New Comix! - Week of 8/29/12

This was a good week of comics and a surprising one, in that Wolverine and Axe Cop lose my Pick of the Week to...a kiss!  

Justice League #12

When DC Comics relaunched all of their titles last year, Justice League was one of the new series that I tried out.  It was fun in that I was able to see the characters teaming up for the first time, but the new quickly wore off and I ended up not caring enough about the team or the story to make it past the first 6-issue storyline.  What brought me back this month was this cover.  With the DCU being relaunched, it freed up the creative team to trade out Lois Lane for the lady who many fans felt was a better match for Kal-el, Wonder Woman.  Here's what happened...

The story starts off with the League fighting an emotional battle, with each member having to confront ghosts of loved ones they have lost or let down.  The possessed villain in charge of the demons could have captured or killed them all were it not for the timely intervention of WW's old boyfriend, Steve Trevor, who wakes up the League who quickly destroy the villain (who, BTW looks like he came from Snake Mountain or something).  That skirmish is a small part of the book and we soon see the team back at their base in Earth's orbit watching the media feed.  The people of Earth are doubting the League and wondering how much faith they should have in them.  This is largely do to that lame villains plans that I only caught the tail end of.  It's only important because Green Lantern resigns from the team, asking them to blame him for whatever their failure was, to try to regain the trust of the people.  He then flies off into space, where most of his work is anyway.  The really standout moment happens next.  Superman find WonderWoman alone with her thoughts sitting on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.  They have a talk about what it's like being stuck somewhere between humans and gods and as they share their loneliness, soon find themselves mugging down on a National Monument.  That's pretty much the end of the issue.

The overall book wasn't great, but the moment with Clark & Diana made it great.  I like Superman and WW being a couple.  It makes sense.  I also like that they made the moment feel natural to the characters in the story without it feeling like a comic-selling publicity stunt.  I don't think I'll keep buying this series, but I DID like this issue.  Nice work, DC.

Pick of the Week!

AvX Versus #5

Let's get this one over with.

In another set of bouts between the Avengers and the X-Men, Black Panther faces off with his wife, Storm, and Hawkeye takes on Archangel.  This book is not meant to be a great read, but simply a fun "who would win" exercise that fits in with the larger AvX story.  That being said, I barely cared enough to finish the book.  I don't know or care enough to be moved by the husband/wife fight that ends in divorce in the first half and the writer's complete lack of knowledge about the characters screwed up the second half.  Matt Fraction didn't know that Angel had lost his memory which is a HUGE plot point when his recently-ex-girlfriend Psylock is involved in the story.  In the end, Hawkeye wins by shooting Angel in the gut at point-blank range, and apparently no one wins when superheroes divorce.

Thank goodness Lenil Yu drew the Hawkeye section, or this one would be going straight to Goodwill.  

Wolverine & the X-Men #15

As AvX comes to it's climax, Wolverine and his team meet back at the mansion in Westchester to regroup before the final battle.

It's hard to write a detailed review of this book.  The entire issue is made up of small character moments between various team members.  Friendships are renewed.  New romantic relationships are started.  There's too much going on for me to write about each one.  In the end, Wolverine readies his strike team, consisting of the X-Men on the cover and they head off to end the Phoenix threat one way or another.

This issue could have been a real bore, but with Jason Aaron continuing his phenominal run on this title, it was pure fun.  Great, small moments that add up to a heartwarming calm before the storm.

Axe Cop: President of the World #2

In the last zany issue, a massive army of bad guys from space were launching an attack on the Earth and only Axe Cop, Goo Cop, and Junior Cobb the giant gorilla with gun fists stand in their way.  

This issue starts with a back story of two evil robot brothers who destroy their own planet, then set out to become the baddest bad guys ever.  The scene then shifts back to Seattle where Axe Cop is trying to save the Earth from a bad guy invasion.  Luckily most of the bad guys end up killing each other, leaving only the giant Chee-Rex, who gets punched to death by Junior Cobb.  Suddenly the evil robot brothers appear and blast Junior Cobb.  Then, they climb the Space Needle, break off the top part and throw it at Heaven in an attempt to kill God.  Axe Cop deflects the needle with his axe and it ricochets down to Hell where it stabs Satan through the back.  The robots try to convince the Earth that Axe Cop is evil, but no one believes them, so they go on a rampage, beating up a zoo, leveling all the cities, destroying Axe Cop's vehicles, and blowing up the good guy universe.  They leave Earth and conquer Mercury and some other made-up planets before coming back to earth and killing Satan by tricking him into eating a cake made of water.  With Satan dead, the robots take over Hell and command an army of zombies and demons in an attack to destroy Earth.  In the meantime, Axe Cop's buddy, Goo Cop, is killed by the evil aliens who turned him into Goo Cop, and Axe Cop vows to avenge him.  The issue ends with 2 evil plans forming.  The evil space scientist who orchestrated the original space bad guy invasion plans to create an "everyman" by combining the DNA of every creature in the universe who can best Axe Cop and will take over the Earth for him.  At the same time, the aliens who killed Goo Cop vow to disguise themselves at the President (I think they mean Axe Cop, who is President of the World) and will then order all earthlings to kill themselves.

It's hard to explain the glory of Axe Cop without writing all the crazy details.  This book is written by an 8-year-old and drawn by his 31 year old brother, so you can see where the crazy imagination comes from.  They've been creating Axe Cop together for 3 years now.  I know it makes no sense, but that's why I like it so much.  It's random, hilarious, and pure fun. I wanted to give this one Pick of the Week, but it's hard to beat a really good take on Superman.  Sorry Axe Cop, you're a close 2nd this week.

New Comix! - Week of 10/19/11

I read 4 important issues this week, but half of them were let-downs.



Fear Itself #7 of 7
As I've mentioned before, this Marvel crossover event just hasn't held the weight that previous stories have carried. It should be a big deal that Odin's big brother has come back to take what's his with the Earth being their boxing ring, but it somehow rings hollow to me.

In this issue: The Serpent and his forces converge on Asgard in Oklahoma (if you don't know about this by now it's your own darn fault) as Captain America attempts to hold them back long enough for help to arrive. Help does arrive in the form of Thor and Iron Man, the latter bringing with him Asgardian-made weapons to amp-up the Avengers. There are a bunch of cool fight scenes, the main one being between The Serpent, who becomes a dragon, and Thor. Thor was destined to fall in battle with his evil uncle and sure enough, that's what happens. Thor seems to slice and dice the Serpent for most of the fight and at the end they both fall and Thor crawls to his friends with his last strength only to collapse having sacrificed himself for mankind. WHAT?!? Thor's DEAD? Because of THIS story?!? Bah. That's just dumb.

My take: This story was just a bunch of cool fight scenes tacked on top of a meh-level story and they end it with Thor dying even though he never seemed to take any mortal wounds in the fight. Why is he dead? It's all so vague! I wanted to like this series. I LOVED the art. I liked some of the imagery and there were some cool moments. Overall feeling about it...LAME. There's no way Thor's really dead because of this joke of a story. I don't believe it.

- Great art. Meh story.





Justice League #2
Here's another disappointment. In the "New 52" relaunch the Justice League is DC's flagship title, starring all of their biggest characters. The 2 biggest names in DC (Geoff Johns & Jim Lee) and working together so what could go wrong? How about taking all of your most iconic characters and taking away all the aspects of their personality that made them likable? That might do it.

In this issue: In the first story Green Lantern and Batman teamed up for the first time and went looking for Superman. They found him and, of course, they all started trying to punch each other. Here that fight continues until the obvious misunderstandings are finally explained. The Flash is brought in to this story via Green Lantern calling for backup. They all bicker at each other and each character gets to be a bit of a d-bag in their own way. In the end the artifact that Batman and GL took from their attacker in issue 1 starts beeping and a bunch of Parademons from Apokolips jump out. The same thing happens at S.T.A.R. labs and the hero who will be Cyborg gets half his body burned up by the event. At the end it is promised that Wonder Woman will be joining the book in issue 3.

My take: I pretty much said it all in the intro. This story and it's characters have no heart. The art looks great. Some of the subtle changes to the characters are very nicely done, such as Superman clearly not having an alter ego yet. I just feel like they traded in decades of wonder character building for a bunch of shallow, crabby losers. I'll keep reading for a while to see how the team comes together and to see if they can get their heads out of their...well, you know.

- Great art. Meh story.





Superior #6 of...6?
This issue was supposed to be the last of the story. Every promotion I've seen for this comic has said it was a 6-issue mini series. Now that we get the 6th issue, it ends without a conclusion and the last page shows the cover of the next issue, which looks to be the final fight we all thought we were getting in this issue. Weird.

Quick synopsis: Superior is the story of a middle-school aged boy named Simon with Multiple Sclerosis. One night a space monkey comes to visit him and tells him he will give Simon unlimited power for 7 days. Suddenly, Simon has become Superior, a Superman-type character straight out of Simon's comic books. Simon takes a few days learning his new powers then flies into action right all of the world's wrongs in the span of a week. For a detailed retelling of these events, see my reviews for issues 4 and 5. In the last issue the monkey comes back and tells Simon that his 7 days are up, and he becomes a crippled boy once more. The monkey goes on to tell Simon that unless he ever wants to feel the power of Superior again he must sign over his soul! Yup, the monkey is a demon from Hell! It was all an elaborate ploy to win over a little boy's soul!

In this issue: This whole issue revolves around Simon grappling with his decision. He's on the verge of making the deal, but the Lois Lane-type reporter that has been trying to get Superior's story talk him out of it. In a surprisingly touching turn, the seemingly selfish reporter tells Simon how she used to have Leukemia and had to live in a recovery center for a few years as a child. She takes Simon to that same center to meet with the kids currently living there and helps him to see that he really is blessed to have what health he does have and to have a family that loves him. In the end, she drops him off at his worried parents' house (a scene right out of BIG) and the family is reunited. Unfortunately the space monkey isn't giving up that easily. He comes to the school bully who Simon taught a lesson to once he had Superior's powers, and he offers to make the bully into Superior's arch nemesis, Abraxsis...a killer robot monster! As Simon sits at home watching tv with his parents, Abraxsis comes on the news as he knocks over a skyscraper with an oil tanker. He's calling Simon out and now our little hero has to rethink his options.

My take: This was not the battle royale that I had hoped for when I picked it up, but that battle is still coming and this was a really good setup issue. I appreciate the Millar took to the time to write this issue, giving appropriate weight to the scenario of a character pondering selling their soul. I also appreciate him stretching the book past the planned # of issues to tell the story right...assuming that is why it didn't end with issue 6.

Fun Fact: I just read that there is a Superior movie in the works. Sweet! I'd totally go see that!

5 Stars - Solid story-telling and fantastic artwork from Lenil Yu.





Wonder Woman #2
This revamped WW story finds Diana (Wonder Woman) in the midst of god drama. Zeus has been going around sewing his wild oats, and his wife, Hera, has been going around behind him cursing his offspring. Now Wonder Woman is stuck in the middle trying to protect the human woman.

In the last issue: Hera sent some vicious centaur warriors to kill Zues's latest pregnant conquest. The woman would have been destroyed, but Hermes (the god of speed) shows up and teleports her to Diana's apartment, just as he takes an arrow to the gut. Diana gets the scoop from the woman, then uses the teleportation key to appear back at the woman's farm and proceeds to kick some centaur tail Xena style. After chasing off the attackers, WW gathers the woman and Hermes, and goes for help.

This issue: Diana takes Hermes and the pregnant woman to her Amazon home of Paradise Island. The women there despise men, but Diana protects the injured god from them and gets him the aid he needs. Afterwards we get to see some of WW's home as she watches, and eventually participates, in the Amazon gladiator-style training matches. As she discusses the pregnant woman's situation with her mother, Queen Hippolyta, Hera's daughter Strife appears on the island, causing confusion among the Amazon's and tricking them into attacking each other. Diana sees through the ploy and takes the fight directly to the goddess. The scene ends with Strife saying she just wanted to come talk to her sister...Diana. Whoa! Zeus is Wonder Woman's dad too! Dang, he gets around!

My take: This comic book is SO cool and SO not what we have come to expect from Wonder Woman. For years she has basically been a star-spangled, girl-version of Superman. This book takes her in a totally different direction. This is much more of a fantasy/mythic story than a superhero story. When Diana fights she if vicious and brutal. Like a patriotically-dressed Xena on crack. On top of the fun storytelling, the artwork is super cool and fits this character perfectly. I have never cared much for this character and only picked up this book for the cool artwork. I have a feeling Wonder Woman is going up a few notches in my book with this series.

I had a hard time deciding which was the better book of the week between this and Superior, but I'm going to give a slight edge to WW, just because the whole take on book is so fun.

- Book of the week!

New Comix - 8/31/11

Hey comic fans. Sorry for the lapse of posting last week. I got my comics on the same day we left town for a 5-day road trip. I have 3 comics for you today. Technically today is comic book day once again, but nothing came out today that I had to have, so I'll just review last week's here and we'll pick up again on current books next week.


The Mighty Thor #5
Look back in last month's comic reviews and read about The Might Thor #4. Pretty much the same stuff happened in issue 5. The story barely moved. At. All. There are a few really cool panels of Thor vs Silver Surfer on Mars, but that is short lived and, of course, ends in a draw. While they duke it out a gigantic Odin continues a mind battle against Galactus until Odin has had enough and headbutts the big guy, shattering his weird forked helmet! Both fall to earth helpless, Galactus' head a big amorphous mass of energy from the eyes up. Thor arrives in time to watch Odin fall back into his Odin Sleep (always so inconvenient!) while Galactus stands back up, helmet magically back together as he approaches Broxton, Ok. There are some amusing panels of the Broxton townfolk trying to throw out Volstagg and he acts like they're some dangerous invading army that only he can repel. He calls the town's preacher "small friend of Jesus". Kinda funny.

The art is consistently good, as always, but the story really stalled for me here. Not a bad read, but not a blockbuster by any means.





Justice League #1
This is a big one. For those who don't know, DC Comics has just relaunched their entire lineup of comics with #1 issues that wipe clean decades of continuity and baggage. This is not an alternative comics universe. This is mainstream DC. Batman and Superman aren't friends. Superman isn't married to Lois Lane. Aquaman has a mean corn allergy (this one hasn't been verified). This is very exciting to some, devastating to others. I've only recently gotten back into some DC comics, so I'm not too upset, but it IS a little weird. What about all the big stuff that just happened in the Green Lantern comics I've been reading?!? What about Blackest Night? War of the Green Lanterns? The dramatic death of Mogo? I guess those didn't mean for much. On the bright side, this is a fresh start and a chance for new life in old characters. DC is releasing 52 new #1 issued comic series. I plan on picking up about 5 of them. We'll see what happens.

Also it's important to note that, with the launch of this comic, DC is releasing their comics in digital format on the same day the printed copy comes out, for a cheaper price tag! This is HUGE! In my opinion, not in a good way, but it is what it is. More people are reading comics digitally and this is, unfortunately, the future of the industry. I don't like reading comics on a computer screen or ipad. I like holding the book in my hand and turning the pages. I like the experience of going to the store and leaving with my weekly dose of happiness. I like being able to go back and thumb through my longboxes. I fear that is a dying experience. I will keep buying printed comics for as long as they release them. It may be 5 years, it may be 10 years, who knows. This news is roughest, I'm sure, on the local comic stores. Why would anyone besides hardcore fans drive to their store and pay more money for a product that will sit around collecting dust after the first day when they can just download it to their phone for $1.99. I don't like this move, but I've seen it coming for a long time. I'm going old school on this one.

Okay, down to the comic itself. This book is written by DC's creative director Geoff Johns and drawn by comic legend and DC co-editor, Jim Lee. The story pics up with Batman chasing a weird cyborg across the rooftops of Gotham while the GCPD helicopters try to shoot him down. The cyborg gets the best of Batman when Green Lantern shows up and crushes the bad guy with a green firetruck. In the new universe, Batman and GL have never met until now. GL comes across pretty full of himself and douchy. Batman is not impressed and this makes for some really funny dialog. They get a clue from the cyborg, before he blows himself up, that he heralds the coming of Darkseid. The heroes don't know what this means, but Batman recognizes it's technology as alien, so they head up to Metropolis to question the only alien they know of. They find Superman, but he isn't too keen on being interrogated.

The suits have been updated. The story has been streamlined. This comic feels a little shallow, without all the years of previous stories to back it up, but it was a fun story with great art and was well-paced. I'm interested to see where they go with this flagship DC book. Count me in...for the time being.

- Book of the Week!




The Legend of Drizzt #1
I am a big fan of fantasy novels. I'm almost always in the middle of one at any given time. One of my favorite characters is Drizzt, the drow (dark elf) from D&D's Forgotten Realms. There are, I think, 18 books about him now and I own all of them. They are super fun and read just like a comic book, to me. Drizzt and his friends are like the X-Men of the fantasy world. There have been comic book adaptations of Drizzt's stories before, but this series is his first all-new story for comic book format!

This story picks up right after the latest novel, Gauntlegrym, that I JUST finished reading. If you haven't read that book, this series might be pretty confusing to you, especially if you have read Drizzt in the past, but just aren't current. BIG SPOILERS AHEAD FOR FANTASY NOVEL READERS!!! Long story short, many years (80?) have passed since the Spellplague took Regis and Cattie Brie away from Drizzt. Wulfgar went off to live with his people in Icewind Dale and apparently died there after many years. That leaves long-living Drizzt and King Bruenor to find a reason to go on without their friends. Bruenor is determined to find the ancient home of the dwarves, Gauntlegrym. Well, they find it after some villains blew half of it up by releasing a powerful volcano/fire elemental that also destroys the nearby town of Neverwinter. They team up with Jarlaxle and Athrogate and manage to save the day and put down the elemental, though it costs Bruenor and his bodyguard, Pwent, their lives. Drizzt then decides to move forward with his life alongside his new mysterious elf friend, whose name I can't remember. She's basically a crazy elf assassin. Not Drizzt's normal kinda pal.

This series picks up there. First you see Pwent rise from his grave, having been "killed" by a vampire. A dwarf vampire is a pretty cool idea. He takes off to get revenge on the vampire who turned him, but on the way finds a camp full of goblins and has his first blood feast. Drizzt and elf lady come across the bloody scene the next morning and Drizzt is quick to recognize the marks of a battlerager, even though the neck bites are also obvious. That's where the issue ends.

This isn't terribly exciting, but I love the world and characters of Drizzt so I'll keep reading. The art wasn't anything to brag about, but the idea of Pwent the vampire has a lot of possibilities.

New Comix - Week of 8/24/11

I left the comic store with a whopping SEVEN comic books this week! What can I say? Lots of good stuff on the shelves this go 'round! Let's get to it!



Green Lantern RetroActive #1
This comic is part of a recent series that DC is putting out where every week they do a "retro" style comic for the major DC characters in the style and timeline of the different decades, such as "60's", "70's", ect... This is the first issue I have bought in the RetroActive line because I just didn't care about any of the comics so far. In my opinion comics are just getting better and better and it's hard to step back into a 70's style comic book and enjoy it as much. I did, however, have to buy this one because it's all about the 1990's Green Lantern (and my personal favorite GL), Kyle Rayner.

This was not a fantastic or compelling story with amazing art, but it did have a bunch of fun "Kyle" moments where they play up how he's just a regular guy with an awesome ring. This was created by the same creative team that worked on the book in the 90's so it had some fun nostalgia for me there as well. The whole issue was pretty much, GL vs Effigy, some fire-based villain I know nothing about. He was a whiny baby and Kyle had take him down and ended the fight by slingshotting him back into deep space where he came from.

Like I said, not all that compelling, but it was a fun ride. The art was fine, just nothing outstanding. Overall a nice reading experience.





Green Lantern Corps #63
This is the final issue before they relaunch the series without Kyle, but with a new #1 next month. Kyle will be moving on to a new titled, "Green Lantern: The New Guardians". I'll pick both the #1's up to check them out, but no promises on staying with this book without my favorite GL on board.

This issue delved more into the fractured relationships within the Corps. in the aftermath of the War of the Green Lanterns. Many lanterns are calling it quits. Others are an emotional wreck. There's a growing anti-human sentiment which Kyle learns about the hard way. In a very cool scene, Alpha Lantern Boodika, who was previously thought destroyed (she's a cyborg now), is repaired and comes back full-strength. I've always liked her.

I think at least 4 different artists handled art duties on this issue and some where better than others. Boodika's section was the best, artistically, and I wish that guy could have done it all. Not a bad issue, but not really a must-read. I'm glad I bought it though just so I could see Boodika being brought back.





Batman The Dark Knight #5
This is the Batman title that I am following almost exclusively because it's written and drawn by artist David Finch. That being said, I just realized that another artist, Jason Fabok, took over artist duties on this issue and I didn't even realize it. He does a great job of mimicking Finch's style. I can't believe I'm typing this, but not having David Finch do the pencils didn't seem to hurt the book! Now to the story...

This 5-issue storyline has been all about Batman rescuing his childhood friend, Dawn Golden, who had been kidnapped. After he rescued her in the last issue, it comes out that her wealthy socialite father was actually a demon worshiper and had raised her for the sole purpose of sacrificing her. Now a hoard of little blue demons and her creepy undead father come after her again and manage to overpower Batman. Batman then teams with the demon hero, Etrigan, to rescue her again. They show up in the sewer lair just in time to see undead daddy plunge a dagger into Dawn's chest! Etrigan uses his unexplained demon powers to destroy her father, but it's too late for Batman. 5 issues of story and HE LOSES?!? Yikes! Batman's not supposed to lose!!! I know the hero can't always win, but this ending seemed all wrong to me. I mean, what was the point?!?

Despite the weak ending, I enjoyed seeing the teamup between Batman and Etrigan and the art was killer as always. This was a pretty cool issue.





Kick-Ass 2 #3
WARNING: THIS TITLE IS FOR MATURE READERS!
Kick-Ass is a story about a regular high-school kid who loves comics and wants to be a real hero. His first venture into vigilantism results in him getting stabbed and run over by a car. After he heals, he tries again, eventually takes down a mob boss by the end of the first story arc. This is issue 3 in the 2nd storyline.

The whole point of this comic is to have a super-hero story that is as realistic as possible. It's gritty. It's bloody. There's LOTS of bad language. Because it is so realistic, it makes it very fun and unpredictable. When someone dies in this comic, they REALLY die. Brutally. If you don't mind seeing/hearing this kind of thing, you should check out the movie that came out last year. It's pretty true to the comic.

Back to issue 3...Kick-Ass has joined a whole group of super-heroes lead by a couple of former mob guys. These "heroes" immediately take down a prostitution/slave ring and do so very effectively. They then spend the rest of the comic doing regular stuff like feeding the homeless, patrolling the streets, helping drunk women get home from parties safe...good stuff. Then the bad guys show up. K.A.'s former partner-turned-villain The Red Mist brings a gang of killers into the good guy's hideout and catch the Colonel (good guy leader) alone. They destroy the place and brutally murder him. I mean, YIKES! It remains to be seen how K.A. and his group will respond to the very real threat. The book ends with K.A.'s former partner HitGirl (who's now retired) watching the news story from home and making a fist in anger. I think I know one 8-year-old girl ninja who's coming out of retirement!

I feel guilty liking this book because it's so graphic, but dang it if it isn't fun to read!





Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1
I had to get this book for old times sake. I can't really enjoy the 80's TMNT cartoons anymore (just too cheesy), but the classic comics were actually really good. This series looks to be of the same style.

Let me just say...this was GREAT! Dan Duncan does a great job illustrating the turtles in a fun, indy-style that in some cases reminds me a LITTLE bit of Hellboy's Mike Mignola. The story has been revamped, the origin updated, and I like what they did with it. April O'Neil is back, but as a lab intern, not as a mouthy reporter. We are introduced into this story right in the middle of a larger story where Splinter and 3 of the turtles are facing off in a vicious gang fight with a mutated cat named, Old Hob, and his human thugs. The turtles hand the thugs easily while Splinter himself puts down Old Hob. There are flashbacks to their time in a genetics lab run by Baxter Stockman, who takes orders from a General Krang! No mention of Shredder yet. The whole time Raphael is seen wondering the streets in a hoody, digging old pizza out of garbage bins, and looking pretty awful. We don't know much about the overall story here, but I'm gonna stick around and find out.

This was SO fun to read! Fun, simple artwork with an updated story = WINNER!

- BOOK OF THE WEEK!!!




The Ultimates #1
I think this is the 5th storyline in the Ultimates history, but i'm not positive about that. I do have them all, I just can't remember. I've liked the Ultimate Universe versions of the Avengers since they started, but there have been some sketchy stories since then. This one looks promising.

The issue shows a variety of world crisis through the eyes of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury. He handles each situation like it's just another day at the office, dispatching teams of agents and superheroes very efficiently. Unfortunately Reed Richards is apparently a bad buy now and has a team of geniuses working with him in a mysterious dome in northern Germany. All of a sudden Fury loses contact with the various Ultimates teams around the globe and it's looking very bad.

I liked how the writer, Jonathan Hickman, handled this story. It felt like very real-world style crisis management. Esad Ribic did a great job on the art and I specifically liked how he drew Ultimate Thor and IronMan. If this book had not come out the same week as TMNT it would be book of the week, but I have to go with the more enjoyable of the two books here.

New Comix - Week of 8/10/11

Welcome back! After a week of no-comics, I was happy to leave the store with 3 issues this week and they were all good! Let's get to the reviews!


Hellboy: The Fury #3 of 3
I don't usually buy individual Hellboy comics, as I think his stories read much better in graphic novel form, but I heard he was dying in this issue and I had to see it for myself.

I can't comment on the story, as I came in on the last issue and I had no idea what was going on, but the visuals were fun and the art was quite good, even though Mignola didn't draw it himself. Who else but Hellboy punches a dragon in the jaw?!? I won't spoil how he goes out, but let's just say that the next Hellboy story comes out next year and is titled, "Hellboy in Hell".





Green Lantern Aftermath #2 of 2
This issue continues the story of how the Guardians and the Green Lanterns cope with the recent events of the War of the Green Lanterns. There is a lot of mistrust and infighting going on with the GL's who are all gathered on OA, while the Guardians are all freaked out and have shut themselves away inside their citadel with the newly reinstated GL Sinestro. A group of GL's go to assassinate him and are stopped by my favorite GL, Kyle Rayner. The Guardians come out of their citadel at that point and give all the GLs a good scolding. They send them all back to their respective sectors and reassign Honor Guard Kyle Rayner back to Earth itself. Hal Jordan was decommissioned in the last issue and is also back on Earth, though not as a Green Lantern.

The story was pretty good in this book, considering that it was just setting up the upcoming renumbered GL #1, GL Corps #1, and GL New Guardians #1 in September. I thought it did a good job of getting the story where it needed to be. The art was not very good, but it was also not bad enough that it hurt the book too badly. I still had a good time reading it. I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen to Kyle as he transfers to being one of the main characters in New Guardians.






Fear Itself #5 of 7
First off, a summary; A powerful villain has been released from his prison. He is called "The Serpent" and his released has caused Odin himself to be afraid and to pull all of his people from the Earth and replace Asgard back in it's proper place in the realms (it has been hovering over the plains of Oklahoma for a few years now). The Serpent caused 7 (or was it 8?) hammers to fall from the sky and they chose their weilders, much like a Green Lantern ring does. The weilder takes the hammer and has no choice but to obey The Serpent. Among the wielders are the Red Skull's daughter, Sin, The Hulk, The Thing, Juggernaut, and some other losers you don't care about. Earlier in the series, Sin killed the current Captain America (Cap's old sidekick, Bucky) by punching a whole through his chest. Now she has her sites on Steve Rogers. In Asgard, Thor's defiance against his father's plans to burn the Earth before the Serpent can take it has him ejected from his realm and he returns to Earth to fight with his friends. Iron Man then takes it upon himself to visit Odin. Why? Keep reading.

This issue starts off with heavy action and doesn't let up! Thor faces down the mind-controlled Hulk and Thing, both weilding hammers much like his own. During the battle, Thor's hammer makes it's way THROUGH the Thing's chest! Then Thor powers up on lightning and hits Hulk so hard that he almost goes out of orbit, and lands somewhere on the other side of the planet. Cap leads a team of Avengers against Sin and The Serpent only to have his Avengers easily defeated and his shield shattered like it was made of old crackers! Back in Oklahoma, Iron Man calls for Odin and is answered by a hologram of the All-Father. Odin tells him he won't help him, but Tony tells Odin to shove it because he doesn't need help, he needs to use his workshop! Tony's making some god-killing weapons!!!

I'm usually all about these big Marvel Crossover events, but this story really isn't grabbing me. That being said, the individual pieces of the story are freakin' GREAT! I'm having fun reading it and the art by Stuart Immonen is fantastic. I don't care that much about this villain or his beef with Asgard, but I'm digging these action scenes!

- Pick of the Week!!!

New Comix - Week of 7/27/11

Green Lantern Corps #62 This issue stars my favorite Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, so I'm likely to enjoy this issue no matter what...and I do. The story focuses entirely on the strained relationship between Kyle and his GL girlfriend, Soranik Natu. A Star Sapphire (who is powered by Love) forces the strained couple to team up to fight against her, all in the hopes of rekindling their relationship. Well they do team up and they do subdue the Sapphire, but in the process it comes out that Kyle lied to Soranik early in the relationship and that pretty much ends everything. He tries to apologize and explain himself, but she flies off and tells him never to talk to her again. Ouch.

This was not an exciting issue, but it was a good character-building story.  The art was pretty good, but not amazing.
I enjoyed reading it though.

The Dark Knight #4
So, Batman has been tracking down a Gotham Socialite that has been kidnapped.  She was a childhood friend of
Bruce Wayne.  In this issue he saves her from Killer Croc/Penguin, only for her to tell him that her father is a cult
leader who is trying to find her so he can sacrifice her to Satan.  The issue ends with a LOT of demons converging on
the penthouse where the two are talking.

Batman vs demons should be a good fight.  The story is so-so.  I'm still only buying this title for the art.  David Finch
was BORN to draw Batman.  He's great with gritty, shadowed characters.





Mighty Thor #4
DANG!  Just...DANG!  The warriors of Asgard take up arms against the approaching Silver Surfer and Galactus.
Odin has an artifact that Galactus thinks might sate his hunger for all time.  Odin doesn't want to give it up though.
Thor vs Surfer!  Thor propells himself into Galactus' head, knocking him back and actually breaking off part of his big,
purple helmet!  Surfer responds by body-slamming Thor into Mars!  Thor gets up and pounds Surfer into the red dirt!
All the while Odin and Galactus are mentally attacking each other, making the other relive horrible memories from
their past.  DANG!  This issue was short, but full of AWESOME action!  I can't wait until next issue to see who comes
out on top!

Matt Fraction's story is just a LOT of fun.  Olivier Coipel's art is some of the best in the business, and he's especially
good at drawing Asgardians.

  Surfer vs Thor = PICK OF THE WEEK!!!

New Comix - Week of 7/20/11

Welcome back! It was a pretty light comic-buying week compared to last week, but then, I usually only buy 2-3 issues on average. Comics are so expensive these days, I'm very choosy on what I decide to buy. If a series goes a direction I don't like, i drop it pretty fast. Now let's get to the reviews!


Green Lantern Aftermath #1
This is the followup to the Green Lantern Wars that saw the rogue Guardian, Krona, killed by Hal Jordan and the GL Corps in disarray after having been controlled by Krona and made to kill in his name. Hal has been banished back to Earth. The lanterns are on the verge of all quitting, as they feel that the Guardians cannot even "guard" them from one of their own. The Guardians are terrified because a Green Lantern should not have been able to kill a Guardian with a power ring, and yet that has happened. Now they feel like vulnerable and afraid of their own soldiers. Worst of all, a green power ring selected Sinestro as a GL during the last battle and he is unable to take it off and the Guardians are considering letting him keep it. Pretty much no one is happy here.

My take: Though the story is a real downer right now and the art was pretty sub-par, I enjoyed reading about the different Lanterns and how the GL War effected them. This is a similar story to what's going on at Marvel with the Ultimate Fallout, only this doesn't seem as forced. I actually enjoyed reading this issue and will go ahead and get the next one to see where they're going. It's been hinted that my favorite GL, Kyle Rayner, will be traveling "in new company" soon, so I'm anxious to see what that means. If he leaves the Green Lanterns, I'll probably follow him to whatever book he goes to next.

- Pick of the Week!


Ultimate Fallout #2
This issue was a little better than last week's issue #1, but not a whole lot better. Aunt May takes her frustration out on Captain America and slaps his face at Peter's funeral, which was actually deserved, if you new the whole story. The bright spot in the story, for me, was the Thor section drawn by the always-incredible Bryan Hitch. Thor daydreams during the funeral and sees himself in Asgard and while thinking of the viking version of Heaven, sees all the main fallen heroes of the Ultimate Universe enjoying an eternal feast in Valhalla, including: Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Giant Man, and Spider-Man. That was fun to see.

Overall, though this is a book I could have lived without. I'm only torn because I know this 6-issue series will setup the return of the Ultimate Universe in September and I'm curious who the next Spider-Man will be. I don't know if it will be worth buying 4 lackluster issues though.





Rocketeer Adventures #3
This is a very fun series staring the pulp-era hero, The Rocketeer. These comics are a collection of short stories written and illustrated by various creative teams. While the art in this series has been spectacular, this issue was not so great in the art department. That being said, the stories are fun, standalone adventures and are worth a read if you don't have a lot of other comics to buy when it comes out.