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We’re back on track and back on time! I have a short work week this week and I am really happy about that. I have only three days this week and a five-day weekend coming up, with a three-day trip to DC included in that. But that’s at the end of the week and this is Tuesday, and Tuesday is TPL day! Yep, I’m back with another batch of books. Three companies are represented, starting with Wildstorm (1 book), going to DC (with 6 books), and ending with Marvel (15 books) for a total of 22 books.
Spoiler Alert
Marvel
-Black Panther #4- The Black Panther meets his father in a purgatory of some sort, and Death is shocked when Storm shows up. Meanwhile, Morlun makes his way to Wakanda who is without a Black Panther after T’Challa’s sister is turned away by the Panther God. I always liked Hudlin’s take on Panther and this is no exception. 1/1.
-Captain Britain & MI13 #13- Dracula and the vampires head into Britain, and seal it off from the world. Only Cap and the MI13 are there to stand in the way and when they are quickly defeated, all looks lost for Britain. Who knew that a story set across the continent with characters that never really had mainstream appeal would be this good? 2/2.
-Dark Reign: Hawkeye #2- Norman does damage control for Hawkeye, who has killed a bunch of reporters and officers. Norman sends Hawkeye on a mission to kill some terrorists so he can clear his name and bring it back in the eyes of public and also satiate Bullseye’s need for murder. Of course, Bullseye and Hawkeye share the same body, but how mentally stable is he? When Hawkeye thinks he sees Bullseye, he doesn’t know what to make of it. Bullseye is my favorite Thunderbolt as it is, and this just adds to it. He’s a crazy killer and when he’s written that way, it works. 3/3.
-Dark Reign: Young Avengers #1- This is a new line-up of Young Avengers, and it is an interesting one at that. There’s the giant girl who is a racist and programs her robot that way, a version of the Enchantress, someone named the Executioner, and the leader who has melting powers and who is hooked up with the young Enchantress. Who are these guys and how did they come together? We the readers want to know, and so do the original Young Avengers who show up on the last page. This is a very interesting concept, with a much darker version of the Young Avengers. 4/4.
-DarkTower: Fall of Gilead #1- Roland realizes he’s killed his mother and is very broken up by it. The gunslingers soon start piecing together the plot by Farson and it seems that Deschain’s wife is a key part of the disappearance of the grapefruit. When Steven finds his wife dead and Roland hovering over her, he wants to know who did it so he can exact revenge. Farson’s systematic destruction of the Deschain’s and of Gilead is great so far, in what will be a deadly mini-series. I think Robin Furth is not getting enough credit for how great this is turning out. 5/5.
-Deadpool: Suicide Kinds #2- Deadpool fights Punisher, who believes that Deadpool has blown up a building, killing innocent people. It is all a set-up by a guy who owes Tombstone a lot of money, and if he doesn’t pay up he will be fed to Tombstone’s pigs. That last sentence should tell you how light-hearted this series is, and how it should be. 6/6.
-GeNext United #1- This is the sequel of the GeNext crew, the third generation X-Men. This takes place after the events of X-Men: The End, and the first GeNext series. Our mutants deal with the aftermath of their battle in Genosha where Beast tells them they must decide to become full-time heroes or finish school. Before they can answer that question a mutant from India shows up being followed by little monsters. It seems her country is in peril and the young generation of X-Men agrees to help. It set up the next four issues, introduces us to another mutant, and I really enjoy these mutants, from Colossus’ son, Storm’s daughter, Gambit & Rogue’s daughter, and it’s just a cool interpretation of what could come. 7/7.
-Howling Commandos#1- I’m a sucker for World War II stories and this is no exception. It’s the Howling Commandos in the middle of WWII, battling Nazi’s with a Russian spy and causing chaos. It’s just an awesome story with Fury and the Commando’s going against the alleged plan but really they couldn’t help not engaging the enemies. They are aided by a Russian spy along the way and end up destroying some Nazi super-weapons. It’s a great tale that harkens back to the Lee/Kirby days of the Commando’s. 8/8.
-Savage She-Hulk #2- She-Hulk battles this new She-Hulk, the daughter of Hulk and Thundra. We see her dark future, where she is considered a monster by all there, men and women. She ends up in the present to find Norman Osborn, who shows up in his Iron Patriot garb at the end. We get a new insight into this new behemoth, that she gets weaker as she gets madder. That’s a new twist. I like this new character. There’s a reprint of a She-Hulk story, though the comic doesn’t say from where it is from. She-Hulk just has a bad day at the Supreme Court thanks to Titania. 9/9.
-Secret Warriors #4- Fury meets with Dum Dum to plan an offensive against Hammer. Hydra is planning a war of their own. The rest of the troops are scattered about, including some looking for Gateway and his mutant son. This is really more a look at Fury doing whatever is necessary to win in battle. There is action promised in the next issue. I will believe them. This was a setting up the pieces type of story but the conversation between Fury, Dum Dum and Gabe made this worthwhile. 10/10.
-Thor: Tales of Asgard #1- This reprints the back-up stories from Thor (well, Journey Into Mystery) that fills in gaps in the Thor mythos. It is by the great team of Lee/Kirby. All these reprints look to have been recolored as well. This is an interesting batch of back-ups. By design they were only 5-6 pages long so the stories were very concise. Mostly it talks about the history of Odin, Thor, and then biographies of certain characters. If you love Thor and don’t have the Masterworks collections this is a good place to look for some of the classic Thor stories. I would also like to see some other stories from Marvel reprinted like this, like the X-Men origins back-ups from the Original Series. It’s a great reference of Silver Age Marvel, and generally enjoyable stories. For $4, this is a steal. 11/11.
-Ultimate Spider-Man #132- This was a long wait for Spider-Man, wasn’t it? Mary-Jane is pissed at Kitty for making Spider-Man leave and slugs her. Kitty goes off looking for Spidey. Spidey is involved with Hulk battling all the demons that have been freed from Strange’s house and an evil Strange, too. Things look really bleak for Spider-Man when Hulk pounds on something and it explodes. Will Spidey make it? Next issue is the last issue so that’s a question that doesn’t have an easy answer. Ultimatum, despite the delays, has generated good stories and this is one of them. 12/12.
-War of Kings: Ascension #2- The evil Darkhawks steal the cosmic rod and offer it to Blastaar in return for his services in the positive zone. Meanwhile, Chris Powell struggles with the Darkhawk entity that has taken over his mind and uniform. Thanks to Abnett and Lanning, Darkhawk has never been more interesting, just like the Guardians and Nova, and everyone else they write. 13/13.
-Wolverine #73- This issue has a funny story behind it. For some reason, the Old Man Logan story by Millar and McNiven was (I can’t believe I am typing this) delayed. With the Wolverine movie coming out at the same time and no Wolverine books on the stands, you can see why this posed a problem. So, what Marvel did was just release the issues that would start the next arc and just wait for the final Old Man Logan story to be finished. However, since #72 (the conclusion to the Old Man Logan) was already solicited, they couldn’t make a new #72, so the new arc, which came out this week, was given #73 while #72 hasn’t hit the stands yet. Isn’t that crazy? This issue is unique, kind of a throwback to the old Tales to Astonish stories with two stories in here. The first, done by the team of Aaron/Kubert was an awesome one with scenes of Wolverine’s hectic life and Yukio questioning why he does what he does. The second story, by Way/Edwards sees Wolvie finding his old biker friend to stop his son from starting a biker gang war. I think having Kubert like this on a split book will help allay any potential delays. This was a unique look at Wolvie, and both are winners. 14/14.
-X-Factor #43- Madrox is in the future and kisses Layla. Madrox was brought to the future to find out why one of the mutants from future blinked out of existence for two seconds. Meanwhile, in the present, Monet is knocked out and awakes saying something about Cortex, a word echoed by Shatterstar at the home of Madrox’ priest dupe. Another excellent issue, which is par for the course for David. 15/15.
DC
-Action Comics #877- Chris brings Thara to Lois who gets the aid of Dr. Light. Lois’ father is on the case. Meanwhile, Chris has a run in with some of General Lane’s troops as some other Kryptonians take to robbing banks. There seemed to be a lot happening in this issue with not a lot going on, if you know what I mean. I think the Kryptonian Bonnie and Clyde are there to give the Kryptonians a bad name for some purpose. This is a worthwhile book without Superman, a testament to the writing. 1/1.
-Battle for the Cowl: Azrael: Death’s Dark Knight #3- Azrael fights Nightwing, and Nightwing gives his seal of approval to Azrael. There’s still an evil Batman running around and Ra’s is behind this new Azrael, somehow. This served more as a three-issue ad for the new Azrael ongoing more so than anything else. I just wasn’t digging this issue and the whole mini-series was just pointless to me. 1/2.
-Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape #1- Tom Tressor wakes up and is really confused as to his whereabouts. Frankly, so is the reader. He tries to escape but when the person in front of him has their face wiped out and they see the strange world, the confusion only mounts. I like how we, the reader, are just as confused as Tressor, finding things out as he does. It’s an effective story-telling strategy in this case. 2/3.
-Oracle: The Cure #3- Oracle takes out Calculator in the end, with his daughter cured but crippled. The issue just ends, too, with a promise of a Batgirl mini-series. This is easily the worst Battle for the Cowl mini-series. This just wasn't interesting. 2/4.
-Secret Six #9- Catman, Bane and Rag Doll head to Gotham and muse about Batman’s absence as they stop a kidnapping ring. Their brutal method draws the ire of Nightwing, and his condescending attitude as the Secret Six head out of Gotham. This was a fitting tribute for the Six to give to Batman. 3/5.
-Trinity #50- Kronas has a meeting with the World Soul and gets really frustrated when he can’t understand what she’s all about. The frustration mounts as the Trinity shows up and uses Kronas (and themselves) to reform the world. But, as Lois claims at the end, it’s not over. Another great issue. Trinity’s now gone 50 out of 50 so far. 4/6.
DC
-Storming Paradise #5- Well, this wasn’t delayed at all! This is a dark look at what could have happened in World War II if the atom bomb wasn’t around. The fighting continues, with the Japanese harboring a secret weapon that is strapped to a U-Boat that will defeat the Americans. It is an interesting concept, and I’m happy I kept up with this series. 1/1.
Awards
-Book of the Week- Wolverine #73 was the most surprising book for me this week and I have to give it the award for my favorite book this week. It was different, and it was fresh. What a wonderfully delightful issue.
-Disappointment of the Week- It’s a push for the two Battle for The Cowl titles, but I have to give it Oracle for being consistently worse than Azrael. It was just overall meaningless and a waste of hard-earned money.
-Cover of the Week- Wolverine 73 by Adam Kubert is a classic Wolverine pose, claws out, bike in the air, and hell waiting to be raised. You look at this cover and say, “Damn, that is cool.” By the way, when did Adam leave DC? I thought he and his brother signed an exclusive contract with them. I didn’t hear about it ending and him returning to Marvel. I guess the Kubert’s run in the DC would be considered a disappointment, thanks to delays in both of the marquee titles they worked on (Batman and Superman).
-The Bottom Line- I suppose I should mention the free Marvel promo comic that was handed out to me. It was called Jesse James is a Dead Man and just shills his new TV show on Spike. It was unremarkable, but it was free so it was a push. Marvel had a stellar week, while DC had a pretty bad one. There’s not much more to say. The Marvel titles that have been good continue to be good (War of Kings, the X-Titles, and the Ultimate titles) as well as the one-shots we’ve seen this week. Meanwhile, DC is really held together by the strength of Trinity. The Battle for the Cowl is really losing steam, though.
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Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
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