What Did You Read - July 2008

[dancj]

New month new thread....

JLA: Kid Amazo - I was gutted to open this book and find the art wasn't by Rob Haynes, though on reading it the art was still rather nice. The artist (can't remember the name) looks like he'd be a good fit on a Vertigo book. Good story too. Milligan just can't keep away from that identity stuff.

Team Zero - Decent enough if unspectacular WW2 story with links to the Wildstorm universe. Doug Mahnke's (sp?) on good form here.

The Spectre v2: Tales of the Unexpected - I'm liking this new take on The Spectre. It's amusing to note the amount of blood and gore that this book manages to have without being "mature readers", but you know that if one female nipple or a rude word made it in that would make the difference.

Ultimate Fantastic Four v7: God War - TBH I only had half an idea what was going on for most of this. Maybe it would have made more sense if I was more familiar with the non-ultimate counterparts of Kang and any other characters (if there were any) that hand non-Ultimate counterparts.

Bullet Points - This is "Destined to be the Marvels of the new milleniem" according to the blurb on the back cover. Erm... no. It's the same basic idea as The Nail done in a style closer to Powerless and really not all that interesting.

The Complete First Six Issues of Mad (bathroom book) - I'm not knocking this, but I think I'm too far removed from the time these comics are from to be that in tune with the sense of humour. There's some great art in here though.

Bomb Queen v1: Woman of Mass Destruction - Hmmm... I know this has its fans, but it never grabbed me at all.

[DF2506]

Comics I got today:

Jonah Hex #33: Darwyn Cooke! I just HAD to get this after reading the preview pages. The art on this is GREAT and the story is too. Just the best of the bunch this week!

Ultimate Spiderman #123: Venom is back! Boy is he back! Whew. A good start to this arc.

Buffy #16: Buffy AND Fray! Very cool. This is mostly a set-up issue, but a very good issue! That splash with Buffy & Fray. Awesome. Rest of the issue was really good too.

Also, picked up two cheap back issues of....THE LOSERS! By Jack Kirby! :)

Haven't read the issues yet. Looking forward to it!

DF2506

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

Ladies and gentlemen, my first contribution to the CBR Reviews team:

The Walking Dead #50
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=user_review&id=220

Also read "Storming Paradise" today, the new Chuck Dixon/Butch Guice mini-series set in WWII. Interesting story potential, but it will need to be borne out over the course of the six issues. You have to either buy into it before you pick up the first issue, or just wait for the trade.

-Augie

[dancj]

The Spectre v2: Tales of the Unexpected - I'm liking this new take on The Spectre. It's amusing to note the amount of blood and gore that this book manages to have without being "mature readers", but you know that if one female nipple or a rude word made it in that would make the difference.

One thing I forgot to mention about this book is that The Phantom Stranger introduced himself as "The Phantom Stranger". That irritates the hell out of me. There should be an editorial mandate that those words can be used on the cover, but never on the inside of a comic - except maybe sarcastically when someone is talking about him. The whole point is he's a strange - no-one knows his name. If he's called The Phantom Stranger then he has a name and he's no longer a stranger.

[mgs]

Ladies and gentlemen, my first contribution to the CBR Reviews team:

The Walking Dead #50
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=user_review&id=220

Also read "Storming Paradise" today, the new Chuck Dixon/Butch Guice mini-series set in WWII.

great review Augie! :) Too bad, I dropped this title a while ago, but I can still live it out through you.

And I never heard of Storming Paradise. O.o

[dancj]

Exiles v1: Down the Rabbit Hole - I finally got around to trying this after seeing a lot of love for it. I quite liked the look of it as being in alternate realities it wouldn't be so steeped in X-Men lore. Well I was wrong about that, the book spent the second half revisiting the Dark Phoenix saga which I didn't particularly like the first time round. I think I'm done with this title.

Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall - I love me some Fables. I can't particularly say I preferred this to the normal volumes, but it was nice to see some guest artists most of whom were vary good. Interestingly, as much as I love Mark Buckingham's pencil+ink work in the regular series, his painted work here didn't work for me. Conversely, I can't stand Jill Thompson when she uses a pencil+ink, but her painted stuff here's very good.

The Walking Dead v8: Made to Suffer - Blimey! That was rather mental! I need the next volume now!

[torippu]

The Walking Dead v8: Made to Suffer - Blimey! That was rather mental! I need the next volume now!

Have you gotten to the "No One is Safe" arc?!? Is this included in the latest volume? I don't read TWD in trade but Kirkman really changed the status quo with that arc.

[torippu]

Each time that it seems that I have finally read enough of my monthly books to finally tackle my trades pile, either Wednesday rolls around or I get a new shipment in the mail!

Guardians of the Galaxy #2 - Words can't express how excited I am about this book. From the writing to the art, this may be my favorite new book of 2008. Can't wait to read the next issue!
Fantastic Four #558 - Wasn't Doom just in this book at the end of the McDuffie run? That being said, this was a strong start to Millar & Hitch's second arc.
Young Avengers Presents #6 - The best issue from this series of one-shots. Hands down.
Kick-Ass #3 - OK - the ending of this issue was really f&%#*d up. I was thinking of dropping the book but now I have to read the next issue to see where the story goes from here.
BPRD: War on Frogs #1 & Ectoplasmic Man - Good to see Roger the Homunculus again! Nice art from whoever (can't remember) worked on the Johann Krauss tale. It's hard to believe that this series has already reached 45 issues!
Nightwing #145~146 - Looking back, Tomasi's version of Dick Grayson is much better than the previous Grayson/Jones issues. That being said, I still think that this story went on an issue or two too long. Having a rotating art team of Rags Morales and Don Kramer is working for me as well.
Robin/Spoiler Special - It's a shame that this is the end of the Dixon run on Robin...I had such high hopes for this book a month ago!
Savage Dragon #136 - It's amazing how my interest in this book ebbs and flows with the release schedule. Having read this issue shortly after finally getting around the #135, I greatly enjoyed the main story. How about back-up? The art from Vic Bridges makes me long for the good ol' Freak Force days - I'd love to see him return to comics full-time!
The Walking Dead #50 - Overall, I think that I was a bit disappointed with this issue. Guess the next big arc will start with the next issue. How about that Larsen/Ottley variant cover?
Astounding Wolf-Man #7 - A bit of a game changer. Interested to see where this book will go from here - is so and so (don't want to spoil anything) going to turn into a vampire as well?
Amazing Spider-Man #564 - Dear Spider office, please bring back Paulo Siqueira on art for an extended run on this book! He had enough of a McFarlane vibe going to his art that I really dug it.

[dancj]

Have you gotten to the "No One is Safe" arc?!? Is this included in the latest volume? I don't read TWD in trade but Kirkman really changed the status quo with that arc.
Oh yes! The trade takes us up to issue 48, so it's only a couple off issues behind.

[pmpknface]

Ok... I just go back from Texas visiting the girlfriend's family for a week and here's what I was able to read:

- Jack Kirby's 4th World vol. 4
- Starman Omnibus Vol. 1 (# 0 - 17)
- Goodbye by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (http://www.amazon.com/Good-Bye-Yoshihiro-Tatsumi/dp/1897299370)

I then read more modern stuff like:

- Walking Dead v. 8
- Invincible v. 9
- Fables v. 9 (a re-read so I can now start v 10!)
- Suburban Glamor

I think that's it...

OH! Also read a few issues that I had waiting for me that were Secret Invasion related. I've got a stack (at work) of about 20 issues waiting to be read!

[kevhines]

The Walking Dead v8: Made to Suffer - Blimey! That was rather mental! I need the next volume now!

I had been losing interest in Walking Dead, and bought volume 8 on the strength of the first 4 or 5 volumes and less on the last two.
But issue 48 got me going again. It seems like Kirkman made changes even he didn't want to make, and that is a cool feeling.

[torippu]

Astonishing X-Men #25 - Well, this wasn't what I was expecting. A bit slow in parts with not a whole lot going on. The art from Bianchi was nice (love his panel layouts)...when I could make it out as it was colored so darkly.
Captain Britain and MI13 #1 ~ 2 - After a re-read, I have decided that I do like these first couple of issues and can't wait to get the new one today! Is this the sleeper hit of the year? Leonard Kirk's art has improved immensely since the last time I saw something from him and Paul Cornell is a writer that I have never read anything from - he's good. Who knew that he had written episodes of Doctor Who?
Brit #7 - Another fun romp in the Kirkmanverse.
Green Lantern Corps #25 - Interest slowing waning again on this book as the middle parts of this arc are moving slowly for me. I think that I am done after the big fight with Mongul next issue.

[torippu]

I had been losing interest in Walking Dead, and bought volume 8 on the strength of the first 4 or 5 volumes and less on the last two.
But issue 48 got me going again. It seems like Kirkman made changes even he didn't want to make, and that is a cool feeling.

The end of that volume was really bleak and dark (even for a zombie book if you ask me) but I am really excited to meet new characters and visit new locales as the book moves past the 50 issue mark.

[pmpknface]

My girlfriend and I have to fight over who gets to read the Walking Dead first when it comes in. I almost have to hide it! I gave it to her this time, but it just went from her hands to mine before we landed in Chicago. :)

OH! I also read Jack of Fables vol 3. I like how "Kevin" was brought in and Revise is still a cool character. Can't wait to see what Jack does next!

[De Carabas]

Re-read: Jack of Fables vol. 1: The (Nearly) Great Escape TP--Enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time.
Re-read: Jack of Fables vol. 2: Jack of Hearts TP--Was just as unimpressed as I was the first time.
Jack of Fables vol. 3: The Bad Prince TP--I really enjoyed. I like Kevin crossing over from Fables and I really liked the Jack O' Lantern issue. I now feel that vol. 2 was an aberration and not the norm. Happier now.

Question: The Five Books of Blood HC--I was impressed. A serious "Well, now what?" ending. The only danger here is that if DC doesn't follow it up soon(-ish), the effect will be lost. I also liked the different artist for each chapter bit. Something that would normally irk me, but it worked well here.

Umbrella Academy Apocalypse Suite TP--Wow. Wacky and fun, and kinda brilliant. A touch weak on fleshing out the characters, but I'm hoping that we'll be getting more in the future. L-O-V-E-D the colors and what they did for Ba's art.

Mighty Avengers vol. 2: Venom Bomb Pr HC--I mostly liked it, but it was soooo different reading this after some of Secret Invasion's reveals.

Billy Batson and the Magic of SHAZAM!--I just read this before starting this post. I LOVED IT!!! This is what I wanted from the Jeff Smith series. Fun, and funny, and something that I don't want to give to my niece because I want to keep it for myself. If I can't get more Herobear (and I do want more Herobear!), then I'll settle for this.

EM

[torippu]

Secret Invasion #4 - Great issue! Is Carol Danvers a skrull?? That last page was excellent. My only complaint is that the Young Avengers were on the cover but really no where to be found on the inside of the book.
Amazing Spider-Man #565 - I like Guggenheim's Spider-Man a lot even though I figured out the twist at the end a couple of pages into this story.
Ultimate Origins #2 - So far, this has definitely not been the book I was expecting to read. Is each issue going to be a Ultimate Universe character's origin story? Are all of these issues going to be tied together by the end. I'm intrigued but a little frustrated so far.
Captain Britain and MI 13 #3 - Another really good issue. Think that it is about time for me to brush up on Captain Britain mythology.
Invincible Iron Man #3 - Probably the best issue so far.
Nova #15 - What is Richard Rider going to do if the Worldmind doesn't come back online?

[DF2506]

I re-read Godland #1 recently (had the issue for awhile) and...I can't believe I didn't like it the first time I read it! Gah! The art is so cool and the story is really good. I think I missed out on a fun series here. I may have to look for trades sooner or later...

This coming week: I want to pick up Captain America: White #0 at the comic store. I also hope I can pick up the new Booster Gold. The issue I read a few weeks ago hooked me. I'm definitly going to have to pick up the hardcover next month!

DF2506

[section 8]

I am about halfway through Tom Clancy's "the Bear and the Dragon

[pmpknface]

I read THE SWORD by the Luna brothers last night. MUCH more action oriented then some of their other stuff. Great background story and I like the way it's developing. I'll stick with this one in tpb's!

Marvel Zombies vol 2 HC - good marvel zombie fun! Not as good as the 1st, but I dug it. I guess I know what this leads into! hehehe...

I also got through a handful of issues. The New Conan #0 was good, and the art was better than I thought it would be. I've gotta read that latest HC now! EEK! Black Panther was alright. I was hoping for a resolution, but it appears we've got 1 more issue before the SI tie-ins start.

New Warriors is just a title I can barely care about and I'm hoping that the SI tie-ins make it worth while. I swear if they continue to suck I'm dropping it after that.

ASM (last 2) - great stuff! The POV3 tale was fun. Of course we don't get much info on the new Kraven.... yet.... but I'm sure we will. I'm curious as to how the DD / Spidey dynamic will play out post-OMD.

I got a STAND preview, which looks cool. Im' not sure I'm going to continue to get the Steven King adaptations, even though they look cool, I'm not sure I care that much.

Superpowers #4 was cool. I feel like I need a recap on some of the heroes "Twelve style" but I'm following it ok. Things are starting to come together, but I just know it's gonna get worse soon.

The Mythos Captain America wasn't bad. Yeah, it's mostly a origin recap but there are other things in there. I also liked seeing Cap in the Golden Age outfit.

I'm sure I read more, but that's what I can remember.

[torippu]

New Warriors is just a title I can barely care about and I'm hoping that the SI tie-ins make it worth while. I swear if they continue to suck I'm dropping it after that.

You are a better man than me. I think that I last all of 2 or 3 issues with this re-launch. Who is on the art now that Paco Medina is leaving for Deadpool?

[dancj]

Nat Turner - Not quite what I expected. Bar about one line it is completely silent except for extracts from Nat Turner's confession. There's some great moody art and the comic is fascinating. It's easy why the same guy is considered a hero by some and a monster by others.

District X v2: Underground - Still loving this book. I hope they bring it back.

Fables v10: The Good Prince - Any TPB with 10 issues is good in my book! The fact that it's Fables is a bonus! Another good volume. A couple of aspects seemed a little convenient, and there was a lack of any real tension, but I'm still a big fan of the book.

[pmpknface]

District X v2: Underground[/B] - Still loving this book. I hope they bring it back.

Fables v10: The Good Prince - Any TPB with 10 issues is good in my book! The fact that it's Fables is a bonus! Another good volume. A couple of aspects seemed a little convenient, and there was a lack of any real tension, but I'm still a big fan of the book.

Well, I loved District X, but I highly doubt we'll ever see it again. Bishop is waaaaaaaay off the grid now, and Mutant Town (post HoM) really isn't there anymore. Especially after the recent X-Factor issues. :mad:

I re-read Fables Vol 9 so that I could read #10, which is in my bad right now!
_____________________

As for what I read...

Nova #15 kicked butt! I'm loving this book. What happened to the worldmind? EEK!

Secret Invasion #4 - COOL! I thought there was a bit of wasted space here and there, but I can't wait for the bad guys to jump in! With this fight being played out in, what now.... 4 places? this book could use a few more pages. We're in the Savage Land, NYC, the SHIELD Hellicarrier, outer space, and now the villains hq. So 5 places. Very enjoyable, and if you liked the NY fight scene, you've GOTTA read the Ms. Marvel issue that ends it. :biggrin:

Cap Britain and MI 13 #3 - Very cool! I hope this book is as enjoyable after SI.

Guardians of the Galaxy #3 - Sweet... Gamorra really took a hit for the team here. Cool, intense stuff and a GREAT last page!

All Star GODDAMN Batman & Robin HC - I'd read 1-4, but stopped there. Ok, the art is great - of course. The 6-pg layout in #4 is unbelievable. I doge every babe in this thing, and the action blows off the page. But this has Frank Miller's feel all over it and I like it. In the intro, they refer to this as:

"a prequel to The Dark Knight Returns. Kind of Batman Year 1.5."

Have you heard this before? It makes sense, and I like it, but I didn't know that. Anyway, the Gl scene is killer and I like the dynamic between Bats & Robin is cool. Quite a touching last page too.

Not bad for a Monday....

[dancj]

Mutant Town (post HoM) really isn't there anymore.
Has House of M not been retconned/reversed yet? That lasted longer than I expected

[pmpknface]

Um... nope. It's totally affected the entire outlook on the Marvel Universe. Even the Skrulls have mentioned that the result of "M Day" has sped up their plans to take over because the "mutant problem" was dealth with.

We've hardly seen any new mutants pop up since then too and only 1 birth to speak of - which was the whole plot of Messiah Complex. The only retconning had to do with a few mutants that we THOUGHT had lost their powers really didn't - Iceman and Angel to name a few, and another one that really pissed me off (SPOILER ALERT)



Quicksilver. I have no idea what the point of givign him his powers back with pretty much no explanation whatsoever. I like Peter Davind and what he's doing on the X-Factor book, but the Quicksilver "Quick and the Dead" 1-shot really just made the character less interesting to me now. David Hine really took the character to some freaky, dark places and now Pietro is withouth the crystals and is back where he was before HoM except he's without any friends in the world. O well... let's see where it goes.

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

Just read Final Crisis: Rogue's Revenge #1.

I miss the Geoff Johns/Scott Kolins team on The Flash. I think it's probably the last great run that title had. And this book is a pretty cool reunion. Yes, it may oversell the "Don't Kill The Flash" rule by repeating it about 20 times more than was necessary, but it still hooked me quickly and dragged me right back in. Kollins' work is still beautiful in its ugliness, and it looks like Johns has found a way to partially undo some of the damage to the Flash family of titles done by Impulse's death.

Or, wait, did Johns write Impulse's death? I'm so lost anymore. . .

This is the first FINAL CRISIS book I fully approve of! ;-)

-Augie

[torippu]

Just read Final Crisis: Rogue's Revenge #1.

I miss the Geoff Johns/Scott Kolins team on The Flash. I think it's probably the last great run that title had. And this book is a pretty cool reunion. Yes, it may oversell the "Don't Kill The Flash" rule by repeating it about 20 times more than was necessary, but it still hooked me quickly and dragged me right back in. Kollins' work is still beautiful in its ugliness, and it looks like Johns has found a way to partially undo some of the damage to the Flash family of titles done by Impulse's death.

This is the last book left on my stack from last week and I'm hoping to get to it this evening. As much as I love Kolins, I still wish that Doug Hazelwood was inking him.

Or, wait, did Johns write Impulse's death? I'm so lost anymore. . .
Do we blame Didio or the writer? :tongue:
If so, then, technically, it was Marc Guggenheim that killed Bart!

This is the first FINAL CRISIS book I fully approve of! ;-)

-Augie
Good to hear. This is the only Final Crisis book that I will be reading!

[torippu]

Captain America #40 - Another solid issue on the Brubaker/Epting express! Kind of feels like this big, long arc is getting close to its conclusion.
Amazing Spider-Man #566 - Was Jimenez having deadline troubles? Bit bummed to see that he only did the breakdowns for this issue. How apropo that Vermin shows up for the "Kraven's First Hunt" arc? Depending on how this one concludes, I'm not sure that this story has been as strong as Guggenheim's first one.
Might Avengers #16 - Was it me or did this issue read really fast?
Batman and the Outsiders #9 - There is no way that Dixon will be able to wrap up his run before the end of next issue. It's a shame really as I felt like the story was just starting to ramp up and the art from Julian Lopez was really strong. May have to see where he ends up next.
Birds of Prey #120 - Bedard's second issue is not bad. The art from new penciler O'Hare was decent. Seeing the Joker at the end of this issue made me want to go diving into my long box to re-read the awesome Dixon/Guice Barbara Gordon/Joker issues again!

[torippu]

I also read Final Crisis: Rogue's Revenge #1 last night and it was indeed pretty good. I had a very similar reaction to when I read the Dixon/MacDaniel return to Nightwing a couple of years ago - I immediately wanted to pull out all of back issues from this creative team and re-read those classic stories. It was very nice to see Johns incorporate a lot of his old supporting players (i.e. Chyre & Morillo, the warden from Iron Heights, etc) into this book. Guess I'll be picking up the next 2 issues!

One question - why was the letterer credited before the colorist? Seemed out of order to me...

[dancj]

Civil War: X-Men Universe - Two halves to this one. The X-Factor half had more to do with House of M than it had to do with Civil War. I'm really not sure what it was doing in this TPB - but it was decent. The Cable/Deadpool was actually Civil War related, but it was really weird. It jumped back and forth clumsily between comedy and serious and really didn't work for me.

The Nightly News - That was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting some hard hitting serious thriller told in a style that while clever made it quite a slog. Instead I got an entertaining readable, black comedy thriller. I could see the twist coming a mile off, but I was still impressed with this.

Trenches - Scott Mills's tale of two brothers and their Sgt Major in the trenches in WW1. It was all a bit slight really. Not bad per se, but really not all that worthwhile.

Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man v2: Mystery Date - This had much more to do with Civil War than the first half of Civil War X-Men Universe, but there's no CW blurb on this one. Another enjoyable read.

Codeflesh - Nice visual gimmick, but this didn't grab me. It's made up of very short chapters which made it a bit choppy for me. Not bad though and I really liked the way the final chapter was told. I'd have loved to have seen that final chapter done as live action.

Venom vs. Carnage - There's something a bit sad about someone as talented as Peter Milligan writing something like this. It was fairly enjoyable, but quite forgettable and way below what he's capable of. I was very impressed with the art though. I suspect I'd hate this guy's art on some things, but he was very suited to this. It reminded me a bit of Kevin Walker's art on ABC Warriors.

Captain America: Cap Lives - Fun bit of fluff which is basically an Elseworlds/What If tale. Inconsequential and not particularly imaginative.

The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist v1 - I found this a bit disappointing. I was expecting loads of different writers' takes on the character but something like two thirds of the stories are all written by the same guy. There's some nice art here though.

[pmpknface]

DUDE! If I knew you were gonna buy CODEFLESH I'd have sold you my issues for a steal. They are actually called "Double Image" and there were 2 stories, one on each side. The other was about a woman who is invisible. I liked both of those books, but didnt' love them.

I keep hearing about NIGHTLY NEWS. I'm gonna crack on that.

I agree about the CW: X-Men books. I remember it coming out of the 198 mini and things around that area of the x-verse.

I just read BLACK GOLIATH 3-4 from 1976. Oh man, great fun. Worth it for the ads alone! I also read:

Iron Man - good.
X-Factor #33 - ok story, not too keen on the art
X-Force #5 - YES! Lots of butt kicking.
1985 #3 - This just got cool.
Mighty Avengers #15 - Ok.... so Elektra was nabbed after after the Enemy of the State Wolvie arc and before the raft blowing up. I haven't lookedit up, but are there any other Elektra appearrances in that time frame? Does that jive?
Moon Knight #20 - Very cool..... Werewolf story rocked!
Omega the Unknown #10/10 - so friggin' weird.

Also finished Tezuka's DORORO vol 2 the other day. Must get #3!

[dancj]

I agree about the CW: X-Men books. I remember it coming out of the 198 mini and things around that area of the x-verse.

Is The 198 good? I think I've got it on my list because it's written by David Hine.

[pmpknface]

I remember liking it. I think the end was a bit weird and I didn't see it coming, but overall it was pretty good. I also enjoy David Hine's stuff. I don't think he's writing anything for Marvel at the moment, and that's a shame.

[De Carabas]

Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes HC-- Not bad, but I didn't necessarily love it either. You absolutely do not have to be a LoSH expert to read this, but I think you do need to have at least a strong fondness for them. Great Gary Frank art, though.

Annihilation Conquest vol. 2 HC-- I loved the Annihilation Conquest mini itself, but the Wraith mini that precedes it in this volume was very very underwhelming. I would have been so much happier if Marvel had reprinted the rest of the Nova issues (the ones that got summarized on that insert page) in its place.

Wildguard Insider #2 & #3-- Always happy to see more Wildguard. Add to that, increasing the number of comics in my collection by Tracie Mauk is always a plus. ;)

Dan==>
Unfortunately, I'm going to disagree with Jamie on 198. I thought it was a really bad train wreck. But I also seriously disliked District X, if that helps.

EM

[dancj]

Dan==>
Unfortunately, I'm going to disagree with Jamie on 198. I thought it was a really bad train wreck. But I also seriously disliked District X, if that helps.
If you disliked District X then I'll stick with pmpknface's recommendation :smile:

[pmpknface]

I thought District X was a good read. Too bad HoM pretty much killed it. :(