comic book idol

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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