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Another very light week in terms of comics bought, and my wallet is not complaining one bit. In all, 8 Marvels (one being a Daily Bugle paper for a quarter) and 6 DC’s for a total of 14 comics. There were no “blockbusters” coming out this week like last week and it seems pretty low-key. I’m sure it’ll all change next week, but that’s a week away; so let’s focus on this week.
Spoiler Warning
-Captain America #26- This is during the wake for Cap, we see his cadaver has deteriorated due to the super soldier serum, Sharon quits SHIELD, Sam mourns with the registered heroes and the New Avengers, Bucky beats up some bar hoppers for dissing Cap and then says he wants to kill Stark and the Red Skull and Arnim Zola are up to no good with a device from Doctor Doom. This is building to something totally awesome, I can tell. Even though Cap is dead, Brubacker has stories to tell and Bucky vs. Iron Man will be a main event brawl, and still no one is onto the Red Skull.
-Countdown #49- Killer Croc attacks Jimmy Olsen, who becomes plastic man? The Karate Kid is imprisoned and disses Red Arrow, who tells Kid to “wax off.” The Rogues steal money and Pied Piper steals it back since Mirror Master killed his parents. Mary Marvel enters a church where Black Adam has been killing people, and looks to kill her. There is a multiverse timeline backup story, too. I was a bit disappointed by this issue. Things are happening with no explanation and just there for the wow factor (Olsen, and Black Adam) and the story is jumping around too much. It is missing the pacing of 52, where it doesn’t tell you what story they are looking at with silly headlines. Countdown is quickly counting down to being a poor title.
TPL Quickies
Marvel
-Criminal #6– This is a build-up story focusing on the character of Tracy. It’s a good pick-up point for anyone who didn’t read the first arc and is really interesting. I am pumped for the next issue.
-Daily Bugle – This previews World War Hulk and other June titles.
-Fantastic Four #546– Gravity restores Galactus’ hunger to save Epoch. The FF go home. Black Panther bolted last issue to come back (via magic frogs) with a suit that could take Surfer’s power, in what really turned out to be meaningless. I am not enjoying the new FF, the writing seems off and the characterization weak.
-Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual #1– This is a year one story for Sandman that doesn’t really provide much more in terms of character depth, at least if you’ve been reading Spidey for 20 years. It was an alright story, through.
-Heroes for Hire #10- The Heroes get Moon-Boy as Devil Dinosaur seems pissed, and has eggs? Humbug is captured by bugs and says NYC is in trouble when he returns. Shang-Chi seems to be losing it after he chokes out Paladin. An angry Shang-Chi is keeping this book going for me.
-Irredeemable Ant-Man #8- Ant-Man steals jewels from a jewel thief, then steals them back when he learns that he undersold them. He gives the money to the jewel thief and keeps some for his own. What a hero! He also joins Damage Control (as Slaying Mantis) and hooks up with a psychic on the team. Always a fun read.
-She-Hulk #18- She-Hulk learns that Tony and his cabal sent Hulk to space and she is pissed. She fights Tony and he uses a nanite that ‘permanently’ takes away her power. She vows to sue. This was a good build-up to WWH, but due to its delays, most of the important details were in the WWH Prologue.
DC
-Birds of Prey #106- The Secret Six and the Birds of Prey have an epic battle and it appears about even until Ice reawakens, pretty pissed off, asking who killed her. Will she take out her aggressions on either team? I guess we find out next week. Very good battle issue.
-Robin #162– The gang high on a meta-drug has been wiped out. Robin confronts Strader about it but he is killed (by Batgirl, we don’t see her face, only her eyes). Decent issue but not as good as previous ones.
-Shadowpact #13– This focuses on Kid Karnevil escaping his “prison,” Doctor Gotham bringing the Sun God, albeit a tiny part of him, to Earth and Zauriel receiving a mission to kill Kid Devil. This was a set-up issue for the next storyline and wasn’t terribly enthralling. In fact, Shadowpact was in it for one page.
-Spirit #6– This is a strange story of a character named Almost Blue who gave up music but then got back into it after he uses a blue meteorite as a drug. Really weird but enthralling story.
-Superman/Batman #35– The Metal Men were just testing the Waynetech building’s defenses as per Lucius Fox. So they are used as test security guards. Unfortunately, Braniac put a virus in Metallo and the Metal Men to steal something from Wayne, something that has to do with OMAC. Story is slowly building to what could be promising.
-Wonder Woman #9– Wonder Woman confronts Circe and learns her plan. Circe wants to destroy Themyscira. Hippolyta hears this and kills her. Looks like trouble. This was an Amazons Attacks tie-in, though I don’t know how they can run 6 issues of the Amazons being pissed just because Wonder Woman was imprisoned. Jodi has brought this title back to a normal schedule, though, and for that I applaud her.
The Awards
-Book of the Week- This was a tough one as there were more mediocre and bad than great, but I think Spirit #6 was just a phenomenal single-issue story that is both zany and crazy and riveting at the same time. I really liked this issue and Cooke’s storytelling.
-Disappointment of the Weak- I thought Countdown 49 failed to deliver anything worth reading and this weekly is quickly fading in my eyes. It lacks the great pacing and writing of 52 and the shocking moments seem to be there just to be shocking.
-Best Cover- I have to go with Birds of Prey #106 for this one. Just a great cover harkening back to the old boxing posters featuring Knockout and Big Barda. You knew there was gonna be a big fight in between these pages based on this cover.
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