Week of June 27th, 2007
It was another doozy of a week: between all the new books and the ones we lugged out of the 50% bin (there are still some amazing deals in there, Pulp readers), my fiancée and I barely made it home. Let's get onward, already, so you can see what I mean.
SPOTLIGHT REVIEW:
Spider-Man Fairy Tales #2
Now, I know I spotlighted a whole host of Spider-Titles last week, but there's a reason I'm giving this top billing. Basically, Marvel has what I'd consider an enormous selling point with this book, but were it not for a Myspace bulletin from Brian K. Vaughan, I wouldn't have heard anything about it: This issue is the first published work by painter Niko Henrichon since he did Pride of Baghdad with BKV. The plot is interesting (it's an adaptation of the Anansi story), but the art is stunning: Niko adjusted his palette just slightly, and paints with a brightness and vitality not seen much in modern comics. This is absolutely worth picking up, even if you just plan on looking at the pretty pictures.
Invincible #43
isn't the best issue of the series, but I'm spotlighting it just to write a few sentences encouraging you to pick up the special Invincible #0 issue at Pulp Fiction this week. It's only going to be a quarter, and Invincible is one of the best superhero books out there, easily the best published by a non-DC/Marvel company. If you're a fan of capes and tights books, and you haven't read this title, you're missing out big time.
FUN SIZE REVIEWS:
Teen Titans #48
continues to be a casualty of larger events in the DCU, as we get a scattered take on the Amazons Attack story, that will be continued in next month's issue. Supposedly Wonder Girl and Supergirl are going to kidnap the president in that book, so it will probably be more interesting than this one.
Silent War #6
has a non-ending that will separate people into two camps: the larger one who thinks it was lame, and the much smaller one who thought it was interesting…but still lame. I'm in the latter, but I'm still overall impressed with this book, and what appears to be a legitimate status quo change to the Inhumans world much larger than I expected from a miniseries.
WWH: Frontline #1
benefits from Paul Jenkins and Marvel learning what works and what doesn't for a book like this during Civil War. This title ditches the backup stories, and focuses on the legitimately cool (to this freelance journalist, at least) Ben and Sally story. As usual, the Frontline title is taking a "realistic" look at the bigger event; much more cerebral and dialogue-heavy. Of course, if you're just reading WWH for the smashy smashy (and there's nothing wrong with that) this won't be your title.
WWH: X-Men #1
on the other hand, features plenty of smashy smashy, but with the exception of the question posed to Prof. X at the beginning and end (Would you have voted for the Hulk to be shipped to space had you been at the meeting?) there's not much else of interest.
Silver Surfer #2
features a Spider-Man guest appearance that's the most interesting Spidey JMS has written all year. I'm still on the fence about this: it has a lot of promise, but it'll probably be impossible to judge it before the final issue. I'll tell you all about it then.
Countdown #44
is mostly about Mary Marvel's transformation, and how it will affect the Marvel family, and Jimmy Olsen trying to get a handle on his new (old) powers. The better part, for me, was the brief conversation between Piper and Trickster about how to deal with the new status quo since the Rogues killed a Flash.
I also recommend you pick yourself up a copy of Sinestro Corps, which is hard to track down (2nd printing will be at Pulp Fiction on July 18th; also note that GL #21, which continues this story, will be in-store July 11th ) but I hear is amazing.
NEWS BRIEFS:
In the wake of last week's WWPhilly and HeroesCon glut, there's not much to report this week. Bendis reupped his exclusive with Marvel to keep him there into next decade, but that didn't catch anyone off guard.
Wow. Next week is going to make this week look like Bruce Banner, with long-awaited issues of All-Star Supes, Y: The Last Man, the debut of Thor and the end of Fallen Son (including Cap's funeral), plus a new Dini Detective. Don't forget, kids, Wednesday is the 4th of July, so don't show up till Thursday, unless there's old books you want to buy. You can send me love or hate mail at skio84@mac.com or reach me through my blog at astoriedyear.blogspot.com if you want. Otherwise, I'll see you in seven.
<TOP>Week of June 20th, 2007
It was a doozy of a week, that's for sure, as my fiancée and I walked out of Pulp Fiction with more comics than we have in what seems like months. Marvel has been taking a lot of our money (and according to Mike, a lot of yours, too) with what I'm calling their "Banner Month": between World War Hulk, the Initiative, and Back in Black, it's hard to find a non-Ultimate Universe that isn't tied to a larger event. Anyway, with twice as many books to review as usual, expect the fun sized reviews to be even fun sized-ier…and expect me to quit blathering and get onward, already.
SPOTLIGHT REVIEW:
Spider-Books!
Yes sirree, no less than six Spidey titles came out this week, and they're collectively getting the spotlight. I didn't buy Spidey/F4, so do your own homework if you're curious about that one.
Sensational Spider-Man #38
was the biggest surprise, so it gets top billing. Eddie Brock, near dead from his cancer, finds out that although the physical link between he and the symbiote may be gone, some mental residue remains. Then he finds out a dying Aunt May and Mary Jane are in the same hospital as he is. This is all setup, but it's intriguing setup to say the least.
Amazing Spider-Man #541
would have been better if Spidey had fought Kingpin last issue, or maybe this issue. It's taken too long to get to the last page of this issue, where they finally confront each other. This is a better Kingpin issue than a Spidey book. Skip it and wait for next month.
Fallen Son: Death of Captain America: Spider-Man
wins the award for most colons in a single title, and for best art of the week. David Finch is awesome, and his posing makes even a conversation between Peter and Wolverine look great. I've heard people say this is too mopey, but it's Spider-Man dealing with another death of someone he cares about. How else was that going to turn out? I found it moving, and a convincing portrait of a hero moving closer to the edge all the time. Loved the Rhino cameo.
Spider-Man: Mythos
is telling a story you already knew, the origin of Spider-Man. This is the best writing Paul Jenkins has done in this series of retellings, and Paolo Rivera needs to be painting Spider-Man full time. Nothing groundbreaking here, but another cool look at the arachnid's beginnings.
Ultimate Spider-Man #110
is Mark Bagley's last full issue, though he'll do some of the next one, as well as the last part of the Ultimate Knights arc. Daredevil, his life destroyed by Fisk, confronts the Kingpin and threatens to kill his wife. The only drawback of this issue is that its climactic fight is actually a conversation. Very Bendis. Still, solid arc, and it looks like its leading into big moments between Pete and May next month.
FUN SIZE REVIEWS:
JLA #10
is the final issue in the Lightning Saga, and I couldn't be happier. As someone who's under the age of thirty, I felt like I needed a textbook just to understand what was going on in the continuity-heavy slug that was this crossover. Some nice moments, and a big moment in DC's history at the end, but overall not worth it for me.
Robin #163
was the only Father's Day related book to come out this week, surprising given how many Daddy issues there are in comics. Robin buys Bruce a gift and then struggles to get home to give it to him and cook him dinner: straightahead teen super hero fare, with lame villains. Liked the opening and the last sequence. Good to see Batman act human again.
The Incredible Hulk #107
isn't as ground-shattering as WWHulk, but then again, how could it be? The highlight of this book are Gary Frank's amazing pencils, and the crazy cool fight between Hercules and Hulk, which should have been, I don't know, fifty pages longer.
Iron Man #19,
a World War Hulk tie-in, is basically just the fight from WWH #1 told from Iron Man's perspective. So I liked it. Showed a softer side of Tony Stark than we've seen in months, too. I almost believed that he's a superhero.
Countdown #45
has a knock down, drag out fight between Donna Troy and the Forerunner, a member of the Monitors' slave race of fighters. Not a great issue, but likely a taste of things to come. Forerunner makes the OMACs look like Butterbean. Also the return of a familiar "face" on the last page…
The Spirit #7
is actually a Summer-themed collection of shorter stories written and drawn by other creators, probably to give Darwyn Cooke a break. It was mostly just okay, and I can't wait for Cooke to come back.
X-Men: Endangered Species
was kind of a one-note symphony, taking place at the funeral of a semi-anonymous mutant, as the X-Men and the rest of the mutant community try to come to terms with their increasing scarcity. Not wholly convincing, but interesting if you're a mutie fan.
NEWS BRIEFS:
Oh my God. With Wizard World Philly and HeroesCon last week, there's way too much news to talk about. I'm just going to run through it real quick, no jokes or commentary. Read? Deep breath AND: Mark Waid is back on the Flash, Amazing Spider-Man is soon to become the only Spider-Man title, shipping three times monthly; no creative team has been announced, Terry Moore is taking over Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Bendis is doing a new Ultimate Origin series about the origins of the Ultimate U, JLU's Dwayne McDuffie is the new JLA writer, Peter David is the new She-Hulk writer, there will be an X-Men event title Messiah Complex this fall, spinning out of Endangered Species. PHEW. I think that's all the biggies, I'll catch you up next week if I find out I missed anything.
After a back-breaking week, next week's haul looks a little lighter, though we will have the first WWH: Frontline to look forward to. See you then! Email skio84@mac.com if you have anything to say before then, or check out astoriedyear.blogspot.com for more from me if you have the time. Thanks for reading!
<TOP>Week of June 13th, 2007
This week is just the way I like it: lean and mean. I didn't drop a lot of money, but I got a hell of a lot of bang for my buck. With all this great stuff to talk about, we better go ahead and get onward, already.
SPOTLIGHT REVIEW:
World War Hulk #1:
Holy. Crap. Finally, an event that doesn't require a compendium, a companion series, two trade paperbacks filled with continuity-laden preludes. Finally, an event I don't need to study a textbook to understand all the intricacies of. An event I can sum up in two, perfect words: Hulk smash. I've followed Greg Pak's run off and on, but this first issue absolutely proves that I didn't need to in order to enjoy this story. Pak does a better job of catching the reader up than I expected to, filling us in on everything we need to know in a fluid way that doesn't interrupt the story. He also make it apparent that if you don't want to get into it, all you really need to know is that the Hulk is furious, and ready to kill the Marvel Universe. Or, in the Hulk's own words: "Puny humans. I've come to smash." John Romita Jr.'s art, with this book and the recent Eternals, is on a new plateau. I believe he may have a future in this business. I don't want to give too much away, but here's the tally so far: one major building in the Marvel U destroyed already, one major hero defeated, and a now-empty Manhattan the site of an enormous battle. On one side: the Hulk. On the other: everybody else. This is what comics are all about.
FUN SIZE REVIEWS:
Justice #12:
The last issue of Justice was a solid one: I'm looking forward to reading it all as a whole. The only knock against it, and I've heard it several times, is that it's been kind of hard to follow over the course of the last two years. That's true, but I've read this one in conjunction with the previous ones, and I can promise that everyone's in for a treat. Alex Ross' art has never been crisper, and this is iconic superhero writing at its best.
New Avengers # 31:
There will immediately be two camps for this hyped up issue, which Marvel has promised features a revelation that will rock their universe. The revelation? I won't tell you, but I will tell you I'm a member of the camp who thinks it's generally pretty lame. Of course, if they can make it cool over he next years, then they'll have proven me wrong. We'll see. Seems like a "jump the shark" moment.
Sub-Mariner #1:
Hmmmm. This one is kind of interesting. I liked the story pretty well, though it seems very similar to Secret War. In Kansas, a small town is blown up, and all evidence seems to point to an Atlantean attacker. Prince Namor tries to quell rebellion in his rank as gets into a pissing match with the U.S. military. But the art was nearly inexcusably bad: anyone who wasn't in close-up has a kind of muddy-looking smudge where their face should be. Seems like if you're working on a Namor book, you should be able to draw Namor.
Countdown #46:
Bottom line: Mary Marvel looks good in black, Jimmy Olsen is talking to a weird little Darkseid minion, there is a demon made of stillborn children in this issue (a bit much, thanks), and Donna Troy and Jason Todd might go the way of Duela Dent thanks to the Forerunner, a new character who appears to be the continuity-enforcer for the Monitors. Capiche?
NEWS BRIEFS:
Warren Ellis announced via various online outlets that he's finished his last Planetary script. With Ultimates being done, Bagley leaving Ultimate Spider-Man, JMS off Amazing soon, Justice just done, and Y: The Last Man nearing completion, it's starting to feel like the end of an era. Anyway, congrats to Warren, longtime reader of the column. Just kidding.
Well it was a solid one this week, but next week looks solidly middle-of-the-road from where I sit, although it's a huge week for Spidey fans, with new issues of Amazing, Ultimate Spider-Man, Sensational, plus Spider-Man: Mythos, and a new ish of Spider-Man/Fantastic Four. Man, that guy gets around. Send any missives, mailers, or mopes to skio84@mac.com. Otherwise, I'll see you in seven!
<TOP>Week of June 6th, 2007
Welcome welcome, to another slow week here at the Mania. I don't know if Marvel and DC are saving up their good titles for later in the summer or what, but I'd sure like to buy more than a handful of titles each week…oh well, I'm sure I'll be whining about how broke I am in a few weeks. Enough self-pity! Onward!
SPOTLIGHT REVIEW:
Detective Comics #833:
If there's a God, and he cares about comics, we'd get a new issue of Paul Dini's Detective every single week. Oh--My--God this is a good issue. It has one of the best twists you'll ever find in a superhero comic book, one so good I won't even set foot near it; just read it for yourself. Aside from the twist, Don Kramer's art looks to me like it gets better with every issue he does: the detailed linework in this ish are better than any he'd done before it. Paul Dini, for his part, crafts an immediately compelling relationship between Batman and Zatanna, and references their scene in Identity Crisis without participating in the gratuitous self-nasalizing that DC seems so in love with right now. Batman's wearing a lot of different hats in the DCU right now: Paul Dini's is far and away my favorite. Until the next issue of Morrison's Batman, probably…
FUN SIZE REVIEWS:
New Warriors #1:
One of the hardest things for comics writers to do is to launch a new team: how do you set up a whole group of characters, give them interesting back stories and interactions with each other, in so little space? Most writers have (unfortunately, since he did it better than those who've come after) been copying Bendis' New Avengers launch. Kevin Grevioux tries that here, and leaves me flat, with an issue that's all setup, with not nearly enough payoff. Bonus points to Paco Medina for a solid issue of art. I'll try another issue or two and let you know what I think.
Invincible #42:
This is a smaller issue with a smaller price tag, designed to snag new readers. Your two bucks will get you an abbreviated but dense story, and five pages of prose that catch you up on the story so far. I'm reviewing this mainly so I can say in all caps to anyone reading that YOU SHOULD BE READING INVINCIBLE. It's usually really great, and this is a good way to introduce yourself to the book. You won't even have to look at any advertisements on the inside.
Avengers: The Initiative #3:
This title has been a slow death, with flat characters and an overly narrow focus. I'm just not that into anyone in this book. There's kind of a cool Spider-Man moment in this book, but at the end of the day it's just kind of not worth it. A big heaping helping of Meh.
Countdown #47:
Predictably, Black Adam goes a bit nuts and the Monitors go militant, but, unpredictably, I'm still enjoying this book. Mary Marvel undergoes a transformation worth reading, and Paul Dini wants us to keep our eyes on Holly Robinson, Catwoman's old pal. If you care about any character that's been muddled around by continuity, I'd tell them to watch their back…
NEWS BRIEFS:
A few small news snippets this week: Tom Derenick signed an exclusive with DC Comics. He's currently working on Shadowpact, and he'll be working on Countdown in the future. The bigger news is that Stan Lee has signed a first-look deal with Disney. A first-look deal basically means that Stan Lee is going to be an idea man for Disney; he'll get to do what he does best, coming up with characters and worlds, and then pass them on to…younger writers to script. I wonder if he'll start coming up with talking animals…
Next week: the last issue of Justice, and the beginning of World War Hulk. Be there. Till then, you can reach me any hour of the day at skio84@mac.com with all the requisite compliments, complaints, and other c words. Otherwise I'll see you in seven.
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