Comic Reviews that I Forgot Cause I Used Comixology

So I wanted to review 4 comics that I have downloaded in the last two weeks - using Comixology, which I have found to be a great app on my iPhone.

Green Lantern Corps #0 - Good issue.  I enjoy the set up of Guy both on Earth before he gets a ring and as a rookie Lantern. Unlike the #0 issues for Green Lantern and Green Lantern: New Guardians this was a true flashback to what Guy's history in the new 52 universe is.  B+.

Batwoman #0 - I got this series for the 1st arc in the New 52 and liked it.  The second arc with two different artists (Amy Reeder's great art only lasted one issue) and the non-linear style of story telling with jumping back and forth in weeks between different plots was confusing enough to make the cut list.  However, this issue makes me want to give #13 a try.  It feels so much that it could slip into the Detective Comics arc by Williams and Rucka (which was amazing).  A+.

Birds of Prey #0 - Interesting.  I like the set up of Canary's husband at the end and how Canary and Starling met, but Batgirl/Babs shouldn't be there if it was 1 year ago.  However, if what the writer meant was a few months before the start of the New 52, then it could work.  Anyways, besides that distraction, it was a decently good issue.  However, Canary now being connected to Team 7 really doesn't allow BoP to go farther back than 5 years for an origin.  B-.

Blue Beetle #0 - I haven't picked up Blue Beetle since the first issue and I really enjoyed this one.  It gave us a history of the scarab and the Reach, their interactions with the Green Lanterns and an obvious upcoming subplot with the New 52 version of Lady Styx (who to me seemed to be a character with a lot of potential that was never used properly) B.

Comics Reviewed for 9/19/12

Here are my reviews for comics September 19th:

Marvel:

Daredevil #18 - Another great issue.  I love how Waid is weaving great past runs on DD from Brubaker, Bendis and Diggle to craft a great story where Matt must confront his current mentality with his past mistakes.  Love Samnee's art and love the developing rift between Matt and Foggy. A.

New Mutants #49  - The end of the Fear the Future story line - which I think would have been really good if not for the very sketchy art.  I'm sad to see the series go especially since I'm pretty sure X-Man and Blink the two non-New Mutant members of the team are on the bubble to make it into a book in MarvelNOW. B-.

Avengers #30 - This title continues to disappoint with it's A vs. X tie ins.  I get that this is the relationship that Bendis has established, and while I love new couples in comics, I'm so not interested in what feels to me the same conversation we have heard from every couple Bendis has written.  C.

DC Comics:

Wonder Woman #0 - Really enjoyed the throw back nature of the book as well as the set up for future interactions between Diana and War.  Also one of the few books that flashed back to the main characters childhood/teenage years.  One comment I read on twitter remarked that the book basically stated that a male deity was a better teacher than all the female Amazons.  However, with the exception of Zeus and Hera, Azzarello's Greek Gods don't feel as 'gendered' to me as other characters do. A.

Justice League #0 - This was the culmination for the the back ups in Justice League recently and was the origin of Shazam in the New52.  I like how Johns and Frank has done so many similar things with the Shazam but different enough that makes him more than a magic Superman.  A.

Nightwing #0 - Great issue.  Fantastic way to modernize Dick's circus origin, making him a little older and giving him a backround that would make sense why Bruce would allow him to be Robin.  Also liked the New 52 first Robin costume. Loved the homages to what's come before and the introduction to Lady Shiva.  A+.

DC Universe Presents - Here's the thing - I really bought this comic for the Mr. Terrific story by James Robinson.  I enjoyed it a lot.  The others- OMAC and Blackhawks were interesting, Deadman was ok, Hawk and Dove was boring.  C.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #0 - Really the Jason Todd origin story.  Really enjoyed the modernization of his origin, the hint of a possible Todd sibling, and the Joker back up which makes us wonder if it's true and what are the Joker's plans for Jason in the upcoming 'Death of the Family' story line.  And like Dick, I enjoy Jason's Robin costume in the New 52. B.

Supergirl #0 - Recently, I picked up the first 7 issues of this series.  And while slow, I really enjoyed the arc (sure it could probably have been in 4-5 issues).  Without reading issues 8-12, I really dug and enjoyed this issue.  Thought it gave answers but increased the mystery around Supergirl and her parents and what happened to their home or Argo City after Krypton's destruction. A-.

Green Lantern: New Guardians # 0 - I tried the first few issues of this title, and while I love Kyle Rayner, the art and some of the dialogue pushed this title to my drop list.  However, with the upcoming Green Lantern crossover "The Rise of the Third Army" and the promise of a different line up of different colored Lanterns, I figured I give it a try.  And I really enjoyed it.  Great art and good story.  I really enjoy Carol's new and more appropriate Star Sapphire uniform and really enjoy the dynamic between her and Kyle.  A.

Marvel Now! Wave 2

 Recently, Marvel has released a second wave of 4 teasers for MarvelNow! #1's, followed about two weeks later with what the teasers were for new titles.  I posted earlier about what I expected the teasers might mean, so I figured I'd comment on the information released and also comment on what I think is yet to come with MarvelNow!

First off is a new Thunderbolts title.  The most recent Thunderbolts was government sponsored team of villains being used on dangerous missions.  The idea is to use these villains in situations that could be fatal in exchange for time off their sentence and in hopes of rehabilitation.  That title has morphed into Dark Avengers, and with MarvelNow! the team will be lead by USAgent and be comprised by former villains masquerading as heroes who were brought together by Norman Osborn.  This title, will feature a team of anti-heroes who seem not to be working in the shadows.  Red Hulk (General Ross), the Punisher, Venom (Flash Thompson), Elektra and Deadpool are the openeing roster and more have been promised. Written by Way, and art by Dillon, this an interesting enough concept.  I also think that Red Hulk and Venom have been Avengers, but their lethal activities which we would presume in this book, would seem to see a departure from both on being Avengers.

The next book is Avengers Arena, which seems to have a large amount of teenage heroes who have been kidnapped and will be fighting for survival.  This will star heroes from Runaways, Avengers Academy and other teenage heroes and might work well as a mini-series that sets up a book about the teenage heroes.  However, as an ongoing, to me it seems to have no real direction and frankly, I'm not very interested.


The third book is Cable and X-Force.  It seems that Cable wakes up after Avengers vs. X-Men and gathers a team.  However, this team is caught at a site where people with anti-mutant feelings are massacred.  I'm interesting to pick up the first issue based on the team and what the hook might be.  It seems that the team will be opposed by the Uncanny Avengers as well.  Also, there is a rumors of a second X-Force book too.

Just announced today is Uncanny X-Force which was teased with the word Killers.  The first line-up is said to Psylocke, Puck, Sprial and Storm.  Why or how Storm is on a team that kills seems to be very unlike who she is as character.  Weird.  I'd like to hear more before I figure out if to pick up the first issue.


My one grip with the books other than Avengers Arena just seeming dumb, is that for both Thunderbolts and Cable & X-Force, the starting roster is not very diverse, which can only hope, will change.  I also believe we will see a third round of teasers, most likely before the MarvelNOW! Point 1, and will tease what seems to be Bendis on Guardians of the Galaxy, Loeb on Nova, Gillen and McKelvie on a New Young Avengers book and Nick Spencer, I'm betting, will be writing a Secret Avengers book with Nick Fury Jr (the new African-American Nick Fury) on the team .  Thought I'm hoping it might be Bendis on Secret Avengers and Spencer on Guardians....?

Comic Reviews for 9/12

Here are my reviews of this week's comics:

Marvel Comics:

Avengers vs. X-Men #11 - Wow.  This was huge.  Big comic book death which makes more head lines with casual fans and people who are somewhat familiar with the X-Men.  To fans, the character has 'died' before and really hasn't been a huge part of the X Universe for a while.  However, the character's death will most likely set the X Universe on a direct course of integration with the rest of the Marvel Universe and the killer will most likely have a huge redemption arc in Marvel Now!  Great art and pretty well written, however like many cross overs (especially Marvel) this is a 12 issue series that could have been 5-6 issues. A-.

The New Avengers #30 - I've said before that I have been disappointed with most of the Avengers side AvsX tie ins.  This comic, however, was good in that I enjoy this team of Avengers and the action juxtaposed one's characters decision (which frankly has been a sub plot in NA for what feels like the last 5 years).  However, the fact that this subplot has taken so long, and that this issue seems to take place after Avengers vs. X-Men is somewhat confusing.  B-.

Uncanny X-Men #18 - Pretty good.  Great art and shows the behind the scenes action of Cyclops and White Queen during the fight in AvsX #11.  It certainly gives a very different view of what seemed to be one of the two big betrayals in AvsX.  B.

Wolverine and the X-Men #16 - First, I love this series.  However, I am sick to death of the Hellfire club.  It is so unbelievable that these kids are like this.  I can believe Damian Wayne is deadly cause he was trained since birth, or Val Richards is super-smart cause she is a mutant.  But these kids annoy me like that Loeb had Tommy Elliot arrange the death of his parents when he was like 9.  If they were teenagers, it might be more believable.  I just find them annoying.  C.

Uncanny X-Force #31 - I enjoy that Remender is going out with a huge bang, in what feels like the satisfying conclusion of all he has done in this book.  I love that it opens with what seems to be the death of one character and the transformation of another.  Great issue, glad to see the book is back on track.  A.

Winter Soldier #10 - Great issue.  The death of a long time Marvel character by an mind controlled reformed villain.  I see this as what will become the Winter Soldier being by himself by the end of the arc.  Unlike Captain America, Brubaker is going out with a bang and some huge stuff on this title. A+.

Fantastic Four #610 - Great issue.  Unlike most of the recent issue, this is the first part of two parter that deals with subplots that Hickman has been setting up, but does a good job of introducing it to new readers.  A.

Captain America #17 - Wow.  This book has taken such a huge nose-dive its really too bad.  It just seems that all the life has been sucked out of the book - trying to close out his run but with no creativity or passion.  D-.

DC Comics:

Shade #12 - Amazing.  Great writing, great art.  Shade's origin.  Loved it.  A+.

Batman # 0  - I liked this a lot.  I felt the main story was cut short and didn't like that is was to be continued in 2013.  I did like the revision of Bruce's history away and return to Gotham in the New52.  All the classic elements are still there but just revised enough to have a younger Bruce in the present day and also show Bruce operating in a more modern way even when he came back.  I loved the back-up and also gives fan a good idea of the ages of major Bat characters. A.

Batgirl #0 - Again, this is a revision of Bab's New 52 history.  Again, big changes from before, but I liked it a lot. Benes' art is at times awkward but I did enjoy maintaing the core of who Bab's is and sets up James Jr. as what I expect to be Bab's Moriarty in the 2nd year of the book.  B+.

Demon Knights #0 - I really enjoyed this issue.  I know it is a retconning of what was established in the #1st issue but done so well I really don't care.  I'm very interested to see how the sub plot of Merline, Lucifer, Etrigan and Morgaine plays out. A.

Team 7 #0 - This is a classic introduction story.  While I enjoyed the characters and their introduction, I wish that there was a something of a specific threat that sets up where the book is going in the first year. B-.

MarvelNOW! & New52 - Diversity

 So recently Comic Book Resources posted an article written by Brett White that talked about the lack of women in the promo images of Hickman's upcoming Avengers run.  It is a great article and I encourage that if you have not read it, do so here: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=40849
In fact, between the Avengers promo image and the Uncanny Avengers promo image, the lack of the women in Avengers teams as part of MarvelNOW! seems very lacking.  And yes, Marvel has not revealed the lineup of New Avengers or if Secret Avengers exists in MarvelNOW!, and both Hickman and Rick Remender have stated that the teams revealed in both of these images are not the final roster, one has not only wonder about the disproportionate amount of women, but also the disproportionate amount of racial diversity on these teams.  The article remarked that in the Avengers promo there was 3 women to 11 men ratio, and in U.A. there is a 2 to 4 ratio.  As far as racial diversity, there is a 2 to 12 ratio in the Avengers promo and a 0 to 6 ratio in U.A.   Avengers Assemble, while written by a woman, promises at first, a 2 to 4 ratio as it comes to gender.

It seems, that unfortunately that diversity when it comes to gender and race are a large problem for both Marvel and DC.  Recently, DC has announced a new Justice League title, Justice League of America, that 'takes the place'  of Justice League International.  Now, of the 3 original Justice League titles, and even with JLA, DC worst JL title when it comes to diversity is their flagship book: Justice League( of a roster of 7, one woman and one African American male).  When it started, Justice League International was 4 to 4 ratio when it came to gender and was, as it's name implied, internationally diverse in nature.  Justice League Dark also was pretty even gender wise, and recently has become more racially diverse.  Even the new Justice League of America has a roster of 9, with three women(one of whom is Japanese), Hispanic and Arab American members, and a Martian ;)  Justice League seems to be becoming more diverse in their second year, with Mera and Element Woman as well as the Korean American Ryan Choi scheduled - but we will see.

What boggles my mind is why writers today do not tap more into the diversity of both the Marvel and DC Universes.  I feel, that DC is doing a better job, but they need to do so in their flagship titles, not just their off shoot titles.  And Marvel....why Black Panther is not on that Avengers promo is beyond me.  Hickman has pretty much guaranteed from his work on Fantastic Four that T'Challa will be in the Avengers.  That along with great Avengers that are not white males: Monica Rambeau, She-Hulk, Mockingbird, Daisy Johnson, Storm, Jocasta, Valkyrie, Jewel, Mantis, Moondragon, Silverclaw, 3-D Man, Living Lightning, Firebird, Firestar, Lionheart, War Machine, Tigra, Sersi, Crystal, Rage, Marrina, Hellcat to name a few.  So again, there are plenty of Avengers characters, as well as X-Men and Fantastic Four characters that could be on this Avengers team and frankly that they aren't is a shame and waste of an opportunity.

Marvel Now! Part 2 - Creative Teams & Read List

I've discussed a lot about MarvelNow! and what new books I'm going to pick up the 1st arc or the 1st issue of, and what books I'll be dropping.  As of now, my pull list will look something like this:

Books I'm Keeping:
Wolverine and the X-Men
Daredevil
Hawkeye

1st Arcs of New Books:
Avengers
New Avengers
Uncanny Avengers

1st Issues of New Books:
Fantastic Four
FF
Indestructible Hulk
Captain America

However, what I'm also excited about is books that have either a creative team change or change of characters in already established books.  Two such books are Red She-Hulk and Avengers Assemble.  I've heard great things about Jeff Parker's run on Hulk, but the Red Hulk and his alter ego of Gen. 'Thunderbolt' Ross never really drew me in.  However, changing the shift from the Red Hulk to the Red She-Hulk (Ross's daughter, Betty Ross, who is the green Hulk's 'ex'-wife) interests me.  Also it seems like she is on the run from the heroes of the Marvel Universe (most likely avenging the death of her father in the last two issues of Avengers vs. X-Men - my prediction) - which, again, is very enticing to me.  The 2nd title, Avengers Assemble is by a writer I like, De Connick and with art by Stefano Caselli -whose art I love.  I'm hoping that this title soon looses most of the movie roster and rotates in more classic Avengers.
I'm also looking forward to the end of the first arc of certain books as well.  Sometimes, writers feel the need to at least have the first arc or two focus on the character on an adventure by themselves in some new locale or situation.  However, usually after this first arc, the writer feels that they have given their character enough time to be introduced to the readers to start to bring in other characters and situations from the larger universe it resides in.  Tow such books are Captain Marvel and World's Finest.  Captain Marvel is a book I picked up the first issue of and had a lot of problems with it's art.  I've heard good things about it's 2nd and 3rd issues, and am going to pick the issue where former Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, shows up, and give it another chance.  I have had similar issues with World's Finest: I enjoy the concept of the book and most of the flashback sequences I have read, but am not taken by a.) Power Girl's current duds and b.) the first villain and plot of the 1st arc.  I really enjoyed the #0, and am planning on picking up the arc which has Huntress (Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle's daughter from an alternate earth) interact with main DCU Gotham characters such as the current Robin (Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul's son).

Marvel NOW! Wave 2 Teases - Part 1

So this week Marvel released it's second wave of teasers for Marvel Now! books coming out in January.  When Marvel Now! was first announced so were new #1's for Avengers and New Avengers, as well announcing new titles All-New X-Men and Uncanny Avengers.  The 1st round of teasers were pretty easy to decipher, for the new #1's for Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Fantastic Four, FF and Deadpool.  This round of teasers, however are not as easy.  First, what's interesting really interesting is that these four titles are being written by relatively new writers to Marvel.  Second, these teasers could go a couple of ways.  The easy money would be that these are Avengers or X-Men books being relaunched within MarvelNow! We know New Mutants and Avengers Academy is ending, and rumors of Remender leaving Uncanny X-Force and Secret Avengers abound, as well as tweets by Brian Wood (the current writer of X-Men) seem to indicate that his run on X-Men is coming to a close.  I'd be surprised to see a change on X-Treme or Astonishing X-Men, as well as Venom or Scarlet Spider since either the books just started or new creative teams just started on those books (However, while not announced X-Men and Secret Avengers recently had new creative teams on those books too -so not sure if that logic holds).  Based on the teasers, I'm predicting some sort of X-team maybe going under the name of Exiles that are on the run, possibly a Thunderbolts squad that is US gov. Black Ops team that kills villains and led by the Punisher, and the other two teasers are possibly for X-Force and Secret Avengers, or maybe even a SHIELD book.  My two other theories is that the teasers might be about books that deal with different physical locales of the Marvel Universe (such as the Savage Land or Wakanda) or books that deal with different genres of the Marvel Universe (such as Cosmic or Magic/Horror).  I think the possibility of that these could be teases for a Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, and maybe two Magic/Horror books - Dr. Strange, Blade, Nightstalkers, ect. is one that could certainly be possible and would be a nice curve ball from Marvel.

Comic Reviews for the Last Two Weeks

So last weekend was my 1st anniversary and my wife and I went back to the hotel we has our reception at, and this week is the first start of school for me so I've been busy and thus why the slow crawl of posts to my blog.  I'm going to start this week by posting my last two weeks of comic reviews to start and hope to write some posts over the weekend.

So here are my reviews for the comics I either purchased or read from August 29th.

DC Comics:

Aquaman #12  - Good issue- not great.  A big criticism is that much of what happened is predictable including the dialogue.  B-.

Green Lantern Annual #1 - Wow.  Great art.  Major developments.  Fantastic issue and great prologue to the logical next step to what's been going on with the Guardians and the Lantern Corps.  A+.

Justice League #12 - The issue.  I honestly felt that the kiss was not as forced as it could have been.  In some ways this romance makes sense, which might be why it may work for a while but not forever.  Graves was really an ok villain but Johns uses him to show that in the New 52, the Justice League isn't the team it should be, and the challenge of year 2, it would seem, is to make it the team it should be. B+

Justice League International #1 - Wow.  Well if, this is what JLI has been from the start, I think we all would have liked it.  Lots of mysteries of the 2nd year of the New 52 set up and one wonders how familiar will it be to stories that has happened in the old universe.   The other question is what role will Booster Gold and Rip Hunter play in the DCU's future and past.  A.

Flash Annual #1 - I liked it.  I enjoyed the artists - it's great to see Kollins work on the New 52 Rogues in their past incarnations. And I feel Wes Craig's art fits well into the current Flash art.  In some ways, this issue was more about Captain Cold than Flash, and also it's a big departure from the pre New 52 iteration of the Rogues, not just in powers but also motivation. B.

Superman Annual #1 - Wow.  Well, I'm still going to give Lobdell an issue (or even two) with his run on Superman but this issue was allllll over the place.  I liked some stuff, confused by others, and the art was not what was needed for this issue.  At one point, Superman's arms looked to be about 3/4 the size of his total body.  C-.

Marvel Comics:

FF #21 - FF and Fantastic Four has been a book that really seems to be wrapping up Hickman's loose ends.  In some ways, for long time readers its great, however, if you're new, I'm sure it's annoying.  This issue, flashes back and forth from present to a few weeks ago, which is cool but also kind of annoying.  Also annoying is that Hickman seems to forget that Crystal has a child.  Weird.  B-.

Winter Soldier # 9 - Great.  This title consistently makes the reader think the story is going in one direction, and then pulls the rug out from under you.  A.

Wolverine and the X-Men #15 - I have to say that I have enjoyed this title's A vs. X tie-ins and this issue is not different.  It's a breath of fresh air, the last gasp before the remaining X-Men join up with the Avengers.  I look forward to seeing how this title reacts to the final events of A vs. X. A-.

Uncanny X-Force #30 - Just like the two previous issues, this is another issue that builds what seems to be Remender's final arc on Uncanny X-Force.  Here we have that while X-Force is in the future, the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, led by Wolverine's sociopathic son Daken, try to corrupt the young mutant Genesis, a clone of the evil mutant Apocalypse.  Good issue and I'm interested to see where it goes.  B+.

New Mutants #48 - Here's the thing: I love DnA.  I've loved their take on the New Mutants - especially including characters like Blink and X-Man.  And I love their take on time-travel, other dimensions and sci-fi concepts of the sort.  And this is one of their final arcs on the book before it is canceled.  However, the art in this issue is really, really distracting.  I hope the final few issues becomes improved.  B-.

And reviews for September 5th:

DC Comics: First Week of #0 Month

Action Comics #0 - I liked this issue.  Morrison's run on Action has not been the fantastic one issues of All-Star Superman or the planned opus of his Batman run.  However, while some of weird Golden/Silver Age re-imagined villains are annoying, I really like Morrison's take on young Superman/Clark Kent who still does not have all his powers and trying to find his place in the world.  B+.

Green Lantern #0 - After the events of the GL Annual - it seems that Sinestro's ring has merged with Hal's ring and has found a new replacement - an Arab-American car thief who steals the wrong car (it has a bomb) and then is taken by the US Government.  It'll be interesting to see how long this new GL stays around and what role he will have on the DC Universe.  A.

Earth 2 #0 - I liked this issue.  However, two things bothered me.  1st, the art was slightly off - so not what we've come to expect from Earth 2 and 2nd, this issue feels that it should be before an arc where Sloan is the main villain.  However, I really enjoyed the story.  B.

World's Finest #0 - This was a great issue. I really love the costumes of Earth 2's Superman, Batman, Robin, Supergirl and Catwoman.  And this issue, that tells the death of Catwoman and the meeting of Robin and Supergirl was really well done.  Also, great to see Wes Craig helping out on this issue.  A+.

Phantom Stranger #0 - Well...that's interesting.  I'm assuming Spectre's origin in this issue is in modern times, but I think that the Phantom Stranger is Judas Iscariot is pretty big.  I'm interested to see how the next issue is to really judge this series.  B-.

Green Arrow #0 - I liked the central idea of this issue.  It sets up Ollie in a modern setting to why he gets on the island and it sets up the villain Merlyn to be much closely tied to Ollie.  However, the villain and some of the dialogue are very dated and seems to be ancillary to what the New 52 is about. C+.

Marvel Comics:

Hawkeye #2 - Wow.  Really great issue.  I'm hooked.  Love the idea of Kate Bishop being Clint's partner and not sidekick.  And I enjoy what seems to be a larger conspiracy issue that Fraction is building at the end, and so different than from what Hawkeye usually deals with.  A+.

The Invincible Iron Man - Another great issue in the war between Tony Stark and the Mandarin.  It's an issue that people who have been following the current run will enjoy, and if you haven't been, I encourage you to jump on board. A.

 

DC's New 52 #0 Month

 As I have talked about before, DC Comics recently (about a year ago actually) re-booted it's entire universe, cherry picking which moments and events that they wish to keep in the current Universe and then changing them to fit their new timeline.  This September, they are doing #0 issues for all their current titles and their idea behind the #0 issue is that it delves back into that character's or team's history.  Some of these stories will take place before the character became a super-hero, others will take place during the new 5-6 year old timeline that currently makes up DC Continuity.  Now at the current time (which will include next month) I'm collecting the following titles from DC: Justice League, Action Comics, Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Demon Knights, Earth 2, Shade(mini), Justice League Dark, and Batman Inc. (mini). (I just picked up Animal Man and Swamp Thing via trade paperback and loved them but want to continue with those titles via trade -considering dealing with I, Vampire the same) What the #0 month gives fans is three things: 1.) this is the 3rd wave of new DC books - so the #0  issue is a good sampling issue of the history of those books and 2.) it can be a jumping on issue for books that fans have heard good things about but didn't know how to sample an issue without being lost in the middle of an arc or feel like they had to buy the back issues and 3.) gives fans an opportunity to find out the new history of some old and new favorite characters in the New 52 DCU.  I've provided the covers of the books I'm definitely going to take a look at and consider buying the #0 issues for and will also be talking about issues I'll be giving the spot look or flip through in the store.

First up in Green Arrow.  I tired the first issue of this series, and both issues of the next two writing teams to come on board and haven't really like/felt any kind of chemistry with the character.  However, I'm a big fan of Winick's take on Ollie and excited for him to do a character history issue.  Next Birds of Prey - I collected the first few issues of this series, but had to cut it for financial consideration as well as dwindling interest.  I am interested in giving it a second try and learning more about Black Canary and Starling and their relationship. 

With Flash, while the art is amazing, the story, for me has been hit or miss.  I plan on getting the Flash Annual tomorrow, mainly due to the art of a great artist named Wes Craig, I am interested in Barry's revised history and interested in seeing where this is going.

Now the next two books, I'm getting for two reasons: 1.) I am interested in seeing the New 52 back story for Guy and Kyle but also 2.) the #0 issues serve as prologues to the Third Army story line coming up in the Green Lantern titles and I have been a fan of the inter line crossovers in the Green Lantern lines - and like it as a model that DC has done well for all cross-overs.

 Next up is Red Hood and the Outlaws.  I have to say as much as I have problems with this title, especially its portrayal of women, I enjoy that Jason is less of a sociopath and much more as a more complicated and complex character- who has chosen to be more lethal and mercenary because of his experiences but not willing to cross certain lines against those he knows are doing good.  I find it compelling and much more interesting - it seems like his portrayal is less like the Punisher and more like the Winter Soldier with father issues.

 Next up is World's Finest featuring Huntress and Power Girl - formerly Robin (Batman & Catwoman's daughter)  and Supergirl from Earth 2 that are now on the main Earth.  I picked up the first two issues or so and really enjoyed the flashbacks but was not engrossed by a.) Power Girl's costume and b.) the villain they were fighting.  Therefore, a mainly history issue with art, again, by Wes Craig, has me sold.

 The Teen Titans is a book that I want to like.  After reading Booth's blog, I realize that the DC asked him for a lot of designs and they picked my least favorite.  However, I am interested in Tim's new Red Robin origin as well as Bunker's.

 Now this is an introduction issue of Wave 3 of DC's New 52 titles.  Talon is the one escaped assassin from the Court of Owls.  The character was a young escape artist from Haley's Circus that escaped.  Co-written by Batman scribe Snyder, this is a book which I'm willing to try out for the first arc/few issues.






 This last book signals a creative change on Superman.  (Along with the Supeman annual this week).  Lobdell and Rocafort are taking over Action and while Lobdell has been hit or miss with me, I'm going to give it a shot.



The other books which I will be giving the flip through/spot check in the store are: Stormwatch, Phantom Stranger, Batman & Robin, Suicide Squad, Team 7, Legion Lost, Legion of Super-Heroes, Batwoman, DC Universe Presents, Supergirl, Sword of Sorcery, I Vampire, Red Lanterns, and Fury of Firestorm.

Comics News - JLA, Creator Changes, Point 1 & Relationships

Before I begin, I'd like to by stating that my thoughts and prayers are with the people of the Gulf Coast who might be affected by Hurricane Isaac.

So the last couple of weeks has contained some new announcements about both creator changes as well as new books to new relationships and I'm going to address a few of these.

This week is Justice League #12 and Justice League International Annual #1 - both big issues to the New 52 DC Universe.  JL #12 marks the kiss (and what has been touted as a new relationship) between Wonder Woman and Superman. Now, there has been a huge amount of flurry about this...and my opinion is that while I'd love to see both of these characters in actual new relationships (not with Lois Lane or Steve Trevor) in the New 52 DCU, I'm not excited or angry about this.  I'm waiting to see how it goes, and if it actually feels like it makes sense.  I remember Joss Whedon saying he loved writing Cyclops and the White Queen in Astonishing X-Men because he thought it was interesting to have the 'hero' - Cyclops -date the 'wrong' woman and see what it does to the character.  To both of these characters, this could be truly interesting if done well.  If done well.  My prediction is that it won't last long.  But we'll see.

Now I mentioned Justice League International Annual #1 - the last issue of JLI.  Co-written by JL scribe Geoff Johns and co-publisher Dan Didio and while seems to be a temporary cooling off for many of the characters in the book, it seems that Johns will launch a new titles called Justice League of America.  This will be Justice League squad run by a US government agency called ARGUS.  The team can be seen in the top most image.  The roster is interesting and diverse, which I like, and I'm interested to see how a government run team with such different character personalities work.  They seem to have a defined mission statement - to learn and stop the Secret Society of Super Villains- which is good because one of the biggest problems of the JLI series was the UN's response to the JL but with no driving mission statement.  The one foreseeable problem that I predict is Finch's art.  It truly can turn people off and often is both cheesecake when it comes to females and awkward.

Finally, two notes about Marvel Now- first, one of my favorite Marvel titles - Winter Soldier is changing writers.  Ed Brubaker who brought Bucky Barnes back to the Marvel Universe in the form of the Winter Soldier is one of my favorite writers.  With him leaving Winter Soldier, and a writer (whom I'm sure might be great) this is a good time for me to leave the book.  There is also rumors of creative changes for Uncanny X-Force, Secret Avengers and X-Men with no announcements of replacements for New Mutants and Avengers Academy cancellations.

Also Marvel released the creator pairings for the their Marvel Now! Point one issue: Brian Michael Bendis & Steve McNiven, Matt Fraction & Mike Allred, Jeph Loeb & Ed McGuinness, Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie, Nick Spencer & Luke Ross and Dennis Hopeless & Gabriel Hernandez Walta.  Again the characters featured on the cover were Nick Fury, Jr. Cable, Ant-Man, Starlord, Nova and the combination of Kid Loki, Wiccan and Miss America.  Now, the speculation is that Marvel Now! Point One will launch either on-going or mini series featuring these characters as part of Marvel Now!  Easy money says the team up of Fraction and Allred will be doing Ant-Man (who we now know is Scott Lang) since he will be appearing in FF (by the way, the FF cast of kids will be staying around which now makes me want to get the 1st arc).  Fan's hope is the Gillen and McKelvie is on the team up of Wiccan, Kid Loki and Miss America (who many think will be the New Young Avengers) since Gillen has written Kid Loki in Journey into Mystery and it has been hinted that he will continue.  Many think that Bendis and McNiven will be on Guardians of the Galaxy (which I hope not considering how he has written them in Avengers Assemble), Loeb and McGuinness on either Cable or Nova (most likely Nova) and Spencer & Ross and Hopeless and Hernandez on most likely Cable and Nick Fury Jr/SHIELD books.

As of this news my Marvel pull list will be this with Marvel Now!:
Books I'm collecting now that will continue:
Daredevil
Hawkeye

Getting at least the 1st Arc:
Avengers
New Avengers
FF
Uncanny Avengers

Getting the first issue of :
Fantastic Four
Indestructible Hulk
Avengers Assemble
Captain America

Books that I will be trying out again with Marvel Now!:
Dark Avengers
Red She-Hulk

And depending on what books come out of the Marvel Now! Point One we will see on possibly a SHIELD book (if done by Spencer) and the New Young Avengers (if by Gillen & McKelvie) with my hope that I'm wrong about the team behind Guardians!  Also, I will be anxious to hear if and what the creative changes on both Uncanny X-Force and Secret Avengers will be.

Comic Reviews For the Week

Been a busy week...I'm working on a script for a movie - I know ambitious and arrogant but I figure at the very least it will help me writing skills.  If anyone reading this would like to take a peek, please let me know.  Anyways, onto my reviews for my week:

Batman Inc. #3- This is a book that was delayed for a month which sees the return of Matches Malone. He's a character that always seemed cool but dates and while the character speaks like what we might imagine a modern criminal might, his look is straight out of the 1970's.  This is an issue that seems to keep building Talia's organization Leviathan and how extensive and intricate it is.  We also see that Damian is, of course, alive but might be taking on the identity of Redwing, which I'm sure will eventually reveal who the new Wingman is.  As usual I love many of the moments like Bat-Cow but per usual, have a hard time following some the dialogue. B+.

Invincible Iron Man #523 - I've really enjoyed Iron Man since Fraction came on and this final set of arcs really seems a thank you to long time readers.  And while I imagine it'd be easy for a new reader to jump on board, many of the character moments- Pepper now with Wyche, what's Rhodey doing, the Rescue armor -good or bad?, Tony working with Zeke and his enemies, the possibility of Mandarin's rings have alien souls inside them....great stuff and if you like Iron Man, I suggest getting back issues or picking up the trade.  A.

Justice League Dark #12 - I picked up the first few issues of this book, but then dropped it.  I picked it up again with Lemire's first issue and love the new direction of the book - their connection to ARGUS and thus the regular Justice League, the re-imagined characters, and the upping the ante of the threats.  Great art as well.  A.

Secret Avengers #30 - Ok - so I really like Remender's writing and especially! that he is picking threads   that were introduced in the first arc of Secret Avengers by Brubaker but putting his own spin on this.  The only problem I have is the art is very scratchy and at times distracting. B-.

Uncanny X-Men #17 - I do enjoy that Gillen did the side arc with Sinister vs. the Phoenix Five.  I enjoyed that Danger, Storm, Psylocke and Magneto were left to save the day.  The two different artists were distracting however.  Also, if these issue has happened before the last two or three issues of the main Avengers vs. X-Men series would given this arc much more importance. B.

Sunday Posts - Marvel Redesigns

 So a couple of weeks ago I did a critique of DC's Earth 2 costumes, so I figured this Sunday, I would do the same for Marvel.  Now while Marvel has one alternate universe book, I though I'd take some of the new redesigns that Marvel has done recently or will be doing with Marvel Now!

Next up is the regular Marvel Universe version of Hawkeye in his new costume, one very reminiscent of the Ultimate Universe version (which is an alternate 'more contemporary universe') which was the basis of the movie version.  However, what this cover illustrates is the the Marvel artists, especially Aja who is the artists for Hawkeye's new solo title, have decided to blend Hawkeye's classic royal purple into a more modern approach.  I like it, especially Aja's simplified version - not as bulky or equipment laden or body armor-ish.  This look for Hawkeye is a couple of months old.

 This Havok (Cyclops' brother) costume as of him being in Uncanny Avengers as part of MarvelNow! and I hate it. I know so many people like the original Havok costume and to be fair it was cool in the late 60's/early 70's.  But while the black and white motif is cool, the weird headdress, not matter how helmet-ish artists try to make it, it is really odd.  Especially since Havok's current costume is so great - all black with a silver pipping around his belt, gloves and boots, the white circle in his chest, and either nothing around his head or black protection head-piece that covers his neck and the back of his head.  Definitely not a favorite of mine.

This is Dr. Strange's current look since he has relinquished the title of Sorcere Supreme but still practices magic. I love it.  Still has the flair and mystery of his first costume, but much more modern.

 This is Rouge's costume with MarvelNow! and while I like her current costume, I do enjoy this as it keeps her current green and white color scheme but harkens back to her older hooded outfit.  The question for fans is if the costume implies her powers reverting back to a more uncontrolled state.

 First of all, I'm just glad to see the Scarlet Witch back in action as a hero, and this will be her costume as part of the Uncanny Avengers in MarvelNow!  I love that they are keeping the classic headdress but also enjoy the contemporary outfit that is a mix between full body armor/padding and a trench-coat type of outfit. Great update.

 Now this is one that gets a lot of criticism.  This is Carol Danver's new costume as part of her name change from Ms. Marvel to Captain Marvel.  I imagine it is supposed to harken back to Marvel's first Captian Marvel.  The art next to me is by one of the better artists out there and I really like it.  There are three critiques by me: 1.) The interior artist has a style that I dislike, 2.) the interior artist also seems to have a weird mask/head-piece that comes from the outfit at times which doesn't look good and 3.) I think I would have rather seen Carol as Captain Marvel in an updating and modernization of her original costume -such as in the cartoon Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. This is a pre-MarvelNow! costume but

Ahhhh....Gambit.  Again this is a pre-MarvelNow! outfit and might only be seen in his solo title.  I really like it.  For a character who is a thief, an all black body suit, with a utility belt and other devices strapped to arms and legs, as well as thick boots make total sense.  He still gets to keep the trench coat, and instead of a pink/purple chest piece with a weird metallic collar thing, here the purple/pink piping is very subtle.  Really brilliant.

One Last Friday Post- The Death List

 So to our right is the two most reveling promotional images released by Marvel Comics about Marvel Now.  What is revealing about is is the characters who are not included who are the most likely to die (or something to happen to them) in the Avengers vs. X-Men mini.  And yes, I know that no FF characters are included but except for Thing, none of them have really been a part of the conflict and we know he survives since he's on the cover of Fantastic Four.

So the Death List:

1. Here's the most interesting - a character that looks like Cyclops is in a new costume in the first promo image below but not in the one to our immediate right, which is the first four covers of the Avengers plus X-Men (a new team-up series after Avengers vs. X-Men).  Many fans thinks Cyclops in the promo image is to fake out fans.

2. Also, we see Hope in the image to our right, again, since she is main player and would make sense for her to die, but it would be interesting to see her in a post-Phoenix world too.

3. Red Hulk - a big player on the Avengers of late, one whose own titles is going to be transferring to his daughter, the Red She-Hulk.  The Red Hulk alias is Thunderbolt Ross and his death would be redemptive for the character and might spurn the Hulk characters in a new direction.

4. Luke Cage/Jessica Jones - Bendis in New Avengers have been doing a lot about Cage's issue of being on the Avengers and being a father, so a break would make sense, maybe only having him running the Dark Avengers/Thunderbolts.  However, his death would be an emotional shock to the Avengers.  However, their inclusion in New Avengers covers after Avengers vs. X-Men would indicate differently.

5. The other Phoenix Five- So no Namor, Collosus, Magik, or Emma Frost -does that mean that they will die or just jailed for their crimes or maybe just take a leave of absence as a result of what the Phoenix did to them.

6. Professor X and Magneto - The last issue of A vs. X really seemed to see these two characters coming together to take down a Phoenix powered Cyclops and Emma.  Their deaths, together, as a team should be a big deal to mutants and the world.

7. Iron Fist- The connection between Iron Fist and the Phoenix was something new but interesting.  Again, he seems to play a big part in the New Avengers last storyline but it is possible.

8. The Black Panther- Not likely, but not seen as well.  He has played a big part in the crossover with the destruction of his country and his marriage.  I think he's going to play a big part in Hickman's Avengers though.

Friday - DC's New 52 -My Suggestions for the 4th & 5th Wave

So here is Part 2 - My first suggestion is that DC needs to employ more of their young writers, especially female writers, and give less books to the writers who were popular in the 1990's  - sure some of those writers still have great stuff in the tank, but a new take and fresh approach is what is needed for some of these books.

However, here is my suggestions for what the fourth and/or fifth wave should look like:

Wave 4:

A new Justice League International Book - I would Gail Simone write this book, with Lopresti and Calafiore on art. My idea is have Wonder Woman and Flash lead the international team  - a combination of class JLI characters such as Fire, Ice, Guy Gardner, Captain Atom, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, with adding on characters like Vixen, Firehawk and Red Rocket and others.  I think we could use more WW and her in a leadership situation would be great and to see Barry interact with the classic JLI characters would be cool since they came together in the old DCU after his 'death'.  And if it was me, I would make Max Lord the main villain, and bring up some different villains, and even more "JL" type villains like Amazo or Despero.

The Outsiders - written by Marc Andreyko where Batman (and Cyborg) assembles a team of young but not teenage super humans to work as his proactive team of heroes who work internationally.  Since classic Outsiders such as Katanna in Birds of Prey, and Halo, Looker and Metamorpho in Batman Inc., I would suggest Black Lightning and Blue Devil who Marc Andreyko will be introducing in DC Universe Presents with Hawk and Dove from a New 52 book that was canceled, and OMAC, whose book was also canceled, and throw in a few other characters such as Milestone character Technique an others.  Maybe even let Marc Andreyko bring back a New 52 version of Manhunter.

Young Justice - To be frank, I have a pitch, myself for this but T would get a young writer such as Kyle Higgins or even better an indie writer (maybe even a woman, I know Heaven forbid) to write about the JL's response to group such as the Teen Titans and the Ravagers- so Superman and Aquaman ask a few meta humans in their early twenties (here is DC' opportunity to bring out some not seen characters like Wally and Donna thought I imagine fans will have to be ok with different origins than before for these characters) to train teenage meta humans- my roster would include Miss Martian, Raven, Rocket, Aqualad, Hot Spot, and others.

The Dynamic Duo - Bryan Q. Miller and Cat Staggs on a book featuring Spoiler and Black Bat.  Their main villains should be Duela Dent and Enigma.

Wave 5:

Wildcats- A secret team with Grifter and Voodoo trying to not get attention and fighting off the Daemonite invasion.  James Robinson should write it. This should have a black ops feel and not be the JL like team that existed before.

A 2nd Wonder Woman book - While the main book focuses on the mythological connection, I think it would be great to see WW on her own adventures in the world today and even build up a Wonder family such as Donna, Artemis and Cassie.

Checkmate book - (I also have a pitch for this one too!) Nick Spenser would be the writer I would consider to get some sort of espionage book featuring Checkmate or some other spy/governmental organization in the DCU.

A new Static Shock book - this character is too popular not to bring back. It needs to happen.

A Titans book- something focusing on that 2nd generation level with Nightwing and Cyborg with other re-imagined classic Titans I think would fit well.  This is a book that would need a mission statement, like a threat to the world from someone like Trigon or HIVE would be needed.

Friday - DC's New 52 Part 1 - the Teams

So about a year ago, DC rebooted almost all of their continuity,m cherry picking here and there certain events that now made up a 5-6 year history of their heroes.  What it has done, is hugely help the comic book industry as well as their bottom line, but it also has made many of their heroes much younger - most iconic heroes are anywhere from their early to late twenties.  One of the bad things is that many legacy characters such as Wally West who was very popular Flash and Donna Troy the former Wonder  Girl, have still yet to appear (and that's just to name a two).

One of the complexities that DC has been doing with for some time, and now continues to do with this reboot (which I'll refer to as the New 52 from now on) is take other comic properties that they have brought and integrate them into the DC Universe.  When the Original Crisis on Infinite Earths, many of these other comic properties (Fawcett Comics, Quality Comics and Charlton Comics) were on other Earths, as well DC's own properties that had originally appeared during the 1940's.  What that Crisis did was integrate those characters from those Earth (and thus those companies) into one DC Universe.  This caused many problems along the way that DC tried to rectify later in events such as Zero Hour and Infinite Crisis.  With there maxi-series 52 and with the Final Crisis mini, they established that there are more than one Earth, some which resemble the worlds that used to exist, even though the characters remained on the original Earth.  With the New 52, DC has tried to once again integrate the Wildstorm and Milestone Universe into the DC Universe.

Now, I see two criticisms of having so many characters (many of which are similar) in the same universe.  The first, is it's too much, and depletes fans ability to keep track of the movements of the Universe, which can be frustrating if you enjoy following that.  Secondly, a lot of fans feel that there are many teams that seem to be doing the same thing, or if they want to introduce more teams into the DC Universe they need to be much more specific about what those teams mission are.

Before we begin, DC has tried to diversify their books, which I will talk about - and I think it's great.  The only large areas that they could do better in is the espionage/spy genre and more books that appeal to larger audiences such as female readers.  They have a good job with at least 1-2 War Comics, Horror books, even books set in the future and the past.

So here's one of today's exercises, which is for me to try to describe the mission statement of all the DC's team books as they exist right now.  So here we go:

Justice League - DC's top team - really a window into how their top characters deal with each other, and have introduced the past of this new DCU as well.  JL is this DCU's first superheros and their first superhero team, and to the public the best line of defense for the Earth.

Justice League International - this title is ending, and the idea was the UN's version of the JL, with a much more internationally diversified cast.

Justice League Dark - Originally DC's top magical characters banding together to face a large magical threat, now DC has tried to link them to the JL through the character of Steve Trevor and the US government organization called ARGUS. The JLDark 'work' for ARGUS, but also in their first mission  find a large magical threat to the world.

Stormwatch - The idea behind Stormwatch (originally a Wildstorm team that morphed into a JL-like team called the Authority notably with a Batman and Superman like characters who were gay lovers) is that this is a centuries old organization of superhumans that keep the world safe from unknown threats without being seen.  If the JL and their affiliates are seen in public or employed by governments, Stormwatch are beholden only to more powerful group called the Shadow Cabinet which we know very little about. Mostly comprised of Wildstorm characters.

Teen Titans - Red Robin, former partner to Batman, saves a group of teenage superhumans from an organization called NOWHERE who are trying to make them weapons.  Three of these teenagers have connections to the JL members Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash.

The Ravagers - Teenage superhumans who were capture, abused and tampered by NOWHERE now escaped and on the run.

Team 7 - A new titles that chronicles the worlds' government (esp. the US) response to the emergence of superheroes and the creation of the Justice League five years ago.  It features many characters who exist five years later.

Suicide Squad - The US Gov. program which employs super-villains on suicide missions for the US, usually against some sort of super-powered threat.

Birds of Prey - A team of female superheroes brought together by Black Canary, who operate mainly in Gotham, usually against more secretive threats and at times are proactive against villains. Originally started as the due of Black Canary and Starling recruiting help for a mission and has continued.

Red Hood and the Outlaws - Red Hood, Arsenal and Starfire - not a huge amount of direction.  Less of a team book than the others. Mostly the idea is that Starfire saved Red Hood, Red Hood saves Arsenal, Arsenal knows Starfire and Red Hood, and they all hang out.

Green Lantern Corps- Focuses on Earth Green Lantern's Guy Gardner and John Stewart interacting in with the large Green Lantern Corps.

Green Lantern: The New Guardians - Earth Green Lantern Kyle Rayner interacting with the other Lantern corps because for some reason a ring from each other corps came to Kyle.

Demon Knights - A group of adventures during Medieval Times. Very Magnificent Seven esque -thought the writer has used some Arthurian mythology to keep them together.

Legion of Super Heroes - A group of young super powered aliens inspired by the heroes of today in the 31st Century to fight evil.

Legion Lost -A group of Legionaries from the future that came back to stop a threat to the past now lost in time.

Also a note: DC's War books have been Our Men at War, GI Combat and Blackhawks.  The first two have chronicled storylines of regular military in a world of superhumans with a new Sgt. Rock and Easy Company.  Blackhawks was a paramilitary organization that dealt with super powered threats.  DC has also set up a couple of governmental organizations too.  In Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE - SHADE is US organization that seems to have been created in response to the emergence of superhumans.  So far, the organization more tends to deal with the more horror/scifi/other dimensional threats to the DCU.  The DEO seen in Batwoman seems to be more of a NSA/FBI type of organization dealing with individuals with super powers, and ARGUS seems to deal with the JL and with the US government collection of mytical/technological artifacts that is has collected.  The UN has Checkmate, which seems to have a more proactive stance against all superhumans and has delved into the areas of genetically and technologically tampering with people to be weapons.

The only issue with many of these teams is maintaing the mission of why the team/group should remain together  - and at times that can lost even with the best writers.  I think the books that need that reminder  of why they team exists mainly is  the Outlaws, Birds of Prey, Stormwatch and the New Guardians.  In part 2 of my post, I'm going to suggest mostly team books that I think should make up DC's 4th and 5th Wave of books.

Friday - Marvel Now!

So I have posted about my thoughts on MarvelNow! and how my experiences at SDCC has really turned me off to Marvel and the changing of creative teams really has given me the opportunity to drop a lot of books.  As of this week, Marvel has announced a lot of #1's as part of MarvelNow! and some creative changes to books as part of it too.  Here's my thoughts:

Originally Announced:

Avengers & New Avengers by Hickman & great cast of rotating artists - interested and excited- hope to hear more info about the 18 member line-up of Avengers soon and the mission statement of New Avengers and how they connect. I will be picking up at least the first arcs of both. #1's for both.

All-New X-Men - Bendis & Immonen - love the art but done with Bendis.  As far as we know it is taking the place of Uncanny.  Features the original X-Men in the present.  Not picking up.

Uncanny Avengers - Remender & Cassaday - great art, great writing - love the cast so far -hope we'll see some more Avengers & X-Men who don't get as much screen time.  Seems to not be taking the place of any book. I'll be picking up the first arc.

At San Diego:

Avengers vs. X-Men Babies one-shot.

Avengers vs. X-Men Consequences- five issue miniseries about whomever dies at the end of this thing.

Avengers plus X-Men  -Leob & Slott- Not really interested in anything written or co-written by Leob.

Last two weeks:

Iron Man - Gillen and Land - I like Gillen a lot but Iron Man was never a fav. as a solo book so I'm out. Replaces Invinceible Iron Man.

Thor: God of Thunder - Aaron & Ribic - I like Aaron but again Thor for me was great in the Avengers but not solo.  Won't be picking it up.  Replaces The Mighty Thor.

Captain America - Remender & Romita, Jr.  Interesting- I love Cap and like exploring his child hood.  I like Zola as the villain not sure how I feel about the "Green Skull"  - will at least pick up the first issue. Just a new #1.

Fantastic Four - Fraction & Bagley - I like Bagley's redesigns of the black and white costumes and have enjoyed Fraction's portayal of Reed in Iron Man.  I might pick up the first issue.  Just a new #1.

FF - Fraction & Allred- Great art.  And I'm excited to see who I hope is Scott Lang, She-Hulk and Medusa take the spotlight however, for some reasons creators like to create new characters like 'Miss Thing' when there was already a She-Thing who is a mostly black slate. And while I think a replacement Fantastic Four is cool, it looks like the kids who make up the current FF titles (which stands for Future Foundation) will most likely get lost in the change. Most likely not picking up the first issue. Just a new #1.

Indestructible Hulk by Waid and Yu - Love Waid's writing but at times I find Yu's artwork to be hard to follow - for me it all depends on who is inking him and who does the colors.  This replaces Incredible Hulk.

X-Men Legacy - Spurrier & Huat.  This will seem to focus on Xavier's son Legion exclusively which is a character who is almost as condusing to me as the Sentry.  So nope. Just a new #1.

Deadpool - Don't read him now, won't then.

This week - no #1's but creative changes on books:

Avengers Assemble - Deconnick & Caselli - I enjoy Deconnick's writing and love Caselli's art.  I'm especially glad to see a woman writing an Avengers book. However, the line-up seems to be the movie cast still, but with Spider-Woman and Captain Marvel instead of Hawkeye and Black Widow.  I hate this.  I wish it had Iron Man and the Hulk assembling a team instead of using characters which are already have their solo books and already in at least two teams.  Maybe I'll pick up the first issue.

Journey into Mystery - Kathryn Immonen And Valerio Schiti  - This book which introduced Thor and has featured of late Loki reborn as a child in modern day will not focus on Thor's sometime love interest, Lady Sif.  I was not reading JiM but heard great things.  I'll most likely pick up the first issue of the creative change and see what the buzz on it before possibly picking up the trade.


The two titles that seems to have had it's final issue that has not been replaced is New Mutants and Avengers Academy. We also know that Hulk will now be Red She-Hulk with the same numbering.  Also the Defenders will be canceled with issue #12.  No news on whether the Spider books (Amazing, Avenging, Venom & Scarlet Spider) will go under any changes, or if X-Men, Uncanny X-Force, Avengers Academy, Astonishing X-Men, Dark Avengers (formerly Thunderbolts), X-Factor, Winter Soldier and Captain America and _____, and Secret Avengers will either.  Rumors of a Wolverine relaunced abound.  And I assume Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, X-Treme X-Men and Gambit will stay the same with their series just being launched, as well as sucessfull books that have been launched recently like Wolverine & the X-Men and Daredevil will stay the same. The Punisher will sees its final issue but the next month, a mini-series by the same creative team will have the Punisher square off against the Avengers.

So the tally as it stands:

Getting:

Avengers
New Avengers
Secret Avengers
Winter Soldier
Uncanny X-Force
Hawkeye

At least the first issue - maybe?:

Avengers Assemble
Journey into Mystery
FF
Fantastic Four
Captain America
Indestructible Hulk

Comic Reviews for 8/22/12

Here are my reviews for the comics I either purchased or read this week:

Avengers vs X-Men #10 - Ehhhhh.   Here's the thing, I don't know how to say this, because Adam Kubert just lost his father, comic legend Joe Kubert, but the art in this issue really was odd.  The scene with the Cyclops, Hope, the Thunderer and the dragon was just weird.  And frankly, the audience has not been given any reason why Cyclops wants Hope back so badly besides the fact that it seems he is annoyed that Hope wanted to leave and sided with the Avengers.  Brubaker's writing is ok-good, but really gets lost in the awkward art.  C.

Wonder Woman #12 - Amazing.  The New52 WW series has gotten a lot of critical acclaim as well as a lot of fan anger over changes to Wonder Woman's origin (the clay origin was a lie to cover up the Zeus is her father) and the thing that got fans even more up in arms, that the Amazonians find ships, have an orgy with the men, then kill them the next morning.  If they get pregnant (which it indicated that most do) the keep the girls, and trade the Greek God Hephaestus for weapons.  What writer Brian Azzarello has done is given a Wonder Woman comic that gives us a different portrayal (but not inconsistent) of WW than in other books, and brought the classic Greek Gods into the modern world, emphasized their natures, threw in a dash of horror.  And the last page connects what WW has been all about to another great DC concept that hasn't been used in a while. A+.

Uncanny X-Force #29 - Great issue.  Very interesting to have a two issue reprieve from the current Brotherhood of Evil Mutants storyline to bring the logical extension/greatest fear of what X-Force could do.  The only downside is that this book has had such great art, these last two issues have been very loose and scratchy and at times difficult to follow.  B-.

The Shade #11 - Great issue.  This whole maxi-series has been awesome - Great writing and amazing art.  My only problem is that I felt that the last arc before the last issue has been missing a little of the oomph which the other arcs had.  A.

Daredevil #17 - Wow.  Another great series.  I never would have had Waid on DD, but this is a great one-off issue, with incredible art of Allred.  I'm interested to see where the most recent riff between Matt and Foggy will lead.  A.

Green Lantern #12 - Good issue.  Lots of revelations.  I really enjoyed the art by Calafiore, but not by Guedes.  And the way they mixed them, made sense storywise but really threw me off when reading.  B.

New Mutants #47 - Another great X-Title using the idea of future time lines being problematic.  I really have loved DnA's run on this book and am sad to see it end.  At times the art was hard to follow with such a scratchy stile.  B.

Nightwing #12 - There is a part of me that really wishes that new villains had to be related someone in an emotional way to another character.  The concept of Paragon is interesting, but really no emotional resonance.  I'm hoping that Nightwing's next arcs with Lady Shiva and Joker have more emotional hits.
B-.

Avengers #29 - Wow. I don't know what to say.  This issue did not need to exist.  We already know that Xavier is going to play a big part in the ending of Avengers vs. X-Men.  We already saw this fight in Wolverine and the X-Men. D.

Saga #6 - Really, really enjoying this.  Reminds me of Y the Last Man in it's writing but such an interesting and engaging story and fantastic art. A+.

Avengers vs. X-Men Infinite #3 - Wow, can Mark Waid write the main series.  This digitally only 3 issues have been fantastic one-offs examine main characters in a way that has been so much more engaging than most of the main series and the tie-ins.  A.

Tuesday - 3 new Marvel #1's and Animal Man trade

Recently Marvel has launched three pre-MarvelNow! #1's which we all assume won't get changed with MarvelNow! (I'm going to be posting this Friday with my thoughts on the titles that have been announced last week and the creative team changes that seem to be being announced this week) But I wanted to review this last month (or 2 months) #1's from Marvel:

Captain Marvel #1 - by Deconnick & Soy.  Very glad to see Carol in her own book and very cool to see her take on the Captian Marvel name - being the 3rd woman to do so.  I thought it was ok-good -mostly due to Soy's art (and maybe it was the shading/coloring?) but I thought it really detracted from the story.  Her new costume as Captain Marvel has gotten a lot of criticism but for me, I'm really neutral to it.  However, I think it can look good with some artists, not so much with others, and I feel Soy is one of them.  I'm surprised they didn't do a modernized version of her current or original costume instead of one more like the original Captain Marvel.  I think what the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes' have done with Carol's original costume is great.

As for the story, I think the first half where Carol teams up with Captain America and is hanging out with Spider-Man is good.  The 2nd half, which sets up her dying friend, her brother and her hero who was a pilot is not as engaging.  It just comes off as forced supporting cast which we should have feelings towards but we don't. And that most of her supporting cast are relatively unknowns.  It doesn't seem to set up a larger plot unless the plot is about those characters.

B-.

Hawkeye #1 by Fraction & Aja - This is a really cool #1 because while it introduces a supporting cast that could play a larger part, it mostly just focuses on Hawkeye and a dog.  The art is magnificent.  This is what I would expect as a one-off issue in between larger arcs but it is surprisingly great that Fraction used that format as an introduction not to a storyline but to a character.  Really, really great book.

A+

Gambit #1 by Asmus & Mann - This is a good, solid opening issue of a solo series of character who needs a new direction.  Instead of retreading familiar territory, Asmus but Gambit as the hero who was once a thief dipping into his old habits on a whim.  It gets back to the root of who he is without going against where he is right now in the X books.  I also enjoyed the updated costume with only hints of pink/purple on the side and use of technology by Gambit.  The art is great, however the colorist used what looked to watercolors (kinda?) and it was distracting.

A.

Animal Man Vol. 1 The Hunt - New 52: I never read Morrison's run on this book.  My first introduction was in 52.  And frankly, I never really felt drawn to this character but I heard such great buzz so when my store had a sale for tax-free weekend, I picked it up.  And wow.  Really great stuff.  I already like Lemire's work on JLDark, and while Foreman is not who I would want on Captain America, his work on this book fits perfectly and is really good.  I recommend this to anyone who both likes comics and likes horror.

A+.

Monday Post- Last Week's Comics Reviewed

So last week, I was on a retreat with about 130 students so no posts nor did I get my comics till Friday- mostly which I read on Saturday.  So here are my reviews:

Batman #12 - Great issue.  I love Becky Cloonan's art (and of course Scott Snyder's writing is amazing & Cloonan did a great con sketch for me at SDCC) I love that Snyder introduced a new character that seems so real, gritty and very 21st century.  I love the sub-plot with her family.  The only problem with this is the switching between Cloonan and Clarke's art.  And I love Clarke's art but it was jarring.  So great one-off issue that is a good break between the Court of Owl's 11 issue story line and what is promised with the return of the Joker.  A.

Demon Knights #12 - Another great issue.  If you like a non-conventional comic that zany awesomeness but also fits all your sword and sorcery wants  - this is it. And a great cliffhanger where the #0 issue next month won't be too distracting.  A+

Batgirl #12 - I love Gail Simone and I love Barbara Gordon.  Unlike many fans, while I was disappointed to see Oracle go away, I felt that with Simone that she would handle Babs as Batgirl again very well.  And she has.  However, my problems with Batgirl are twofold - art that is ok but not great and villains who don't seem to have a lot of weight to them.  I hope that with the Joker and the Talon Babs' fought in the Court of Owls coming back things will help.  I do enjoy Simone setting a certain character to be Babs' Moriarty type character which makes total sense and has that weight I hope for more of.  B.

Fantastic Four #609 - Good issue with a lot of creative ideas- however unless you read Millar & Hitch's run on the book or Hickman's earlier issues about the Defenders of Tomorrow, you could very easily get lost, even with the intro section.  B-

New Avengers #29 - As far as A vs.X tie-in issues goes, this is one of the best.  However, it obviously takes place at least before the last two issues of the main title.  Not a ton of action but some great character moments and explanation of where the Fantastic Four have been in this situation (though part of me still thinks someone like Johnny would have showed up to help Ben and Peter).  B+

Captain America #16 - This sucks.  Huge departure to the level which fans of this title have come to expect.  Really disappointing that this is Brubaker's ending on the title.  D.

New Mutants #46 - Another great issue.  Love what Abnett and Lanning are doing with this title.  I hate that it is going to end and either not be revived or be revived with a new team.  I hope Marvel is smart enough to put them on a MarvelNow! book. A.

My last two books are books that I actually dropped but sometime those request do not process as fast as they should:

Batman & Robin #12 - I really enjoyed the first arc with Morgan Ducard.  I enjoy the idea of Damian competing with Dick, Jason and Tim.  I had not real reason to think anything bad would happen to the main cast nor had any idea why Terminus was a threat or why he was doing it.  Great art, great script, totally forgettable villain.  C+

Avengers Assemble #6 - Right - it was ok, but again the Guardians don't sound like the Guardians but like Bendis' writing them.  I enjoyed the bait and switch but this really doesn't stack up to other Bendis Avengers comics and really I hope he's not writing the Guardians in MarvelNow! Better than last issue but not by much.