January 2008 Comic Pull Round-Up

January has been a slow month for me, comics-wise, so I’m combining a few weeks worth of books together. You should still be able to find any of these books at your local comics’ emporium. Enjoy!

Ultimates 3 #2
On the plus side, I found the art to be better in this issue. I don't know if it's just Joe Mad clearing out the cobwebs, or if the coloring didn't bother me as much this time, but I found the action easier to follow and felt like this was classic Joe. I can't say as much for the story or dialog, which were both pretty stupid. Hawkeye comes off as whiney and weak, and what should be his big emotional display while talking about his family rings hollow. Cap sounds like an idiot who would be behind the times in the 40's. Tony Stark isn't a lovable drunk anymore; he's just a regular drunk. The only one who comes off well this issue is the Wasp, but she seems more like the regular Marvel U version, and not her Ultimate self. The story stops and stalls, we still have no explanation who the Black Panther is and why he's hanging around, and the Brotherhood of Mutants show up for no good reason. I'm getting the feeling that this will be a lot of set up with little payoff. Not nearly as good as the Millar/Hitch run. On the plus side again, at least it's on time. ---2 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!

Comic Review: X-Men: Supernovas

X-Men: Supernovas
Writer: Mike Carey
Artists: Chris Bachalo, Humberto Ramos, Clayton Henry, and Mark Brooks
Marvel Comics

This is part 2 of my delving back into the X-Men universe, and I have to say I didn’t like it quite as much as Ed Brubaker’s epic, but it’s still fairly decent. It tells a different kind of X-Men story, more spandex and super-villains than space adventure, and does itself credit by following a different trail than Uncanny X-Men. Mike Carey is telling a more conventional X-Men story, and does a decent, but not great job.

This book has the first three story arcs of Carey’s run (issues 188-199), along with this year's X-men annual. The first arc deals with the team coming together and dealing with the Children of the Vault. They’re kind of a mix of Grant Morrison’s Weapon X concept and Chris Claremont’s Neo concept, basically humans who have been in a time compression chamber and have advanced weaponry and technology, and possibly some powers. I don’t know, as it’s not terribly well explained. They’re fairly generic stock villains, and they don’t leave much of an impression. The story brings the team of Rogue, Iceman, Cannonball, Cable, an Omega Sentinel, Mystique, Lady Mastermind, and Sabertooth together in an organic way and it creates a nice dynamic with the heroes not really trusting the villains. It also sets up a few subplots that are revisited in later stories...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!