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 01-04-08

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #10
Please, Joss Whedon and Dark Horse, please, please, please, please, please let Cliff Richards become the regular artist on the series. I would be eternally grateful and would shower this book with endless praise. Richards fills in for this one off story that reveals a little secret about Dawn, while also looking into the past and future of Buffy and Willow as they have a tête-à-tête with a demon. I don’t understand why they’re not using Richards, as he employs a similar style to the regular artist, but his characters stay on model, and his faces show actual emotion. Revealing secrets is the name of the game this issue, and there are a lot of good bits strewn throughout. Joss is back to write this issue so you know the dialog will pop and everyone will sound like they’re supposed to. This is a very good issue of the series, much improved by the superior art. ---4 out of 5
...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 10-24-07

Ultimate Spider-man #115 – Great art, Immonen is really working well here. Great writing, Bendis understands his characters and knows how to get the best out of them. ---4 out of 5

Casanova #10 – Still crazy, still fun, still awesome. Fabio Moon’s art is I feel easier to follow than Garbiel Ba’s art was one the first bunch of issues. You can tell this is Matt Fraction’s baby. ---5 out of 5

Umbrella Academy #2 – Meanwhile, Ba is the perfect match for this book, and I think the colors from Dave Stewart really help bring the work to life. Builds on the promise of the first issue. ---4 out of 5

JLA Classified #45 – Martian Manhunter deals with his crazy mental clone of a brother who killed all the other Martians and is no trying to get the Manhunter to kill himself or be killed by his friends. Read it for Rick Leonardi’s art which is great. The story is kind of crap though. ---3 out of 5...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!