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This was a little slower than the last three weeks, thankfully. That gives me a bit more time to read the issues and I don’t feel like I have to rush at all. 30+ books can be a bit intimidating! This week’s line up looks like this, 1 Wildstorm title, 8 Marvels, and an incredible 17 DCs give us a total of 26 books. I can’t believe that 65% of the books this week were from DC! Still, even I had less titles than normal, the books didn’t come out until Thursday due to the Thanksgiving holiday so when I wrote I don’t have to rush, I think I do now. Crap. Let’s just hit the TPL.
Before I begin, I wrote that opening on Thursday. It’s now Monday night at 10:15pm and I still haven’t started writing yet. Tomorrow I have class (finally they are over) so I can’t write anything tomorrow. I ended up working all weekend on my graduate homework so in an effort to get this posted, I made the reviews a bit shorter. If this is Tuesday and you are reading it, I’ve done my job. If it’s Wednesday, well, only a day late.
Spoiler Alert
The Main Event
-Marvel Zombies 2 #2- The awesomeness continues for the Marvel Zombies. The Zombies are still heading home and we already see a faction forming between Spider-Man (wanting to stop the hunger) and Giant-Man (who wants to crave it). They arrive on Earth and see the tasty flesh there. He wants to start a breeding groun so they could never go hungry again. Spider-Man is against it and they start fighting. Black Panther, Wasp and Hawkman fight against Giant Man as well and Black Panther (now a zombie) gives the word for one of his citizens to test a new device, that breaks them off from the world via a force field. Unfortunately for them, Gladiator’s stuck inside with them. This mini continues to be awesome and this has the potential to be better than the real Civil War mini-series.
-Batman #671- Batman tells Ra’s that he doesn’t have to choose between Robin and Damian. Instead, Batman will take him to Nanda Parabat to the fountain of life. They meet some resistance and finally meet an old man protecting the fountain. He is actually Ra’s father and he is trying to stop Ra’s at all costs! He stabs Ra’s then battles Batman and actually gets the better of him, until his old age gets him winded and Batman defeats him. Good issue. I wonder how it all ties into the next Robin issue.
Marvel
-Foolkiller #2- We see the origin of Foolkiller. It’s actually not too bad, he had ups and downs in his life, his father gets killed because of him, same as his mother, he gets poor, then rich, then poor, then rich. We see what caused him to kill criminals and such. I like it so far.
-Marvel Atlas #1- This is just an Atlas of all the places in Europe relevent to the Marvel Universe. Some are real, some aren’t.
-Moon Knight Annual #1- This was a quick read where some women who had a common experience (being date-raped by a dude) talk about how the guy had it coming to him, by none other than Moon Knight. The story was okay, I guess, just average. Still, it’s been better than the regular title.
-Sub-Mariner #6- We see the conclusion of Sub-Mariner’s battle against SHIELD. He tied his son to the throne (the dead body we’d seen) and made Nitro blow up Atlantis, but not before the Atlanteans evacuated through hidden tunnels and back into the world at large. Namor and his army head to Latveria and a partnership with Doom. This mini just establishes Namor’s place in the MU post Civil War and I wonder how it will turn out with him pairing with Doom.
-Ultimate Spider-Man #116- Spider-Man and Green Goblin head out of a building and Kitty saves Peter. Green Goblin disappears and no one knows where he is. He is back in human form and can’t be tracked by SHIELD. Peter returns home with his family safely hidden and is shocked to find Norman there. Norman wants the world to know he created Spider-Man and redeem his name. While they talk, Harry Osborne appears on TV saying how his father made him a monster. We see Carol in the background smiling and Norman is none too pleased. I am really enjoying this so far, with Norman playing it real coy and trying his best to destroy SHIELD and having a wrench thrown into his plans, namely his son.
-World War Hulk: Front Line #6- This is the finale of this mini-series where Ben and Sally deal with the repurcussions of the WWH. Ben lost his home, but not his will. They will rebuild. Sally finds out who the mystery funder is (JJJ) and confronts him about it. She says she won’t tell Ben to keep him happy. Decent finale showing a street level look at WWH.
-The Zombie: Simon Garth #1- I really enjoyed the first mini but this one was just too confusing for me. I assume that Simon picked up some woman about to be willed upon by two hicks. There was a helicopter with the zombie virus that crashed and unleashed it back onto the world. Can’t these people do anything right? Just eh. Luckily its only 4 issues.
DC
-52 Aftermath #4- Wonder Woman gets told off by the woman on Oolong Island as the Doom Patrol shows up. Batman battles Death while Superman battles Famine. Looks like the four horseman are unleashed on the world. I haven’t really liked this mini and I think Pat Oliffe, who I love as a penciller, is phoning this one in. This mini just isn’t that good.
-All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder #8- I love this series. It always provides a laugh. Joker kills a girl, he wants to unleash more mayhem on Gotham. Batman bitches about Grayson and Alfred makes a costume for him. He calls himself Hood (after Robin Hood) but Batman pulls the hood down and calls him Robin.
-Batman and the Outsiders #2- The Outsiders escape from the Omac battle and capture the Omac machine. Catwoman leaves the team, her service to Batman done, and Martian Manhunter goes back to tell the League what happened. Lightning is upset at not being used and as the rest of the team celebrates, Batgirl shows up. Is Cassandra Cain Batgirl or Batwoman? Whichever, Cassandra shows up and I eagerly await her in this title. Good issue.
-Blue Beetle #21- Blue Beetle has a run in with the Spectre. It’s actually a very good little story and Blue Beetle is a consistenly good title.
-Countdown to Adventure #4- Starfire and Animal Man are still stuck in San Diego about to be wiped out, and Starfire is angry that Animal Man is not allowing her to cope without her powers. Strange is still on Rann, escapes death, and dons a suit at the end. In the Forerunner story, Forerunner can’t kill the one who wiped out her species and Monarch is upset with her. He abandons her in the middle of space. I liked the first part of the Adventure but I didn’t care for the Forerunner stuff.
-Countdown to Final Crisis #22- Mary Marvel has a run in with Eclipso. Mary is upset Eclipso wanted her to be a concubine. Olsen is getting tortured on Apokolips but is saved by Mister Miracle (not wearing his dark uniform from the Death of New Gods mini-series). Mxyzptlk returns home and tells his girlfriend to close off the fifth dimension portal. Piper and Trickster are still on the lam when Deathstroke. After avoiding him for so long, Trickster is seemingly killed at the end. Damn, what an ending.
-Countdown Presents: Lord Havok and the Extremists #2- This features the origin of one of the members. Gorgon I think his name was. This wasn’t terribly interesting.
-Crime Bible: Five Lessons of Blood #2- Renee Montoya investigates an odd part of the Crime Bible followers, this time a brothel of sorts. She stops a sacrifice from taking place. I liked the first one but this one not so much.
-Death of the New Gods #3- Takion is at the source wall and meets the killer face to face. He dies. Unknown to anyone, the dude in the chair sees it all (sorry for not knowing his name). Superman, Orion and Miracle confront Apokolips, and Darkseid simply tells them that the foe cannot be defeated. Miracle also exhibits some new powers, too. Pretty good issue here, and Starlin is always an awesome writer.
-Gotham Underground #2- We see a history of Gotham crime life, and Batman is under cover at a prison looking for some info on the Suicide Squad. Unbeknownst to him, a hit has been put on him to be executed by Mr. Zsasz. Nightwing goes undercover to find information from Penguin. Scarecrow reveals that Penguin is a snitch. A lot of stuff going on here, including a mysterious woman in a costume make this a great Gotham related title.
-Green Lantern Corps #18- This is one big fight scene between Sodam Yat and Superman Prime. We see the history of Sodam and how he became a Lantern and his life in general, but he gets his ass handed to him by Prime. This was just a big fight scene, and I liked it.
-Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #36- Supergirl is finally sent back home to the 21st century. It seems Brainiac had double-crossed her into sending her there but it was all for the greater good. He wanted to clear Cosmic Boys name, sent Mekt Ranzz away, redeemed ERG-1, saved a world from collapsing, got a new ally, and everyone’s happy. This was a nice way to end the storyline and made a nice send off for Supergirl, who had her memories wiped. Nicely done. All I say now is bring on Starlin!
-Superman Annual #13- The Camelot falls storyline conlcudes with Superman taking on Arion, using magic failsafes from Phantom Stranger. Superman worries of the world to come but knows humanity will fight. Arion is sent back to his time period. There’s a sweet back up story featuring Superman and Supergirl taking Lois and the Kents to a distant planet for a picnic. I enjoyed the issue and the conclusion of Camelot Falls, but why do they need to end storylines in annuals? It just doesn’t make sense to me.
-Superman/Batman #43- Superman and Batman must tackle a threat from Dr. Light. Superman is battling a threat from him on a starship while Batman must stop him from infiltrating the Fortress of Solitude. Dr. Light is mysteriously saved by someone. This wasn’t bad stuff and was an enjoyable one off issue.
-Teen Titans #53- Lex Luthor unveils the Titans. They are older versions of heroes we know. Then Starro attacks. In the end, its Blue Beetle against them all. Miss Martian kills her future self. Supergirl throws some demon monster into space. I feel like an idiot for saying it, but I’m still lost.
-Trials of Shazam #10- Freddie goes on the hunt for Mercury, following a trail of broken bodies, finally leading to Tawky Tawny. It seems that the woman (does she have a name) got to him first. Freddie shows up as the woman is still there and Mercury has left in a flash of smoke. The artist has changed which
-Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #3- This is the origin of Doll Man. Doll Man and Uncle Sam shrink down to go to a secret mini city the government has. Phantom Girl is saved as well. Still not as good as the original but this wasn’t as bad as the first two issues.
Wildstorm
-Gen13: Armageddon- Fairchild gets brought to the future and sees a world where a female group (Coda) wants to take over and use men as breeding stock. They Fairchild learns her future self and her female teammates were captured so she helps the male teammates rescue themselves. Grunge returns home to the present not knowing how to stop it.
Awards
-Book of the Week- There were a bunch of books this week but nothing really jumped out at me. I would have to give Marvel Zombies 2 #2 the award this week. It just featured some awesome storytelling and amazing art. This is really one of the best mini-series I’ve read this year.
-Disappointment of the Week- 52 Aftermath #4 really didn’t do it for me this week. I just haven’t been that impressed or enthralled with it and I keep waiting for something to happen to justify the series being made. Thus far it’s just be a drag.
-Cover of the Week- Marvel Zombies 2 #2 featured an amazing cover by Suydam. This guy can do no wrong. His Zombies 2 cover is a beautiful rendering of Marvel Comics #1.
-The Bottom Line- This was a really down week for comics in my opinion. Maybe it was because I rushed through it due to my classes but I think that on the whole I was a bit disappointed. The Marvel books were solid overall but the DC books, and there were a lot of them, were way too Countdown heavy and weren’t that great. Marvel was the better company this week.
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Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
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