The Week of July 26th- August 1st, 2009

The Stuff of Legend #1

This is an interesting book. The art is terrific, absorbing stuff. The story has a little boy being abducted by The Bogeyman. The little boy's toys come to life and set out to rescue him. Obviously this is a lot like the Pixar animated film Toy Story...but it's a lot darker. When the toys enter The Bogeyman's realm they all become real. The toy soldier is a real soldier. The teddy bear is now a ferocious, full size bear. The story is terrific but it's the artwork that makes it work. The colors are muted to let the pencils shine. It's a very cool piece of work even though it's pretty much been done before. **1/2

Detective Comics #855

This is part two of the “Batgirl/Question” storyline. It features two stories, both written by Greg Rucka. The first story, the “Batgirl” one, is drawn by J.H. Williams the 3^rd. The art by Williams is some of the greatest, most beautiful artwork I have ever seen. It's jaw-droppingly insane. The problem is the writing. The story is the same-old shit. Batgirl fights a white-dressed, goth girl that thinks she's Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Nothing exactly new there. The art makes up for it, though. It's complex and in fragments all over the page. It's dark and colorful. It's vibrant and alive. Comic books have not yet reached the stratosphere of “art.” Their pages don't hang in museums...yet realistically it's only time before the real world pays attention. The art in this book is phenomenal stuff. The back-up, featuring the female detective The Question...is fairly dull, though. And the art isn't even half as good. **1/2

The Week of July 19th- July 25th

Hellblazer #257

This book must sell big in England or something, otherwise I'm not sure why it still exists. Andy Diggle rejuvenated the series during his stint, but will it survive since he left? Writer Peter Milligan has written seven issues so far, and so far his run is almost as good as Diggle's. It's less serious but still sadistic. The artist on this current arc is Guiseppe Camuncoli. He draws more cartoon-like than the artist that did Diggle's run. I love Guiseppe, though. His stuff is phenomenal. This is the best issue yet in Milligan's run. The storylines have all merged and exploded. Constantine tries to slip his ex-girlfriend a love potion. She catches on. Constantine also slips his demon-girl friend the potion so that he won't have to pay for her dead-skin ailment cream that he's become addicted to. He loses the addiction but the demon-girl is so in love with him that she shows up at the ex-girlfriends flat to presumably rip her to shreds. Terrific storyline that hopefully will end in a gratifying conclusion. Awesome painted cover by Simon Bisley as well. Constatine looks like Marv from Sin City: beer in one hand, cigarette in the other, peering out of a window while a slutty girl looks on. This is really as good as it gets in the comic book world. ****

The Amazing Spider-Man #600

About a year ago I started buying and reading more comics. Where to start? I began to read the greats: this book, Batman, and Action Comics (the last one has Superman in case you didn't know). The new thing that they're doing is having this book come out three times a month. They have a revolving door of artists and writers. I stopped reading the book when John Romita, Jr. stopped drawing it and have only came back when he came back. He's back. He drew 61 pages in this issue. The rest is mostly filler. The 61 page story by Dan Slott has the wedding between Aunt May and J. Jonah Jameson, Sr. He's the father of the ex-publisher of the Daily Bugle. J. Jonah Jameson, Jr. is now the mayor of New York City. Dr. Octopus also comes back, albeit riddled with cancer and near death. Doc Ock takes over the city by controlling the street lights and computers. Spiderman gets help with the Avengers. There's a big fight and a wedding. Mary Jane Watson shows up on the last page to catch the boiquet at the wedding. Really, though: if they did away with Mary Jane and Peter's marriage...why keep having her pop up? Why get rid of her in the first place? And as much as I liked Dan Slott's “Paper Doll” storyline last year...this story is very boring stuff. The art is incredible as usual. John Romita, Jr. has to be one of my favorite artists (and he's drawing Punisher next). The back-up stories aren't very good, though. This issue is very long. Stan Lee writes a short, amusing storyline that's kind of funny (Stan Lee pretty much makes fun of Marvel for killing off the Green Goblin and then bringing him back...among other stupid developments over the years). But the main story is just not very compelling. **

The Incredible Hulk #600

This is also a one-hundred page behemoth. Sadly, the main story is not a 61 page epic. They also threw in the first issue of Hulk: Grey from a couple of years ago which is cool. As much as the fanboys and critics online have hated Jeph Loeb's writing so far on the Red Hulk vs. Green Hulk storyline...I've thought it's been a lot of fun. The art by in-your-face Ed McGuinness is big and bold and very nice (he draws a very cool Spider-man). A lot happens in this issue that could be considered “big.” The Red Hulk's identity is not revealed, though. Red Hulk does destroy Bruce Banner's ability to turn into the Hulk. I guess that's big. There's also a big fight between the Hulks and Spider-man at this military base in the desert. It's stupid stuff, sure, but it's a fun superhero book. Now there will be two Hulk books: The Incredible Hulk and Hulk. I kind of think that one is enough, but I will be sticking around to see what Ed and Jeph do on their so far solid run. ***

The Week of July 12th- July 18th, 2009

Rasl #5

This book was longer and out three times a year. Now it's 22 pages and will be bi-monthly. I already miss the longer issues, although this book is just plain awesome. The story has a guy that gets his hands on a government created device that lets him teleport to parallel universes. Each universe is similar except for one or two small details. There's another teleporter, though, and he's rat-faced and evil. In this issue, the main character falls in love with his girlfriend in a parallel universe. She has a different name, a different job and she doesn't know who he is. The last page has them kissing in her museum. The artwork is beautiful and Jeff Smith is like a great cinematographer. He always knows what makes a perfect panel. This book is more of the same and slow to unfold, but there is just so much mystery to it. Who is the bug-eyed child that he keeps seeing? Who is the rat-faced villain, anyway? Just a terrific book all around. ***1/2 (out of ****)

Captain America #601

I wasn't sure if this issue would ever come out. I thought that this book with be put on the shelf while Captain America: Reborn runs its course. I was wrong, although this book features a story that takes place before Steve Rogers' psuedo-death. The 82 year old artist Gene Colan drew the book (although his art looks more like a painting). It was supposed to be a Captain America Annual two years ago but got delayed. The story is silly. Captain America and Bucky fight vampires in World War 2 France. The art, though, is awesome stuff. Colan was drawing comics in the 1940's (he's famous for drawing Howard the Duck) and today he's still one of the best out there. His stuff reminds me of the old-school art. It's beautiful but also it flows nicely. It's not like the bulked-up steroid stuff of most modern artists. Ed Brubaker wrote a bloody vampire tale that's ridiculous but is readable. I wonder: will there be a #602? ***

Scalped #30

It's only a matter of time before FBI Special Agent Bad Horse is revealed for who he really is. He's undercover at an Indian casino and the big, bad boss is going to finger him eventually. When that happens the shit will hit the fan...and the book will presumably draw to a close. But what a book it is as it barrels to a conclusion. This is part one of five in what looks to be an all out war plot involving an Asian gangster. The head of the casino, Red Crow, kills one of the Asian's men. Red Crow also gives Bad Horse one week to find out who the undercover FBI agent is. This is a great issue that sets up a bloodbath. Awesome, scraggly art by R.M. Guerra as usual. This book keeps getting better. ***1/2

Incognito #5

I kind of liked this book better when Zack Overkill was stuck working a dead-end office job and moonlighting as a superhero. Now he's off on his own with Ava Destruction, attempting to unravel the mystery behind his own beginning. The good guys are on his trail. So are the bad guys. There's also a Zack Overkill clone that has been created that's going to kill a lot of people and put the blame on the original Zack. The idea behind this book is grand and satisfying. The world Ed Brubaker has created harkens back to the 1950's but also has edge. The superheroes in this world were created when an asteroid hurtled down to earth and gave people powers. The villains are sick, the good guys are seedy, and the art is film-noir at its best. It's going to be sad to see this book go but we still have one more issue. Hopefully it'll be a classic finale. ***1/2

The Walking Dead #63

“A man's gotta eat.” With these last words of the issue, we learn the motivation behind the hunters. This is part two of “Fear the Hunters” and it's officially a cannibal story. Dale, the old dude with the fisherman's cap, was captured in the last issue by a mysterious group of stalkers in the woods. At the close of this issue these hunters are ready to eat him. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew head to the preacher's church and hold up. We find out that the preacher is probably not working with the cannibals. This book needed a boost...and cannibals is a good boost. It's definitely shocking, and writer Robert Kirkman loves to shock. The problem I have is that I doubt so early into a zombie world that people would resort to cannibalism. I could see down the road when there are no animals left or canned goods or farm land out there. Cannibals so early? It's been maybe a year or two into this new world. Other than that, the art is a bit sloppy. Charlie Adlard is usually a master but it looks like he was rushed a bit. The cover is just okay but the plot at least provides enough suspense and surprises to make the next few issues bloody good. ***

The Week of July 5th- July 11th, 2009

Green Lantern #43

When the inevitable movie comes out it's going to suck. Green Lantern is just silly. A guy that flies around space and has a magic ring? It's corny. Lately, though, this has been one of the most popular titles in comic book stores these last few years. This summer he gets his big shot with “Blackest Night,” the story of the African America riots in...er, no...it's actually about an evil guy named The Black Hand that resurrects the dead (that's why they killed off Bruce Wayne and Superman's father last year). The big DC epic doesn't start until next week. This is the prologue...sort of. Blackest Night #0 already came out but this takes place before that. Last summer had two big events at DC and Marvel. Secret Invasion outsold Final Crisis and I didn't read either one. Marvel doesn't have a big, summer epic this year, although their “Dark Avengers” stuff is creating a thousand books these days. Which means that “Blackest Night” is the biggest thing in comics this year. This prologue features the history of The Black Hand. He was a funeral worker's son. He loved death. He had a run in with Atroticus, the Red Lantern monster. Then he dressed up like a super-villain. Then he killed his family. Then he killed himself. Now he wants...revenge! Well, not really. He's just evil. The cover has Black Hand leaning over Bruce Wayne's grave. I assume that Wayne will be resurrected eventually. Geoff Johns does a good job creating a villain, although he's evil for no real reason. The art by Doug Mahnke is solid but nothing special. It's a lot better than the last issue of Green Lantern I picked up. I find this world too silly. This issue is super-dark, though. I am curious how this epic will fly. Not a bad start. We'll find out next week if it's any good. **1/2

Wednesday Comics #1

This is an interesting concept. Harken back to the days when newspapers were popular. They use to have comic serials in them like Mickey Mouse and Dick Tracey and The Spirit. Now newspapers have...well, they still have Dick Tracey. This a super-big, newspaper print comic with sixteen one-sheet, continued stories. It's out every week until September. It has big names. The writer & artist team behind 100 Bullets are doing a Batman story (it's the best one). Neil Gaiman is writing a story. There's a Superman story. A Supergirl story. A few no-name characters have stories (the Metal Men?). The art is fantastic. It's awesome. I would read any book with these artists. It's also has a one-shot feel to it. Do I really want to read one page of a story for sixteen weeks? Back in the old days you at least had the rest of the newspaper to read. A good idea but it would have been executed better if they just put them in real newspapers (I do think USA Today is running one of them). **

B.P.R.D. 1947 #1

The last page of this book had the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. So creepy and so cool. I can't wait until the next issue. Written by superstar Mike Mignola and Unknown Soldier scribe Joshua Dystart and drawn by the South American brothers Gabriel Ba (he draws The Umbrella Academy) and Fabio Moon (no, I don't know why they have different last names...and they draw exactly the same), this book features the Hellboy team of paranormal investigators on a case involving a ghost castle on an island and its connection to a party that took place in the 1700's. One of the investigators, fresh out of WWII, heads to the library to study up on the case. He meets a kind, cute girl that happily takes him in a rowboat to the island. The catch? The castle burned down years ago. So why's it still there in the fog? What's she taking him to? Certain death? The set-up is good, but it's that last page that seals it. The guy and girl in a rowboat at night in the fog. The castle towering above them. Great art as well. ***

The Week of June 28th- July 4th, 2009

Chew #2

This book could become the sleeper hit of the summer. The first issue sold out. A reprint was issued. This second issue was also sold out (I got them both before they sold out apparently). Why? It's a book with a good premise, terrific writing and great art. The only problem really is the coloring. It's all pale yellows and not bright and fun. The story has a Chinese policeman getting a new job with the FDA. He's a Cibopathic. When he eats something he can tell the history of the food. If he takes a bite out of a corpse he can also tell who killed them. Sick? Yes. But it's also comical. This second issue features a fight with ninjas. Agent Chu also falls in love at first sight. & a bad guy wants Chu's head on a silver platter. The first issue obviously was a lot better. Now that we're beyond the interesting premise it is more of the same. And how long can this book exist? The premise may wear thin. So far, though, it's a great little book. ***

Savage Dragon #150

Big things always happen in Erik Larsen's milestone issues. #125 had Glum getting a hold of the God Gun and taking over the world. #100 had the Dragon permanently move onto a parallel world which started the Dragon as a husband and father storyline. #75 created the parallel worlds when Dragon killed the baby Darklord and started the Savage World storyline. This milestone is easy to sum up: it's the one where Overlord kills Dragon. Granted, we've seen him die a million times before. This time could be different. Why? Really? It's too complicated to explain. I'll try. There was this evil monster that went around sucking the brains and life force from others. He did this to Dragon but the monster turned into Dragon. Dragon's old body is still around...and will probably end up being used after this issue. Also, Overlord is back. It was him that caused the big police station explosion. But we still don't know who's in the metal suit. And Dart's niece? Allison Summers? Yeah, she's resting and fucking Daredevil. She also hacks one of Daredevil's kid partners into little pieces and feeds them down the garbage disposal. All in all an excellent issue. The art, now that an awesome colorist is aboard, is as good as ever. & with Dragon dying...and evil Allison lurking...and the mystery of who's Overlord...there's a lot in store for the future. The back up stuff (the actual Dragon story is 30 pages) is pretty lame stuff, though. There's the origin of Dardevil (it's from the forties or something...he was raised by Australian tribesmen). There's a Vanguard stuff. There's also the re-printed origin of Dragon. I'm getting really sick of these big books with tons of extras nobody cares about. Other than that, good issue. After all these years he's still got it. ***

Irredeemable #4

This is writer Mark Waid's big, new independent book. It's about a superhero that turns evil all of a sudden. He starts killing other superheroes. In this issue he sinks Indonesia. Why? Well, that's part of the mystery. The rag-tag superheroes left are trying to figure out a way to stop him. It's definitely an interesting idea for a book. It's also very bizarre. Last issue, The Plutonian (he's the evil superhero), made a guy and girl fuck. He made the girl wear a blonde wig and told them what to do and what to say. Apparently he was reliving sex with an ex-girlfriend. Weird, right? It's just a wild, ride of a book, though. And it is super serious but also it's a readable one. ***

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #26

I've been reading this book off and on. I really loved the Drew Goddard arc. The Joss Whedon arcs were okay. This new arc is the longest. It's also written by Jane Espenson, a former writer of Buffy and current writer of Dollhouse. She's typical of the old Buffy writers. She's good at comedy and one-liners. This is very funny and amusing book. The story is mediocre, but does that even matter? The slayers are on the run. Faith and Giles meet up with Buffy and the crew. They fight monsters at a castle and then head off in a submarine to go find Oz. Oz is living at a monastery. The problem I have with this book is that there are so many locations and so many huge battles that these plots would never have been an episode or season of Buffy. Buffy the show was contained and smaller. This is epic and sprawling. I guess that's the point, though. The writers have the freedom now for mega-budget plots. It's fun, sure. Entertaining, sure. I miss the TV show. ***

Captain America: Reborn #1

Boy did this book get ripped apart online. First off, the storyline has Captain America stuck in a time paradox. He keeps moving around to different times in his life. One minute he's fighting on the beaches of Normandy and the next he's a little kid with his parents. This isn't a bad idea (and since he hasn't been in the book for two years, they had to come up with some reason why he hasn't been around), but the TV show Lost just did the stuck-in-time plot this season. It feels like such a rip-off. That's not to say that you can look beyond it and still enjoy this issue. Writer Ed Brubaker is joined by superstar Bryan Hitch for this mini-series. Hitch is very slow so Butch Guice helped out the art. It shows. Some of the art is very good but a lot of it is dark and sloppy. The other storyline has Sharon Carter unraveling the mystery and getting into a battle with the Dark Avengers. The only problem I have with any of this is the fact that this is a mini-series. Why not just continue it in the pages of the regular book? I think it's because Marvel thought they could make more money out of it this way. With the awful reviews, though, number two won't sell half as much as this monster. *** (out of ****)

 Lock & Key: Head Games #6

Sadly, this is probably the worst issue in what so far has been the book of the year. It's mostly a flashback. It tells the story of how Ellie became controlled and manipulated by the evil teenager that's really an old witch. Ellie has a retarded son that is seemingly in control of things. The big shocker of an ending as the retarded son's army men talking to each other. His army men are ready to fight. Huh? This book has consistently brought forth new and mysterious ideas to the forefront. The key that can open one's head started out as silly but turned out to be fascinatingly fun. The army men that can talk and are alive could make the next six-issue stint awesome or awful. We'll see. Terrific art as usual. Just a great book, really. Definitely one of the best out there. And now we have to wait until the Fall. ***

Batman & Robin #2

This continues the storyline of Batman & Robin vs. The Circus of the Strange. Basically, Batman & Robin are fighting circus freaks that work for a mysterious, pig-mask wearing Mr. Pig. The story isn't anything new or shockingly entertaining. The art makes it seem like it, though. Frank Quitely is jaw-droppingly awesome. His art is so detailed, so ramshackle and alive. It's unique for sure. It also would work a lot better with a bigger page format, as I had to squint to see every detail, every line. If you remember (and hell, how can you forget?), Bruce Wayne died during last year's Final Crisis mini-series. The new Batman is Nightwing. The new Robin is Damian, a ten year-old and apparent spawn of Batman and The Devil (or something ludicrous...I haven't read Grant Morrison's entire run). So this issue makes it known that it's hard settling into new roles and trying to save Gotham as the new Batman. At the end of the issue, after the circus freaks break into the jail and kill of Mr. Toad, Robin heads to their lair and is swiftly kidnapped. Batman to the rescue! Grant Morrison has said that he wants this to be a 60's style, “fun” Batman book a lot like the silly TV show. It's actually more serious than that, but it is a lot of fun. ***