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It’s the Easter holiday, I was off for a week, and I freaking relaxed like crazy. I didn’t even go to the LCS until Wednesday so I knew there was no way in hell this was going to be done on time. I’m not too concerned about any delays since I finished these in 2 days and have plenty of time to polish off the next batch before Tuesday. So this week’s introduction is finished besides the rundown. Four companies were represented this week. Image (1), Vertigo (1), DC (4), and Marvel (13) for a total of 19 comics.
Spoiler Alert
Marvel
-Captain Britain and MI13 #12- Spitfire falls under the spell of Dracula, who arrives in Britain to destroy an artifact that keeps vampires out of Britain. It looks like bad news for the MI13. I thought this would be like 10 and done for the series but it shows it has staying power by doing something that all comics crave to do, tell interesting compelling stories. 1/1.
-Daredevil: Noir #1- I liked Spider-Man: Noir a lot and thought X-Men: Noir was a unique look at the X-Men mythos. I thought that this was pretty much the same as the Daredevil in the regular Marvel Universe except for the fact he’s not a lawyer. Kingpin is involved and a woman named Eliza (possibly their version of Electra) gives Murdock and Foggy some information on a guy named Halloran, who killed Matt’s father. This was sound, but it doesn’t flip the DD Mythos on its head like the other Noir stories did, too. 2/2.
-Dark Reign: All-New Savage She-Hulk #1- The savage She-Hulk here is the spawn of Hulk and Thundra, which was introduced in a Hulk one-shot I think I didn’t like when it came out. This is something that is different and it’s a different that is good. After she wreaks havoc looking for Hulk DNA to save her planet, She-Hulk shows up ready for a fight. This was better than it had any right to be, introducing a new character to Marvel (she’s been seen twice before but is starring for the first time) and it’s a character I think could work well in the MU. 3/3.
-Dark Reign: Hawkeye #1- This isn’t Hawkeye the hero but Bullseye. This is an awesome start to the mini-series, as Bullseye is pissed that Norman wants him to be heroic and not just a killer. So Bullseye goes out and kills a whole bunch of people and causes destruction (in front of a television camera no less) that will draw the ire of Norman for sure. Bullseye is one of my favorite characters and it makes sense for his character to hate having to be a hero and just go out and senselessly kill people. 4/4.
-Darktower: Guide to Gilead #1- This is a handbook style book looking at the different locations of the Darktower realm. I’ll be honest, I didn’t even read this since I was pressed for time. I skimmed it and it had some good stuff in here. Writer Robin Firth loves Darktower and it shows on things like this. 5/5.
-Deadpool: Suicide Kings #1- Deadpool is suckered into some sort of crazy plot by a man who owes Tombstone a bunch of money. Mike Benson wrote this VERY well, capturing Deadpool perfectly. Insane plot and a crazy mercenary? Sign me up. 6/6.
-Exiles #1- This is the team that just won’t die. So someone (possibly the timebroker or Morph, it isn’t clear) brings together people who are about to die in their respective universe to save other universes. We have Black Panther (who is named The Panther, Scarlet Witch (who is just The Witch), The Beast, Forge, Polaris, and Blink (who is the only one we didn’t see the near-death of). Their first mission is to help Wolverine stop Magneto. There’s only one problem, Wolverine’s dead. It’s a fresh cast and introduced a fresh story so it’s an easy point. I hope it can continue. 7/7.
-Marvel Apes: Amazing Spider-Monkey #1- Spider-Monkey remembers what the Griffin said, how he wasn’t a hero because he kills so callously and remembers this and saved a newly arrived Speedball, becoming an outcast in the process. It’s the redemption of Spider-Monkey. Meanwhile, Red Ghost plans on taking over this Marvel Ape-verse right as the Marvel Zombies arrive. They just couldn’t leave the Zombies alone! The redemption of Spider-Monkey makes this point-worthy. 8/8.
-Marvel Zombies 4 #1- Morbius gets some friends together (Daimon, Werewolf by Night, and Jennifer Kale) to stop the Zombie threat that came into this universe. Zombie Simon Garth has a Deadpool head and delivers it to some Zombie group in some Caribbean place and they call up the Hood offering up the head of Deadpool as a device to get rid of the heroes. Just when you think Zombies have run out of steam, they add another wrinkle to make you keep coming back. 9/9.
-Timestorm: 2009-2099 #1- So Punisher 2099 is sent to the present to fix things, like getting rid of certain heroes. So he zaps Spider-Man and Wolverine, who end up in 2099. Wolvie ends up meeting Hulk 2099 and Spidey meeting a new character named Cerebra, who has a lot of brains. I’m just pissed we don’t have any Spidey 2099 or X-Men 2099 yet. It’s a good start. 10/10.
-Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #4- Here we see the origin of Ultimate She-Hulk who is really Betty Ross who took the serum and double-crossed Nick Fury in the process. I can’t say I was happy with the two-year delay but this has delivered in terms of being an entertaining story. 11/11.
-War of Kings: Ascension #1- This is a Darkhawk story and absolutely kicked ass. Once again, Abnett and Lanning have taken a little-used character from the early 90’s and made them not only important but improved upon anything that was written before about them. Take Darkhawk, we have the Raptor suit not being for humans and the only remaining Darkhawk helping the DH we’ve always known (Chris) with a huge twist at the end. The Darkhawks are actually evil, they are the bad guys, and the other DH was just making it so the suit would take over Chris’ mind. Abnett and Lanning are my favorite Marvel writers by far right now (with Brubaker really high on the list, too). 12/12.
-Wolverine: Weapon X #1- I wonder why we need yet another Wolverine ongoing but here we are, yet another one. So Weapon X has been revived by some group named Blackguard and Maverick tells Wolvie about this. We don’t know who the new agents are, but they have glowing claws. So maybe they are not adamantium but something else. It was an okay introductory issue, but the Garney art more than saves this. 13/13.
DC
-Batman: Battle for the Cowl #2- Nightwing confronts the dark Batman (Jason Todd) who will go places Batman never would, namely killing people. He takes out Damien and even Tim Drake (dressed as classic 60’s Batman) during this issue. This also features Black Mask taking over the Gotham underground to the chagrin of Penguin and Two-Face, who both accuse each other of the nefarious deeds Mask commits. I like the dark Jason Todd version, and Nightwing really looks to step it up for next issue. In the absence of Batman, his sidekicks are filling in well in terms of comic enjoyment. 1/1.
-Secret Six #8- This is a fun story of Deadshot and Scandal going out on double-dates (Deadshot with the Madame and Scandal with a stripper who once dressed as Knockout) and how hard it is for the two members of SS to keep to their promise of not killing anyone as trouble always seems to find them. Gail does a great job of taking these sensational characters and humanizing them and making it fun in the process. 2/2.
-Superman: World of New Krypton #2- Kal is finding his place in the military, using non-lethal means to accomplish the tasks Zod commands of him. Unfortunately, the others aren’t as considerate and this is demonstrated by the art class wanting equal rights and getting met with guns trained on them. Well, no one ever claimed New Krypton was a utopia. I can’t believe this is going to a 15-part series, but it has started off well. 3/3.
-Trinity #45- The Trinity easily dispatch of the Crime Syndicate and descend upon the bad guys, though Enigma isn’t as evil as he appears. The bad guys escape to Kronas’ base on the moon as the next story starts and Morgaine promises Enigma’s SPHERE to him. Enigma protests, Convikt actually fights back because this is wrong and both are teleported away by SPHERE right as Kronas takes control of it. This has the makings of a classic. All the storyline threads that have been started by Busiek are getting paid off and it’s just so well-crafted that it consistently delivers a great value to the reader. 4/4.
Image
-Mice Templar Sketchbook- I love the Templar stories and this is no exception, acting as a bridge between the first volume and the second. We have a sketchbook of awesome Oeming art, then a tale of Karic leaving with Cassius from the great tree as the rest of the remaining prophets and priests try to capture Karic for their own use. This is always interesting and this is no exception. 1/1.
Vertigo
-Northlanders #6- The carnage continues as Magnus is hiding beneath a bridge and surrounded by Rangar’s troops. Ragnar brings in Brigid and forces her to draw her father out. She does, basically telling her father that he’s a jackass for his bloodlust ruining her life and forcing her to run. Magnus comes out to meet his ultimate end as Brigid walks away. This was another epic tale of a one-man war that in the end just harmed his daughter and ripped their lives apart. Once Magnus found that out, he really had no reason to live anymore and walked out to meet his fate. Just incredible story-telling from the part of Wood and Kelly. 1/1.
Awards
-Book of the Week- I was debating what this would be, up until I read War of Kings: Ascension. Abnett and Lanning are just the shizzat right now, the Midas’ of the Marvel Universe. Everything they are touching is turning to gold right now. Darkhawk is the best he’s ever been right now, just like Nova, just like pretty much all of the cosmic characters. With this win, Abnett and Lanning tie Geoff Johns with the most writer credits for the book of the week.
-Disappointment of the Week- For the fourth time this year, and third time in four weeks, there is no comic awarded. They were all quite good and none that I would consider a complete waste.
-Cover of the Week- Timestorm 2009-2099 was the coolest cover by far, with a great picture of Spider-Man, half in his 09 costume and half in his 99 costume. The background is just a fantastic image of a neo-modern city that is both futuristic and bleak.
-The Bottom Line- I didn’t realize this as I was reading, but Marvel put out an incredible number of first issues this week. There were 11 by my count, or almost all the Marvels I picked up this week. This is totally debut week for Marvel! What can I say? This was yet another awesome week for Marvel and DC and all the rest, hitting a perfect 19 for 19. Maybe I’m in a better mood reading these, or maybe the lack of “event” comics makes for less crap being put out for the sake of making a buck. A very good week.
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