Curiouser and Curioser

http://www.imposemagazine.com/mag/?p=1349
So here's what's going on right now. Right now, I'm writing comic book reviews for Impose magazine, which you can get to by following that link. However they kind of trickle out one at a time. But they are pretty much the top books of any given week. So I've been thinking about what I want to do with this blog to differentiate it, assuming I have any readers left right now.

I'm thinking of just doing extra reviews and posting them here. So you could therotically read me reviewing 6 or 7 books per week. Or I might just give a surface summary of the books that came out during the week and sort of point fingers at what interests me.

Which might also be good.

I don't know. We'll see.

Legion of Monsters Satana # 1;Red Sonja: She Devil With A Sword # 23;Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special # 1

First off, apologies for missing last week. I was moving and didn't have internet access until like Friday. So anywho. Without further ado.

Legion of Monsters Satana# 1
Robin Furth(Satana)-Kalman Andrasofszky(Satana); Jonathan Hickman(Living Mummy)

I primarily decided to read this one because of Jonathan Hickman's name being attached. But the book is basically something of an anthology of stories involving some of Marvel's more obscure Hellbent Characters. In this case Satana, and the Living Mummy.

Robin Furth's Satana story leads off. It's basically the whole devil's deal but told from the Devil's perspective. Trips to hell. Souls sent and retrieved. This story certainly isn't made more remarkable by how much of a sex kitten Satana looks. But even Furth is aware of that and makes a joke to that end. It is pretty much standard fare that is and has been done a lot better in things like Hellblazer and Strange Girl. But it's certainly not not enjoyable. If this is actually an extended series, it might end up being kind of good once the cast of characters in it are expanded, and Satana is fleshed out more. Right now she is more of a stereotype.

The Art for the Satana story is about what you'd expect to see reading say...Heroes for Hire. It's like the story in that it's solid but not wholly remarkable. At least to my art ignorant eyes. But there are certainly worse books.

As far as Hickman's section. Wow. Yeah. A-mazing. I was interested to see how his style which worked so perfectly with Nightly News would work with kind of a silly Marvel story. And it worked amazingly well. We are given a lot of interesting bits of information related to the story and Egyptian history and it's all given across eyebleedingly cool pages that seemingly can barely contain their contents. Hickman's work just kind of spills in all directions across the pages and in many ways succeeds far better than a simple panel structure would have worked.

Essentially his living mummy story is the same story as Satana, but his artistic vision takes it up to the level of must see. I'm definitely interested to see where Hickman goes next. I would like to see more sort of landscapes like on the last page of this book.

Red Sonja: She Devil With A Sword # 23
Michael Avon Oeming-Homs

Red Sonja is a book that I've heard a lot about, like Conan, that I just never gave a try. Until now. And I have to say, if I had been up on where the story was, and understood who all the characters were, it probably would have been really good to me. As it stands though, it was a pretty action packed adventure, with lots of scantily clad sex bunny poses by Red Sonja(who is inexplicably swimming in a metal bikini, which also doubles I think as armor...maybe?).

The art is pretty good, covering both the profane and the sublime. The book almost plays as a study in contrasts. Whether it's beautiful Sonja against ugly sea monsters of completely horrible concoction. Or the Wizard towards the end who brings darkness as well as light. The interplay in the tone of the art is definitely emotionally affecting.

Oeming also writes Omega Flight, and again here he shows himself to be a very capable writer, even if all I'm really able to appreciate is the direction and dialouge of the script that relates to just this issue. It's very hard sometimes to nail the kind of "by the gods" kind of talk that this book sometimes would entail, but Oeming does it quite well. It doesn't take you away from the reality of the book, but actually succeeds in bringing you farther into this world.

I don't know how much I would recommend this book on it's own, but I'm certainly interested to pick up a collection of this run and see how it goes. Anyone that has read my reviews in the past knows I'm definitely a fan of super heroine stories.

Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special # 1
Geoff Johns-Ethan Van Sciver

Straight out I have to say I have never liked any of the Green Lantern characters. I think they are all boring stiff cardboard cutouts of better archetypes. I'm not a Hal Jordan fan. Not a Kyle Rayner fan. Not a John Stewart fan. And so on and so forth. That said, you know a huge "but" is coming after all that build up. BUT I enjoyed the crap out of this book.

Geoff Johns is one of the best and brightest of those working in the field right now. He was good about five years ago too. But he's turned a corner with his work to where he is getting into really rarefied air with his work. I don't know if there is a comic book writer right now who makes me care more about his characters no matter who they are than Geoff Johns. The man is a powerhouse and if you're not reading most everything he is writing I'm not entirely sure why you're even bothering to follow comics at all.

Sinestro Corps is kind of a distillation of all the things Johns is brilliant at. He takes a character that to my eye is one of the least threatening and most ridiculous looking in all of DC Comics, which is saying a lot. And a concept that is kind of silly in and of itself, the whole Sinestro Corps, and the yellow impurity, and makes this into an amazing meditation on evil. Watching Sinestro torture Kyle Rainer and teach him fear has to be one of the best sequences in all of comics this year.

What Johns accomplishes in this one issue in setting up the Sinestro Corps as a major threat to the DC world is astounding and just goes to show, all of this crisis kerbabble that DC is doing is unneeded. The old formula of getting together some screwed over baddies, and planning a major assault on the status quo--it's all we've ever needed. Johns makes the Sinestro Corp far more feared than Monitors or Anti-Monitors have ever been on their own(in fact there is an appearance by the Anti-monitor in this book, but oh well).

By the time you get to the final reveal of this book, you are ready for things to go down. The Sinestro Corps are this year's Black Adam.

And then after all of that you get a Dave Gibbons backup story about Sinestro's tutelage of Hal Jordan, which is also tremendous, and I look forward to seeing more of those.

You would be hard pressed to find a book more jam packed with goodness than this one this year. Definitely a must read.

New Avengers #31; Worl War Hulk # 1; The Sub-Mariner # 1

New Avengers # 31
Brian Michael Bendis-Leinil Yu

Okay, it's been a week so I'm sure it's okay to complain about this now. I usually don't do spoilers, but the whole point of this issue is what happens at the end of it. Which is SKRULLS. IT'S ALL SKRULLS TONTO. Who is a skrull? Are you a skrull? Is she a skrull? Maybe I'm a skrull? How can we know?

I initially felt really angry about this but did eventually settle down once Bendis came out and assured everyone that this wouldn't retcon Civil War or any of the other major events of the past year.

Pretty much if you want to have any foothold in the marvel world these days, you have to be reading Bendis' Avengers books. Because that's where everything is happening. Sure X-men are all off in their own world, so you could just stay there with them. But if you want to have any notion or clue as to what is going on in the 616, you have to read Avengers. Fortunately neither book is offensively bad. And of the two, my favorite poison is New Avengers.

But yeah. You pretty much know where this story is heading. So if you're into a whole doppleganger, body snatcher type tale which has been done before many times--then get on the bus and buckle up. I KNOW I WILL....sigh.

World War Hulk # 1
Greg Pak-John Romita Jr.

This was for me the real event of last week in Marvel. After waiting for about a year to see someone lay the smack down on Tony Starks, Hulk is here to satiate all your smashing desires. He roars. He smashes. He crashes. He makes Tony Stark look like a fool. It really is quite lovely.

And it looks fantastic. JRJR really knows how to draw action. And that's great for a book that hits the ground running at a hundred miles per hour. In one issue we get not one but two Illuminati smack downs by the Hulk--now that's what I call a satisfying chunk of comic!

Make now mistake though, Greg Pak does do the small things necessary to keep this story interesting and keep you caring about the Hulks plight. He does an excellent job of summarizing Planet Hulk for people who want to just jump right in.

This is pretty much this years Marvel big Event, so you need to be reading at least the core book here. Lots of must reads over at Marvel right now. Though it can be kind of exhausting to have event after event. It certainly is exciting though.

That said, this is the perfect book to cleanse the palate post-Civil War. If you're tired of registration/anti-registration. And don't want to think about Skrulls right now, then this is the book.

Sub-Mariner # 1
Matt Cherniss Peter Johnson-Phil Briones

I'm not sure why, but while I think Aquaman is a total putz, I kind of dig Namor. And Marvel has been kind of hinting at a larger Namor narrative down the line. So this book seems like it will end up being important. The set up is basically that all is not well in the house of Namor. Atlantis is in ruin, sleeper cells are attacking the USA with or without Namor's okay. Things are bad okay. Bad.

And now Namor has had enough. On the brink of all out war with the US, he goes to take matters into his own hands and get to the bottom of things.

What this book really does a good job of capturing is Namor's anger, pride, and defiance--and since we are reading the book from his perspective it's very compelling. Once again it's another Marvel book where Tony Stark is basically the duplicitous villain. So if you want to see another hero defy Tony, look no further.

The art pretty much comes across as standard fair. It's what every book looks like right now in comics. So nothing to complain about or rave about there. Though if you want to bring Aquaman back into the equation, I like the art of his book a lot better.

But yeah. Undersea intrigue. You know you want it. Namor is going to kick some butt soon. Not a must read or anything, but if you bought it, I don't think you'd be disappointed with your purchase. Solid story, with some potential. See how it goes.

Black Summer # 0, Uncanny X-men # 487, Omega Flight # 3

Black Summer # 0
Warren Ellis-Jose Van Ryp

Well if Civil War wasn't direct enough for you, you now have what could shape into a new Warren Ellis opus in Black Summer. Black Summer begins with one of our main heroes John Horus brutally murdering the entire white house with his bare hands then holding a press conference afterwards to announce new elections.

John Horus who is a part of something called the Guns, which is I guess something akin to maybe the Justice League of America in terms of being like America's super team, has decided that it would be right hypocritical of himself to stand by while the current administration commits grave injustice after grave injustice with complete impunity. And so he takes action. And now we have the setup for what looks to be a completely brilliant book.

This book looks to be a meditation on just how strong the so called American ideals really are. If after being given a chance to remake our government over completely fairly, will we turn it all into a police state, devolve into Civil War, or I don't know...actually elect a government that somewhat upholds the ideas and notions the country was supposedly founded upon.

The book is less political in the terms of Liberal and Conservative, and more ideological in terms of it's about the marketplace of ideas. So I think regardless of your political leanings there is food for thought here. You figure Bush's approval raiting is crawling around in the upper 20's or so, and there really can't be that many people for whom his brutal murder in a work of fiction is that upsetting. But we'll see.

The art by Jose Van Ryp is very good, and highly detailed. I enjoyed the look of the book as much as the ideas presented in it.

This is definitely one of those books where Warren Ellis appears to be writing unchained, so it's a very easy recommendation. As with any great Ellis project my only criticism is more like a concern, I worry about him finishing this before he gets bored. He's notorious for starting fast and furious then letting his books fizzle while he goes onto his next big thing. Focus Warren focus. Please. This could be a huge book. Could be Ellis' Preacher if he lets it be.

Uncanny X-men # 487
Ed Brubaker-Salvador Larocca

Everyone has their dislikes. Things that no matter how well done, how well prepared, you just plain won't like it just because of it's basic premise. For me some of my dislikes are broccoli, Ron Howard movies, and X-men in space stories. So here you have this great team of Brubaker and Larocca, who are just fantastic--Brubaker may be the top story teller AT marvel right now, and Larocca makes very pretty pictures--and they decide they are going to tell a huge year long space opera starring the freaking X-men.

I mean don't get me wrong, I love comic book space operas. I loved Annihilation. But I've always in my head considered the X-men a disorganized earth bound team, that when they get into space, it just gets really silly. So I was really sad that I basically could not enjoy or read Uncanny for the longest time. Until now. Because the Uncanny X-men ARE BACK ON EARTH!!! Wooo! Yeah! Party time! Time to really put the rubber to the road and get going with these stories.

The art is of course amazing and fantastic. Storm makes an appearence and is....amazing and fantastic(which brings up another point, Spider-man in space bad, Fantastic Four in space Great!). The story is kind of a setup for the next big X-event involving the Marauders, which we'll see how that goes.

But yeah. X-men are back on earth. It's the start of a whole new arc. Now is the time to jump aboard this book. So get going!

Omega Flight # 3
Michael Avon Oeming-Scott Kolins

All I will say about this book is HURRY IT UP. Jesus Christ. It's issue 3 of 5, and apparently that's pretty much going to be the whole series--and we are STILL setting up the team. Even my English majoring ass can figure out that means we're over half way through the entire story, and we still don't have the team set up.

I know someone else who made this mistake and screwed up what could have been a good story. His name is Neil Gaiman, and the book was The Eternals. This is a book, that anyone at Marvel who is actually reading it's content needs to extent by another five issues. Because we're still going to have to be doing setup in issue four. At this rate, all I can say is issue 5 better be one heck of a conclusion.

I mean. It's a good book, okay. But there are a TON of superhero team books coming out of Marvel right now, and when you know this one is only going to be here for a short time, and it really hasn't even begun to start--you wonder why you're wasting your time.

Get with it guys! Time is running out. I loved this book. Please don't let it be another Eternals.

The Boys # 7, Silver Surfer: Requiem # 1, Silent War # 5

The Boys # 7
Garth Ennis-Darick Robertson

The Boys are BACK! After a long hiatus, after proving to dangerous for DC to carry, the Boys are back on Dynamite. Issue seven is the start of a new arc, so it's not too late to jump in. Plus I believe the trade collecting the entire DC run of six issues is out there also to buy, so there's really no excuse not to be in on the ground floor here.

What in god's name is The Boys? It's a book about a group of good for nothing arse-kickers, who blackmail and beat up a bunch of good for nothing pervert superheroes. At least that's what we've got so far. But here we are in issue seven, and we're still really setting the cast and setting. Given that Ennis has said this is going to be a long project like the Preacher series, the setup of this series is building to something epic. But it appears patience is what is needed right now.

This issue gives us further development of Hughie, who is pretty much the focus of the book to this point. As well as shading a little bit towards bigger things with the Frenchmen and the Female. All of this is given around more spewed Ennis venom towards the superhero genre, it's fans, and it's creators. I'm not nearly smart enough to know what all the references mean, but either way, this book is chock full of them. It's a very biting and angry book to this point, and I think what a lot of people including myself are waiting for now, is the other shoe to drop, and Ennis to start putting in some of his romanticism that has won so many of our hearts over the years. I have faith that it's coming. Just looking logically at the plot threads he's laying out, it would appear almost certain it's coming. This is just taking a long time to really get there. Lots of subtle buildup in a book that is very loud on the surface.

I'm just saying, you need to be reading this now, even though I'm not giving it the most stirring recommendation, because I'm almost certain this is going to end up in a book that you are going to want to buy all the trades of, and you don't want to wait until you're like five trades behind. We're talking simple economics here. Spread out the burden of this book on your wallet. It will be worth it.

Silver Surfer: Requiem # 1
J. Michael Straczynski-Esad Ribic

Okay. So this book actually made me cry reading it. Twice. And whether I am bitter at JMS about Spider-man or not, I pretty much have to review a comic that moves me to tears. Especially since I don't actually like any of the characters involved.

No this book isn't perfect. JMS is overly wordy in a lot of it. His language overly flowery to the point of embarrassment in more than a few places. But I guess if you chuck enough pretty words over the just beautiful paintings of Esad Ribic, you're bound to knock one out of the park. And that's what happens here. There is a scene here with The Silver Surfer and Sue Storm of the Fantastic Four, that almost had me bawling it was so sad. The way JMS chose to have it related with the painting, but narration by Johnny Storm, who like a child doesn't get the weight of what he's actually describing, is just completely beautiful.

The other part that made me tear up was to do with the way JMS described the Surfer's outlook to his impending situation. Which again, succeeded because of it's child-like innocence in dealing with a very heavy subject.

This book doesn't take place in continuity, so it's not imperative to read to get some portion of a major event. But it is a beautiful reminder of the power of the medium, even when it involves silver guys on surfboards who can travel through space and shoot things with beams that come out of their hands. Or does it sound silly when I say it that way? Either way. Good read. Worth it if nothing else for Ribic's paintings.

Silent War # 5
David Hine-Frazier Irving

Yeah so I am in on this really late. Issue five of six. I sort of wish I had kept up with it. Though I'm not a huge fan of the Inhumans. But the premise is basically that the Inhumans, who are this race of people who live on the other side of the moon, are really made at the american government for stealing this sacred thing of theirs which gives them their powers. So they declare war against the US. But it's nothing as overt as Civil War really. And yada yada, fruition, explosions, fun times.

The story itself is alright. I came in so late, there wasn't a ton of hope that I'd be really engaged into that aspect of it. But Frazier Irving...WOW. I've never seen a book that looks like this. It's really amazing and remarkable. The cover doesn't do the art inside any justice. It's just some of the coolest stuff you'll see. That's the reason to pick up this book. Probably I'll even get it in trade. This is definitely an artist to keep track of and buy books of solely because he's working on them.

X-Men #199, Countdown #49, Shadowpact #13

X-men # 199
Mike Carey-Chris Bachalo

Still the best X-book going for my money. The art is STILL fantastic. And the last arc just ended, so you should be picking this up at 200. This is by far the most interesting X-team out there. I think Astonishing's Team is kind of the headliner X-men, which aren't so much put together because they're a good team, but because they are the top marketable team. Uncanny is Charles Xavier-led team, and we all know he's no fun. So that leaves us the Dirty Dozen-esque Adjective less(appropriately) X-men.

In this issue we get almost a JSA type level of team work by this group that at the same time seems to be barely holding together. The way that the team splinters off when Rogue isn't around is a fantastic move by Mike Carey.

We also get more development of the Rogue/Mystique/Iceman triangle, as well as getting to see Iceman do some really amazing stuff with his powers.

All of this of course drawn in the near seizure-inducing art of Chris Bachalo. The way that Carey narratively builds to these almost orgasmic climaxes of art is truly something to behold, when he lets Bachalo go nuts on a page, it's one of my favorite things in any monthly.

Read this x-book!

DC Countdown # 49
Various

The plot thickens this week in DC Countdown. We get to see our good friend Jimmy Olsen do some peculiar stretching in a fight with Croc. The monitors argue about what is to be done. We get something of a hit list, and those Rogues in Flash's book are up to something. All of this building up to a lovely climax involving our good friend Mary Marvel, and a significant villain from 52.

Yes, Countdown is off in full swing. And I have to say, so far it's looking like it may just top 52 in terms of payoff week in and week out. Sure there are parts that are more interesting than others, but we're getting a lot into that crazy metatextual multi-verse talk again, so this is a book you really want to be reading to illuminate the rest of the DC Universe, and not get completely lost sometime next year.

The art is also quite good for a weekly. All in all, I'm definitely signed up for this weekly format of comics, it's very television-like.

It's only 3 issues in, so get on now!

Shadowpact # 13
Bill Willingham-Scott Hampton

sSo last week I reviewed Fables, this is another book by Bill Willingham, this one set in the DCU about the group of heroes who helped beat the Spectre on Days of Vengeance there awhile back. This book is for anyone who enjoys magical adventures, demon slaying, and really good writing.

This is an excellent issue to start with too, because I for one, have been lax in reading Shadowpact, but this issue kind of sets the stage for a lot of big things that are about to happen, that don't really rely on a lot of things that have already happened.

The narrative voice that Willingham chooses to employ for this book, in my opinion, hits near the one you see in The Dark Tower, but much more tolerable. Plus Willingham seems to have a gift for almost effortless characterizations.

The art of the book is suitably dark and foreboding.

I think if you are at all a fan of the magical part of the DC Universe, which I am, then this is defintiely the book to read. It also is a fantastic read just for fans of Bill Willingham. If you are reading Fables, you really should read this as well. I don't know what it's sales numbers are like, but this is definitely one of the better books set in the DCU being put out. Hopefully people take notice before it gets canceled, because I think this is a book that many will read in trades and be very impressed with, and wish they had been on board earlier.

All-star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder # 5; Ultimates # 13; Fables # 61

All-star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder # 5
Frank Miller-Jim Lee

People with a sense of humor and a keen sense of the absurd need be the only ones who apply. Fact being, this is not Dark Knight Returns. This isn't some super-serious thing that will be made into a movie, change lives, and find a cure for cancer. This to the untrained eye is the worst thing Frank Miller has ever done. It's offensive. It lacks fully-developed characterizations. It's at times embarrassingly written. And in some ways it may cause you to think less or diffrently of some of Miller's other work.

However. And it's a big however. This is my new freaking bible. This is the most hilarious and great thing on the shelves from last week. From the opening page quote from Wonder Woman "Out of my way, sperm bank" to yet another incarnation of "I'm the goddamn Batman", this book is full of silly somehow charming quotes that you will be dying to use amongst your nerdy friends.

There is an extent to where this book is some kind of parody. It is basically taking the basic foundations of these pristine mythological DC characters and taking them to such an extreme so as to pervert them fully. Which IS fascinating, because it's always been a charge against DC that they are too stiff with their characters, and hold them up too often as museum pieces. But Miller brings no such respect to the characters here. Intentional or not, this is derisive mocking work, and should only be ready with a readiness to laugh.

If you remember back, Charles Bukowski once wrote a book called Pulp which was his stab at a "bad" book. We'll see how the whole book turns out in the end, but I'm leaning to thinking ASBARBW is Miller's Pulp.

Ultimates # 13
Mark Millar-Bryan Hitch

The stunning final issue of Millar and Hitch's Ultimates can best be described as a comic Ragnorak. If only Civil War had been allowed to hit these heights. The final battle in Ultimates has been going on for what....5 issues? That's like...100+ pages. And Millar and Hitch throw everything in but the kitchen sink. This issue we get monsters, gods, massive explosions--if this were a movie, this issue alone would suffice as the final battle for most movies. That this is the final act of several issues of this quality only further underlines the fact that when this does finally come out in trade, you need to own it.

The Ultimates when all is said and done, may be the best thing Marvel has ever done. It will be interesting to see how it holds up over time, because the politics could end up dated in terms of the names and faces, but I would guess that in the end those are just place holders, and this can be viewed as a cautionary anti-establishment tale, with lots of great intrigue, drama, and moments that should prove iconic for ages.

Bryan Hitch is really the star of this show. Millar writes a great book to be sure, but Hitch is insane. He's a mad man. Like, I'm shocked that my eyes didn't explode out of my head. The way that the book builds to it's excesses and then always pays off is orgasmic.

If they ever talk about the age that Marvel finally took comics back from DC, this will be THE book they point to. This is wholly a marvel book, and it measures up to anything that DC has put out in it's decorated history.

Yeah. I'm a fan.

Fables # 61
Bill Willingham-Mark Buckinham

It's kind of weird that I don't have a fables review up every month. I mean, whenever people have asked me the last few years about comics I recommend, I usually tally Fables in that ledger. But the fact of the matter is that I have been following it in the trades, and have fallen behind there. So I was a bit reticent to jump in and spoil things for me.

This month however I bit the bullet. And I'm glad I did. I was surprised that I could basically jump right into this issue and not really be all that lost. I think I'm like...18 issues back in the trades or something. But yeah. Fables is one of the best possible books you could ever pick up in a monthly.

This is a book for that kind of Sandman crowd, that likes the adult fairy tale bend. The series really has it all. It can be funny, charming, intriguing, tear jerking--it really touches on every kind of emotion, and honestly, I hope Willingham never stops. He was born to do this book, and there are infinite stories he can tell in this world with this concept. I really don't see how anyone could NOT like Fables. It's probably the safest book on the shelves for me to reccomend anyone regardless of race, gender, age. Though obviously, it's vertigo, and even though it involves fairy tale characters, it probably isn't for like...really little kids. But I would have definitely dug this when I was 12 or 13.

Anyways. Yeah. I'm officially going on record to say that I am a huge Fables fan, and it's taken too long for me to tell the readers of this blog that. So now go your honest day's duty, and support the book.

Annihilation Saga, Nova # 2, Thunderbolts #114

Annihilation Saga
Keith Giffen-Various

So let me be direct here. If you have any single fiber of your being that likes a good old fashioned space opera in the vein of Star Wars, Dune, and Battlestar Gallactica, run, don't walk to your nearest comic book shop and get yourself some of this. Annihilation Saga is just plain staggering in it's scope. That this was going on at the same time as Civil War and Civil War was getting all the pub, is astounding.

It's all here. Galactus. Silver Surfer. Thanos. Skrulls, Kree. Death. The Beyonder. Quasar. Every marvel space character shows up to battle for you guessed it, the universe's existence. It's your basic dark threat comes in, makes things seem bleak, heroes rally, lots of things blow up. Entire planets are destroyed. Entire galaxies perish. Great stuff.

Perhaps the greatest achievement of the series is making Nova into Marvel's answer to Green Lantern. This is definitely the best story that Marvel has told in the last year.

I just hope Marvel does the smart thing and collects the entire thing in a huge hardcover tome.

Nova # 2
Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning-Sean Chen

Yeah so after reading Annihilation, I pretty much had to check out Nova's book. And have to say. I was pleasantly suprised and impressed. Basically this book is about Richard Rider, Nova, returning home after Annihilation to a post-civil war america. The basic thrust is Tony Starks and the government bugging Nova, and Nova being like "I saved the freaking universe, man!".

The story basically falls into that man out of time type of encino man type story. Even though Rider hasn't been away from earth for very long, so much has changed, that he has become dissociated from it all.

The artwork is good. The writing is really strong. This book will appeal to fans of DC's Green Lantern. And maybe fans of the old Captain America, as it does hit that note too. And then also fans of the New Warriors.


Thunderbolts # 114
Warren Ellis-Mike Deodato Jr.

I was not initally overly impressed by Thunderbolts by Ellis. In fact I thought it was going to be another Ellis project I just would have to give a pass to. But I'm starting to get glad I stuck with it. It's really starting to ramp up.

The art is fantastic. The writing, we're starting to see some of the threads spun early on pull tight. I like that this is a serious book compared to Next Wave, which was full of jokes I didn't laugh at. Thunderbolts just seems more like Ellis's brilliant work on Stormwatch and The Authority. So if you are a fan of either of those works, then this is definitely a book to check out.

I mean, techinically everyone in this book is a villain. So it's interesting how you have within that group heroes and villains, and then to some degree you are also rooting against the team as they fight their actual "villains"(unregistered heroes).

So yeah. As if you needed my recommendation on a book as hyped as Thunderbolts. But consider this the official stamp of approval, at least until Ellis gets bored with the concept.

Sensational Spider-man Annual # 1; Spider-man: FCBD; Astonishing X-men # 21

Sensational Spider-man Annual # 1
Matt Fraction-Salvador Larocca

I've certainly been no fan of the current crop of Spider-man scribe for whom, unfortunately for me, have been current for quite some time--so this week is kind of dedicated to the guys who most likely "got next". The first of which is one of the brighest stars coming into the marvel universe, Mr. Matt Fraction, of Cassanova and Immortal Iron Fist fame. He too of the ever improving Punisher War Journal. Well he's been handed the keys to a project, I've really thought for the longest time he was born to write, and that is as one of the writers of the big three monthly spider-man books.

And boy does he not disapoint. To say Sensational Spider-man Annual is one of the best in continuity Spider-man stories in recent memory would be to sell the book quite short. It's that good. This is the type of story quality wise I'd have thought to only exist in Ultimate Spider-man anymore--but thank god we've finally come up for air. Because really this is the type of mature Peter Parker story that you can't tell in the Ultimate world right now.

The issue basically focuses on Mary Jane and Peter Parker's relationship, and how it is holding up under the pressures of his now ruined life. And it's really romantic and great and wonderful and I definitely teared up reading it in a few places. This is definitely a book where the adage, I laughed, I cried, I was moved adage holds suit. Which is to say, it's everything Spider-man SHOULD be, but seems so rarely to be. It seems like event after event is thrown at him, but no one seems to be taking a second to take stock of the very human issues surrounding these changes, and Fraction definitely does that here.

The art by Larocca stands up to the writing. There are some scenes in here that will stay with you for a long time. Just beautiful iconic stuff.

But really. I've said this so much, but I'll definitely say it again. Matt Fraction is the up and coming superstar of comic books right now. He's paid his dues, and now he's starting to get the projects worthy of his talents, and he's knocking them out of the park. It's no stretch to say that a year from now Matt Fraction(and what a great comic book name that is, it's Steranko-esque), will be on the same level as a Millar, Brubaker, Morrison. You'll see his name, and you will read it, no matter what it is. And you'll like it.

The Amazing Spider-man: Free Comic Book Day Book
Dan Slott-Phil Jimenez

Judging by all the rumors coming out, Dan Slott WILL be the new writer on Amazing, once JMS steps down(thank god). So I thought it was important to also review his book, as it sort of gives us a preview of the type of story we might expect from Slott on Amazing.

It's pretty much what you'd expect from Slott. Slott's writing manages to capture that kind of youthful mirth of how you felt about comics as a kid, even if the quality was probably never this good. Coming out of the current dark times for Spidey, this could be the perfect writer to give the fans a breather with. He seems like he can bring the fun back to Spider-man. Wacky villains, high paced adventures, and quipy quips, I think these are the elements we can expect to make their way over to his official run.

It's hard to find any fault with this book in particular. First of all. It's free. But second of all, the art is fantastic by Phil Jiminez, there's lots of great action, and it's got that classic Peter Parker trying to cram super heroism in between the events of his life. In many ways what this is most like is De Falco's Spider-girl. It's got that same vibe, but it is in continuity with Spider-man. Which I think is really what a lot of fans have been clamoring for for awhile. JMS seemed to take the fun out of Spider-man, as well as just not being all that compelling in spite of the radical changes he constantly through Parker through.

Slott basically writes the Spider-man of the first two movies. The one that everyone remembers and loves. And if he can keep that up, while dealing with the aftermath of the catastrophic events that marvel have thrown upon Peter Parker, we should be in for quite a treat.

Astonishing X-Men # 21
Joss Whedon-John Cassady

I still do not get the fan fair behind these books. I don't understand why this book is so acclaimed over in my opinion, Mike Carey's FAR superior X-book. It's baffling to me. I think Cassady's art makes the x-men look like stay-puffed marshmallow men, I keep expecting someone to poke Wolverine in the stomach and for him to go "woo hoo". And then the writing...has no one ever watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Does it not bother people that Whedon has essentially just thrown X-men skins on the characters he already had in Buffy, which in turn were brilliant modernizations of the Scooby gang? I don't really get why he's even writing Buffy the Vampire Slayer in comics. You get all of that you need in this book. I guess if you're partial to vampires instead of mutants, but still, there's so little diffrence here, that it really hampers my ability to relate to the characters.

I definitely respect that Whedon has made Cyclops interested for the first time in perhaps ever, but I've definitely read this character before. And I don't know why this issue bugs me, because really it's just Whedon's style coming through, right? But I guess it just feels very empty. It feels like he's not made any concessions to the fact that he is not writing Buffy or Angel or the Buffy in Space epic Firefly--I don't feel like he's geniunely interacting with these characters, and that bugs me. It feels like he's just madlibbing it, which I don't think is that rewarding for him. Frankly listening to him in interviews, and taking into account comments he made before he quit trying to make the Wonder Woman movie, I've got the sense that he's running out of gas right now.

These Astonishing Books seem to take ages to come out, and then when they do, nothing really happens. His run is almost over, and I've yet to be emotionally interested or involved in the entire series. And it's not like it's the characters, because you read Grant Morrison's version of the same characters, and it's far more revlatory. Morrison seemed to really have fun with the sandbox, whereas Whedon is kind of sitting in one corner playing his PSP.

So I don't know if I'm more mad at myself for not finding a way to enjoy this book that seemingly everyone on the planet loves, or mad at Whedon because I feel that he's cheating himself as a writer. I mean he's obviously got a lot of talent. But I question whether he actually enjoys what he's doing right now. The joy that is there in his earlier work seems nowhere to be found anymore. Everything feels by the numbers-Whedon. Which is nice for cashing a check, but I can't imagine it's fullfilling as an artist. But who knows. I guess it's not a good sign when a review tilts from being a discussion of the work at hand, to a psychological analysis of an artist I've never met. But it's a hurdle I'm having an increasingly hard time crossing as we get deeper and deeper into Astonishing.

Fallen Son # 2; JSA # 5; Firestorm #35

Civil War: Fallen Son # 2
Jeph Loeb-Ed McGuinness

Really disappointing book after a decent opening salvo. The problem with this book I think is mainly structural. The decision to cross cut the Avengers and New Avengers story in an alternating panel way was really kind of batcrap insane. The two stories really don't interconnect. One is the New Avengers playing poker, dealing with their anger over Cap's death. It's really good and the tension in the room is palpable. But the other story, which you have to read every other panel, is just Tony Stark's Avengers team in a fight with some sea monsters. And we are meant to imply that the way they fight is some way of dealing with their anger over Captain America, but it completely misses that mark and ends up just being a random adventure by the Avengers.

Generally when you chose to alternate panels like Loeb has done here, the panels kind of talk to each other and illuminate what is in each one, but in this case, it just makes you lose your place while reading. I eventually gave up on even reading the Avengers panels, just to get back to the New Avengers, which I think is hardly the intent.

Hopefully the next book in this series picks it up, I had really high hopes that Loeb was going to knock this story out of the park, but so far it seems like the writing and creative decisions are being mailed in.

Justice Society of America # 5
Geoff Johns-Fernando Pasarin

This is part two of a very good JLA-JSA crossover...which involves the finding deranged time stranded members of the League of Superheroes, the first part of which was contained in this month's JLA which was also very good. I definitely recommend going back and starting there and using this arc as a jumping on point for both books, because despite constant internet complaints about Meltzer, he's doing a fantastic job.

As for JSA. Geoff Johns continues to make this book the best super-hero team book going. The sense of family and history, as well as drama and action, is fantastic. This issue has Batman, The Sandman, Geo-Force, and Starman teaming up to go into Arkham Aslyum. If that doesn't make you want to read, I don't know what is.

I think JSA is the book that finally trumpets Geoff Johns arrival in that top tier of comic book writers. He's at least now on Mark Millar's level as a storyteller, and what he's pulling off in Justice Society of America is tremendous and is not to be missed by anyone.

Firestorm # 35
Dwayne McDuffie-Pop Mhan

Geez. Wish I had bothered to read this BEFORE it got canceled. So this is the last issue of Firestorm. A character I've only marginally cared about. But after reading this, sort of dig. Really excellent book. Heroes with voices in their head always get the win.

The Art is a lot of fun, and there's a ton of action in this book. Including plenty of New Gods, which is great. Who doesn't love New Gods? Bless you Kirby.

But yeah, very solid book, and I guess I would recommend it even though the series is done, just so you kind of don't hate Firestorm in other series I guess. I think maybe it's his shoulder pads that put me off. Who knows.

Probably a good enough book not to be canceled, but obviously Firestorm no matter how well written, is not a character that most people are going to embrace without cause. So here's to his next apparence.

Did I mention Darkseid shows up? This book may be somewhat relevant for DC's next big event. Not sure though.

World War III, Nightwing Annual #2, The Flash # 11

World War III
Various

So the next big DC event has already fallen upon us. It's been 52 weeks since Infinite Crisis ended, and in those 52 weeks we've been slowly building to this opening salvo of a climax. This is where, in case you don't know, Black Adam goes freaking mental on the DC Universe. Now there's two ways you can read this, well okay, techinically three ways. You CAN get the entire story that you need in the pages of 52 issue 50. But there are also four specials that released the same week which follow Martian Manhunter during the event, and attempt to expand on some of the larger meanings of what's going on, as well as tie up the messy loose ends left over from One Year Later. You could also just read both and take the whole thing as it's own thing, like I've done here.

But if you were strapped for cash, what I would recommend is just getting 52 #50. I think the story is told better and more impactful in 52, whereas in the specials the point tends to be overly belabored as redundant as that sounds.

From my perspective, I enjoyed this event a LOT more than Infinite Crisis. Infinite Crisis, the big mumbo jumbo superhero battles just didn't have the focus and seemed just really quick and chaotic. Whereas here, they really feel very intense, and you really feel a battle of wills. I think Black Adam battling the DCU was better than all the battles even in Marvel's own Civil War. Of course it remains to be seen if World War Hulk, which is a similiar concept to Black Adam's rampage, can hit the same high note. I hope, and think, that it can.

For people worried about finding a jumping on point, I really think this beginning of World War III is where you want to be. Because leading out of this is the next big DC weekly book Countdown, and you can easily segue into that. And if you pick up the four specials, you can also kind of catch up to speed on the rest of the DCU and start going on those books.

Nightwing Annual # 2
Mark Andreyko-Joe Bennett

Yeah so I'm really not the biggest of Nightwing fans. I have never liked his costume. I've never really bought the central malaise of the character as it relates to Batman, and plus I routinely do get confused as to who and which Robin is which. So I was really suprised when I read this book and enjoyed it as much as I did.

It's basically a love story of sorts which follows the relationship between Barbara Gordon(Batgirl, Oracle) and Nightwing and what it has gone through over the years(including some really heinous stuff done by Nightwing to Batgirl, which I kind of wish I had read THOSE stories).

I'm still not terribly interested in Nightwing as a crimefighter or even as a leader of the Outsiders, but I don't know, I think maybe it's because I do love Birds of Prey that I liked this story? Yeah, now that I think on it, I think my interest in Barbara Gordon is why I enjoyed this so much. I do think the story is kind of centered on her, and I think that's why it works for me.

But yeah, really good book, and it does give a nice jumping on point to the rest of the series, I would think, I will definitely have to check that series out now. Marv Wolfman after all, I guess.

The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive # 11 Marc Guggenheim-Tony Daniel

The Flash is back! Remember when I was on about how I was excited for when the Flash book changed creative teams, in particular because I thought Marc Guggenheim was the perfect man for the job? Yeah, so I feel completely vindicated. We're FINALLY getting a book worthy of it's main character.

The art on this book is fantastic. There's all kinds of speed hijinks. There's the romantic drama that we've come to expect from the character over the years. And the Rogues Gallery is back in force. Yes, if you are at all a fan of the Flash, now is the time to get back into reading him. The dark days are over, hallelujah hallelujah the Flash is back!

Now we just need to wait for Gail Simone's run on Wonder Woman to start, and all will be right with the DC Universe.

New X-men 37; Amazing Spider-Girl 37, Spider-man and the Fantastic Four 1

New X-Men # 37
Craig Kyle, Chris Yost-Skottie Young, Niko Henirchon

This is the opening salvo of the forthcoming Magick arc in New X-men which is a part of the annihilation type story for Marvel Comic's Magic Wielders. It has art from Niki Henirchon, who draws all of the Magick related stuff in hell, while Skottie Young draws the rest of the action involving the New X-men.

I enjoyed the book personally, but that's because I like the idea of the forthcoming arc, and love Henrichon's art(Pride of Baghdad) but I will say that at times because of the scripting and art of Young and Yost/Kyle's portion of the book, I really didn't know what was going on. The other part of the story is just your basic dark and stormy night story telling session taking place at the X-Mansion, but they do such a botched job of using the space of the room, that characters will just appear seemingly out of nowhere, or you will think one character is in one place of the room, only to have them seemingly in another by the other end of a paragraph. I don't know exactly why it was so disorientating, but it was. I've read most of this team's run on New X-men and not this isn't something that crops up enough and with enough trouble, to affect the enjoyment of the book, just kind of a nit to pick in terms of the reading.

For me, while I don't like New X-men as much as Mike Carey's X-men I do like it and am interested in it more than Uncanny and Astonishing. So that would make it the second best X-book out there for my money.

Amazing Spider-Girl # 7
Tom Defalco-Ron Frenz


Gooood book. If you've got a hankering for old schoolish spider-man melo-drama and action like you grew up on, and not the annoying crappy current runs of Amazing Spider-man, then this is definitely a book to check out. Sure it's out of continuity, and it's about Spider-man's daughter, but it is probably more true to the old webhead than any actual Spider-man book not named Ultimate Spider-man.

The art even has that throwback quality to it, as well as the action. You see plenty of fights with roving discussions. Lots of power and responsibility fun times. And just in general it's everything you would want out of a Spider-man book.

You really do feel like you've picked up a book out of a time machine. It definitely doesn't feel like it's even from this era. Definitely worth checking out.

Spider-man and the Fantastic Four # 1
Jeff Parker-Matt Wieringo


Another fun spidey book. Seriously folks, there is life not involving Amazing Spider-man, Sensational Spider-man, and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man, and that life is good. This is another book that captures the fun of comics old. It's not bogged down by having to be a serious statement on the human condition, or do something crazy and radical to try and attract new readers, it's just the Fantastic Four teaming up with Spider-man in a fun adventure.

The art isn't overly complicated, and carries the story nicely. Not going for anything epic here. This is definitely a book that goes in your fun read super-hero pile. It's not as fun as Spider-girl, but I think it should get even better as more happens.

In a lot of ways books like this and Spider-girl achieve what say, Mighty Avengers seems to be going for, but to much greater effect. Post-Civil War, there's a lot of palette cleansers out there, especially with World War Hulk coming up, that kind of smash comics back to fun mode for a little bit before we get back to the dramatic soap operatic tales we've become accustomed to.

Omega Flight, Civil War Fallen Son: Wolverine, Avengers Initiative

Omega Flight # 1
Michael Avon Oeming-Scott Kollins

Omega Flight is the progression of Alpha Flight, which is sort of a canadian avengers. Suffice it to say I've never really had any interest in this book, but I was kind of interested in the new lineup which includes Beta Ray Bill apparently.


The Book is definitely solid, with nice artwork, lots of action, and plenty of moxy. It's not entirely remarkable compared to the vast array of very similiar avengers books, in fact I'm not entirely sure why one would choose to read this given the...Four diffrent Avengers books that are going on right now?


But it's there and if you read a lot of books and want another decent to good one, this is definitely in that category.


Hoo0-rah Canada.

Civil War Fallen Son: Wolverine
Jeph Loeb-Leinil Yu

The Civil War Fallen Son mini-series done by Jeph Loeb, takes us through the grieving stages for the Marvel Universe with respect to the death of Captain America, with each character for each book emblomizing that stage. In this book, Loeb uses Wolverine to wrestle with denial.

Loeb as every review has probably mentioned, is no stranger to grief after losing his son. In many ways, for very sad reasons, he's the perfect person to do these books, and one would think even though this is a superhero story, it's also an incredibly personal and hopefully cathartic one for Loeb who is one of the best story tellers in the business.

After all that buildup, you're probably wondering if the book is any good? Well in short, yes. It's really very good. And as an opening salvo of this mini-series it's fantastic and leaves me very excited about the next. If you're following Cap's death, this and Brubaker's stories are musts. Even if you're really not, these books by Loeb are pretty self-contained, and really fantastic.

The Avengers: The Initiative # 1
Dan Slott-Stefano Caselli

This is a series wholly born out of the new marvel world created by Civil War. The intiative is about the government program that Tony Stark has implemented wherein superheroes become tools of the state, every state, and have to get trained and licensed in order to carry out government specified actions as an arm of the state.

If you can get over the fact that you are for all intents and purposes reading a book about tools of the government, it's a pretty okay read. Dan Slott is always good for entertainment. The problem I kind of have with this book isn't really directly tied in with this actual book. It's kind of a general marvel thing. I don't really understand why they had M-Day, which was the eradication of pretty much all the mutants from the marvel world, the impetince behind which was to avoid the kind of over-proliferation of hyper-powered individuals, such as they are creating in The Avengers Initiative. The Avengers: The Initiative is for all intents and purposes New Mutants but with Avengers instead of X-men. Which I guess if you're fine with that concept to begin with, then I think this may be alright. Though New Mutants were coming in against the grain of society, whereas Avengers are coming in as arms of the state. So it will be interesting to see how or if Slott wrestles with some of the more pressing political questions this book raises, while trying to forge his own ground with the book and truly make it something we haven't really seen before in the Marvel U.

Not a must own by any means, but if you are following Civil War fallout, it is integral.

Brave and the Bold # 2; Fantastic Four # 544; 52

Brave and the Bold # 2
Mark Waid-George Perez

Brave and the Bold was a book I had sort of enjoyed, but kind of ended up deciding it was mediocre enough not to worry about, but on a whim I decided to go ahead and read number 2, and I'm glad I did, because the second entry into the series is a lot better.

The second issue team up is Supergirl and Green Lantern, and grant you I am a big Supergirl fan(though her solo book is a big pile of poo right now), but still the book seemed a lot more lively than the previous entry. There was more humor. The action was better. The second issue seemed to do everything I sort of liked about the first book well. I appears it will be a good series worth checking out monthly, especially in kind of a slow time, like now.

The art still looks really great, though at times it seemed to get overly convuluted in the second issue, and seemed to get harder to tell what was going on, but all the same it was good and I look forward to reading the next entry, which will be Blue Beetle and Batman.

Fantastic Four # 544
Dwayne McDuffie-Paul Pelletier

Fantastic Four was a book my mom actually read as a kid. But I have to say, I've never really been at all interested in any of the dynamics of Marvel's First Family. The whole reason I actually picked this book up, was because it's the "new" fantastic four, with Black Panther and Storm taking over for Sue and Reed Richards who have gone off on a second honeymoon of sorts.

Is this book good? No. Not really. If you're a fan of some of the more scattered cosmological jargon in the Marvel Universe, this book might appeal to you. I couldn't really follow, or care to follow, half of what was going on and where. The Black Panther pointing the Ultimate Nullifier at the Watcher, is kind of silly, and sort of diminshes the history of that weapon.

I thought it would be interesting to see how the two new members who are also married now, played off of Torch and Thing. But really, they just felt like they were out of place. It would sort of be like replacing Robin with The Flash. Yeah the Flash is more interesting than Robin, and can do more things, but the chemistry isn't there.

I think I'll go back to my not reading the Fantastic Four mode, now, thank you.

52

My brief checkback with 52. This series has been amazing. I've loved every minute of it. The zaniness of some of the characters and things that happen from week to week are stupid grin inducing. Black Adam should have his own series in the DCU after this, if not that then he should be the principle villain in the DCU for awhile. I've loved all the arcs of the series.

I fully recommend picking this up in trade when it comes out. It's one of the top books put out by either of the two companies, and it is weekly, which is amazing.

I can't wait for Countdown which will be a similiar weekly series that guess what...counts down to the next major event.

52 right now is leading in DCU's next big event(which techinically already happened since this all takes place in the year between Crisis and One Year Later(I think just reading that sentence convinced anybody who may have wanted something to do with the DCU, to not, ha)) and it is SPECTACULAR. Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison are working on this along with several other top writers. It's amazing. You should be reading it. Or if not, you should be planning on reading it.

All the haters, are just haters. Love me some 52.

The Incredible Hulk #104; The Dark Tower # 2; Crossing Midnight #4

The Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk # 104
Greg Pak-Carlo Pagulayan

Thought I'd check back in on this book, now that we are nearing the next big marvel event(does the fun never stop?) World War Hulk, and see how the big mean and green is doing. Well it looks like I missed a lot of smashing because now Hulk is emperor of the planet he's landed on, and generally being a good guy, living a good life...all of this is of course setup for yet another batch of stupid puny humans to come and mess things up for the Hulk.

As I said before Planet Hulk got overly repetitious, this is a quality book. You do enjoy following the hulk. It is a lively cast of characters that Pak's created. But as they say, it's time to get the show on the road. Once we knew the Hulk was going to return to earth, everything else started to become just filler before the main course. So while I appreciate Planet Hulk, it did drag on over long, and I am glad to see it an issue away from it's end.

Probably if you are wanting a jumping on point pre-world war hulk, this is the issue to get. It recaps everything, and is really the beginning of the next great batch of hulk smashings.

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Reborn # 2

Peter David-Jae Lee

The art on this book is still beautiful, and for that alone you want to turn the pages. But geez. Overwrought much. As I've said, I haven't read the Stephen King books on which this was based, but the dialouge and narration are just sooooo excessive. Almost to the point of parity.

I would love if this book were more pared down, and the art was left to tell the bulk of the story. This issue is more expository, and a lot less actually happens in this issue. I think that's going to become something of a lingering problem with this book, the pace. There were more than a few times I was caught looking to see how many more pages I had left in the book. It just yammers on and on.

I guess you're getting your moneys worth, because the production values on this are still through the roof. I'm still not reading the essays at the back of the book by Robin Furth, because I'm lame like that. But really...a good time was not had by all in the reading of this book.

I think it will make an excellent trade, and it probably makes an excellent set of novels, but as a monthly, I have to say I'm not all that excited to see the next issue.

Crossing Midnight # 4
Mike Carey-Jim Fern

In contrast to The Dark Tower, Mike Carey's Crossing Midnight shows that you can tell a very measured tale, and still make it work as a monthly. Without fail, no matter how I might feel in the middle of the book, by the end, I am always wanting to immeditely read the next book.

I don't fully understand the mythology behind the book yet, and I get confused about who is who when they are referred to by name, so I don't have all the names straight, but I really am enjoying the story. In particular the newly appeared kind of rebel sewing god that appeared in this issue. Very cool.

This still feels like a book that is moving towards something spectacular, and I still fully reccomend giving it a shot. I don't know how it will read as a trade, but it is a great monthly.

Captain America # 25; The New Avengers # 28; The Mighty Avengers # 1

Captain America # 25
Ed Brubaker-Steve Epting

So by now you've heard all the hub-bub. We've had all the debates as far as why, and whether Marvel should have done it. So put that aside, and just focus on the actual book, if you can get your hands on it. Because this book is astounding storytelling. Which, really...what else would we expect, it's Brubaker damnit.

Wonderful art. Wonderful omniscient storytelling. That Captain America dies is important, but compared to the story on the whole, this book stands on its own, and makes you want to keep reading. This could have been the death of some C-level hero, and it still would have been really good.

Steve Epting's art shifts wonderfully through time, and holds the story in a gravely reality.

You should buy this book, with the knowledge that once you do, you're stuck on the Captain America book until Brubaker leaves. A must buy, and not for stupid collectible reasons. This really is issue eight of Civil War.






The New Avengers
Brian Michael Bendis-Leinil Yu

Heck. Maybe I AM a Bendis fan? I think I'm now reading just about every book he's writing right now. New Avengers was a book that I read for like ten or forteen issues, never really liked it that much, but really wanted to, and now post-civil war, with Bendis also writing The Mighty Avengers(see below) I thought it was a good time to get back on the book. Plus I really like the team, even if it doesn't make a ton of sense. I like Spider-man, I like Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Dr. Strange, Echo, Ronin, Spider-woman, not so much Wolverine these days, but it's a good group. Very disgruntled, very magic and ninja-y.

So how was the book? It was good. The banter is still excessive, and Bendis misses more than he hits, but there are some good lines here and there. The overall direction and tone of the book is interesting though, and I love the look of the book. It's very gritty. Some of the facial expressions are a little weird during the discussions, and seem counter-intitiutive to what is being said, but other than that it's a fantastic looking little book.

This book isn't going to change your life or anything. But it's good enough entertainment. I really enjoyed reading it, despite it's flaws. And hey, maybe I am starting to "cotton" to Bendis writing. Or the more likely thing, he writes just about ever Marvel book of note....

The Mighty Avengers
Brian Michael Bendis-Frank Cho

Now for the other Avengers book. In case you are wondering what the diffrence is, the Mighty Avengers are tools of the government, and the New Avengers are kind of an outlaw vigilante group.

Anywho. Mighty Avengers is a chuck back to more hokey comics, where heroes battled monsters, and talked in thought bubbles. And while I thought at one point I was nostalgiac for the thought bubble, after reading Mighty Avengers, I am squarely against it. There are parts of this book that are just completely grating to me. The dialouge is extremely annoying. Like...compare Tony and Ms. Marvel picking a team against Brad Meltzer's Justice League picking a team--it's day and night.

It doesn't help that there's not a single character I like in this book either. Very irritating book. That basically spoils all the good will that New Avengers was building for me. I like the Frank Cho art okay. It's not reaaaallly my cup of tea though. But it's solid.

I will probably stick with this book for a little bit, just to see the two Avengers teams go at it from diffrent vantage points. But really...if you're wanting an Avengers book, pick New Avengers, please.