PULL THIS! *points to long box* -or- Bucky's picks for the week of 11/23/2011

Fantastic Four #600. Flashback to 2004... Pixar completely rips-off Marvel by making the best FF movie ever and calling it The Incredibles. It still amazes that Marvel hasn't done more movie-wise with their first superhero property. There were some things I really dug with the flicks (like the casting of the Human Torch and the Thing and their interaction), but at no point did it ever feel like they were a family.

Which brings me to the comic. Every now and then the perfect writer for a title lands on a book. This is currently happening with Hickman on the Fantastic Four. This is currently my favorite Marvel title on the shelf right now... and honestly if you aren't reading it you are not a comic fan and you probably love to punch nuns. I get the whole nun punching thing tho as I went to Catholic school. Seriously, you owe it to yourself to go back and start at the beginning of Hickman's run. It's like a reward for being a comic book reader for so many years as it has nothing to do with reboots or recreating the characters. He respects the history of this team and the history of the Marvel Universe while making it incredibly exciting and foreword thinking. Honestly, as a writer, Hickman intimidates me. He has an amazing amount of story lines running in this book and his grasp of science fiction big thinking that this book should have is amazing.

This team feels like a family that has been together their whole lives and I love it. He has added an incredible cast of characters with the Future Foundation and with the different clans that are fighting for power. Lots of space adventures, lots of science, lots of humor, and lots of love. I hope they keep this creative team on here for years to come.

And speaking of team, they have Epting doing the pencils and he is a perfect choice for this book. Prior to him, Eagleshaw handled the pencils and did an equally amazing job (altho I thought his Mr. Fantastic was a bit too hunky). I love when creative teams stay on books for extended amounts of times. I feel that it helps continuity.

This issue specifically was great per usual and it dealt with my biggest complaint of this current title... killing off main characters. It drives me nuts, but it was responsible for Spidey being on the team which has been... well... fantastic. I've really enjoyed his interaction with the Richard kids as they both lost Uncles (Ben and Johnny = Human Torch). Great emotional stuff to pull from. Really, read this book.

Secret Avengers #19. High octane avengers book with a great line-up. Surprised at how much I am digging this book. I mean where else can you read about Kung-Fu and Science wrapped up in a big action ball.

Captain America & Bucky #624. Currently covering the origin of Bucky/Winter Soldier. Still not sure why this series isn't called Bucky.

Kick Ass 2 #5. Shit just got dark... and exciting. This issue leads up ti the return of everyone's fav. 3 foot female psycho super heroine.

Invincible #85. Still one of the best books on the shelf.

See you next Comic Book Wednesday!

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mrbucky

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Mixed Plate Comics- Week of 8.31.11

Alright ya'll...welcome to the DC New 52!!  With only 2 books released from DC that usually makes up over 65% of my weekly reads, bet this was a light week for me.  Thankfully so, as I needed to reload and catch up on those revs that have been sitting in the queue for sometime.  Here are the fly reads that kept this urban-nerd on lock:  Route Des Maisons Rouges #5 / Ultimate Comics Hawkeye #1 / Justice League #1 / Flashpoint #5 /  The Sixth Gun #14 / Secret Avengers #16 / The Mighty Thor #5 /The Uncanny X-Force #14 / Rocketeer Adventures #4 and my faves of the batch are..

5     The Mighty Thor #5  Matt Fraction & Oliver Coipel

Thor and his big poppa Odin vs. Silver Surfer and the never-ending appetite of Galactus.  This faceoff is as outrageously compelling as they come.  So question, how do Norse Gods & Cosmic Deities fare against one another in a royal rumble? 

Answer:  Not good, for anyone in the surrounding solar system.  Odin tires of their mental duel and goes Hulk Hogan on Galactus with a flying headbutt.  This leaves both giants in a debilitated state- as the battle between Thor/Surfer and Volstagg/Broxtonites wage on.

Fraction on Thor and everything Asgard kicks ass.  Which is major as I really haven't been into his recent stuff outside of Cassanova.  Coipel is Coipel, which means if you are reading along with me on this Mighty reboot, you are owned by his stupid-cala-frag-a-licious visuals.

Thanks to David Finch for making me realize why OC is one of the best in the biz.  

Kid Loki snatches the prized worldseed from a Destroyer while everyone is biz and takes off with it.  Sif convinces the Surfer and Thor to squash their little tiff as they race on to see the aftermath of Galactus and Odin's colossal beatdown.  Odin goes into his godly hibernation and Galactus wakes up from his TKO with some serious munchies.  Next up Galactus vs. the Broxton preacher?  Umm...

4   Flashpoint  #5  Geoff Johns & Andy Kubert

With the close of Summer also brings us back to normalcy with the conclusion of Marvel and DC's audacious, Universe-spanning events that change things forever.  Meh.  Though DC delivered on that promise, while Fear Itself ended for me at issue 2-- Flashpoint has had it's high-points (The Outsider and Batman: KoV) but damn there was a whole lotta needless filler by some so-so books.  What I really wanted was to simply rip the comic-calendar off for August, so we could all just jump to September/New 52 already. 

And we are here.  Eobard Thawne gets his, though it was really Barry Allen that was the cause of this whole mess.  Enjoyed how Johns used Flash as the messenger from father to son that mayhaps will explain why we have a Bats in DCnU that has a slightly less gritty, more humane side to him.

I will rank Flashpoint in the following order with some of its DC mega event predecessors from the standpoint of pure, nerd-tainment value (not so much on Universe-shattering impact- ha!): 10. Zero Hour 9. Final Night  8. 52 7. Brightest Day 6. Infinite Crisis
5. Flashpoint  4. Final Crisis  3. Identity Crisis  2. Crisis on Infinite Earths  1. Blackest Night


3   Secret Avengers  #16  Warren Ellis & Jamie McKelvie
I like Nick Spencer, but I was this close to scratching Secret Avengers off the pull-list (since Brubaker moved on).  But if this ish is repeated, or more specifically-- Ellis and McKelvie stay on-- so will I!  Planetary of Ellis/Cassaday fame is easily one of my best team books ever, edging out Claremont/Byrne's Uncanny X-Men and about neck to neck with Whedon/Cassaday's Astonishing.  No joke son!

Though only 24 pages in, this ish has it all (let's not forget that sexy Cassaday cover that makes you grab it off the shelves without even thinking ).  Action, intrigue, smart-ass wit and eye candy o' plenty.  Not gonna talk much on the narrative as you gotta peep it for yourself.

Yeah, this is Ellis we have her-- so like any Morrison book it will require a few page flips back to be sure you get whats going on.  I mean being challenged with layers of meaning and story is good right?  Yes I am talking comics here.

The new bold, tag line for the title is Run the Mission, Don't Get Seen, Save the World.  Sold.


2  Uncanny X-Force #14   Rick Remender & Jerome Opena
These mutants got it bad.  To deal with everything upside-down and chaotic in Age of Apocolypse, only to be sent back home to this kinda effed up sh*t.  Archangel has continued to evolve in becoming the next Apocolypse and has been reuntied with Dark Beast, Ozymandias and the rest of his Fourhorsemen.   

Quite the welcome home party yeah?  Ribic and Brooks did wonders on filling in some but its always nice to see Opena drop his crazy pencils.  The Horsemen get even with Fantomex and the gang from the last time they got their ass-whoopin.  Wolvie gets incinerated, Deadpool craps his pants, Fantomex runs out of magic tricks -- leaving Psylocke on a solo-tip that she nearly pulls off.  But her heart gets in the way(proof she is English not Japanese).

Archangel decides to take a different route from simply re-creating an Age of Apocalypse and starts his Age of Archangel.  His plan?  Right the wrong of mutant genocide via the Scarlet Witch with her "no more mutants" curse.  Why you wanna gonna go and do that love huh?!


1  Justice League #1    Geoff Johns & Jim Lee

For the last week, more and more of my non-comic reading friends have been hitting me up and asking so whats up with the new DC?  Which book is the go to?  Does this mean print comics are really about to die out? (due to confusion on the day & date, digital/print talk)  Each response is different but what I include nearly everytime is that if there is one answer that represents this change-- and they wanna peek into the world of comics-- they need to pick up Justice League #1.

I say this only being that it is very historic that we see two of the arguably greatest creators of the last decade unite at the peaks of their career on a title of this scale.  Not only is this the creme de la creme of iconic DC heroes-- for the first time in history, we get to see how they meet, interact and are articulated in a modern-day setting without the shackles of long-held mythos, outdated costumes and so on. 

Oh and the obvious kicker is every ish is rebooted to #1 which for some have happened with regularity, but again never have all issues simultaneously hit the reset button.  Along with that Action Comics and Detective Comics have never, ever swayed from sequential numbering in the last 75+ years.

Okay so from the beginning we know that this book takes place 5 years ago.  When I pull out my abacus and count with my fingers in thinking about how Alex Segura's timeline of events for major characters work...I am still confused.  Okay, I will just come back to this bit after reading more of the other books to see how the puzzle pieces fit.

Bats is on the move, avoiding a very militant GCPD looking to take down the Dark Knight -- as he is facing some weird meta-creature, GL jumps on the stage.  I really enjoyed how in this new era, Batman and GL are very contrasting personas.  One flying around like a blinding high beam, the other stalking rooftops in the shadows.  If you feel disrespected as a fan as you were reading.  Suggestion...get over yourself. 

So how was the book?  Johns and Lee bring their A game and more to make a believer of this back-ish loving, steeped-deep-in-history-- that a new, never-before-told type of story can work.  I say all of that with an asterisk attached to Lee and Johns being the ones that can pull this massive, trailblazing of a comicbook off.

In twenty + pages you get the two most prominent DC characters front and center in their first meeting.  What does that mean?  Batman and Green Lantern, Brave & the Bold like never before told. 


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Mixed Plate Comics- Week of 2.23.11

A sad week to be a nerd.  With that said tons of great books, films and stuff to get us out of that funk.  Bummers to not have a new episode of Young Justice and who else was not feeling that Smallville rip of Hangover??  Only cool spot was hawtie Cassidy Freeman rocking the mic and that bit of Chloe telling Clark that she has recruited Batman and Wonder-Woman into their league.  Ahh and here are the panels, pages and word bubbles that kept me flipping all week:  Gotham City Sirens  #20 / Fantastic Four #588 / Iron Man 2.0  #1 / New York Five #2 / Power Girl #21 / Secret Avengers #10 / Justice League: Generation Lost #20 / Action Comics #898 / Teen Titans #92 / Avengers #10


5   Fantastic Four  #588   Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta/Mark Brooks

An impressive homage to the always classic art stylee of FF co-creator and legend Jack Kirby.  Didn't know much about artist Nick Dragotta but I sure do now!  Despite the throwback illustrations, Hickman's contemporary and exceptional storytelling allowed for a gripping, emotional, hold your breath kinda page turner with so much too see in the pictures that dialogue was non-existent until the very end.  

The book covered a month of mourning for the recently departed Johnny Storm-- how it has impacted each of the family members-- and leaves some breadcrumbs on what we can expect in the coming issues of the re-tooled Future Foundation story threads.

Equally as engaging is the second part of the final Fantastic Four ish that takes us into an intimate conversation between Spidey and Franklin, who both share the loss of a close best friend / Uncle.  Creates a real natural bridge to Spidey's inclusion to the band of scientists, filling the space of his buddy and acting as a mentor for his #1 fanboy (all-powerful) Franklin Richards. 
 
4   Power Girl #21   Judd Winick & Sami Basri
The tie-in arc with the JLI book (Generation Lost) looks to get even better with Karen getting the cold shoulder from Booster, Ice and the rest of her friends as they deal with the death of Blue Beetle and what's up with Winick and his hate for the Beetles?  Yes, if you recall it was him and Geoff Johns that killed off Ted Kord (Jaime Reyes' predecessor) to kick-off Infinite Crisis.  Again, hoping this is a way for them to bring

Kord back somehow...  PG then leans on Batman (Dick Grayson) for help by forcing him into remembering that Max Lord is in fact a real person and responsible for a number of orchestrated attacks against the hero community (murdered Magog- though blamed on Captain Atom).

Dick is eventually coerced into working his detective mojo on the corpse of Kord with the O.G. Dark Knight and Bruce uses his knack for logic to convince him that Ted Kord did not take his own life.  Being that Bruce Wayne was not around this timeline during Lord's global-mindf*ck of Earth's population...he wasn't affected and knows just how dangerous of a player he is.  So that puts the JLI, Power Girl and the Batmen on the opposition of the devious head of Checkmate.

Really curious how this will play out into the eventual Flashpoint books being that Batman is know somewhat of a time-jumper 

3   Secret Avengers  #10   Ed Brubaker & Mike Deodato

Commander Rogers and the rest of his black ops crew get their much needed revenge on the agents of the Shadow Council- Fury and Steele, that to this point have had their way with the Avengers.

Moon Knight gets into some of his own comedy hi-jinks (usually savored by Ant-Man) when he is discovered behind enemy lines.  Good to see Valkyrie & Widow make a rare appearance in their attack that is highlighted by War Machine and Rogers busting an ill take on the fast-ball special which leaves, Steele a bit  incapacitated.    

Wannabe Fury gets his ass easily handed to him too, which was a bit deflating since he has pretty much been the elusive, major badass in the last issues.  Oh wells, all things come to an end!  Shang-Chi is eventually saved from nearly being sacrificed to some demons by his insane, evil zombified pops.  Next chapter will go WWII flashbacks into the super-soldier antics of John Steele and Steve Rogers.

Brubaker and Deodato deliver on the goods that IMO is the tops Avengers book out there (yeah, there is like ten of em or something).

2   Justice League: Generation Lost  #20   Judd Winick & Joe Bennett
Winick humanizes Max Lord as less the evil, big-boss man by telling his origin story on how his family were victims to powerful, big-bad Corporations.  Due to his father's supposed murder and mother influencing Max to go down the darkside-- to be less of a philanthropist and more in line with the likes of Lex Luthor.  Re-living his transformation with the retcon of his mommy-dearest, made me think of how Lord was written by Giffen and DeMatteis prior to his infection and though he was written as an corporate- opportunist-- Lord
was definitely a force for good.

As for him now being more the maniacal, global politician with a world-view of how he can make the world better for the many-- despite the suffering of the few-- it's right in line with why I was such a fan of the Checkmate book when it was headed up by the man, Greg Rucka.

I still for some reason doubt that Jaime Reyes is dead though.  It's hard to swallow down that a young, relatable, Latino-hero will be axed-- especially with his supposed live-action TV show that DC is trying to get picked up in the future.  Whoa, now that was a bit of an tangent...My bad!  As you can guess, the final standoff of Lord and his OMACS (so pumped to see them back!!) and the JLI is right around the corner and expect some major fireworks between the old buds Booster and Lord.

My fave non- Batman or GL book out there.  Props to Winick for his impressive salvo of left (JL: Generation Lost) and right (Power Girl) handed jabs for the knockout of this weeks top-list...well almost if it wasn't for..


1   Action Comics #898   Paul Cornell & Pete Woods

How can you not be hooked with the rematch between Lex and Larfleeze (with some help from Glomulus)?!  This comedy-infused action genre has been missed since Blackest Night, where Larfleeze stole the show from Hal, but lucky us that we have the rest of DCU creative like Cornell and Woods rocking their Orange Lantern stories!

Funniest shit in sometime with Larfleeze calling one of Luthor's croonies a "construct"!!!!  Oh man, nothing more to say on this ish as you really need to read it yourself.


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big O

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Mixed Plate Comics- Week of 1.26.11

In the first week of the "early" Monday shipments to retailers, all the buzz and drama was directed towards the Marvel/Diamond approved Tuesday sale of the Human Torch's Last Stand-- yes, by now everyone and their grandma knows that Johnny Storm got annihilated (literally). A horde of good reads this week that includes:  Teen Titans #91 / The New York Five #1 / Avengers #9 / Wonder Woman #606 / Action Comics #897 / Secret Avengers #9 / Uncanny X-Force #4 / Justice League Generation Lost #18 / Fantastic Four #587 / Shazam #1.  Now for the standout, fab-five freshlist...

5   Justice League: Generation Lost #18   Judd Winick & Aaron Lopresti

PG battles with the murderous Captain Atom (thanks to Lord's mindbending) and ends up escalating to a full-on fight with the JLI.  Power Girl believes she is taking on the heavy hitters of the JLA and begins to really fight all out-- leaving Booster and his crew to struggle with their mere survival against the Kryptonians' vicious onslaught. 

Ivo and Max continue their Dr. Frankenstein routine on Blue Beetle, looking to gain access to the powers of the scarab.  During which a deeper explanation is made on how Lord's mental powers work and are able to influence others on such a mass scale.

The unlikely hero, resident-FOB-- Rocket Red-- snaps PG out of her crazed spell with sonics and the JLI roster gets some serious cred now with Power Girl united with her old friends and on the hunt for Max Lord.

4   Fantastic Four #587   Jonathan Hickman & Steve Epting

Despite all the hype, this book hits all the lofty expectations with sure, the end of the 4-- but also with setup of an multi-layered approach in covering the first fam of Marvel.  Leaving each remaining team-member facing their own equally difficult conflict.         

Hickman gives Namor reason to pitch a tent in his fishnets with the Invisible Woman taking over as the Monarch of his enemies the Ul-Uhari.  Reed brings back the Maestro from Nu-World which creates a whole other splinter of power amongst the Hulks and finally the Human Torch flamed off.  A very touching, emotional moment when Ben Grimm overcomes the powers that have allowed him to be normal again, and all for nothing.  I love how Hickman has given more and more attention to the kids and their Future Foundation along with the expected future selves of Franklin and Valeria.

Isn't it odd though how near-omnipotent Franklin is portayed as and he can't make easy scrap of a few thousand oversized bugs??  Death of heroes in the world of comics is a major way to signal significant change in a book and from that standpoint, I feel they were successful in getting that.  But as for a renumbering / reboot to #1 again- lame.


3   Secret Avengers #9    Ed Brubaker & Mike Deodato

We finally get to see the mysterious, OG super-soldier- John Steele take on Rogers in the octagon, okay not quite but you get it.  As the Avengers and Shadow Council make the human trade between Sharon and Shang-Chi-- Deodato gives us some remarkable action paneling that doesn't even need panels or backgrounds.

Brubaker sets the next arc with some needed shine on Moon Knight who has to this point been cast in the shadows of the Secret Avengers.  It makes me think Wolvie vs the Hellfire Club how they got MK going in deep cover within the heart of the Council.  If you like high-octane, adrenaline-filled, page-flipping then you gotta plug yourself into this book. 

The most exciting team book out there for Marvel (well, since reading the whats in the Top2 spot).  And how about some more attention to the Prince of Orphans to keep up that Kung-Fu hustle?! 




2   The Uncanny X-Force  #4   Rick Remender & Jerome Opena
I have been waiting patiently on the side-lines for some real-deal, intriguing, kick-ass mutant stories to be told since the shortly lived connect of Ellis and Jimenez in Astonishing.  We finally got it right here yo, due to the illest X-collabo of Remender & Opena in the last 4 issues of Uncanny X-Force.

The Wolvie/Archangel led hit-squad get their wish of hunting down the recently, resurrected Apocalypse with the oddball-tracking skills of Deadpool and Fantomex.  Being that I never picked up the fabled Morrison run of New X-Men, this was my initial intro to Jean-Phillipe/Weapon XIII-- who is one damn cool mutant-magician.

After nearly losing their lives to the badass and uber-deadly Final Horsemen-- X-Force make their way into the ship that houses the mutants most feared enemy.  With some brilliant strokes of misdirection, mild-cannibalism and War's crush on Psylocke-- the team eventually finds the child, Apocalypse.

Each team member loses sight of their mission objectives and give in to their humanity and hope for the innocent to be molded into something better.  Well, until something happens that makes me think...how the eff can this be topped?!

The most riveting read X-book I have flipped through in years.  Some uncanny shit right here.



1   Action Comics #597   Paul Cornell & Pete Woods

Was mad close in which book was gonna grab my top spot but I just couldn't deny how remarkable of a depiction there ever was between the Joker and Luthor that is found here.  Maybe not since Straczynski's coverage on the Joker in Brave & the Bold have I experienced better, simply instant-classic dialogue meets art of Gotham's clown prince.

Woods art elevates in the more dark and eery settin og Arkham.  Cornell gets into our psyche along with Luthors by showing how disturbingly genius that creepy Joker truly is.  Lex gets his black sphere, Joker makes Lois-bot go a lil cray and how can things get even better??

Lex vs. Larfleeze!!!  Can't wait.

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big O

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Deodato is Killing It

Mike Deodato just posted a fury of sick art pieces on Twitter to tease us until the release of his hardcover, HD quality book is out-- The Marvel Art of Mike Deodato.  This will be the cover that of course is best viewed in the widescreen 720p as it was intended on.  Diggin the selection of random characters he chose from, especially Norman Osborn, Elektra and Cap.   Easily the illest illustrator of Marvel and reppin the takeover of mad comic artists from Brazil.

Not a good day to be a Sentinel.



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big O

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Mixed Plate Comics- Week of 12.22.10

In our last weekly comic reviews for 2010-- we get to go out big with a mouthful of a dozen ono reads.  Here is what fed my voracious nerd diet during X-Mas week:  Wonder Woman #605 / Nemesis #4 / Batman Annual #28 / Fantastic Four #586 / Justice League: Generation Lost #16 / Incognito #2 / Green Lantern Corps #55 / Batman Incorporated #2 / Green Lantern: Larfleeze #1 / Power Girl #19 / Secret Avengers #8 / Teen Titans: Cold Case #1

5   Power Girl #19   Judd Winick & Sami Basri

After taking on some of Max Lord's high powered goons-- one of em that is a straight clone of her-- PG calls a meeting with the JSA to pull down the veil of Lord's disappearing act.  But even with the help of Batman (Dick Grayson), they fail.

Just like the time when they were in the Bat-Bunker talking about how Max Lord has fooled the world into forgetting his existence and coming up with a plan-- a mental trigger flips and all of a sudden everyone in the room has a 420 moment.

The JLI flashback in the beginning is dope and gives me hope into the rumors that there will be a JLI book at the fin of Generation Lost and why not include Power Girl on that squad?!  Let's face it-- the JSA brand has been one big meh since Johns moved on from the title.  Right?!



4   Secret Avengers #8   Ed Brubaker & Mike Deodato

Commander Rogers and his hit-squad continue their battle with the Shadow Council and Shang Chi's a**hole father.  Love how Brubaker is making use of the creation from his Immortal Iron Fist book-- the Prince of Orphans.  

Deodato balances his dope craft of panelling with standard fare during tactics and group pow-wows but once the heat intensifies he makes the panels go 3D on ya with the action sequences nearly jumping off the pages.  Dope indeed.

Max Fury and John Steele of the Shadow Council hijack the Avengers Quinjet and make off with Roger's GF that makes him go all Wolverine on em with his very own fastball special with War Machine.  In the lists of Best of 2010 books-- this is definitely one of em.



3   Teen Titans: Cold Case #1   Mark Sable & Sean Murphy

This book here was a real surprise in the weekly stack.  I knew nothing about it, but the cover said enough.  Captain Cold and the Rogues vs. the Teen Titans (in the background a shot of Deathstroke, who of course masterminded it all).  I looked down at the creator credits and was further geeked out to see Sean Murphy (Joe the Barbarian, Hellblazer).


The story takes place a bit after Identity Crisis and makes use of the emotional bomb of Robin's loss of his father at the hands of the original Boomerang.  Yes, this is played so well by the master-manipulator Slade-- who uses his daughter's crush on Drake as a way to have the Young Justice attack the Rogues secret lair.  

Murphy's fluid artistry does wonders for the faceoff between what would seem a one-sided battle on the side of the Rogues, but instead it highlights the struggle of young heroes and their ability to work together cohesively.  The writing was a bit off-point as it didn't ride enough of the dark mood that Brad Meltzer owned and stamped all over our psyche in Identity Crisis.  If you are a fan of the Ravager/Rose, you will love this ish as it wraps around her character very nicely.  I wonder if this was written at the time of the mega-event or if this was just recently put together-- I suppose the latter yeah?




2   Green Lantern: Larfleeze Christmas Special #1   Geoff Johns & Brett Booth

How can you not make a Holiday special that highlights Geoff Johns' version of the greedy Grinch and how he almost stole X-Mas?!  The book lived up to the year-long hype since it was announced and even came wrapped up with some special goodies like a crossword puzzle, a Glomulus comic-strip, Orange Lantern cookie recipe, GL pinup and even a fold-up ornament!!! 

Booth's art was fantabulous and GJ as usual killed it. 
If anything from how many books I saw ordered and sold off the shelves-- expect much more Larfleeze specials in the coming years. 

If there is anything I can complain on, is the less than 20 pages long for a $3.99 book.  Oh well, if anything it adds to the theme.




1   Batman Incorporated #2   Grant Morrison & Yanick Paquette

What better way to end 2010, then with the fresh new title that is giving all of us what we wanted-- more of Morrison and his long-awaited Batman Inc stories!!  The big kicker for me is how well Paquette's work meshes with the eery, creepy, sexy stylings of GMo.  Also, it is great to see Batman dive back into what he makes him super-- the uncanny, deductive, cluemaster skills that keep him 5 steps ahead.  And let's face it, Batman and Catwoman is much more of the draw than Batman & Robin.  Done and done!  Happy New Years!!!!!


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big O

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Mixed Plate Comics- Week of 9.23.2010

In what was a glorious week of comic-BOOM!  Along with a much needed Indian Summer hitting us in the wild west I got my read-on in these dirty dozen of books:  Justice League of  America #49 / Black Widow #6 / Nemesis #3 / Titans #27 /Secret Avengers #5 / Power Girl #16 / Justice League: Generation Lost #10 / Superman Batman #76 / Green Lantern Corps #52 / Fantastic Four #583 / The Avengers #5 / The Flash #5

5   The Avengers #5  Brian Michael Bendis & John Romita Jr.

The time-displaced Avengers get to play Bill Murray ala Groundhog Day-- having to relive events that lead to the meeting with old man Stark, the Maestro and future Young Avengers-- all thanks to dumbass Kang.  But with that we get to see some of the most ill sequences of action like Thor vs. Galactus. 

The Starks play Rip Hunter/Booster Gold from 52 trying to pinpoint where, what, when and how to end the deadly cycle of time rebooting itself with the uber-fab concept of The Ultron War (hasn't this happened before?)

JRJR is really fleshing out some other level shit with his illustrations-- making art-pieces fly off the pages whether it is close up shots or widescreen action panels-- and what a perfect complement having finishes via the living-legend Klaus Janson.

Bendis is living up to the much hyped reboot of the primary Avengers squad though again my only complaint is a bit more X (only Maria Hill and Spiderwoman) to complement the Y chromosome on this otherwise superior teambook.



4   Justice League: Generation Lost #10  Judd Winick & Joe Bennett
We see just how maniacal and powerful Max Lord is with the near revelation of Alfred, PG and Bats learning of his reappearance (love the connections made between both of Winick's books!) only to find themselves forgetting what they were talking about, despite what we see clearly on the screen in the Batbunker-- the haunting image of Wonder-Woman playing twister with Lord's neck.

Though I am a fan of Bennett's work, I find that many of his lines and character renders are just rushed, especially all of the doods- like whaddup what with those old-school Booster goggles Joe?!  Or maybe it's the case that Aaron Lopresti is just so good that I feel this way..nahh.

There is a touching scene when Ice tells Fire how she is sticking around with the team afterall, because of her.  In the future time-jumps showing a more extreme Justice League, led by no other than Magog, we see more and more pieces come together on Lord's big plan-- meanwhile the JLI are on the chase for their old boss only to be faced by the Metal Men!

3   Power Girl #16  Judd Winick & Sami Basri       
PG finds 3 things.  The chick that embezzled all of her companies skrill (though dead), she keeps getting beaten down by all of these no-name-powered thugs (we should find out who this dood is in the next ish) and thanks to Batman a whole lot of tech for her new technophile (appropriately Asian) partner.

The shakedown scene between Karen and Nicco is fun and highlights how important it is for her to have some more brains to back the blonde powerhouse.  Come on, lets agree that its all good to have some less than genius-level Kryptonians running around especially since Kal-El has gone all science-guild on us right?!  Anyways, I am beginning to feel that Karen has found her Jimmy Olsen and look forward to see how their dynamic evolves.  Basri's style is really phenomenal and I just wish we could see more of his work beyond just this monthly.  Oh wells!

2   Fantastic Four #583  Jonathan Hickman & Steve Epting
With the opening salvo of the countdown to 3, my hopes are that Reed goes away...perhaps to join up with his otherselves (I coulda went

South with this real easy, yeah) and have Valeria step in well from the background as the new resident genius leader.

Yeah, its a long-shot but Hickman has done such the remarkable job-- no surprise there on elevating both Franklin and Valeria's role in the book-- though not directly within the peripheral of the Fantastic 4, but we all see it and all the possibilities it holds.

Hickman also showed how Mr. Fantastic can still be used as a staple of the team, though only as a holo-projection, Epting makes him look cool as hell. 

And who better than to take out one of the most powerful heroes of the Marvel U than another demigod-- The Silver Surfer.  You gotta get this ish and jump on the arc if you haven't already for reals.


1   Secret Avengers #5  Ed Brubaker & Aja/Lark/Gaudiano
Despite my earlier claims on how lame I thought a tale that centered on a clone of Nick Fury would be, Brubaker and his 3-party of illest-rators proves why they are just so damn good at storytelling and why I am

 

not a gypsy, fortuneteller.  For all the the comicbook-magic that we have seen highlighting Fury-- we have never seen him quite like this.  Yes.  Fury is a master strategist, hard-nosed, no bullshit war veteran turned head honcho of SHIELD.  But, imagine him as a solo, black-ops, splinter-agent with an agenda of his own which just involves a whole lotta bullets and bloodclot (mostly on Hydra).

So you don't need to use your imagination on this anymore, just read on in these Brubaker'd pages and enjoy.

Now, lets imagine this clone-- Max Fury-- taking on the Secret Avengers.  Yeah, if I was Steve Rogers I would be hella pissed at Nick Fury too!  This book, like any of the recent Brightest Day issues shows that a team of multiple artists can weave together a compelling, structured story regardless of different styles being articulated on various pages.



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WTF moment of the week- Another Nick Fury?

Thanks to Newsarama and Marvel we got a sneak peek of what to expect in next week's new arc in Secret Avengers #5.  For those of you savvy enough to know that Secret Avengers is a must read title--hollah!!-- Ed Brubaker & Mike Deodato have been pumping their covert ops thang on a band of heroes that somewhat resembles the 80's Defenders.  Translation- why yes, this is must read sh*t.

If not, you have a great jumping on point to join the cool kids in learning what is the deal with this mysterious Shadow Cabinet and why is Nick Fury running around with them in those silly dragon tights?  In the exclusive preview below, titled "The Secret Life of Max Fury," it looks to show what Fury has been up to between Secret War and just before Civil War.

My hopes are that this is not some clone, skrull, or other doppelganger of Fury that would take away from the impact that this story could make in this new arc.  One other cool aspect of this ish is it reunites the dope creative team (minus Matt Fraction) behind one of my fave books in the last 5 years-- The Immortal Iron Fist.  Looking good yo!


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Mixed Plate Thursday- Week of 8.19.2010

Last Wednesday I found myself leaving Comics Conspiracy with at least 20 books in hand so it all but consumed me to the point that I missed this regular feature--DOH!!  Who here is not reading R.E.B.E.L.S.?!  Oh-em-gee, so I ended up picking up the current Brainiac arc and then found the rest of the issues after the Blackest Night specials in my box...and I just might be picking up the rest of the series (1-10 soon..ugh)  Okay, I am back.  These are the titles that I traded in for dead prez this week:  Power Girl #15 / Secret Avengers #4 / Green Lantern Corps #51 / Brightest Day #8 / Justice Society #42 / Legacies #4 / Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Riley / Wolverine Weapon X  #16

1  Power Girl #15  Judd Winick & Sami Basri  

Like that REBELS rant I went on, PG is another title that I have been telling friends is off the chain.  Funny thing is they all knew already.  Oh I am so slow yeah.  The pace is mad quick cos it's a serious slug-fest between the mysterious, Parasite-look a like- Crash (yeah the name is lame) and miss Starr.

Through the brawl, PG gets all cerebral and concocts her Korean-manservant-technophile into cracking into some government secret files to see what makes this Purple-ruskee tick.

They endup discovering Crash's softspot but little does PG know that this was all a crackpot plan to power-up/test this "weapon" with a heavy hitter.  Ha!!  Bet you thought I was going to throw the spoiler your way huh?!  Good Lord...Basri's art is like optic crack.

2  Secret Avengers #4   Ed Brubaker & Mike Deodato    The much-hyped image of Commander Rogers taking on the power of Nova to help release...Nova from the possession of the Thorned Crown was kinda anti-climactic.  But as usual, the Brubaker/Deodato combo brings the pain on those panels with the odd squad of Beast, Valkyrie, Sharon, Ant-Man, Moon Knight, War-Machine and Black Widow in every way-- to more than make up for that meh moment.  

Ant-Man coming up clutch was raw, especially with everyone not believing he had anything to do with the win.  Build-up for the next arc with the Shadow Council and Nick Fury is looking sweet, just a shame that we only have 2 more issues of the Brubaker/Eaglesham Super-Soldier mini.  Ah bummahs!!
 

3  Green Lantern Corps #52   Tony Bedard & Adrian Syaf

It was real crafty how they created an angle for Cyborg-Supes to comeback and not only continue his terror on the GLC, but to incorporate the Alpha Lanterns and further entrench his villainy with the Corps as Alpha Prime. 

Rather than the standard ring-slinging brawls which are dope, don't get it twisted-- Bedard goes more sick and twisted by having Alpha Prime force Ganthet to bring the Alpha Corps back from their mechanical life-- which is a plot to have himself restored to humanity (yeah, wasn't this the guy that just wanted to die back in Sinestro Corps War?) Syaf is no Pasarin, but he is developing better fleshed out pages and hopefully he will tap into more and more of that talent.  Stewart is getting some long, overdue shine with Gardner, Ganthet and Kilowog in their own book (Emerald Warriors is pretty badass) and how about blessing us with some more Arisia??



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Brubaker is Killing It

I haven't picked up any of Ed Brubaker's work since enjoying his anti-hero, indie thriller Incognito, the best Daredevil run since Frank Miller- IMO and his revival of the Immortal Iron Fist.  Was bummed to miss out on his runs on Uncanny X-Men and the instant classic Captain America stories-- where he orchestrated the death of Steve Rogers, ushered in the rise of the Winter Soldier/Bucky Cap and brought OG Cap back in Reborn.

So when I got word on Steve Rogers return in Siege and how Brubaker would be reunited with this legendary character in not one, but two books, I immediately saw opportunity to make up for the wrongs of the past and add both Steve Rogers: Super Soldier and Secret Avengers to the pull-list.

It doesn't hurt that Brubaker has two of the most talented Marvel artists fleshing out his scripts in Mike Deodato and Dale Eaglesham (who I miss dearly on Fantastic Four).

Brubaker-- easily one of the top scribes of the covert-ops, spy-noir genre-- gets his C&D shine back and man does he breathe life into D-list characters Valkyrie,  Ant-Man and Noh-varr.  Thankfully, I got it right by jumping back on his books and how dope is it to be a newbie Captain America fan right now??

I only hope that Morrison, Tomasi and the other Batman writers are watching on how Brubaker skillfully balances the symbol of Captain America through not one but two prominent characters, without diminishing the importance of Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers to the rest of the Marvel U.



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Mixed Plate Thursday- Week of 7.28.2010

Whats up my ninjas!!??  A massive stack of books to catch up on since being all about SDCC coverage the last week and a half.  Of the gulp... 22 books I was able to bruise through, here is an extended version of the usual top 3 standouts that got me all psyched to be back to page-flipping life.

1   Green Lantern #56  Geoff Johns & Doug Mahnke

Geoff Johns is normally on the hush at panels with regards to speaking on books that were just released as he hates dropping spoilers, but after just 2 days of this ish hitting stands-- he couldn't resist jawing with the crowd on how amped he was for this ish-- and the eventual Christmas special starring our fave Orange Lantern- Larfleeze.


Mahnke goes all out in depicting the Avarice constructs going crazy with all their stolen loot from the poor city folk and made me recall a scene from Gremlins when Spike and all his band of misfits took over the town.

GJ and Mahnke are masterfully balancing the huge cast of New Guardians and still keeping this title in my top 3 with interesting new story threads like the Lantern entities that I can't help but loving from my countless hours of playing Final Fantasy- you see the connection I am making yeah?  Nice!

Was so hyped that Johns announced how they are working on a Valentines Day one-shot featuring Dex-Starr and Krypto!!

2   Action Comics #891  Paul Cornell, David Finch, Pete Woods & Cafu

After being exposed to the scribe wizardry of Cornell only 2 books deep, I can see why so many people were hanging on every word and how he was probably the only other writer that was on the level with Morrison at various DC panels.

I never thought a book with Lex, Mr. Mind and android-Lois could be sooo dayuum good.  Cafu (who I discovered in the fab Vixen mini) and Woods have a lot to do with the deafening beauty of this book.  Throw in the cover-genius of David Finch and this really made it tough to pick my top book of the week.

GL edged out only cause of my loyalty to the emerald empire.  Love every conceptual-dream sequence and it's so delish that you won't care that it didn't actually happen...well did it if you experienced it through all of your senses, alright sorry for bringing theinception.  Cornell's intelligent and creative script-work is actually making me consider picking up Knight & Squire, which I initially was passing on due mostly to the bulk of Bat-books I already pull.

3  The Avengers #3  Brian Michael Bendis, John Romita, Jr. & Klaus Janson

Bendis, Romita Jr and Janson bring non-stop, adrenaline-induced action with the primary Avengers squad facing a time-displaced Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen. 

As usual, Bendis finds ways to drop some of his humor like with Spidey yelling out Avengers Assemble! every other minute during battle and bonding with his other insect-powered peeps-- Noh-varr and Spiderwoman chatting about how there are too many of their kind on the team.


I haven't always been the biggest fan of JRJR's style but I am really vibing off of his work in this title-- especially the visuals he creates through Iron Man and Thor-- two character that I also never was into.

Badass sequence where the Four Horsemen version of Scarlet Witch nearly takes out Tony and a save by Spidey that shows how much their dynamic has changed from Civil War, Secret Invasion and now- just after Siege.  Avengers Assemble!!!!


4  Brightest Day #6  John, Tomasi, Reis, Gleason, Clark & Prado...
The whole BD team takes it up three notches in levels of bad-assery from the last few tales and made it so necessary to talk story on more than just the 3 top titles-- that I hold up and say thank you to the comic-gods for birthing.  Did I just say all that.  Alright inside voice no more. Every panel, page and interiors can be framed and hung on your wall.  Peep this Arthur/Mera splashpage that Reis slays and gives me all the origin I need to be even more sprung on hawt mama Mera.


Props to Eddie Berganza for continually being that glue to keep all the fab creators on this big project and the other GL books all hyped in doing it, and doing it, and doing it well.  Oh did I say how fucking cool artist-extraordinaire Joe Prado is??  Really looking forward to connecting with em soon on our interview!


5  Batman: The Widening Gyre #6  Kevin Smith, Walter Flanagan & Art Thibert

In classic-fashion, Silent Bob made us twiddle our thumbs a few months before finishing up his impressive Batman tale.  But like I realized while you did, Mr. Smith really knows how to tell a story, especially about a guy that epitomizes damaged goods like Bruce Wayne.

Throughout every lovey-dovey moment between Bruce and Silver, I just couldn't help but think that this could only end badly as it usually does for the Dark Knight's love interests.

Then he gets all buddy-buddy with Baphoment-- who he sees as his way out of this life as the Batman. A gloriously, hilarious scene takes place between Deadshot, Catwoman and Bats...and I wander to a different place in my mind, forgetting this is the last ish of Gyre. Uh-oh.

Mr. Smith, eff you for going all Darren Aronofsky on us.  Oh and I will pick up volume 2 as long you promise to finish it like you did your last two Bat-books.  Okay, bye.




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