Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 11-29-07

All-star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #8
What’s this? An issue of All Star Batman that I didn’t really have any problems with? That’s right; this is probably the first issue that I really enjoyed the whole way through. Maybe I’ve just grown used to [Frank] Miller’s portrayal of Batman in this series as a lunatic jack-hole, and I can just have fun with it. It probably helps that I’m not so attached to Batman that anything outside the norm becomes sacrilege. That said, this whole series will read much better once it’s finished, because every issue tends to go by too quickly. Jim Lee’s art is up to his usual standards though, so at least it’s always good looking. Maybe this series will take a good upswing just as it’s coming to an end. ---4 out of 5
...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 9-26-07

In an effort to save time and my own sanity there are several great books out this week that I'm not going to write about, because I have no superlatives left in me. So, just know that Ultimate Spider-Man #114 and Criminal #9 were great, whether you buy them in monthly or in trades, you need to be reading both. Green Arrow: Year 1 #5 still looks great and this issue has more trademark Ollie, with the invention of some of his trick arrows. It's really coming together now, but wait for the trade.

The Spirit #10
To get it out of the way, yes, this is another well drawn and impeccably designed book. Actually, I really need to point out how well thought out the design is. No other book right now is as visually interesting as The Spirit is. This issue has some panels looking like YouTube frames, as the story deals with a serial killer taking out newsmen. My problem with this issue was the story. The mystery was pretty boring, and the reveal at the end is completely out of left field and feels a bit tacked on. And the commentary that Darwyn Cooke was making about the U.S. media was very pedestrian (we know, cable news is more about ratings than actual news, we get it). I like a good smart comic that examines a topic, but this is pretty much a one-sided attack on conservative media figures and it was just boring. Too much space was devoted to making fun of TV personalities and not enough space was given to the actual story to make me care. The art gives the book some redeeming qualities though, so it's not a total failure. --2 out of 5...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 8-22-07

Green Lantern Corps #15
I am really enjoying the Sinestro War story line going on between Green Lantern and this book. It’s high octane action with some great character moments. This particular issue is basically the Battle of Helm’s Deep in space. The Sinestro Corps have come to the Green Lantern planet of Mogo, who is not only a source of great morale for the GL’s, but apparently is the being responsible for find new ring bearers when the old ones die. So, it’s pretty important to the GL’s to protect him, and it’s important for the SC to destroy him. This is big epic action though, planets literally collide. It’s also nice that you can read this and add another layer to the story going on in Green Lantern, or you can ignore it and not miss anything. As with the story, this is the way big event comics should be. Dave Gibbons handles the large cast well, as there are a ton of characters on each side, many of them with alien dialects, but it never gets confusing, and a special mention to the letterer Phil Balsman for making each characters word balloons distinctive. Patrick Gleason and Angel Unzueta split the pencil work and really bring a lot of intensity to the work. The action leaps off the page and in a story with this much going on, the story telling never makes it confusing. Get over your event fatigue and pick this book up. --4 out of 5...continue reading this article at Geeks of Doom!