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Last week I was very angry for some reason and it may have been taken out on some of the books I read, as it was the lowest scoring week in a while. I hope this week can be a bit better. Work is winding down, school is over in three weeks and I only have three small projects left to complete (including 4 hours of classtime I can use to work) and so all is well. The weather is warming up and that always helps, too. Anyway, I hope this week is better and with 12 Marvels, 8 DC’s, and 1 each from Vertigo, Wildstorm and Image you have 23 issues waiting to be read and reviewed!
Spoiler Alert
The Main Event
-Mice Templar #4- Image’s answer to Mouse Guard continues to get better, as Glass and Oeming are actually creating a story rife with a deep background. It reminds me of Lord of the Rings with its deep mythological roots. Here our hero Karic confronts some ghosts at the home of Black Aniaus until Pilot saves him by offering the skull of another dead mouse and BA takes the skull, and one of his fingers. Pilot makes Karic one of the Templar and the two embark to the great Ash Tree. They make their way through the wheat fields using Pilot’s magic until they are confronted by Cassius, an old foe of Pilot’s. They battle and Karic is the one who ends up getting impaled by Cassius’ sword. Karic finds himself in a dream state to end the issue. There is just so much we do not know, including the whole Templar history that each issue brings us new pieces of the puzzle. There is a great article by Tim Daniel about the history of Black Anaius and how it ties into the Bogeyman. This was just a great issue. 1/1.
-Countdown to Final Crisis #01- Countdown was coming hot off the heels of 52 and had huge shoes to fill. Unfortunately, it came nowhere near as close to the quality of 52, something that is even mentioned somewhat by Dan Didio in the weekly DC Nation columns. The story just grew too big for the title, with too many characters running around and since it wasn’t in real time like 52 was, it was missing an integral part of the storytelling that kept 52 in line. Anyway, this issue was a huge commercial for Final Crisis as we see what happened to all our heroes who were involved in the whole debacle. Piper (remember him?) returns from a long absence in the title and vows to fight for good. Olsen and Forager have a relationship and eventually meet up with Donna Troy, Hal Jordan, and a reluctant Atom and they become the Monitor’s monitor. Jason Todd is just there, the same as he was when this first started, Solomon makes a statue of Darkseid at the Source Wall, Mary Marvel meets with Black Adam and Mary acts out prompting Adam to leave. Mary has the line of the series (I’m Mary Damn Marvel!) which harkens back to the the great Frank Miller All-Star Batman series, Kamandi’s grandfather becomes a vintage Kirby OMAC, and we end with Holly and Harley chatting on a roof. This was just a real letdown, as the story never lived up to the hype and really turned off a lot of fans on the whole weekly series. I really hope Trinity can redeem DC’s weekly series but based on this, I am not optimistic. 0/1.
Marvel
-Avengers/Invaders Sketchbook- This is a sketchbook of Alex Ross with some great illustrations from the master and a few of the pencilled pages of the series. This was free and features some great art. 1/1.
-Hulk #3- The Red Hulk gets away from SHIELD after destroying their ship and runs into Rick Jones. Rick becomes a new Abomination and a very intelligent speaking Red Hulk battles the growling Abomination. They battle above where Bruce Banner is held and eventually Bruce escapes to fight this new Red Hulk. We’ve been teased a couple of times as to the identity of the New Red Hulk, including a positive ID on an eyescanner and Bruce Banner whispering something to Thunderbolt Ross that no one can hear. Excellent issue. 2/2.
-Hulk vs. Hercules #1- Athena tells Cho a cautionary tale about Hercules. Cho decided to stop following Hulk when he could have killed them all and Athena tells Cho of a time when Hercules almost did the same thing. Hulk ended up near Mount Olympus and goaded to attack the gods and ending up fighting Hercules. The true villain (Cronus) was revealed where Herc almost killed him at the request of his father. It was a good enough brawl and reprinting the first meeting of Hulk and Hercules with the letters column about that issue help the score. 3/3.
-Mighty Avengers #12- This tale focuses solely on Nick Fury and what he’s been up to after the Secret War. He shaved his head, bedded some women, finds that one he was with was actually a Skrull, kills her, warns Maria Hill on the helicarrier, escapes, then recruits Spider-Woman to be his person on the inside. Fury wants to know who is a Skrull and is on the case. I didn’t really have a problem with this mini. I missed Secret War and I don’t think I missed much but this filled in a lot of gaps as to the whereabouts of Fury. 4/4.
-Ms. Marvel #26- Ms. Marvel finds out she has a Skrull impersonator and is attacked by her group (Agent Sum, who has a mysterious past, Machine Man and Sleepwalker) before she and her Skrull double are captured. Ms. Marvel eventually shows she’s the real deal when the X-Men Super-Skrull attacks the ship and Ms. Marvel stops her and reveals the real identity of the other skrull. The skrull tells Ms. Marvel she knows where her man friend is and she will tell her if she spares her life. This was a really good tie-in. 5/5.
-Picture of Dorian Gray #5- Dorian descends further into debauchery, going to meet a man he allegedly ruined in an opium filled bar. He runs into the brother of the women he was engaged to who killer herself and the brother wants revenge. Dorian tells him that he is too young to be that person (since he hasn’t aged) and the man believes him and lets him go. When a hooker tells the brother that Dorian hasn’t aged, well, the man is out for revenge. The first issue was very slow and boring. It has picked up and has become really good. 6/6.
-Power Pack: Day One #2- The Power Pack continue telling Franklin the story of how they got their powers. They are with the horse alien (Aelfrye) and his ship (Friday) following their captured parents. It seems the aliens that captured them are really after the device that the Pack’s father made which uses antimatter. This device already destroyed the horse alien’s homeworld and the alien abductor’s homeworld. The Powers and Aelfrye learn that the Powers parents’ will be killed to stop the antimatter device and Aelfrye gives the kids one last gift before they die, their powers. The tale ends with the reptile aliens abducting the ship the Pack is on. The thing ends with Katie going to the bathroom and Jack complains it takes 4 weeks for her to go, joking about the time between issues. It was a nice touch and a really fun issue that really makes the Pack accessible to younger audiences while staying true to their real origin. 7/7
-She-Hulk #28- She-Hulk gets arrested after going after Bran. Of course, it’s the wrong person. She makes a mess at a Browns game, encounters the man who ended her lawyer career and has a restraining order against her and She-Hulk is in jail for a second time in one day. Jazinda gets away but we really see how down-on-her-luck She-Hulk is nowadays after the highs of the first few arcs of the series. I don’t have anything negative to say, but I am hard pressed to think of something positive. It was decent. 8/8.
-Thor #8- Thor has a great talk with his father about why he is forced to suffer against Surtur the rest of his life. Don Blake goes off in search of Sif and asks Jane Foster if Sif is hiding in her. Of course, Jane gets a bit upset at this and they argue before they makeup. The big turn is that Sif is really hiding in an old dying woman that Loki (a female version) is keeping stuck there. Thor chats with his father then teams up him to defeat Surtur. This was a really good issue, possibly the best of the series. 9/9.
-Thor: Ages of Thunder #1- This is a two-part story, maybe for the purposes of it being two issues for the start or a series then put together into one? Whatever the case you have two different tales of Thor before he came to Midgard. The first story sees the Thunder God defeating some Frost Giants and one ends up destroying the wall of Asgard. A man comes to fix it and almost does if not for Loki’s deception. The man goes mad and shows himself to be a Frost Giant. He just wanted Enchantress! So Thor kills him and the wall falls again. The second story is similar where Loki gives away Enchantress to a Frost Giant and Thor has to go save them. I was surprised by how prominently Enchantress was featured. Thor was a good pick-up this week, with three solid stories. 10/10.
-Ultimate Spider-Man #121- Peter does poorly at school when he tells his teacher his baby was destroyed at the Bugle. So we see Peter working at the Bugle when Omega Red shows up angry at JJJ for writing about him (and he doesn’t remember Omega, which makes it worse). So Peter changes to Spider-Man and stops Omega Red to Omega’s chagrin. I think BMB is a bit tired from Secret Invasion as there was a lot less dialogue than usual USM issues, but this was a very fun romp. 11/11.
-Young Avengers Presents: #4- Vision (Iron Lad) shows up and meets with Cassie Lang. They go out to lunch together where they are attacked by AIM. The two get stuck together and defeat them before running off. See, Vision is against the SHRA and is unregistered while Cassie is. So the two share some personal feelings, then a kiss. I love the Young Avengers and just having something from them is nice. This was a good story. 12/12.
DC
-Birds of Prey #117- Manhunter looks for someone for Oracle but she’s attacked by a gang of meta’s. Misfit is told by Babs to go and the duo is captured. Oracle follows them and a very young kid blocks her advances on the computer. Manhunter almost has her memory wiped by the leader of the meta human gang but the rest of the Birds (Zinda and Helena) show up and save the day. Babs apologizes to Z and Helena for turning her back on them and she tells them she wants them back on the team. She will move her new base to Platinum Flats. Tabby appears to the computer whiz at the end of the issue. Another solid effort from McKeever who has done a great job following Gail. 1/2. -Checkmate #25- The Rooks get sent out to take down the Kobra gang. They invade the complex, defeat their enemies and take control of the snake children, where Checkmate will care for them. It was a very interesting issue but really that is all that went on. I may just be phoning it in right now but it was a fun issue. 2/3.
-Death of the New Gods #8- This was a weird one for me since the big reveal of this issue, Orion’s return, had been spoiled in Countdown. Superman witnesses an epic battle between Darkseid and the Source until Orion returns. Eventually the fight gets too out of control and Darkseid bails. Superman then witnesses New Genesis and Apokolips being crushed together to form one new planet! Source says his work is done and Superman flies off. Death of the New Gods was an entertaining mini-series at best and probably the best of the Countdown tie-ins. I wish this came out a few weeks earlier so that Orion’s big return here wasn’t spoiled but oh well. 3/4.
-Justice League of America #20- Wonder Woman meets up with Flash to question why he hasn’t been with the JLA lately. He says he has kids and all until a new threat emerges. It’s another bee, the third one that’s been in DC the past month (Superman and Uncle Sam). Anyway Flash and Wonder Woman take on this Queen Bee and emerge victorious with Flash saying he will devote more time to the JLA. This has been to much bee crap the past few months in DC and this title really didn’t do it for me. 3/5.
-Shadowpact #24- The Shadowpacts from various timelines gear up to tackle the Sun King who has just appeared on Earth! They get ready to attack him as Blue Devil dons his old costume to battle his brother. This just set things up for the last issue and I’m sad to see this title go. 4/6.
-Spirit, The #16- The Spirit must investigate a death on a Hollywood lot where an actor was shot with a real gun that should’ve been filled with blanks. Spirit eventually finds the culprit in an enjoyable tale that embodies the spirit that Darwyn Cooke brought to the title. 5/7.
-Superman/Batman #47- I guess I was mistaken about the Kryptonite story ending last issue. It has continued with Batman and Superman investigating a huge load of Kryptonite hidden in a Kansas bunker. The duo breaks in and finds it is really a government stronghold! The US government has been harvesting it in case Superman went rogue. So Amanda Waller captures Batman and goads him while Superman is attacked by Kryptonite powered government agents. Eventually Superman defeats them but must battle a new foe, a kryptonite powered Doomsday! I don’t think Waller would really act like this and it is a bit far-fetched that Superman would go against his own government but the last page was very fun. 6/8.
Vertigo
-Northlanders #5- This is an origin os how Sven left his country and where he went from there. His father was always going to war and little Sven was seen as a coward after he ran away from fights, one which resulted in his mother getting raped. He runs away, gets taken in as a slave rower and then given to a wealthy man with a daughter his age. He pals around with her and finally finds courage when she is about to be killed after her father was killed. Sven and the woman, Zoe, took over their empire and Sven lived it up with her, making lots of money and making love to lots of women. Eventually he knew he needed to go home for revenge and we see a present day Sven ready to die a noble death. This was a really interesting issue with great origin of Sven that totally makes sense and puts me in the mood of being a freaking Viking. 1/1.
Wildstorm
-Number of the Beast #2- The heroes from last issue appear to be from the 50’s who haven’t aged. They are dealing with Doctor Sin from last issue who everyone thinks took away 90% of the population. Suddenly a hail of asteroids hits the Earth, even attacking some of our heroes! Sin escapes when someone frees him and he is tied in to the blob of goo found last issue. When the blob is shot, the character goes away and some hero falls from Earth. This was a very good issue, really getting me hooked into Numbers of the Beast and finally restoring my faith in this Wildstorm event. 1/1.
Awards
-Book of the Week- This was a tough one for me, as no one comic really blew me away. I look through the titles and the only one I remember really fondly is the first one I read on Wednesday, Mice Templar #4. I just love the story that has been crafted with the great mythology elements and beautiful art. I can see this being optioned as a movie when all is said and done.
-Disappointment of the Week- Countdown 1 is not only the dissappointment of the week, but it may actually be the dissappointment of the year for the whole title. It was just a jumbled mess from the beginning and lacked the cohesiveness of 52. Characters were used, then forgotten for weeks on end, some things just didn’t make sense, and it all culminated with this. This is a first for TPL, too. A comic winning DOTW two weeks running. Overall, Countdown will go down in history as a massive failure and a possible end to the whole weekly comic book experiment.
-Cover of the Week- Phil Winslade’s cover to Shadowpact #24 was the most visually striking cover this week to my eyes. It was just a beautiful painted piece showcasing the new Shadowpact.
-The Bottom Line- Marvel had a great week, shooting a perfect 12/12. The comics weren’t perfect but they were all enjoyable. The same goes for the DC imprints; Vertigo and Wildstorm. I don’t know what happened to DC, as they must’ve had the funny Kool-Aid this month. They had a bunch of misses and it was soured by Countdown #1, easily the DOTW (if not year). I just checked the solicits for tomorrow and there’s nothing that I’m super pumped for so we’ll see how the month of April ends. Just a note, Marvel actually takes over DC for the percentage lead this week. They were tied last week at 83% but the big week by Marvel put them ahead by 84%.
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