Just one more day and then the annoyance of election season 2012 will be over! Here’s some news to distract you.
Around the Blogs
Bleeding Cool – Justiniano Sentenced To Ten Years On Child Pornography Charges – Jesus…
Around the Tubes Reviews
Talking Comics – A+X #1
CBR – American Vampire #32
Talking Comics – Avengers vs X-Men: Consequences #4
Talking Comics – Captain Marvel #6
CBR – Justice League Dark Annual #1
Bleeding Cool – Spirit Of The Law
The weekend is almost here, yay! But more importantly, the election is almost here and we can be done with all of these ads! Yay!
Around the Blogs
The Beat – Publishers Weekly Announces Best Graphic Novels (and Best Books) of 2012 – There’s two months to go with some great releases, a bit early?
Around the Tubes Reviews
Talking Comics – American Vampire #32
Talking Comics – Ghosts #1
CBR – Swamp Thing Annual #1
CBR – Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #16.1
Talking Comics – X-Men Legacy #275
The weekend is almost here and I’ll be spending it trying to catch up and get ahead on my comic book reading and drinking, lots of drinking.
Around the Blogs:
CBLDF – ComicsPRO Retailers Celebrate Banned Books Week! – We’ll be celebrating!
The Mary Sue – New York Artist Paints Portraits of Every Single Congresswoman -Pretty cool.
Comicvine – Mark Millar to consult on Fox’s Marvel movies -Hmmm, very interesting.
Around the Tubes Reviews:
CBR – American Vampire #31
Book Sake – The City of Ember
Talking Comics – The Goon #42
CBR – The Punisher #16
Talking Comics – Rachel Rising #11
Ely Standard – Ultimate Comics X-Men Vol 2: His Will Be Done
Talking Comics – X-Men Legacy #274
Thursday is here… yeah I’ve got nothing snappy to say… Anyone read any good comics lately?
Around the Blogs:
Asbury Park Press – Monmouth County Library plans its first ‘Comic-Con’ -Hope it goes well.
NY Post – What the Political Conventions Can Learn from Comic-Con – This is pretty funny.
Around the Tubes Reviews:
CBR – American Vampire #30
Talking Comics – Anathema #2
IGN – Captain Marvel #3
Talking Comics – Goon #41
IGN – Green Lantern Annual #1
IGN – Grendel Omnibus Vol. 1: Hunter Rose
IGN – Justice League #12
MTV Geek – Phantom Lady #1
IGN – Uncanny X-Force #30
MTV Geek –A Slew Of DC Comics Annual Reviews For You: Green Lantern, Flash, And More
Comixtribe‘s growth as a publisher is a textbook case of how to beat the streets and build grassroots support from the start. The publisher, who was focused on micro-distribution, is going to the masses with their first mass market release of Scam #1. I read the comic a while ago and it’s entertaining, featuring an X-Men meets Ocean’s 11 vibe the series first issue had more than enough for me to want to come back for more. The art is decent, story entertaining and it’s from an independent publisher that’s worth supporting so we can see more of the the solid series’ they have hit the mass market.
The weekend is almost here, yay!
Around the Blogs:
The Beat – Infinity, the new FREE magazine about digital comics for iPad -I’ll have to check this out.
ArtsBeat – MOCA Withdraws from Paul Schimmel’s Richard Hamilton Show -Huh…
Bleeding Cool – Todd McFarlane Amazing Spider-Man #328 Original Cover Art Sells For Record $675,250 -And this is why I’ve started to collect original art.
Examiner – DC Publisher Hints at Company Wide Crossover for 2013 -Sigh…
Around the Tubes Reviews:
Talking Comics – American Vampire #29
Comic Book Bin – Fever Moon
IGN – X-Treme X-Men #1
Paste Magazine – Comic Book & Graphic Novel Round Up (7/25/12)
The chaos that was a storm aftermath gave me a chance to catch up on some reading… what did you during the storm that hit the mid-Atlantic?
Around the Blogs:
ComicBookMovie – How The Marvel Ciniverse has broken all the rules and succeeded. – They have rewritten the movie rules.
Around the Tubes Reviews:
Talking Comics – American Vampire #28
Talking Comics – The Hypernaturals #1
Talking Comics – Prophet #26
Think Hero – Comic Book Reviews – “ink Hero” Spider-Men #2, Hit-Girl #1, The Manhattan Projects #4, American Vampire #28
It was new comic book day yesterday, what’d everyone get?
Around the Blogs:
KYPost – Unique ingredients, comic books inspire new burger joint – Pretty cool.
The Beat – SDCC 12: Plan your routes! Exhibitors list and map released – I’m planning my trip!
Robot 6 – Superman lawyer scores a minor win in brutal battle with Warner Bros. – Well, that’s one.
Around the Tubes Reviews:
CBR – American Vampire #28
Ok, I slowed down in the whole catching up on my reviews thing… but back to it and hopefully I’ll totally be caught up by the end of June… if not sooner.
Age of Apocalypse #2 – The remaining resistance is on the run and Jean Grey and Sabretooth’s role is still up in the air. The series is solid and different, with some solid art. The series is different enough to stand out from the rest of the “X” books. I missed the original Age of Apocalypse, so this’ll do for me.
Story: 7.75 Art: 8 Overall: 7.75
American Vampire #25 – Scott Snyder’s series is amazing and this issue ties so many threads together. I can’t wait to see what he does and what he has in store for the series. I can’t get enough of this series and it absolutely shows off why Snyder is one of the best writers out there.
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.5
Animal Man #8 – The battle against the Rot continues as Animal Man and Swamp Thing are going to team up and collide. The series shows that the Vertigo feel can work and work well in the modern DC universe. The art is solid on top of it. This is one of the best series to come out of DC’s relaunch.
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8
Avengers Academy #28 – The team up with the Runaways continues and there’s a bunch I like, and a lot I don’t. The series just feels like the B-team for Avengers. We’ll see where it goes, but hopefully post Avengers Vs. X-Men the series will get a nice shake-up.
Story: 7.25 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7.25
Avengers Vs. X-Men #1 – This is it? There’s some great build up and tension, but the old quote about sound and fury signifying nothing stands out to me. It’s just one issue, but I hope there’s more to it all than just this. The art is pretty solid, but overall, pretty meh so far.
Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75
Batman: Detective Comics #8 – While the art is pretty decent, I think the story really shows how excellent Snyder’s Batman is compared to this inferior series.
Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7
Batwing #8 – We find out the identity of Massacre. I can’t say I’m shocked. The ending to the first arc is ok. It’s not quite the solid series it was when it started, but still a nice addition to the Bat family.
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5
Brilliant #3 – A debate rages as to how to handle the discovery as the FBI attempts to put together what happened. This series feels like a tame Mark Millar series. Without the swearing and over the top violence. Not sure if that’s a good thing… either part.
Story: 7.25 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25
Chew #25 – Tony is captured and this series shows why it’s one of the most creative and original ones out there. The story is as off the hook as can be expected and art entertaining as usual. A series that should be on everyone’s pull-list.
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25
Danger Club #1 – The adults are away and the children will play. The adult super heroes might be dead, so the kids have taken over. The series just has awesome punch to it with solid art. It’s not totally original, but it’s damn entertaining.
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5
Daredevil #10.1 – A great point one that introduces Daredevil to new readers and catches them up on information you know. I’m loving the Omegadrive story. Watching the groups after it attempt to get it is beyond entertaining. Mark Waid is at the top of his game with this series and the art is amazing.
Story: 9 Art: 9 Overall: 9
Fairest #2 – The art is fantastic and story solid in this spin-off from Fables. Two issues in and you can see the series falls more into the fantasy end of things, picking up on some threads left from the main series. It’s only two issues, but it’s two solid issues.
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25
Fear Itself: The Fearless #12 – So, Hellstrom is a bad guy in this book, but a good guy in Circle of Four and Journey? Get the characters straight!!! There’s some interesting stuff set up here, but overall, this twelve part series was a mess.
Story: 6 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6.25
New Mutants #40 – Douglock fights Ani-Matter and I yawn…
Story: 6.5 Art: 6.5 Overall: 6.5
Red Lanterns #8 – Take this story and switch the color to a different Corps… does it make a difference? No, not really and that’s where the story fails for me. Red Lanterns should have an animalistic feel to them and here they just come off like a bland version of Yellow or Green.
Story: 6.75 Art: 7.5 Overall: 6.75
Secret Avengers #24 – A cool story still with the team taking on various cyborg like beings in the Marvel universe that have come together. It’s a somewhat original story, and the art is pretty solid. I think the series is finally finding it’s footing.
Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7
Stormwatch #8 – The team takes on a pretty huge threat and Midnighter makes a hell of a decision. The series is finally getting good for me, and hopefully it continues on this pace.
Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75
Swamp Thing #8 – A series that’s been more Vertigo and horror than superhero swings the superhero way as Swamp Thing goes after the Rot in the beginning of a hell of a battle. Compared to past issues, the issue is just ok, but it’s one piece of a much bigger and excellent story.
Story: 7 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7
Thunderbolts #172 – The renegade Thunderbolts fight the original Thunderbolts in a pretty typical battle issue. There’s some potential here, but so far it’s pretty average but still somewhat entertaining.
Story: 7 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #9 – Miles meets the police and his uncle comes calling when he runs into trouble. The series continues it’s excellence as a new Spider-Man still gets his act together. The art is great and story solid.
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8
Venom #15 – Flash must deal with the last few weeks and his getting up and heading to Vegas. His personal life is unraveling while he deals with having been attached to Venom so long. The series is getting back into the swing of things focusing on Flash’s personal life as much as the superhero. That’s when it’s great.
Story: 8.25 Art: 7.5 Overall: 8.25
Wolverine and the X-Men #8 – The kids head off to find God (not really) while Wolverine deals with his getting beaten down at the Casino. Meanwhile the Hellfire Club hires Sabretooth to give them some tips which leads to Sabretooth fighting Beast in an awesome fight. The issue is all over the place and pure amazing.
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5
Getting closer to catching up with reviews….
All-Star Western #6 – The mystery of the abducted children is solved as Hex and Arkham’s adventure comes to a close. Hex is now heading to New Orleans which should be fun and interesting. The series so far has been decent and I’ve enjoyed it being tied together with the modern DC universe, a nice touch.
Story: 7.75 Art: 8 Overall: 7.75
American Vampire #24 – We get more of a background of how events got to where they are. I’m loving the setting, action and how this arc is plotted out. Solid stuff and I’d expect no less from Scott Snyder.
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5
Aquaman #6 – Mera goes food shopping, and things progress as you’d expect. The story is predictable, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining.
Story: 8 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8
Avengers Academy #26 – We find out who and sort of why Reptil was sent back from the future, and it’s not what I expected. The series hasn’t always been great, but it’s moving in the right direction to get there. Getting better with each issue.
Story: 7.25 Art: 7 Overall: 7.25
Batman: The Dark Knight #6 – Bane is back and I can’t say I like this pumped up version compared to what we last saw in Secret Six. This is just a hulking behemoth with no thought or depth compared to a rather complex character that grew from the 1 dimensional character he sprung from.
Story: 6.75 Art: 8.5 Overall: 7
Captain America & Bucky #627 -The story is cool in a retro sort of way, but that’s how he takes down Captain America?! With a hug?!
Story: 7 Art: 8 Overall: 7
Chew #20 – Olive Chu goes on a mission and learns more about her abilities. As usual, the story is over the top and so much fun. This series is a must buy for every.
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5
Fantastic Four #603 – The Fantastic Four and Galactus take on the Mad Celestials as the story continues to come together. What’s been years in the making is finally coming to a close and the big picture is clearer.
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall:8
The Flash #6 – The new Captain Cold? Really don’t like. The story though is ok and always great art.
Story: 7 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7
Green Lantern: New Guardians #6 – Interesting concepts, but not the best execution. Lots of potential here that’s not being met yet.
Story: 6.75 Art:7.5 Overall: 6.75
I, Vampire #6 – The story is amazing and just full of holy shit moments. This is one of the best series to come out of DC’s reboot.
Story: 8.75 Art: 8.75verall: 8.75
Justice League Dark #6 – Six issues to just get to this point… sigh. I’m really only reading this for the I, Vampire crossover. So much potential..
Story: 6.5 Art: 7 Overall: 6.5
The Mighty Thor #11 – The trolls attack as Loki figures out what’s going on and their plan is revealed. Just in time for the new Asgard to launch too.
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8
New Mutants #38 – Doug visits the island where he died. If you’re not a long time fan of the New Mutants, you probably won’t care, just like me.
Story: 6.5 Art: 7 Overall: 6.5
Secret Avengers #23 – Venom joins the team which doesn’t go over so well. Is it just me or is Hawkeye way more dickish in this series? Still, the series is finally finding a voice of it’s own, took long enough.
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8
Teen Titans #6 – Licking their wounds after the fight with Superboy, there’s a fight that seems to be pointless as others work to help Kid Flash. Oh yeah, a mystery is thrown out there too. Not a bad series, but like the rest of the DC reboots, it’s losing my interest.
Story: 7 Art: 8 Overall: 7
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #7 – General Krang needs Splinter and Stockman sends Mousers to go fetch him. The series continues to be awesome in every way.
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #7 – The fact he’s Spider-Man hits Miles as he heads out to see the extent of his power. At the same time his uncle is up to something…. The series still has a lot of fun to it, even though the art isn’t quite as solid as it once was.
Story: 7.5 Art: 7 Overall: 7.5
Uncanny X-Force #22 – I thought the Otherworld setting was bad enough, now Weapon III is thrown into the mix. This great series has dropped in quality quickly. I can’t wait for this story arc to be over with.
Story: 6 Art: 6 Overall: 6
Venom #13.3 – Wow, is this story bad. The fact that it’s weekly is just hurting the wallet too. There was some hope this would be a good event, but can’t say it’s anything knew that hasn’t been seen before. This great series has gone off the rails.
Story: 6 Art: 6.5 Overall: 6
Wolverine & The X-Men #6 – Wolverine is trying to get money for the school, folks are trying to help Kitty out and Kitty is trying to save herself. So many different stories and all of it pretty damn fun. It’s not quite as solid as it’s been, but still an entertaining and original story arc.
Story: 7 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7
X-Men #25 – The X-Men and vampires holding Jubliee meet up and of course fight due to a misunderstanding… how original. Then something sort of original happens. Still, not a great plot. I wish someone would just stake Jubliee and get rid of the character.
Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7
X-Men: Legacy #262 – The battle with Exodus continues and they stop to talk during the middle of it, cause that’s smart. The story is the typical battle, nothing original really and the art isn’t up to snuff for me.
Story: 6.75 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6.75
