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Another week of TPL. I am getting worn out, not by writing these, but in finding the time to write them. I just have too much on my plate now with a full-time teaching job and taking three graduate classes where the professor’s don’t understand we students have lives outside of the two hours a week I see them. It seems I am starting these later and later. Luckily the classes will be over in four weeks so it should be smooth-sailing from there. Anyway, enough of my bitching, this week 18 titles landed in my pull box, 2 of them from Wildstorm, 8 from DC and 8 from Marvel. I have also been buying up Marvel Masterworks by the truckload on E-bay recently, as I now have 53 of the 97 hardcovers, with 12 coming on the way. I don’t like the variant covers, so it’s the standard ones for me. This isn’t a forum for Masterworks, though, and I have some writing ahead of me!
Spoiler Alert
The Main Event
-Number of the Beast #1- I was very critical of Revelations since it really could have been told in about 14 panels, so I was going in ready to be very critical of this as well. We start with a look at a mush of a man, with his eyeballs and the rest of his body looking like a slurpee. This will probably mean something, soon. So there are a bunch of heroes patrolling one night and they seem to be tackling a ton of villains who are out that evening. An old lady is killed by spaceship in a funny scene and the heroes go get breakfast. Suddenly a new villain shows up and presses a Rapture button and people start disappearing. If it doesn’t make sense, I am sorry, I didn’t write it. Anyway, the strong points is that the issue was well-written and flowed very well, the weak points I’d have to say for me is the unfamiliarity of the characters. I don’t know if they just appeared this issue, if they’ve been around for a while or what. I am not that familiar with the WS universe but I know the major players. It’s like Marvel having a flagship event led by a bunch of C-Listers like Gravity, Hellcat and Silver Sable. It seems to be missing that major character influence that these type of landmark series’ should. It was entertaining and well worth the point, but I think it needs some bigger names. 1/1.
-Titans #1- This is a continuation of a one-shot from a while back where a Titan training session by Cyborg goes horribly wrong with many of the trainees either dead or near-death. So the original Titans (Nightwing, Starfire, Raven, Red Arrow, Beast Boy, Donna Troy, and Flash) are all attacked in horrible fashion, as are the Teen Titans. Batman eventually shows up and tells Nightwing what happened with the trainees and Nightwing meets with his Titan friends. It seems that Raven’s father, Trigon, is back, and is hungry for revenge. What was great about this was that it was a very simple tale but with enough of a hook to pull you in and keep you coming back. People who want comics for action will get it. People who want comics for storyline will get it and even people who like the bad girl craze of the 90’s and scantily clad chicks will get it (Starfire was nude for most of her appearance in the title). You have a feared villain returning and making his presence felt and the makings of an awesome first arc have been stirred together. 1/1.
Marvel
-Amazing Spider-Girl #19- Arana has taken interest in Spider-Girl and she tests out her fighting skill. Spider-Girl gets insulted by Arana who says she isn’t well-trained. This touches a nerve with Spider-Girl who subdues her opponent and asks her dad for more training. DeFalco, Frenz and Buscema hit another one on the head here, as they write a great story, and make even subplots move along. 1/1.
-Amazing Spider-Man #556- Spider-Man is still stuck in the snow. He comes into contact with a huge monster. Spidey can’t even compete with this thing, this Mayan god of some sort, and he asks if Spider-Man is a priest. It lets Spider-Man go and Spidey finds the missing scientists in the van. There Spidey learns that the man he saved last issue really is the killer and we find him in the prison killing the prisoners and saying it is time for church. Another great outing and I love Bachalo’s art on here. 2/2.
-Criminal Vol. 2 #2- This is an origin story of Teeg Lawless. He comes home from the war and just can’t get the images out of his head. He falls into a life of crime, hookers, drugs, and when he has to repay a debt, he knocks off a prominent mobsters goods. Lawless sees the mistake in this and goes to the mob boss. Lawless gets the money back and kills those involved with him, even his friends. His drinking spirals out of control as his marriage fails. We see why Lawless got involved with his life of crime and eventually the effect it had on his children. Another one is knocked out of the part by Brubaker and this is probably one of the best titles on the stands right now. 3/3.
-Kick-Ass #2- The Icon titles at Marvel have been just spectacular as Millar and Romita Jr. truly create a Kick-Ass title. Our hero is going through rehab and hates his life and comics. His father doesn’t know he put on the costume since he was found nude. He burns them when he’s better but can’t stop putting on the costume. He goes out, gets picked on by some kids and actually goes up against some ruthless thugs. They beat the crap out of each other but our hero, Dave, with his sticks gets the upper hand. He is a bloodied mess but he is victorious. One man captures it on Youtube for the whole world to see. I wonder where this is going. Another winner. 4/4.
-Last Defenders, The #2- The Last Defenders are a disaster. We see the issue happening after the fact as Tony blasts Nighthawk and crew for fighting the serpent creature and destroying Atlantic City. Tony disbands the group. Nighthawk and She-Hulk eventually go out looking for the lost SHIELD agent and find him. They find out that the Supreme Serpent has a biological device that causes havoc through a dog whistle! Yes, a dog whistle. When the main villain uses a dog whistle, you know you may have a problem. 4/5.
-Nova #12- Nova and Warlock dread the coming of the Technarch. Warlock tells Tyro to leave and he does. Warlock finds out that Nova is the last of the Corps and so Warlock gives his lifeforce to Nova. Nova battles the Technarch to the best of his ability but he’s sorely outmatched. Tyro actually comes back, gets eaten by the being and then takes it over! Tyro is in control and with his lifeforce reserves he gives life back to Warlock and frees Gamora and Drax of their Phalanx. They are off the the Kree world to kick some ass. This came together very nicely and it makes sense how the virus was released from Nova, and he’s ready to stop the Phalanx threat. 5/6.
-Soleil #1- I had no idea what this is but it was free and I took it. So Soleil is a French comic company and Marvel has taken four of the best titles, translated them into English and they will hit the stands soon. One is about robots built for pleasure and sworn to their master who is the only one who can recharge them. There is one about a Universal War after a wall appeared in the universe, a samurai story, and an Attila the Hun invasion set in the future. They all seem interesting but I don’t know if I will get any of them until they are in trades. They have interviews with the creator as well. It was free and it was worth it. 6/7.
-Wolverine #64- Logan and Mystique plan a bank heist in the 1920’s showing some history. Basically, when things got rough, Mystique fled. So Wolverine in present day asks a favor from someone who owes him and he blows himself up to get into the US morgue. There he wakes up and finds Mystique, impersonating an ambassador. Wolvie slices her but she hides behind the military and escapes. Mystique gets ready for a war with some heavy artillery at issues end. I have liked this arc so far. 8/9.
DC
-Batman Confidential #15- This concludes the Wraith storyline. Batman and Nightwing find where Wraith has been hiding, they battle his tankmobile, Alfred tells the guys with his research who the villain is and surprisingly Nightwing is able to get to him with words alone. Wraith was just a child in an orphanage when the original Wraith took him in. Nightwing reveals that he was not the first protégé and he snaps. Batman and Nightwing defeat the villain and he is securely in jail for the time being. I really liked this villain. I am not a huge Batman continuity expert so I don’t know if he appeared again but he would be a fresh villain to introduce in the current titles. 2/2.
-Booster Gold #8- Booster and Blue Beetle meet the resistance, a bunch of villains even below the D-list. Yeah, the resistance against the OMACs is screwed. We do see Despero at the Vanishing Point in time talking to the future Blue Beetle talking to Supernova. Supernova wants to prevent Booster from fixing time and breaks his time sphere. So Blue and Gold take on Max Lord, Beetle gets shot in the shoulder, the two run off from a mind-controlled Superman and the two say they need to get the JLI back together. I am not on high on this series as I was before but it is still a solid venture and I can’t fault Geoff for the direction it is going. 3/3.
-Countdown to Final Crisis #03- Olsen is brought to Darkseid and Superman shows up vowing to put down Darkseid for good. People fight (Superman vs. Darkseid, Mary Marvel vs. Forager abd everyone else) until Darkseid’s eye beams find their way to Olsen. Jimmy turns into kryptonite and starts harming Superman until Atom wakes up inside of Jimmy, kills some anti-bodies and Jimmy stops killing his friend. Jimmy eventually grows to a giant turtle man taunting Darkseid. I wasn’t crazy about this issue but I really can’t find any terrible mistakes in it like last issue. It just seems like nothing is going to be resolved and it was just a 52-week ad for Final Crisis. 4/4.
-Green Arrow / Black Canary #7- So Arrow and Canary have two aliens and they don’t know where they are from. Green Lantern shows up and embarrasses them by telling them they are humans wearing masks. D’oh! Ollie gets information on who they bought the spaceship from and it’s a bloke in London. After some questioning they find Dodger, a guy with a powerful mace that returns to him when thrown. They eventually stop him and find out some startling news. The person who used the ship against Ollie was none other than Ra’s Al Ghul. Chiang’s art is just stunning and I have loved this since it started. 5/5.
-Justice Society of America #14- Sandman has problems sleeping in an interesting tidbit of information. This issue really focuses on Gog, a man who believes is a demigod who must kill all the New Gods. He fights Infinity Man as Sandman watches on. The rest of the JSA gather together saying they must stop Gog. To their surprise Gog shows up, with Sandman, and he lays a whooping on all of them. To everyone’s further surprise, Kingdom Come Green Lantern and Obsidian show up! What an ending! I liked this. 6/6.
-Superman Confidential #14- I had no idea this was the last issue of Superman Confidential. So Superman realizes that Jimmy is missing and goes out looking for him. Toyman uses the Olsen watch and starts sending Superman all over the place and every time he touches the toy, it explodes. Eventually Superman tracks down Toyman and takes him out and thus ends another title. It wasn’t anything terribly groundbreaking, and it was a brief two-parter but the 14 issues of the series were enjoyable. Now all I need to do is liquidate it on E-Bay! 7/7.
-Wonder Woman #19- So Wonder Woman is battling a Green Lantern bent on revenge against the warring nation Wonder Woman is at right now. Wonder Woman has an extended fight with the Lantern then they negotiate a treaty, where Wonder Woman leaves the Lantern leaves, and the planet gets a Lantern of their own. A satisfying conclusion and Gail has had two great starts in a row. 8/8.
Wildstorm
-Gen13 #19- The director tries to locate the Gen kids by locating a chip they all have. The Gen kids sit and talk, a lot, and they head to where the enemies’ base of operations is. They know this because of Roxy’s ties to the modelling place. They head over there, the rogue member of the film crew is with them and she’s being tracked by her cell phone. So the Gen’s end up battling some dudes in suits, a car is booby trapped and the Gen crew leaves. They soon find they are being followed by a helicopter with orders to destroy them. This has still been a fun series. 2/2.
Awards
-Book of the Week- This was a tough choice, as there were some great titles that came out this week. Marvel’s Icons titles were in the running as was Nova and when push comes to shove I have to give it to Kick-Ass #2. The art is fantastic, the script is amazing and this is just a fun book to read that takes a very interesting look at the world of superheroing. Mark Millar picks up his third BOTW win and Romita Jr. is now tied for first in the artist column with his third win.
-Disappointment of the Week- This was an easy choice for me, Last Defenders was the oddest title of the week in both execution and story and I just didn’t dig what was going on. Both writer (Carey) and artist (Muniz) picked up their first dubious distinction this week.
-Cover of the Week- Green Arrow/Black Canary #7 wins this week, only because of the lack of anything else interesting. I liked the Union Jack cover. Cliff picks up his first award this week.
-The Bottom Line- DC and Wildstorm had perfect weeks this week but Marvel had the best titles. Kick-Ass, Criminal and Nova were the three best titles of the week and although Marvel lost a point on Last Defenders, their titles were much better than everything else put out. Next week I am looking forward to the end of Annihilation. This week was a solid showing from everybody, and I had no problems with the books I read.
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Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
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