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I really don’t have anything to write as an intro this week. I am in Olympic let-down, as closing ceremonies were just this Sunday, and I kind of ran through the comics I got this weekend when the Olympics were winding down and not much was on. Anyway, the tally looks like this: 1 Wildstorm, 8 DC, and 13 Marvels add up to 22 total comics. Yeah, I’m done, let’s talk about comics now.
Spoiler Alert
The Main Event
-Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1- This was one of the promised mini-series when Final Crisis first hit and it has a can’t-miss premise. Superman-Prime shows up in the future, gathers the Legion of Super-Villains, so the Legion of Super-Heroes, battered and torn apart, call upon Superman for help, and he suggests getting LSH members from alternate worlds. This was just an awesome intro, with Prime showing up in the future and getting pissed to see he’s not remembered as a relevant villain 1,000 years later, and doing something about it to get remembered, and the 3 worlds of LSH coming together to stop him. There wasn’t any Prime/LSH action yet, but there will be. Perez was made to draw team-ups like these with a million different characters, and he really shines here. 1/1.
-Amazing Spider-Man #568- This has the makings of an epic, and it will be completely self-contained which is a good thing in this time of economic uncertainty. This is big for a few reasons. First, Venom is coming back, and hopefully it’s the Venom I remember when he first came out, the evil, huge, monster who just wanted to hurt Spidey. Second, John Romita Jr. has returned to the title. Those two things alone is enough for a point, but the story is actually quite good. JRJR does an awesome recap of Spidey’s origin, and his BND stuff, and even throws in a great fight with Menace. Peter finds work at the Front Line and one of the people running for office, Crowne, turns to Norman Osborne to help his campaign. Of course, with Norman we have the Thunderbolts, and in the T-bolts is Venom, currently attached to Mac Gargan. Bennet of the DB wants dirt on Martin Li, who runs FEAST, where May works. Brant goes over there and one of the newest people to be healed there is none other than Eddie Brock (see how things are coming together?). Finally, Peter is subdued by guards in front of his apartment and is brought in where Norman and the T-bolts are waiting. Okay, does Norman know Peter and Spidey are one in the same? Because BND said that no one knew, but Norman knew before anyone, so does he still know? I guess that’ll be answered shortly. There’s a back-up showing how Brock came to FEAST and how he came to be healed, but did it awaken the symbiote inside of him? This has all the makings of a great, classic, storyline. JRJR on art, Spider-Man’s biggest villain of the modern age coming back, and Book One is a must-read. 1/1.
Marvel
-Captain America #41- The masterpiece of Ed Brubaker continues. Bucky and Falcon are following the fake Cap, and see he has been captured and brought to an installation in Albany. Skull wants a new body so he doesn’t need the mask anymore, and he’s pissed about what Sin did to Sharon. Sharon is still under Faust’s control but for some reason he turns against Skull and frees Sharon. Sharon sets off a SHIELD tracking device and SHIELD, Bucky and Falcon converge in Albany. They get there in time to foil a plot by Sin (going against the plan of her father) when Bucky!Cap shows up to save the day. Skull and Zola find out about Faust’s betrayal, and probably aren’t too happy about it. What can I say? If you aren’t buying this you aren’t a comics fan. 2/2.
-Guardians of the Galaxy #4- The Guardians deal with the aftermath of Vance being attacked by Starlord but things really go down the drain when the teleportation device explodes. People are killed and some of them are not what they seem. They find Skrull bodies and panic ensues. The Guardians are basically under house arrest since they were never approved to work there and Warlock’s not too happy about it. Starlord agrees to any questioning and things take a sour turn when it appears that Drax is actually a Skrull, since he went into the teleportation device room many times without permission, and was missing during questioning. Abnett and Lanning are just amazing with the cosmic adventurer’s, making it so that a dog is a great character in Cosmo, and taking this motley crew and making enjoyable stories, and tying it in to Secret Invasion without it taking away from the course of the book. 3/3.
-Incredible Hercules #120- Somehow I missed #119 but such is life. Of course, this doesn’t have a recap page but Pak did a good job telling us what happened. Amadeus knows he has to sacrifice himself so Hercules will not be bound by a partner and can unleash his fury and defeat the Skrull god, the one who loves them. Hercules, full of rage, kills the sucker with the help of Snowbird (who they thought was dead) and Cho (who is saved by Snowbird). I wonder if this will play out in Secret Invasion, and I have a feeling it won’t be, but to see how the, “He Loves You,” thing came about, and seeing Hercules kick some ass makes this a recommended tale. 4/4.
-Marvel 1985 #4- I like these issues, but it seems very short to read. They have some great art, and the story is very good, but it’s a quick read. It’s not a bad thing, though. Toby and his father escape from Lizard and Toby suggests that his father may be a mutant. Toby goes to the Wyncam house to find a way to fight back, and he finds a room that teleports him to the Marvel Universe! He asks for the Avengers as the issue ends. I like how before it gets stale with villains in a real world, they manage to take our protagonist and send him to the universe the villains were from. Another good issue. 5/5.
-Marvel Spotlight: Amazing Spider-Man- This interview issue features a good one with John Romita Jr, a fun one with Steve Wacker, a look at the art of Marco Martin as told by Dan Slott, 9 top Spidey moments, a John Romita interview, and an interview with Terry Moore. All the interviews were very good, but especially the Romita’s. Recommended if you like reading the interviews. 6/6.
-Skrulls vs. Power Pack #2- Franklin goes to find the Pack, who escapes from their prison, and then they impersonate being Skrulls by doing bad things, and the Skrull Synod leader reveals he was the one who framed them, but he attacks them at issues end. He’s a Super-Skrull with the powers of the Pack. The Pack are still being impersonated at home by the Skrulls. There’s a great mini-marvel story about the FF and the Skrulls impersonating them. The Power Pack and… titles have all been great fun, and people who like comics for being fun and witty should be reading these. 7/7.
-Ultimate Fantastic Four #57- The Ultimate FF team-up with Namor to defeat the Hydra. Reed is turned on by Namor but Sue saves him anyway. It is what it is, it was just an end to a story before Ultimatum starts. I liked the idea of the Hydra, but I just thought the end was a bit rushed (find out the problem and beat the problem) and the villains who were built as so powerful before really didn’t put up much of a fight. 7/8.
-Uncanny X-Men #501- So Pixie is beat up, the X-Men enjoy their new home until they find out Pixie is beat up, and Nightcrawler and Wolverine go after the Hellfire gang. There’s some dominatrix named Red Queen, too. I love Bru but this was just a complete miss. Pixie was beat up, and I really didn’t care. We’ve seen mutants get beat up many times before, hell, Xavier was very badly beaten up. There’s nothing new, there. Red Queen? She has red hair, so is it Jean Grey? Madeline Pryor? I don’t know, and I just don’t care right now. To compound things, the over stylized art of Greg Land ruins it. He just draws these characters, usually with their mouths agape, and with no emotion shown. #500 was cool, this wasn’t. 7/9.
-X-Factor #34- I liked the first two issues, and here Darwin is urged on by Monet, She-Hulk and X-Factor to take out this religious Talisman. The interplay between She-Hulk and Madrox is great, but like other issues this week, I just didn’t go for the art. The females looked overly masculine, and the art actually detracted from the story. I liked the grittier art from before. PAD did his best with what he was given, but Secret Invasion should’ve passed these title by. It brings Darwin to the forefront, finally, (hopefully) and the script earns this a point, barely. 8/10.
-X-Factor: Layla Miller #1- This was the best X-Factor book this year. Layla’s still in the future, she manipulates people and things based on what she knows, and she finally shows emotion when she meets future Cyclops by saying it’s not a blessing, but a curse that she knows things. She basically starts a mutant revolt, and gets humans involved, to finally end the threat of mutant camps. Great issue, with our first real insight into this character. 9/11.
-X-Men: First Class #15- This is what I love about this title. We know everything that is going to happen to these characters, and we know what is going to happen to them based on their continuity. Case in point, Medusa shows up in this issue. She has appeared already in FF and has escaped from Wizard. She doesn’t have her memory and the male X-Men hit on her. Beast mentions Gorgon which she says sounds familiar, a refuge where people like her can walk free, and liking strong, silent types. All are nods to the Inhumans, who hadn’t yet been introduced when this tale takes place. Medusa finds out Wizard has a mind-control device and she goes to Reed for help. Angel returns at the end. We get a funny one-page epilogue showing why Angel returned (hint, he didn’t want to get married!). I love the writing on here, as they know the Marvel history, and things Medusa says gives a wink-wink, nudge-nudge to fans in the know, and are completely innocuous comments to those who don’t. Then you get a fight. Just great dialogue and a great feel for the history makes these enjoyable for kids or adults alike. 10/12.
-Young X-Men #5- Cyclops was really Pierce in disguise and he’d been playing the original New Mutants against the Young X-Men the whole time. They soon join together to fight Pierce, Blindfold is saved, but Wolf Cub is killed. Well, it can’t be an X-Book without a casualty. Now, these kids thought they were X-Men, but weren’t, and so where do they go from here? A very good story, with a meaningful death. 11/13.
DC
-Batgirl #2- Batgirl is looking for Slade Wilson and her father, finds one of her sisters, they fight then they team-up, then they’re captured by Slade. Batgirl does get help from Oracle and tells sis, Marque, that there’s no killing. There’s some formula, too, involved. I’ll be honest, I’m not digging this right now. Calafiore’s art doesn’t do it for me, and I don’t have any sort of interest in the story right now. 1/2.
-Batman and the Outsiders #10- This is where Batgirl belongs, as part of a group. The Outsiders investigate some monster that either a) gives you super-powers or b) kills you. They find the monster, it escapes, Batman jumps on Parasite and is missing, and the tech-dude becomes Remac at the end. This is another this week I wouldn’t have missed if I didn’t read it. Next month is an RIP tie-in, so I don’t know why Batman disappeared this issue when he’s caught up in his own crazy costume in his main title. Another one that I just didn’t like. 1/3.
-Birds of Prey #121- Joker takes over Platinum Flats as Oracle sees the syndicate has its fingers in all the big companies running the city. Misfit goes to school and sees first hand that the geeks run the place. Unfortunately for her, Helena (Huntress) is there as a teacher. Joker goes to one of the meetings, kills one of the members, and he’s in control now. As if this issue couldn’t get any more loaded, Black Alice shows up at Misfit’s school. This succeeds where the previous two Bat titles failed because it had plot advancement, character development, and it seamlessly went through different stories without missing a beat. I thought Bedard wouldn’t last on here after Gail left, but he’s done a great job, first by looking into the characters with single-story issues, and now with his first big arc. 2/4.
-Justice League of America #24- This is called, the JLA band together, use all their resources and power, and defeat Amazo by teleporting him away. At the end we see Animal Man and Vixen figuring out someone’s messing with their powers. This was just an all-out brawl issue, and it was well-executed. It didn’t feature much in plot or character development, but its what I loved about comics as a kid, good guys fight bad guys, things go boom, good guys win. See, simple formula, witty writing, and good art makes it an easy winner. 3/5.
-Robin #177- I was all set to drop Robin after RIP, but c’mon, Red Robin is on the cover. Red Freakin’ Robin! So Robin has to deal with a post-Batman Gotham City, and Jason Todd trying to become a leader for the gangs in order to break them down. Robin attacks Todd, when Red Robin shows up. Robin’s confused when he hears the name, and more confused when Jason said it used to be him. Who’s the mystery man? Oh yeah, Spoiler seemingly wants to take out Robin. Not on a date, but take him out like kill him. Red Robin! Maybe I’m too excited about RR showing up, but you get a good Robin/Todd fight, and Robin’s never been meaner than he is now. 4/6.
-Superman/Batman #51- Batman and Superman find little versions of themselves and the entire JLA show up on their world, and Mxyzptlk is behind all of this. He brings in lil villains at the end. This was like the X-Babies and I loved every second of this. Seeing not only the Lil JLA but their lil-origins as well was just classic. It’s like a kids version of the heroes and its just a fun, off-beat story that you need in a title every so often. 5/7.
-Trinity #12- Superman confronts the Syndicate on his own, until the rest of the JLA show up. Green Lantern and Firestorm go to the Syndicate’s moonbase when Stewart goes crazy, looking almost like cyborg with all this cybernetics popping out of him. The main story was okay, but the second one was the star of the show. It features Riddler trying to figure out who is behind all the thefts. He looks into it and comes to the conclusion that its him, but, its not him. So this Enigma is an alternate earth version of Riddler, but which Earth is he from? Great second story makes this an easy winner. 6/8.
Wildstorm
-World of Warcraft #10- WoW continues to be a reliable title, as the adventures of Lo’Gosh, the lost king, continues. Before going back to his realm, he assists on a side-mission to help a new compatriots brother and rescue him and one of the human strongholds against a band of evil-doers called the Dark Irons. Lo’Gosh and his crew stop the Irons but the brother sacrifices himself to save the day and the stronghold. Lo’Gosh continues his trek back home. Like I said, a reliable tale that continues to weave an exciting warrior adventure. 1/1.
Awards
-Book of the Week- Amazing Spider-Man #568 was hyped to no end, with the return of Venom and John Romita Jr. It was a book that delivered. This is what I like about Spidey, especially with Norman Osborne returning as well. This has everything Spidey fans will want. This is actually JRJR’s fifth win, tying him for tops with Chris Weston.
-Disappointment of the Week- With all the hype around Uncanny X-Men, this issue was a real downer for them, taking away all the momentum the title had built over the last few years. A common element (mutants are beaten) doesn’t help, the team seemed very laid back this issue, and the art of Land has got to go. Relegate him to the C-list titles, not one of the flagships. Fraction gets on this list twice in a row, a first at TPL.
-Cover of the Week- Birds of Prey #121 had a sweeet Joker cover with a trick gun, and Joker actually crying from laughing makes this the most striking cover of the week.
-The Bottom Line- I thought this was a great week all told. It had some clunkers but that’s to be expected. The good far outweighed the bad, and the “kid” titles really prove very enjoyable. Power Pack, X-Men First Class, and Superman/Batman were all toned down in seriousness but never once did I felt like it was talking down to us as readers. This week was very satisfying. Of course, next week is gonna be a mammoth week (both Marvel and DC really load up on the last Wednesday for some reason) so I better enjoy the time off while I can!
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Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
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