BEST COMIC BOOKS OF 2008

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.

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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.

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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?)

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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

weekly loot: june 13

This week:

WORLD WAR HULK #1
(w. Greg Pak, a. John ROmita Jr.)
First, let me say it, I LOVE John Romita Jr. I do, really. I will never be able to get a sketch from him at a con, because it WILL be awkward. For me, him, and my girlfriend. Let's see here, things that should maybe be annoying: Last time we saw She-Hulk (Incredible Hulk #106), she had been temporarily de-powered by Mastermind, right? But now she’s full-on She-Hulk again? When/where did this happen? Never mind that everything about Civil War is just “agree to disagree” so that Marvel’s Merriest can all come together. Iron-Man to Spider-Man, “Oh, but you’ll have to turn yourself in after this, you rascal!” All this aside, I really liked the issue for the comic romp that it was. I liked the opening with Blackbolt, I liked that Hulk got the better of him. And of course, I really like that Iron Man got the shit kicked out of him too, as well he should have. Good fun series to take the seriousness of Civil War out of my mouth. Quesada was definitely right about that.

NEW AVENGERS #31
(w. Brian Bendis, a. Leinl Yu)
OHMYGODholyshitOHMYGOD. Ok, all that really isn’t that necessary, but really, fanboy expectations of the reveal aside, Elektra is a fucking Skrull, and the internet has been broken in half. AGAIN. What does this mean? First off, I hate the bullshit hype that it brings, because for the next 12 months, we’ll hear about this over and over, but it could be some fun while we get there. I’m definitely willing to give Bendis the benefit of the doubt to see how this plays out. The fight scene itself was pretty great, even though I think the deadlines are starting to catch up to Yu. (Just a bit, not hatin' yet.)

LOVELESS #18: This series has definitely become a lot more readable since its dense beginnings. Excited to see what the ramifications of someone knowing Ruth is alive will bring.

DMZ #20: I don’t have anything against Kristian Donaldson, but it's not as good as Burchielli. Good issue though.

FABLES #62
(w. Bill Willingham, a. Mark Buckingham)
Wow, another beautiful James Jean cover. The only bad thing about the cover is that it makes Buckingham’s version inside the book look like a kid's drawing. The Knight being Lancelot is awesome, because I love the Arthurian legends and it never crossed my mind to add all these characters to the mix. So this issue is basically the Knight telling his history (good) and Flycatcher, via a good close shave, becoming a hero for real (GOOD). Other than this, Prince Charming and Hansel have a pretty memorable scene. Hansel’s retaliation could be a ton of fun for sure. But a big BOOO to Willingham for the second issue in a row teasing me about a scene with Bigby and Snow. I’m sick of them being all happy up at the Farm. Another really good book from a good comic. What is down that well? Guess we are going to find out. And pleaseOHplease let me see Flycatcher kick some ass. BOOK OF THE WEEK (second time in a row for this book)

STORMWATCH PHD #8
(w. Christos Gage, a. Andy Smith)
Anyone still debating what the best title to come out of the Wildstorm re-launch is, has not been reading this title, right? And really might be dumb. A gigantic crossover between two super-powered teams, with over 15 characters meeting in a SUPERHERO COMIC and it somehow manages to be a really good character issue. Which is fucking awesome (coughCivilWarcough). I’ll take that any day, especially when it’s this book doing it. The moments going on between all of these different personalities in such a short space (only 22 pages for this many characters) is a pretty amazing feat. But this book took its first big misstep with me by giving us the SON OF HENRY BENDIX. I really didn’t need this. The resurrection of Winter, et al, was weird but I was dealing. Diva's "resurrection" was stupid too, but I never really liked the character (who came from the shallow Jim Lee days) anyway and hell, Gage with this issue is almost making her interesting. And I could even deal with the possibility of the Monitor cameo, even though as a Wildstorm fan, that is frustrating too. But SON OF HENRY BENDIX reeks. Maybe itis because he is the Magneto/Dr. Doom of Wildstorm, and I hate to see him used like this. I’d rather the real Henry Bendix still be running around (which Brubaker did) than this. Just seems stupid, anyway you cut it. And I wish Gage didn’t have to resort to this many callbacks to previous incarnations, to be honest. Still, I really like this book and the approach the crew is taking to the story. I'm warming up to Andy Smith, as I knew I would-- it was just that Mahnke brought a unique style compared to the one Smith does. Um, and yeah, Jackson King dying would be lame, because he’s too good a character, especially with his new mentor role making him look more bad-ass than any fight ever did.

This might be a schizo review, but man, I really really like the Wildstorm Universe and if it wasn’t for SON OF HENRY BENDIX we would be looking at my Book of the Week.

NOVA #3
(w. Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, a. Sean Chen)
Another really fun super hero comic, and I’m a bit bummed it's going full on into the Annihilation because I’m not touching that thing with a ten foot pole. Or at least, not until I get it all in quarter bins at the 2012 San Diego Pop Culture Con. I liked that Nova held his own with the Thunderbolts, but with his new power level, he should have kicked their asses. But I guess that isn’t in Marvel’s best interests with the new team. Still, it was a fun fight. Really good talk with Tony about how he doesn’t fit in anymore, and Nova’s meeting with Robbie especially hammered that home. I thought it was neat just to see how far the characters have gone from one another (my introduction to the characters being early New Warriors), and how far the Marvel Universe HAS really changed. All in all it was a really good three issues, and way better than I expected. The last two pages were perfect for the character right now, and for all those continuing into ANNIHILATION, have fun. I’m out. DROPPED.

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #8: More of the same: if you love it you love it, and if you are like me, you are mildly entertained at times and wondering what the fuss is about.

NEW X-MEN #39: A couple more kids appear to have died, emphasis on the "appear" part, and Skottie Young continues to be perfect for all the different kids’ designs.

CABLE & DEADPOOL #41: If I weren’t reading this title, I would have been bummed to find out that THIS is where we find out what happened to Sabretooth after he disappeared in Carey's X-Men.

ELEPHANTMEN: PILOT

GEN 13 #9
(w. Gail Simone, a. Carlo Barberi)
So let's see, what happened in good ol Gen 13? Rainmaker comes out! Oh, it's not a big deal anymore? Oh, she came out in a very similar way in 1994? Well, anyway, Rainmaker did indeed come out and it was a bit awkward for some of our characters. And there were some odd moments, such as Rainmaker creepingly asking Caitlin to get naked in front of her when Caitlin has no idea that she is a lesbian? I mean, it's just a weird scene if you think too far into it. Regardless, the other characters have fun with it all and we get a little into Rainmaker’s head via narration. The real star of the issue is the young Lynch who admits to the kids being a reboot (ooooooh, for some reason I could get into Junior Lynch), and that they are slightly different then they should be. This is all kind of fun, but an odd way to handle all of this Wildstorm Version 2 if you ask me. I mean, why go out of your way to reboot and change things (for new readers, right?), if you are going to lead to a storyline where knowing the old continuity is going to be a necessity to fully enjoy? Ah, the joy of comics. Regardless, I’m kind of curious to see how all that plays out and this book appears to be one of the most affected (and important). Next: Tranquility.

GRIFTER/MIDNIGHTER #4: Best in the series so far, but not saying much. Grifter’s powers in the Rebooted WS Universe are definitely more powerful.

weekly loot: may 16

BATMAN #665: Thank Morrison this came out to wash the odd-tasting Frank Miller Batman out of my mouth.

ULTIMATES 2 #13
(w. Mark Millar, a. Bryan Hitch)
Well, it looked amazing. And although I don’t know that the 8-page spread in the middle added anything to the story, it was pretty cool for what it was. (I’m not sure that it was quite worth the delay, however.) For a comic book with extra pages, it read quicker than some of my regular-sized books this week, and that’s unfortunate. These might read better in their collected forms, although I recently re-read the first twelve issues and this stand-alone fight didn’t really have any kind of resonance. (Maybe because it was filled with armies of heroes and villains that we've never seen before.) Still, this is all too bad, because I’ve really liked the Ultimates, and after the much criticized Civil War, I was rooting for Millar to have a home run. Whoops.

X-FACTOR #19: People are really hating on Koi Pham, eh? And what an odd group of villains that have come together.

UNCANNY X-MEN #485
(w. Ed Brubaker, a. Billy Tan)
I was pretty patient with this series, as I’m a big X-Men fan and a big Ed Brubaker fan, but unfortunately, now that it is over, it was a bit of a disappointment. Problem #1 for me was that I never was able to give a rat shit about Vulcan (and his horrible name), regardless of what Brubaker tried. But having him be a nut ball, romance Deathbird and become the leader to an uninteresting Shiar Empire just leaves me indifferent. We’ll eventually get the next part of the story, probably in the Havok-led Starjammers mini sometime soon, but I keep feeling that for an epic, we probably shoud have been at this end point at issue 7, rather than 12. I didn’t read X-Men in the Starjammer hey-day, so the death of Corsair wasn’t a big deal to me. But it works in the sense of giving Havok a purpose that he’s lacked in a while. Hepzibah being on Earth is a bit out of nowhere, but she’s got a fun visual and we’ll see how she plays off of the other characters. The art deteriorated as the series went along, and it bums me out that Billy Tan never got back to the pretty awesome job he did on part one. Maybe it was because of the lead time he had on that one. I’m not as down on the title as it may seem, as truthfully I’m still excited for more from Brubaker. It hasn’t completely lost me.

WASTELAND #9
(w. Antony Johnson, a. Christopher Mitten)
I’m getting happier with this title, but I think we are definitely getting to a point where you are going to be really into this series, or not at all. There are a lot of characters, a lot of names and a lot of plot lines going. Now, nowhere near Tolkien levels, but I can see some people just not having the patience for this. There will need to be re-readings, that’s for sure. Anyway, it was another good issue as we settle in to the second storyline. The flashbacks make a lot more sense this time, as last issue, I wasn’t even sure what the first two pages were. Our heroes were tracked down quicker than I expected, but that means we’ll possibly get to see Michael in an action scene.

FABLES #61
(w. Bill Willingham, a. Mark Buckingham)
Lots and lots of good things going on here in the book of Fables: The reveal of Frau’s spies was excellent, although at first it made me think it was too easy, and then it made me think that Frau could be even scarier than I thought she was, (even after her flashback in 1001 Nights). I enjoy her on the side of the Fables and I would hate to see her turn to the “dark side.” Flycatcher and Boy Blue opened the issue with a pretty entertaining conversation, leaving Flycatcher kind of in limbo as to his next move, which set up pretty perfectly the fun ending with the Forsworn Knight. Bigby and Snow possibly getting involved again excites me too. This is mostly a recap of plot points, but for fans of the series, the pieces are all being put together nicely is all. Looking forward to how this all plays out. Nothing else that I read really stood out, so this was probably my FAVORITE BOOK OF THE WEEK.

MIGHTY AVENGERS #3
(w. Brian Bendis, a. Frank Cho)
Well this was much better than last issue, where we stalled for an entire issue, but once the fists started flying here, it was pretty damn good. The Ultron/Sentry fight was a lot of fun, even though Sentry got his ass handed to him. (How powerful IS this new Ultron?) And where was his backup? With a team that has Ares, God of War on their side, shouldn’t he have been pitching in with Sentry? Odd team choices. Good moments for both Ms. Marvel and Black Widow in this issue. Good Avengers fun, even though the Tigra scene was gratuitous.

ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN #5
(w. Frank Miller, a. Jim Lee)
Holy shitty comics Batman! It's almost embarrassing how all-over-the-place this comic is. Like an old guy trying to be cool by doing something that was cool a decade ago. It just doesn’t work. On one hand, I can see taking Batman to the next logical extension, he would be even crazier and even more violent. Same with the horribly annoying version of Wonder Woman, but this time taken to the level of militant man-hating Amazonian. It’s all just horribly misguided and kind of lame. The kiss with Superman at the end of the argument was laughably bad (and clichéd ta boot). And don’t get me started about the “I love you Batman” girl. This is not good, no matter who wants to spin it that way, because although this all comes across as a parody, I don’t think Miller wrote it that way. And even though he was my very first ”favorite artist” in comics, Jim Lee isn’t right for this story. His ultra-pop style is exposed a little as mere cheesecake when accompanied by the Miller script.

LOCAL #9: I really feel like I’m watching this girl grow, and I’m really going to want a continuation of this series when all is said and done.

FALLEN SON – CAPTAIN AMERICA
(w. JephLoeb, a. John Romita Jr.)
Well first off, I was caught off guard by the inclusion of Hawkeye, but was really happy that he showed. I really liked the initial interaction between Tony and Clint, and was all sorts of excited for this to be the best book of the mini-series so far, but then it started to fall apart for me. I wish Hawkeye would have never put on the Captain America outfit though, kind of a deal breaker for me. He needed to put it on before he realized he shouldn’t have? Another character maybe, but this didn’t work for me here. And are the Young Avengers in the Initiative or not? And is anyone else sick of waiting for Hainberg for a new series? (And now that I think of it, it bugs me just a little that Tony knows Clint is back. Hahaha. I’m just ranting now.) John Romita Jr. is the shit though. As always.

ULTIMATE SPIDERMAN #109: How scary has the Ultimate Kingpin become for our poor little Peter Parker? Really good scene between the two.

AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #52: It's silly, it's serious, it's goofy, it's good, it's bad and it all works. For me. So far.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #9
(w. Brad Meltzer, a. Ed Benes)
Three issues into this crossover (out of five) and I finally feel like I know what the hell is going on. Even if the reveal of the villains, as well as the woman on the last page, went right over my head. Meltzer still loves to fill the page with a ton of words via voice-over in that “okay, who is THIS box?” way, but overall I like the character interactions. The banter between Hawkgirl and Red Arrow was fun, as well as the moment he shared with Power Girl about his flirting. If I can, let me take this moment to wonder out loud about Power Girl’s tits for a second. Why exactly are they hanging out? Has this ever been explained in a story? I mean, as I read the character, she just seems like a woman that would be a little more self-aware, and put 'em away. Right? Also, for the second issue in a row, I found myself entertained by the Wildcat character. Funny.

COUNTDOWN #50: I’m not having too much trouble following, but I’m just not invested in anything, so it's hurting my enjoyment. The Mary Marvel storyline is the best one so far.

EX-MACHINA #28

CABLE/DEADPOOL #40: X-Men #198B? This was a waste of the title. Though I think Deadpool’s team (especially the hilarious Bob) could carry this title by themselves.

STORM SHADOW #1
(w. Larry Hama, a. Mark Robinson)
I love Storm Shadow. I love Larry Hama. I love G.I. Joe. Granted, if it wasn’t for the original series, I might not even be reading comics. So I’m REEAAALLY happy that some 20-odd years after I started reading, he’s back writing the characters. Especially this one, since Larry was always so much fun with the ninja mythology. So of course, I’m a little sad that this was a bit EH for me. It was just kind of uninteresting. There was nothing really going on that mattered to me, and that could be because I just didn’t like any of the new characters that were introduced. In fact, most of them were downright silly. The art wasn’t my cup of tea either, with a little too much manga flow to it, but because of that influence, there was some really cool action moments. I’m not done by a long shot (in fact, I’ll probably give it more of a chance than your average comic reader would), but I’m definitely hoping that it gets better.

MOON KNIGHT #10: Um, what was that issue about?

ULTIMATE X-MEN #82: Boring again.