|
|
 |
We’re back for a very light edition of The Pull List. There are only 9 comics this week, 1 DC and 8 Marvels (well, 9 if you count the freebie). I haven’t had that little since early October of 2008. I’m actually LOVING the slow weeks and I can read these a lot more quickly and I’ve really cut out a LOT of dead weight. Plus, since I get through these so quickly I’m able to run through trades a bit more quickly (which is nice since I picked up FOUR last week).
Spoiler Alert
DC
-First Wave #1- I was really impressed with the only DC title I picked up this week. This was purely an introductory issue, with Doc Savage coming home weeks after his father’s death and burial. However, his father’s body is NOT in the coffin. Where could he be? We meet the Spirit, who breaks up a little scheme involving a coffin (possibly Savage’s dad?) and its delivery to the Blackhawks. There are evil Russians, robots in the middle of the jungle and First Wave is off to a hot start. I’m looking forward to the rest of this and for the appearance of the Batman. 1/1.
Marvel
-Amazing Spider-Man #623- Electro breaks the new Vulture out of jail and he immediately heads to the mobsters he used to work for to gain revenge on who is responsible for him. So the mob boss blames Jameson and Vulchie heads out to kidnap the mayor! Spidey tries saving JJJ but Vulture takes him anyway. This was decent but I thought it was ultimately forgettable a day after I read it. The Vulture is new character and he’s really without an origin now. I haven’t warmed to his character yet. I did like Spider-Man taking on a real lame villain to start off the issue. I did wish that the ongoing Aunt May storyline were mentioned. It was an okay issue, so it gets a point, but it’s missing a lot of the creative writing that was present in the early Brand New Day books. 1/1.
-Fall of the Hulks: Savage She-Hulks #1- This issue centers around Thundra and Lyra. Thundra doesn’t join with the Wizard but Lyra does and she’s looking for She-Hulk, who is hidden in the Wizards lair. I can honestly say I don’t care about this whole Fall of the Hulks storyline and this book didn’t help that. I can’t see myself getting this again. 1/2.
-Realm of Kings: Son of Hulk #2- So the Son of Hulk is on Jarella’s world, he is their new leader having stopped the Psyklop attack. We also have some strange visitors in this universe that may play into the big scheme of things. SoH is now also a visionary and he sees that he will destroy the universe. I hated on this last month but I can’t really pan it here. It’s setting up a story that is somewhat interesting. I don’t think this character will mean anything by this time next year but I want to see how this ties into the bigger part of Realm of Kings before passing final judgment. 2/3.
-Spider-Man: Noir – Eyes Without A Face #4- This was an awesome conclusion. The Crime Master tells Otto to end his operation and kill everyone there. Spider-Man’s there and saves the people that Otto was experimenting on (but lamenting being too late to save Robbie) and Otto kills the Crime Master. Otto’s about to make an escape when Jean De Wolfe shows up. It turns out that the Black Cat is not dead and she gave the FBI the head’s up. Spidey wants to thank her but she doesn’t want to see anyone. I love the Nazi plot thrown in here (but I felt the reference to seeing how long it takes someone to burn was a cruel reminder of the Holocaust – I hope it wasn’t intentional) and this was probably the best Noir story I’ve read of all that have come out. 3/4.
-Stephen King’s N #1- This was, in a word, awesome. This was a newer short-story from King that has been adapted. Basically, a grisly murder in the early 1900’s sets the scene for what happens here. We head to the present time and a psychiatrist has suddenly killed himself after dealing with a patient. We backtrack to notes of the psychiatrist (Ackerman) and his patient, N. Nash. It seems that while taking photos one day N saw seven stones that seemed to have demonic faces on them. Stranger still, his camera lens shows EIGHT stones. He runs away in fear after counting each stone (and creating an OCD problem of counting) until he turns around and sees evil has been unleashed. This was a great opening and it was actually a bit scary. I love the mood that Maleev’s art sets up here and I like better the question of if a psychological disease can be transmitted from one person to another. This one is highly recommended. 4/5.
-Ultimate Avengers #5- I have to say that this is a great re-imagining of the Red Skull. He’s a mean SOB here and being the son of Cap is a great twist. It shows his role in creating the new Wasp who is in the Ultimates as well as showing that he killed JFK. So the Ultimates find a Hydra complex but the Skull has gotten there first, decimated them all and he shows off his Cosmic Cube. Meanwhile, Cap has managed to escape from imprisonment and he’s making a beeline for Cap. Like I said, this has been great. 5/6.
-Ultimate New Ultimates #1- This debut features a magnificent gate-fold cover (spanning 6 covers!) and the interior wasn’t too bad either. The Defenders attack the Ultimates and steal away with Mjolnir. Speaking of Thor, he’s in Valhalla and Hela’s agreed to let him go if he gives her a son. Tony makes time with Carol and Loki makes an appearance to the surprise of Shanna and Ka-Zar. I dug the art and the story was easy enough to get into and I really think this could work. Of course, let’s hope for NO delays. 6/7.
-X-Men Second Coming Preview #1- This was a preview of the new X-Men storyline and it seems the illustrated stuff in here took place after the whole thing. There are covers and checklists here, too. It’s free and free stuff always gets a free pass. 7/8.
-X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain #4- We have another splendid conclusion to a Noir storyline. The gem is really just a gem and Angel has been playing Xavier the whole time, stealing it for himself! He finally gets Xavier and all his guys pinched by the FBI and it seems that Xavier and his X-Men are jailed forever. I loved the characters in here (including Kitty Pryde showing up, as well as a Helicarrier) and it was definitely a different take on the X-Men.
-The Bottom Line- It’s funny that I was finishing the last TPL on Tuesday night at 11:30pm and here it is, Friday night at 10:30pm and this one is already done! I have a full four days before Wednesday comes to get the next batch of book (looks to be around 17 books) so I hope to get through at least 2 trades! I really thought there was a lot of great stuff here this week, mostly from the Noir-ish titles (First Wave and the two Marvel Noir conclusions) and the Ultimates were surprise hits as well. This was a very good week.
|
|
|
|
|
Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
|
|
|
|