War Journal Entry number 656 - Weekly Haul 6/3/09
This haul is going to seem like a fanboy squee piece because, owing to the sale on hardcovers, I only picked up my most favorite titles that came out this week.

MARVEL
Agents of Atlas #6 - Jeff Parker + Gabriel Hardman. A total treat from beginning to end, and Parker handles Namor so well that if he wrote a Namor series, I would actually buy it.

Astonishing Tales # 5 of 6 - The Wolverine and Punisher tale by Cebulski + Rocafort continues to be mediocre at best. It it weren't for the stars, it wouldn't be worth reading. The Iron Man 2020 story by Goodbrey and Kang is still pretty enjoyable. I wouldn't be tempted to buy it on its own, though. The one-off Shiver piece by Tieri and Turini is nicely illustrated, but the story has slipped right past me. I feel like I should be able to get it, but every time I try it just darts out of reach. The main reason I'm still enjoying this and happily plunking down #3.99 for it is Hickman + Pitarra's Bobby and Sam in Mojoworld. This installment gives us super-hero re-enactments of Boiler Room, Weird Science, The Graduate, and, wait for it, The Princess Bride.

Captain Britain and MI:13 Annual #1 - The main story by Paul Cornell and Mike Collins centers on Meggan's history and what she's been up to since lost in a hellish limbo. It also dovetails nicely into the Vampire Nation storyline currently appearing in the regular series. The back-up by Cornell and Adrian Alphona has the team playing cricket while Cap daydreams about his time with Meggan. It's much better than that description would imply.

Exiles #3 - Jeff Parker + Salva Espin/Casey Jones. Another crappy cover by Bullock hides the gold that lies within. Parker keeps it moving and fresh, even when characters are just standing around talking. He also brings back the old Exiles flair of twists that make perfectly logical sense. Dig it.

Mighty Avengers #25 - Dan Slott + Stephen Segovia. Pym wants something Reed Richards has, but Richards doesn't think Pym can handle it. Fight, fight, fight! This could have become an atrocious, melodramatic mess in the hands of a writer without Slott's feeling for dialog. As it stands, it's an enjoyable read that makes you want to come back for what happens next.

New Mutants #2 - Zeb Wells + Diogenes Neves. Another satisfying issue for this old-school New Mutants fan.

War of Kings #4 of 6 - Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Paul Pelletier. Awesome action, great character moments, and some real surprises exemplify what makes this series rock so damn hard.

BOOM!
The Muppet Show Comic Book #3 of 4 - Roger Langridge. The only non-Marvel comic to make its way into this week's haul is this consistently enjoyable depiction of the Muppets' antics.

back-issue buys (aka super-colossally awesome hardcover collection sale)
back to more MARVEL stuff
Avengers Assemble volume 4 - Kurt Busiek + Jerry Ordway/Steve Epting/Alan Davis/etc. Collects Avengers 35-40, selections from Avengers Annuals 2000 and 2001, the Avengers: The Ultron Imperative one-shot, the Maximum Security three issue crossover series, and the Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet one-shot prologue. Whoo, I'm worn out just saying all of that. Anyway, the collection is decent, with the issues of the actual Avengers series being the strongest pieces, but it's a rather schizophrenic collection of tales that go together by virtue of their writer and release dates as opposed to actual narrative connection. Still, well worth the price I paid.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes II hardcover - Joe Casey + Will Rosado. This collects the second Earth's Mightiest Heroes mini-series, which has been described as "sucking completely." I don't think that's fair. The first series was strongly focused on the character moments that got skimmed over in the first dozen issues of the Avengers, as well as tightening up the edges of the Lee+Kirby stories. It was nerdy yet emotional. This series is different, taking place over a much shorter time span, and mainly focusing on Hank Pym and the psychological breakdown that resulted in the creation of his Yellowjacket persona. Black Panther and Vision both get a couple of good moments to shine, and Hawkeye gets to be more than just the guy in the purple costume with the bow and arrows. Is the first volume better? Yes, it is, but I'm still glad that I got this one.

Marvel Visionaries: Jack Kirby volume 2 - I've already got a good number of these tales in other collections, but it's nice to also be able to read them in color. I'm also glad to see some of the the really old stuff and watch how his style changed.

Marvel Visionaries: John Buscema - Big John was one of those artists whose work I immediately liked. Though his figures are idealized, they are also firmly rooted in practical, anatomical awareness. But I don't know if I would have chosen the exact same stories as an overview of his work. For example, Wolverine #10, though a significant story for fans of Wolverine, is a poor showing for Buscema's art since it is almost completely destroyed under Bill Sienkiewicz's heavy and inconsistent inks. Thankfully things like the Silver Surfer in Asgard piece from Silver Surfer #4 and the foretelling (retelling?) of Ragnarok from Thor #200 totally make up for it.