New Comix! - Week of 10/17/12

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #16
Quick Recap: Disaster has shaken the US to it's core.  States are trying to secede. Militias have taken over some large cities.  Washington DC has been destroyed.  Wanting to help out, young Miles Morales uses his new web-shooters to piggy-back a helicopter over to the Avengers base, The Triskellion, to join the team.  He's met with less than enthusiasm.

Surrounded by SHIELD troops in the pouring rain on top of the Triskellion while being yelled at by Captain America, Miles starts to wonder if he made the wrong choice.  Cap berates him for being clueless and reckless and not ready for action.  Though he can barely get a word in, Miles stands his ground and tries to state his case.  Suddenly, a helicarrier drops out of the sky and crashes into the Triskellion, heralding the arrival of HYDRA.  Cap gets blown off the top of the building, but he's saved by Miles' new webs (Thanks Aunt May!).  A big Hydra goon called, Gorgon, is suddenly standing over them and tries to shoot them.  Miles uses his fancy new spider chameleon power to go invisible and Cap crashes through the window to safety.  With Cap safe, Spidey goes to work leaping from bad guy to bad guy, tearing through the Hydra ranks like a pro.  Just when a terrorist manages to land a blow on his head with a rifle butt, Cap shows up with reinforcements.  Together they are able to clean up the Hydra forces and Miles show surprising skill in the fight.  After it's over, Cap aplogizes and asks Spidey to join the Ultimates.  Afterwards, Miles is talking with his mom on the phone (and lying about his whereabouts) when Tony Stark taps him on the shoulder.  The Ultimates then gather behind Captain America as he gives  a press conference and accepts the request of the citizens of America to become their next President.

This was another good issue in a consistently solid book.  I love reading about Miles and it should be a blast seeing him interact with the "big guns" on the Ultimate Avengers.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #3
Prince Adam's journey to remember who he is continues.

Last issue he found, and was rescued by Teela.  She doesn't know why she knows him, but feels like they've been drawn together.  As they talk, they realize that the falcon that drew Adam out of the forest and in her direction is some kind of a magical construct being controlled by some unseen force.  Next we see Skeletor back in Castle Grayskull.  He rules Eternia uncontested, but has yet to tap the awesome powers of Grayskull.  He has the Sorceress imprisoned and he treats her roughly, but she remains practically catatonic and will not speak to him.  Meanwhile, Adam and Teela have taken passage on a ship.  It's not long before Merman shows up with an army of sea monsters.  They wreck the ship and Merman easily defeats Adam in combat.  Before he can deliver the killing blow, Teela stabs him from behind and delays him long enough for them to jump into the ocean in an attempt to swim away....from Merman...yeah, not a good plan.  Merman can control the sea itself and sends tidal waves after them.  Thinking them surely dead, he leaves to inform Skeletor.

I really like this original He-Man storyline.  It's something that hasn't been done before and that is most welcome.  I like that we're getting re-introduced to the characters one-by-one also.  The artwork isn't the greatest I've seen, but it fits the story.  Seeing these characters somewhat reimagined visually is also fun, though it's hard not to be picky when something from your childhood gets altered.  All-in-all a very fun book.  I'm hooked.

- Pick of the Week!

Wonder Woman #13
This issue starts in the arctic where a shadowy science expedition observes a bloody, naked giant sitting on a glacier.  This is apparently what the leader of the group has been waiting for so he goes to greet the giant.  The giant responds by biting the top of the man's head off and walking away.

Meanwhile, the gods of Olympus are gathering with their new king, Apollo, to discuss a coming war that has been prophesied.  They worry about what part Diana will play in that war.  Speaking off, Wonder Woman is down on Earth regrouping after the first storyline's ending, with her step-brother Lennox, her friend Zola, and the now mortal Hera.  At the end of the last story, Hermes betrayed them by stealing Zola's baby, who is the last son of Zeus, so Zola isn't in the best of moods.  Wonder Woman heads to Lybia, looking for another of Zeus's bastard children to help find the baby.  After defeating some lame Lybian fighters, she follows a young girl into an underground temple.  She is attacked by hundreds of flying knives, but manages to block all of them, except for one, which buries itself in the girl.  As Diana apologizes for failing to protect her, the girl dissolves into sand, then reforms with her hands at WW's throat.  The girl was the sibling she came to find.

I keep thinking I'll drop this book, but every month it keeps being too good!  I like the artwork.  I like the weird story and weirder mythological character's who populate it.  This is NOT a Wonder Woman like anyone has written before.  It's WAY more of a mythology book than a superhero book, and that's why it's so good.

- DC, this is that only book you continue to sell to me.  Don't screw it up.

Cyberforce #1
Now for the wild card of the bunch.  Thanks to retailer support and a successful kickstarter campaign, Image is re-launching Cyberforce and is GIVING AWAY the first FIVE ISSUES for FREE!  I bought the first 25 or so issues from the original run at a comic store sidewalk sale, so I have some appreciation for the characters, but I would not have picked up this book if it weren't for the promotion.  I'm glad I did.

This book took me 2 tries to get through it, but when i actually put the time to concentrate on the story, it's actually pretty good.  Here's a summary...

At the beginning we see the girl classic fans know as Velocity running form SHOC troops.  She's almost captured but manages to escape to the sewers where she meets Robert Bearclaw, a.c.a. Ripclaw.  He takes her to rest of his group, who mostly want to kill her.  You see, this world setting is one where the American society has been rebuilt by corporations and many people have been rebuilt as cyborgs to survive a coming extinction event.  The government/corporation has total control over the populace and Velocity is the President's daughter.  The Cyberforce group that she has just met are rebel SHOC troops who are just trying to stay alive.  The President sends her best soldiers to find her daughter, including well-known Image characters, Ballistic and Aphrodite IV.  Due to the time-skipping method of story telling, we dont' know exactly what happens next, but it appears that 3 of the Cyberforce members are killed in this first issue and Velocity is captured by the government.

It took a while to understand the new dynamics of this book, but once i got it, it was really cool.  The artwork is a little hard to follow, but at the same time, it fits the book well.  I don't know if I will buy this book after issue #5, but I'm willing to read these first several issues for free to give it a chance to win me over.

New Comix! - Week of 9/19/12

Read a trio of good comics tonight with each one better than the last.  I'll review them in the order I read them.

Wonder Woman #0

With the New 52 relaunch's year anniversary, DC Comics is producing #0 comics for each series with the idea being for them to be an easy jumping-on point for new readers.  This one features a backstory on the New 52 version of WonderWoman.  

In this flashback story we follow a 12-year-old Diana as she goes through the rituals of a young Amazon warrior.  At one point she is approached by her (unknown to her) Uncle Eres, the God of War.  He offers to teach her to be a great warrior and secretly hopes she will take his place as the God of War.  Over several months she advances quickly with her skill.  Finally, Eres sends her into a labyrinth for a real test and she comes face to face with a minotaur.  She eventually defeats the beast, but when she won't kill it where it lays Eres becomes enraged and turns his back on his pupil.

This was a good comic, but nothing outstanding.  I really enjoy Cliff Chiang's artwork on this character and he is probably the only reason I've hung on with this series as long as I have.  I will probably give the next storyline a chance and decide whether to stick around for a while based on the direction it goes.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #15

This comic is intertwining with the overall Ultimate Universe storyline, United We Stand.  The US has been attacked and is falling apart from within.  States are seceding, sentinels have taken over parts of the country, and Washington DC has been obliterated.  

Miles is back at school telling his best friend, Ganke, about meeting Captain America and Aunt May giving him Peter's web-shooters when the announcement is made that school is going on a hiatus until city officials feel they can guarantee the student's safety (Miles goes to a dorm-type school for smarty smart kids) and they are all sent home.  Miles heads home and find homocide detectives there who question him about his uncle's death.  They explain that their people have deduced that the new Spider-Man did not kill him, but that his own equipment malfunctioned and they are still looking into the case.  Miles is relieved that the cops no longer think he's (Spidey) a murderer (they obviously don't know he's Spidey).  With his parents working long hours and school on break, Miles takes Ganke's advice and heads to the Triskellion to try to join the Ultimates and help the country.  He's still getting the hang of his web shooters, so when he snags a helicopter to hitch a ride to the floating base, it doesn't go very smoothly.  First he hits the window of the Triskellion and is dragged along it and up to the roof.  There, SHIELD troopers open fire on him (he's not authorized to be there...yet).  He webs them up then promptly slips on the wet rooftop and falls on his butt.  He looks up to find Cap starring down at him and asking what he's doing there.  Spidey says he's there to join the team and the last scene is Cap starring at him.

This book is consistently good.  I like the new Spider-Man.  I like Bendis writing Spider-Man. David Marquez has done a good job filling in for Sarah Pichelli while she drew the Spider-Men mini-series (see below), but I'm ready for her to come back.  He's good, but she's just better.  

Spider-Men #5

And the best mini-series I've read in years comes to a close.

Mysterio has trapped Peter Parker in the Ultimate Universe with no way to come back.  He's won and he knows it, but it's not enough for him.  He wants to see Peter suffer.  Against his better judgement, he activates one of his avatar robot bodies and opens the portal to the Ultimate Universe so he can send it through and check on his foe.  Before he can do anything though, webbing shoots through the portal and pulls him in face-first.  He looks around shocked to see 2 Spider-Men, a squad of SHIELD operatives, and the Ultimates glaring at him.  Peter and Miles team up to berate him verbally and Peter prepares to return home when Mysterio breaks free and uses his illusion powers to trap the heroes in imaginary nightmares.  As he runs towards the portal he's tackled by Miles who tumbles through the portal to the regular Marvel U.  The two fight it out in his laboratory for a bit before Miles tackles him back through the portal back to the Ultimate U.  This time it's all over for Mysterio.    Nick Fury offers to lock him up there, so Peter's secret identity can stay a secret in his world.  Before he leaves, Peter gives Miles his blessing to carry on the torch as well as a LONG list of advice including dating one girl at a time, never loaning money to Wolverine, & not letting his Aunt May marry Doc Ock (that almost happened in the regular continuity), ect but the portal closes and he's cut off mid-sentence.  The story ends with Peter back at home.  He showers then goes to his computer to look up his world's version of Miles Morales on Google, asking aloud, "I wonder if we have a Miles Morales?"  With a look of complete shock on his face, Peter says, "Oh my god."  End scene!

Man, what a great ending!  I wonder if they'll work the regular universe Miles Morales into the ongoing Spider-Man comic?  This story has been top-tier work, writing and art.  As a Spidey fan, I have thoroughly enjoyed every single issue.  Bendis worked some real magic here.  I'm sorry to see it end, but all good things...

- Pick of the Week!

New Comix! - Week of 7/11/12

I'm not feeling great and it's late, but I don't want to get weeks behind in my reviews, so I'm pushing on.  These might be a bit shorter than usual though.

AvX Versus #4
The 2 fighters per issue series continues featuring Daredevil vs Psylocke and Thor vs Phoenix-powered Emma Frost.

The Daredevil/Psylocke fight was good,but basic ninja vs ninja type stuff.  There was some good philosophical dialogue between the two at the end and the fight ended in a draw.

Thor vs Emma was AWESOME!  The sole reason is artist/writer Kaare Andrews.  Andrews has an exaggerated style that you either love or hate.  I happen to love it.  Emma fights in her diamond form and taunts Thor about his pretty hair and implies that he's a cross-dresser.  Thor answers by giving her an enchanted hammer uppercut starting at her crotch and shattering her upwards.  The diamond pieces are seen entering the atmosphere, pausing, then zooming straight back down towards the God of Thunder.  Thor finds himself in the middle of a fiery diamond rainstorm that tears him to bits.  Emma reforms herself from the shards and proceeds to pummel Thor senseless.  Winner: Emma Frost.

This book is just fun reading and the art was really cool in this issue.  I wish Marvel would give the reigns of a flagship character's monthly book to him.

Avenging Spider-Man #9
This issue was meant to be a springboard for the revamped Captain Marvel character who gets her own book next month.  The problem with it is that it sucked.  Bad.

Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) is a pilot (even though she can fly?  Why?) and offers to give Peter a lift to see his Aunt who just moved to Boston.  On the way they meet a high-flying Robin Hood wannabe and the armored bounty hunter assigned to bring her in.  Everyone fights.  Captain Marvel beats on the armored guy.  Spidey quips.  You know what?  I just can't make myself care about this story.  I started liking Carol when she was a member of the New Avengers a few years back, but I just couldn't care less about her here.  The plot was lame.  The dialog weak.  The ONLY good thing about this issue was the art by Terry Dodson, who is fantastic.  Not $4/issue fantastic though.  Not for me.

This is 2 crappy issue of this series in a row and the next issue continues this lame story.  I don't have money to throw away so I'm going to cancel this from my pull list next week.  If decent-looking issues come along after this story arch, I'll pick it back up.

The stars are for Terry Dodson.  If not for him this gets 1 or maybe no stars.  I don't have time and money to waste on subpar comics.

Spider-Men #3
Hey!  It's the opposite of suckiness!

The dual Spidey story continues with Peter and Miles teaming up against Mysterio.  He uses his illusion powers to conjure an army of Spider-Villains for the guys to face, but Miles makes it to Mysterio and shuts his avatar body down (see last issue's review for details).  As the Ultimates arrive to assess the situation, they find Peter missing.  Nick Fury tells Miles that Peter has gone to see this world for himself and to make sure he's not crazy.  We then see Peter quizzing a convenient store clerk about the very public death of the Ultimate U's Peter Parker.  On the last page we see Aunt May and Gwen leaving her house in Queens and stopping when they see a Spider-Man standing on their lawn.  They both start shouting threats at him (they are publicly known as that world's Spider-man's family after all) when Spidey pulls off his mask and the ladies are shocked to see an older version of Peter's face with tears streaming down his face.

This story is wicked fun.  Pichelli's art is top-notch.  That sappy ending even worked on me!  I love this series more than I thought I could.  Keep it coming, Bendis.  You're doing what you do best!

Pick of the week!!!

Wolverine and the X-Men #13
Gladiator, the Emperor of the Shi'ar Empire has brought a force to Earth to end the Phoenix threat and to retrieve is son from Wolverine's school.

The Shi'ar fight bravely and Gladiator is about as powerful as any Marvel hero, but he can't stand up to the Phoenix.  They beat him soundly by the end of it.  The cool thing is that althroughout the book, the focus isn't on Gladiator or even Wolverine, but on his son's bodyguard who came to live at the Jean Grey School with him, Warbird.  In this issue we learn Warbird's entire history and it's REALLY well done.  She is a surprisingly interesting character and this one issue has cemented her as a favorite in this series.  She's strong and ruthless, but deep down has the heart of an artist and a romantic.  This sounds cheesy, but it was a really good read.  Though Kid Gladiator ordered her to help him save his father, she followed higher orders and knocked him out to keep him safe.  In the end they are seen back at the Jean Grey school holding a battered, possibly dying Gladiator and looking for help.

I haven't had this much fun reading X-Men since Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men.  Nick Bradshaw took over art from Christ Bachallo this week and did a great job.  The art is always good and the story always entertaining.  Great series.

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.