Maroon Mock Turtle Soup: Douglas reads some Marvels from 11/14

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Posted by: admin on November 19, 2007

Categories: Reviews

Yes, WORLD WAR HULK #5 is disappointing, and I say that as somebody who waved the flag pretty hard for the early part of the story. Here’s what I’ve got against it: *The Sentry as deus ex machina. Being the big gun who springs into action at the end of the story and fixes everything is literally the only thing the Sentry ever does; even if he had to do it here, it might’ve been nice to see him fix the problem by some means other than being a golden god, you know? Or at least a resolution that comes naturally out of the characters, since the rest of WWH has been remarkably character-driven for a big punch-up event? It’s…  Read More…

A Quick One While He’s Trapped On Paradise Island: Graeme does Winick from 11/14

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on November 18, 2007

Categories: Reviews

Easiest way to get people to disagree with you on the internet: Say that you like a Judd Winick comic. And, while GREEN ARROW AND BLACK CANARY #2 isn’t entirely without fault (The whole “Your ex-hooker sidekick with AIDS is unclean” scene was both ridiculous and clunky, for one thing), I have to admit the sense of humor on show in the book won me over; the dialogue of the last page alone, undercutting and subverting what you’d expect from the scene by replacing the traditional “statement of how bad things look to make the cliffhanger seem more exciting and dangerous” with a conversation about shared underwear, showed a tongue-in-cheek self-awareness that, when paired with Cliff Chiang’s pretty-but-toothy artwork, makes…  Read More…

Hope You Remember: Jog takes on an 11/14 book with roots in the hallowed spring of 2006, when the world was young and we all were gleaming

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Posted by: Joe McCulloch on

Categories: Reviews

You want comic book delays? Issue #1 of this puppy hit the stands over seventeen months ago. I think the series was actually considered cancelled for a while, but now it’s back. Looking around online, it seems the creator’s DC work (whether in terms of simple time consumption or contractual obligation) got in the way… My Inner Bimbo #2 (of 5): It’s pretty rare that reading someone’s comic makes me feel like I’ve actually invaded their privacy, but after this one I kinda want to fire off an email of apology to creator/writer/co-artist Sam Kieth urging him not to press charges, since I feel like I just finished breaking into his home and staring at things. This is the latest…  Read More…

Monkey Vs. Robot… I mean, Amazon: Graeme gets Wonderful from 11/14.

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on November 16, 2007

Categories: Reviews

With a story that starts with the heroine fighting an army of intelligent violent gorillas and ends with an army of technological neo-Nazis, it’s not completely beyond the realm of possibility that we’ll see some zombies, robots and pirates before Gail Simone’s first storyarc of WONDER WOMAN (#14 of which, Simone’s first issue, came out on Wednesday) is over. The feeling of trying too hard permeates the entire issue – Simone hits the ground running with multiple plots starting at once, but maybe throws too many in there for the first issue: Mysteries about Diana’s birth, Gorilla Grodd amassing ape armies, the appearance of Etta Candy – who seems to be investigating Wonder Woman’s secret identity – and Nazis invading…  Read More…

BLACK DOSSIER annotations

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Posted by: admin on November 15, 2007

Categories: Retailing/Industry

Jess Nevins popped into one of our comments threads to point us to the online annotations of the BLACK DOSSIER HC — I thought it deserved some time up on the front page so go look In other BD news, DC is SOLD OUT of the book (excepting whatever copies they’ve held back for damages and shortages) — I found this out when I wanted more for Sunday’s signing and was told “Nope.” I am cunning and strong, so I managed to get more copies, but still… when’s the last time that DC sold out of a GN, and especially a HC, on the first day of release? -B

Punching! Hitting! Lasers!: Graeme makes it through to the end of the World War, from 11/14

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on

Categories: Reviews

So it goes without saying that the end of WORLD WAR HULK #5 was somewhat underwhelming, but it should also be added that I’m not sure what kind of ending would have really managed to feel satisfying at this point. Maybe something that hadn’t attempted to redeem the character, or had come to some kind of conclusion that lived up to the no holds barred opening to the series…? But that was never really an option, of course; for all of the illusion of change presented at the end of the issue, something as extreme as the heroes being cold-blooded enough to try and murder the Hulk or whatever is the kind of thing that’d never happen in this age…  Read More…

Superheroes Love Quests Like Dogs Love to Bark: Jog on all the 11/14 superhero comics he bought that weren’t World War Hulk

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Posted by: Joe McCulloch on

Categories: Reviews

The last page of The Punisher #52? That’s how you go for broke with the cliffhangers. I mean, just the way it’s staged suggests that it’s most likely a fake out, let alone the content, but… just the fact that I’m not 100% sure is a victory for everyone involved. All Star Superman #9: Well, this is clearly a GOOD superhero comic we’ve got here, but it left me feeling kinda relieved that writer Grant Morrison is going to have to start ramping up the endgame soon; there’s a formula at work with this series, but this is the first issue that’s seemed formulaic. Almost every installment of this series has taken a look at some noteworthy character or trope…  Read More…

Oh, god, I need to give this a title?

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Posted by: admin on

Categories: Reviews

Let me acknowledge, right up front, that maybe I’m a little biased, given that Kevin O’Neill is appearing at the store this Sunday (11/18, from 4-6 PM, right, I can’t help myself dammit, I am a retailer!) But, really, I thought that the LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN: THE BLACK DOSSIER was one of the most extraordinary things that I’ve read this year. I barely have the vocabulary for a decent review — not only did I miss at least a third of the references (I’m aware, intellectually, of [say] Jeeves and Wooster – but its not like I’ve ever personally read a word of Wodehouse’s), but even the ones I actually get, I don’t actually have the language to comment…  Read More…

November 14 Exhausts Johanna

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Posted by: admin on

Categories: Reviews

This is a really busy week, especially for DC books, which means too much to get distracted by. In another week, I might have tried Wonder Girl again, but I had two other comics with the Amazons I expected to like more. (Plus, I’m not interested in either New Gods or the goofy art.) I like Blue Beetle ok, but a “Sinestro Corps War” banner gives me a good excuse to skip this month. I’m looking for reasons not to get comics in order to keep numbers manageable. (This is why publishers should better manage their overall schedules to smooth out weeks, which would be better for readers and retailers, but that seems to be beyond them.) Captain Marvel #1…  Read More…

Oh yes, there will be blood

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Posted by: admin on November 14, 2007

Categories: Reviews

COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #24: First, it’s the Sensational Character Find of 2007, the Jokester, who comes out as being sorta interesting, then is unceremoniously killed a week later, and now Earth-15, the “If Only” world where the sidekicks grew up to become their mentors — really, the only of the (new) multi-earths that I liked. Superb…er, MAN-”prime”, fresh from his well-I-guess-we-know-how-that-turns-out Sinestro Corps storyline (and, really, is it just me, or does it feel like someone in DC editorial is upset that Sinestro Corps hit with the audience, and COUNTDOWN didn’t, and is actively trying to undermine it? They can’t be THAT petty, can they?) decides to kill everyone and everything on that earth, in about the most gruesome…  Read More…

First he jumped and then he looked: Graeme gets it together from 11/14

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on

Categories: Reviews

Weirdly enough, the arrival of SCOTT PILGRIM GETS IT TOGETHER reminds me of the arrival of Oasis’ ill-fated third album, “Be Here Now” – Something that pop culture had collectively been holding its breath for while, at the same time, nurturing the backlash and secretly hoping for it to be a failure. Of course, the parallels fall apart when you consider that “Be Here Now” was an overblown, self-indulgent disaster fueled by cocaine and the uncomfortable love of Patsy Kensit, but nonetheless; it worked well enough to get me to a point where I can tell you that the fourth Scott Pilgrim book is Very Good indeed… if a little overblown and self-indulgent. It’s self-indulgent in the best ways, though;…  Read More…

Abhay Rambles About Scalped and Criminal without the Benefit of a Clever Blog Post Title

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Posted by: Abhay Khosla on

Categories: Reviews

So before Ye Old Comic-Book-Reviewing Internet folds onto itself like sexy origami over this week’s high-profile new releases, I want to slide one in about last week’s books. I’ve been busy so I haven’t really given this review the time or thought it deserves; it’s my busy season, but two of comics’ finer crime comics wrapped up their current long-running arcs last week, namely Scalped and Criminal. That shouldn’t go by without some note. I have that weakness as a critic of focusing on shiny, new doo-dads. First issues are just more fun to review, though. Spring has come! The circle of life has begun anew! But then issue #2 comes out—“Issue #2? What do you want, a fucking cookie,…  Read More…

There’s gonna be a loser and you know the next goal wins: Graeme finishes off 11/7.

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on November 13, 2007

Categories: Reviews

Watch for the symmetry in the reviews below. I wish I could say that I planned to begin and end on the same franchise, but really, it was just a trick of that goddamned alphabet… ASTONISHING X-MEN #23: You know, that flashback where a scene from the previous issue is revisited, but this time you get to find out what really happened, would have worked much better if I had remembered that it was, in fact, a scene from the previous issue and not just a randomly double-lettered couple of pages. Of course, that would’ve meant that it would’ve had to have appeared in a timely manner, and that’s not so likely with this book. Which is a shame; the…  Read More…

Just For One Day

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Posted by: admin on

Categories: Reviews

I generally don’t like reading comics on the web, so I read maybe half of the webcomics based on the HEROES television show before my eyes started melting. So, I was pretty happy to see the HEROES HC come out last week — getting to read these stories in a format that didn’t give me a headache, didn’t have an interminable wait for them to download, and didn’t have car ads plastered all over them was pretty nice. This might also point to the way to handle the web/print divide — the HEROES HC is a lovingly-designed book, a “fetish object” if you like, including not only the web comics, but all of the Tim Sale paintings for the series…  Read More…

Arriving 11/14/2007

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Posted by: admin on November 12, 2007

Categories: Shipping Lists

Internet is kicking on and off all morning, hopefully it will last long enough to get this posted… HELLUVA week — LOEG! Scott Pilgrim! All-Star Superman! WW Hulk! Wheeeee! 100 BULLETS #86 AFTER THE CAPE II #1 SEASONS IN CHANGE (OF 3) ALL STAR SUPERMAN #9 AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL #14 AMORY WARS #4 (OF 5) ARCHIE & FRIENDS #114 ATOMIC ROBO #2 (OF 6) AVENGERS INITIATIVE #7 BADGER BULL BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #1 BATMAN STRIKES #39 BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #156 BLACK ADAM THE DARK AGE #4 (OF 6) BLACK DIAMOND #5 (OF 6) BOOSTER GOLD #4 BPRD KILLING GROUND #4 (OF 5) BRIT #3 CAPTAIN CARROT AND THE FINAL ARK #2 (OF 3) CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 (OF 5)…  Read More…

Cause what you hearin’ is figures, people: Graeme Surfs through 11/7.

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on

Categories: Reviews

Despite Abhay’s feelings about it, I have fond memories of 2000AD. It was a comic that I grew up on, then did the traditional thing of giving up on it before returning, shamefacedly, years later (It was Grant Morrison’s Zenith that brought me back). It was on that second go-around, when I wasn’t seven years old and turned off by Carlos Ezquerra’s art, that I realized that there was such a thing as a 2000AD story – One part stealing from pop culture and turning it into a goofy sci-fi idea to one part really, really obvious plot development that you can see coming from miles away, but still enjoy reading the book enough to keep going, mixed together with…  Read More…

I’ve seen the pictures, I’ve studied them forever: Graeme continues to do that counting backwards thing from 11/7.

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on

Categories: Reviews

It can’t just be me that’s noticed that, along with the name change last issue, a lot more seems to be changing up in the world of COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #25. For one thing, things actually happen. Luckily, in keeping with the rest of the series, those things don’t really make that much sense when taken in context of the rest of the series. Take the resolution of Firestorm’s search for Martin Stein, for example. Finally, we get some climax to a long-running plot! Admittedly, it would’ve worked better if this plot had been one from this series, or even something that had even been mentioned in the series before this point (Was Firestorm even in this book prior…  Read More…

Can’t drink coffee or beer, loves ice cream and pie: Graeme is Super, thanks to 11/7.

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on November 11, 2007

Categories: Reviews

SUPERGIRL #23 is a somewhat unsuccessful start to what could end up being an interesting run by new creators Kelley Puckett and Drew Johnson. Of course, it could be an equally unsuccessful run as each of their predecessors on the title (Seriously, how hard is it to get a Supergirl comic right? Hard enough to chase four other writers off before the book is even two years old, I guess), but it’s why this issue is flawed that makes me interested in what’s to come. First, though; Drew Johnson’s art? Not one of the flaws. His Supergirl isn’t as hyper-sexualised as Michael Turner’s or Ian Churchill’s (nor, sadly, as interesting and true as Renato Guedes’), and his storytelling and layouts…  Read More…

Divide and (Annihilate and) Conquer: Graeme goes into space from 11/7.

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on November 9, 2007

Categories: Reviews

The temptation, after spoiling the identity of the mystery Skrull in New Avengers: Illuminati yesterday, to reveal who the mystery bad guy behind the whole thing is in ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST #1 is pretty big. Just how many Marvel fans could I piss off in two days, after all? But I’ll resist, if only because the reveal here is more unexpected and kind of more nonsensical; let’s leave the WTF moments to the comics themselves. I do wonder about the whole “And it’s not really faceless alien hordes they’re fighting, it’s faceless alien hordes led by this old-school bad guy!” schtick that they’re repeating here from the original Annihilation, though; if this is something that’s going to happen in every single…  Read More…

Mean Green Mother From Outer Space (Reprise): Graeme starts the Invasion from 11/7

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on November 8, 2007

Categories: Reviews

You’ve got to love the lack of subtlety in the cover of NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI #5. All it needs to be complete is a banner that reads “One of the Illuminati is a Skrull! But which one? Could it be the one member of the team whose face is in shadow, and who has a Skrull face floating above his head?” He’s also the one character who’s also not appearing in any other series right now, so, you know, that choice? Not the hardest one in the world. Oh, yeah; for those who care – Spoilers for that last paragraph if you didn’t want to know it was Black Bolt. Illuminati has tried its best, all series, to be a…  Read More…

Johanna Reads Some Marvels

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Posted by: admin on

Categories: Reviews

Astonishing X-Men #23 — I don’t like it. The people are pretty, thanks to John Cassaday, and there’s occasionally a funny (if very Buffy-reminiscent) wisecrack, but the bigger plots are either overused cliches, fun for only long-time X-Men readers, or too detailed to be kept up with in a comic that only comes out every three months. Best read in collected format, but even then, it doesn’t seem like anything worth re-reading, so why bother spending for it? The Immortal Iron Fist #10 — I don’t mind reading it, but if it disappeared, I wouldn’t miss it, and I never feel like I have anything to say about it. Probably because it’s a boy comic, all about the glory of…  Read More…