|
|
 |
This is the “I am going to try not to be late,” edition. I try really hard not to be late with this but these have been two very trying weeks so I am not that broken up by it. This comes to you on time, but I can’t guarantee how timely the posts (either on here or on the regular blog) will be the rest of this year. I will try my best but life happens. Anyway, this week we have 1 Image title, 1 Dynamite title, 7 DC titles and 10 Marvels for a nice number of 19 total issues.
Spoilers Ahead
The Main Event:
-Batman Cacophony #1- I know this was announced recently and I am surprised it came out as quickly as it did. Hopefully all three issues are done so there won’t be any delays. So Joker is busted out of jail by a villain named Cacophony who doesn’t speak but makes noises of things he hears around him. He also takes out Deadshot in the process. Batman finds out Joker is freed, interrogates Deadshot, fights Zsasz and we see why Joker is so pissed at a local Greek mobster. The man took the Joker’s formula and made a drug out of it and Joker is mad someone is not only profiting off his drug but not causing enough mayhem. It’s an interesting plot, but it looks like another Joker/Batman fight. I do like Cacophony as a character, though. We’ll give it a point for a good start to a mini-series. 1/1.
-Black Terror #1- The original series spawned not one but three spin-offs, this being the first. Black Terror and the rest of the heroes are seen as outlaws after taking down Dynamic Forces. Here we see BT taking on a band of undead soldiers and learning that his old sidekick (Tommy) is imprisoned in the White House and now he’s on a mission to free him! This was decent story-telling, with a simple straight-forward plot but great art to stare at and something that is interesting. 1/1.
Marvel
-Amazing Spider-Girl #26- Black Tarantula learns that Spider-Girl is MIA and heads to NY. It turns out that Arana is in the body of May now, though the other May is at home. The real soul of May is on some sort of spirit walk, she finishes it, and awakes in Arana’s body! Arana blanks out as this happens while she’s in the Spidey outfit trying to draw out the Black Tarantula. This is steam-rolling to its inevitable conclusion, with a whole lot of plots going around that is very ambitious for this title, but it works. 1/1.
-Amazing Spider-Man #577- I guess this would be a fill-in issue since we’re between arcs but it was a really fun team-up between Punisher and Spider-Man, as drawn by Paolo Rivera. His art really reminds of early Ditko Spider-Man. Anyway, Spider-Man and Punisher team-up (after the prerequisite fight) to battle Moses Magnum (of all people!). There’s an interesting interlude where JJJ is accused of being the Spider-Tracer Killer but when he shocks the accuser the accuser now says he knows who it is. Very good issue. 2/2.
-Captain Britain and MI13 #7- Captain Britain seems to fall for the paradise offered by the demon that has started taking over one building and in days will have the world. Wisdom almost falls victim but Black Knight saves him. Knight even learns that his sword is not the ebony blade. It’s hinted that an old foe of Spitfire has returned, too. A solid issue 3/3.
-Fantastic Four: True Story #4- Yeah, Nightmare fails at trying to take over people’s imaginations so he could return to the real world. Or something. Not recommended, as it was just too confusing (took too much imagination?). 3/4.
-Marvel’s Greatest Collections #1- This was a freebie but I picked it up because it had a timeline in the back of current stories (well, in the last decade or so) and some cool comments by other creators on the trades being featured. It was well worth the $0.00 I spent on it! Interestingly enough, it says not for resale on the bottom, despite never being for sale in the first place. 4/5.
-New Exiles #14- Morph shows up to a world where well, I don’t know what type of world this is. I’m writing this like two days after I read it and it was entirely forgettable. The back-up has Sage fighting herself. 4/6
-Stand, The #3- The disease (Captain Trips) keeps spreading at an alarming pace but this issue was all about looking at our main characters. Lloyd Henreid gets arrested after he and his partner killed some local mart employees. Frannie tells her mother she’s pregnant and she is not happy, Nick Andros is made a deputy of the sheriff, Larry Underwood is still in New York and a military officials orders some reporters looking into the outbreak killed. Stu Redmen is still a prisoner of the CDC, too. 5/7
-Wolverine #69- We waited months for this, and Logan saves Hawkeye only to have the Earth open up and fall into a massive hole where they need to battle Moloids. Logan tells Hawkeye what happened to him, but we will have to wait until next issue. I know slow builds are good, but three issues and we’re still in the dark. And nothing has really happened. And it’s been late. I have to say though, this has still remained interesting and I can’t knock the effort of either McNiven or Millar. 6/8.
-Wonderful World of Oz Sketchbook #1- This is a cool sketchbook of Skottie Young with notes by Eric Shanower on the impending series. I won’t be picking it up due to monetary reasons, but this was a good free look at what’s coming down the pike. 7/9.
-X-Men: Magneto Testament #3- This amazing comic continues to put Magneto smack dab as a youngster in the chaos and strife of World War II Germany as Jews were rounded up and routinely executed or sent to concentration camps to be experimented on and executed. We get a historically accurate portrayal of times and events as Magneto sees his family gunned down and himself being captured. Very powerful stuff that is a must read. 8/10.
DC
-Action Comics #871- General Lane calls on Lex Luthor for help, the Kryptonians make short work of Doomsday (with the new Kryptonians killing him) and two of Zod’s supporters are taken out by Nightwing and Flamebird, two Kandorians. I thought this was alright, keeping the story going, and showing that not all the Kryptonians are happy with Superman. Could we have a Krypton Civil War? Hmmm. 2/2.
-Batman Confidential #23- Joker, despite being imprisoned, continues his rampage and his psychotic killings, taking out a police officer with a pen and a judge with a peanut. It’s just a classic crazy Joker story and I am enjoying it. 2/2.
-Detective Comics #850- Batman has his final battle with Hush, with Hush seemingly killed at the end while trying to escape. Nightwing and Robin make an appearance, Catwoman is saved and she takes from Hush the thing he holds most dear, his money. This shows Batman actually caring for someone (Catwoman) a nice send-off to Selina Kyle, and a reason for Hush to want revenge, as we see he’s not really dead at the end. And really, can you keep a good villain down for long? 3/3.
-JSA Kingdom Come Special: Superman #1- This issue kicked all kinds of ass, as Kingdom Come Superman talks about the events that led up to KC Joker getting killed, and how it affects him in this time period. This was a great prologue to KC, without taking away from the main story, with a whole bunch of Alex Ross sketches. Alex wrote, drew and painted this, this ruled all. 4/4.
-Nightwing #150- Nightwing stops a Two-Face ploy to unleash acid on all of New York City to scar everyone. This wasn’t a good RIP tie-in. I think it was used just to show that Nightwing could be Batman. Yeah, no one will buy this. 4/5.
-Trinity #24- No one can stop Morgaine, though Enigma starts fighting her over “creative differences.” Freddie shows up at Lois’ door at the end of the first story. The second story sees Despero fighting Stewart Green Lantern and capturing Ro. Ro has an interesting offer to have him obtain power, the Crime Society! At least there was a reason for them to be earlier in the series. Another solid story. 5/6.
Image
-Mice Templar #6- This continues to be a fan-favorite of mine, taking the great mythology of the Knights Templar, combining lovable and cute mice and you have a winner on your hands the likes of which haven’t been seen since the Yankees in the late 90’s. So Karic was betrayed last issue but even the Templar know he has a destiny to fulfill. He is named a Templar, against the wishes of Pilot, but one of the Templar had a vision that Karic is the real deal. It’s good that he’s being knighted, as the rats are in the mice king and many of the mice are now enslaved by them. This ends Act 1, with the mice in the throes of the rats and Karic about to fulfill his destiny. Excellent stuff. 1/1.
The Awards
-Book of the Week- Alex Ross was just awesome on Kingdom Come Superman and this was an easy winner. I basically gushed over it in the description so I have nothing else to add to it!
-Disappointment of the Week- There were a few books that disappointed, but Nightwing failed to deliver as part of the great RIP storyline.
-Cover of the Week- This comes down to which Alex Ross cover will win this week? He’s already won three in a row once before, so this makes his second three-peat in the annals of TPL. I will go with Kingdom Come Superman due to the fact it’s the first time in TPL history that one man has won the BotW writer and artist awards, and won the CotW for the same book. Good week for Alex.
-The Bottom Line- This was Alex Ross’ week, pure and simple. Sure DC and Marvel (and the other guys) had some great books, but KC Superman just made my week, comic-book wise. This is one that all Kingdom Come fans MUST own. NOW! See ya next week (and hey, I was on time this week!)
|
|
|
|
|
Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
|
|
|
|