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The summer keeps rolling along, with our fifth Wednesday in July churning in 21 comics, 1 each from Dynamite and Vertigo, 5 from DC and 14 from Marvel. I don’t have too much else to say, I am currently working on a lot of reviews, from DVDs to TPB’s. I guess I am not too verbose right now.
Spoiler Alert
The Main Event
-Spider-Man: Brand New Day #1- This was a special for us Spidey fans, since there was a two-week gap in ASM this month due to five Wednesdays when comics are released. This features a trio of stories, each by teams of BND writers/authors seen in the past. We have a Hammerhead origin/return, where he is now in a cybernetic costume, the trial of Spider-Man as defended by Matt Murdock which is just a fun story, and Harry realizing how Peter is his close friend. The three stories were all well-done and each was fleshed out well enough that it didn’t seem rushed to reach a certain page count. The best thing is, you don’t need this to enjoy the thrice-monthly Amazing Spider-Man, but having it adds to the reading experience. 1/1.
-X-Men: Odd Men Out #1- This features two never before seen stories illustrated by the late, great, Dave Cockrum. If you don’t know who Cockrum is, kindly hit back on your browser and check Wikipedia. He was the man who helped reinvent the X-Men and drew the All-New, All-Different X-Men before anyone else. He sadly passed on in 2006. The stories were not what you would consider classics, the first is Xavier talking to long-time confidante Fred Duncan about the X-Men and the stories up to that point in time (it gets up to about #281 in terms of continuity, so it may have been drawn around 1992) and the second a New Mutants tale where they battle a robot that just leaves at the end, but it gives us more work of the legend. It is like the lost Beatles songs, they weren’t up to par as what they did during their glory years, but just having it is a treasure. 2/2.
Marvel
-Black Panther #39- The Skrulls need to take Wakanda to mine the Vibranium. They have sleeper Skrulls there but are shocked to find their heads on sticks outside the country. The Skrulls have a battle on their hands and the Wakandan’s actually take it to them, getting an early advantage and winning the first battle. The leader of the Skrull attack on Wakanda teases us at the end saying that not all the sleepers were killed. This was much better than anything I have read in Black Widow since the original arc. It was pure and simple Black Panther just fighting, showing how strong his nation is and how smart they are. That it ties into a big epic storyline just adds to the appeal of this story. 3/3.
-Fantastic Four: True Story #1- I didn’t know what to expect from this (True Story, the FF in the real world?), and it is nothing that I expected it to be, and I still don’t know if that’s a good thing. Sue is the lead of this story, and she realizes she can’t enjoy books she likes to read. It is soon discovered that no one can, fiction is no longer enjoyable. So the FF go to try and restore fiction, meeting Dante in the process. It seems that some evil force is destroying fiction, and only the FF can stop them, by using their imaginations. They end up in Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility to fight these people. I have no idea where this is going. I have no idea if I like it. I know I need to finish this to see how this ends, but it has my interest and it is certainly different than anything else on the shelves this month. 4/4.
-Marvel Spotlight: X-Men #500- Can you believe the X-Men, Marvel’s own merry mutants, hit their 500th issue? One of the biggest comic book franchises of the 80’s and 90’s has a long and storied history, from the 60’s, to their demise and rebirth in the 70’s, to their ascension into giant successes in the 80’s and early 90’s, and their unmemorable runs in the new millennium until Brubaker came on. This has interviews with people who worked on this giant, Stan Lee, a look at the X-Men in the 70’s, Paul Smith, John Romita Jr, Scott Lobdell and Matt Fraction. Along the bottom of each page is a timeline of each issue from #1 to #500, with notable issues shown. There was one problem, though. They show trades from each decade so you can search out the great stories, but don’t include the Age of Apocalypse stuff from the 90’s. Bastards! When you actually read the interviews, you get a great insight into the ones who brought us X-Men over the years. 5/5.
-Ms. Marvel #29- Ms. Marvel continues to kick Skrull ass, killing them and saving as many people as she can with Agent Sum’s help. They eventually end up at the Raft, to find a secure SHIELD line. They find a whole bunch of SHIELD agents strung up in what seems like a ritualistic killing. One of the agents still alive says it was a Skrull all the others were scared of. Maybe it was the same one seen in X-Factor/She-Hulk? Another good tie-in. 6/6.
-Secret Invasion Fantastic Four #3- The FF fly to the prison to get Tinkerer to help, but he refuses at first. Franklin eventually gets him to help, and they head back to Earth. Lyja tells Johnny why she transported them to the Negative Zone, to save the families life from death. Lyja stays in the Negative Zone to find herself. A good tie-in, as this did its job perfectly, explaining why the FF are out of the picture, reinserting Lyja back to the FF universe, and sending the FF back to fight. 7/7.
-Skaar: Son of Hulk #2- Skaar battles a horde of evil dragons and people. There is a back-up tale which basically tells the origin of Skaar, and a little more about what happened during Planet Hulk during Hulk’s reign from another standpoint. The back-up was better than the main story. I just can’t get into the whole Sakaar story again for some reason, as we don’t know much about Skaar or who the main players are. The back-up earns the point for this title. 8/8.
-Skrulls vs. Power Pack #1- The Skrulls set up the Power Pack by committing crimes and accusing them. The Pack is brought to the horse planet to go on trial while the Skrulls impersonate the Power Pack, in what is the key component of the Invasion for sure. Franklin tries to help his friends. The best Secret Invasion tie-in? Definitely! This is just a great story, as usual, as Van Lente is just a breath of fresh air in a time where there is a lot of negative sentiment and attitudes in comics. 9/9.
-Spider-Man: With Great Power #5- Spider-Man tries the hero thing, it doesn’t go well, he unmasks to the older girl who is too drunk to remember, JJJ is saved by Spidey from mobsters and Peter goes him. There’s a news report about a criminal on the loose. I just didn’t like this. Peter looked too modern and nothing like the original Ditko, nerdy character. Yeah, Spidey was on TV, but to drag it out over 5 issues, and introduce mobsters trying to protect his name. You think they’d have a problem when JJJ continued his assault in the papers by the time of Spidey #1? Just a waste of time. 9/10.
-Ultimate Spider-Man #124- This one flip-flops in time. We are in the present with Sable taking Venom, then we go to the past where Spider-Man battles the Ultimate Beetle who breaks into Roxxon. Peter uncovers a tie between Latveria and Roxxon which Nick Fury tells him not to get into, knowing full well Spider-Man will. Spidey also has been experiencing headaches which knocks him out at the end of the issue (which is back in the present) as Sable leaves with Venom. Another solid Bendis/Immonen team-up. 10/11.
-Wolverine #67- Wolverine and Hawkeye take a ride with contraband Hawkeye is carrying. They are attacked by Ghost Riders and Wolverine refuses to fight, leading Hawkeye to take them out on their own. We see one flashback of Wolverine’s spirit breaking. They head to Vegas, which is now a place for humans to hope for a return of the heroes, as Thor’s hammer fell there, as did the heroes. Hawkeye learns his daughter has been arrested for fighting back and I guess we know what will happen next. I like this bleak, “Mad Max” type future where a now docile Wolverine must live. 11/12.
-Wolverine: Origins #27- Wolverine’s still captured by the Japanese he experimented on. Daken’s origin is revealed, as he’s being led by Romulus, leading to the origin of Cyber, and coming face to face with his father. The only thing is, Daken has lost his memory. This was panned when it first came out (even by me) but this has grown and has had time to breathe. Daken has been introduced, his past is as mysterious as his father’s and now he has no memory. Daniel Way has carved an impressive story through the first 27 issues, and looks to be going strong through this arc, too. 12/13.
-X-Men: First Class #14- The X-Men and Machine Man take on Lava Men, as Aaron Stack tells Xavier and the X-Men that the robots sometimes go mad. This one does, the X-Men deal with it and with the Lava Men, and bring the robotic brain back to Stack. We look at the model number, X-50. For those who don’t know the whole history will get to read a fun classic X-Men tale, for those who know Marvel history will know X-51 is the character we know now as Machine Man. So again, a title like this is showing how writers with great ideas can combine past stories and make it in continuity, all while adding little tidbits like this that would make older fans sit back and enjoy these little Easter eggs. 13/14.
DC
-Catwoman #81- I’m a little bummed that this is ending, but all good things, Jean-Luc. Catwoman is chilling a la Mimi in Out Tonight on the cover, and on the inside she’s back to her evil ways, stealing stuff, facing off against some Neo-Nazi-villain, stealing a painting, extorting Calculator out of some cash, and coming face to face with Batman. What is disappointing about this is that the end to #80 was just kick-ass, a really satisfying conclusion. This seems like something put together to finish off the series in two issues. Okay, so Catwoman is back to her stealing, and probably going to have a change in her relationship with Bruce. I wonder what is going to come of Selina? Not a great issue coming off the last arc, but it was passable. 1/1.
-Huntress Year One #6- This is the case of a comic where you expect little (then, why did I buy it?) and got a lot. I don’t know if it was the best issue, but it ties everything together nicely to introduce Batman and Catwoman to the Huntress, and finish off her revenge on the men who took her families life. Like I said, I a surprisingly good mini-series that if you missed you should check it out in the trades. 2/2.
-Justice Society of America Annual #1- We saw Power Girl get sent back to her home world of Earth-2 by Gog in the pages of the regular series, and this picks up with Power Girl showing up. We see Huntress, who is Batman’s daughter, and dealing with a friend who just had acid thrown in his face by an aged Joker. She has broken her connection with the JLI but meets with them when Power Girl shows up. She tells the whole gang that their Superman is dead (he died in Infinite Crisis). Power Girl and Huntress have a heart to heart, defeat the Joker, then another Power Girl shows up saying that the one we’ve seen the whole issue is a fake. That was a nice surprise, and now she’s an outsider in her own home world! I love what Geoff is doing with the JSA, and Ordway’s art gave it a real classic, Silver Age feel. 3/3.
-Superman/Batman #50- This is the big landmark 50th issue, and it’s a double-sized story. What I loved about this issue (the best of the series after #25, the Sam Loeb tribute) was a unique look at the relationship between Superman and Batman and tosses in a little nugget into old Batman/Superman continuity that fits well. Superman and Batman deal with a Kryptonian mechanical being that came from Bruce’s bat cave. How it got there was one good story. Bruce’s parents, Martha and Thomas are driving through Kansas when a spaceship hits. Thomas touches it and is transported to Krypton where he meets with Jor-El, the father of Superman. It is Thomas that convinces Jor-El that Earth is the place for him. Superman and Batman learn this and internally think of each other as brothers they’ve never had. Who knew that after 70 years a new element could be added to their respective mythologies. Definitely recommended. 4/4.
-Trinity #9- Deep breath, a lot of stuff happening. Wonder Woman is at a mall when its attacked by a new player named Swashbuckler. He kisses Etta Candy and steals her pass. Batman takes care of the werewolves as Superman shows up. They both go to the cave and Bats oddly doesn’t remember the werewolves as Howlers, which irritates him. More old artifacts are being stolen and no one knows why. Wonder Woman tells them about people disappearing and being the cause of meta-humans, the Crime Syndicate. All that was just the first tale. The second one sees Barbara trying to figure out what all the stolen artifacts have in common, Swashbuckler meets Nightwing and steals his mask (which is destroyed by Dick) and other odd things are stolen, Commissioner Gordon’s pipe and Joker’s laugh. Both stories were good, but the second one leaves a lot of questions that need answering, and Nicieza and Busiek are writing the best weekly comic DC has seen since 52. A perfect week for DC. 5/5.
Dynamite
-Project Superpowers #5- The Target and The Arrow are two heroes you don’t think would go together, after all, wouldn’t one be shooting at the other? This issue moves along very nicely, after a slower paced issue #4. Highlights include Fighting Yank dying, but not yet dead, then getting pumped with arrows on the last page. I guess Yank became The Target (ba-da-bum). Dynamic Man’s son is killed, and the world doesn’t know he’s a robot so the Dynamic Family plays it up that these new heroes are terrorists. Target, Black Terror, Samson and others battle some rogue army. I’ll be honest, I am not entirely clear on what is going on throughout all the different stories running, but I have a general idea (rereading this in the trades will help me out fo-shure) and a tale of people out of time and displaced in a place they don’t understand works when written as well as this. The Fighting Yank as the core of the whole event will lead to more revelations as the series progresses. 1/1.
Vertigo
-Northlanders #8- Vikings are cool, that’s all you need to know. A Viking like Sven, an outsider in his own home, is even cooler. After burying the slave girl he had a relation with, he knows he can’t fight the invading troops. He concedes to them, but only under the terms that his people keep their land, then hands control of the army to Hakkar, with the intent that he will defeat the invading men once they regroup. Sven leaves with Enna, and they live happily ever after. I liked how this warrior eventually sees what he really wants and what would make him happy. He doesn’t quit or run yellow, he makes a tactical decision to show what a brilliant warrior he is. Just a fantastic first arc, and I don’t know how writer Wood can follow this up. 1/1.
Awards
-Book of the Week- There were a lot of books I really enjoyed this week, but Superman/Batman was my favorite. I don’t know if I had read anything that made as much sense as this did in terms of bringing Superman and Batman even closer and showing an element of their friendship we have never seen before. It was well-executed in terms of storytelling where Batman and Superman would find out about it and having it validated in their own ways. An excellent issue.
-Disappointment of the Week- The clear winner this week is Spider-Man: With Greater Power. The one word that sums up this entire mini-series is: unneeded.
-Cover of the Week- Black Panther #39 was the most eye-catching cover. It has a propaganda feel as well as a black power vibe going on, all in the name of Skrulls invading Panther’s kingdom. Jason Pearson did a great job with the cover.
-The Bottom Line- I was impressed this week, as DC, Vertigo, and Dynamite all picked up perfect scores. Marvel missed the mark by only one issue, but when you’re shooting 20/21, you know you had a great week, and that’s what the fifth and final Wednesday of July was, a great week.
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Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
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