-Man story he did for Marvel. I tracked it down and read it; he is way to harsh on himself. The story was fun and perfect for Spider-Man as well as perfect for the late, GREAT Seth Fisher.

#1 SCALPED
(w. Jason Aaron, a. R.M. Guera & others)

Another year, another #1 from me for Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera's SCALPED. This is only the third year I've ever done a Top 10 list, but my guess is this would be the first time a series has gotten #1 on back-to-back years since the TRANSMETROPOLITAN or PREACHER days. Who the fuck knows. What I do know, is Jason Aaron conitnues to kick all sorts of ass on this book. He got the Marvel bug this past year working on GHOST RIDER, WOLVERINE and a short run on BLACK PANTHER,* but that didn't affect this book any, accept I hope, the sales from some of the Marvel zombies taking a glance. As for the art, its funny to think that at the start of this series the one thing I wasn't sure about was the art, and now 20-some odd issues in, when its not R.M. I'm really bummed. He's critical for the book. Anything else I say here would be repeating what I said last year, but the powerful stories make this my favorite book of the year.

*Just thought this should be noted on a year with SECRET INVASION and FINAL CRISIS dominating everything, but Black Panther #39-41 witten by Jason Aaron was the coolest thing to come out of SECRET INVASION by far. No contest. Awesome superhero story.

BOOKS FROM LAST YEAR'S TOP 10 THAT MISSED:

#3 Y: THE LAST MAN - This book only had one issue come out in 2008, and that was the fantastic final issue. One issue, even as good as this one was, doesn't have enough weight for me to let it on.

DMZ - No judgment on this series that was so high last year, but off this year (it barely missed). I just had other favorites (including two other Wood books).

IMMORTAL IRON FIST - This book made me sad this year. So damn good under Brubaker/Fraction. Their last storyline fizzled a bit, but was still good. The final issue was one of my favorites of the series, but then the creative team change gutted the book. Shitty. I tried to stick with the new team, but just this week I finally stopped getting the series. The magic was just gone.

POWERS - The series that barely comes out, just misses the ten despite closing out its big storyline in style. Really good stuff, and broken record time: this is still my favorite Bendis and/or Oeming production (MICE TEMPLAR got unbearable, and was dropped.)

USAGI YOJIMBO - The long-eared ronin is still one of my favorite books of all time, but slipped a little this year for me. Though the December issue centered on Gen was classic Sakai. Awesome, and didn't even have the bunny in it.

OTHER BOOKS THAT MISSED, THAT I REALLY LIKED:

WALKING DEAD - And man, did it JUST miss. For the frst 20 issues of this series, it was easily one of my favorite books. The middle part of the series dragged, and Kirkman's clunky on-the-nose expository dialogue stood out a bit more. The climatic showdown at the prison in issue #48 was much needed, and breathed new life into a series that was fumbling . The cast has been sliced in half (thank you!) and the post prison-era is responsible for possibly my favorite issue in the series: Issue #51 with Rick and the surprising phone call. It was one of my favorite single issues of the year in any comic.

FOUR EYES
I KILL GIANTS - Two indie books done by a sorta of "renaissanced" Joe Kelly. I KILL GIANTS was a touching story of a kid, dealing with her mother's sickness. But for me, FOUR EYES, the story of a depression era kid getting a job at the underground dragon fights was the biggest surprise of the year for me. Excellent comic. Too bad there was only one or it might be above.

OMEGA: THE UNKNOWN - Written by novelist Jonathan Lethem, this was almost on the Top 10 as well. I think some of it went over my head, but what didn't go over my head is that it was BAR NONE the most original and interesting thing that Marvel has published in as long as I can remember. Too bad it didn't sell very well in floppies, but Marvel was committed to the book and the collected edition should get more notice in book stores. In fact, I've already given it as a gift!

THE TWELVE - I really love the pace and style J. Michael Straczinski is handling this series with. Just coming out too slow. Curious to see how these characters are treated in the Marvel Universe post this series. And there is no doubt that this series will get a lot more love once it is eventually collected.

ECHO - This is moving up my pile with each issue. Terry Moore is a master storyteller. Great art. Fun story.

PAX ROMANA
TRANSHUMAN
RED MASS FOR MARS - All three books by Jonathan Hickman deserve to be mentioned. They were all well written, drawn and most importantly original comic works. TRANSHUMAN was one of my girlfriend's favorites of the year while PAX was probably the one closest to the Top 10 for me. Hickman is a unique comic talent and one to watch, especially with some Marvel work coming his way.

YOUNG LIARS - I don't know what is going on most of the time, and I really don't care. It moves up my read pile, just because its engaging me. Dave Lapham's Vertigo series was a surprise just because it is so odd.

And oh yeah, don't Marvel and DC publish Super Hero comics?

ACTION COMICS - My favorite in-continuity DC super hero book. Johns did a great job with the studly Gary Frank drawing the best Superman out there. The highlight of the year was the Braniac story.

THOR - My favorite in-continuity Marvel super hero book. The pace is slow, but I'm loving Straczynski's take on the character. And the art has been great. I fear what happens to this title when J.M. leaves, but I do know that Matt Fraction (based on the one-shots) kind of HAS TO BE the new writer.

***

For my comic-reading friends, girlfriend and 2 guys unlucky enough to have googled their way here some how, thanks for reading.

leap year day (aka my favorites of 2007?)

2008-02-29T15:50:00.000-08:00

When I returned from my "break" in late January which I spent out of the city/country since mid-December, I knew that I wanted to return with a "Best of 2007" post, because, that's why you do one of these things, right? Well, it took me for-fucking-ever to catch up on the insane amount of comics that accumulated while I was away. Now, it's juuuust about fucking March (thank you Leap Year Day) and it's way late, and I really don't care because I'm doing one anyway.

Good news is: I finally got caught up on my comics. Meaning, last week, I actually had no more new comics waiting to be read when Wednesday came around. Hopefully I return again with some regular updates.

And now that people have stopped talking about 2007 and moved on to something more important (2008), here we go with the late-as-shit list:

**********

MY FAVORITE TEN COMICS OF THE YEAR

(Comics that are eligible for me: an ongoing comic that has put out at least four comics in the calendar year.)

#1 SCALPED
(w. Jason Aaron, a. R.M. Guera)

Some people might lump this in as a "Best New Series" candidate since it's new to 2007, but for me, that would just be redundant (see below for my version). This was not my favorite new series, it was just my favorite series, period. It's often been called "The Sopranos on a Reservation," but that's not really fair to this series because it's definitely its own beast. It began as a story about an undercover FBI agent returning to the reservation where he was raised, and with each character that is introduced, and with each dramatic wrinkle that Aaron adds, it just gets better. Whether it's a fair and balanced view of Native Americans, I can't judge, but the dark world that Aaron presents has been an engaging one for comics. The Chief Red Crow issue (#7) and the look into Catcher (#9) were the highlights for me. At first, the art was the weak link: A bit hard to follow and confusing, but as the series has continued, Guera's look for this world has become as important as Risso's to 100 BULLETS or Dillon's to PREACHER.

With the excellent Vietnam series OTHER SIDE and now SCALPED, Aaron is definitely one to watch. It was only a matter of time before the "mainstream" superhero editors came a-calling, as Marvel definitely noticed, grabbing him for 2008 gigs on WOLVERINE and GHOST RIDER. With Y: THE LAST MAN over and the excellent 100 BULLETS heading into its last story, I'm ecstatic that this comic has emerged. Vertigo is in good hands.

#2 ALL-STAR SUPERMAN
(w. Grant Morrison, a. Frank Quitely)

Unofficially, this was my #1 for 2006 even though I wasn't putting things on the internet yet. But what's to be said about this title that many others haven't said? Basically nothing. So I'll rinse and repeat: Grant and Frank continue their epic run, which (when it comes out) is the best super hero comic on the stands. The time-traveling father issue (#6) and the first Bizarro issue were excellent.

#3 Y: THE LAST MAN
(w. Brian K. Vaughan, a. Pia Guerra)

**SPOILER WARNING** Although as of writing, the final issue has come out, at the end of the year we were still one shy. And the final year, and the final arc especially, have been amongst the series best. From the near perfect reunion issue with Beth, to the touching Agent 355 issue which ended in her surprise death, it has all been great. Since then, I have read the final issue, and I'm sad to see this title go.

#4 DMZ
(w. Brian Wood, a. Riccardo Burchielli)

This was a book high on my list last year (#3), and it still is this year. With the ending of "Public Works" and the awesome "Friendly Fire," this continues to be one of my favorite comics on the stands. "Wilson," one of the done-in-one's at the end of the year, especially stood out for me. I want to see more of him.

#5 CRIMINAL
(w. Ed Brubaker, a. Sean Phillips)

Another new book this year, and another comic that exposes my interest in comics that are crime-oriented. Brubaker is just getting started with this series, but both "Coward" (my favorite) and "Lawless" have been excellent stories to start with.

#6 FABLES
(w. Bill Willingham, a. Mark Buckingham - mostly)

The fourth Vertigo series on the list. I guess I'm a fan or something. As fun and as good as this series has been over the years, it has gone up another level. On the heels of the excellent Frog Prince origin story in 1,001 NIGHTS OF SNOWFALL, Willingham gives us the longest and best Fables storyline to date. The best thing about "The Good Prince" and why it works as well as it does, is because it DID have all of the issues that came before it. And that makes me happy.

#7 IMMORTAL IRON FIST
(w. Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction, a. David Aja & Various)

Um, yeah, so I was late and oh-so-wrong about this title. After getting Issue #1, I didn't think it was good enough to add. After hearing others rave, I ebayed up the books at #8 and read them all in one sitting. So like I said, oh-so-wrong. Brubaker and Fraction are writing a bad-ass super hero comic and I'm glad that I jumped back on. The current storyline with an old-fashioned Kung Fu fighting bracket makes me giddy like a kid, but issue #7, where we focus on Wu Ao-Shi, the first female Iron Fist (formerly known as the Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay), was my favorite.

#8 100 BULLETS
(w. Brian Azzarello, a. Eduardo Risso)

Another Vertigo book, and a book that would probably have been on my Top Ten for the last eight years. It was another year of mystery and some confusing plot advancement, and mixed in some of the best-drawn crime stories anywhere. The issue where one of Lono's victims (#85) enacts her own kind of revenge has been one of my favorites of the series.

#9 POWERS
(w. Brian Bendis, a. Michael Avon Oeming)

This series jumps back on my Top Ten list for the first time in a couple of years. Mostly because the publishing schedule seems to be getting back on track, but also because Volume 2 has been a really nice burn to the current point of the series. The ongoing soap of Deena and Christian has sucked me back in, and although I know I say it all the time, I still think this is the best thing Bendis writes.

#10 USAGI YOJIMBO
(w/a. Stan Sakai)

Back on my list with a really strong year for this series. In the aftermath of the amazing run where Usagi was traveling with his son Jotaro, the title took a step back from its own high standards, but with the series hitting the century mark (at Dark Horse), things have ramped back up. Sakai teased us for issues culminating in an epic battle vs. Shizukiri in #102, and then went right into the excellent Origin of Jei two-parter. The year ended with the multi part "Sparrows" which continues the Jei storyline, as the demon cements himself as the series' arch-enemy.

**********

MY FAVORITE "NEW COMIC" OF THE YEAR

(Basically, my version of the award is: a new title that has its first 3 or fewer issues in the calendar year, so I can't gauge it for best ongoing, but deserves to be recognized as one to watch.)

NORTHLANDERS
(w. Brian Wood, a. Davide Gianfelice)

This was a rather weak year, as last year (again, unofficially) I had a tie between CRIMINAL and LONE RANGER who both had just a couple of issues on the stands by the end of the calendar year 2006. NORTHLANDERS was the only new series to show promise and generate "fucking cool!" reactions from me. It does help that I've become a big Brian Wood fan, and that this has been one of my most anticipated books all year. Exhibit A. So far, I have read two more issues and I'm still really enjoying the opening arc.

**********

COMICS THAT MISSED THE LIST AND WHY

WASTELAND - Only missed because I think the ten ongoings above have had a better year. I'm really happy with what this book is doing.

LONE RANGER - The origin storyline that started out the series was great, and although the second arc had its moments, it wasn't as good, bumping it under the books above.

X-FACTOR - Probably the best Superhero team book that I'm reading. The Isolationist story was a nice culmination of character work that Peter David had been building to since the beginning.

ASTONISHING X-MEN - This is really an excellent title, but the publishing schedule and its furthering distance from main X-Men continuity have hurt it for me.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - A really fun comic book continuation of the famous TV series. Not good enough however.

BATMAN - The three-issue J.H. Williams arc, "The Island of Mr. Mayhew" was as good as any super hero story I read all year, but at the start of the year, the publishing schedule was still erratic, and it ended with the awful Ra's al Ghul crossover, killing its chances for the list.

FELL - The best comic book not to make it on my list (#2 last year), but it was hurt by the fact that it only had two issues to come out all year. I look forward to more content in '08.

**********

MY FAVORITE SINGLE ISSUES OF THE YEAR

(My favorite single issues. Spoiler Warning in case you haven't read the issues and you wait for the trade on some of these titles.)

#1 SCALPED #7
"Down on the Killing Floor"

This was originally part 2 of the 6-part "Casino Boogie" storyline, but these six issues were essentially one shots that concentrated on individual characters in the book. This issue was the "big bad" issue, as the title's villain, Chief Red Crow, takes center stage. On the night of the grand opening of his new Casino, we get a glimpse into his past and his head and how he rationalizes decisions that he makes. The final sequence, and the last page were perfect.

#2 Y: THE LAST MAN #57
"Why and Wherefores, Chapter 3"

This actually came out the same week as the book above (what a week!), but it was still good enough for #2 on my list. The five years-in-the-making reunion of Beth and Yorick was somehow exactly what I wanted, expected and needed and Vaughan and Guerra expertly gave it to me. Awesome.

#3 100 BULLETS #85
"Red Lions"

The controversial and unpredictable Lono is my favorite character in the series. With that said, a victim of his from an earlier issue makes a surprise return, enacting revenge in her own way, exposing him for the monster that he is. Azzarello and Risso have created a comic with such unpredictability, that it actually got my heart rate up as I was tricked into thinking that this was his end. Good good issue.

#4 Y: THE LAST MAN #58
"Why and Wherefores, Chapter 4"

On the heels of the Beth issue, comes this issue where Yorick and Agent 355 talk about their feelings for each other, what it all means, and then when you are actually rooting for this and happy, Vaughan stuns you with her death. One of the things I was never sold on, was Yorick and 355 having feelings for each other. Slowly they won me over, and by the time I was half way through this issue I was sold, making the ending all the more tragic.

#5 ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #6
"Funeral in Smallville"

This issue was the done-in-one Time Travel issue where Superman comes back to his farm (with a couple of other traveling Supermen) to save the past from a monstrous threat. The art by Quitely is amazing as always, and Grant does Silver Age in the present so damn well it looks easy. There are some really nice moments between Clark and his dad.

#6 SCALPED #9
"A Thunder Being Nation I Am"

This was Part 4 in the "Casino Boogie" storyline. This issue focused on the mysterious Catcher, who up until this point had only been seen a few times. Usually cryptically, usually on a horse. We see that he is a bit of a joke, we see that he is Oxford-educated, and we see that like everyone else in this comic, he is complicated and surprising. Granny Poor Bear gets some extended panel-time as well.

#7 UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE #1
"The Day the Eiffel Tower Went Berserk"

Since I didn't do a FAVORITE MINI-SERIES this gets no love there, but what a wonderful little surprise this was. Gerard Way, creator of lame-ass music, writes a wall-to-wall kick-ass fun comic. Including, but not limited to: Time Travel, a so-cool-could-be-a-villain Dad called Monocle, Zombie Robot Gustav-Eiffel as the first issue's villain, and not one, but count em, TWO monkeys. Well, it's one half-ape and a chimp, but still. Gabriel Ba, artist of the first arc on CASANOVA, shines here in full color. Not as original as some people claim it to be, but still really good, and one of the funnest single comics I read all year.

#8 CRIMINAL #5
"Coward Part 5 of 5"

The final part of this arc was definitely my favorite. This was the last part of the first series, where our main character Leo puts a huge spin on the arc's title. He was scared, but only scared of the monster within himself. Not only is this my favorite issue, "Coward" has been my favorite arc and this issue cemented the quality of the crime stories to come.

#9 USAGI YOJIMBO #104
"The Darkness and the Soul, Part 2"

This was part 2 of the two part Origin of Jei, and it was damn good. Jei has become arch-nemesis of our Yojimbo, but he is a demon and not an actual human. This issue we get more of the great samurai-turned-priest that is first possessed by the demon and you feel really sorry for what came of this man. Then we are invited to the pure fury of this demon unleashed, as an entire town falls at his spear when he is angered. Testament to this title and the brilliant Stan Sakai, this issue doesn't even feature the title character.

#10 RIPCLAW PILOT SEASON #1
"The Harrowing"

An odd choice for sure. From my original reaction, Jason Aaron is of course the writer:

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.

The caveat to this series was of course that it was to be voted on for a possible ongoing series (which it inexplicably lost -- WTF Top Cow fans!?), and although who knows how it would have worked for ongoing, for one issue, this was one kick ass comic book.

**********

And that's all. I wanted to do more, such as BEST WRITER, BEST ARTIST, BEST STORY ARCS, BEST MINI-SERIES and BEST GRAPHIC NOVELS, but being sooooo late, maybe next year.

Since I referenced them so much (read: posterity's sake), my Top Ten Ongoings of 2006 were:

1. ALL-STAR SUPERMAN
2. FELL
3. DMZ
4. ASTONISHING X-MEN
5. LOVELESS
6. NEXTWAVE: AGENTS OF H.A.T.E.
7. Y: THE LAST MAN
8. 100 BULLETS
9. DAREDEVIL
10. LOCAL

new book: CRIMINAL and LONE RANGER

no, SERIOUSLY, where did all the posts go?: ncrl for 12.5 & 12.12

2007-12-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

So life as it were, is kicking me in the ass: keeping me busy and keeping me from my comics. Okay, as I said before, it's not entirely keeping me from my comics, as I have juuust enough time to READ them, just not to yap about them here. As I also said last time, I'm leaving for almost a month for the holidays so this site will pretty much be going dead from December 21st until sometime near the end of January, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

The film I am working on wraps this Friday, so I expect to have some time next week to have a couple of posts musing about the year that was. 2007. At the very least, my Top Ten titles of the year and what not.

Here is what I have been getting, even if I haven't been talking about it.

12.5

avatar
BLACK SUMMER #4

dark horse
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #9

dc
EXTERMINATORS #24
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #15
MIDNIGHTER #14
NORTHLANDERS #1 <-- one of my most anticipated of the year, FINALLY!
ROBIN #169

devil's due
STORM SHADOW #6

image
INVINCIBLE #47
SUBURBAN GLAMOUR #2
SWORD #3

marvel
AVENGERS INITIATIVE ANNUAL #1
MS. MARVEL #22
OMEGA UNKNOWN #3
THE ORDER #5
TWELVE #0
ULTIMATE X-MEN #88
ULTIMATES 3 #1 has anything been as universally panned as this?
UNCANNY X-MEN #493

oni
RESURRECTION #1 walking dead-ish, with aliens instead

and

12.12

archaia
~~ENGINEER #1, MISERICORDIA #1~~ these were going to get the flip through, but my store was out of the few copies by the time I got there

avatar
STREETS OF GLORY #3

boom!
POTTER'S FIELD #3

dc
DMZ #26 - !!
FABLES #68 - !!
GEN 13 #15
GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #3
LOVELESS #21 - !!
NIGHTWING #139
SCALPED #12 - !! vertigo, representin'
STORMWATCH ARMAGEDDON *snore*
WONDER WOMAN #15

dynamite
BOYS #13

idw
FALLEN ANGEL #22
WORMWOOD ONE SHOT - WHAT THE FUCK?! WHO KNEW THIS WAS COMING OUT AND DIDN'T TELL ME? better question. how did i not know?

image
ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #4
ELEPHANTMEN: WAR TOYS #1
WALKING DEAD #45

marvel
FANTASTIC FOUR #552
NEW AVENGERS #37
NEW WARRIORS #6
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #14
ULTIMATE IRON MAN II #1
WOLVERINE #60 how fucking rad is it going to be when jason aaron's name is on the front full-time?
X-FACTOR #26

Off to read.

where oh where did all the posts go?: ncrl for 11.29

2007-12-03T23:41:00.000-08:00

Not that I ever posted that much to begin with, but I'm still recovering from my 30 book-Thanksgiving week. I hope to talk a little about those books AND last weeks (see below) soon. This could be an odd end of the year run for me, as Christmas is coming, and another vacation as well. Meaning that I will be going dark from around December 20th into mid-January. Still, I live for lists, and I hope to get some End of Year goodness up before I leave. Those should be coming soon.

Anyway, here is what I picked up on the 29th:

dark horse
FEAR AGENT: HATCHET JOB #1
USAGI YOJIMBO #107

dc
ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN #8
AUTHORITY PRIME #2
BATMAN #671 crossover part 4. can grant morrison save it?
CROSSING MIDNIGHT #13
DEATHBLOW #8
FAKER #5
GEN 13 ARMAGEDDON #1
JACK OF FABLES #17

idw
TRANSFORMERS DEVASTATION #3

image
CASANOVA #11
~~MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #5~~ this got dropped at the store. it was odd. I flipped through it and just decided I didn't need it
SAVAGE DRAGON #134

marvel
~~CABLE~~ DR. STRANGE & DEADPOOL #47
DAREDEVIL #102
SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #41
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #116
WORLD WAR HULK: FRONTLINE #6
X-MEN #205 messiah complex part 5. I'm getting into this

I also managed to grab Peter David's THE SCREAM. Still no luck on Reed's CIRCLE.

post thanksgiving haze: ncrl for 11.21

2007-11-27T19:59:00.000-08:00

Well, as expected I am back from Thanksgiving vacation (that I desperately needed) and I'm working my way through a 30-book week. But for the record, here is what I picked up:

dark horse
UMBRELLA ACADEMY #3

dc
ACTION COMICS #859
DETECTIVE COMICS #838
EX-MACHINA #22
THE PROGRAMME #5
SPIRIT #11
WETWORKS #15
WETWORKS ARMAGEDDON #1

devil's due
G.I. JOE: AMERICA'S ELITE #29

dynamite
BOYS #12
LONE RANGER #10

idw
ANGEL: AFTER THE FALL #1 was this as necessary as buffy season 8? we'll see

image
GODLAND #20 i'd kind of forgotten about this series. that's not good.
HAWAIIAN DICK #1
INVINCIBLE #46
WALKING DEAD #44

marvel
CAPTAIN AMERICA #32
CAPTAIN AMERICAN THE CHOSEN #4
INCREDIBLE HULK #111
IRON MAN ANNUAL #1
LONERS #6
NEW X-MEN #44
PENANCE RELENTLESS #3
POWERS #27
SHE-HULK 2 #23
THUNDERBOLTS: BREAKING POINT
WOLVERINE ORIGINS #19
X-MEN: EMPEROR VULCAN #3

Still looking for Brian Reed's THE CIRCLE to check out, as well as Peter David's SCREAM that I missed, but neither are priority.

weekly loot: black dossier m.i.a.

2007-11-20T23:31:00.000-08:00

So after the long wait, the excitement, the draaaaama, Amazon didn't send me my copy of Black Dossier! WHAT?! They must have ran out of their initial allocation. I suppose this is karma for not getting it through my local comic book store, but the big Consumerist Monster gives to good a discount on TPBs. Anyway, it is in the mail as we speak, and now I'll spend the upcoming holiday weekend in a turkey coma reading me some Dossier.

But a whole bunch of pamphlets came out to fill my time:

book of the week

DMZ #25
(w. Brian Wood, a. Danijel Zezelj)
Brian Wood continues his run of done-in-one stories, and out of the three so far, this is the best one. "Wilson" follows the title character, from before the war, to the start of the war and into the present where Matty only makes a cameo. A chinese man, who before the war was destined to never be anything more than a low-level Triad, has used his own brand of leadership to gain power in China Town with aspirations for even more. An excellent issue, drawn by guest artist Zezelj. He's bounced around doing some Loveless issues as well as the new "ongoing" artist for Desolation Jones (before THAT disappeared). His artwork can be hard to decipher at times with his heavy use of blacks, but it's unique and displays excellent storytelling.

runner up

100 BULLETS #86 - Another issue where our main characters play alongside characters we haven't met before, culminating in a dark crime, but Azzarello and Risso handle it beautifully. Victor is the one to shine here, as we get to see a little of his humanity, amongst a couple of his grizzlier acts of violence. The overall plot gets a little bump forward with the death of another Trust member, but more importantly is Victor and his wavering allegiance to both sides. Another really good issue.

other real good books

ALL STAR SUPERMAN #9 - Whaaat!?!? An issue of All Star Superman and it ISN'T book of the week?!?! How could this happen? Well, this is two in a row that this has happened, and it truly has nothing to do with the still excellent comic book, it has just set a really high bar for itself is all. Although was anyone else besides me a bit confused by the odd space-time glitch half way through? After getting his ass kicked (gorgeously by Quitely), the beaten Superman worries about the cracked moon the Kryptonians caused, and after the villains go off to fix it, we CUT TO: Clark Kent in the office? I felt like I missed a moment. I suppose he was hiding out, waiting for the Kryptonians to weaken? Otherwise, excellent stuff.

FABLES #67 - The Good Prince continues its epic journey, and the story of Flycatcher and his new Kingdom just gets better and better. Last issue promised much violence, and although all out war has been delayed an issue, Flycatcher's mind games and resolve continue to entertain. Who would have thought it 15 issues ago, but starting with the excellent origin story in 1,001 Nights and continuing into The Good Prince, Flycatcher has been elevated to one of THE characters in Fables and I couldn't be happier.

three-star comics

X-FACTOR #25 - Messiah Complex continues, and sue me for being a long-time X-Men fan, but I'm enjoying it. The whole Jamie Madrox dupes in the future thing worked pretty well, as did most scenes with Layla (no surprise). One stumbling block, was how quickly the infiltrating Rictor is shown the company secrets. I guess there isn't time to let Rictor be under cover for 12 issues, even though it would have been more effective.

PUNISHER #52 - This story is really clicking. Bullshit or not, the last page cliffhanger was awesome.

WONDER WOMAN #14 - Gail Simone finally arrives! And a pretty solid Wonder Woman comic it is. Admittedly, I do not have tons of experience with the character, but this was fun. First off, Simone's story looks amazing, as the Dodson's knock it out of the park every time and may just be the perfect artist for WW. A perfect balance of strength and beauty. The opening action sequence was good, and although the whole 'Clark Kent" aspect of Diana doesn't work for me, Simone makes the best of it. Good start.

THOR #4 - The change in locale was a bit shocking, but I'm still enjoying the slow moving Straczynski take. Copiel's art has been great as well, which begs the question, what happened to the design on The Warriors Three? After Heimdall looked bad-ass last issue, these three looked like douche bags.

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #13 - So I kind of liked this ultra crazy Matt Fraction take that only he can bring. Besides Spider-Man being a little too jokey and nonchalant about "Punny" trying to kill again, this worked. The inclusion of Domino makes me smile, as I've always liked her potential and I'm glad someone is using her somewhere. Cory Walker does some nice mainstream work too.

NEW AVENGERS #36 - Even when you remove the sycophants and the haters, Brian Bendis' New Avengers continues to polarize people online. The pace of the story is slow, yes, but it is still working for me. Not many scenes here, but a lot happened. We got the recap of he Mighty Avengers story that is way behind, but this book needed to keep going so that is fine. I blame this on marvel, not the quality of this book. The lengthy talk between Cage and Jones seems to be leading to something, and it even made me miss the Jessica Jones of Alias a bit. The scene between Wolverine and Spider-Woman was good, and needed. Although apparently its not weird at all for the Black Widow, dressed only in her underwear, to walk into Jessica's shower looking for deodorant. Come on Bendis, that's just parody. Yu was great as always.
(Side Note: My girlfriend wondered why Jessica's tits were so huge all of the sudden. Am I being too kind in assuming that Yu is just being conscious of the fact that she just had a baby?)

GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #2 - Another perfectly entertaining comic book. Not sure where this book is headed post rescue, but as long as the charming art of Cliff Chiang is here, I am too.

comics with problems

CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 - I'm on the fence with this title. Although I am unsure of the point, it wasn't a bad read. I mean, they went through all the trouble to return him to the Marvel Universe, badly tacked on to a crossover that definitely didn't need it, but then we are being presented a story that ends with him eventually going back to die. Huh? Could this internal Marvel conversation be far from the truth:
"Lets bring him back during Civil War too! The fans will be shocked!"
"And then what?"
"We'll figure it out later. Waaaay later."
We are led to believe that this matters, and we SHOULD be reading this. I suppose once we get around to SECRET INVASION this will become clearer, but that shouldn't be the case.

MICE TEMPLAR #2 - A) I really want to like this title. B) I really don't want to compare it to Mouse Guard. C) FUCK, I'm gonna have too. This issues was sooooo boooooooogged dooooown in exposition, that it was tough to get through. Both mice comics have a lot of characters with a lot of history and that's fine, but Mouse Guard never makes me feel overwhelmed by it. Oeming and Glass have been so caught up in the detailed history they've come up with, that they feel we need to get it all right now. The history lessons would have been better over issues I would think. The second half of the issue, where we stay with our heroes and the assassin after them was decent. I'm still around for more.

THE SWORD #2 - I've read Ultra, I've read Girls, and now, I've read two issues of The Sword. This could be the worst single issue I've read in 34 comics from the Luna Brothers. The dialogue just went off the deep end here. The interrogation with the cops was excruciating. This conversation defied logic, as it would never have happened the way it did just after her family was massacred and she (a cripple!) miraculously survived. These were the dumbest cops ever. Then later, our (dumb) villains decide they need to send in a guy to take care of her. Um, aren't our villains these guys? At least, compared to the bumbling idiot that they did call? Confusing. They still have me at the sword though. What/who/where/when/why? So I'll read some more.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #48 - Not quite sure why this issue didn't work for me. It was a decent comic, but it felt very paint by numbers to me. It could be my apathy for the Ultimate Universe, as it is just hard to keep any enthusiasm up. I'm around for the Loeb ruckus, then some decisions are happening in regards to this title and Ultimate X-Men.

AVENGERS THE INITIATIVE #7 - This title is slowly slipping for me. There just isn't anyone I'm invested in. Seven issues in, the best I can do is Justice. I like Justice. But I've always liked Justice and what's annoying about that, is I feel like he is being made to look dumb while they yank him around. SO its kind of a win-lose that his storyline is moving forward. The Scarlet Spiders and the whole Parker thing at the end didn't work for me. And if Marvel wants this to be something that is important For future Spider books, why have it happen here? Odd choices. Still curious who the Ninja Mutant is.

NIGHTWING #138 - This crossover has not been very good so far, has it? Nightwing helps Robin and Damien fight off a shit load of ninjas. Where is Batman anyway? And where is Ra's al Ghul in this, his return for that matter? This crossover is feeling stretched.

WORLD WAR HULK #5 - I almost put this below with Wolverine, but for John Romita's art and the Sentry/Hulk battle it will go here. Now, for the most part I've enjoyed this series. Even though it came from the Planet Hulk storyline which I hated, the Hulk duking it out with the Marvel heroes has been mostly good times. The issue starts off fine, then escalates with a pretty cool (but bright) fight between the Super Giants and once that is over, it quickly goes wrong. First, the Hulk just stops. He was never going to do anything anyway, but slap some wrists. I mean, okaaaay, but I would have rather Sentry stopped him. And then, oh yeah, Lame-ass Miek goes nuts revealing that he was in fact responsible for the death of Hulk's wife and kills Rick Jones. Um, WHAT THE FUCK? I mean, Rick dying is a shoulder shrugger, because he'll be back, and its not like he has been featured anywhere but here anyway. But having the deaths taken away from the Illuminati pretty much sucks, and the Hulk being taken out by a lazer (?) pretty much sucks too. This got messy.

Oh wait. Back matter: Incredible Herc with Amadeus as sidekick? Could work for a few fun issues. Red Hulk? It will look good for sure (McGuinness), but with Loeb who knows what we'll get. Oh, and SKAAR SON OF HULK. Jesus Hector Christ. NO.

um, just no

WOLVERINE #59 - Three issues into this storyline and I'm just not interested. In fact, anyone that likes good comics should not be interested. Never a huge fan of Chaykin, not even the luxury of his art on a monthly basis is exciting. For those that are, great? For those with me: T-Minus TWO more issues until Jason Aaron's run starts.

*****

Now that I feel like I've finally caught up to my stack, a huge week looms with me traveling to Vegas for Thanksgiving. We'll see what I can even get read over the next four days.

monday night art: frank cho

2007-11-19T23:33:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite Frank Cho pieces. Its a variant cover to a John Carter from Mars series that IDW published. The girl is Dejah Thoris. The martian is fucked.

Yeah, awesome.

Until next week. Maybe even some comic talk tomorrow.

league of extraordinary gentleman week: ncrl - nov. 14

2007-11-16T12:58:00.000-08:00

Yeah, you heard. BLACK DOSSIER fiiiiiiinally gets published. Can't wait to plow through it, especially since I'm all caught up with my comics reading. Hell, I even got a Graphic Novel read.

This week's loot:

dc
100 BULLETS #86
ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #2 fuck yeah
DMZ #25
FABLES #67
GEN 13 #14 Simon Oliver's arc starts
GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #2 is Cliff Chiang enough to keep me getting the book?
LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMAN: BLACK DOSSIER (HC) !!!!!
NIGHTWING #138
WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY #12
WONDER WOMAN #14

image
MICE TEMPLAR #2
SWORD #2

marvel
AVENGERS: INITIATIVE #7
CAPTAIN MARVEL #1
NEW AVENGERS #36
PUNISHER #52
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #13
THOR #4
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #48
~~ULTIMATES SAGA~~ as much as I love Travis Charest, I couldn't bring myself to pay $4 for four pages. I flipped through it though and it looked great. I would love for him to do a full book. An annual or something.
WOLVERINE #59
WORLD WAR HULK #5
X-FACTOR #25

I somehow missed that CIRCLE #1 was coming out, but even when that happens I usually see it at the store, but I missed it there too. I wanted to check it out, so I guess I'll keep my eye out for it.

catching up on some comics

2007-11-13T23:00:00.000-08:00

So I'm finally caught up on my reading. But that means there is something like 60+ comic books to talk about over a three week period. Unfortunately, it isn't gonna happen in any detail or I'll be writing all week. So I'm going with the abbreviated takes like I did when I let 60+ books build up on me around Comic-Con.

Here we go.

Week 1, OCTOBER 24TH

book of the week
STREETS OF GLORY #2
(w. Garth Ennis, a. Mike Wolfer)
After a really average preview issue, and more of the same first issue, this book takes a big leap up. Garth Ennis expertly settles us and the main characters into the town and world we are going to be living in. More characters are introduced, including old war buddies and railroad barons, and the history that everyone has. The most surprising, being Joe Dunn's ex-wife and the daughter he has never met. There are some Western cliches happening here, but it doesn't matter because now there are a whole lot of real, detailed characters demanding some panel time. I almost feel like the book needs more than six issues to let all of them have space and a comfortable conclusion. The dark gory ending is classic Ennis (and classic Avatar) and it catapults the series even farther along.

runner up
VELOCITY PILOT SEASON #1 - This was real close. Like Ripclaw, for at least one issue, this was a superb comic experience. And Kevin Maguire is fucking brilliant.

other real good comics
THE KILLER #5/6 - We fly past the midway point and the delay in printing is really the only thing wrong with the book. (Which makes very little sense considering it's a reprint of a French book that finished publishing in 2003.)
POTTER'S FIELD #2 - Great concept. I kind of want this as a TV show.
GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #6 - This little jam by Diggle and Jock closes out as one of the better minis of the year.
LONE RANGER #9 - Pretty fast paced issue for this title. Lone Ranger shot and dying on the cliffhanger.
DAREDEVIL #101 - Brubaker + Lark + Daredevil = Still one of the best super hero comics on the stands.

three-star comics
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #115 - Another good issue in the re-energized Immonen era.
THUNDERBOLTS #117 - Pretty good issue. I really liked the scenes with Doc Sampson and Speedball.
X-MEN #204 - These quieter X-Men issues were always some of my favorites. I like that Carey is giving me that old feeling to be honest.
WALKING DEAD #43 - Good, but lets get to the WAR already!!
SHE-HULK 2 #22 - Solid start to Peter David's run with a lot of questions to be answered. Can't wait.
CASANOVA #10 - Some dirty sex scenes! Awesome.
FEAR AGENT: THE LAST GOODBYE #4 - So um, Heath has committed GENOCIDE? Shit. Wasn't expecting that.
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #3 - Not great, but I'm still interested enough in Warren's crazy mind to stick with this.
WETWORKS #14 - Lots of vampires and monsters yapping about thrones and plans and double crossing, but I thought it was better than that sounds.
TRANSFORMERS: DEVASTATION #2 - Still no Six Shot whoopin' ass, but a solid issue.
ACTION COMICS #857 - This was probably my favorite issue of the Eric Powell/Bizzaro arc, but I'm kind of glad its over.

comics with problems
LOVELESS #20 - I'm sad that this book is here. Marcelo Frusin went MIA, Wes Cutter was killed and the book meandered through its teens, and now I'm just not sure what I think of the ghostly visions here. I will eventually give Azzarello the benefit of the doubt and read these again, together. It's no longer working for me as a monthly comic however.
SUPERMAN #669 - This was better than the first part, but I still feel its a bit dumb of DC to keep adding Kryptonians.
AUTHORITY: PRIME #1 - This wasn't really bad exactly, just not all that engaging. That's why its here.
CABLE/DEADPOOL #46 - This was probably my least favorite issue of the recent run. Was it the T'Challa/Storm Fantastic Four? I wonder. Hmm...
GEN 13 #13 - Gail Simone's up-and-down run with the Gen 13 kids concludes. Unfortunately, it was probably my least favorite issue in the run. I mean, they killed Kid Apollo! Seriously, I'm more curious to see what Simon "Exterminators" Oliver brings because they (read: Wildstorm) need a shot in the arm as they desperately try to find a good book.

bad
MEGATRON: ORIGIN #4 - This mini STARTED good, but by the end of the fourth issue I was just bored with it all, but more importantly, the hard to read, frustrating art has me desperate to reach the last page. Ugh.

***

Week 2, HALLOWEEN

book of the week
MOUSE GUARD: WINTER 1152 #2
(w/a. David Peterson)
The sequel to the break-out Mouse Guard chugs along into one of its better single issues. The cast of characters is pretty large now, and after being separated into two groups, the various mice have some nice character moments, especially the pairing of youngster Lieam and the aging Black Axe (my favorite). The plot slowed, but definitely hasn't stopped, as one set of mice make a big discovery. David Peterson's art continues to be amazing, as the look and feel of this book is gorgeous. Well done.

other real good comics
DAREDEVIL ANNUAL #1 - One of the better Annuals of the year for sure, and as good as the main title has been, one of the better Daredevil stories period. The plot isn't crazy original, with a criminal trying to go straight, but it was extremely well written and the art by Leandro Fernandez was awesome. Even at the end when there isn't much that separates the Black Tarantula from the Punisher, I thought it worked. I really hope the character makes a return appearance in the regular title.
CROSSING MIDNIGHT #12 - Bedtime Stories comes to its conclusion, and it ends up being my favorite arc of the series. By far.
WASTELAND #13 - Johnston and Mitten rolling on all cylinders as the second major arc comes to a close.

three-star comics
X-MEN MESSIAH COMPLEX #1 - Part 1 of 13. Aside from the Marc Silvestri art, which feels dated, this was actually a pretty good start to the crossover.
NEW X-MEN #43 - Nice issue. I'm really going to miss Skottie Young on this title, as I he was making the characters his own.
JACK OF FABLES #16 - I'm starting to like this title, maybe even enough to come off of my "We don't need this book, Jack should be in Fables" stance.
BATMAN #670 - Ra's al Gul, A Prelude. Harmless enough, and I even don't mind Tony Daniel. But following the epic three-parter with J.H., this return to normal super heroics just feels like a step down, even though its competent.
ACTION COMICS #858 - As anyone knows that reads this blog, I don't know much about DC and the history of their universe, so this Legion means little to me as far as incarnations go. Jimmy seems to be a reset of sorts, but whatever, it was a fun issue with some nice debut art by Gary Frank.

comics with problems
IRON MAN #23 - So-so issue with Iron Man starting to go insane. The art was rough here.
MIDNIGHTER: ARMAGEDDON #1 - On its own, it was a been-there-done-that Days of Future Authority issue. Problem is, this is the start of an entire storyline. Maybe it gets better (see TRANQUILITY below).
ULTIMATE POWER #8 - So part 8 of 9 and we are suddenly starting the MARCH ON ULTIMATUM. This story long lost any energy it might have had, so based on the last page, lets hope that at least the last installment has a very cool fight and the outcome actually matters (as was promised).
SAVAGE DRAGON #133 - It has been 15 issues (2+ years) that I've picked up a Savage Dragon comic. A big fan for a long time (I have the first 118 in a box), it isn't because the comic got bad that I stopped, it was just because I missed a few when I was broke and I've been waiting for a chance to catch up. Since that hasn't happened, I thought I'd check in. What did I find? A comic that has gotten even more retro, with two "8-pagers" instead of one story and lots and lots of word balloons jammed full of exposition that really didn't help me. Um, the fun wasn't there that I used to have, but I'll get it again in case it was due to the gap.

bad
STORM SHADOW #5 - This wasn't very good. A silly storyline that REALLY missed the dynamic art that Mark Robinson brought to the first arc.

***

Week 3, NOVEMBER 7TH

book of the week
Y: THE LAST MAN #59
(w. Brian Vaughan, a. Pia Guerra)
After the end of the last issue and the sudden death of one of our main characters, I didn't know what to expect in the penultimate issue of the series. Turns out, even MORE good stuff as most of the remaining plot threads come to a head in good and surprising ways. By the last page I'm taking a big breath with Yorick. One more issue.

runner up
SCALPED #11 - This was awesome. Y got the tie-breaker since it is ending, but this was a great comic. Gina Bad Horse takes center stage and of course, I'm now bummed that she's dead because she would have been an interesting POV to have.

other real good comics
ASTONISHING X-MEN #23 - The long wait was worth it, as Whedon and Cassaday are spot on. The telepathic conversation reveal was cool, but nowhere near as cool as Cyclops kicking ass. Loved the last page splash with the glowing red eyes.
CRIMINAL #10 - Excellent end to "Lawless" the second arc. And at this point, I liked "Coward" more, but its close. Great series.
STRANGE EMBRACE #5 - The creepy cover leads to even more of the creepy flashbacks. What's in store for our young hero listening to the past? Can't wait.
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #10 - No Danny Rand, but that's not enough to hurt this title. The Tourney continues in another great installment.

three-star comics
NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI #5 - SPOILER: I had a lot of fun with this. The reveal of Blackbolt being a Skrull wasn't too much of a surprise, as he was the likeliest candidate. I hope the actual crossover is as fun.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #8 - Season 8 continues, and issues between Buffy and Faith rear their ugly head again.
THE ORDER #4 - The best issue in this series so far. Its Fraction's wacky Casanova ideas filtered through mainstream super hero Marvel editorial. So far its working.
UNCANNY X-MEN #492 - Messiah Complex Part 2. We're still in the setting up phase, but with a 13-part storyline, we are only 15 minutes in to the movie, so that's okay with me. Cyclops smacking Xavier around was awesome. I love that he is getting some love. I'm having fun so far, which is good.
EXTERMINATORS #23 - Lots of crazy fun, with the roach vs. human battle reaching a climax.
MS. MARVEL #21 - A) Agent Sum is turning into a really cool character. B) Aaron Lopresti has cemented himself as a really solid comic book artist. C) Machine Man is still funny. With a female Life Model Decoy body that he got as a signing bonus? Even funnier.
OMEGA: THE UNKNOWN #2 - This comic is getting even weirder, but I'm still with it.
FANTASTIC FOUR #551 - The best issue in the McDuffie/Pelletier run, bar none. It had some moments that made me cringe, but for the most part it was a fun comic book adventure, with a neat twist on Reed's 100 fix-the-world things. Turns out he is a villain in the future, and super heroes (including Doom) have to come back in time to stop him. The cliffhanger, where Reed blows Namor's head off was genuinely cool, too. What more can you ask for?
FALLEN ANGEL #21 - This series spends another issue with Jude as the main character, which is fine. As he accepts his role as Magistrate, he and the book are getting better.
ROBIN #168 - Not bad, but just not all that good. It seemed like we stretched a beat out into an entire issue so that they can stretch the crossover.

comics with problems
SUPERMAN #670 - A so-so end to a so-so plot. The worst part was that I spent the whole issue just waiting for it to end the way it did with the "old lady" Kryponian returning to save the day because she DOES have a conscious. Ugh. Best part of this Kryptonian arc? Batman. Nuff said.
MIDNIGHTER #13 - This was a bit of a mess, story and art wise. The start of this storyline showed more promise, but at this point its stretching out a little long.
TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT: RAMJET - They tried to make Ramjet interesting, but he came across as an idiot. This wasn't necessary at all.
SILVER SURFER: IN THY NAME #1 - I was really excited for this title. Tan Eng Huat's art, one of the main reasons I bought the book was just too much to handle and ruined the story for me. I don't even know if he was the primary culprit, as it is the colors that made it hard to decipher. I think I'm done with the mini, and that's too bad.

bad
TRANQUILITY: ARMAGEDDON #1 - So ARMAGEDDON doesn't get better. It gets worse. Besides the switch to an inferior artist in the middle, this just didn't work for me at all. Poor Wildstorm.

monday night art: chris ware

2007-11-12T23:44:00.000-08:00

This has been running around the internet like crazy for the last week or so, but here it is again. Chris Ware does the poster for THE SAVAGES, an upcoming movie starring Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

(click to make bigger)

Its a really cool poster. I love it when my two favorite mediums come together.

And if you haven't seen this yet. Here is an AMAZING animated short that Chris Ware did for This American Life:

adding to the pile: ncrl for nov. 7

2007-11-08T17:54:00.000-08:00

Just when I think I'm about to be caught up, another Wednesday comes around and I have TWENTY-ONE more books to read. I act like I mind, which isn't true. I'm HAPPY AS HELL to have a lot of books to read. I've been just too busy to read AND talk about them here. This weekend maybe.

Here's what I got:

dark horse
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #8

dc
EXTERMINATORS #23
MIDNIGHTER #13
ROBIN #168 i'm sucked into the bat-family titles for the crossover; ra's al guhl part 1
SCALPED #11
SUPERMAN #670
TRANQUILITY: ARMAGEDDON #1
Y: THE LAST MAN #59 almost there...

idw
FALLEN ANGEL #21
TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT - RAMJET was he really a character deserving of a spotlight?

image
STRANGE EMBRACE #5

marvel
ASTONISHING X-MEN #23
CRIMINAL #10
FANTASTIC FOUR #551
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #10
MS. MARVEL #21
NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI #5
OMEGA: THE UNKNOWN #2
SILVER SURFER: IN THY NAME #1 i normally avoid this kind of mini, but spurrier/haut is an interesting combo
THE ORDER #4
UNCANNY X-MEN #492 messiah complex part 2

monday night art: david peterson

2007-11-05T20:55:00.000-08:00

YES, I'm still ridiculously behind on my comics. Work has been a pain with long hours, leaving my free time with me in a vegetative state in front of the TV. But I'm digging deep, getting some good comics read and having fun when I do. Soon I'll do some yapping, I'm sure.

THIS WEEK!

DAVID PETERSON DOES CTHULHU MOUSE !!

I forgot where I first saw this picture (Newsarama?), but what I do know is, that it was linked to from David Peterson's blog.

Yeah, pretty fucking cool. David Peterson's art is glorious. His book Mouse Guard is even better. Buy it.

jason aaron forces me to buy ghost rider

2007-11-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

Jason Aaron is one of my favorite new writers in the business. Not that I'm alone, as most of the comic book world has nothing but great things to say in regards to his breakout series The Other Side and of course, his phenomenal Vertigo series, Scalped.

So what is a man to do when it is announced that one of his favorite writers is hired to take over not only Wolverine, but Ghost Rider starting this February?

Yeah, you guessed it. Buy them both.

Of course, as an X-Men guy I buy Wolverine anyway. If you read my blog, I mostly talk shit about it month-after-month. Coincidentally, the Jason Aaron penned #56 was the only Wolverine issue that hasn't been disastrous in months. So this is definitely good news.

But Ghost Rider? This is crazy, but cool. I haven't read Ghost Rider regularly since the early 90's. I did read the first Garth Ennis mini recently, and that was good fun, but nothing has drawn me back to the character since Andy Kubert left art duties. For Jason Aaron? I will gladly give my three bucks. He's even a fan, which is always good. I love it when people remember their first issue. From his Newsarama interview:

JA: The first Ghost Rider issue I ever bought was #32 of the original series, way back in 1978. It has Ghost Rider on the cover all in flames and dangling from a noose, being hanged by the black-clad Bounty Hunter and several skeletons wearing cowboy hats, a couple of them angrily shaking their fists in the air.

Awesome.

So starting in February, it looks like I'm reading Ghost Rider again.

And people, if you haven't read Scalped, please BUY IT. Jason Aaron himself is offering a money back guarantee:

We the creators of SCALPED are so proud of our new Vertigo series that we're offering a money-back guarantee on the first trade collection, "Indian Country." If you buy a copy and don't like it, just mail it back to us and we'll refund the price, plus the cost of your shipping. It's as easy as that. So now you really have no excuse for not trying SCALPED, the gritty crime series that's been hailed by critics, fans and the industry's top creators as the best new comic of the year.
--Jason Aaron & R.M Guera
P.O. Box 8620
Prairie Village, KS 66208-0620
creators at scalped.info

Now PEOPLE, how can you not get into that? Click the SCALPED picture below for the Amazon link.

ncrl for halloween

2007-11-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

Still waaaaay behind on my HUGE pile last week, so why I went to the store to buy more, who knows, but here is the list for Halloween 2007:

archaia:
MOUSE GUARD WINTER 1152 #2

dc:
ACTION COMICS #858 my girlfriend's take on the cover: 'why is superman an old man now?" regardless, I'M happy that gary frank is the artist now
BATMAN #670 crossover alert: part 1 of 8
CROSSING MIDNIGHT #12
JACK OF FABLES #16
MIDNIGHTER ARMAGEDDON #1

devil's due:
STORM SHADOW #5

image:
~~NECROMANCER PILOT SEASON #1~~ i was going to get all five of the pilot seasons, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it after the flip through. just looked like a T&A book with monsters, and that just isn't my thing.
SAVAGE DRAGON #133 checking in with an old friend after a 15 issue absence. i have been waiting, so that I can fill the gap, but thought I would check in anyway, because i've missed it.

marvel:
DAREDEVIL ANNUAL #1
IRON MAN #23
NEW X-MEN #43
ULTIMATE POWER #8
X-MEN: MESSIAH COMPLEX #1 crossover alert: part 1 of 13

oni:
WASTELAND #13

other:
I'm still trying to figure out this whole POTTER'S FIELD thing. My backup store was out too. So who knows when I'll get my hands on it.

monday night art: travis charest

2007-10-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

I am dangerously behind on new comic books this week. If I get a post up this week I'll be impressed. In the mean time, here is a page of Travis Charest's art from an Ultimates recap book coming up soon. He only does 4 pages apparently, but HOLY SHIT, I think I might just get it anyway.

[click to make bigger]

One of my favorite artists of all-time, I'm happy to see him return to American comics. Can't wait until we get an entire issue of something.

ncrl: october 24

2007-10-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

This year is going by fast, eh?

THE BIG LIST ! From a record NINE publishers too!

archaia:
THE KILLER #5
THE KILLER #6 months of no Killer and then two?! i guess the french version is behind too, since one of their issues is two of ours

avatar:
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #3
STREETS OF GLORY #2

boom!:
POTTER'S FIELD #2 although my guy was out, and i need to track it down now

dark horse:
FEAR AGENT: THE LAST GOODBYE #4

dc:
ACTION COMICS #857
AUTHORITY: PRIME #1 this snuck up on me, i thought it still had a few days
GEN 13 #13 last simone
GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #6
LOVELESS #20
SUPERMAN #669
WETWORKS #14 apparently, this has one more issue

dynamite:
LONE RANGER #9 sweeeeeet

idw:
TRANSFORMERS: DEVASTATION #2
MEGATRON: ORIGIN #4

image:
CASANOVA #10
VELOCITY PILOT SEASON #1
WALKING DEAD #43

marvel;
CABLE/DEADPOOL #46
DAREDEVIL #101
~~MOON KNIGHT #13~~ drrrrooooooppped
SHE-HULK 2 #22
THUNDERBOLTS #117
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #115
X-MEN #204

weekly loot: october 17

2007-10-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

So this is a bit late this week. But better late than ever! Good week too, as I enjoyed most of what I read.

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.

monday night art: stan sakai

2007-10-22T18:53:00.001-07:00

I do not know if this is becoming a weekly thing or not, but it is here tonight! This week, the super fucking cool SAMURAI HULK by Stan Sakai.

AWESOME:

Click to make bigger.

northlanders

2007-10-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

My most anticipated book of the year is Brian Wood's NORTHLANDERS from Vertigo Comics. In fact, it has probably been my most anticipated ever since I first heard about it (I think) at Comic-Con 2006. Brian Wood's DMZ has been one of my favorites over the last couple of years* and his indie hits DEMO and (especially) LOCAL have been excellent as well.

There is a brand spanking new interview with Brian Wood over at Comic Book Resources about the series.

AND

Myspace Comic Books has a 7-page preview as well. Just click on Sven below:

Can't fucking wait.

*DMZ has won 10 "book of the weeks" since I started keeping track in January 2006.

back over 20 books: ncrl for october 17

2007-10-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

Along with WOLVERINE #58 that my retailer didn't get last week, here was what I picked up yesterday:

archaia:
PRIMORDIA #1

dark horse:
UMBRELLA ACADEMY #1 i'm reaaaally excited for this

dc:
AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #57 cancelled, last issue
DMZ #24
EX-MACHINA #31
FABLES #66
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #14
THE PROGRAMME #4

devil's due:
GI JOE AMERICA'S ELITE #28

dynamite:
BOYS #11

image:
ELEPHANTMEN #11
SUBURBAN GLAMOUR #1 the previews to this have looked great
SWORD #1 new luna brothers

marvel:
CAPTAIN AMERICA #31
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CHOSEN #3
MIGHTY AVENGERS #5
PENANCE: RELENTLESS #2
POWERS #26
TERROR, INC. #3
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #47
ULTIMATE X-MEN #87
WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #18
X-MEN: EMPEROR VULCAN #2

quick takes: october 10

2007-10-16T23:30:00.000-07:00

Over the course of the last 4-6 weeks, I have been slowly trying to increase the amount of writing I do when discussing the weekly loot, but after a long weekend in Vegas for a wedding, shuffling between friends and family, and coming back to work on a Tuesday to play catch-up basically meeeaaaans... that these will be on the briefer side of what they've been.

book of the week:

X-FACTOR #24
(w. Peter David, a. Pablo Ramiondi)
Not a great book this week, but a pretty good one gets the top spot. The final part in the latest X-Factor storyline ends with our heroes barely escaping (the crazy!) Isolationist and his slightly far-fetched plan to kill the Earth's remaining mutants. From here the series moves into the big Mutant Crossover: Messiah Complex. Then somewhere down the line will hopefully return to the character as series villain. Also, even though we got some teases over the course of the first 24 issues, I'm excited to see these X-Factor characters interact with the main teams again. Some nice Raimondi art once again.

other real good comics:

BLACK SUMMER #3: This is really going into old-school Authority territory here (although not as ground breaking), with basically, even better powers on the heroes. Some crazy action, with just enough character bits with politics and science thrown in to make it entertaining. Good issue, even if we spent a lot of time talking at the beginning.

PUNISHER #51: I really liked this issue, but I really can't help myself when Frank goes completely over-the-top bad ass. You know, biting people's faces, all the while, still wanting to protect the puny humans from the big bad Barracuda. Looking forward to their showdown, but I will be sad if the Garth Ennis rumors are true. PLEASE DON'T LEAVE GARTH! PLEEEEAAAASE!

three-star comics:

NEW AVENGERS #35: The cover was awesome! Too bad it had absolutely NOTHING to do with the issue! Why not put the Hood on the cover, and save this thing for next issue when it, you know, actually has Wolverine in it. I enjoyed the issue, but I can't help but feel that the Hood s being pushed too hard, too fast. I buy him as someone that is up-and-coming. Hell, I even buy him as someone that WILL be a future bad-ass. What I don't buy, is the Hood sa an A-level Super Villain. And NO, killing The Owl and beating the shit out of Tigra isn't going to change my mind.

STORMWATCH PHD #12: A good, if a bit of a ho-hum ending to a rather confusing series. For one, without a doubt, Gage is a talented writer. He has a good knack for character, and juggles a large team book (basically two teams) with great ease, letting most of the characters get their moment to shine. Its just too bad that I feel like this series slowly fell downhill, bottoming at the horrible Synergy murder attempt on her husband, and then meandered back up to pretty good in the final issues. If I can find time, I've really wanted to post something about Wildstorm as a whole because I have much more to say about this one.

NEW WARRIORS #5: I like the idea of this comic, the story and even the art, as I think Medina has "big star" in his future. And this was another perfectly good issue. My problem at this point, is that I don't feel like I know the New Warriors much at all besides for Sofia and what I already knew of Jubilee as a long time X-Fan. It looks like some of the characters are starting to get a little detail with this issue, but it took a meaningless death to kind of start that.

GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #1: So I liked this. In fairness, Cliff Chiang is a big part of the reason, as the art is pretty much amazing. The rest of it was good fun, and a pretty good comic book. Nice moments with Green Lantern and Batman (the autopsy was hilarious) and a decent cliffhanger that wasn't really too much of a surprise. But yeah, Chiang is the shit.

RUNAWAYS #28: Another chapter in the Whedon Runaways. Still not reaching Vaughan levels, but I'm still having fun with the arc.

EXTERMINATORS #22: God damn this comic is crazy. No, seriously, its fucking crazy.

STORM SHADOW #4: So this book did continue with the goofy formula: bad, good, bad, good! The story was so-so, the art and that action were all pretty awesome. Zartan showing up was a nice surprise, and his confrontation with Storm Shadow was good times.

WONDER WOMAN #13: A pretty good filler issue, helping to set up and lead in to the much anticipated Simone run.

comics with problems:

SUPERMAN #668: Thought I'd check out this little three parter, but unfortunately it didn't do much for me. The villains seem lame and Busiek's writing was surprisingly eh. I'm not that big on Rick Leonardi's art, so that was just okay for me. The best part was definitely the exchanges between the young Kent and Robin.

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #12: The main World War Hulk title has been a mostly entertaining slug fest, but the side books just continue to be ugh for me. The art was good though, and I could seriously get into the Punisher symbiote outfit as necessary gear every once in a while.

FANTASTIC FOUR #550: The return of Gravity already? Blah. And it looks like we've already reached the end of the Black Panther/Storm era. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that we are, but it still is odd to me the progression that Sue/Reed go through from Civil War to here. I guess it really wasn't supposed to affect things for years to come.

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #24: I'm obviously not the only one thinking this, but really? Two issues into the four parter that changes everything and nothing has really happened? The last page was at least promising. And I dug Quesada's art more.

WORLD WAR HULK FRONTLINE #5: This still isn't working for me. The best part of the issue was probably the Top Ten reasons to hate Sally Floyd.

um, no:

NONE

oh holy shit, we're almost there

2007-10-12T20:30:00.001-07:00

Pretty fucking rad. Y: The Last Man #60:

(click to make much biggah)

another week under 20!?: ncrl for october 10

2007-10-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

This is what I got this week:

avatar:
BLACK SUMMER #3

dc comics:
ABSOLUTE SANDMAN VOLUME 2 i don't know that i'm going to get this THIS week, but i will be getting it.
EXTERMINATORS #22
GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #1
STORMWATCH PHD #12
SUPERMAN #668 don't know why but i felt like getting this three-parter see what busiek is up to
WONDER WOMAN #13 only one more issue...

devil's due:
STORM SHADOW #4

marvel:
FANTASTIC FOUR #550
FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #24
NEW AVENGERS #35
NEW WARRIORS #5
PUNISHER #51
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #12 i feel sorry for this comic book coming out opposite the REAL punisher comic.
RUNAWAYS #28
~~WOLVERINE #58~~ store was shorted, so i'll get this next week.
WORLD WAR HULK FRONTLINE #5 blah
X-FACTOR #24

a really average week: october 3

2007-10-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

It was a small week, and unfortunately, that translated into a lot of three-star comics (books that were perfectly entertaining), but not too many that rose above that. You know, books that make me freak out with ape-like grunting in anticipation for the next issue. THOSE kind. Still here were my reactions:

book of the week:

SCALPED #10
(w. Jason Aaron, a. R.M. Guera)
No other book really had a chance this week. It was not the best issue of the series (as the book has been on fire), but it was still pretty good, and in a week like this one, it was plenty. This issue concentrates on the youngest character to date, Dino Poor Bear. In fact, I'm having trouble placing exactly how old he is. Still, this father to a baby wants off the reservation pretty badly, as he dreams of women and cars. Although the issue's climactic scene is a conversation between Red Crow and Dino, this issue appears to be the least connected to the overall storyline. Still, the character is well done and interesting (as is every other character in the book) and he is a welcomed addition to the brilliant ensemble.

other real good comics:

OMEGA THE UNKNOWN #1: So I should apparently know who Jonathan Lethem is, eh? And I should also know who Farel Dalrymple is as well, right? Well guess what, I don't. None of that means anything to me. Hell, even the title character means little. I've heard of the character (Gerber and all), but know nothing of the previous incarnation so this book basically stands on its own. And it works. The art was definitely "indie" and normally I wouldn't want that in a super hero book, but for this quirky and odd story, it fits. My favorite part is the main character Alexander. He talks weird and acts weird, and his demeanor and delivery is hilarious. I found the scenes after he woke up with the Doctor and Nurse to be pretty awesome. I don't know what's up with the protector hero, but I'm curious. Good stuff.

three-star comics:

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #7: Faith vs. Gargoyle monsters! Do that with a TV budget! Ha. How perfectly has Brian Vaughan fit in, eh? The conversation between Willow and Dawn was classic Buffy.

FAKER #4: The answers come fast and furious in this issue, and although this series has gone so far in a direction I couldn't fathom when it started, I'm still very entertained and looking forward to the end. To think, I almost didn't get #2.

JLA/HITMAN #2: A really fun conclusion to this little two-parter where Hitman improbably gets to finish saving the world alongside the JLA. Well, not really alongside them at all, and more like in spite of them. Good comic, which I'm sure is enhanced for longtime fans of Hitman. DC, trade these damn things already so I can read em!

UNCANNY X-MEN #491: Probably the best issue in the arc, as this has been slow moving. It appears to be setting more up for the future than anything, but that's okay considering that the BIG X-OVER (!) is coming. Hepzibah and Warpath got right to it, and aside from the light speed romance, I'm really happy with her addition to the cast.

JACK OF FABLES #15: I completely bought the reasoning behind Jack and John and why John thinks Jack is a copy. This was a good comic, now that we finally got our answers. But the jury is DEFINITELY still OUT on the addition of other immortal POWERS OF THE STORYVERSE. This could lead to some interesting stories though, and will definitely gave this book its own focus separating itself from the concerns of the Fables book. Though the question exists, will Revise et al eventually get involved in that storyline too?

WOLVERINE ANNUAL #1: CALL OFF THE SEARCH!! CALL OF THE SEARCH!! MARCELO FRUSIN HAS BEEN FOUND !!! Now, can someone please ask him why the fuck he isn't drawing Loveless? DAMN! In all seriousness, Frusin draws the hell out of Gregg Hurwitz's first comic book, with a plot that mirrors the Punisher Annual from a week ago. I felt Wolverine went a little far out of character on this vengeance though, flat out torturing people with his claws (through their eyes, etc.) but for the most part this was good. Hurwitz does some good character building with the Red Shirt though, and he definitely shows promise. As a crime fan, I thought both Benson and Hurwitz had solid debuts.

MS. MARVEL #20: Well, this got reeeallly serious after the previous two issues, didn't it? Don't get me wrong, I still had fun with the issue, but it took me off-guard. Part 1 and 2 had tons of Machine Man antics, with tongue and cheek Puppet Master doing villainous things with his mind-controlled super heroines. But here, no Machine Man jokes and Ms. Marvel being filed with rage, and basically killing the Puppet Master (she let him commit suicide) before having an internal power hungry rant. It was definitely far from bad, I just felt like the comic tricked me a bit.

MIDNIGHTER #12: This was nowhere near as cool as last issue and that BAD ASS Chris Cross drawn fight, but it was entertaining enough. It has been the best Wildstorm title over the last few months for me.

TRANSFORMERS: DEVASTATION #1: First part back after a spell, and we got a bunch of talking robots and set-up. Where is my robot-on-robot destruction? Dag! Coming next issue I guess with Sixshot on full attack, after he warned Megatron that he might just break the entire planet if he does it his way.

WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY #11: The zombie story continues. Although I'm having fun with the comic, and I really enjoy the flashbacks with older art styles, sometimes it comes across as disjointed. Still, this has been fun.

PARADE (WITH FIREWORKS) #2: I'm not sure what I think of this book. Some people have been saying they thought the art wasn't right for the content, but I disagree. Still, I thought the problems were with the story, and I thought the first part worked a lot better than this one did. Part 2 is basically a big downer where our main character Paolo, ultimately goes to jail before a last page "life goes on" moment. It was an odd point to stop the story for me, as I thought the Epilogue they ran in the back would have been a better Part 2 than what we got. Dunno. Still, I enjoyed the attempt, the book looked pretty and I'm glad Image published it.

comics with problems:

THE VINYL UNDERGROUND #1: The problem with Vinyl Underground isn't that it is badly written, or even badly drawn, because it isn't. This is a perfectly competent comic book. Thing is, there is nothing original in this story idea at all. The book came across as some weird caricature of what a Vertigo comic should be. Ultra hip lead that does drugs (in this case did), with every character trying to out hip the other one. In London. While investigating the Occult. While smoking. It made me want to laugh a bit that this somehow got through as an original idea.

um, no:

ACTION COMICS #856: I'm fully aware that this will be a minority opinion, but Bizarro bugs the hell out of me. Morrison's take in All-Star has been good, but even that title, as good as it is, pushed the limits with the issue entirely in Bizarro Earth. But that has nothing to do with this series. I mean, besides the fact that DC is over exposing a one note character that really isn't all that interesting. So basically we get a ton of Bizarro speak here via various bizarro counterparts to Superman's supporting cast. This was just bad.

ncrl for october 3

2007-10-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

Small week for me for the first time in a while. It's also a relatively "weak" week, with not many of my favorite "Top 25" books on the list. (Which I'm due for my quarterly check-in this month.)

So this is what I got, and I should be back with some reactions tomorrow.

dark horse:
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #7

dc:
ACTION COMICS #856
FAKER #4
JACK OF FABLES #15
JLA/HITMAN #2
MIDNIGHTER #12
SCALPED #10
THE VINYL UNDERGROUND #1 it wasn't until i was at the store that i finally decided to give this book a try
WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY #11

idw:
TRANSFORMERS: DEVASTATION #1

image:
PARADE (WITH FIREWORKS) #2

marvel:
OMEGA THE UNKNOWN #1
MS. MARVEL #20
UNCANNY X-MEN #491
WOLVERINE ANNUAL #1 MARCELO FRUSIN HAS BEEN FOUND !!

weekly loot: september 26

2007-10-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

Another week, another fun jaunt into the world of comics. Here's how it went.

book of the week:

BATMAN #669
(w. Grant Morrison, a. J.H. Williams III)
What a lovely three parter this was. Of course, this is no secret as from Part 1 it has been getting rave reviews all over the internet. So I will be surprising no one by giving it my Book of the Week. In fact, all three parts ended up getting Book of the Week for me. (I don't know what that means, but it makes me happy.) Morrison finishes off his island mystery with The Club of Heroes and the only shitty part in the whole deal is the fact that this is J.H. Williams' last issue. As fun as the script was, (and it was definitely Morrison's best thus far), what REALLY elevated this storyline was the art. J.H. shined from panel-to-panel, page-to-page, drawing the hell out of Morrison's story. Tony Daniel is the next artist, and although I don't hate him or anything, it returns the title to more standard superhero dare, and I just feel bad that he has to follow this. Bravo J.H.

other real good comics:

CRIMINAL #9: Shit really starts to hit the fan, as the "bad guys" get closer to Tracy while the woman (in his crew!) he is sleeping with finds out who he really is: The brother of her dead ex-boyfriend. Really good issue, with some nice flashbacks to the Lawless way of upbringing. All this is setting up the end game where we should finally get the answer to "What happened to Ricky Lawless?"

USAGI YOJIMBO #106: Sakai rarely does multi-part storylines, usually trying to keep it to done-in-ones or two-parters. So when he does, it's always a treat. The latest storyline cruises into its second part with a lot of characters coming together to hunt down fugitive Inazuma, who of course is currently being possessed by the demon Jei. I have no doubt that all this setup will eventually payoff big time. Good issue.

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #9 & IMMORTAL IRON FIST ANNUAL #1: So glad that I jumped back on this title! Flat out one of the hippest, entertaining titles out there today. Definitely one of Marvel's gems. The current storyline, with Iron Fist fighting in a tournament (with K'un Lun in the balance), has been gloriously unpredictable. And a story that leads right into an Annual that actually means something, is more than I can ask for. Okay, its not, but its usually more than I get.

CROSSING MIDNIGHT #11: Another solid Crossing Midnight story. I still find this to be the best and most coherent arc of the series.

GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #5: Cool, cool, cool. Diggle and Jock are kicking ass. Bring on the finale.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #114: Dear Mr. Immonen, I'm sorry that I ever talked about you art in anyway but awesome. Best, Jaime. This title has been steady and consistent since the Clone War storyline, but Immonen has found a way to re-energized the series amidst yet another Green Goblin story. Awesome.

three-star comics:

X-MEN #203: OF COURSE neither Mystique or Gambit do anything truly evil when given the chance. I mean, it's not that I wanted to see Bobby or Sam die, it's just not surprising that these two "villains" did what they did. NOTHING.

PUNISHER MAX ANNUAL #1: Not written by Garth Ennis? NOT WRITTEN BY GARTH ENNIS!? Who the fuck is Mike Benson and why is he touching the Max Punisher? Ok, I'm over-reacting. Plus, it was pretty good. Nothing too original here, as Punisher is pushed to supporting character, or rather ghostly antagonist to our on-the-run criminal. But it worked, and was well worth my money. Nothing to shabby from Benson, but the real star here was Laurence Campbell on art. His use of wider panels, and wide "shots" worked really well, and the Firday the 13th-esque use of Frank Castle was pretty great.

THE ORDER #3: Our third issue in, and we get our third character focus. I enjoyed this one more than #2, as that one came across as a bad cliche, but Calamity Wa was actually a bit more interesting. I dig Anthem as the leader too, and with concepts like Zobo's from Fraction, I'm definitely around for a bit. But what was with Pepper Potts and the water bottle?

WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #1: How long has it been since Part 4? Some 7 months or so, right? Regardless, just like Heinberg did a pretty good Wonder Woman in the first four issues, he does so again here. I would have liked to have seen the climax be kept to just Wonder Woman and the Wonder Sidekicks rather than the entire DC Universe, but that is definitely more of a personal quibble. The art was gorgeous as the Dodsons are perfect for Diana. They draw her so powerful and beautiful, that the usually good Gary Frank's version was made to look UGLY in the back-up. Too bad Heinberg couldn't do more, but at this point I'm more excited for Simone anyway.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #13: As much as I've despised McDuffie on the Fantastic Four, this was a treat. It definitely draws from the cartoon, with the Injustice League and what not, but it works for me. The Joker being subservient to anyone, even Lex Luthor has always bugged me (especially if this is supposed to be in the same world as the new Morrison Joker), but even that I can overlook based on the fun I had with this issue. I really enjoyed the Superman/Vixen interaction, as it always fun when they have small character moments, and it even keeps with the continuity of Meltzer's run which is nice. on art, I have no real love for Benitez, but I will say this: he didn't really distract to the point of removing me from the story. And that's important! This was fun, and mostly what I wanted from a JLA title. (Something tells me some die hard DC Universe fans are hating this.)

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #46: For the most part, Carey has been pretty good with his little Fantastic Four run. I would go so far as to say when Pasqual Ferry is on art, it has been pretty damn good, and not so good when it is someone else. Proof that a good script needs a good artist too? Or do I just love Pasqual Ferry? Maybe both.

ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #7: Surprised to see this at three stars? Well, don't be. Because it has sinked so far into cartoon, that it being an over-the-top bad comic, has made this title entertaining. I still don't think that Miller is being bad on purpose, but it works for me on that level regardless. Jim Lee is still the first artist I fell in love with in comics, so I will never complain to get a book with his art in it.

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #6: This was borderline, but for the most part, I'm still enjoying the comic. The ending with Slapstick did nothing for me, and I find myself wanting the "Initiative: Black" team back.

IRON MAN #22: A decent issue from the Knaufs and De La Torre. I still feel, all the way back to #7 that there is a really good comic fighting to get out. The Knaufs must be so frustrated with the title constantly being derailed for two years because of Tony's importance in the "Summer Crossovers." Maybe Marvel will let them actually get a story out in the #20's.

comics with problems:

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE CHOSEN #2: Although I placed it here, I'm being pretty hard on this title early on. It isn't baaad really, its just not that interesting. YET. Hopefully.

THE SPIRIT #10: I was bit bored by this issue. Especially after the high I was left on with the last one which was excellent. The whole news anchor thing was just kind of dumb to me.

ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #3: I'll still read a few more, or at least to an obvious jumping off point, but I don't know if the mix of horror and super hero is working for me here.

CABLE/DEADPOOL #45: Dammit, Bob finally hit a little bit of a funny wall for me here. I love that he's a supporting character, but this was a lot of Bob. And for as much as I thought the running into Cap in the past thing feels played, Bucky was pretty damn funny.

WETWORKS #13: Another lame duck Wildstorm title that just seems to be going through the motions until everything in the Wildstorm is eventually canceled. The greater Wetworks team has moved into their position in the new Vampire War. The art was uninspired. (They should totally give THIS title to Diggle and Jock.)

um, no:

DEATHBLOW #7: I'm sorry Brian Azzarello. I adore 100 Bullets, and I'm still fighting for Loveless. But this is a mess. Just a plain fucking mess. What is going on here any more? And why should I care? What was even more maddening than the issue, was seeing "to be continued" at the end.

comic book idol

2007-09-29T13:50:00.001-07:00

For those that don't know, Comic Book Resources is coming up on their THIRD Comic Book Idol. A competition for amateur artists, where ten of them go through a series of challenges and each week it gets wittled down to one. And that one, wins some cool prizes usually gets some real comic work and they live on happily ever after.

More details can be found at the website and its FAQ.

Yesterday, I went through 160 submissions (since the deadline is upon us) and while we await the announcement of the Top 10, I thought I would share mine. This is pretty much a repost of a MB comment I left yesterday, but I wanted to post it here.

***

So I just spent the last couple of hours looking through all of the submissions and I thought I would share my ten. Not all of these are perfect, but they are the ten that I would like to see more of.

In no particular order:

WILL SLINEY
He was the first one that I liked (after about 2-3 pages). I'm not 100% on his faces, but he does some really solid work. His Iron Man pin-up is awesome.

ALEXANDER STOJANOV
This guy was the first one that posted? I overlooked him the first time, but after looking at everything today, he made it through. I love his wide shots. He would be perfect for a widescreen Ellis adventure. Example.

SEAN IZAAKSE
This little Juggernaut/Iron Fist fight was pretty cool.

CAIO OLIVEIRA
One of my nuttier picks, but his style and take on Wolverine cracked me up. The trio of pages with the DC girls was real good too.

JUAN (couldn't find a last name on his gallery)
This guy was just a solid comic artist. Nothing too original in his style, but I'd like to see him do some pages in this contest. Another example.

JEFF CLEMENS
I really liked this guy. Just a fun, solid clean artist.

NICHOLAS PITARRA
Probably my wackiest pick. Just a really interesting style. GREAT detail. And although I wouldn't expect to see him on a mainstream superhero book, I would love to see him to do some of the challenges, that's for sure. Although he did do some cool Authority pages. More Authority here. And another non-authority example.

KAMERON GATES
Heavily stylized, heavily cool. I suspect that with pin-ups like this and this. Well, and this too. He will be one of the early fan favorites. But he can do sequential too!

T. WING III
This is one of those guys that I liked instantly. Really really cool stuff. I hope he/she makes it, because I want to see more. Here's another.

MARK TORRES
The characters are stiff, blocky and not very life like at times, but that is definitely part of his style. His design is unique and for the most part, this is pretty damn good. I bet he'll have some fans if he makes it into the ten. Another.

I had a few honorable mentions, but I'll just leave it at the above.

***

This contest is always a lot of fun, and it looks like there is some talented folk this year.

twenty-three books: ncrl for september 27

2007-09-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, 23 books for me. Over 20 is starting to become the norm, I guess. What happened to the 12 book weeks?

What I picked up:

dark horse:
USAGI YOJIMBO #106

dc:
ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #7
BATMAN #669 i almost feel bad that frank miller's mess comes out opposite this
CROSSING MIDNIGHT #11
DEATHBLOW #7
GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #5
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #13
THE SPIRIT #10
WETWORKS #13
WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #1

image:
ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #3
~~BRIT #2~~ i decided against this. no kirkman, and not a very good #1 leaves me cold

marvel:
AVENGERS: INITIATIVE #6
CABLE/DEADPOOL #45
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CHOSEN #2
CRIMINAL #9
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #9
IMMORTAL IRON FIST ANNUAL #1
IRON MAN #22
PUNISHER MAX ANNUAL #1 i almost didn't get this since it wasn't ennis
THE ORDER #3
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #46
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #114
X-MEN #203

weekly loot: september 19

2007-09-25T23:42:00.000-07:00

So I didn't get this up yon Sunday as I wanted to, but here we go anyway.

My retailer did end up having Dr. Thirteen after all (his last copy), so I was able to give him my money rather than give it to Amazon. And I ended up leaving Zero Killer #2 behind. Even though I enjoyed the artist a great deal, it failed the flip-through test.

book of the week:

UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE #1
(w. Gerard Way, a. Gabriel Ba)
So I don't like Gerard Way's music much at all. And that, quite honestly, has NOTHING to do with the fact that this is a pretty kick ass comic book. I was won over after having read only the description of .01 on the inside cover. "My favorite." Everything else from then on, was pure comic book FUN. From the origin of the kids, to the could-be-a-bad-guy Monocle, as the kids' Dad. Villains? How about Zombie-Robot Gustave Eiffel as one of the most gloriously hilarious concepts in quite a while. After the kids have their first adventure, the book jumps forward in time (but that looks to be part of the storyline), to reveal half-apes and full-on chimps. And ANY TIME you can fit that into a comic book, most normal people will be happy. All of this is drawn by the talented Gabriel Ba. Who comes fresh off of the first arc of critical darling Casanova, bringing his quirky, stylized and highly competent art (this time in full color) and it is absolutely perfect for the material. So yeah, Gerard Way's music sucks ass, but his comic is fun as hell. (BONUS: Mass points to the crew for getting James Jean on covers. Awesome.)

runner-up:

GUTSVILLE #2: This was real close this week, but on pure comic entertainment, Umbrella Academy got the nod. Still, this comic was really good too. The story of Albert Oliphant the Ratcatcher continues, and with it, we go deeper into the plot, the world Spurrier is creating and yes, the belly of the leviathan. Frazer Irving's art is amazing. He makes individual pages just beautiful to look at. Oh, and he does the letters too!

other real good comics:

WASTELAND #12: This book is pretty much in "GEM" status: Good every month. All hell has broken loose in Newbegin, and as our main characters escape near death, it is only to have to face hundreds and hundreds of Sand-Eaters. Something tells me that after the next couple of issues, the status-quo of this book will be changing again. Good stuff.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #30: So Captain America is dead, but the quality of this title doesn't seem to give a shit. The Winter Soldier is a bad-ass, as shown again here in the opening scene where he eeasily takes out Crossbones and Sin. Iron Man and the others finding out about Sharon happened a little sooner than I expected, but that's fine with me. Moving things along! Nice cliffhanger too.

three-star comics:

PROGRAMME #3: Things are starting to happen here, with another Russian villain and the reveal of what appears to be secret American heroes. This book looks fantastic, with awesome covers, and I'm happy that its getting better with each issue. I'm in for the 12 issues for sure.

WORLD WAR HULK #4: Wall-to-wall ass kicking: Hulk ass-kicking Strange (after getting his own ass kicked), Super Heroes ass-kicking alien monsters and Mr. Fantastic ass-kicking Iron Man. All of course leading into next issue, where Sentry will get to ass-kick the Hulk. WWH is definitely everything it advertised itself as.

EX-MACHINA #30: Good, solid start to a new storyline. This title is not the comic legend that Y: The Last Man will be, but its a solid comic all the same.

JLA/HITMAN #1: I've read exactly ONE Hitman comic in my time. The reason I even picked it up, was because it was the "other book" that Garth Ennis had going while he was writing the legendary Preacher run (a series that is one of my favorite comics of all-time). Needless to say, I loved the Hitman comic. Problem was, I could not read anymore. I felt that I had to wait until I could read the series from the very beginning to read it at all. I'm still waiting. (Side note: FUCK YOU DC FOR NOT PUTTING THIS THING IN TRADES!) Aaaaanyway, that doesn't mean I can't get this, right? Right. And I'm glad I did. If the only for the look on Batman's face when Superman and Tommy reunite as old friends. Awesome. (Also funny: How everyone was a dick to newbie Kyle.)

NEW X-MEN #42: I really liked this "slower" issue. And I'm really starting to like the greater cast of kids here, and I'm curious how they will be handled in the upcoming crossover and beyond.

STREETS OF GLORY #1: Solid, if gory (hello Avatar!) start to this comic book western. With the arrival of our villain on the last page, I expect the story to really get going next issue.

WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #17: This could be the most solid Wolverine: Origins comic I've read in the entire run. Maybe because its devoid of Wolverine's STUPID SON and STUPID ROMULUS, and instead is telling a neat little flashback story to Cap and Logan fighting during WW2. Nick Fury showing up was a nice surprise.

AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #56: As much as I've been (oddly) entertained by the short Williams/McManus run, I'm reaching my limits. Although I'm not necessarily ready for the book to be canceled, I am definitely ready for the inevitable return of the real Aquaman. Stat.

PENANCE: RELENTLESS #1: In Thunderbolts, there are too many villains to touch upon, so I guess its okay that they gave Penance's "creator" Paul Jenkins a mini-series to further explore the change in Robbie's character. So far, nothing out of this world good or bad has happened. Solid storytelling, with really good art by Paul Gulacy. Funny thing about Robbie Baldwin, is that I think once his character comes out the other side of all this Penance nonsense, he is going to be a really interesting character. Still not sold on the trip there however. We'll see I guess.

MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #4: Nothing earth-shattering happening, but I'm enjoying the trippy ride that Allred's unique art is taking us on. For a series on probation, I guess it was successful issue, since I will be getting #5.

TERROR, INC. #2: Some really cool sequences, especially the opening one as Terror "returns" from the dead. I'm just not sure I care too much about what is going on.

comics with problems:

GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY: WEDDING SPECIAL #1: EXTRA SPOILER WARNING. Since the release of this issue, it has been all over the Internet in various forms: A) People that hate the end where Oliver Queen (for now) appears to be dead again. B) People that think it is bad for Black Canary's character, and C) People that just hate the fact that Judd Winick is writing these characters since he is a "horrible writer." And all the ways in which A,B and C overlap. Basically, a lot of emotion flying around! I am familiar with the characters (Arrow more than Canary), but I am not invested in the same way as long term DC fans are. With all that said, this issue fails for me too. It was a cutesy wedding story with some good moments (the Superman/Wonder Woman conversation) peppered into too many bad ones (Canary's "dress," our greatest heroes being stupid to serve the plot, and the out-of-left field ending). I will say one thing, the Amanda Conner art is fucking awesome. Why the hell she doesn't do more regular work is beyond me (and I only have this and The Pro to go on). And if it wasn't for the A-level art, this book would be getting even more shit than it is.

WORLD WAR HULK: FRONTLINE #4: Since when has World War Hulk been happening long enough for aliens to be chilling at bars with humans? Did I miss 18 months of integration? For me, this series just appears to be happening in alternate universe where World War Hulk is happening. I still enjoy Sally, but just not this series.

um, just no:

MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #1: I almost feel bad putting this here, because I bought this issue for Mr. And Mrs. Immonen Hellcat story, and it wasn't that bad. But the rest of the issue, was a waste of space for me. Okay, more specifically: The "main" story, Vanguard didn't do anything to get me excited for more, and the Omega Flight story CERTAINLY didn't. Not for one more part, much less twelve. The Thing story was mostly pointless. Of all the Thing stories they could have done, they chose this one? A look back to when Alicia loved the Thing? The Spider-Man story was probably the only one I would have liked to see an actual plot develop from (even if it was out of continuity) and it ended in one. Sorry, maybe anthologies just aren't for me. I'm done with #1, and I would be surprised if the series isn't done in 12.

CYBLADE PILOT SEASON #1: As much love as I gave Ripclaw just some weeks ago, Top Cow fired back with this piece of nonsense, and I don't even know where to begin for fear that I will rant about this far longer than I really want to. What it is? A TOP COW book in all its glory, basically, a T & A chick book. What it isn't? Very good. Also, maybe I don't remember my old Cyblade history from Cyberforce (or maybe it doesn't matter here), but I don't remember her being 19 at all. Wasn't she kind of an heir to her father's business or something before Cyberdata got a hold of her? Whatever. I think being 19 with your tits out fits the TC style more accurately anyway.

quick takes: september 12

2007-09-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

It felt like it took forever to get through these TWENTY-SEVEN books, but it was worth it, as there was some good stuff. Today could be catch-up day, with a couple of weeks of reactions. Hopefully.

book of the week:

100 BULLETS #85

(w. Brian Azzarello, a. Eduardo Risso)

EXTRA SPOILER WARNING. Without a doubt, the most entertaining 22 pages of the week. It is of course one of my favorite comics and Eduardo Risso is in my personal Hall of Fame, but this was the only issue this week (and in some weeks) that I was emotionally involved in. Azzarello has created a comic, that I no longer know who is going to make it through the series and my favorite character, Lono, is the one tested here. A victim of his makes a surprise return to the series and enacts revenge in her own, very appropriate way. I read the last few pages thinking Lono was a dead man. As it turns out, he wasn't. The relief I felt was an interesting one, because she deserved her revenge (and she got it), but the most unpredictable character in an unpredictable series still lives. And I'm happy about that. How cool and perfect did the cover turn out to be?

other real good comics:

POTTER'S FIELD #1: No secret that I'm a big crime comic fan, as 100 Bullets (above), Criminal and The Killer are all amongst my favorite comics. Although I can't with good conscious throw this in with them yet, it is only because there is only one issue out. This is probably the best thing I've read from Mark Waid in a long time. Who knew he had it in him to do this kind of genre. The John Doe character was great, and seeing how he peices his web of information together was pretty damn cool. The art was good, but more importantly, appropriate. This kind of series would be a huge hit on TV I would think.

DMZ #23: A really good done-in-one, concentrating on a character other than Matty. Showing that Wood could do stories here for a long time if he wanted to.

X-FACTOR #23: Holy shit! The Isolationist is a bad guy! Okay, its not that much of a surprise. Although it was pretty cool when he finally revealed himself. How weird is the whole Pietro storyline becoming?

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #113: With respects to the rock solid punctual work of Bagley, Stuart Immonen kicks all sorts of ass. I'm really happy that he is here, and the escape of the Green Goblin and the ensuing battle is a strong example of why. Good issue.

NEW AVENGERS #24: Another good issue, in a series I'm enjoying. I don't want to spend every issue with the paranoia, but it makes sense. Some fun moments (Strange with Night Nurse, Wolverine vs. The Hood, and Jessica Jones) and some cutesy moments (the Strange spell showing the true self) all makes me a happy camper with this series.

LONE RANGER #8: This series is settling into "good every month" territory. I'm really enjoying this series.

FABLES #65: Another month, another good issue. this time we return to the "The Good Prince" storyline. The only thing that is bugging me right now, is the return of Blue Beard and Kahn. Not that I dislike the characters, but I thought their individual stories were done. Silly me I guess, consdering I'm reading a book about immortals.

CASANOVA #9: The bad news: Gabrial Ba > Fabio Moon. Green tones > Blue tones. Good news: Storyline #2 > Storyline #1. Still some of the coolest covers in comics.

PARADE (WITH FIREWORKS) #1: This was my impulse buy this week, and I'm glad I did. Some cute, cartoony art, but in this case, it does not distract from the story. A pretty serious story about brothers during turbulent 1923 Italy. Nice to see Image publishing a book that is normally left to smaller "artier" publishers.

THOR #3: I'm sorry to people looking to hate on Strazynski, but I'm really enjoying this series so far. Yes, even though its moving reaaaally slow. Thor whooping Iron Man's ass was sweet, and the Copiel art really helped show the sheer power of Thor. Heimdall looked cool as hell too.

three-star comics:

DAREDEVIL #100: The was a pretty good, with Mr. Fear driving Matt batshit crazy with his new and improved fear gas. To use different artists in this way, has been done before of course, but it's affective. Only problem is, Milla accidently killing a man is the more interesting part of this storyline, and this issue, necessarily so delayed it a month. Now that Matt knows, that storyline can continue in earnest. The backup reprints were fun, but it was a bit nauseating to see that Black Widow, although still portrayed tough, was still being a "damsel in distress," crying in Matt's arms. It was a product of its time, I guess, but it just seemed out of character compared to the hard-as-nails Russian spy she is now.

JLA WEDDING SPECIAL #1: Although the rest of the online comics community seems to be in love with McDuffie, I've felt his Fantastic Four run has been laugh-at bad. So what to do with him taking over the JLA? So far he shows why he was succesful with the cartoon, because in all honesty, he's really quite good with these characters. His first issue is a Wedding tie-in, so he is allowed to have some fun and he definitely does. Its a bit light-hearted, with some bits of the cartoon brought in, but it works. Its at the very least, more accesible than Brad Meltzer's run was, and that's after only one issue. Mike McKone was really good on art too.

WALKING DEAD #42: It has been a good couple of issues now that the series has slowed down to show us what all the characters at the prison are up to. Some of the choices have been a bit odd, but it was good to re-focus I think, because based on the last page, this series is about to be spun completely on its head.

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #11: A pretty good War Journal issue, focusing mainly on two conversations. One between Winter Soldier and Punisher, and the other between Bridge and Iron Man. And what appears to be Jigsaw's kid in-between. The respect Punisher has for Bucky ("If we fight, you'd kill me."), as well as the cool little altercation they have was pretty awesome.

STORMWATCH PHD #11: Although I'm still whining internally about the HOOORRIBLE two parter where Gage and Co. smacked Christine's character around, this was another solid go for Christos. Too bad that there is only one more issue, as I thought he really had a good thing going here. It will be interesting to see how, where and if these characters pop again.

FEAR AGENT: THE LAST GOODBYE #3: Another good issue, with some fine Tony Moore art. I'll say it again: I'm a bit bummed that this whole war flashback is only going to be 4 issues, as I think it had legs for a bit more.

G.I. JOE: AMERICA'S ELITE #27: Good issue, with some pretty decent fill-in art by Mike Shoyket. The only real problem I had, was the lame internal excuse they had to come up with for Skull Buster not to kill Shipwreck and Cover Girl immediately. I mean, otherwise there wouldn't have been an issue, but without a doubt, Skull Buster would have ended their lives before they even awoke.

JACK OF FABLES #14: Pretty solid Jack of Fables issue. Still not sure what I think of characters called Revise and what not, and whether or not this title really needs to exist. But since the Fables universe is so damn popular, this book will probably exist as long as Willingham wants it to.

FALLEN ANGEL #20: Well, it gets big points for being past the Shi storyline. Blah. And more points for concentrating on Jude, who I think has been one of the more interesting bits from the new volume. Good issue.

GEN 13 #12: I'm not altogether sure that wicked smart kid-Grunge meshes with adult-Grunge, but the Grunge with tits was pretty damn hilarious.

comics with problems:

ULTIMATE POWER #7: This just feels like a lame duck series at this point. Although the appearance of the "real" Squadron Supreme was a genuine surprise. Just not one I cared about too much.

X-MEN: EMPEROR VULCAN #1: Kind of a ho-hum start to this mini-series. So far, the whole Vulcan idea just hasn't led to anything that interesting. I'm also not sure what I think of giving Vulcan/Shiar and Starjammers/Resistance a common enemy to fight. I think each other might have been enough.

LONERS #5: A lot of late teen/early 20's romance, culminating in the reveal of Phil Urich as evil Darkhawk. Just kind of eh, although I know this has its audience out there. Once again, fun cover!

WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY #10: For some reason this book felt all-over the place to me, and I had a bit of trouble keeping everything in line. The Scooby Doo backup didn't work for me either. Good Googe art on the main part however.

um, just no:

ULTIMATE X-MEN #86: I'm a skipping record at this point, but I'm just bored by this series. Some of the action okay I guess. Oh here's something positive: The visual design for Pyro here is WAY cooler than his 616 counterpart.

MOON KNIGHT #12: I have been so patient with this title, but really, at this point, what the fuck was this!? Something tells me that this book might (read: miiiiiight) be better if all 12 issues were read in one sitting, but what I got from reading it in single issue leaves me kind of uninterested in ever picking up these comics again, so I guess I will never know. A title that started out interesting, failed to quite get anywhere. This was my final issue.

ncrl catchup: 9/12 and 9/19

2007-09-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

So I go to put my New ComIc Book Release List up, and I realize that I'm so far behind here, that I never got last weeks up. Still getting through those books actually, but here is what I'm getting this week, and then last week (for me).

9/19:

avatar:
STREETS OF GLORY #1

dark horse:
UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE #1 well his music sucks, but based on the previews i've read, looks like mr. way can write a fun comic book
ZERO KILLER #2 it's getting the flip test, because i loved the art, but the story was lame

dc:
AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #56 i'm almost sad that this is going away
EX-MACHINA #30
GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY WEDDING SPECIAL #1 maaaaybe
JLA/HITMAN #1
PROGRAMME #3

image:
CYBLADE PILOT SEASON #1
GUTSVILLE #2 awesome
MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #4 on probation
CAPTAIN AMERICA #30
MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #1 i'll check out the first one, at the very least for the immonen art
NEW X-MEN #42
PENANCE: RELENTLESS #1 maaaaaybe
TERROR, INC #2
WOLVERINE ORIGINS #17
WORLD WAR HULK #4
WORLD WAR HULK: FRONTLINE #4

oni:
WASTELAND #12

other things:

DR. THIRTEEN ARCHITECTURE AND MORALITY comes out in TPB. I love Azzarello, and I've just heard too many good things about this not to check it out. I'll see if my retailer has extra (I didn't order it specifically) if not I might hit Amazon.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: OMNIBUS is something I want really fucking bad. I'm not getting it tomorrow, or even soon, but I do want this.

***

And then mostly for my sake, if I ever need to go back and look what I bought on 9/12, here is what I purchased last week. Yes, this will indeed be TWENTY-SEVEN books.

boom:
POTTER'S FIELD #1

dark horse:
FEAR AGENT: THE LAST GOODBYE #3

dc:
100 BULLETS #85
~~COUNTDOWN: THE SEARCH FOR RAY PALMER - WILDSTORM #1 maybe~~
DMZ #23
FABLES #65
GEN 13 #12
JACK OF FABLES #14
JLA WEDDING SPECIAL #1
STORMWATCH PHD #11
~~UN-MEN #2 maybe~~
WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY #10

devil's due:
G.I. JOE: AMERICA'S ELITE #27

dynamite:
LONE RANGER #8

idw:
FALLEN ANGEL #20

image:
CASANOVA #9
PARADE (WITH FIREWORKS) #1 <--- total impulse buy!
WALKING DEAD #42

marvel:
DAREDEVIL #100
LONERS #5
MOON KNIGHT #12
NEW AVENGERS #34
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #11
THOR #3
ULTIMATE POWER #7
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #113
ULTIMATE X-MEN #86
X-FACTOR #23
X-MEN: EMPEROR VULCAN #1

!

quick takes: september 6

2007-09-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

So I'm starting to fall a little behind here. Long hours at work is reducing my free time to "I want to sleep" time. So I think until things slow down again, we might be seeing the quick takes become the norm rather than the exception.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Y: THE LAST MAN #58
(w. Brian Vaughan, a. Pia Guerra)
EXTRA SPOILER WARNING. It was between this and Scalped this week, and this won out basically because of the last two pages and that I'm more emotionally invested in these characters five years in. MAN, you suck Brian Vaughan. The death of one our main characters was a shock, and really unexpected. Silly me to think that everyone would make it out of this alive. This sets the stage for two more issues, and I couldn't be more excited.

runner ups:

SCALPED #8: The story of Catcher almost took the top spot this week. This comic book is easily one of the best on the stands, and this issue is no different with a wonderful look into Catcher's character. (Also, "Granny Poor Bear.")

STRANGE EMBRACE #4: Who would have thought that this would be one of my favorite reads, but it is. This issue we learn more about Anthony Corbeau, and it just gets weirder and weirder. Excited to see how Sukumar plays into the overall story.

other real good comics:

~~BUFFY~~ FAITH THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #6: Brian Vaughan jumps in and does a spot on Faith, and Buffy fans everywhere celebrate that this comic will still be good even when Joss isn't writing. Scott Allie tries his best to make sure people understand that this is how the TV Series went as well, and he's right. Good issue by the crew, but more than getting Faith for an entire issue is getting some real good Giles time for the first time in Season 8.

SHE-HULK #21: If anyone ever uses this as an explanation for Marvel continuity I will be surprised, but it made for a really fun comic, and a really good end to Dan Slott's run. It will of course go down as a definitive one for the character.

three star comics:

FAKER #3: Some of the "What the fuck is going on?" is starting to be explained, and although its starting to go in a slightly different direction that expected, this has been a surprisingly good mini-series.

DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #2: This will indeed end up being the book that Warren Ellis uses to talk about the nutty things that could be right around our corner. This issue: shriekyware. Good or bad, this comic will be one of the more interesting ones month after month.

MIDNIGHTER #11: Its official, Keith Giffen has brought the level of this book up. Although the look into Midnighter's past is a bit odd, the 4-page fight sequence is one of the coolest one-on-one super hero battles recently.

INCREDIBLE HULK #110: One of the better issues outside of the WWH proper, as Cho uses some Hannibal Lector methods on the Hulk.

THE BOYS #10: Some people are going to say this issue was too out there, and they'll be right. Some might even say, this is more than just ridiculous, it's just not that good. They might even have a case. But even though I'm shaking my head when I close this book and say "Fucking Garth Ennis" it was with a big, entertained smile on my face.

THE EXTERMINATORS # 21: Once again, I'm entertained by this bug madness although it baffles me at times.

MS. MARVEL #18-19: This is the first time I've tried this title since #1, and it was mostly to read some Machine Man from Nextwave. The reports are true, he is a wonderful addtion to the cast, bringing his off-the-wall brand of humor with him. The book itself, has some old-school silly plotting with the Puppet Master as the tongue-in-cheek villain, but for the most part these were both fun comics.

NEW WARRIORS #4: I'm still enjoying this series, especially the way Jubilee is being used and the Paco Diaz art.

comics with problems:

UNCANNY X-MEN #490: This is what, the 4th part of a 5 part storyline? This has been mostly boring, and I find myself just wanting to see Magneto get involved.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE CHOSEN #2: This book was a bit average. And I say that as a fan of David Morrell. It was just slow, and as the mini-series continues, I bet it will read better. This was made for a trade to be honest. Breitweiser was pretty good on art with good

BLACK CANARY WEDDING PLANNER #1: This wasn't really worth the money, but it was what it was I guess. Some fun moments, and I do like the Black Canary, but overall it did little for me. Also, has Wonder Woman ever looked any shittier than she did during the lingerie scene? Besides being what I consider out of character for her, Lee Furgeson should be banned from ever drawing her ever again for that panel.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #544: I was kind of excited for this storyline until the end of last issue, where I find out that this is just a continuation of the horrible Kingpin storyline. This at least, won't have the same continuity issues that hurt character, but it will still have the same odd path Peter is going down. (She-Hulk #21 could help here.) Anyway, Quesada art was good, but the story is so-so at best. And if it leads to some sort of end to the MJ marriage, I worry for how this story will be remembered.

WOLVERINE #57: Welcome back Guggenheim. Welcome back to a mediocre Wolverine. Why is it so tough to do a decent Wolverine story? This was okay, as far as goofy action plots go, but the whole Wolverine having an Atlantean girlfriend and then (cliche) losing Atlantean girlfriend sending him on revenge, is just plain dumb.

MEGATRON: ORIGIN #3: This has quickly gone from interesting Megatron back story, to a history of the formation of the Decepticon movement. Which is okay, but the book is checking off a checklist of things that had to have happened now, and is no longer a story about Megatron's character. Also, something about the art is leaving me cold. Some panels are hard to make out, as it just feels muddy.

um, just no:

CITY OF OTHERS #4: Well, am I glad this is over with. Bernie Wrightson's art is good, but it can not save this perfectly pointless story about an evil man that becomes a vampire and how he deals with it. Or rather, nothing worthwhile is actually exploring this idea, its just the uninteresting setup part. Not good at all.

ncrl: september 6

2007-09-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

Still playing some catch up. I went to the store last night, and this is what I got. A good fucking week too.

The list:

avatar:
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #2

dark horse:
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #6
CITY OF OTHERS #4 glad this is finally going to be over

dc:
BLACK CANARY WEDDING PLANNER if i'm going to keep on with JLA, might as well keep up with the wedding fun
EXTERMINATORS #21
FAKER #3
MIDNIGHTER #11
SCALPED #9
Y: THE LAST MAN #58 only three left!!

dynamite:
BOYS #10

idw:
MEGATRON ORIGIN #3

image:
STRANGE EMBRACE #4 getting higher and higher off the pile

marvel:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #544
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CHOSEN #1
INCREDIBLE HULK #110
MS. MARVEL #19 and i'll get #18, gonna check out the series again, this time mainly for machine man
NEW WARRIORS #4
SHE-HULK 2 #21 end of a pretty memorable run
UNCANNY X-MEN #490
WOLVERINE #57

I left behind 30 DAYS OF NIGHT: RED SNOW, because as much as I love Templesmith, that whole 30 Days world doesn't interest me.

I also turned down G.I. JOE SPECIAL MISSIONS THE ENEMY, because I'm no longer supporting this expensive ass format, with low production quality.

quick takes: august 30

2007-09-06T13:24:00.000-07:00

So another week, another edition of quick takes. Yeah, I know I had a 4-day weekend to do full (fullER at least) reactions, but I think having 4 days WAS the problem.

On with the (very average) week that was.

book of the week:

USAGI YOJIMBO #105

(w/a. Stan Sakai)

Nothing stood out this week as great, so I'll go with one of my favorite comics that had another pretty good issue. Stan is starting a multi-part arc here, and so far so good. It has everything: old friends (always happy when Gen is around), new characters, Usagi returning and one of the scariest villains fresh off his origin story. Really looking forward to this. Should be another great chapter in the rabbit ronin's life.

4-star. other good comics:

WASTELAND #11: Good issue. And after last issue's acid trip, it was welcome. This book is in cruise control for me at this point. I'm just sitting back and enjoying the art and the story as it unfolds. Hell of a turn of events at the end too, looks like its fight time in #12.

EX MACHINA MASQUERADE SPECIAL: Not sure why this was in a special rather than the book itself, but it was a good Ex-Machina story. I almost preferred the done-in-one feel.

3-star. some problems, but overall perfectly good comic entertainment:

LOCAL #10: I don't like the issues that stray from our main character as much, and this was one of them. Still, it was well done.

MICE TEMPLAR #1: This was pretty good. I had trouble distinguishing one mouse from the other in the beginning, but I got the exposition, and that was more important. Eventually it was just the one mouse and I could follow him. The action scenes were pretty awesome as well.

AVENGERS: INITIATIVE #5: I kind of liked this. Curious who Mutant Zero is, although she wasn't all that interesting aside from the mystery itself. Fun issue.

WETWORKS #12: The romance stuff was borderline silly at times, but I kind of want Wildstorm to go all the way through the Vertigo-door with this book and experiment even more. Fun read.

WALKING DEAD #41: Nutty ending. I've actually liked the quieter issues.

ACTION COMICS #855: The moments with Clark as a boy were good, the Bizarro moments so-so. Odd choice to do a Bizarro storyline when Morrison is doing (a much better) one at the same time.

BRIT #1: Fun, but I don't know that I want more. Does it actually miss Kirkman? Maybe.

2-star. comics with lots of problems:

TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT: OPTIMUS PRIME: An ok read, but some of the spotlights are feeling like filler rather than an important part of Furman's overall story. I'll give him a chance to prove me wrong however.

WORLD WAR HULK: X-MEN #3: The best one of the three, but still not very good. The Hepzibah moments were really cool, and the return to mostly evil for the Juggernaut is much needed. I hated him working alongside the X-Men.

FALLEN ANGEL #19: I just don't like Shi. This series has been real good in the past, and I think it needs a shot in the storyline arm. Come on Peter.

FANTASTIC FOUR #549: I just don't enjoy the old-school feel/goofy McDuffie Fantastic Four. What I did like, and the reason it gets 2 stars and not one, is the Invisible Woman kicking ass.

WONDER WOMAN #12: WhereohwhereisGailSimonealready?

1-star. um, just no:

NONE

quick takes: august 22

2007-09-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, this has been a busy week. So I'm going to get some Quick Takes up for the week of August 22, as I'm playing catch up. (Complete with an impulse buy at the store.)

BOOK OF THE WEEK

BATMAN #668
(w. Grant Morrison, a. J.H. Williams)
There were better contenders this week, so this wasn't the gimme that it was two weeks ago, but I'm enjoying this storyline far too much to give BOTW to anything else. As expected, Morrison and Williams turn out to be a glorious match and the two of them are just as successful here as they were in the first part. Our mystery gets moved along while our main characters have some cool moments. Williams' continues his brilliant panel design, and I'm a happy comic book reader. Let me also note, that is one of the best covers all year.

Some runner ups:

STRANGE EMBRACE #3: A wonderful series by David Hine, this is turning into one of my favorite reads.
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #8: Finally caught up on this series, and I am really glad I did. I'm not too aware of the Iron First history, but to the best of my knowledge this whole "Bearers of the Iron Fist" history is all new, and damn has it made for some entertaining comics. Too bad I haven't been reading this regularly because it was probably robbed of a Book of the Week or two. Issue #7 was a personal favorite and Iron Fist wasn't even in it! With this issue, we start a tournament. And its pretty standard Kung Fu tournament fare, but there is something that should be known : I am a HUGE sucker for anything with a bracket. And this has a Kung Fu Tournament Bracket! Fucking awesome.

Other good comics:
CROSSING MIDNIGHT #10: One of the better issues for this series so far. Starting to settle in I would say.
MOUSE GUARD WINTER 1152 #1: Welcome back Mouse Guard. Our cast is pretty large now, and via Peterson's wonderful art, we get glimpses of everyone (poor Rand) and other mouse towns.
SPIRIT #9: One of the best of the series as well.
ASTONISHING X-MEN #22: More of the same: a well written (thank you Joss Whedon), well drawn (extra thank you to John Cassaday) X-Men issue, whose importance to the real universe has been diminishing with each passing month.
BLACK SUMMER #2: Second issue in a row with some kick-ass, old school Warren Ellis, widescreen fun. Ryp's Darrow influenced art is starting to be something I look forward to as well.
GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #4: Ooooh, Ollie gonna kick some ass.

3-star books:
THUNDERBOLTS #116: The end of this issue was some Authority-esque ass-kicking.
X-MEN #202: I'm enjoying the storyline for the most part, curious to see if what Mr. Sinister and Co. are up to is worth all the fuss.
INVINCIBLE #49
THE ORDER #2: First issue was better, but this issue was not as strong. The character seemed like a Hollywood cliche, and I know that's the point, but it came off kind of been-there-seen-that anyway.
WALKING DEAD #40
WOLVERINE #56: Not as good as Aaron's romp with Ripclaw, but it was infinitely ore interesting than anything else that has been in this title in a good while.
HALO: UPRISING #1: Bought for Maleev's art, and I was not disappointed there. Not interested in the story at all however, this will be a "game time' decision to see if I get #2.
CABLE & DEADPOOL #44: Question: Is Bob still funny and entertaining? Yes.

Comics with some problems:
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #45
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #543: This is just all odd. This would have come across a lot better had he JUST been in this story post Civil War. And it didn't include the out-of-the-country Kingpin. Just kind of a mess all over the place. And it doesn't really end, so much as it is continuing into "One More Day." We'll see how that goes.
METAPMORPHO & AQUAMAN #1: This was the impulse buy, as I really enjoy Middleton's art. And as far as that goes, it was worth the price of admission even if I was bored by the story.
IRON MAN #21: This was odd, considering the last issue ended with Tony Stark captured and at the Warbound mercy (especially because World War Hulk hasn't ended), but I am glad the Knauf's are back.

Um, just don't:
NONE

an almost marvel-less week: august 30

2007-08-30T19:12:00.000-07:00

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

marvel dominates: ncrl for august 22

2007-08-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

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

weekly loot for august 15

2007-08-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

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.

itsy bitsy week: ncrl for august 15

2007-08-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

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...

weekly loot for august 8

2007-08-15T01:23:00.000-07:00

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?

mike wieringo passes away

2007-08-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

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.

the best news i've heard all weekend

2007-08-12T02:16:00.000-07:00

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.)

ncrl for august 8

2007-08-08T18:36:00.000-07:00

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.

catching up on some comics 7/18 - 8/1

2007-08-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

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.

san diego comic-con, part 2

2007-08-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

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.

ncrl for august 1

2007-08-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

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