This Week's Haul: Flash Back!

The Flash: Rebirth #1

I have made it pretty clear that I will buy anything that Geoff Johns writes, so I was pretty excited about this. Plus, I really enjoyed Green Lantern: Rebirth, so I was hoping that this would promise to be as good. The first issue of the story of Barry Allen's return starts with some blood spashing all over the page, just in case you forgot that Geoff Johns is writing it. It also features lots of "Welcome Back" parties and parades being set up in various locations on the same day (because, y'know, The Flash can make it to all of them no problem. Cute!). It also features a lot of Barry chatting with his old pal Hal Jordan, which I loved.

It's a very exciting first issue and I can't wait for the next one!

JSA #25

And since we're talking about Geoff Johns anyway, this is the penultimate issue of his very enjoyable run on JSA. It's also the finale of a pretty exciting Marvel family story featuring Crazy Black Adam, Crazier Isis, Slutty Mary Marvel, Powerless Billy Batson, and Pissed Off Shazam.

Speaking of the JSA, I highly recommend Johnathan's recent and important posts about whether or not the member of the Golden Age Justice Society would make the Legion of Super Heroes. I was laughing my ass off reading it, and my husband was like "what are you doing?" to which I had to reply "reading Johnathan's post about whether or not members of the Golden Age Justice League would be admitted into the Legion of Super Heroes...which is NOT AS NERDY AS IT SOUNDS!" Anyway, check them out here and here.

Jonah Hex #42

In this issue, young Jonah Hex is put through a merciless, abusive involuntary Batman-style training regimen by his crazy drunken father to toughen him up. As we all know, it worked. But that doesn't make it right.

Or does it?

Either way it makes for great reading!

I love how nearly every issue starts with some dudes who are like "Say your prayers, Hex, because you are going to die now." And I'm all like "Oh shit! Those guys are totally going to die SO HARD!" Good comics.

Captain America Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1

Holy hell. This was awesome. In general, I really love Captain America's origin story. And I really, really love Marcos Martin's art. But even I was surprised at how awesome the two things combined turned out to be. This is a definite must-own, people.

X-Men First Class Finals #3

Ok, the main story was really great and everything as usual, but I have to totally freak out here about the long and awesome Colleen Coover back-up story. She totally draws the most adorable Man-Thing ever! Check it out:

Pride and Prejudice #1

I didn't actually buy this or read it, I just flipped through it. I just want to say this: what if Colleen Coover had been the artist on this?

Awesome, right?

Other things I read this week: Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam #3 (A rare treat! A perfect kids superhero comic, I say. If only it came out faster!), Amazing Spider-Man #590 (it's got the Fantastic Four in it!), and Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius: April Fools (hilarious!).

Things I haven't read yet: Doctor Doom and the Masters of Evil #3 (I forgot to buy it! Drat!) and Jersey Gods #3 (I just realized I haven't read issue #2 yet! Smack!).

John buys comics: April 1, 2009

Battle for the Cowl: Man-Bat

I have decided to buy all of this 'Battle for the Cowl' malarky so that I can warn people if it sucks. I figure that there are going to be about a fifth as many issues to buy as there were of Countdown and at least this time i have a reason beyond simple masochism.

This was... okay? I like a Man-Bat story as much as the next guy, but there have been better. I don't know, I guess I have to get a better feel for this whole event to know whether it had any bearing on things or was just a feebly tied-in filler. 

Keywords for the villain (I won't spoil who it is if you don't already know): discount chains and poorly-explained motivation.

   Irredeemable No. 1

BOOM! Studios have only entered my radar comparatively recently, but they're making a good impression. I love me some good in media res superhero tales with lotsa made-up continuity, and between this and Caped they're doing a damn fine job of feeding the particularly nerdy monkey on my back.

 Good new characters, good takes on the ramifications of a super-powered lifestyle, an Afterward by Grant Morrison If you like that sort of thing. Good show, Mark Waid.

Strange Adventures No. 2

I haven't been following events in the far reaches of DCSpace as closely as I probably should have in order to be reading this, but I like it anyway. I like Adam Strange, I like Bizarro and I like Captain Comet (I especially like the pulp detective-esque Captain Comet of recent times as opposed to the 1959s throwback of before).

The only real drawback is that Lady Styx is tangentally involved, as I find her about as interesting as mud. 

The Flash: Rebirth No. 1

This was very good! I have hig hopes for this comic - Geoff Johns has been writing 'em like I like 'em for a while now and It's hard to go wron with the Flash. Not to say that it can't be done, but it doesn't look like that's what's happening here.

 Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye No.1

Oh thank heavens.

I liked Seaguy a whole lot - it was chock full of intriguing Morrisonisms to delight the senses - but it didn't really work as a stand-alone book. It definitely suffered for a sense of incompleteness. Hooray, though, as Grant Morrison has managed to get DC to go ahead with Part 2!

I just hope that any further parts of this story don't require a Crisis of some kind  to be written for Morrison to get the clout together to make it happen (aw, i don't know if it's true or not but it sure is a compelling little story, yes?).  

Other comics I read this week: Jersey Gods (good, Kirbyesque!), Dead Romeo (bad, long-winded!), Greatest Hits (Good ending!)

What if Batman was Bruce Wayne and vice versa?

I love nothing more than that moment where I am reading an old comic and something tips me off that this issue is going to be amazing.

Batman #303 definitely has one of those moments. In this comic, Batman gets knocked on the head and gets all confused. He thinks that Bruce Wayne is the crimefighter and Batman is the billionaire playboy! Awesome, right?

Check it out. It all starts in a museum after a fight with a villain who gets away.

Awwww...poor Batman. So confused. So sad. But he gets his confidence back soon when he sees the Bat-signal.

That panel is rad.

Now watch as Bruce Wayne baffles Commissioner Gordon:

Sooo confusing. Bruce Wayne seems to understand that Batman is the mysterious masked vigilante identity, yet he still thinks that Bruce is the one who fights crime. Anyway, who cares? The important thing is that we get panels like this one:

I love that Gordon just thinks that Batman is disguised at Bruce Wayne for some reason. Gordon is a tired, tired man. At this point he's just like "Whatever."

No time to linger there, though! Bruce Wayne has to beat up Raveen!

Watch as Bruce hands out the most suggestive trash talk EVER:

He'll have to blow your brains out without a gun? But how will he do...ohhhhhhhh.

Bruce also punches a dude's hair off during this fight:

So obviously it's a problem that all these people are seeing Bruce Wayne beat up a room of people, Batman-style. But don't worry. Bruce uses some quick thinking here to cover up an onlooker's accusation:

That should put an end to any further questions.

Alfred notices that something is amiss!

The next morning, things get even weirder:

Skipping ahead, Alfred is unable to keep Batman from leaving the house in the Batman costume in broad daylight. This causes some confusion with the Gotham public:

So Batman, feeling like an outcast, seeks refuge. This allows for the writers to make a SICK HIPPIE BURN!!!

Let no one say that 1978 is too late to be making hippie jokes!

No matter where Batman goes, people laugh at him or threaten him. It's sad. And it prompts this outburst:

"Good grief!" says Batman!

I always thought Batman already had "one of those days."

What I am trying to say, in a long-winded way, is that Batman #303 is awesome.

This Week's Haul: I Bumped my Brain!

Well, these reviews were pretty much ready to post on Friday morning, but then I got in a car accident on the way to work. Nothing too bad, but I got a slight concussion according to the doctor. Anyway, I forgot to post these yesterday, so here they are today.

Batman #686

Neil Gaiman + Andy Kubert = $$$$

I think this was really awesome. I like to make fun of Gaiman fans because they are annoying, but this really was great. The dude can write a comic (as long as it doesn't set Marvel characters in 1602). Plus, Kubert's art looked great.

Aaaand...a Catwoman-centric story? That will always win me over. Especially one where she ties Batman up for any reason.

When I was reading Alfred's story in this issue I was wondering how many casual Batman fans who are picking up this comic will be confused and take Alfred's word as bond re: The Joker. But I think the comic was pretty clear that nothing happening in it should be taken as canon.

Calling the story "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader" is a bit risky, as it compares it to one of the greatest comics ever written, but y'know...confidence in your product, I guess. It was a really entertaining read and I am looking forward to the next issue. Worth the extra dollar!

Plus I liked that line "I don't think Death is a person, Batman." Cute, Gaiman. Cute.

 

 

Amazing Spider-Man #586

For some reason I always save Spider-Man for the end of my comic reading each week. This week I put it near the beginning. It was the only Marvel title I picked up this week, so I kinda felt sorry for it.

I know that I have mentioned this before, particularly in my Best of 2008 post, but I am just so frigging impressed by how great Spider-Man has been since the relaunch at the beginning of last year. And the fact that it is coming out three times a month makes it that much more impressive. I think that Marvel has actually found the perfect formula for creating comic books: have a rotating team who are all in on the same story-line, but are all telling their own short stories within the larger arc. Brilliant! The way they have it set up, it avoids several problems that plague almost every title on the stands today:

1. There are no "fill-in" issues because there is no one single creative team.

2. The comics come out on time.

3. Because it's a continually rotating team, the larger story is very fluid, and doesn't change drastically when a new creative team comes on board. For most comics, when a new team takes over a book they pretty much start over with the character and story, taking the elements that they liked from the last team's efforts, and dropping the rest. Many things never get resolved, or are just forgotten.

This issue, which follows-up last week's big reveal of who the mysterious new villain, Menace, really is, is a perfect example of what Spider-Man is doing right. Menace has been showing up in Spider-Man comics since the relaunch. There were many issues that the character wasn't there, but Menace was never forgotten about. Typically, the identity of a villain like Menace would be revealed within a 6-issue story arc in most comic series. The Spider-Man format allows for this long-lasting story to exist while lots of other stories are happening. And the Menace storyline is only one of many larger storylines existing in the Spider-Man world. It's great stuff, and it really creates a more complex and vibrant universe for Spider-Man. There's a lot going on, but the writers have a great handle on it all. I never expected the title to be this well-managed when they first announced that it would be coming out so frequently. Well done, Marvel!

 

 

Booster Gold #17

How are the sales on this title? Good, I hope because I really love it and don't want it to go away. When Geoff Johns left the title I didn't think I would still be into it, but I still look forward to it ever month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Nightwing #153

This was the final issue of Nightwing, and it was terrible.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Batman Confidential #26 This, on the other hand, was fantastic. Really, really great. It's the antidote to all this crazy, arthouse Batman that we have been getting lately. It's a straightforward story where a bizarre theme-based villain is terrorizing Gotham and Batman teams up with Jim Gordon to figure it out. Awesome right? Well add to that some AMAZING art by, wait for it, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and inked by Kevin Nowlan! Sometimes you just need a shot of Batman, straight up with no chaser. This is that comic.

 

 

 

 

 

Mini-Marvels: Secret Invasion

New Mini Marvels digest!!! Everyone should buy three of these.

Final Crisis #7

Final Crisis wrapped up this week, of course. I really loved how it ended. I definitely have to go back and read it from the beginning again to get everything out of it, but overall, this was a fantastic event with really high quality writing and artwork. I don't want to give too much away for those who haven't read it yet, but I want to say a couple of general things.

What I really love about Grant Morrison is his optimism. Final Crisis had a happy ending. Morrison had to pretty much literally take us to Hell and back to give us that happy ending, but in the end what we got was an incredibly beautiful ode to heroes and heroism. Morrison loves superheroes, and it shows on every page. He likes to torture them, but it's always so we can see them overcome and triumph in a way that always makes me want to cry because why can't Superman be real?! WHY?!

Things got as bad as they could possibly get, and not everyone made it out alive, but nothing happened that I would consider pessimistic. And there certainly wasn't anything snarky. This was not a series written by a disgruntled old scribe who was sick of superheroes and just wanted to make them all suffer for their own sick pleasure. We've seen enough of that in plenty of comics. This was a story of hope. And it was delightful.

Plus, y'know, there was a lot of cool-looking stuff.

This Week's Haul: Namor!

Hey everyone!

I got a whole lot of comics this week. Really, too many comics. But my computer is fixed and Photoshop is reinstalled, so I am able to share my thoughts with you once again. Here we go with a small selection of what I read this week.

Uncanny X-Men Annual #2

Namor fans rejoice!

I have been buying Uncanny X-Men every month for the better part of a year now. I have really enjoyed Matt Fraction's writing on the title, and have tried to overlook the artwork in the Greg Land issues.

This issue tells the sexy history between Emma Frost and Namor. And it's frigging beautiful! Both Daniel Acuna and Mitch Breitweiser provide stunning artwork, but you don't have to take my word for it!

Oh Namor. I missed you so.

Superman/Batman Annual #3

Blowing? Tandem? It must be Superman/Batman!

Len Wein steps in to write this year's S/B Annual (typically the only issue of S/B ever worth reading). It's a re-telling of the Composite Superman/Batman story and it is really entertaining. It kind of emphasizes my point that Superman/Batman should be a series of one-shots by a different creative team every month. Even if it was just re-telling of Silver Age stories, it would still be a much better comic than it is right now.

Getting back to this issue: great art, great banter, a couple of unfortunate and somewhat confusing colouring errors, but those are easy to overlook.

Especially when Superman is looking so cute leaning on a wall!

Awwww.

And Batman asks a tough question:

Um, well...now that you mention it...

Dr Doom and the Masters of Evil #1

Hey! A new all-ages comic by Paul Tobin! Sign me up!

I love stories from the villains' point of view, especially funny ones where they are paling around. This book has plenty of that.

Mysterio asking to borrow a car so he can get his computer fixed really cracks me up.

This is going to be yet another really great Marvel all-ages title, as far as I can tell. But, like many all-ages books, it will mostly be enjoyed by aged comic nerds.

Ghost Rider #31

Yet another totally awesome issue of Ghost Rider by Jason Aaron. Much like Captain America, Daredevil, or Jonah Hex, it's so good every month that I really don't have anything interesting to say about it.

Except...HOT Ghost Rider on Ghost Rider Action!!!!
 

Green Lantern #37

The Red Lanterns have really been grossing me out, I'm not going to lie, so I wasn't too excited about this issue. But it was actually pretty awesome. For one thing, Ivan Reis really threw down some great art. And the Hal Jordan-Sinestro rivalry was entertaining as usual.

Mysterius: The Unfathomable #1

Jeff Parker has a new series! And it's for...Wildstorm?!

Well, I don't usually have much reason to buy Wildstorm comics, but this is a good one. A really good one, as far as I can tell.

A mystic and a plucky young journalist-turned-assistant. That's a solid combination. Parker is one of my favourite writers, so it wasn't a tough decision to pick this up. And the art, by Tom Fowler, is really beautiful.

New original series are exciting!