2/20/08
THE TWELVE
You should have picked this book up by now…but we forgive you if you haven't. The covers have been dark, moody affairs, and die-hard Marvel Zombies may have passed it over since it doesn't have the company's logo on it, but this is a superhero book, and a fundamentally "Marvel" book at that. It's also getting a lot of attention because of what it is not: it's not normal. It's a very different book than either company has published for a while, and with the room that a 12 issue series is afforded, it's clear that Marvel's happy with that difference. The story, written by JMS, is about a dozen forgotten WWII heroes who are found, and forced to adjust to life in contemporary times. Unlike Captain America and a few other similar stories, this one doesn't shy away from the issues that should be addressed: if WWII was our golden age, why are some of the heroes disgusted by interracial marriage? Throw what looks like a well-paced story, a murder mystery, and arresting characters in with Chris Weston's wonderful and equally unique art, and you've got a book I'll be excited about reading for the next year. Please, buy the book and enjoy it, and support The Big Two producing a wonderfully different series like this one.
SPIDERMAN: WITH GREAT POWER
If you're like me, you're getting less and less likely to read Spider-Man comics with each passing week. If you're like me, you also feel pretty upset about this: I mean, Spidey is the reason I got into comics. Thankfully, Marvel's had the sense to release a solid, well-written and well-drawn miniseries to take my mind off current continuity. Written by on-again/off-again David Lapham, and drawn by Ex Machina's Tony Harris, With Great Power is set in that rarely-explored time in Spidey's history after he got his powers but before his Uncle Ben was killed. Lapham's writing gives us insight into Peter's self-absorbed mindset, and lends sympathy to his grandstanding that wasn't there before. Seriously: if you'd been Peter before the spider bite, wouldn't you have been a jerk right after? That plus classic, memorable renderings by Harris make this a must-read for Spidey fans.
SINESTRO CORPS
Sinestro Corps War was maybe the best, most well-executed "event" comic of the new millennium, and this first (of two) volume of the collected series is essential reading for any fan of mainstream superhero comics. If you've never read Green Lantern, or aren't well-versed in the language and characters of DC's intergalactic characters, make like a Lantern and fear not! The fact that Geoff Johns helmed the scripting duties for this event means you can expect what you usually can from Johns' work (Infinite Crisis aside): it does a great job of filling in the holes for new readers, while piling on the grace notes for old devotees. Along with beautiful art, and an incredible, epic setting, make sure you don't walk out of the store without a copy of this book.
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