Blog

First off let me apologize for being a bit behind as I only had two books in my stack at the comic shop a few weeks ago. So instead of a mini week in review of those two books I decided to wait it out and just combine the last two weeks into one entry. That way you are getting more bang for your buck as they say. The best part is that because I waited, some back issues I had on order showed up in my mail box so I can finally get around to looking at those as well. So lets make with the reviews.  As always SPOILERS are about to drop left and right.  I will however remind you that I like to leave some bits out so that you have a nice little surprise waiting when you read these on your own!

Adventure Comics #2

Connor Kent is back and trying to do things better this time around. Too bad that Lex Luthor and Brainiac just broke out of prison. While they do not tangle at this time, you know that sooner or later Lex is going to make a play for Super Boy.

Here though, we get to see Connor and Cassie (Wonder Girl) reconnect, and you have to hand it to series writer Geoff Johns as he does a bang up job. Connor and Cassie still have that great chemistry, and having Krypto around just proves that dogs are lady magnets, as he plays his version of a canine Romeo in helping set the mood. Connor is still trying to walk the line between being Superman and Luthor in an attempt to avoid past mistakes, and it is an interesting approach to his return to the DC Universe.

While Connor and Cassie are making with the catching up under the moon light, Lex and Brainiac are planning and catching up on events that transpired while they both where locked up in the clink. Much to Luthor’s surprise, while he was away Superboy has returned. Let the evil plans begin.

Overall I like this new start and direction for Connor. I am glad that he is back and I hope that he makes a return to the Teen Titans. As much as I looked forward to his reunion with Cassie, issue #3 is even more exciting as Connor’s hunt for Luthor leads him to call on his best friend in the world: Tim Drake!

Amazing Spider-Man # 607

Mix in some sex and witty banter, just a dab of slapstick, plus a smoking hot temptress and what do you get? You get Amazing Spider-Man #607. I am not going to lie, I picked this one up for the cover because I love Black Cat, plain and simple. This is a fast paced and fun story that has Spider-Man and the Black Cat working together to figure out a mystery, and making with the adult play time on the side.

I have heard rumblings that people have not liked the direction of Spider-Man since Brand New Day and that Spider-Man has been reduced to more of a class clown than the rather intelligent smarty pants crime fighter that he is. To be honest I jumped ship a while back because I did not like the new direction of Spider-Man and I was not happy with the way Brand New Day started out. I did however, find this a very entertaining read and I may have to pick up some back issues to see if I was too quick in passing judgment. See kids, part of being a grown up type person is being able to admit you are wrong…

Anyway, as I said this issue is a good read with some great back and forth between Black Cat and Spider-Man; it is worth picking this title up just to watch the train wreck that will be their next falling out!

Atomic Robo: Shadow From Beyond Time #5

What is better than one Atomic Robo?  Hmmmmm?  Have a guess yet do we?  You are taking too long so I am just going to tell you.  The only thing better than one Atomic Robo is four Atomic Robo’s!  That’s right four sort of happy go lucky Robo’s all working together to kill that stupid freaking monster that keeps popping up to eat everyone.

How does this happen?  Well as the story opens this time around, it is good old February 2009 and Robo is in his office at Tesladyne HQ getting his first look at the quantum decomputer the boys in exotic physics have come up with.  Right off the bat he doesn’t like it, because it is an evil computer.  You can tell just by looking at it.  Nice and happy computers don’t vent steam and look like they could eat you if they wanted to.  Martin and Louis who build said evil computer think that Robo is just overreacting.  So even though he has a bad feeling, Robo tells them they can go ahead and turn it on, but he is hitting the kill switch the instant something evil happens (or when the screaming starts).

What happens next you ask?!  Well the screaming starts that is what!  Golly are you new here or something?  Of course the screaming is going to start!  As the machine starts to crunch numbers old big blobby and tentacle happy pours out of the machine and goes about making with the property damage.  Never fear though as Robo has a plan!  A plan that rests on Robo leaping right down that frickers throat!  Wait, what?

Don’t worry!  This plan is kicked into high gear as you find that inside this monster there is a freaky moment going on that is a result of some freaky physics taking place.  What we are treated to is four versions of Atomic Robo, or more specifically, Atomic Robo from the different times he fought goopy pants.  These four make quick work building a bomb to take out their problem once and for all.  The here and now version of Robo lets his past selves know what they need to do to prepare for this event in the future.  Talk about being able to drop some knowledge on your younger and slightly dumber self!

How does everything turn out?  I am not telling.  You are going to have to find out for yourself as Atomic Robo is that one book you have to read.  You owe it to yourself to check out Atomic Robo because Red 5 Comics has a great independent gem on their hands.  It is clever and funny as hell and the art is just better every time out!

Batgirl #2

You would think that college would be enough for any young lady to deal with. If you are Stephanie Brown it is not enough to just try and pretend to have a normal life. You would have to break your promises and run about the back streets of Gotham smacking around thugs in your “Bat Undies” instead of being home studying like any normal girl your age. This is only scratching the surface of Batgirl #2 as we see the old and new guard having a large and very vocal difference of opinion. Barbra Gordon wants Stephanie to walk away and that is something that Stephanie can’t do. Is this about an overly amount of concern for Stephanie’s health, or is it resentment on Barbara’s part that she can’t get out of the chair and run around in the “Bat Undies” herself? I think it is a little of both and while the relationship between Stephanie and Barbara is not as strained as the one between Batman and Robin,  there is still a bit of a similarity here. There is an amount of being overly protective on the part of Barbara that makes all kinds of sense. She got shot and put in a wheel chair because she wore the symbol of the Bat on her chest, and she knows it is only a matter of time before Stephanie starts to attract the attention or the sort of trouble she may not be ready for. It is almost funny that Barbara is also known as the Oracle, as the current case Stephanie is working on turns out to be a drug ring led by someone very familiar to fans of the Bat: The Scarecrow.

I may take some heat for this but I am more excited about this Batgirl than I am about the one running around in the pages of Detective Comics. I just find Stephanie more interesting and I feel that of the two this Batgirl fits better into the lay of the land. That and you get to see Barbara as well working her magic behind the scenes. With that said I hope that this book keeps getting better as there is a ton of potential for it. Bring on issue #3!

Dark Reign The List: Daredevil

Holy Crap! You know what I used to love about old Daredevil comics? When he and Bullseye would throw down; those where some of the best knock down drag out fights ever, and I always check out the boxes of back issues looking for ones that I might have missed. So what could top those old classic fights? Daredevil and the Hand vs. Bullseye and H.A.M.M.E.R. comes to mind. This is exactly what you get in this latest installment Dark Reign The List. Ninja action mixed with gun play and one of the greatest grudge matches in comics, as the man without fear again locks horns with possibly his greatest enemy.

This is a great new direction for Daredevil and a bold one at that. It seems that all Norman is doing is strengthening his enemies resolve to take him down as Bullseye misses the mark and fails to kill DD by exploding a tenement building and killing all those inside. So what are Daredevil and his Hand going to do? They are going to send a message of their own. Get the popcorn and hide the women and children- there is gonna be a whooping in the big city! So glad that I picked this up on a whim because there is nothing like some big action and great story telling!

Dark Reign The List: X-Men

So now that Emma and Namor have flipped the bird at Norman and played him like a cheap musical instrument, what do you think that Norman is going to do? If you guessed get back at them in some overly evil and a-hole way then you get a cookie. How evil you ask? How does turning Namor’s ex-wife into a freaking sea monster and setting her upon his people in an attempt to draw Namor out into battle to kill him sound? Is that evil enough for you? What do you say? Doesn’t sound so bad? How about messing with her DNA to the point that the only thing she can digest is Atlantean blood and the more she eats the bigger she gets and more pissed off she gets? Is that bad enough for you? This is what you get when an insane person with an unlimited budget and toys decides that he wants to send you a message and get revenge on you for screwing him over.

Faced with the brutal slaughtering of his people, Namor turns to the X-Men for help in tracking down this killer. While he may not be used to asking for help, Emma makes it clear that while he may be used to going it alone he is one of them now and help comes with that whether he wants it or not. With the X-Men’s aid Namor is able to kill Norman’s weapon as one good turn deserves another. So how does a ticked off King of the Sea send his message: he tosses the head of a sea monster through Norman’s office window that’s how!

While this may not be Matt Fractions best work, it is not a slouch story either. It does serve its purpose and helps bring Namor more into the world of the X-Men. As a bonus, at the end of the original stand alone story you get a reprint of Fraction’s first story for Marvel. So for the $3.99 cover price you get your money’s worth and another decent addition to the Dark Reign the List library.

Dark X-Men: The Confession One-Shot

If you are a faithful reader of the Week in Review you might remember me mentioning that the Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus (One Shot) had a brief bedroom conversation between Emma and Scott. What we get here in this stand alone story is the full conversation.

Without giving anything away I will say this: This has to be one of the best stories I have read in awhile. It may not have action coming out the ears but it has heart. A ton of heart, and that has always been one of my favorite things about the X-Books.

Emma and Scott lay it all out and hold nothing back. I used to think that nothing could top or even come close to the relationship between Scott and Jean, and in many ways I still am not convinced that anything will ever change my mind… but man this comes close. This is just excellent writing by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost and while it is not a huge mind altering experience, this book is still an extremely solid read. If you ever doubted the love that these two characters have for each other you get everything you need to change your mind here.

You have Emma and Scott pouring their hearts out to each other and telling their deepest darkest secrets to one another. Both trying to come to terms with the person with who they are now. From Emma’s manipulations and Scotts keeping the truth about X-Force from everyone, you get it all. Told in a back and forth style that some may not like, but I just think it works brilliantly. While I am not a super huge fan of Bing Cansino’s art work, he does a decent job helping to tell this very emotional story. For those continuity freaks out there, this issue seems to take place right before the events of Exodus.

Green Lantern # 46

Talk about legal crack. That is the only way to describe Green Lantern and Blackest Night. Center stage is former Green Lantern and all around egomaniac, Sinestro, and his pimp hand is strong. We join the fray as Sinestro is knee deep in it trying to free his captured Yellow Lantern Corp. members from the Star Sapphires, while laying the smack down on some Black Lanterns on top of that. Just as he and the Sapphires seem about to be on the verge of having their you know what handed to them, Green Lantern Hal Jordon and Indigo-1 show up and drop a little knowledge on them; You wanna kill the undead you have to sanitize the black ring with light which causes the ring to go brittle. This  allows you to smash it, causing a feedback that will kill… ok re-kill the Black Lantern attached to said ring.

Back to what I was saying about Sinestro being on center stage here, Indigo-1 has a plan and part of that plan is to whisk Hal, Carol and Sinestro off to Korugar for Sinestro to face off with Mogul, who has been beating people senseless in his bid to take over the Yellow Lanterns. In spectacular fashion Sinestro hands out a worse whooping than he takes and in his moment of triumph bam… who shows up but Black Lanters Abin and Arin. A man that both Sinestro and Hal have deep feelings for in Abin, and in Arin’s case Sinestro’s lost love.

Holy crud! Just when you think that Blackest Night can’t get any better they just amp it up on you and make you cry for more! Not to sound like a broken record but this is by far one of my favorite story lines in all of comics… ever.

Ms. Marvel #45

War of the Marvels is still kicked into high gear as last time we saw Moon Stone ready to donkey punch Catherin Donovan into the deep dark abyss of death. So it is only fitting that this story ends the way it does. I am getting ahead of myself though so I shall back up a tad here. Now last time around we found out that it seems that the closer Catherin and Carol are to each other the more Carol’s powers get amped up to all kinds of insane levels. Well as it turns out with Catherine so close to Carol a whole bag of tricks have been opened up in her as well. Like all of Carols combat training suddenly being right there to save Catherin’s bacon. She (Catherin) is able to dodge the death blow from Moon Stone and get away from her long enough for Carol to show up and set about removing Moon Stone from the building. When I say she removed her I meant by driving her through a wall and smashing her into another building.

Now while it may seem that things are looking up for Catherin what with crazy Moon Stone being busy with Carole Norman’s H.A.M.M.E.R. goons soon show up with gun blazing to take Catherin out. Too bad for them that Catherin has all that combat training all of a sudden running around in her head. She may not have Carol’s powers but she has a huge can of whoop arse to open and open it she does. So everything is going great right? She is going to make it out of there right? Um no, cause you see if Carol is busy with Moon Stone that leaves Norman walking around, and well not only does she run into him but he shoots her point blank right in the face killing her.

WTF right?! Where the heck is Carol in all of this you ask? She is playing catch as Moon Stone is tossing people out of a building forcing Carol to catch them to prevent her from getting back to Catherin and saving her. Now here is where the real WTF moment happens and more questions are brought up. Now if you get shot point blank in the face you are dead unless you are some super powered cape. Catherin however while she may be “dead” it seems this is not a situation that is going to stay that way for long. While Catherin was running about trying to flee the building a voice was talking to her. A voice it seems from her past that granted her the one thing she wanted: freedom from being Ms. Marvel and the complications it brings. It seems that an entity calling itself the story tellers granted Carol this wish and separated her into two beings, one being Catherin who has the normal life Carol has always wanted and the other half being Carol’s warrior self. With the death of Catherin at Norman’s hands this story teller being is rather ticked and to correct this situation it has decided to take something from Norman and Moon Stone just as they have taken Catherin’s life from her. What is it they take? Well, they seem to have decided that Norman and Moon Stone owe Catherine a body, and what better body to have than Moon Stones. Uh huh that is what I said. This story teller being takes Catherin’s life energy and slams it into Moon Stone seemingly wiping the slate clean and giving Catherin a new lease on life in a super charged body of her own.

Double frick on a stick! I know that Marvel hinted that as the War of the Marvels came to a close it would have huge ramifications for Carol and Moon Stone but sweet Jesus! This is way better than I thought it was going to be! So many questions so many that I think I need to take a time out and just catch my breath. Wow! With Catherin now in Moon Stones body this hits Norman where it hurts! He has lost a major player and who knows what will happen in issue #46! See I told you that you should be reading Ms. Marvel!

New Avengers # 57

So the baddies have a power zapper and they used it to not only zap the New Avengers, but Norman and his Dark Avengers. Dr. Harrow is holding all the cards right now, and if Norm wants his Iron Unders back he is going to have to cut a deal. Which of course he does, but this is Norman and you know at some point he is going to make someone pay. If not for zapping them with the power drainer, then for not understanding that when he said turn it off he meant leave it pointed at the New Avengers and leave it on.

Have a guess what happens? Well ya see, they all forgot about Mockingbird, who shows up with a Quin Jet and starts blasting anything that is moving, which is mostly Norman. With Norman firmly smushed under her landing gear, Mockingbird bellows my favorite battle cry: “Avengers Assemble! As in get your asses up and let’s go!” Ok, so that last part is not normally in there, but you just have to love her spunk.

Never one to give up, Norman is rather ticked off that his prize is getting away and rockets after them, only to have an equally ticked off Spider-Man decide he wants a shot at the title. So leaping from the Quin Jet, he introduces Norm’s face to his foot; and after a bit of a scuffle, sends Norman crashing into a building while marveling at how therapeutic it all was.

While the rest of the New Avengers are recovering, Cage is still all kinds of messed up and not in good shape. With no place else to turn, it is off to Brooklyn, and with fingers crossed, they go to the one person that might be able to help him: The Night Nurse.

Only problem is that with his powers back, his skin is again unbreakable and she can’t puncture it to save him from his cardiac episode (her words not mine). What they need is the power drainer in order to make him “normal,” or else he is toast. On top of all of this, Norman’s crew has tracked them to the hospital and is waiting for them outside. With no choice left, the New Avengers are ready to surrender when Cage, like the mad pimp he is, tells them how things are going to go. He will turn himself in to give them a chance to run, to fight the good fight another day. With no other choice, this is exactly what they do. Running on will power, Cage walks out the front door, and before Norman can tell him he is under arrest, he collapses to the ground.

Oh crap. I would be super worried, but I know something that you might not. I am not going to spill the beans. You might want to pick up Dark Reign the List: Avengers if you want a hint. I will say that you can’t go wrong with New Avengers on your pull list, as this has been super solid since issue #1. Bendis is still going strong, and I have my fingers crossed that this is all just a warm up for when Steve comes back as Captain America.

Stay with me here people, as we are halfway through this marathon!

New Mutants #5

Sometimes you see a cover and you jump for joy. That is what I did when I saw the cover for New Mutants #5. Why is this? Because WARLOCK is back! Yes! Then all you get is a few pages at the start, of him flying through the air and a brief look at him at the very end.

Aside from that, this was an OK issue. It mostly wraps up the events from the first four issues, as Danni and Sam work through some issues, and the science team gets to work trying to help Legion regain some sort of sanity and control over his personalities. At the heart of the story though is what took place when the team took down Legion, and several of his personalities where killed as a result. Couple this with Sam and Danni taking turns punching each other in the face, and you have an entertaining read. Who knows, maybe some of this frustration between the two is a hint at something else…or maybe I just want to see Sam get another chance at love.

The artwork done by Zachary Baldus is a change of pace, and while at times it is very satisfying, I also found it a little lacking. Over all though it is an interesting move, and if he is going to be taking over there is a good chance his style could grow on me.

Punisher Annual #1

I love it when an annual ties into the current story line.  So I loved loved loved Punisher Annual #1.  Frank is cutting his way through all of the Hood’s resurrected baddies, and they are getting desperate to take him out.  So desperate that Letha and Lascivious have decided to lure Frank into a trap of their own, using their powers of mind control to turn a group therapy session for war vets into a blood bath, by making the veterans turn on each other and kill their fellow soldier.   In the wake of all this destruction, they leave a clue for Frank to follow right into their trap.

Too bad for them that their powers have no sway over Frank, as he is already driven by hate and anger; so a can of whoop is about to be opened up on Letha and Lascivious right?  No.  As it turns out, Spider-Man must have had some down time between playing Avenger and making out with the Black Cat, because just as Frank is about to put one in their heads he shows up and ruins everything.  Making it even worse, unlike Frank, old web head is completely susceptible to their powers, goes all kinds of mental and tries to take Frank’s head off.

Instead of busting a cap in Spider-Man, Frank goes for trying to knock the two ladies out to sever their control of Spider-Man’s mind.  After taking a beating from Spider-Man while trying to catch up with the two fleeing villains, Frank is eventually able to knock one of them out.  With Spider-Man now back in control of his own head for a moment, Frank decides that all this being nice to Spider-Man has gone on long enough, and zaps him into next week; all with a satisfying grin on his face.  So with Spider-Man out of the way, it is time to blast these two super villains in the face right?  No.  ‘Cause now Frank has to deal with a Spider-Man who again shows up at the last second, who gets the mind hump put back on him again, and now thinks he loves Frank.  Just so you know…Frank is not a hug it out kind of guy.  So Spider-Man giving him a bear hug and telling him he loves him just does nothing to improve his mood.

Overall it was great to have Spider-Man show up here, as it added some rare humor to the pages of Punisher.  The story serves to move along the current story line of the regular monthly, one step closer to the show down between the Hood and Frank that is coming around the bend.  A good little story and some good action deliver a comic that is worth adding to your Punisher collection.

Teen Titans # 75

So Beast Boy has decided to be the new guiding force behind the Teen Titans.  This is great because they need it; and they will welcome him with open arms right?  No.  It seems the team is split down the middle as to if they need him or not.  While Wonder Girl is happy to have the responsibility taken off her shoulders, other members of the team are resentful at having someone they do not want as their leader.  That and some of them think that Beast Boy is full of crap, and that his leadership skills are not all he is saying they are.

While he is giving the team the hard sell on his leadership skills, a battered and unconscious Raven is dropped on the teams’ doorsteps.  Up to this point, Beast Boy has been able to keep his cool, but seeing the woman he loves battered and broken makes him freak out; he quickly gets himself back under control and takes charge.  Which does even more to win Wonder Girl over, who can’t understand how he can go from freaking out to taking charge so quickly, as it seems she is still full of self doubt about her ability to lead.

With the help of Dr. Midnight, the Teen Titans get to work putting Raven back together again; until the freaky, giant 6 headed monster that beat the tar out of her sneaks its way into Titans tower to finish the job.  So that is where we are left, with the team unaware of the impending world of hurt that is about to land on their heads.

While I am excited to see that Beast Boy is back with the Teen Titans, I am even happier that the writers didn’t decide to all of the sudden make him captain confidence.  It is going to be a great ride watching him grow into a competent leader.  It will be even greater if a certain former member of the team returns as well.  Come on, I can’t be the only one that is crossing their fingers that Super Boy will be back on the team right quick and in a hurry like.

Second Feature: Ravager

Last time around, Ravager was left sinking under the frozen waters of a northern lake as the hicks with guns waited to make sure she was dead.  What we get here is Rose sinking in the frozen depths, only to have Miss Martian pop up in her head (she is a telepath after all) and remind her that there is no quit in Rose.  With this mental jump start, Rose hauls arse to the surface and warms herself by the burning wreckage of her cottage.  Being all stealthy like, she tracks down the villagers and finds out it is all about guns and human trafficking.  Which just ticks her all kinds of off as she is now doubly wanting to shoot them all and sort it out later.

Again this second feature is all kinds of pleasing.

Thor # 603

Things still mostly kind of suck for the God of Thunder, but at least he has the Lady Sif back.  Now if only he knew about the plans that Loki and Doom where putting together.  Especially the part where Doom is building assassin Doombots for Loki to kill Dr. Donald Blake. Why Loki wants this mortal’s head, Doom has no clue, and even less of a clue why he wants the Doombots to bring back the man’s walking stick.

In exchange for these killer robots, Loki it seems has a few promises to keep, and he gets the ball rolling by drugging and turning a fellow Asguardian over to Doom so that he can run all kinds of evil scientist type experiments in an attempt to make himself immortal.

Too bad that Bill William, mortal lover of Kelda, sees Doom and Loki up to no good as he is snooping around for answers.  What does all this snooping get him?  It gets him stabbed in the chest by some of Loki’s goons, who had been dispatched to take out the snooper before he can alert anyone to what is going on behind everyone’s backs.  Arriving to find out what all the fuss is about, Lord Balder finds Bill on the ground bleeding out, with his attackers standing over him.

Thor has constantly delivered fantastic artwork and strong story telling since its return to the printed page.  Even if there is not a ton of action, you still want to read it because the story telling is compelling and just top notch.  One can only hope this continues for a long long time!

X-Force #19

So X-23 had her arm cut off with a chainsaw last time we saw her.  Which must totally suck, and I never want to find out.  The story starts with agent Morales being given the sales pitch to join the organization responsible for capturing X-23.  Like a good little pain in the bum bum, she decides to turn them down and escapes, but not before freeing X-23.  The two of them then make like a bat out of you know where as they run from a chainsaw wielding Kimura, whom X-23 cleverly slows down by dropping what looks like some sort of blast door down on her, pinning the crazy so-and-so to the floor.  Did I mention that X-23 did all this while running around carrying her severed arm with her?  Sorry, my bad for leaving that little part out.

This is a very “busy” issue as we jump from X-23 and agent Morales, to Utopia where X-Force is cranking away to find X-23, then jumping  to Wolfsbane and her lover fighting frost giants in Colorado, to the Hellfire Club, and then back to X-23 and Morales.  Whew.  Like I said, very busy, but all serving to move the story along and setting up future events.

I am again reminded why I love this book as the art work done by Mike Choi and Sonia Oback is just beautiful, and Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost again pen another excellent story.  These first nineteen issues of X-Force have been top notch, and with all the momentum this book is building, everything seems to point towards excellence for a long time!  I must admit that I spent half the book yelling at X-23 to stick her arm back on.  You would have to think that if she slapped it back in place and taped it up, it would heal back in place or something…or I could just be crazy.

With that my friends, we are done!  Get yourself your favorite beverage of choice and some cookies and celebrate!  You deserve it after this marathon!  Next week won’t be as winded, as I only have about 5 books to poke my reviewing stick at.

Jason Fenix
contact@comicattack.net