It’s new comic day tomorrow. What’s everyone getting? Find out the new releases for the week in an hour.
Around the Blogs:
The Hollywood Reporter – Ben Kingsley in Talks to Join ‘Iron Man 3’ – It’d be an interesting choice for Mandarin.
IGN – DC to Launch New Anthology Series – A smart move and this is what I hoped DC Universe Presents would be.
Around the Tubes Reviews:
CBR – Animal Man #8
CBR – Lenore #5
DC Woman Kicking Ass – Reviews!
The goal is to get two more weeks reviewed by Sunday….
Animal Man #6 – A very impressive issue that slows the weirdness down a bit and instead focuses on a movie staring a super hero and his family. The story is so good and really reflects well on Animal Man and his superheroing with this family. Words just can’t reflect how good this is, but it’s up there as one of the best issues of the year.
Story: 9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 9
Avengers Academy #25 – The kids battle Hybrid and there’s enough here to make me interested. But the series still feels like it’s a bit “B” level compared to the regulars Avengers “A” game. Still, entertaining in it’s own ways.
Story: 7.25 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7.25
Avengers X-Sanction #3 – Bits I’ve liked, others not so much. It’s a prelude, but a prelude that could have been done in a one shot oversized comic instead of being dragged out over four issues.
Story: 7.25 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25
Batman: Detective Comics #6 – So there’s a lot of Batman comics it seems, and that’s getting me a bit confused as to what’s going on in which. That’s also hurting my enjoyment a bit, particularly of this series which I think is the weakest of the bunch. Overall, a mess due to too much monthly Batman.
Story: 6.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 6.75
Batwing #6 – We get a hint as to Massacre might be, though that’s too simple really. It also looks like the story is shifting back to Gotham. It’s six issues in and it kind of feels like this story should of wrapped up already. I do like the filling in of history, but the main story has dragged on for quite a bit and not a lot of resolution.
Story: 7 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.25
the Defenders #3 – Um, entertaining, but rather abrupt ending. With such build up a bad guy really shouldn’t be defeated so easily. Overall, I don’t expect this series to last very long.
Story: 6.75 Art: 7 Overall: 6.75
the Punisher #8 – Not the strongest issue in a while, it’s a bit jumbled and choppy for me. The series generally has been great and the art is fantastic. I’m not letting one issue get me down, and maybe as a slice of the bigger story it’s better than it stands as a solo issue.
Story: 7 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7
Rachel Rising #5 – The series is creepy, beyond creepy. A dead girl and another with a demon friend. Some great horror right here and two female leads. This is a definite recommend for the horror fans as I imagine not too many of you are picking it up and missing out on a great series.
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25
Red Lanterns #6 – So many issues with this series. The issue focuses on the new human Red Lantern and like that Corps., it’s all rage and little depth. The issue suffers from the concept, but the series is shifting to give us more, it’s just taking a while.
Story: 7.25 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25
Stormwatch #6 – The series has a lot going for it and it’s been six issues and it’s just getting going it feels like. I really feel like a lot of this could have been settled in the first arc, instead the series has tried to be too smart and instead continues to be a jumbled mess. It’s getting better though.
Story: 7 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7
Swamp Thing #6 – Scott Snyder is one of the best writers out there right now and combined with art from Marco Rudy, this series continues to show why it’s one of the best in DC’s relaunch and best on the market. It’s creepy, gross, haunting and just fantastic. The build up has been coming, and the story is about to explode.
Story: 8.75 Art: 8.75 Overall: 8.75
The Twelve #9 – The limited series WAS fantastic, but too much time has passed and I can’t say I remember enough to care. I still want to see how it all ends, but that’s more because the delay makes me fascinated to see what might have been.
Story: 6.75 Art: 8 Overall: 7
Uncanny X-Force #21 – The art is off, story a bit jumbled and big reveal at the end had no impact on me. Wow did this issue slip in quality. Oh well, hopefully it’ll bounce back.
Story: 6.75 Art: 7 Overall: 6.75
Uncanny X-Men #6 – Great to see some issues from Uncanny X-Force dealt with, but boy is this bad. Something isn’t clicking for me.
Story: 6.75 Art: 7 Overall: 6.75
Venom #13 – The Circle of Four kicks off here with the heroes gathering to fight demons. The art isn’t as solid as it usually is and the story is meh. Not a good story to a pretty high profile story arc.
Story: 6.75 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6.75
Villains for Hire #3 – It’s Misty Knight in control, so the villains turn on her, but is there more to this all. The end I paused and said, wtf!? The limited series has been great four three issues, lets hope the fourth doesn’t disappoint.
Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7
Winter Soldier #1 – The first issue of the series is interesting and to a point it tries to be smarter than it really needs to be. The series follows the Winter Soldier/Bucky and Black Widow as they deal with other sleeper agents. A great premise that could lead to some great spy/noir storytelling, but too much is crammed in and the series instead feels like a cheap action comic.
Story: 7 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.25
X-Factor #231 – We find out more about the world Madrox wound up in and it’s pretty interesting. I imagine we’ll see it again the future. Madrox hops to another world. It’s all supposedly concluded next issue. Thankfully.
Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7
Yay the weekend is almost here!
Around the Blogs:
Man Cave Daily – 10 Things You Should Know about Comics – Pretty funny and pretty accurate.
Around the Tubes Reviews:
CBR – Animal Man #7
MTV Geek – Fairest #1
CBR – Fatale #3
Paste Magazine – Comic Book & Graphic Novel Round-Up (3/7/12)
Catching up slowly with reviews….
Animal Man #5 – The rot is spreading and Animal Man and his family must fight it. The series art has dipped a little, but story is Vertigo meets mainstream DC. Solid work and I can’t wait to see where it goes….
Story: 8 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.75
The Avengers Annual #1 – Remember when Wonder Man and a team attacked the Avengers mansion? Yeah… so if you wondered whatever happened to that story, it gets wrapped up in this issue. It’s interesting and sets up a lot of potential, but it’s been so long since that first part you have to wonder why it’s taken so damn long.
Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75
Avengers Academy #24 – Hmm, kind of torn on this issue. The art is just ok, and the time travel/traitor story has been done, but there’s something interesting about it all. It’s not “A” level, but getting better than it’s been.
Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7
Avengers: X-Sanction #2 – Cable continues to fight the Avengers as more hints towards the why are given. Cable slips between the present and future in decent story telling, the art I’m iffy on over it. The story is intriguing, just not totally sold.
Story: 7.5 Art: 7 Overall: 7.5
Batman: Detective Comics #5 – The main story is ok, Batman chases some guy as people protest Batman. The back-up story is a jumble of a mess. I’d rather have a longer main story or something else, cause the quality is just not good.
Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7
Batwing #5 – Anyone else think it’s odd that Batwing has to call in the white Batman to help? No message there? The issue is decent and has some character depth added for Batwing and the art is fantastic. The series is one of the bright spots for the DC relaunch.
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8
The Defenders #2 – The series second issue is a bit better than the first. There’s a tone and pacing that’s different and entertaining to it. The blurbs at the bottom are interesting too. I can’t say this is a huge hit and must read series, but it’s getting better in my opinion.
Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7
Fatale #1 – So much hype surrounding the series and while it’s interesting, it’s not as good as Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ previous work. The noir meets Lovecraft series is not as good as what they’ve done, but that makes it better than most everything else. My gut says the series will be a better read in one sitting instead of individual issues.
Story: 7.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.5
Fear Itself: The Fearless #6 – What happened to Crossbone’s new ability? That seemed to go away… The event spin-off hasn’t gotten much better and I’m not seeing the point. I’m reading it in hopes it leads to something.
Story: 6.5 Art: 7 Overall: 6.5
The Punisher #7 – I really liked this issue. On the way to the massacre from the last issue, two detectives talk about the Punisher and what he does and how that differs from what the police and law do. I solid issue that really gets you to think about justice and who decides and dispenses it.
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25
Rachel Rising #4 – The state of Rachel is starting to be noticed as more bodies are dumped. The series is weird and a very slow creepy burn to it. It’s so good though showing why horror was my pick of genre of the year last year.
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8
Red Lanterns #5 – A bunch of the Lanterns get smarter as they look for Krona. Earth gets it’s own Red Lantern. Overall an ok story that’s getting somewhere, just not sure where.
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5
Stormwatch #5 – Um, what the hell did I read? I am so confused by this series. There’s a bunch I like and then again, this is just not a friendly series for new readers. What. The. Hell?
Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25
Swamp Thing #5 – The rot continues to get stronger while the green attempts to fight back. The series is colliding with Animal Man and damn it’s good. There’s just this great horror feel to it all and it’s easy to get into, even with such material that’s come before.
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25
Thunderbolts #168 – Luke Cage is going after escaped convicts from the Raft as Mockingbird and Mach V deal with the committe that oversees the program. At the same time the other Thunderbolts are on the run still and did Ghost reach them? Lots going on here in an interesting issue that’s pretty solid. Not bade, but not great either.
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.5
Uncanny X-Force #19.1 – We get a preview of what to expect when the Age of Apocalypse comes back as an ongoing series. The preview is crazy and entertaining, but I wonder what the big game plan it is for the series. There has to be something.
Story: 8.5 Art: 8 Overall: 8.5
Uncanny X-Men #4 – A story of the Phalanx and it’s interesting. There’s a slight tie-in with Sinister which seems a bit stretched. A lot I like and some I don’t. Pretty decent read though.
Story: 7.5 Art: 8 Overall: 7.5
Villains for Hire #2 – Purple Man is on the move to find his rival and it’s a shocker as to who it is, but that ending just made my jaw drop. I have no idea what is happening next, but this series is very entertaining. I can’t wait to see what it leads to.
Story: 8 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7.75
X-Men #23 – Yay, we get a semi-mission/point for this team, other than leaving weapons of mass destruction lying around. What an anti-climatic ending to the story…
Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7
Wolverine & the X-Men: Alpha & Omega #1 – Quentin Quire decides to get his revenge on Wolverine for sending him to Westchester. Sadly, the story isn’t needed and really adds nothing so far. The art is just ok and doesn’t live up to the cool cover. Overall, no idea why this is being done.
Story: 6.75 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6.75
X-23 #20 – Laura and Jubilee have a night out and Laura gets an offer as to where she should go next. The story is ok, but really could have had a much more emotional impact. The sub-par art didn’t help at all as well.
Story: 6.5 Art: 6.5 Overall: 6.5
It’s Friday!!!!!
Around the Blogs:
Marvel – Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark App Arrives – It’s an interactive app. You get injured while walking around and not paying attention.
Bleeding Cool – The Ethics Of Before Watchmen – An interesting read.
Around the Tubes Reviews:
CBR – Animal Man #6
CBR – Swamp Thing #6
MTV Geek – Yo Joe, and Geronimo! Advance Reviews Of IDW’s G.I. Joe and Doctor Who Comics
IGN – Comic Book Reviews for 2/1/12
Unleash the Fanboy – Weekly Comic Reviews: 2/1
There’s a lot of interesting comics coming out this week, but I’m fascinated to see what happens next in Avengers: X-Sanction #2. The first issue had Cable picking off the Avengers one by one to prevent some future disaster and we know the Avengers and X-Men clash in a few months. This is the prelude that leads into all of that and I have no idea what to expect.
Tomorrow is new comic book day, what’s everyone getting?
Around the Blogs:
CBLDF – CBLDF & ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom Speak Out In Defense of Comic Facing Removal From School Library – Have you given some money to this great organization? Well, you should.
Around the Tubes Reviews:
CBR – Animal Man #4
CBR – Moon Knight #8
It’s a think stack of books this week as we head into the last month of the year. What company is going out with a bang and making the case to be the publisher of year? Find out below!
Animal Man #4 – We learn what the Rot is and what they want, sort of. It’s also laid out as to what’s been pretty obvious, we’ll be getting a crossover pretty soon with Swamp Thing, because nothing says simplifying a comic universe like interconnected stories and crossovers.
Story: 8 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25
Avenging Spider-Man #2 – Lots of action, great art and enough to get me to laugh quite a few times. This series is exactly what comics should be, fun and easy to get into. So entertaining, I highly recommend it, and this is from someone who has never been a big Spider-Man fan.
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5
Batman: Detective Comics #4 – Batman continues to fight the Dollmaker to a rather unsatisfying conclusion. Really, nothing is resolved here and it all gets pushed off for another story arc. This is definitely the weakest of the Batman books.
Story: 7.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.5
Batwing #4 – We get the origin of Batwing and while there’s so much to mine, the fact it’s told so quickly without much depth makes it all shallow. There’s a lot here to work with, but the first steps just doesn’t go into the depth it deserves.
Story: 7.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 7.5
Chew #22 – Tony is on a mission to find his daughter as he winds up getting into trouble himself. The issue isn’t as solid as the series usually is, but was still entertaining. An even ok issue of Chew is better than the majority of books out there.
Story: 8 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8
the Defenders #1 – The team is gathered by Hulk to take on the Breaker of Worlds, and I yawn, a lot. The series first issue just didn’t do it for me at all.
Story: 6.75 Art: 7.25 Overall: 6.75
Fear Itself: the Fearless #4 – The Fear Itself follow up is as bad as the series that it’s spun out of. Someone needs to go and see what blood looks like in water and the story is just plodding and boring. Get to the action quicker, because this race to get all of the hammers is pretty damn boring.
Story: 6 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6
Jennifer Blood #7 – After Jennifer has taken care of her targets, I’ve been wondering where the series would go from here, but we now get an idea. The over the top violently funny series continues it’s depraved streak as various new plot threads are weaved that all promise to continue the entertaining sickness of the series. This “female Punisher” looks like it’s finally getting an identity of it’s own.
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8
Mega Man #8 – Mega Man’s second battle with Dr. Wiley comes to an end and the comic is still great for all ages. It’s a lot of similar events as the first one with some small twists here and there, but hopefully the third story arc will transcend the predictable plot of the video game it’s based on.
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8
Moon Knight #8 – Lots of Moon Knight and Echo action here as they take on Count Nefaria and Moon Knight as deals with a certain detective. The series is fantastic, not just in it’s writing, but also the art. This is easily one of the best comic book series Marvel is putting out and one of the best out there period.
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.75 Overall: 8.5
the Punisher #6 – Frank and Rachel meet as they both go after their targets. There’s a very interesting dual narrative going on, one with a white motif and the other black. A lot is working for the comic, in it’s simple execution it’s actually pretty damn deep. The art is a little off, but overall, the execution is solid.
Story: 8.5 Art: 8 Overall: 8.25
Red Lanterns #4 – Writer Peter Milligan continues to shuffle up these one note characters. Depth is attempting to be given and it’s working only a little. There’s a pretty big hurtle that he has to overcome in getting this series to really justify it existing on it’s own and it’s getting there, just very slowly.
Story: 7.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.5
Stormwatch #4 – Hmmm, I’m still torn on the series and it’s not until this issue it starts to really find it’s voice and not seem so jumbled. The art is decent and characters interesting, but still something doesn’t totally click. I’ll keep going for now, but the series teeters on the edge of being dropped by me.
Story: 7.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.5
Swamp Thing #4 – And we get the Green’s take on the battle with the Rot. The series is great with it’s companion series Animal Man and like that series stands on it’s own, but I can’t help but think how complicated a story the two are telling when part of the point of the DCnU was to simplify it all. Overall though, the two put together a compelling tale.
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles: Micro-Series Raphael – A pretty decent one-shot that adds to the main TMNT comic book series. Raphael is out on patrol with Casey Jones and meets a new mutated creature. Some pretty cool stuff that will leave fans of the cartoon or previous comic iterations with a smile on their face.
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25
Venom #10 – Some old acquaintances come calling for Venom as Captain America comes to shut the program down. It’s an interesting start to the post Spider-Island direction. I liked the series before, so here’s hoping it quickly gets back on it’s feet and gives us the same quality as before.
Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75
Villains for Hire #1 – Huh, not what I was expecting but very good. It looks like this is a bridge from Heroes for Hire into something else, and I can’t wait to see what.
Story: 8.5 Art: 8 Overall: 8.5
X-Club #1 – And the point of this limited series is?
Story: 6.5 Art: 7 Overall: 6.5
X-Factor #228 – Interesting. Now we know the secret between Layla and Guido. Not sure I particularly like that revelation, but interesting.
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5
X-Men #22 – This team of X-Men have a lot of Sentinels to take on. The story is interesting and art has it’s moments, but the series is still fresh and doesn’t have enough yet to really stand out on it’s own.
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.5
X-23 #18 – Amazing art but schizophrenic story.
Story: 6.75 Art: 8.5 Overall: 7
The week is chugging along and previews for this week’s releases are starting to role in. And while you wait for all of that, here’s the news you might have missed.
Around the Blogs:
The ComiChron – Records abound in October sales; reboot titles held sales levels – Talk to me four months from now, we’re still in a bubble.
The Mary Sue – Susie Cagle Gives Personal Account of Occupy Oakland Arrest And It’s Not Pretty – Such shit on so many levels.
The Beat – iVerse gets $4 million in private equity funding for Comics+ – Um, congrats?
Con Coverage:
MTV Geek – Ejen Chuang’s Awesome Cosplay Photos From Comikaze 2011
Around the Tubes Reviews:
CBR – Animal Man #3
Toonzone – Hellboy: House Of The Living Dead
CBR – O.M.A.C. #3
ICv2 – Psyren Vol. 1
Novel Society – Twilight Graphic Novel Volume 2
