Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 02-20-08

Umbrella Academy #6
We start this week with the end of the first mini series of The Umbrella Academy, which is the break out book of the year. I've loved every issue of this series so far, but I have to be honest and say the final issue was bit of a misstep, albeit a tiny one. The whole thing wraps up a little too neatly for my taste, and puts the book in an interesting position in terms of where the story goes. The remnants of the team take on one of their own, with casualties on both sides, and then it wraps up in a touchy feely ending. The tone is fine and writer Gerard Way stages the action well, I just felt the ending was out of place. The art though, continues to amaze, with Gabriel Ba and colorist Dave Stewart bringing the book to life. It's going to be a long wait to the next mini, but I can't wait. Seriously, pick this book up.---4 out of 5
...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 02-13-08

Scud, the Disposable Assassin #21
The most anticipated return of the month, at least for me (no offense Alan Davis fans). After more than a decade off, (was I really in high school when the last issue came out) finally we get to see the end of the series. The only problem is, it's been too long, and while I remember the premise and creator Rob Schrab does a good job of bringing new readers up to speed, I wish I could catch up with the complete story. Schrab's art still has all the style and excitement we're used to, and fans of the series will enjoy this. The story is pretty light, and is mostly catch up, but it sets the rest of the story up and there are some good moments. If you've never read Scud before, wait a few months, and pick up the omnibus, as I plan to do anyway. That's pretty much my highest level of approval, because I hate to buy things twice, but I'll be doing it for this series. ---4 out of 5
...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 01-31-08

Captain America #34
It's the biggest comic of the week, at least for me (I read Y: The Last Man in trades). Does it live up to the hype? Well, it's just another piece in the rather large puzzle that Ed Brubaker has created since he took over the series. Brubaker resists the urge to make this a very special issue, and just keeps his story chugging along, while keeping it accessible enough for people just picking up this issue. Yes, the new Captain takes up the shield this issue, we all know who it is. That's almost the B plot of the issue though, as the more important stuff goes on between Tony Stark and a government official who won't accept the Red Skull is back, and then there's an exchange between the Skull and Armin Zola and a rather shocking ending with some of the Skull's sleeper agents. Perfectly paced story, and great action and design from artist Steve Epting (with beautiful inking by Butch Guice). If you're going to do a big character event, this is the way to do it. ---5 out of 5
...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 12-28-07

Ultimate Power #9
Yep, that sure was an ending, wasn't it? Jeph Loeb brings this series to a close, not with a bang, but a whimper. There are maybe two surprises in the whole thing, although if you've been reading Ultimate Spider-man, it kind of explains a pretty major plot point. It's not awful but like the whole series, it's just way underwhelming. The series rushes to a conclusion without any major drama. The art from Greg Horn is his usual work, so you can take it or leave it. Again, not bad just largely lifeless. If this was supposed to be a major event, than Marvel really missed the boat. ---3 out of 5
...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 12-12-07

Green Lantern #25
I loved the beginning of this crossover, I loved the middle, so why should my opinion change about the end? I loved this issue, from the opening battle scene, to the explanation of the 7 Lantern Corps, to the preview of the next big GL event. I'll admit that it's kind of cheesy, but darn it if Geoff Johns doesn't find a way to make it interesting. So many great moments in the issue, with the denizens of Coast City playing their part in defeating Sinestro, to Cyborg Superman's not quite death, every page gave me another great moment. Ivan Reis brought his A-game for this issue, and the time spent shows. I have to go back and re-read it to see which pages were drawn by Reis and which ones were done by Ethan Van Sciver, but there was so much done well about the art I didn't really notice. I'm calling the Sinestro Corp War a success, and it's certainly in the running for some of the best comics of the year. ---5 out of 5
...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

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 11-21-07

Powers #27
Wow, Bendis and Oeming have done a great job the last few months getting this book back on track, both in making sure it comes out on time, but also bringing the story back to it’s former greatness. This issue has a great speech from the police captain, as well as some really interesting scenes with Deena, and two parts with some old favorite characters. What I really enjoyed about this issue was the way it tied back into the very first arc of the series. This title is officially back to being one of the best on the stands. ---5 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!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 10-17-07

Mighty Avengers #5
Woo, it’s finally out. And I’d say it was worth the wait. Frank Cho draws a tremendous beat down between femme-Ultron and the Sentry, while the rest of the team works on a plan to stop her, and she works to launch the United States nuclear weapons. Brian Michael Bendis does a great job with the characters in this issue. Ares in particular gets his issue to shine. I also think the Bendis reached a good amount of the thought bubbles, as I’ve found them too numerous to the point of distraction in previous issues, but he made good use of them here. I only hope that issue 6 doesn’t take as long to come out. But I’m not holding my breath. ---4 out of 5...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 10-10-07

Atomic Robo #1
This is one book I’ve really been looking forward to, as I’m a big fan of writer Brian Clevinger’s webcomic “8-bit Theater.” The series is about a robot created by Nikola Tesla in 1923, which goes on to have a series of adventures across time. This issue, he fights a German scientist who is performing illegal experiments. I have to say though that it didn’t really work for me. There are some good ideas here, but a lot of the humor fell flat. There’s also some storytelling issues as there are a number of panels that are unnecessary and break the pacing of the story. The art looks very good though. Artist Scott Wegener has a style that’s one part Mike Avon Oeming and one part Mike Mignola. I really enjoyed the look of the book and the designs for the characters, but again there’s just a bit of work to be done on the storytelling. As this is the first comic work I’ve seen from both of them, I’ll continue to pick up the series, but I’d like to see a bit of improvement. ---2 out of 5...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!

Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 9-12-07

Green Lantern #23
This is still the best event of the summer, with great art coming from Ivan Reis and Geoff Johns handling a ton of characters, but still making the events important to all. The whole thing just feels epic, with lots of large fights. Hal and company manage to rescue John Stewart and Guy Gardner this issue, but run into new problems, namely, the Anti-Monitor. The whole threat seems real; the only problem comes from DC, revealing what will end up happening to Kyle as Parallax. Lots of great action in this issue. --3 out of 5...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!