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.
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