|
|
 |
Well, it’s the first week of August, and I am a little bummed. It means that my vacation is halfway over right now. I keep telling myself I need to enjoy it, and I am, but it sucks knowing school is right around the corner. Luckily, I have the comics (as well as my DVD reviews) to keep my mind off the inevitable. This week sees a nice selection of 20 comics (13 Marvel, 6 DC, and 1 Wildstorm). Let’s keep the summer goin’!
Spoilers Ahead
The Main Event:
-Amazing Spider-Man Family #1- This is just a massive 104-page issue, and for only $5.00,it is worth it. We start with a look at Spidey’s origin, and the frantic few days after Uncle Ben’s death, and its effect on Peter and Aunt May. See Peter become a hero, and even go to school the day after his Uncle’s death. It is a nice story between the bookend of AF15 and ASM1. We go from a serious tale to one devoid of any seriousness, the Marvel Apes. This is just an introduction, but if the four-part mini is anywhere near as funny and entertaining as this, it should be a good one. We continue in the MC2 Universe with Peter helping Doc Connors (and fighting the Lizard) and saying how hw wants to be with his family and not so much with the dangerous stuff. This is an awesome MC2 story by the guys who do the ASG story every month. Our final original tale is one of Aunt May (Agent of FEAST) helping out a young girl and her estranged father. It shows how strong a character Aunt May is in the Spider-Man mythos. There is one reprint, too, that of ASM #300, the first appearance of Venom, prepping for his big return in the pages of ASM and drawn by JR Jr. I’d call this a successful first issue, and if the following issues are in this format, I will have to keep reading, as it adds to the current Spidey comics in their own way. 1/1.
-Final Crisis #3- The Final Crisis continues its whirlwind path to the demise of the DC universe. The Question asks of the missing officer from issue 1, as another god falls. The Monitor is struggling to live as a human, Jay tells of Barry’s return, Libra mentions the anti-life equation as he uses the human flame (and fire is a big part of this tale), Superman is out of the picture thanks to the explosion at the Planet and Clark needs to use his heat vision to keep his wife alive, Hal is taken prisoner as all the superheroes are drafted to fight, Wonder Woman has a run-in with the evil Black Mary Marvel as she mentions that humans are the carriers of the new New Gods. Finally, the internet is shut down, as evil hero doppelgangers prepare to fight. We are slowly and expertly seeing this tale built up by Grant Morrison, and beautifully illustrated by Jones. This is one epic event that is delivering very well now, as multiple readings will no doubt give more and more insight into what is going on. We’re talking layers of meaning and information here. Excellent. 1/1.
Marvel
-Avengers/Invaders #4- Cap’s shield falls from the Helicarrier, and the new Cap (Bucky) picks it up. We take a look at the Helicarrier as all hell is breaking loose with the two Avengers teams battling. All the Invaders are free, present day Namor has gotten his past version to leave, and Bucky confronts the new Cap at issues end. Thus ends Chapter 1, with all three teams free, and Doctor Strange seeing a wave of changes in the past due to the Invaders being gone that has yet to catch up to them. A fantastic third of the series is over, and the next two thirds look to be equally as awesome. I prefer this to the Justice League mini they did last year for DC, as it is telling a better story. 2/2
-Cable #6- This is really a Cyclops dream, and his worries over Cable and not having heard from him. It is a good story of a father worrying about his (much older) son, and how Scott is hiding things from even his lover, Emma, and just how much he’s changed. It was more of a Cyclops story than a Cable one, but seeing some of what Cable came from and how its affecting the present X-Men. 3/3
-Criminal Volume 2 #4- Ed Brubaker writes so many awesome titles each month, but this is by far his best. We meet a down on his luck comic strip artist (Jacob) who can’t sleep and frequents a diner. One chance encounter leads him to a woman and her abusive boyfriend. She leaves and he picks her up on the street, leading to a night of passion and him telling an old secret, he used to be a counterfeiter. No surprise, he goes out and comes back and she’s gone with his money. She returns with her boyfriend and he wants Jacob to make an FBI badge for him. This is an awesome set-up, as Jacob finds his past catching up with him, a past that crippled him in the past. I can’t wait to read more of this noir masterpiece. 4/4.
-Hulk #5- This is a big mash-up between Red Hulk and Thor, with Red Hulk actually coming out on top. Green Hulk is saved by A-Bomb as Stark goes to Reed to try and find out who this Red Hulk is. She-Hulk, Thing, Iron Man, Ares, Torch and Namor join Hulk and A-Bomb at the end to stop this Red Hulk. This was a fun mash-up, an action title that we don’t see much of anymore. 5/5.
-Invincible Iron Man #4- I missed #3, and I blame the comic book gods for that one. It seems I missed Stane blow up some more Stark stuff, with Pepper getting injured and having one of the movie hearts put in her. This issue sees her having trouble accepting it, thinking it is a bomb. Tony reassures her that it isn’t. Tony also lets a piece of his equipment into the hands of Stane so he can track it and it seems Stane wants to destroy Stark Industries, by blowing up four of their top factories. The art is very clean, Pepper is again changed (from secretary, to leader of the Order, to now having a fake heart) but it fits the story and I like the introduction of a new powerful, villain, who can think as quickly as Stark. 6/6.
-Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas #2- This is beautifully illustrated by Adi Granov, and really that’s the reason to pick this up. Its works of art on every page. Not to say that Favreau doesn’t write a good story (it’s a rather easy to understand one that Fin Fang Foom is brought back, for reasons unknown for now), it’s just that art is amazing, and its an easy sell. Why wouldn’t you want this amazing art by the guy who directed one of the best comic book movies ever? 7/7.
-New Exiles #9- I didn’t like this as much last issue, but it may have been because I didn’t read the previous ones. Now that I am somewhat up to date, I can appreciate it a bit more. We are still in the crazy neo-modern war between the French and the English, and the French now have Manhattan. Only the Exiles, and Force-X stand in their way. Psylocke continues falling under the influence of Ogun, and her transformation may break her apart from the Exiles. Cat has a chat with Sabretooth at the Crystal Palace at the end. At least I am interested in this now, more so than I was last issue. This was fun, I like these alternate realities, when done well. 8/8.
-NYX: No Way Home #1- This was a weird one for me to get into. I don’t quite remember the characters from the original NYX series, except of course, X-23, so this issue should’ve been a re-introduction to these characters. For her part, Marjorie did that. We follow Riden, who is with her supporting cast, and she’s about to go to school when all hell breaks loose again, including her friends lives being in danger. I don’t think you need to read the first one to enjoy this, but it would help. The first issue opened things well, and that’s all you need for it to do. 9/9.
-Secret Invasion: Front Line #2- This is more of a Front Line view of the Invasion. I just don’t find I care about these characters who will be forgotten after the Invasion. I have to say this, it is well-written and I do like reading how this affects the little men of the MU, and it is enjoyable for what it is. 10/10.
-Twelve #7- Phantom Reporter gets involved with a new murder mystery, and it may be that the murderer is Black Widow. Captain Wonder’s old sidekick (who is now old) shows up requesting more of the potion they inhaled since his is wearing off. Captain Wonder just can’t do it. The sidekick, Tim, gets pissed, walks off and kills himself. Blue Blades ratings are down and he wants Metallo to raise them up. Mastermind Excello warns PR that one of their own is going to die, he just doesn’t know who yet. This continues bringing the awesome, as the influence of the Twelve runs much deeper than we thought, showing a human aspect to these outsiders. 11/11.
-Ultimate Origins #3- This part of the Origins reveals how Xavier and Magneto first came into contact, and Magneto showing Xavier the Savage Land and the mutants he has there. The strange device that SHEILD and the FF are looking at also appears at the Savage Land. This has been present at all the major events in the Ultimate Universe and I assume it is some sort of Watcher, appearing at all the landmark events. It appears everywhere in the Ultimate Universe once its activated. It’s an epic on a smaller scale, since it affects the Ultimate books, and since there are only a few of them, it doesn’t need that massive scope that something like Final Crisis or Secret Invasion has. 12/12.
-Wolverine: Killing Made Simple #1- The standard Wolverine one-shot, first story has Wolverine saving Trance and him telling her the many ways he can be killed. Though if Nitro couldn’t do it, I don’t think any of these would work. Nanny and Orphan Maker are the villains here. The second story has Wolverine dealing with a virus at a remote facility. This is $4.00 for Wolverine stories that weren’t essential reading. 12/13.
DC
-Detective Comics #847- Batman continues dealing with Hush, who is practicing killing the Dark Knight with his minions. We look more at the origin of Hush, more than anything else this issue, as he’s ridiculed by his peers about being a mama’s boy and taking out his anger on them, and leading to a psychiatrists office (not just any psychiatrist, Dr. Crane). Scarecrow shows up at the end and it seems Hush wants to take out some of Batman’s friends, too. Another good offering for RIP with more insight on how Hush really became Hush. 2/2.
-Final Crisis: Director’s Cut #1- You get the usual inked pages and the full script, but the best thing about this is the commentary by Jones and Morrison, with Morrison dropping some hints as to things to come and why some things are placed where they are, including the importance of fire. This was just, in a word, fascinating. 3/3.
-Nightwing #147- Nightwing comes face to face with Two-face, who asks him to help save the life of one of his old friends. Nightwing does, just to save an innocent life, and turns out to be badly wounded at the end of the issue as the murdered descend upon the woman. It was a good opening issue, though I don’t know how it ties into RIP just yet. 4/4.
-Robin #176- Robin looks for proof of Batman going mad, and Spoiler finds a picture, but deletes it. Robin then finds out that evidence of Bat’s casebook is nowhere to be found. Robin finds out that Spoiler deleted the picture and soon finds out that Batman told her to do that. How deep does Spoiler and Batman’s ties go? Robin goes off, alone, in search of Batman and we see a hint of the Red Robin costume. This leads to the next Batman issue and this is the best issue of Robin in a long time, showing Robin getting passionate and angry about something for the first time in a while, and a Red Robin tease? Sign me up! 5/5.
-Trinity #10- This was a bit of breather after last issue. Lois investigates a disturbance at STAR labs but ends up getting her PDA stolen, yet another artifact the evil Trinity is getting. The JLA go to the Crime Syndicate world and Superman is pissed at what is going on. He’s more mad than we’ve seen in a while, possibly another side-effect of the evil Trinity? Much like Batman losing his memory, Superman is losing control of his emotions. The second tale deals with another artifact being stolen (the pavement where Batman was born, and Bruce’s parents died) and Robin, Nightwing and Oracle put the pieces together. We see the Evil Trinity needs only 3 more artifacts, 1 from Superman and 2 from Wonder Woman. Another well-crafted issue, and I just love Bagley’s pencils. 6/6.
Wildstorm
-Storming Paradise #2- I think this is a What If type tale, where the war continued and the atomic bomb did not cause Japan to surrender. We look at the formations, on both sides, of a Normandy type landing at a Japanese beachfront, what they call X-Day. This is just a well thought-out war tale, seeing it from both American and Japanese side, and the measures they are taking. You can see mistrust of a Japanese soldier in the American army and the racist things he has to deal with. I am now firmly signed on for the rest of this series, no matter how long it goes. 1/1.
The Awards
-Book of the Week- Final Crisis #3, coupled with the great insights of the Director’s Cut of #1, makes this a rarity in the world of comics. It is novelesque in its approach, setting up layers and layers of meaning that all add together to make this one feel like the epic it should be. At this point, its not even just a comic book, but a fantastic epic that is truly the best thing Morrison has done thus far.
-Disappointment of the Week- Wolverine: Killing Made Simple, was the low point for comic-dom, well at least my personal comic-dom. It’s just stories that weren’t essential reading, or even really worth the time. I just wish they would stop these one-shots if they don’t tie-in to current stories or if they aren’t good.
-Cover of the Week- Avengers/Invaders #4, and my somewhat obvious Alex Ross bias wins this week. Can there be a cooler cover than the New Avengers fighting the Mighty Avengers? Not this week. Alex’s 10th COTW.
-The Bottom Line- What an absolutely fantastic week, as there was really only one book that I didn’t like (incidentally, the last book I read, too). This week was just a really fun, laid back, week of comics, highlighted by the amazing Final Crisis and Marvel really churning out some decent comics. Three cheers all around. |
|
|
|
|
Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
|
|
|
|