Mrs. Pittsburgh Comics was wiped out and fell asleep after Winter Wipeout (Must See TV!), so I read all of this weeks books that I took home. Here are some quick reviews:
Walking Dead #80 – I really don’t think this book really needs to ever be reviewed. There is rarely a stinker of an issue and at worst its because it is setting something up. This one is really good. Survivors in danger, some interesting stuff going on in the quiet times. Rick may get lucky and Carl scares the crap out of a kid. Great stuff as usual.
Detective Comics #872 – I think I said last week that this was the time to jump on and the follow up issue does not disappoint. Interesting stuff with Dick and Barbara and even Tim. Talks a little about new gadgets coming from Batman Inc. Interesting story, great cliffhanger and Jock’s art is fabulous. With him on Detective and Williams on Batwoman, things are looking great. The backup story with Commissioner Gordon is understated and very good on its own. Worth the extra buck.
Who is Jake Ellis #1 – I remembered this one from the preview pages in Previews. Basically, Jon (the protagonist) has an imaginary friend talking to him getting him out of jams. But even he doesn’t know who Jake Ellis is. International crime caper type of book with the big unknown the the invisible friend thing. Quite good.
Ultimate Captain America #1 – I am not an “Ultimate” guy. I have read very little. I like the beginning of X-Men, wasn’t blown away with Spider-Man and didn’t care for Fantastic Four. So I never kept up with them. I did read Ultimatum, but all that did was leave a bad taste in my mouth. So I pretty much haven’t read the relaunches. But, I did grab this one to try. Overall, not bad. Good art and a decent story. The reveal of the mystery hooded bad guy was good (and made sense why he was hooded. I will probably be reading the rest of this, so thats a good sign.
Steel #1 – I am not sure what to make of this one. It is the start of a big Doomsday Storyline, but I haven’t really heard any buzz at all about it. My problem with it is some of it seemed to be flashbacks and some was current, but I was never sure what was what. Also, the dialogue said something about Doomsday changing, but the art didn’t reflect it. Overall I felt confused when it was over. It may be a big deal because of what happened in the issue, but I feel that it is more of a “Gotcha!” type thing. If you are DC heavy reader or a big Doomsday fan, pick it up. Otherwise, I’d say pass for now.
Wolverine The Best There Is #2 – Well, I said I wasn’t going to read this, but like a good train wreck, I had to. Had it been a heavier load of books, I probably wouldn’t have. Issue #1 did not inspire any hope in me. #2 wasn’t as bad. The art worked better (at least Wolverine wasn’t wearing girls clothes and cutting hair – I know, WHAT?) and the story made a little more sense. It explained that they were all tripping last issue. Some nice kills by Wolverine, some interesting bad guys. You know what? I will probably read #3 now. So take that as you will.
Generation Hope #3 – I am not following this book at all. Maybe its too high concept for me? Maybe I am not enough of a Manga fan to get the references? I don’t know. Hope needs to touch people to get their powers to bloom. But one guy is bad. But she hasn’t touched him yet, so maybe she can cure him. I don’t know and the end kind of leaves t on the table. The best part was in a message to Cyclops while he is spaced out. Odd. Maybe good for hard core X fans. Not really for me.
BTW, this is the variant cover. I couldn’t find the regular one online.
Weird Worlds #1 – OK. Not sure at all what this is. 3 short stories about (so far) unconnected people. The Lobo story was good and should be welcomed by Lobo fans. Great Jerry Ordway art (Get him more work, publishers!). Garbageman was the middle story. I guess its a new character because it gives his origin, which is a cross between Swamp Thing and Man Thing, but instead of landing in a swamp, he lands in a garbage dump. I really don’t see the point. The last is a (I guess) new character named Tanga. Written and drawn by Kevin Maguire, it is fun. She’s got spunk and is pink/purple. Overall a good read.
X-Factor #213 – If you are only going to read one X-book, you really should make it X-Factor. Its fun, has great characters and plot twists. This issue is no different. The character leaving on the cover can adapt to any situation. Last issue he was threatened by Hel from Thor, so he has become Death. How can you not want to see where that’s going. And Rahne is about to give birth, there is a spy in there midst and the usual dysfunctional fun we have come to love with this book.
Thanos Imperative Davestation – Even if you didn’t read Thanos Imperative, I really think you can grab this book and jump on. Abnett and Lanning’s Cosmic stuff has been fantastic and I heartily encourage you to give it a try. This one recaps that storyline, adds a lot of details about the end and sets up the new book, Annihilators that has quite a cast. I don’t want to give it away, but name a cosmic heavy hitter and they are probably on the team. I am looking forward to it.
Brightest Day #17 – Moving the storyline along. Firestorm did not blow up the universe, but instead ended up in the Anti-matter universe. The Hawks meet up with Star Sapphire and the Hunter and things don’t go as planned. Deadman has fun with Grandpa and Dove.
What did you think? What did you like? BTW, I didn’t order enough of Superboy #3 to have a copy left to read, so I will (hopefully review that one next week.