What I Read This Week Part II

The next batch of comic reviews, as I continue to try to catch up!

Creepy #2 -- Another gaggle of gruesome, gory graphic fiction for your guilt-free gobbling pleasure!  There's some great stuff in here, including a very funny Loathsome Lore about torture devices (!), but the overall effect is brought down by the second feature, "Carnivore," about a car which runs on meat, that is bogged down by nearly incomprehensible artwork.  Still, a strong and superlative horror comics effort.

glamourpuss #10 -- Stan Drake's relationship with his second wife, Bunny, and her relationship with the character Eve Jones, is juxtaposed with some Profound Insights about swimsuits.  Sim goes off on a tangent here, moving away from talking about Drake's photorealism style and more about his marriage, which is always thorny territory for someone like Sim.  Still, the artwork is beautiful, the history is interesting, and the Profound Insights are indeed Profound.  Every issue of this title makes me want the next one more.

Aliens #4 -- Deep in the crystal cavern, our intrepid band has to face not only the xenomorphs, but the ancient madness lurking therein.  The only conclusion one could expect from this story goes down here, and there's nothing wrong with it, but if you are expecting something mind-blowing, then you are going to be disappointed.  Still, this was a good series and a nice re-introduction of the Aliens property to Dark Horse.

The Pick of The Pile is a tough one.  Both glamourpuss and Creepy hit the right notes for me, but I am going to give it to glamourpuss because Creepy was less consistant.

What I Read This Week

Still trying to catch up on the comics from the last two weeks... the pile keeps growing!  Being sick and travelling aren't helping, let me tell you.

Blackest Night: The Flash #1 -- Johns and Kollins are back, but its a new Flash and a new set of rules this time out.  Kollins' work is even more stylized than it was on Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge, and this does (unfortunately) spoil some of the ending of Flash: Rebirth, but generally I thought this was a well-executed tie-in and I am very much looking forward to seeing the next part.  And Kollins on Flash is always a benefit.

House of Mystery #20 -- Cain has come to reclaim his house, but the Conception have other plans for it.  A fairly weak blowoff, with a new direction but little in the way of explanation.  Yeah, I know, "mystery," but part of the charm of this series had been actually giving the mysteries, ya know, answers.  A pat resolution hurts this issue, but the second story is fabulous.

Red Tornado #4 -- It's Red Tornado and Red Torpedo versus the Air Force... and then Red Volcano and Red Inferno!  Action-heavy issue which does the best it can with not a lot of plot.  One of the problems I have with the ubiquitous six issue solo miniseries is that these stories generally fit better in four issues (like they were back in the 80s and 90s), so you get issues like this, which are not bad but somewhat light.

Warlord #9 -- It's "spring" in Skartaris, and as newcomer McBane documents it, the residents of Shamballah muse about the past and the future in a land where there is no measurement of time.  There's a shocking amount of sex and nudity in this comic -- but somehow it's not naughty, but appropriate.  Anyways, this is a heck of a neat comic, a lushly illustrated interlude before the next story begins which demonstrates everything great about Grell's title.

Iron Man vs Whiplash #1 -- Tony Stark -- on trial for genocide!  I'm not sure where this fits in continuity, because its not quite the movie, and it's not quite the comics, but it's cool, and that's all that matters, although Whiplash's new costume is several kinds of riduclous all at once.

Re-Read pile: Blackest Night: The Flash, Warlord, Iron Man vs. Whiplash

The Pick Of The Pile is Warlord, which was a total throwback in an incredibly good manner.  

What Looks Good?

As the air grows crisper and the days get shorter, it makes us all think of that most special time of year -- New Comic Book Day.

DC Holiday Special 2009 -- The Holiday ones are usually better than the Halloween ones, so let's hope that trend continues.

Doom Patrol #5 -- The Chief really "got it" last time out!  (Yeeeouch!)

Red Robin #7  -- The Council of Spiders!  Versus!  The League of Assassians!  With Red Robin in the middle!

The Shield #4 -- "I'm not a superhero.  I'm a solider."  Only this one means it.

Invincible Iron Man #21 -- Talking heads, huzzah!

War Machine #12 -- The Trial Of The Century!  Or at least the one which ends this series.

So, what looks good to YOU?

What I Read This Week

I just picked up last week's comics this afternoon, so I don't have them read, BUT I do have my two Marvel sub comics, so nyah!

Invincible Iron Man #20 -- A lot of Marvel comic books are accused nowadays of being "nothing but talking heads," but in this case that's fairly literal, as more than half of the story features nothing other than the holographic talking head of Tony Stark.  Fraction is building Tony Stark back up after tearing him down in "World's Most Wanted," and this is a decent start, but there is too much talking and not enough going on at this point.  I know, I know, this is the opening chapter.  Hopefully this will be more enjoyable over the course of the story than "WMW."

Mighty Avengers #31 -- In China, the Unspoken (exiled former ruler of the Inhumans) is busy using his Xerogen gas to revert every human he can into an Alpha Primitive -- including Hank Pym's team of Avengers!  Bombastic and engaging story, which despite being part 6 of 6, was easy to pick up and follow.  Dan Slott (along with his co-writer Christos Gage) has a pretty good handle on the characters he is playing with (I'd argue he has no idea how to write Hawkeye), even though he still insists on making crummy political jokes.  And Sean Chen on art is a flashback to the old Heroes Return days of Iron Man which I am more than happy with.  So far, I have dug Slott's take on Mighty (from this issue and the World's Mightiest collection) and hopefully that will continue.

Re-read Pile: Invincible Iron Man, Mighty Avengers.

The Pick of the Pile is Avengers, which delivered the goods in an old style slugfest and satisfied me as an Assemblers fan despite Slott's idiotic politics.  IIM set the stage for something interesting but didn't really have enough "oomph."

What Looks Good?

Comics are out on Thursday this week, but that's alright: what's a day to a hardcore comic book hound?

Aliens #4 -- The subterranean horror concludes!

Blackest Night: The Flash #1 -- As we learned in Blackest Night #5, Nekron and the Black Hand have a thing for Barry Allen!

House of Mystery #20 -- Will Cain get his house back?  And if he does, what will be left of those who are living there?

Red Tornado #4 -- Reddy's family is running wild!

Warlord #9 -- All Grell all the time!

Iron Man: Requiem -- Not sure if I will get this... I have #144, but a color reprint of Tales of Suspense #39... eh...

Iron Man vs Whiplash #1 -- In time for the movie, natch!  Although I still wonder why Whiplash couldn't have been American, oh well!

Dead She Said TPB -- If you missed this one in singles, be sure to pick up the collection of this hard boiled detective meets giant bug horror series.

glamourpuss #10 -- So fabulous!

The Phantom: Generations #6 -- Like a Mack Bolan book, only with the Phantom, and illustrations, and in comic book format.

So, what looks good to YOU?

Iron Man 2 Advance One Sheet

Check out this mind-bogglingly awesome advance one-sheet to what is the most anticipated (for me) movie of 2010: Iron Man 2!  

War Machine looks pretty badass there, doesn't he?  I have to wonder, will the two Armored Avengers be standing back to back fighting off their foes, or will they instead be standing toe-to-toe?  Or, most likely, a little of both?  

In any event, I'm already hopped up on goofballs for this movie and can hardly wait until summer!

What I Read This Week Part II

Here's the other two books I got this week for your review-reading enjoyment!

The Web #3 -- With Dr. Archer escaped, his Web Hosts running wild all over the globe, and Batgirl punching him in the face, John Raymond has problems.  They're going to get worse when Oracle jacks into his network.  Meanwhile, the Hangman comes face to face -- sort of -- with a foe who can drown him on dry land.  Robinson and Robinson continue their strong work on the lead feature, as The Web has to try to rein in all of his bad decisions while still hunting down the man who killed his brother.  Robinson's (Angela) script is punchy and her dialogue snappy, including Web talking back to Oracle and generally not buying what she is saying, while Robinson's (Roger) art retains is dynamic style.  In the backup, Derenick and Sienkiewicz continue with their appropriately scratchy art for the character, while Rozum introduces a new threat.  I was a little surprised to see us switch gears to Japantown after dealing with the "regular" mob last issue, but I think these stories are more vignette-style at this point.  Good issue.

Futurama Comics #46 -- It's time to Choose Your Own Adventure when the Planet Express crew has to deliver a box to certain Dr. Moebius!  This comic is like what my son eats for breakfast: bananas.  At the end of each page, you are given a choice of where to go next, like a CYOA book, but it can be read straight through as well.  Futhermore, the characters themselves recognize that they are being given bizarre choices and options, adding to the inanity.  A great use of the comic book format, with lots of page turning gags and jokes.  One of the best issues of this series I've ever read, easily.

Re-Read Pile: The Web, Futurama Comics.

The Pick Of The Pile is Futurama, because while The Web continued to build the character of the biggest jerk this side of Guy Gardner, Futurama was completely hilarious in a manner which the TV show it is based on could never be.  Great stuff.

The Combined Pick Of The Pile is Blackest Night, but all four of these comics were superlative.  A very good week!