It’s a fairly light week of books dominated by limited series and some new debuts.  Are any of them worth it?  Is this a week of fluff?

Monthly Comics

Batman and Robin #11 – When the series debuted it was a fresh take by Grant Morrison on the new dynamic between the new Batman and new Robin.  The first arc was pure quality.  But since, the story has become a bit harder to follow and definitely has slipped in the excellence that began the series.  Can’t say there’s anything here for anyone but the die hard Batman fans.

Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25

Cable & Deadpool #25 – It’s a treat into an unknown tale of the past as we learn about Deadpool’s role in helping Cable protect Hope.  It’s ok, but nothing special.

Story: 7 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.5

Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers #1 – Marvel presents this lost history of World War II in this four issue Marvel Knights limited series.  Germany needs Wakanda’s vibranium and Captain America and the Howling Commandos head there to stop them.  There’s a lot of items that made me cringe as this issue doesn’t shy away from race issues that plagued the time.  The art is mixed and the style is interesting, though inconsistent.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love #6 – It’s the end of the story as we learn the reason behind the Fairy Godmother’s actions.  Cinderella confronts the woman that set her up with Prince Charming all those years ago.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.75

Deadpool Corps. #1 – Rob Liefeld returns to drawing the character he created so many years ago.  And that’s about the highlight of the issue, Liefeld’s signature, over the top art.  The story picks up from the mini series as the team goes on the save the universe, which seems to come from a certain movie staring Marvel’s first family.  Pretty bad, and completely forgettable.  The only good part is a short story which is repeated from Prelude to Deadpool Corps. #5.

Story: 6 Art: 8 Overall: 6.5

Demo #3 – A positive story about love in a series that’s been all over the place emotionally.  A cute story I’d encourage folks to read especially if you enjoy stories that focus on people’s slice of life.

Story: 9 Art: 8 Overall: 9

the New Avengers: Luke Cage #1 – Luke Cage will be taking a bigger role post Siege as he takes over as the leader of the Thunderbolts among the numerous series he’ll be a part of.  It’s clear Marvel pumped this three issue limited series out to begin the focus on the character before he hits the spotlight.  Too bad there’s nothing special about this story as it sees Cage helping out a friend and dealing with Hammerhead and Mr. Negative.

Story: 6.5 Art: 6.5 Overall: 6.5

Realm of Kings: Son of Hulk #3 – The tale of the son of the Hulk in the Microverse continues along with something having to deal with the Enigma Force.  If you care about any of this, this series is for you.  I’m just waiting for it to tie back into the greater Realm of Kings storyline, because right now, it doesn’t.

Story: 6 Art: 6.5 Overall: 6.25

S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 – Not sure I completely understood everything going on but it’s an impressive start to the series.  It’s very reminiscent of recent classics like Earth X.

Story: 8.75 Art: 8.75 Overall: 8.75

Uncanny X-Men #523 – It’s the second part to Second Coming as Cable and Hope continue their run and secrets about what X-Force has been up to begin to leak out.  It’s only the second part and tons of bombshells are being dropped.  It started off as a high octane adventure and is continuing in that direction.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Vengeance of Moon Knight #7 – The series is one of the best Marvel is producing that you’re probably not reading.  The only problem with this issue is it involves Deadpool who’s a bit over exposed at the moment.  The inclusion feels forced, but it’s a nice arc and the issue still holds up, just not quite to it’s normal quality.

Story: 8 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

Wolverine: Weapon X #12 – We sort of learn what the Deathloks are up to.  It’s a pretty cool issue bouncing back and forth between the present and future.  My problem is the plot isn’t that just original and it’s too soon to see yet another story staring Wolverine that involves the future.  It’s still a solid issue.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8 Overall: 8.25

ZVR Aventure #3 – The three stories continue as robots battle zombies.  If you like either of these subjects this comic is good, if you like both, it’s a must read.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Graphic Novel

Area 10 – Christos Gage and artist Chris Samnee bring the latest entry to the Vertigo Crime series of graphic novels.  As usual the packaging is beautiful and having the entire series on my shelf is going to look impressive.  Gage brings his talent for writing crime (he’s written for Law and Order: SVU and Numb3rs) to the printed page and it’s fantastic.  An engaging story involving decapitated corpses, a serial killer and trepanation make for many twists and turns and all of them are good.  Samnee’s art is perfect for the story, showing just enough gore and not going overboard.  If you enjoy crime noir, definitely pick this one up as a must read.

Story: 9.25 Art: 8.75 Overall: 9.25