MARVEL
Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth #5 – Victor Gischler + Bong Dazo. The action and the jokes are fired out in equal measure, i.e. constantly. Thankfully I'm still enjoying it all, and am even thoroughly delighted by some pieces. The Star Wars discussion is especially LOL worthy.

Incredible Hulk #604 – Greg Pak + Ariel Olivetti/Giuseppe Camuncoli. The boys play football until interrupted by a creation of the Leader. Continues to be a joy to read. The Savage She-Hulk back-up by Fred Van Lente + Michael Ryan delves more into her adversaries this time, but still stays strongly tied into who she is.

Mighty Avengers +31 – Dan Slott/Christos N. Gage + Sean Chen. Big Avengers action and nice character interaction make for a good read.

Punisher #11 – Rick Remender + Tony Moore. Morbius and a team of other monsters find the dismembered remains of Frank Castle and put him back together as... Frankencastle. There is a logic behind it and the superb art really sells it. But, yeah, the idea of it is pretty silly. But to all those who are screaming in outrage, I say, “Shut up and read Punisher MAX.” Seriously, this won't last, and the people that don't like it can come back once it's over.


Realm of Kings one-shot – Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Leonardo Manco/Mahmud Asrar. Quasar explores the tear in reality and finds himself on a dark, Lovecraftian world with its own twisted reflection of the Avengers. Wait until you get a look at the Hulk. But the real point is that upon meeting Quasar, these dark fanatics are clued into the fact that there are more realities out there for their evil masters to feast upon.

Realm of Kings: Inhumans #1 of 5 – Abnett/Lanning + Pablo Raimondi. You're probably getting tired of hearing this by now, but since this was done by Abnett and Lanning it was another fantastic read. Lots of logical followups to the events of War of Kings, plus the Mighty Avengers.

Thunderbolts #138 – Jeff Parker + Miguel Sepulveda. With Parker coming on as writer, I'm coming on as reader. This is a good introductory issue giving individual highlights for most of the team-members and laying out the team dynamics for new readers. I don't really care about these characters too much (except for Ant-Man), but it was still a good read. And with the team going up against Agents of Atlas next, I'm sure to thoroughly enjoy the upcoming issues.

Wolverine: Weapon X #7 – Jason Aaron + Yanick Paquette. The madness and horror in the Dunwich Sanatorium continues, and its one of the more original Wolverine tales told in along time.

X-Men Legacy #229 – Mike Carey + Daniel Acuna. Rogue's attempt to save Bling! from Emplate continues, while Gambit voices his displeasure to Cyclops for letting her go it alone. Much better than it sounds, and the art does a great job portraying the other reality and its inhabitants.

DARK HORSE COMICS
Alien Legion Omnibus volume 1 – Alan Zelenetz + Frank Cirocco/Chris Warner/Larry Stroman/Terry Shoemaker. Collects issues 1-11 of the first series. I already had a collection with 1-6, but it was worth it to get the rest of the issues I haven't been able to hunt down. That's how good Alien Legion is.

Dr. Horrible one-shot – Zack Whedon + Joelle Jones. It's the origin of Dr Horrible, and it's fantastic. The only way it could be better is if it was as filmed, with musical numbers. The artist thankfully went for a style of caricature instead of direct representation that allows you to recognize the actors without getting distracted by what doesn't match.

DC
Adventure Comics #4 – Geoff Johns/Sterling Gates + Jerry Ordway. Superboy Prime is confronted by Black Lantern Alexander Luthor of Earth-3. It's wonderfully meta and postmodern, and while there is a mix of humor and menace, it is all played straight. Includes a Legion of Super-Heroes back-up by Johns/Michael Shoemaker + Clayton Henry that acts and two characters' epilog to Legion of 3 Worlds.

Brave and the Bold #29 – J. Michael Straczynski + Jesus Saiz. I couldn't pass up Batman and Brother Power, The Geek, and it is very well done. Brother Power's role as the spirit of the sixties and what that means is a large part of the story, but just as important is Batman's reaction to it.

IDW PUBLISHING
Transformers #1 – Mike Costa + Don Figueroa. The ongoing series starts two years after the events of All Hail Megatron with the Transformers, both heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons, in hiding from a humanity that won't hesitate to wipe them out. Costa does a nice job mixing the tension of the situation with the characters' personalities. Meanwhile, Figueroa is employing a new modified design sense that excellently mixes the modularity of the live action motif with the classic Generation One aesthetic.


WILDSTORM
Authority vol. 4 #3: The Lost Year – Keith Giffen (with a nod to Grant Morrison) + Darick Robertson. The explanation for the world without superpowers that the Authority have found themselves on opens itself up to some interesting storytelling possibilities. It's impossible to tell how much is Morrison's and how much is Giffen's, but if this is where Morrison was going the series would have been much better received if he had gotten here quicker.

MARVEL
Amazing Spider-Man #611 – Joe Kelly + Eric Canete. Fuck, yeah, I know, I broke my word and bought an Amazing Spider-Man comic before that DC-style world-manipulating bit of lazy writing was redacted (a.k.a. One More Day). Look, I'm upset with myself enough as is, don't rub it in. I had planned on passing it up, but Deadpool and Spidey together, written by the first great DP writer, proved impossible to resist. Thankfully, it was actually pretty darn funny. Imagine how pissed I would have been if I'd broken down and paid for it, and it wasn't enjoyable. Oy!

Cable #20 – Duane Swierczynski + Mariano Guzman. The art is... not good. It's not awful, but it just feels off. The posing, choices of angles, and flow of the action are pretty good. But the faces are off and inconsistent, making it feel uncomfortable.

Daredevil #502 – Andy Diggle + Roberto De La Torre. It still hasn't really hooked me in yet. I'm enjoying it, but I'm not as excited about it as others online have been.

Dark X-Men #1 of 5 – Paul Cornell + Leonard Kirk. I wasn't originally going to pick this up, but then I heard that X-Man, Nate Grey, was going to return in the series and that hooked me. I'm glad I picked it up. Despite featuring a characters that I mostly dislike or have not found interesting in the past, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
The back-up feature, X-Men: A Girl Called Hope part 2 by Swierczynski + Steve Dillon was pretty good. Hell, it was better than some of the recent issues of Cable. And Dillon's version of Cable was great.

Deadpool #17 – Daniel Way + Paco Medina. Deadpool's attempt to win his place on the X-Men by way of publicly assassinating a vocal critic is going as well as could be expected. An amazingly good mix of the serious world of the X-Men with the manic world of Deadpool.

Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #1 of 5 – Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Kevin Walker. Just like everything else by Abnett & Lanning, the issue was spectacular.

Sky Doll: Doll's Factory #1 of 2 – Barbara Canepa + Alessandro Barbucci. The first moments of Noa are detailed, unfortunately that only accounts for 10 pages. The rest of the issue is the penciled pages of the original and some sketchbook material. Not much substance for $5.99. I'd be much more upset if what we got wasn't so damn good.

Strange #1 of 4 – Mark Waid + Emma Rios. Speaking as a big fan of Dr. Strange, I think this was excellently done. No longer the Sorcerer Supreme, it offers a much more human version of Stephen Strange than we usually see. It's like watching John Constantine at work, but not, you know, an asshole.

S.W.O.R.D. #1 – Kieron Gillen + Steven Sanders/Jamie McKelvie. Delightfully good. Gyrich is as big a douche as ever, but easily outweighed by Abigail Chase, Beast, Lockheed, and other new supporting characters. But of course, I'm always won over with an appearance by my favorite freelance peacekeeping agent, yes?

Uncanny X-Men: First Class #5 of 8 – Scott Gray + Nelson DeCastro/Scott Koblish. It's OK, but doesn't really stand out. I really wish that Jeff Parker was writing this since he made the X-Men: First Class series so fresh.

X-Babies #2 of 4 – Gregg Schigiel + Jacob Chabot. Lots of pretty silly fun. Also reprints the first 10 pages of Planet Terry #1 from the 80s by Lennie Herman + Warren Kremer, which makes me wonder how the series got past the first issue and is still remembered by anyone today.

X-Force #21 – Craig Kyle/Christopher Yost + Clayton Crain. My ongoing complaint about Crain's artwork continues to be exemplified, it's often far too dark to see all the details. Still, it was clear enough to tell that the X-Men aren't doing too well against against the undead

BOOM
Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg Leg Wilson #4 of 4 – Roger Langridge. Another fun issue, yay!

Wall*E #0 – J. Torres + Morgan Luthi. Aww, it's so sad. Good, but it's hard not to feel bad for the lonely little guy.

DC
Booster Gold #26 – Dan Jurgens + Jurgens/Mike Norton. When they said that the dead were going to rise, you just knew that the Ted Kord Blue Beetle was going to be meeting up with Booster. And it's quite good.

Green Lantern Corps #42 – Peter Tomasi + Patrick Gleason. It's getting messy on Oa with more GLs getting injured or killed, but it certainly makes for an exciting read.

Hellblazer #259 & 260 – Peter Milligan + Simon Bisley. It's kind of in the middle of what's going on, so I was pretty lost when it comes to the specifics of the plot. Then again, John hasn't changed much since the last time I read it. I picked them up because Bisley did the art, and it's impossible to pass up something where he does more than just cover.

IDW PUBLISHING
Transformers Continuum – Not only does it do a quick recap of all the IDW Transformers comics (aside from the ones for the Animated and Movie lines), it even gives a reading chronology. The recap held nothing new for me, but it was nice to see where all the one-shot Spotlight comics fit in.

WILDSTORM
Authority volume 4 reader: The Lost Year – Grant Morrison + Gene Ha. Reprints the only two issues of Authority volume 4 that Grant Morrison saw fit to finish. Reading it, I don't know how he didn't expect a huge negative reaction to the first issue – it's exceptionally slow (even by today's standards), and doesn't have any of the Authority actually in it. The second issue was marginally better owing to the fact that the Authority actual do appear, but it's still slower than any other Authority comic ever. Whatever, at least it was relatively cheap as it reprints both issues for the price of a single comic. It's all to get ready for the Keith Giffen to finish the rest of the 12 issue series.

back-issue buy
DC
Green Lantern Annual #7 (1998) – Steve Vance + Ron Lim. Green Lantern Kyle Rayner battles dead GL Corps members re-animated and controlled by Nekron, Lord of the Dead. Blackest Night tie-in? Nope, look again at the year. Just goes to show that the stories have all been told.
The issue itself was only decent, the most interesting thing is how some of the dead GL's here later showed up alive and well. Hmmmm, must have been Superboy Prime punching the side of reality. Or bad editing. One or the other.

The Genghis Con is looming, it's this Saturday (11/28) from noon to 6pm at the Beachland Ballroom. The focus is on local independent comic artists. For more details and a list of guests, go to http://www.thegenghiscon.com/





( Larger sized image under the cut )

MARVEL
Assault on New Olympus one-shot – Greg Pak/Fred Van Lente + Rodney Buchemi. Both plot and action heavy, this special features a recap of what happened to the old Olympus, the re-union of Herc and Cho, a cameo from the Mighty Avengers, a big Herc and Spider-Man dust-up, another reunion, this time of Herc and his wife, and the revelation of what Hera has planned for humanity. Despite how dense it is, there is a lot of amusing dialog and great character moments. Also features a brief Agents of Atlas back-up by Jeff Parker + Gabriel Hardman which is continued from the X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas mini-series and continues as back-ups in Incredible Hercules beginning with issue 138.

Astonishing X-Men #32 – Warren Ellis + Phil Jimenez. OK, this issue is less derivative of WildCATs vs. Aliens, but it's still pretty unoriginal and overly de-compressed. Seriously, the issue spans something like a 15 minute timeframe.

Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1 of 4 – Paul Cornell + Tom Raney/John Paul Leon. The drastically differing art styles of the two artists help to fully ground the flashback and current events with distinctly different tones. So far, very good.

Deadpool Team-Up #899 – Fred Van Lente + Dalibor Talajic. The first ongoing, reverse-numbered series is here, courtesy of the Merc with a Mouth. Deadpool and Hercules find themselves in a labyrinth lorded over by Arcade and Nightmare, and the boys do some male bonding while battling the voices in their head and their neglected children, respectively.

Deathlok #1 of 7 – Charlie Huston + Lan Medina. The expanded retelling of the original Deathlok's origin is off to a great start. Realistic and detailed artwork makes the callous, celebrity-enthralled future world a viscerally violent experience.

Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #4 of 6 – Jason Aaron + Roland Boschi. The Ghost Rider brothers continue their infernal quest to use the Antichrist child to stop Zadkiel, the renegade angel who has stolen Heaven from God. They're aided by Daimon Hellstrom, aka the Son of Satan, and the occult terrorist Jane Cutter. They're opposed by a pair of empowered madmen that embody the insanity of the situation. Plus a lot of nuns with guns. The reprint of the second half of Ghost Rider #2 from the 70s is really the weakest part of the issue. As much as it tried, the original series never embodied the horror that it wanted to, that the new series does.

Immortal Weapons #4 of 5 – Duane Swierczynski + Khari Evans. The story of Tiger's Beautiful Daughter is the story of women warriors denied their nature and destiny until it's possibly too late. A well illustrated and written fairy tale. The continuing Iron Fist back-up by Swierczynski + Hatuey Diaz is getting batter as it pulls itself together.

Marvel Zombies: Evil Evolution one-shot – Karl Kesel + Adam DeKraker/Rob DiSalvo/Carlo Soriano/Joe Suitor. This special got the Marvel Zombies name because that's the higher profile series, but it really is a Marvel Apes versus Marvel Zombies piece. And the Marvel Apes are more of a focus than the Zombies. Maybe I'd care more about the characters the writer expects me to care about if I'd read the Apes specials, but I haven't. And that should have caused me to miss the first Apes vs. Zombies altercation in Marvel Apes: Prime Eight, but it turns out that was never actually printed as an individual special and instead was serialized online. Don't think on that too hard. This special, without the foundation for the Ape characters, is a fairly haphazard and superficial read.

Nova #31 – Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Andrea DiVito. In order to help his former New Warriors teammate, Nova hunts down Darkhawk, who was (somewhat) wrongfully accused of killing Empress Lilandra during the War of Kings.

Official Index to the Marvel Universe #11 – Amazing Spider-Man #436-441, vol.2 #1-36, Iron Man vol.3 #36-77, and Uncanny X-Men #413-456

Strange Tales #3 of 3 – Stan Sakai, yes, THAT Stan Sakai, creates one of the most interesting iterations of the Hulk story. Longshot gets the anime-rave treatment courtesy of Corey Lewis. Peter Bagge's Hulk tale comes to a close. Jeffrey Brown, Jay Stephens, Max Cannon, Jonathan Jay Lee, Paul Hornschemeier, and Becky Cloonan all offer their own weird little takes on Marvel characters. But Chris Chua provides the most bizarre thing I've seen in years.

X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas #2 of 2 – Jeff Parker + Carlo Pagulayan/Gabriel Hardman/Chris Samnee/Carlos Rodriguez. There's more fighting, then talking, then fighting, then talking. Hey, it's written by Jeff Parker so it's all a heaping helping of awesome. Leads into the Agents of Atlas back-up in Assault on New Olympus.

DC
Batman: The Widening Gyre #3 of 6 – Kevin Smith + Walter Flanagan. The relationship between Bruce and Silver is like all relationships between Bruce and a normal woman: the weakest part of the story. Still, the rest is fantastic enough to make up for it.

Doom Patrol #4 – Keith Giffen + Justiniano. Blackest Night hits the Doom Patrol, a team with more than its fair share of deceased members. Confronting their pasts and the failings does a lot to endear this series to me. Plus, more Metal Men fun by Giffen/DeMatteis + Maguire.

Lobo: Highway to Hell #1 of 2 – Scott Ian + Sam Kieth. A nicely violent and surreal trip into the depths of Hell with the Main Man.

IDW PUBLISHING
G.I.Joe #11 – Chuck Dixon + S L Gallant. Still progressing far too slowly, at least we're closer to the Joe leadership figuring out that Cobra does exist and is a legitimate threat.

WILDSTORM
Authority vol. 5 #16 – Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Drew Johnson/Mike Miller/Simon Coleby. With their powers returned, what's left of the team lays a super-sized smackdown upon Kaizen Gamorra and completely ignore the character development they've shown over the course of the series. So is it powers that make them bastards, or weakness that makes them self-reflective? With Abnett and Lanning leaving the series, we may never know.

MARVEL
Avengers: The Initiative #29 – Christos N Gage + Jorge Molina. Constrictor gets some character time, subplots with the New Warriors/Avengers Resistance continue, and the newest Big Bad makes his play. When the plot is moving I start to lose interest, it's only the moments of characterization that keep me here.

Dark Reign: The List – Punisher one-shot – Rick Remender + John Romita Jr. (inks by Klaus Janson). Continuing off the end of Punisher #10 (also out this week), Osborn goes all out to take down Castle, and his weapon of choice is Daken, Wolverine's son. We finally get a look at what would happen if Punisher and Wolverine had a no-holds barred fight. And it isn't pretty. I've never seen Romita this brutal (I didn't read Kick-Ass), so I have to admit to being kind of shocked. Overall, this was highly enjoyable, and even someone who hasn't been reading Remender's Punisher would be able to enjoy this bloodfest. This does leave me wondering how they are going to eventually return Punisher to the regular status quo of the normal guy with guns... because you just know that Frankencastle isn't going to be permanent. Marvel doesn't know how to actually change something permanently.

Dark Reign: The List – Wolverine one-shot – Jason Aaron + Esad Ribic (inks by Tom Palmer). Someone online rightfully suggested instead of calling this a Wolverine special, that Marvel should have called it “Finally a decent usage of a bunch of things created by Grant Morrison.” Wolverine spends most of the issue on the sidelines, brainwashed into being a religious zealot by Weapon XI, while Noh-Varr (Marvel Boy) and Fantomex (Weapon XIII) invade The World to keep Norman Osborn from getting its superior technology. That's all a mouthful, but what makes this great is the delightful patter between Noh-Varr and Fantomex as well as the bizarreness of the adversaries that all recall some of the best work Morrison did for Marvel. The art works almost as well as the dialog, which means it looks pretty damn good, too. A surprise hit well worth checking out, and only barely tied to what all is going down in the Marvel U.

Dark Reign: Young Avengers # 5 of 5 – Paul Cornell + Mark Brooks. Meh. I loved Cornell on Captain Britain and MI:13, but this series never really hooked me. But that's less his fault and more the nature of the cast, a bunch of self-centered, self-involved celebrity seekers. The real Young Avengers spent far too little time on page, and the “Dark Young Avengers” spent far too much.

Fantastic Four #572 – Jonathan Hickman + Dale Eaglesham. Holy awesomely cosmic slugfest! Plus, a beautiful illustration of what makes our Reed Richards different from the rest. A great, and heartwarming, start for Hickman's run. Another pleasant surprise for the week.

Guardians of the Galaxy #19 – Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Wesley Craig. What can I say about GotG that I haven't already said? How's about referring to an issue as the biggest sucker-punch to the gut since the death of Wash. I reached the end of the issue and said, “No, wait, it can't really end like that. Not really. You can't. You have to fix it. You HAVE to FIX it.” A third of the team, interesting and potential-filled characters that have been around since before the beginning of this series, were snuffed out in a matter of panels. Not issues, not pages, panels. But when all is said and done, I still love every second of this series.

Halo: Helljumper #4 of 5 – Peter David + Eric Nguyen. I'm finally starting to get a handle on the characters, and having this and the previous issue being a bit more linear certainly helped, but it's not going to be until it's over and I read them all that I will really have a sense of it.

Hulk #16 – Jeph Loeb + Ian Churchill. And now we have a Red She-Hulk. It truly IS as ludicrous as it sounds. If it weren't rolling into an event with two top notch writers, Greg Pak and Jeff Parker, I'd be back to dropping this off my list.

Incredible Hercules #137 – Fred Van Lente/Greg Pak + Rodney Buchemi. Amadeus Cho's quest for the man who killed his parents comes to a close with lots of revelations, explanations, and fantastic characterization. Leads into next week's Assault on New Olympus.

Marvel Divas #4 of 4 – Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa + Tonci Zonic. The girls go to Hell to rescue Patsy Walker (a.k.a. Hellcat) from her creepy ex, Damon Hellstrom (a.k.a. the Son of Satan). And this all started when it was discovered that Firestar had breast cancer.

New Mutants #6 – Zeb Wells + Diogenes Neves. Necrosha arrives in the most horrifying comic I've ever read... and remember, I read The Walking Dead. To be honest, not every reader will have the same reaction as I do. Even though the original series had just ended when I started collecting it, I feel closest to the New Mutants. These characters have a place in my heart like no others, because I was at just the right age when I read their stories. So to see one of them back from the dead and attacking his friends, to read so directly, by way of his ability to read body language, the team's confusion and pain, their feelings of love and betrayal, it still chokes me up.

Nova #30 – Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Kevin Sharpe. More great stuff from Abnett & Lanning. It was also reassuring to see that all of my complaints about the Monark Starstalker character have been rendered null and void. I should have had more faith.

Punisher #10 – Rick Remender + Tan Eng Huat. The single-mindedness of Frank Castle is highlighted as he proves to be crazy enough to shock a couple of the villains, including the Hood. It's an action filled character piece that leads into Dark Reign: The List – Punisher one-shot, and Frankencastle.

Wolverine Art Appreciation one-shot – Write ups on the Wolverine art appreciation variant covers, the artists that created them, and the original pieces/artists that inspired them. Very interesting, but could have been better if they had a little more on the originals as well as examples of the ones that are in the public domain. As it is, it's a nice pin up book and art history introduction.

Wolverine: First Class #20 – Peter David + Dennis Calero. Another great issue as Captain Marvel helps Wolvie and Kitty escape from Skrulls.

Wolverine: Weapon X #6 – Jason Aaron + Yanick Paquette. A promising beginning to the institutionalized Logan story. They call it “Insane in the Brain,” and skipped right over doing some kind of pun on One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest. It's creepy cool.

X-Factor #50 – Peter David + Valentine De Landro. A fantastic finale that wraps up most of the threads from the last few years. The explanation about Layla's powers and how she knows stuff works really well, even if I've seen both before.

X-Force #20 – Craig Kyle/Christopher Yost + Mike Choi/Sonia Oback. X-23 does her bad-ass best, while the rest of the team picks up the pieces from the last few issues in preparation for the Necrosha event.

X Necrosha one-shot – Necrosha begins, as Selene, The Black Queen, uses a mix of sorcery and the alien transmode virus to resurrect deceased friends and enemies of the X-Men in her quest to become a deity of death.
The X-Force story by Kyle/Yost + Clayton Crain sees the undead arriving on the shores of Utopia, as well as the dead-filled nation of Genosha. The New Mutants tale by Zeb Wells + Ibraim Roberson depicts the resurrection of Doug Ramsey with my new favorite first words of “What language am I?” It goes on to only hint at the horror to come in New Mutants #6. Finally, the X-Men: Legacy piece by Mike Carey + Laurence Campbell features the resurrected Destiny, and the revelation of who her daughter is.
The timing of this event could be better, occurring as it does right now at the same time as Blackest Night it comes off as unoriginal and derivative. The truth is that the groundwork for this, and the continuity it uses, has been being established over the last couple of years. I'm not saying this is 100% original, but neither is it 100% rip-off, which is what most people unfamiliar with it will believe.

ARCHAIA
Days Missing #3 of 5 – Ian Edginton + Lee Moder. Another good issue as our mysterious savior is discovered, and ramifications ensue.

DC
Blackest Night #4 – Geoff Johns + Ivan Reis. B-list heroes are told to “hero up,” essentially, while the evil force behind the Black Lanterns step into the light.

Gotham City Sirens #5 – Paul Dini + Guillem March. The girls take on the psychotically evil jokester that has been plaguing them of late. My interest in this series is quickly waning. The art is very good and the dialog is pretty amusing, but none of the characters are really holding my attention. Even good ol' Harley Quinn is leaving me cold, and I usually go for the crazy chicks.

Green Lantern #47 – Geoff Johns + Doug Mahnke. Hal Jordan and Sinestro have a heart-to-heart amidst the chaos. Not really, but Hal learns that there is more to Sinestro than he thought as they fight a resurrected Abin Sur, amongst other.

SLAVE LABOR GRAPHICS
Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer graphic novel – Van Jensen + Dusty Higgins. Brilliant. A funny yet poignant graphic novel with art done in a vaguely woodcut-esque style.


back issue buys
DARK HORSE COMICS
Hellboy volume 7: The Troll Witch and Others – A collection of short stories from various locales, from the Dark Horse Book of .... series to a Hellboy miniseries, as well as a new original one. Most are both written and illustrated by Mignola, but one is illustrated by the unique Richard Corben while the new piece is by the illustrious P. Craig Russell. They are all pretty loose on character, coming across like Mignola doing legend and myth fanfiction. “I'll take this old story I found... and throw in Hellboy!” It would seem egotistical and silly if they didn't work so well.

DC
Seven Soldiers: Bulleteer #1-4 (Jan 06 – May 06) – Grant Morrison + Yanick Paquette. It's a pretty good commentary upon the fetishization of super-heroines while at the same time being what it is commenting upon, and it can be enjoyed without the rest of the Seven Soldiers stuff. But I'm a little uncomfortable with the seedy underbelly to super-heroics shown in the DC Universe here. I'd be fine with it in Wildstorm or, hell, even Marvel, but part of me doesn't want to consider the idea of super-heroine porn being peddled in the wholesome land of Superman.

SLAVE LABOR GRAPHICS
Space Raoul graphic novel – Jamie Smart. I love Space Raoul. He's little, pink, British, and arrogantly sure of his right to do as he pleases in the pursuit of his idea of justice. Oh, and tea. It's a bunch of lighthearted fun in a bunch of short, amusing strips.

VALIANT
Archer & Armstrong: First Impressions hardcover – Bob Layton/Jim Shooter/Barry Windsor Smith + Barry Windsor-Smith. The book collects issues #0 – 6 of the original series, with an extra new story by Shooter + Sal Velutto. The story of a young martial arts spiritualist and a super strong, couple-millenia-old reprobate works better in theory than execution. The art makes it a worthwhile read, but I'm not going to run out and get the rest. While the characterization of Armstrong the strongman was consistent (get the subtle pun with the name?), the portrayal of Archer, the “monk” with a crossbow, jumped around a whole lot (another subtle pun with the name). To be fair, being the the first seven issues of a brand new ongoing series with brand new characters in a brand new shared universe from a brand new publishing company, I'm sure they did need some time to stretch their legs and work out the kinks. Valiant was a solid contender in the early nineties, and probably wouldn't have imploded if Image hadn't come along and stolen the talent and limelight. (Of course, Valiant pushing out the founder, Jim Shooter, certainly had a lot to do with its demise.)

MARVEL
Dark Reign: The List – Hulk one-shot – Greg Pak + Ben Oliver. I had a little discussion with my shop owner about the merits of these one shots. I wasn't impressed by this one and most of them, but he had the opposite opinion. I realized later that the reason is differing criteria of what “good” is. For me, I expect them to be something that fits with the series they are featuring as well as being something significant enough to warrant a special as opposed to just being another issue of the series. That's where this failed for me, it felt tangential to the regular series, mostly unimportant to the regular series, and the only pieces significant to the ongoing plot could have been woven into the regular series as subplot pages over the course of a couple of issues. His measure of good was whether someone unfamiliar with what was happening in the regular series could pick up and enjoy the issue on its own.
But that got me thinking further. If the measure of “good” is based upon the purpose of the special, then it works. What is its purpose? To sell comics. To sell itself, and its related series. Under that, most of these Dark Reign: The List specials qualify as a “good.” The creators involved draw people in and the story is set to get people into buying the regular series. That all said, if I was going to gage how good things were by how well they sold I could just post up the Diamond sales figures and be done with it, but that's not how I roll. I do not subscribe to the idea that something is good simply because a lot of people buy it, and that something is bad because only a few people buy it. Success may be measured in those terms, but not quality. And me, I want some god damn quality, motherfucker. This was a major disappointment in that regard because it came in well under the writing quality of The Incredible Hulk and other works by Greg Pak, and it felt like a hollow waste of $3.99.
OK, the art is quite nice, and it contains a reprint of the first appearance of the Green Goblin from Amazing Spider-Man #14 by Lee+Ditko, which also happened to feature the Hulk.

Deadpool: Merc With a Mouth #4 – Victor Gischler + Bong Dazo. The adventure in the Savage Land continues, and this time we get a zombie T-Rex on top of the hordes of cannibals, Hydra Agents, and regular dinosaurs a trying to take possession of Zombie Deadpool's head. OK, the zom T-Rex just wanted to eat everybody, but you get the gist.

Incredible Hulk #603 – Greg Pak + Ariel Olivetti/Giuseppe Camuncoli. Banner's training of Skaar continues with a brawl against Wolverine. Then Daken shows up to make it a “sons versus fathers” event. Brilliant choice to give Ariel Olivetti the break he needs (he's unfortunately not fast enough for monthly) by having the regular artist on Dark Wolverine draw the scenes with Daken.

Mighty Avengers #30 – Christos N. Gage/Dan Slott +Sean Chen. The battle with the Unspoken gets taken seriously as the Mighty are joined by the Young and the New Avengers as well as the Avengers Resistance. And Hank Pym levels up. Seriously.

Punisher Noir #3 of 4 – Frank Tieri + Paul Azaceta. Frank Jr. takes on two of the three people that took out his dad, Barracuda and Jigsaw. It's all setting up for him to go against the third next issue, the most dangerous of the bunch?

Skrull Kill Krew #5 of 5 – Adam Felber + Mark Robinson. Hmmm. I wanted to really like this series. The preview and the first issue were both high octane “violence is hilarious, don't you think?” stories. Then it broke the tone with the Krew finding out they are now genetically identical to Skrulls, and some of them going through self-questioning angst with the news. And then there's the artificially saccharine realization that some Skrulls just want to live their lives and aren't interested in subjugating/killing humanity. And then Norman Osborn is involved in a web of conspiracy against everybody. I'm not saying it had to be a violence-is-funny festival all the way through, and frankly it's better that they tried to move beyond that, but they overreached and and made it overcomplicated. At the end of the day, it's a marginally enjoyable mess.

Wolverine: Origins #41 – Daniel Way + Doug Braithwaite. Bad editing rears its head as a second Wolverine-meet-Skaar story comes out in the same week, neither one acknowledging the other and both being represented as first time introductions. Aside from that, the series continues with its trend of having Wolvie get his ass kicked every issue.

X-Men: Legacy #228 – Mike Carey + Daniel Acuna. The fight against Emplate continues. I was afraid when this series began featuring the full X-Men cast again that Carey was going to degenerate back into the flat yet ludicrous crapfest writing that he used before it became Legacy. Thankfully, his walkabout with Xavier seems to have left him in a better state to handle these characters, have them react believably, and overall reach a satisfying balance of humor, action, and suspense.

DARK HORSE COMICS
Beasts of Burden #2 of 4 – Evan Dorkin + Jill Thompson. A very sad, very creepy tale about the search for lost puppies. Thompson has always impressed me, but Dorkin is really stepping up to prove that he's more than just that guy that's good at humorously surreal violence.

Sugarshock one-shot – Joss Whedon + Fabio Moon. Pretty funny. Kinda disjointed, and really directionless, but it's funny and they're characters I wouldn't mind reading more about.

DC
Blackest Night: Superman #3 of 3 – James Robinson + Eddy Barrows/Alan Goldman. Superman, Superboy, and Krypto the Super Dog kill the dead. The interaction between Superman and Superboy is the highlight of the series, and really the main point for there being a Superboy anyway. Then again, seeing Krypto take on Black Lantern Lois Lane was freaking awesome.

Power Girl #6 – Justin Gray/Jimmy Palmiotti + Amanda Conner. It feels a little over-bright, over-caffeinated. Like it's trying too hard to be fun romp. I don't know. I'll give it a little more time simply because I love Conner's art.

IDW PUBLISHING
G.I.Joe #10 – Chuck Dixon + S L Gallant. Finally! It's Snake-Eyes in action. And either he's not as good in this continuity, or the Cobra soldiers are a hell of a lot better than they've ever been shown before.

Keeping with the tradition of more comic book info than you care to hear -

Say hello to the Genghis Con.

It's a Cleveland comic book convention showcasing local, independent artists. The official site is located at www.thegenghiscon.com

These two paragraphs from the latest news release really won me over, and have me very excited about the event---

The organizers of Genghis Con are committed to creating an event which is unique in many ways. Early in the planning stages, the convention organizers decided to break most of the rules of a normal comic convention. These changes include eliminating the dealer’s room and the endless rows of fading TV celebrities. Perhaps the most radical difference is participants will not be charged for table space as they are at other comic conventions. The organizers feel this will free the artists from feeling the pressure to “make up their costs” and allow them to focus on promoting their work.

"We are not doing this to make money,” says Scott Rudge, one of the Genghis Con organizers and owner of Astound Comics in Westlake, Ohio. “We want the creators to use the money they save on renting space to offer inexpensive copies of their work. This benefits both the artist and the audience in a way not seen at a typical comic con. We want those attending the convention to feel comfortable interacting meaningfully with the creators and we hope to do that by making the communication of ideas as inexpensive as possible.”

MARVEL
Astonishing X-Men #31 – Warren Ellis + Phil Jimenez. It's Jimenez's debut, but I've never been too impressed by him. He's good, but not great. At least he's reliably good, which is better than you can say for most artists. It may be too early to feel this way, but it seems Ellis is doing a vast decompressed rehashment of a tale he did years ago, WildCATs versus Aliens. (Its main claim to fame was the destruction of Stormwatch that led directly to the Authority.) This whole issue covered events depicted in only three or four pages in that old one-shot, namely the wildly uncontrolled descent to Earth of an escape pod ejected because of the presence of hostile xenomorphs, in this case the Brood, Marvel's blatant rip-off of the famous Aliens. So far I'm very unimpressed, even though Ellis does get to show off his skill with snarky dialog when it comes to Abigail Brand. It certainly sounds better coming from her than it does any of the X-Men.

Avengers: The Initiative #28 – Christos N. Gage + Rafa Sandoval. One of the Initiative teams decides to publicly secede and trash-talk Norman, which of course leads to them getting their asses kicked despite a helping hand from the Avengers Resistance (former members of the Initiative and/or of the original New Warriors). Predominantly a slugfest with a a few moments of character.

Cable #19 – Duane Swierczynski + Gabriel Guzman. It's Cable, in the future, in space, battling the Brood. Geez, they're worse than cockroaches.

Daredevil #501 – Andy Diggle + Robert De La Torre. It's OK. That's it.

Deadpool #16 – Daniel Way + Paco Medina. Deadpool asks to join the X-Men, and the X-Men nearly unanimously think it is a horrible idea. Domino is sent to find out if he's for realz, but he's actually Deadpool.

Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #3 of 6 – Jason Aaron + Roland Boschi. Lots of crazy action – featuring Big Wheel, Trull the Mighty, and a bunch of well armed nuns.

Official Index to the Marvel Universe #10 – Amazing Spider-Man #402-435, Iron Man vol 2 #8-13, Iron Man vol 3 #1-35, and Uncanny X-Men #376-412.

Strange Tales #2 of 3 – The Iron Man story by Tony Millionaire is just freaking bizarre, but most of the issue is highly enjoyable. I'd love to see more of Ben Grimm and him moss mustache by Jacob Chabot. Jonathan Hickman does some great recruitment posters for Galactus. And then, of course, there is The Incorrigible Hulk by Peter Bagge.

X-Babies #1 of 4 – Gregg Schigiel + Jacob Chabot. Mojo is dethroned, and the X-Babies are replaced by even babier versions that feature a sickening amount of moral wholesomeness. And the real X-Babies aren't going to put up with that. I'd almost think it was a commentary upon the brilliant Mini-Marvels being forced out by the insipidly commercial Marvel Super Hero Squad, but Marvel isn't that self-aware. Also features the Chris Claremont + Arthur Adams story from Uncanny X-Men Annual #12 that was the first appearance of the X-Babies.

ARCHAIA
Days Missing #2 of 5 – David Hine + Chris Burnham. The time bending immortal reveals the real origin of the Frankenstein story.

DC COMICS
Doom Patrol #3 – Keith Giffen + Matthew Clark. I still haven't come to a decision on this series, but that's not that surprising – Doom Patrol isn't an easy thing to get a grip on. It's followed up by another enjoyable Metal Men tale by Giffen/DeMatteis + Kevin Maguire.

WILDSTORM
Authority vol. 5 #15 – Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Drew Johnson/Simon Coleby. The mix of art styles is a little disjointing, but the story is still fantastic. I'm really sad that DnA's run is almost over.

Planetary #27 – Warren Ellis + John Cassaday. Speaking of over... the final issue of Planetary finally came out. It only took three years. And it's not even the conclusion, #26 was. This is nothing but an epilogue that really only ties up a single item. Still, it was an enjoyable couple minutes with some old friends that is making me itch to re-read the entire series to spend time with them again.

Wow, I mean, awesomely wow. This isn't a character I ever expected seeing someone cosplay, but she's done an excellent job. Sure, the character's first appearance has caused permanent mental scarring to some people I know, but she's still a significantly obscure character.

Then again, how often do you get to go around showing off your nut sack?

MARVEL
Dark Reign: The Hood #5 of 5 - Jeff Parker + Kyle Hotz. It's another good chapter in the story of The Hood, but its ending was hurt because what happened next has already been shown in the New Avengers. Still, it's an excellent sequel to the original Hood miniseries that keeps what is unique to the character at the forefront.

Dark X-Men: The Confession one-shot - Craig Kyle/Chris Yost + Bing Cansino. Cyclops and Emma Frost have a long chat revealing the things they have or thought that they have kept hidden from the other. The Kyle/Yost writing team isn't exactly known for its depth of characterization, and this won't be winning many points. The writing is pretty melodramatic, but that sort of thing is par for the course with the X-Men. Most remarkable was the portrayal of an open relationship, something that's rarely explicitly shown or condoned in mainstream media.

Fantastic Four #571 - Jonathan Hickman + Dale Eaglesham. Still good, it has the potential to be something that explores the deepest corners of Reed Richards' character. I'll wait and see.

Halo: Helljumper #3 of 5 - Peter David + Eric Nguyen. More enjoyable than the first two since I'm finally starting to get familiar with the characters. And two of the main characters are from the Halo 3: ODST game.

Hulk #15 - Jeph Loeb + Ian Churchill. There's less and less that makes sense, but it's starting to look like Jeph might eventually explain some of it.

Immortal Weapons #3 of 5 - Rick Spears + Tim Green II. The tale of Dog Brother #1 is pretty rough, but very well done. The Iron Fist back-up by Swierczynski+Diaz is finally getting engaging, and now I'm as interested in it as I am the rest of the main stories.

Incredible Hulk #602 - Greg Pak + Ariel Olivetti. Skaar's training begins with fighting the Juggernaut. That tells you right there that fun was had. The Savage She-Hulk back-up by Fred Van Lente + Michael Ryan is decent, but not too inspired yet.

Marvel Divas #3 of 4- Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa + Tonci Zonjic. Firestar's chemotherapy begins, but that doesn't mean the plots for the others are ignored. With a cameo by the Son of Satan.

Marvel Zombies Return #4 of 5 - Seth Grahame-Smith + Richard Elson. It's World War Hulk, with zombies! The story reads way too quickly, consisting primarily of a single protracted battle. Meanwhile, the art is a little too super-heroic for zombies. Still overall enjoyable.

Marvel Zombies Return #5 of 5 - Fred Van Lente + Wellington Alves. A very satisfying close to the series with a perfectly zombie-appropriate ending. I'm impressed with Alves art here, he did a much better job with the horror, gore, and destruction than I expected from his bright & shiny work on Nova.

New Mutants #5 - Zeb Wells + Zachary Baldus. The hyped return of Warlock only constitutes a cameo, but the issue was still enjoyable. It is an epilogue to both the first arc as well as to Exodus, and does an excellent job of following up on open items from both. I'm hoping to see more art from Baldus in the future. The texture of the work, looking almost like colored pencils, is something rarely seen in comics.

Punisher Annual #1 - Rick Remender + Jason Pearson. Lots of violent fun with Frank, peppered with some swingin' helpings of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

Thor #603 - J. Michael Straczynski + Marko Djurdjevic. Thor and Sif get some quality time, the Warriors Three get a job, and the evil machinations of Dr. Doom and Loki get revealed to... Bill.

Uncanny X-Men #515 - Matt Fraction + Greg Land. The fallout from the mutant Exodus lands squarely in Cyclops' lap with a heavy thud. It's fun to watch.

Wolverine: First Class #19 - Peter David + Dennis Calero. Another fun issue, this time featuring those dastardly Skrulls. Making Kitty the focus of this Wolverine series was a brilliant choice to keep it different from all the other comics under the Wolvie banner.


Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size #1 - Mark Millar + Steve McNiven. The much-anticipated (by people other than me) conclusion to the "Old Man Logan" storyline is beautiful to behold but lacks any narrative substance. But if you've been paying attention, then you know I wasn't really expecting much from the story. Hell, it's hard to actually refer to this issue as a story and not just a series of grisly images.

Wolverine: Origins #40 - Daniel Way + Scot Eaton. Wolverine and Romulus, round one, turns out to be just what I expected, considering the history of this series - another chance to show that Wolverine is an idiotic tool (pun intended). Does this writer even like him?

Wolverine: Weapon X #5 - Jason Aaron + Ron Garney. An overall satisfying conclusion to the first arc. Color me surprised. 

X-Factor #49 - Peter David + Valentine De Landro. The various plots continued forward, inexorably drawing together. It's great to watch, and even more fun to read.

X-Force #19 - Craig Kyle/Chris Yost + Mike Choi. I'm still mostly enjoying it, though many elements have me asking "Really?" a lot. But I can't really describe it. I guess it should be a good sign that there is so much going on I can't condense it into a brief review, I've been getting more and more annoyed with the decompression seen in other comics that make individual issues completely unsatisfying.

BOOM
Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg Leg Wilson #3 of 4 - Roger Langridge. Not the best issue of the series, but still highly enjoyable.

BROADSWORD COMICS
Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #58 - Jim Balent. The "Shades of Magick" story finally gets interesting with its final chapter as Tarot confronts Raven in the Library of Magick, and Raven's goals are revealed.

DARK HORSE COMICS
Aliens #3 of 4 - John Arcudi + Zach Howard. The mysteries continue, and our protagonist starts to realize that he may not be able to trust himself either.

DC
Batman: The Widening Gyre #2 of 6 - Kevin Smith + Walter Flanagan. Another good comic, but the inclusion of a love interest feels forced. Then again, it does in any Batman story with a love interest.

Blackest Night: Superman #2 of 3 - James Robinson + Eddy Barrows. The history of the Superman family of characters is coming back to haunt them. Porbably thrilling to a Superman fan, but only OK to me.

Gotham City Sirens #4 - Paul Dini + Guillem March. Another enjoyable issue, that immediately made me want to watch some Joker & Harley episodes of Batman: The Animated Series. I could hear the characters' voices in my head. In my head!

Green Lantern #46 - Geoff Johns + Doug Mahnke. The long-awaited battle between Sinestro and Mongul for control of the Sinestro Corps is only one of the events featured in this issue. 

Power Girl #5 - Jimmy Palmiotti/Justin Gray + Amanda Conner. Another fun issue. (Is it that I have less to say on DC comics, or am I just getting tired of writing? I don't know.)

Wednesday Comics #12 of 12 - Most of the stories here are follow-ups to climaxes that took place in the previous issue, but it was still well worth the read. I wouldn't want this to be an on-going thing, but if they did another limited series like this I would pick it up.

IDW PRESS
G.I.Joe #9 - Chuck Dixon + S. L. Gallant. Snake Eyes and Mainframe check into COBRA central, while the rest of the Joes are still ineffectually chasing their own tails.

small haul, funds low

MARVEL
Dark Reign: The List - X-Men one-shot - Matt Fraction + Alan Davis. I have to admit to being disappointed. I'm a big fun of Alan Davis's art, but he wasn't very inspired here. There are some good panels, but most are pretty boring. I'm also disappointed in the story. I've liked everything I've read by Matt Fraction so far, and while not every issue of Uncanny X-Men has been a winner, they have been consistently enjoyable. This one leaves me overwhelmingly "meh." Hell, it's worse than that with yet another stand-off between Namor and Norman that, based on his character, should have ended with Namor punching a hole through Normie's chest. And of course, it didn't end that way.

Guardians of the Galaxy #18 - Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Wesley Craig. With another fantastic issue of GotG, DnA continue to put the lie to the adage of being careful what you wish for. I was waiting for this series to be relaunched, and I've been thrilled every step of the way. This issue features another alternate version of the original 31st Guardians that again demonstrates the attention the writers have paid to what has come before as they continue to forge steadily ahead.

Incredible Hercules #135 - Fred Van Lente/Greg Pak + Rodney Buchemi. This issue starring Amadeus Cho is brilliantly laugh out loud fantastic. No other comic has so well melded role-playing games, quantum physics, and The Hero With a Thousand Faces. It moves the plot along while also being as meta as can be. I just want to give the writers a big old hug.

Nova #29 - Abnett/Lanning + Kevin Sharpe. Not the greatest issue of the run, but still pretty good. The main downfall of the issue is what they are hyping about it, the re-introduction of Monark Starstalker. Don't worry if you don't recognize the name, he's so obscure he not only doesn't have a page on Wikipedia, he doesn't even have a bio on Marvel.com. He's also not very interesting so far - he's a greedy, underhanded opportunist that wants to be a dashing, bad-ass cross between Errol Flynn and Boba Fett, but instead is nothing but a pompously annoying cheater. At least all the scenes with the Nova Corps members are excellent.

Last week was annoying. A lot of things came out that I wanted to buy but haven't the money for right now.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Got to get the 2-disc version, has interviews and featurettes. Woot!

X-Men The Animated Series (I like to call it X-Tas) volumes 3 and 4. I'm pretty sure these finish the series, and even though I know there is more cool stuff in the single XO:W movie than there is in the combined 30-some half hour episodes here, I still want them. They don't call me an X-Fan for nothing. Well, actually, nobody calls me an X-Fan except myself.

Big Bang Theory Season Two. I only got to see a handful of episodes fromt eh second season, but they seemed to be at least as good as the first season, which I love.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 for the Xbox 360. This one only barely makes the list. Yes, I want it. Yes, I'm excited to play it. Yes, I'm really looing forward to finding out what kind of combo moves Cable and Deadpool can perform. Hell, I'm just thrilled to be able to play as Cable because he's awesome. You need proof? Here -- super powers + heavy artillery = awesome. Scientific proof. But since I still haven't completed the first one the urge for this one can be ignored for a while.

I'm taking my car in for exhaust work this Friday. I'm expecting to have to pay a couple hundred, because I haven't had anything done on the exhaust since I got the car in 2000. Ugh.

I may stop by the comic shop this Wednesday, but only to make sure they didn't miss putting anything in my file and to pick up a few essential items - Dark Reign: The List - X-Men (Alan Davis art!), Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova (Abnett & Lanning), and Incredible Hercules (Van Lente & Pak).

But today I'm picking up Halo 3: ODST. Why? Cuz it's freakin' Halo 3: ODST!

And yes, that is Captain Tightpance, Nathan Fillion himself, giving orders.



And for some live-action awesomeness, check this out. Yes again, I did say live action.

MARVEL
Agents of Atlas #10 - Parker + Hardman. The war of the evil empires escalates in this great issue of a great series.

Cable #18 - Swierczynski + Gabriel Guzman. Space action and evil aliens.

Deadpool #15 - Daniel Way + Paco Medina. DP tries to find something interesting to live for, and ends up talking to the voices in his head a lot. Not much plot movement other than some teasing, but it's funny and ties into Dark Avengers #8 and the Utopia crossover.

Exiles #6 - Parker + Salva Espin. Crap, this is the series finale. Another great series choked out by the glut of other series out there. Or maybe it never recovered from the stench of Claremont's run on the previous issue. I don't know. But I highly recommend picking up the trade when it comes out as a fantastic bit of reality shuffling full of wonderful dialog and interesting characters. There was so much this series could have done if it had been given time, but Parker did a nice job of providing a satisfying resolution on short notice.

Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #2 of 6 - Aaron + Boschi. It's a great supernatural ride. Followed up by the second half of the original Ghost Rider #1.

Immortal Weapons #2 of 5 - The Bride of Nine Spiders tale by Cullen Bunn and Dan Brereton doesn't offer an origin, but does deliver a classically creepy horror story. The continuing Iron Fist back-up by Swierczynski + Foreman is decent, but hasn't done anything that really shines yet.

Marvel Zombies Return #1 of 5 - Fred Van Lente + Nick Dragotta. This issue starring the Zombie Spider-Man marks the return of the big name Marvel Zombies not seen since the finale of the second MZ series. I usually love everything Fred Van Lente does, but the over-the-top 60s style narration was a bit much. Sure, its appropriate since the story features Zombie Spider-Man ending up in a 60s Spider-Man comic setting, but it's stomach churning when set against the copious amounts of gore.

Official Index of the Marvel Universe #9 - Covers Amazing Spider-Man #367-401, Iron Man #300-332, vol.2 #1-7, and Uncanny X-Men #338-375.

Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz hardcover - Eric Shanower + Skottie Young. A nicely faithful adaptation of the original L. Frank Baum novel with wonderfully original character designs. It shows its fairly tale roots a little too strongly for my tastes in some scenes, but it's overall delightful and I'm looking forward to the next volume. That's right, they are going to adapt more of the novels.

Strange Tales #1 of 3 - This anthology is a bizarre mix of independent artist playing with Marvel mainstays. Creators include Paul Pope, Molly Crabapple, Junke Mizuno, James Kochalka, Peter Bagge, Nick Bertozzi, and the Perry Bible Fellowship. My favorite was the Dr. Strange piece by Dash Shaw that was the most surreal that the good doctor has been since Ditko drew him. 

DC
Wednesday Comics #9 of 12 - Still fun.

WILDSTORM
Authority vol.5 #14 - Abnett/Lanning + Drew Johnson/Simon Coleby. I'm not overly thrilled with Drew Johnson's art on this series, it's far too bright and clean for this post-apocalyptic series. Still, the story and writing continue to be top notch. 

So now I'm moved, but things are really crazy-busy like. I just finally got to see G.I.Joe today because, mainly, I said "I'm going to go, and that's that." Still, if not for the holiday I still wouldn't have been able to fit it in. Also saw the documentary Night Music: The Art of P. Craig Russell at the Cleveland Museum of Art on August 26th, and Mr. Russell was there to answer questions afterwards. Many shades of awesome. I'll talk about both when I've got more time.

I guess I should also do a quick update on my birthday, for posterity's sake. More accurately, so in years hence when I'm suffering from dementia I can say, "Back when I was young, I was cool... no, wait, I wasn't."

Anywho, worked on the move, drank a lot, saw some friends, drank a lot more, got Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog (thanks folks!), drank a lot more, went across the street to the 24-hour hot dog place, and then, uhm, well, I did say I drank a lot, right? If I drank more often I might be better at it. Probably not. So it's good that I don't drink more often.

Now, back to the task at hand-
MARVEL
Daredevil #500 - Let's take this by the numbers, people.
Story one by Ed Brubaker + Michael Lark. I have to admit to having felt that Brubaker's run had lost some steam in the last few months as the time between issues increased, but with this, wow. Weeks later and I still periodically tilt my head to the side and say to myself, "That was a really good issue." Seriously, it's spectacular. This was a brilliant ending that arose unexpectedly but logically from all that came before it, not just Brubaker's run but the entire series itself. Every panel hits full force as a thing of depth and beauty. And talk about a significant change to the status quo, done just in time for the next writer. Brilliant. Bendis did a similar thing, having put Murdock in jail for his final issue, and now Brubaker does another new twist for oncoming writer Andy Diggle.
Speaking of Andy Diggle, the second story is an eight page preview of the upcoming Dark Reign: The List - Daredevil one-shot that will officially kick off Andy Diggle and Billy Tan's run. Eight pages is a lot of preview, but still does't answer the question of how Diggle is going to handle the situation. Guess that's why we're supposed to buy it, huh?
The third story is by Ann Nocenti + David Aja. Ann wrote Daredevil for a couple of years in the late eighties, and shows that she is still adept at telling stories with him. It's a lovely little piece that warmed this Nocenti-fan's heart, but should be appreciated by just about any reader. The art by David Aja is as great as any of the stuff he did on Immortal Iron Fist.
There are some nice pin-ups by a variety of artists, and then the issue is capped with a reprint of Daredevil #191 by Frank Miller. It's one of the most memorable of Miller's original run as DD has a one-sided heart-to-doped-up-comatose-guy with Bullseye while playing Russion roulette with him.

Deadpool: Suicide Kings #5 of 5 - Mike Benson/Adam Glass + Carlo Barberi. Lots of madcap mayhem as Deadpool fights the Wrecking Crew with an assist from Spider-Man and the Punisher. Lots of stuff has been stretched pretty far in this, and that's even for a DP story, leaving me with a lot of flash and little that is memorable. This series isn't the best example of what makes DP cool, mainly due to the many times I'm knocked out of the story by lapses in characterization and basic logic. No, DP himself doesn't need logic, but the story should have some like, for instance, the Punisher letting him go because he was framed for this one thing. Yes, he was framed for this one thing, but he's dead to rights guilty of thousands more. Think, people, it's not that hard.

Mighty Avengers #28 - Dan Slott/Chrstos Gage + Khoi Pham. Though the idea of this "lost" king of the Inhumans is interesting, the rest of it is slipping quickly. If the series wasn't ending in a few months I'd be dropping it right now.

Punisher #8 - Remender + Huat. It's Frank versus the mid-Eighties Avengers. Good, wholesome fun.

Punisher Noir #1 of 4 - Frank Tieri + Paul Azaceta. A noir tale focused on Frank Castelione's father, a World War I vet. Has a couple of nods to Ennis' Punisher stories, and looks to have some more. So far, it's a very, very engaging tale with great art.

Wolverine: Weapon X #4 - Jason Aaron + Ron Garney. The momentum is building quite well, and it features a wonderful two-page battle spread. I'm still cautious about liking it too much until it reaches its conclusion.

X-Factor #47 - Peter David + Valentine De Landro. Another good issue with lots of things going on, multiple plots in the present as well as numerous sides to the plot in the future. It's all moving nicely towards a promising conclusion.

X-Men: Legacy #227 - Mike Carey + Duston Weaver. Rogue, Gambit, and Danger help out during the riots of the Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-men: Utopia crossover. Rogue and Gambit haven't been this great together since the 90s showing a wonderful chemistry balanced by their personal fears and issues.

ARCHAIA
Days Missing #1 of 5 - Phil Hester + Frazer Irving. The story of an immortal that has saved humanity numerous times, and then erased our memories of it, is off to a very interesting start. One of the nice things about it is that his reason for saving us isn't a high and mighty lofty one, it's because he doesn't want to be alone. The first issue had a lot of touching moments, but wasn't in the least bit sappy. That in itself is fairly remarkable.

DC
Blackest Night: Superman #1 of 3 - James Robinson + Eddy Barrows. The Blackest Night hits Smallville in a big way with the recruitment of the Golden Age Superman into the Black Lanterns. Now the original Big S has a bone to pick with the current Supes and the newly resurrected Superboy.

Power Girl #4 - Justin Gray/Jimmy Palmiotti + Amanda Conner. PG and Terra hang out, then battle magical creatures. Fun!

Wednesday Comics #7 of 12 - Continuing to make it easy for me to know the release date of stuff when I'm running behind like this. Also, good.

IDW PRESS
G.I.Joe: Origins #6 - Chuck Dixon + Agustin Padilla. The story focuses on Scarlett, but doesn't really give her origins. There are a few insights into her past and her character, but was overall only decent.

Transformers: All Hail Megatron #14 of 12 - The Sunstreaker story by Shane McCarthy and Emiliano was great enough to still touch me weeks later. It's amazing how much emotional depth they gave a character that was always portrayed as a narcissistic pretty-boy. The Galvatron story by Andy Schmidt and Andrew Griffith was much weaker, being nothing more than a tease for an upcoming storyline, but one I'm really hoping does get played out.

Back-issue buys
DC
Supergirl #12 - Jimmy Palmiotti/Justin Gray + Amanda Conner. Not only is it a second helping of the current PG creative team, but more importantly it is Terra's first appearance. Just to be clear, I'm always glad for more of Amanda Conner's art. Oh, hey, she's in Wednesday Comics as well, also illustrating Supergirl.

Yet another edition of Weekly Haul Quick-Shots

MARVEL
Cable #17 - Still good.

Deadpool #13 - Deadpool becomes a pirate. Hah. Hah-hah-hah-HAH!

Incredible Hercules #132 - Herc dresses up as Thor to save Asgard. Seriously.

Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #4 of 4 - A silly delight from beginning to end. Includes the revelation that there will be more Pet Avengers adventures next year. Woo-hoo!!

Marvel Divas #2 of 4 - Still no super-heroics, would you like some breast cancer instead?

Uncanny X-Men #514 - The Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men crossover continues, and the real X-Men prepare to take down the Dark X-Men.

Uncanny X-Men: First Class #2 - Nightcrawler is put on trial at the Inhumans' city. Good all-ages, old-school style fun.

DC
Adventure Comics #1 - The Superboy story by Johns+Manapul is fairly good, and Connor Kent is a fairly interesting character, but he's for too ingrained in the middle of the DCU for my comfort. I'm really more interested in the back-up feature with the Leagion of Super-Heroes. It's written by Johns and illustrated by Clayton Henry. This one served mainly as set-up, but shows a lot of promise.

Blackest Night #2 of 8 - The story is still building up its momentum. It's good, but I'd like to see some more plot movement.

Booster Gold #23 - The New Teen Titans were killed in the past, and the only way to save them is to go into the future. Ah, the joys of time travel!

Green Lantern Corps #39 - It's a Blackest Night tie-in, of course. It's awesome, of course.

Wednesday Comics #6 of 12 - Halfway through and still worth the $3.99 an issue.

IDW
G.I.Joe #8 - Cobra begins making some overt moves, and two rogue Joes get closer to exposing the conspiracy.

G.I.Joe: Special - Helix one-shot - Duke is charged with tracking down a Joe operative that doesn't officially exist - a young girl with amazing reflexes and the ability to master any fighting style within minutes. The story is well done with perfect pacing throughout, but the art was inconsistent and felt amateurish at times. 

More Weekly Haul Quick-Shots!

MARVEL
Agents of Atlas #9 - That's right, another issue of Agents of Atlas following closely behind the previous one, giving you plenty of chances to go and buy it. Seriously, don't make me have to hurt you.

Deadpool: Merc With a Mouth #2 - More fun with Deadpool, and the head of Zombie Deadpool.

Exiles #5 - It may be too late to save this series, but it's not to late to enjoy it. Buy this and the previous four issues if you like quality writing and art, and stories about world saving. (Just ignore the utterly crappy covers. I'm convinced that they helped tank this series.)

Ghost Rider: Heaven's On Fire #1 of 6 - The title of the issue says it all: "Save the Antichrist, save the world."

Hulk #13 - After Incredible Hulk #600, Banner can no longer become the Hulk (like we haven't heard that before) due to circumstances too inexplicably stupid to describe. Anyway, Ares is sent to make sure the non-Hulking sticks.

Official Index to the Marvel Universe #8 - Amazing Spider-Man #328-366, Iron #260-299, and Uncanny X-Men #304-337.

Ultimatum: Fantastic Four Requiem one-shot - Pokaski + Atkins prove that a good story could be told around the crap that was Ultimatum.

Ultimatum: X-Men Requiem one-shot - Coleite + Oliver also deliver a decent epilogue to the Ultimate X-Men series. 

War of Kings #6 of 6 - Totally goddamn, slam-bang, surprise-punching awesome. Shock follows shock while at the same time, and rarely seen in other events, characters actually stay in character. And the shocks and and surprises floored me one after the other.

War of Kings: Warriors #2 of 2 - Background stories on Crystal and Lilandra.

DC
Doom Patrol #1 - I actually liked the back-up better than the main story, but there are two reasons why that shouldn't be held against it. 1) The Metal Men back-up is done Giffen/DeMatteis+Maguire, a creative team that always produces pure gold. 2) The Metal Men are simpler characters, and are easier to pick-up on quickly. The Doom Patrol story by Giffen+Clark was good, but the characters are much more complex, and its been years since the last time I saw them. It may take a few issues to really get a feel for them and the series as a whole.

Wednesday Comics #5 of 12 - Still going strong.

IMAGE
The Walking Dead volume 10: What We Become - Still a spectacular series.

WILDSTORM
Authority vol.5 #13 - It's written by Abnett and Lanning, so therefore it is fantastic.

Ready for another edition of Weekly Haul Quick-Shots?

Tough.

MARVEL
Dark Reign: The Hood #3 of 5 - Parker Robbins finally begins to realize that letting an evil ruler of another dimension use your body is not a great idea. Good writing by Jeff parker and art by Kyle Hotz. Thankfully very little of Norman Osborn.

Dark Reign: Young Avengers #3 of 5 - Only barely decent. Paul Cornell should be allowed to concentrate on things that allow him to display his Britishness. Something like Captain Britain and MI:13. Oh, right, that was fucking canceled.

Dark X-Men: The Beginning #2 of 3 - Cloak & Dagger are still only OK. Weapon Omega shows promise. And Dark Wolverine is as lame as usual. (Is it just me, or are more and more artists making Norman Osborn look more and more like Richard Nixon?)

Fantastic Four #569 - The finale of Millar & Hitch's run isn't completed by them. Ahearne and Immonen do as well with it as they can considering the crappy plot Millar left them with. I mean, shouldn't a twist work at least slightly logically and not be, you know, completely fucking stupid?

Marvel Zombies 4 #4 - The ending is more than a little bit overly complicated, but still a decent trip. Continued in Deadpool: Merc With a Mouth #1.

New Avengers #55 - Stress bears a toll on hero and villain alike.

Son of Hulk #13 - (formerly Skaar: Son of Hulk, but now Skaar's going to be in Incredible Hulk so...) Paul Jenkins takes over, and introduces a second son. Really? Wow, the Hulk has some freakin' potent seed. And guess what? This son is also a total jerk. I'm not sure if I'll stick around very long.

Ultimatum #5 of 5 - OMG, that, like, totally sucked balls, for sure. So, who exactly scooped out Jeph Loeb's brain and replaced it with Jell-O?

War of Kings: Ascension #4 of 4 - Just as awesome as everything else written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning has been.

Wolverine: Noir #4 of 4 - All around excellently executed.

BOOM!
Muppet Show: The Treasure of Peg Leg Wilson #1 of 4 - There's treasure in that there theatre! Meanwhile, Animal is acting... civilized?

BROADSWORD COMICS
Tarot #57 - Slim on plot, heavy on boobs. Look, there are issues that I think are good. This just isn't one of them.

DC
Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #3 of 3 - More tales, and a creators' commentary on the Blackest Night #0 issue from Free Comic Book Day.

Wednesday Comics #4 - Still working it.

Back-Issue Buys
MARVEL
Power Pack volume 2 #1-3 of 4 - Art by Colleen Doran? Sold!

Punisher MAX vol. 10: Valley Forge, Valley Forge - Garth Ennis' final story line was also beautifully tied to his origin story, Punisher: Born.

Thor: Blood Oath tpb - Thor and the Warriors Three go on a quest through different mythologies. Warriors Three equal glee! More great mythological writing from Michael Avon Oeming.

 Weekly Haul quick-shots continues...

MARVEL
Avengers: The Initiative #26 - With most of the original cast gone, I may not be too far behind them. A series about villains being trained on how to pass as heroes isn't exactly, you know, inspiring. Especially since most of the villains are pretty damn lame.

Captain Britain and MI:13 #15 - Fuck you. Yes, you. If you bought some fucking piece of shit Dark Reign or Final Crisis tie-in [1] instead of this series, or any of the soulless crap that Frank Miller, Jeph Loeb, and Mark Millar are pissing out these days, then fuck you indeed. This series, the only good thing to come out of Secret Invasion, as well as being one of the best fucking things ever, has been canceled. This is the last issue. And if you're a Doctor Who fan and didn't buy this, then fuck you sideways. Paul Cornell deserved better from you. Good taste deserved better of you. Ah, fuck it all...

Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #5 of 5 - It's pretty much Hickman's prologue to his upcoming run on Fantastic Four itself.

Dark Wolverine #76 - The Fantastic Four are the only redeeming thing about this. Once they're gone, so am I.

Deadpool: Suicide Kings #4 of 5 - Spider-Man and Daredevil team-up to save Deadpool from the Punisher. Crazy! But still amusing.

Guardians of the Galaxy #16 - An appearance by the original Guardians of the Galaxy!!! I just geekgasmed all over my apartment.

Halo: Helljumper #1 of 5 - I'm not totally digging Nguyen's art, but Peter David's story shows that he's done his homework, and that makes me very happy indeed.

Immortal Weapons #1 of 5 - Fat Cobra is awesome.

Incredible Hercules #131 - When bros break up.... it's a sad day but makes for good stories.

Incredible Hulk #600 - Wait, what, wasn't something supposed to be, you know, actually revealed? Someone please take Jeph Loeb's typewriter away from him. He has abused it for far too long.

Nova #27 - Non-stop awesome.

Savage She-Hulk #4 of 4 - Next stop, Incredible Hulk #600. 

Thor & Hercules: Encyclopedia Mythologica - A bizarre blend of actual myths and Marvel history.

Wolverine: First Class #17 - Patch!

Wolverine: Origins #38 - For crap's sake, Wolvie, you wouldn't get into situations like this if you just cut more people's heads off.

X-Force #17 - They're back in the present and trying to save lives by ending them. Business as usual.

DARK HORSE COMICS
Aliens #2 of 4 - Freaking good.

DC
Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #2 of 3 - More tales on various Corps members.

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5 of 5 - The only good thing about Final Crisis comes to a close, and Superboy Prime finally gets what he had coming.

Gotham City Sirens #2 - Still hasn't totally grabbed me... or turned me away.

Green Lantern #44 - Hal Jordan and Barry Allen fights for their second lives against a zombified Martian Manhunter. And you thought you had bad days.

Power Girl #3 - Actiony.

Wednesday Comics #3 of 12 - Still worthwhile.

IDW PRESS
G.I.Joe #7 - Seriously, can we get to the whole "fighting COBRA" thing yet?

Transformers: All Hail Megatron #13 of 12 - Yep, the miniseries was so effing awesome that they let it have a couple more issues. And it's a good thing.

Back Issue Buys
MARVEL
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16 - First appearance and origin of the Monica Rambeau Captain Marvel.

Amazing Spider-Man #282 - Spidey versus the original, mutant "hunting" version of X-Factor.

Amazing Spider-Man #20 - It's twentytastic as Spidey battles Iron Man 2020.

Patsy Walker: Hellcat tpb - Hellcat becomes the official hero of Alaska. Because it's funny to put someone with "hell" in their name somewhere that's cold. Despite the initial impetus of the premise, it's a very good read.

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[1] Not all Dark Reign or Final Crisis tie-ins are pieces of shit. Just most of them. I also forgive the buying of the pieces of shit if Captain Britain, Agents of Atlas, and anything by Abnett & Lanning was also purchased.