Week of August 1st, 2007
Good sized week, and I did promise to digest all the news out of Comic-Con and excrete intelligible little news pellets for you, so I guess we'd better just get onward!
SPOTLIGHT REVIEW:
World War Hulk #3
is awesome! Ahem. Sorry. But seriously, the palate-cleansing World War Hulk continues to delight me with its straight-ahead smashing comic fun. This issue sees Hulk fighting a lot of military men, as well as the return of Thunderbolt Ross, who is absolutely amazing here. Hulk also proves his unstoppability to Dr. Strange, who looks like he'll be next issue's big smasher/smashee. We also find out that apparently Hulk is planning on making all the heroes he's captured thus far duke it out in gladiatorial battles…Awesome!
FUN SIZE REVIEWS:
New Avengers: Illuminati #4
is worth the buy just for the first five pages of "guy talk" if nothing else, as we see Dr. Strange dealing with the departure of Clea, and the advice that follows from the rest of the group. Surprisingly, Tony Stark isn't the perfect picture of sensitivity. The rest of the issue shows the Illuminati dealing with Noh Vell, doing their best to make him a good guy.
Detective Comics #835
is only worthwhile if you're an aspiring comics writer and you want an issue you can feel is far below your talents. The dialogue is awful, and expository bits like "He knows this because fear has been his own weapon of choice since he first hit the streets of Gotham City…as BATMAN" are wholly unnecessary when appearing in issue 835 of that character's series. Bad writing, bad art, bad book. Wait till you see Paul Dini's name on the cover to buy another issue of Detective.
Dark Tower #7
is all about the action, as we finally get to see the gunslingers do some slingin'. Susan meets her unfortunate fate as well, and I have to deem this experiment a success: it brought tons of new fans to comics, and it was a gorgeous series to look at, even if the script got muddy every now and then. The inside back cover announces the next volume of Dark Tower books, The Long Road Home, will begin in February 2008. In the meantime, it's been rumored that Marvel is going to do a comic adaptation of the Stand…
JSA #8
performs on what is now JSA's usual pitch of greatness. Unfortunately, Fernando Pasarin, guest penciling, is no Dale Eaglesham, who you will miss from the very start. The story focuses on Liberty Belle, and Damage's self-esteem issues.
Thor #2
is as decompressed as you can get. In the first two issues of this series, Thor has come back, and now, returned Asgard. That's really it. Still, somehow I'm interested, probably because Oliver Coipel's pencils are truly a wonder to behold.
Countdown #39
features the most consistent penciling job in a while on Countdown, as the capable Jim Calafiore grabs the reins. This ish has appearances by Karate Kid, Piper and Trickster (who continue to be the most interesting ongoing story at the moment), Donna and Jason, Jimmy Olsen seeing some self-indulgent Action Man duty, Holly Robinson, and the new Question is joined on the last page by a "surprise" guest who hasn't seen DCU action in a while, given how big their debut was. One of the better Countdowns.
NEWS BRIEFS:
So, according to custom, we're just going to just do this all in one big breath, okay? Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi will take over Astonishing after Whedon/Cassaday depart, No one at the Image panel punched anyone, Phil Jiminez and Marc Guggenheim are now Marvel-exclusive, Both will be working on Amazing Spidey, along with Dan Slott, Steve McNiven, and others, Grant Morrison and J.G. Jones will be doing Final Crisis, DC's next big event spinning out of Countdown, Mark Waid is now the EIC of Boom! Studios, Iron Man footage is out and looks great, Jeph Loeb is doing an Ultimate book called Ultimatum, Judd Winick is doing Teen Titans East, Jon Favreau and Adi Granov are doing an Iron Man miniseries, DC has the rights to a Heroes comic adaptation, and Karl Kerschl's Teen Titans: Year One looks absolutely amazing. Phew.
Well that's all for this week. Wednesday is just around the corner, with some good books to buy and read and review. If you have any complaints, compliments, or queries, send em to skio84@mac.com, or reach me through my blog at astoriedyear.blogspot.com. Otherwise, I'll see you in seven.
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