New 52 Week 3: The Sexy Week

I'm going to be up front about this week. I didn't know what the hell to get. Other weeks there where a about 4 or 5 that I definitely wanted to try and lots that I avoided like the plague. This week there were a lot of hmm maybe I'll get that, kind of books. Of course I can stand in the shop and flick through them till my fingers wear out and I still wouldn't know without just buying, reading and getting very disappointed. So here's my thoughts on this week. I'm going to start though by addressing my worst picks first. Skip the first couple to avoid me ranting.

Captain Atom..

  I picked this up because I enjoyed him in the Generation Lost JLI series. This isn't anything like that. The art is completely unsuited to the book, there is no backstory other than "some big mad scientist guy made him". There are disasters and robots and nuclear plants to be dealt with and saving the day yet no explanation as to why there was any of these dangers or how they happened. They have made the character less than/ more than human so he is un-relatable. I kinda felt sorry for him in Gen Lost because he couldn't feel the touch of his kids when he hugged them and the overload of his powers often led to him time traveling. Oh boy do I love time traveling stories! No. None of that was here. At. All. They have stripped the character of everything that I loved and made him into a cold Dr Manhattan character except he isn't interesting like Dr Manhattan. Just don't even try it. I wont be getting this again.

Speaking of stripping a character: Red Hood and the Outlaws..

  I had high expectations. Ever since it was mentioned in Batman and Robin that Red Hood would be leading a team book I was sporting my "squee" face. This is not what I expected either. It was a great concept but just a shit read. Even the team in it sounded interesting at first. Red Arrow and Starfire. Great I mean that's some pretty odd choices but maybe they'd be like a badass version of the Amazing Super Friends..? The best comparison to this recently is Flash Thompson as Venom. Great idea just poorly executed.

  The story is high octane action but very few developments happen. Red Hood breaks Red Arrow out of prison with Starfire's help and escape to a desert island. Then after sharing sexual partners Red Hood goes off to shoot things again and that's the cliff hanger that's meant to draw me back for more? How? He already got out of one massive gun fight it's not like he cant again!

  Starfire has turned from an openly loving alien, into a nymphomaniac. She may have being depicted as this before depending on the writer, and hell- fan service in comics is nothing new. It's just never been so blatantly in your face. Tit shot one page, ass shot another, contorted leaning for maximum cleavage and pretty much no costume to comment on. Also you can do a slutty character well without such terrible dialogue. This reads like a 12 years olds secret porn doodle stuffed down the back of his sock drawer.
                                          

  I don't think I want to read this again. I feel embarrassed owning a copy. This is what my girlfriend hates about me reading comics. She thinks it's all scantily clad women and beefed up guys. In this case she made me realise how cliché this book is. I would rather read something a bit more intelligent. It's sad that there is even a market for a book like this.

Catwoman.. 

  The other controversial book this week for the portrayal of women in comics. I may be being a bit hypocritical here but I really rather liked this one. The colouring on the cover is so electro pop and I love it. The pale gothic looking Catwoman rushing into costume before the full costume reveal doesn't bother me. It's a tad dark and feels more like actual stills from a movie rather than the full on contorted porn poses of Starfire. Plus there is an actual story here as Selina investigates who attacked her home. She uses her sexuality to get into places and then works her magic. It feels more natural as people do abuse their looks to get places in real life.

  The art is hit and miss. Great action scenes and nailing the Catwoman figure in action, but the occasional I-cant-believe-that's-the-same-artist-that-did-this moments, like Lola, Selina's "larger" friend. Fat women don't have the hourglass figure. It looks like he drew a skinny comic female then drew her a bit chunkier around that. He could do with attending a few life drawing classes me thinks. 

  As for the cliff hanger I've never read a book where Bats and the Cat get it on. I know they exist but as I've only being reading DC the past 3 to 4 years I'll have missed them. It seems odd to see it actually happen. Fairly shocking to see it on the page. The next issue "The morning after" tag line gave me shivers. Where do they go from here? Is this a regular hook up? Are they an item? Bruce has already had a kid with one villain, so what if..? 

  There are options and different routes this could head down. The Starfire situation can only lead to more sexual abuse or the two men getting jealous of each other. This book feels more like a bizarre soap plot. Like even Superheroes must have this happen to them, these animal urges. I'll be getting next weeks for sure.

Wonder Woman..

  I never thought I would pick up a WW comic and actually enjoy it. The dark mystery combined with the myth and legends of the Gods is a great mix as well as a well suited artist that gives the book the right tone. 

  There are lots of great looking well designed villains in this first issue as well as a new(?) female character called Zola who has come into possession of a key. She's teleported to Diana's bedroom where she is sleeping and then the adventure begins when she notices the intruder. There is a bit of an unnecessary sleeping nude and walk across to the wardrobe scene that seems to sexualise the character and was almost as though it was stuck in purely because she was female. Wonder Woman is a powerful female, I don't think you can sexualise her like that. Or is that just my personal taste?

  Great start with lots of directions this could run with. I feel Zola will be a good addition as she will be there to guide the reader through a world she isn't familiar with either. It's writing 101, it means that Wonder Woman has to explain whats going on to let the reader in on it too (that's the real reason the Doctor has companions by the way).

Batman..

  Not as fun as previous Detective comics run also by the same writer. Although it was the two distinct artists styles that made that book so amazing too in my opinion. This artist seems to have a very young look for all of the Robins when they are with Bruce and they all seem a tad too young if you ask me.

  Lots of new ideas already implemented, Bruce is transforming Gotham and getting rid of high crime areas. In a few years will Gotham be like a new Metropolis? Nice touch with the eye computers in the contacts even though The Dark Knight and Torchwood got there first. 

  The cliff hanger is not really that big a cliff hanger as after one big twist in the same issue it seems very unlikely that it is Dick that is the killer. It's clearly just a set up. But it'd be nice to see Bruce investigate and loose trust wit a Robin.

Nightwing..

  The main reason why Dick wouldn't be a villain is that he has his own title and isn't a bad guy in it.. DUH! Fairly intelligent read this one with lots of returning characters from Dick's past as the circus he grew up in and his parents died in is back in Gotham. 

  The artwork handles all of the bizarre perspectives brought about by the gymnastics, rather well. Nothing spectacular but pretty standard throughout. 

  Even though you know that Dick will get out of the melé alive at the end there is still a fairly decent mystery as to who the masked villain is. Perhaps he is the new acrobat from the circus? Just sayin'!

Supergirl..

  Great art that really defines the entire book. A dodgy looking costume but I suppose she is fresh from an alien world. Which is what makes this book both different and annoying. We get to see her origin in this new world and how she meets Supes and how she discovers all her powers including some new ones she never had before teased the writers in interviews about the series. The bad part is that every Supergirl story before never happened and we literally have to do all of it again. Depends if seeing it all again is worth it.

  The book looks to be good if a little slow moving as all we see is Kara crash land on Earth and then get attacked by a bunch of robots before her cousin Kal shows up. Which isn't enough for a 22 page comic, not when other new 52's get so much more packed into them. How will Kal take seeing another Kryptonian, this time? I want to read more. 

Blue Beetle..

  There have been a lot of characters that haven't even felt the change and a lot that probably didn't need it. This book has a classic character being completely re-imagined with a new twist. We see the origin of the Scarab as an alien weapon of destruction and how it ends up on Earth being tracked down by aliens who want it destroyed or to be their own. It's an interesting twist that leads to a decent end for a first issue. 

  Art suffices and the characters are shining through even if they are a bit one dimensional as typical stereotypes of high schoolers. I would say that all the spanish language detracts a little. I can see why it's in there as a lot of Americans can understand basic spanish/mexican being on a border with Mexico. For the rest of the world though it just stunts the flow of the reading. Just a minor issue.

  I don't know what this re-telling means for what happened in the Infinite Crisis though as Blue Beetle- and his predecessor were both major parts in it. 

  A good book that isn't heavily reliant on a greater knowledge of the DC universe. Just a good one for new readers.

Green Lantern Corps..

  What I thought would be an odd team up turned out to be a decent pairing. They clash in all the right ways and yet the pairing also makes sense as these are the two lanterns that went public with their identities.
  A great way to start a space story is to have two characters realise they aren't welcome on Earth. A good cliff hanger. Fairly typical art that is above average out of all the new 52's I've picked up so far.
  Not exactly the Lantern A listers but I always have room on my comic shelves for a bit more Guy Gardner love. Nice ending too as well as would could be a very formidable new villain. Nice touch, but not for newbies just starting out into the GL books.

That's it for another week. My thoughts in general so far: Why aren't there more really good artists on these books? If the stories are great but the book looks crap then it's going to lose my interest eventually. DC really went back on their word regarding the "women being dressed up more" initiative.  Yeah not a lot of great stuff this week. I wish I hadn't read about a third of what I got but it's my own fault for not deciding what to pick up sooner.
I've just read the last lot of the new 52 so I'll right about them when I get a chance and then onwards and upwards to some different reviews. Marvel books maybe? DVD's? Could be branching out a bit but I did just get Thor and Super to watch and they will be fun to review!

  

DC the New 52: The Second Week

Batwoman..

  Absolutely stunning artwork, both the water colour and really graphic pencil lined pages. The reset button hasn't altered the look of this book or the character, costume, backstory or well anything to be precise. It's just business as usual. I haven't read the entire backstory from the Detective Comics issues she was in before. So I may not be incredibly up to date with her stories. None the less I'm jumping on this bandwagon now. Although speaking of costume, she is a pale stunning red head and yet her costumed counter part shows her as a pale red head with an even longer red wig that highlights the same natural colour she already sports..? That's worse than Clark Kent slapping some glasses on! 

  Seriously though, there are things about the writing of this character that I have respect for. She is gay and Jewish and yet neither of those are rammed down your throat like they are the only defining aspects of the character that matter. She is fully formed. She is looking for a meaningful relationship rather than making out with every female character she sees. This is a good thing. There's nothing worse than being gay for gay's sake.

  The story was intriguing if a little clichéd. Yeah it's detective story with a nice new villain who appears to be drowning people as they stand away from water. At least the Premise isn't the typical gangster or small time crook/ madman/ murderer. Instead she seems to be from an urban legend. It's clearly the art and characters that make this book.

Batman and Robin..

  This book neither drew me in or turned me off it. I like Damian as Robin, but he was far better teamed up with Dick Grayson- Batman than Bruce Wayne- Batman. Some will be over joyed to see Batman and his own son fighting crime together. I guess it's a great premise to a story but it just doesn't come across as exciting enough. 

  There are constants across the Bat books this time around, a lot of gotham is being heavily renovated. Getting rid of the crime filled streets and replacing them with the massive new skyscraping offices and apartments as shown in Batman (next week.. yeah great order of release again DC! Let us not forget the time Bruce Wayne was back in other books before "The Return of Bruce Wayne" mini had concluded!). So Bruce and Damian have gone to see crime alley where Bruce's parents were killed one last time. Glad that it's not there anymore tbh. It will or SHOULD stop the whole emo side of Batman. 

  There are lots of seeds planted in the first issue, as the duo stop a gang from stealing irradiated fuel and a new villain (yes another one woohoo!) called Nobody is killing Batman inc. team members off. Glad to see the Incorporated story will still be going on. 

  I just don't want to have to make Damian earning Bruce's respect take forever. We only just did that with Dick not trusting him.

Suicide Squad..

  Amanda Waller, now a skinny black woman, why? I have no idea why that needed changing. Is she going to wind up in a fight and we needed to make it believable that she could beat someone up? Who knows! She tortures bad guys that are working for the good guys who may in fact be bad guys. It's a confusing agenda but I like half of the characters so meh I'm reading it. 

  The issue consists of the team thinking they are on a mission only after the mission has gone bad and more torture has ensued, they find out that it was in fact the last test and they passed with flying colours. It wasn't exactly a great first issue as in setting up what you will see on a regular basis as I would imagine the team in the field would be a lot more fun to read. 

  When they finally do get dropped into there first mission they are told they are to kill an entire stadiums worth of people. That's the cliff hanger. 

  The characters look different. Some in a bad way. Harley's costume is impractical and looks ridiculous on the character. Yet if I wasn't comparing her to DC old I wouldn't think twice about it. 

  There are three artists on the book. I don't get why, it detracts from the story and the first artist is by far the best. Much cleaner lines, much less childish cartooning. Just sharp, polished and yet nicely gritty.

Green Lantern..

  This Lantern book does a good job of introducing the Lantern lore and universe of characters. A good contrast between Hal on Earth re-adjusting to his old life and Sinestro on Earth also re-adjusting to his old ring and Corps. Not a great deal happens this issue and it feels a tad dragged out but you do learn a lot about Hal and Sinestro. I love the dynamic between Hal and Carol. She thinks he took her out to dinner to propose now that he's no longer a lantern. Then the Cliff hanger is Sinestro offering Hal his ring back if he makes a deal with him. Very nice twist although I would have hoped it hadn't happened so soon. 

  The art is typical and I like how although the Green Lanterns haven't been affected by the reboot it feels like they have, as the last issue of DC old left Sinestro with a ring and this is his first time in the lead role again. Perfect reboot material. 

Superboy..

  So this science group grew the clone Superboy and after trying to kill him because they are reading no brain activity, he becomes fully conscious and awakens. He is then shoved into some Matrix like fake reality machine to be tested. They appear to be getting clues about who he was cloned from. They know the Superman half but who is the other. If it's Lex than nothing has changed at all and that would explain him not saving people in the Matrix machine. However it would be a cop out to old readers to leave a plot thread like that hanging only to have it be the same as before.

  I hope this title brings about a relationship between the red headed scientist and Superboy. It kind of hints that she has feelings for him. 

  The art on this book is so up my street it might as well move in next door to me. Seriously loved the look of it. Great line work on the characters and perfect emotional expressions. The only thing that bugged me about this book is what I realised a fortnight later. It has an identical cliff hanger to Teen Titans. I figured TT would carry on immediately after and would switch the character between not be a kind of "identical sister" title. It makes no sense. After reading both I am none the wiser. Just that he will possibly be released prematurely to the world to deal with/ join the Teen Titans. 

  Oh and why is he depicted as a Cyborg on the cover? Confusing much?!

  Another week done. No real gems here in my opinion. Although I am looking forward to the next Batwoman and Superboy, just mostly for the art. Oh and what happened to all that shebang about women needing to cover up? Harley's corset is unrealistic and whore-ish not to mention there is a changing room scene in Batwoman, which felt unnecessary yet fitted the character better that Harley. Whose character used to be all about trying to get with the Joker with their on again off again one way love. The full jester costume may have looked dated but it's how jesters look. Now she looks like a street walker, which depending on how they've changed her backstory, may be even more out of character for someone who was once a timid psychiatrist who looked up to the bonkers enigmatic Joker.

New 52: The First Bunch.

First off, Justice League...
  I found it odd that in the last issue of DC olds' Flashpoint #5 there was very little reference to a changed world and then in the same week we are given an issue set 5 years in the past of the new timeline. This would be incredibly confusing for new readers attempting to join in. One minute we have Flash and Batman chatting away like friends then next minute we have Green Lantern discovering Batman is real and meeting for the first time. There isn't a great deal of setting the scene, or that this is in the past, other than the miniscule caption at the top of page one.

  Characterisation seems a bit off too if you ask me. I get that Green Lantern is cocky but do Batman and Superman also have to come off as arrogant?
  Art isn't to my liking but I can appreciate the detailed work. I was never a fan of Jim Lee but I acknowledge he is good at what he does. The redesigned costumes are tricky to keep consistent. I knew this would be the case from the second I saw them and with there only being the two characters so heavily featured throughout, I reread this and stared panel to panel and sure enough the costume details are inconsistent. Like for example the lined padding on Batman's neck. Small quibble but thats what the redesigns were bound to do. Plus this is with a pretty detailed professional so God knows how a newby to the art duties would handle it.
  As for Darksied's involvement, I was almost disappointed that it was a villain we knew that would be in the first arc. I was really rooting for some new characters so it's a shame the re-jiggering isn't all that different. I suppose it makes sense that a big hitter would be a good villain to recquire assembling the Justice League for the first time but did it have to be someone we knew?
  The fear and hating of powered vigilantes has been done to death in X-men so I am a little hesitant as to what new things DC could bring to the concept.
  I aren't sure about the cliff hanger either. I mean come on! How many time do heroes have to fight then realise they are on the same side, and then team up. Cliché much?
  A fair enough if slow start to the main book of the DCnU (and I mean slowww, the 4th cover for the title was released recently and it has Aquaman on it, so if they only meet him in the 4th issue how long is it going to take to assemble this League). I'm glad that it wasn't just a few members sat around choosing whom makes the team, so it that sense its refreshing.

Action Comics...
  So Superman is a cocky anti-hero. Unconventional methods to get great results. Almost bullying the bad guys into making confessions. I can't help but have this remind me of Batman.
  Again we see the world that fears and hates superheroes unless they are being saved by them. Already been done in X-men.
  A few nice plot threads laid down here, Clark living in a rented apartment with a landlord called Mrs Nyxly, sounds a lot like Mxyzptlk. Or is that just me? Luthor being unconventionally drafted in by the police/ army to catch Superman. But what's his motivation for it? Clark working for a separate paper then Jimmy and Lois. Plenty of old school Superman action, saving trains throwing cars etc. Very iconic to the mythology but with a great twist on things simply by changing his personality.
  Again it's another book where the cliff hanger means very little to me. Oh no he's trapped. He will get out of it for Godsake! He's almost unstoppable, just let him recharge in the sun a bit. Although saying that a cover for a later issue has been released with Supes in an electric chair. Could he be held captive by the government a la Flashpoint? That would be refreshing.
  Art is nothing special but it suits the book to a T.

Stormwatch...
  I aren't all too familiar with the Wildstorm characters, I just wanted to support one of the Paul Cornell books. There are lots of interesting characters here with very intriguing powers. I am looking forward to seeing how Apollo and Midnighter who were originally parodies of Superman and Batman, fit into the DCU with there immense powers and personalities. Good idea to add Martian Manhunter into the mix to ease a newby like me into this. The book has great art and the heavy black borders around the panels give this a very cinematic quality.
  A strong start and lots of directions can be taken with this book. Can't wait to read more.

Justice League International...
  So this is playing more heavily on it's roots than the other Justice League book. It's UN funded and arranged. With a leader, Booster, that they can easily manipulate. Good job Batman has forced his way onto the team to act as a liaison with the main JL.
  Lots of characters I know as well as ones I don't. General in Iron seems like a great counterpart for Red Rocket and lots of dialogue between the two is hilarious. I want to get to know the characters that I don't already so it feels more compelling. Great juggling of such a massive team. Very fast moving.
  Already within about ten pages they are off on their first mission. Although you know the team will fight off the robot in the cliff hanger, I still want to read more to find out what's been going on underground as well as just seeing more character interactions.
  They have picked the best parts from previous JLI books and combined them for the better. Classic art that just carries on the feel of the Generation lost book.

Batgirl...
  Not as good as I wanted it to be. It seems like the Killing Joke still happened and the only way Barbara got better was from months of therapy and learning to walk again. Not really a quick fix but very brushed over. Essential though to get straight into the action. A sort of lose lose scenario.
  I bought this as I am a big fan of Simone on her previous Secret Six book. She tends to have much better stories when she has more than one character. Her dialogue works wonders on any book. With one character though there was less of that. It had a moodier feel to it.
  Nice to see a flawed hero as she pauses at the worst time possible, frozen in fear, gun pointed at her, as she has flashbacks to being crippled. With the worst outcome.
  The art is really hit and miss. Sometimes capturing great scenes and other times the layout stages seems to have let the finish down. This book is one that I'm going to give more of a chance to. I think it will get better with time.

Animal Man...
  If you are looking for the new gems of this new world order, then here's one of them. The pages are so beautifully drawn. For a week so typically crammed with messy, scribbly and very typically of what I would imagine DC books look like this was a breath of fresh awesome. I actually like his costume redesign. It's in story continuity that he changes his life a lot. The bad guy has genuine motive to be holding a hospital hostage. Then the visions in his dream and the stark reality of his daughter, Maxine's power manifestation. Now that is a cliff hanger that leaves me begging for more. Best of the week by far.
 This went way over my expectations, a perfectly plotted book. Three parts: set up, rescue, dilemma. Deliciously dark. Great story telling and not your average superhero book. I'd even recommend this to spandex haters.

Well that's all I bought this week for the DC relaunch. More of my thoughts soonish.

Flashpoint and the New DC Order

Ok hello it's me back again, and better late then never. Just wanted to share my views on Flashpoint and the post New 52 expectations. Despite how when I'm writing this it is well into the first week of releases. We have already had the new Justice League and the first 13 other number 1's.

On the entire Flashpoint storyline...

  It was poorly paced and despite a cracking first and last issue, nothing was made of the entire story as a whole. Sure there are gaping plot wholes like, how Thomas Waynes letter and Barry's memories survived the change or how about: If Barry stopped himself from creating that universe in the first place then why is there change at all, when it's corrected? I mean apart from the whole "strange woman saying that they have been combining the three universes for some time now" thing.

  My purchases of the tie-ins feel pretty stupid now. The only one I really enjoyed was the Batman one. There was no need for any of them truthfully. They could have been prequels for each of the characters featured in Flashpoint, but most of the characters roles in the main book were glorified cameos anyway.
  A better solution would have been to have two fortnightly titles (like with JLI/ Brightest Day), one called the History of Flashpoint- with short prequels to each character and also a lot of build up about the Amazon/ Atlantis war. The other could have been an up to date World of Flashpoint with all of the relevant tie in stuff to the build up of the resistance and leading into the battle at the end.
  Another issue I had with the story as a whole: Booster Gold. As one of the only two characters who remembered the previous world, he was grossly miss-used, all he did was fight someone in a Doomsday body. He's in the JLI for godsake he isn't an unknown character. Geoff Johns spent so long trying to build up Cyborg as an important character he forgot he could bring in Booster into the main stage once more (I loved him in 52).
   I hated how When Barry woke up in the alternate world that the artwork didn't make clear that his powers had gone, and it only occurred to me when he was driving to the mansion that anything was different for him. Equally in the last issue I don't think it was made very clear that he had come back to a changed world thus making the new 52 seem sort of forced into this stories finale.
  Perhaps Johns had too much free reign? Maybe he did try to recreate the magic of the stories he remembers when he was younger. Some people probably enjoyed it. To me though this wasn't an "event" book. Infinite Crisis was an event book, so was Final Crisis and hell even War of the Green Lanterns felt more epic and disaster-movie, end of the world scenario then this did.
  There were moments in this that I liked a lot. A sunless captive Superman was intriguing as was Thomas Wayne Batman, but all of those are the basis of a "huh that's sorta neat" reaction and do not create a compelling story as is. It was mildly enjoyable but not very entertaining. It would have been fine as just a plain old Flash comics story arc but with all the hype and buildup it didn't fair well as an event.

  All said and done I seem to have gotten the same feelings as I had with Spiderman One More Day- I don't like they way they went about it, but I really enjoy the change now that it's arrived. 

The New 52...

  For anyone who somehow hasn't heard, DC comics has ended ALL of it's current titles and in the story continuity they have hit the re-set switch to combine all of the DC, Vertigo and Wildstorm publishing into one shared universe continuity. Some characters who were brought in from alternate worlds like the Justice Society and Power Girl don't exist anymore and others like Batgirl are not the same person in the costume either. It's all change and wether you are a comics fan or not, up until the first wave of releases last week we were all on the same page about the details of the new Universe. So I would suggest hopping in now and joining us. There is something for everyone here War, Western, Vampire, Supernatural and Superhero Male, Females and Mixed Races. They are really trying to cover all their bases here.
  As for what DC hopes to accomplish with re-jiggering (thats the technical term) their shared universe I don't think it will bring more readers in there droves like they think. Sure drumming up media interest is always going to add a bit of a curve on to the sales figures but this move seems to be targeting people who read just a few of their titles and want to read more. Or readers of other companies books who just want a foot in the door. Or perhaps readers who stopped and wanted to start again and have being waiting for a long time for an appropriate chance.

  Equally I don't think that the digital same day release is going to be the end of comic book shops. Sure they might have closed near where you live, but come on people there is also a recession going on. If anything the digital same day release will let people who are perhaps too embarrassed to be seen in a comic shop or to lazy to leave the house or even just plain old gadget junkies, have there own access point into the stories.  It's a shame in my eyes that the digital version costs the same as the printed version. It should be very subsidised or at the very least have a free digital download that comes with each issue, then there would be no worrying about people picking. It would be like the DVDs that have the free digital version to. Maybe I want to take it out to read/ play on the road digitally, but I shouldn't have to pay twice if I actually want to own the physical product. I'm proud of my comics and like them in order on my shelves, but to be honest if I had an iphone or ipad yeah I wouldn't mind some reading material on it too.

  I don't think paper comics will ever die out. In the same sense that the movie version of a character doesn't render the comics version obsolete. It's just irrational to think that way.
  The main problem of the 52 re-jiggering in my eyes is which ones to buy? I sure wont be trying all of them. I've flicked through the free promo catalogue countless times and can't decide wether to follow my favorite writers, artists or characters onto new books. Or wether to use my chance and jump onto the main heroes books. I've narrowed my buying down to about 20 of the 52 and done it so that I can get 5 a week. It's the hunt for the new gems! I will try to give each book a full story arc to prove itself before I deem it droppable and give up. Not just the first issue as I would imagine a lot of angry fanboy types may do.
  If you've ever been mildly interested in comics and want to know where to start reading. Just start now. Sure there is tons of great work in trade but if you want to be up to date with the new world order nows your chance. After all I'd never imagined that mainstream comics would be given TV and billboard adverts in my life time. Comics are cool again! (ahem.. they always have been).

  

Next Up: Justice League #1 Review (it's another rant) and my thoughts on the other New DC issues I'm reading (it's a lot more upbeat). Plus let's not forget the other comic company still churning out it's big summer event (along with what seems like endless magic hammer tie-ins) as well as Spider Island and more!

(Note- Yeah I realised it is quite unrealistic to review every issue I buy. Instead expect random updates about single titles, whole series so far, summer crossovers and other recommendations.)

25th May 2011

This weeks Pull list was Amazing Spider-man #662, FF #4, Power Man and Iron Fist #5 of 5, Spider-Girl #7, Secret Avengers #13 (which was rather moving), Venom #3 (which is getting rather dull, so I may drop after this arc), Action Comics #901 (also rather dull despite being all action), Detective Comics #877 (still one of my favorites), Green Lantern 66, Green Lantern Corps #60, Emerald Warriors #10 (parts 7-9 of War of the Green Lanterns, and some rather shocking GL stuff, poor Mogo) and Butcher Baker #3 (which despite being great art and a shock inducing story, is starting to get really "samey" each issue).
Again Apologies for not giving full reviews, but I'll do series wrap up's in July.

Note from the Writer...

I have had router problems for over a week now and despite finding some hilarious panels I wish to share with you, I haven't been able to get any new blog posts up until now. Which would leave me 3 weeks behind. So I will be taking a break for a month from the reviews and I will do a big re-cap for each title Starting mid July.
What with being 3 weeks behind anyway, my options where to skip a few weeks and do the end of month awards, which felt like a cop out. Or rush them all, which I didn't have time for. Plus I am away for two weeks at the end of this month on holiday so a break would be taken then anyway as I really cant warrant getting about 5 weeks behind by then.
So I will still post what I pick up each week and if you want to discuss anything please post in the comments. I will pick up with the usual weekly reviews on the 13th July, and with each review I will try my darnedest to give a bit of a catch up on each series so far. Especially the big events and their tie in's which I was looking forward to reviewing.
Apologies if you read the blog regularly, I cant imagine why you would but thank you all the same.
Matt

18th May 2011

Okay this time I bought Amazing Spider-man #661, Avengers Fear Itself #13, Deadpool Max #8, Thunderbolts #157, Uncanny X-force #10, Batman and Robin #23, Booster Gold #44 and Li'l Depressed Boy #4. More Marvel than DC again, going back to my Marvel Zombie past maybe? Or maybe it's just till the Flashpoint tie-ins start churning out!
Also I saw the Flashpoint pins behind the counter in my comic shop and I feel the urge to buy the tie ins even more now...

Indie Comics May 11th 2011

Farscape #18
I enjoy the book each time but anyone who didn't watch Farscape when it was on tv would struggle to understand the cast of characters which is growing exponentially each issue. There is no pay off to all the build up this issue, leaving it feeling a little weak we do learn that Noranti is dying as her younger body is now reverting to it's old one yet again. Also Scorpius and Rygel reach Delvia and deliver the news that the Kkore have returned. They are granted an audience out of the shock of their leader and also because Stark, one of my favorite characters from the show is on the planet with the leader. Cant wait for more action with him.
Apart from checking in with each of the main cast there is just more build up to the greater fight at the end, a lot of rallying the troops with people that can barely hold a gun.


I'm really looking forward to the conclusion of War for the Uncharted Territories and how it will leave the Scaper universe afterwards.

DC Comics May 11th 2011

Batman Incorporated #6
What again? There are a fair few books that come out far too erratically nowadays. Sometimes it feels like Grant Morrison is going out of the way to write a "weird" story and it looses all structure and doesn't read well. This isn't one of those times but this book can sometimes be his stomping ground for trying to be odd for no reason. As a matter of fact however this has to be one of his better structured issues. The cover says it all really, lots of Batmen all working together. It's a global effort of how Batman and his corporation of worldwide players is gathering intel on the child captures that are to do with the Leviathan baddy. With the majority told from the perspective of a small crime gang that is working with Leviathan and think they hired a P.I. to solve the worldwide Batmen rumors, only for him to turn out to be one.


The story is well written and has a lot of humour for a bat book. The art is a tad hit and miss at times, with some head shots turning a bit too manga looking.

The Flash #12
The Prelude to Flashpoint is a tad unnecessary. It is only implied at the end that the whole thing is the Reverse Flash/ Zoom's doing and that doesn't really give any clues as to how they would go about fixing the Flashpoint universe. Zoom kills Hot Pursuit. Barry is still whining about his mothers case even though he knows it was Zoom that killed her. Then Barry visits his mums grave as he gets struck by a flash lightning bolt. There's just an air of complete unnecessariness for this prelude, it reveals nothing.

Anyone care to hazard a guess as to what this panel is trying to show. Other than the colour red lightning.

It's the same artist as usual but for most of the book it just descends into unreadable red and yellow lightning scribbles. The medium used by the artist really isn't suited to depicting the speed force!

FlashPoint #1 (SPOILERS)
Both of the big two's events this summer have started differently to the usual stories. We are seeing quiet starts rather than running in all guns a blazin' with epic first issues. We seem to be heading for larger build ups and hopefully better pay offs.
Starting immediately after the Flash prelude, as he awakes at his desk to find employees who were long gone are working there again. He runs off to try to investigate and realises he isn't wearing his ring with his costume in, also more notable if this is even true but people are looking at him running down the corridor, maybe implying he doesn't have his speed powers anymore. He gets distracted and falls down the stairs only to be found by his mother. His long dead mother he spent most of his adult life trying to solve the murder of. He tells her he's the Flash and she asks, who? A member of the Justice league he replies and after reeling off a number of the members she doesn't know, it turns out this altered universe is home to a Batman.

HA! Wayne's World!

A casino owning billionaire Batman, who we then see chase yo-yo (I'm guessing a Harley Quinn type of this universe) off the top of his Casino and fall to her death down crime alley. Seems his origin isn't so far away from the normal Batman. Cyborg catches her and then tries to get him to join an alliance with a number of this story lines altered heroes. Who show that the world is at war, Wonder Woman took over the UK and Aquaman took over most of Europe and they are fighting each other.
Barry goes to find his wife Iris only to find she is married to Wally West. Barry then drives off to Wayne Manor hoping to meet Bruce and figure it all out. He makes his way down into the cave, Batman pounces and is ready to kill him but Barry yells at Bruce for him to stop, he is told bruce is dead and he watched him die. Yes in this altered timeline it seems that Thomas Wayne became Batman instead.
Well that's definitely the kind of cliff hanger that brings you back for more, also the amount of introductions of other characters have left me wanting to read nearly all the tie in's which would be ridiculous. But even the ones I wasn't going to be picking up like Wonder Woman and Aquaman seem like they would give away more of the story about the war. Well here's the ones I'm tempted by Booster Gold (as I've wanted a jumping on point for a while now), Batman, Citizen Cold, Deadman and the Flying Graysons, Lois Lane, Kid Flash, Reverse Flash (both of which should be more relevant seen as it's a Flash book for godsake) and Superman. As much as Alternate Timeline stories put people off with the thought of returning to normal after- I really hope at least a few of these characters or retcons follow through after the event. Just to throw a spanner in the works.

Superman #711
So Livewire's acting up in Las Vegas, because she had a power overload. It's an overused premise that in this case makes very little sense.

Ow the puns hurt worse than Kryptonite!

But Jimmy Olsen and Superman stop her anyway and after Jimmy Grounded (Ha! that's the title of the book) her electrically, Supes gets her in one of his old containment suits and it has a big S on the front. I thought this was the start of Superman Inc. which really should be done. Not to copy Batman, just because this book seems to be hinting and teasing about the legacy of the character. Then as the story finishes Superman Lectures us on the bullshit about why America is so much better than the rest of the world. It really makes you feel sick to be honest. I suppose that was to counter all the uproar about his national identity.
This book really needs to find a direction, and I've stuck with it way longer than I should! Honest to God Grounded better finish on a high or it's really just the biggest time waste in comics history.

Marvel Comics May 11th 2011

Amazing Spider-man #660
The Sinister Six attack isn't what it seemed as four of the six of them turned out to be robots rather than members. This was because they were breaking into the Baxter building while Mysterio and Chameleon were springing the trap on the FF. Spidey then has to get used to the positivity of the FF which is quite funny...


Carlie Cooper later reveals to Pete that she got a tattoo and it's not a Goblin one. It's a Spider-man one. She thought it would be awkward for him still as she thinks Spidey and Pete are friends. Nice and funny twist.
Not the best art on the title but it works well with the large group fight scenes and stuff and the incorporating of the Sinister Six into a Spidey/ FF story is really good. At least the numbers are a bit more even. Followed up by another 2 page infested prequel and also the end to the Ghost Rider back up- which started out rather funny but descended into boring and typical beat 'em up comics.

FF#3
It get's better each issue. I like the relaunching and messing around with the status quo of characters and teams, especially when great writers are on board for the long run. This goes for both Spider-man Big Time and the Future Foundation of which Spider-man fits in with perfectly.
The FF are gathering some of the greatest minds on the planet and some of their biggest foes. To attend...


...which is finally revealed by Valeria to have been put in place to stop the council of Reed Richards' from destroying our earth. There is also plenty of Reed action from the council as their plan is put in place along with alliances with the Mole man, the Forever city, Annihilus and a failed alliance with the Inhumans. This is going to be a really huge first story arc. Like, EPIC HUGE!
Same writer artist team that does a great job each time. Lots of build up and I'm hoping a decent pay off. Also with a return to the Negative zone will we get a taste of what happened to Johnny Storm? I hope so.

New Mutants #25
I'm back reading again after taking a break for the Age of X story (not that I don't want to read it, just that I'll get the trade and save buying multiple issues again). New creative team and new direction- the search for X-man. Awesome wraparound cover by Djurdevic.


As for story the premise of having the New Mutants clear up unfinished X-men business before it comes back to bite them on the ass is quite clever. It's like a tame X-force. Plus finding X-man is a great first case. Only problem I have with this book is it has the exact first cliff hanger that Heroes for Hire has. I mean what the hell. Retro villain that doesn't like right when drawn with modern techniques and styles (Sugarman/Puppet master) has tied up a fan favorite (X-man/Misty Knight) to an augmented reality machine that rips off the Matrix films and is making them think they are fighting a super team (Avengers/Heroes for Hire). Come on DnA?! Far too many pages are spent on Cyclops telling Illyana off, which may have been relevant to the previous story but not to the current one.
The art isn't great but does the job and the colouring brings the art back from being too bad. Not impressed so far but I'm going to read the X-man story to the end.

May 11th 2011

Hi this is what's going on this week: Amazing Spider-man #660, FF #3, New Mutants #25 (Yeah I'm buying it again now that Age of X is over- I'd rather get that in trade), Batman Incorporated #6, The Flash #12, Flashpoint #1, Superman #711 and Farscape #19. Eek Flashpoint's here finally! Wonder if Abnett and Lanning will get New Mutants right or if it will go bad like Heroes for Hire?

7th May 2011 Free Comic Book Day!

Well this is really late but it was a good one. Lots of stuff out, and all of the pics from comic shops in the US looked like it was a fun one. I'm in the UK however and there is no where near enough hype around it. Other than a small circle of people that like comics enough to go weekly to get new releases. Where I am from, Hull in the North East of England, we only have the one comic shop that gets new release weekly (there's a couple more but they are just second hand or antique things), so there was only the one shop to go too. Only two spinner racks at the front of the shop for people to grab from. Not even that many people making the effort to get free things, but it was a bit busier than normal. So that's something. I also got handed a goody bag by the owner of the store with the whole set of his FCBD books in. 12 in total. Which was really nice as there were signs up saying only four per customer.
Here's what I got: The Captain America/ Thor book, The Amazing Spiderman, Green Lantern Special Edition (what the hell, a reprint DC?! Come on you have plenty of new stuff you could have sampled!!!), Young Justice/ Brave and the Bold Sampler, Baltimore/ Criminal Macabre flip book, Atomic Robo, Locke and Key, Spontaneous, Witch and Wizard (AAH MANGA!!!), Jake the Dreaming (it's free comic day not free illustrated novel day, Ugh!), Elric and the Mouse Guard/ Dark Crystal flipbook. Not that bad- a nice variety, not all to my tastes but that's what FCBD is about, getting books in your hands you don't normally pick up.


For the full list of stuff that came out got HERE. I also wish I could have got my hands on the Super Dinosaur origin book, 2000AD, Bongo Comics, Ice, Adam West, Top Shelf sampler and the Tick books. But that's just me being greedy.
I shan't review all of them as I am behind enough and aren't that insane. I was really wowed by both Marvel books, great art and fun stories. The DC all ages one was nice to get my hands on as I don't normally go there. Same with Baltimore and Atomic Robo, great art and not what I normally go for. Haven't got round to reading the rest. I should probably read Locke and Key though to see what all the hype is about.

Indie Comics May 4th 2011

Gladstone's School for World Conquerors #1
I knew little about this when I saw it on the shelf. I know image have great taste in the books that they publish and also that they don't normally publish Super hero books, so this must have some kind of catch to it. Something different to make it more than the typical super book. I picked it up and flicked through it to see some brilliant cartoon art. Sort of stylised yet childish in a way that reminded me of the Gorillaz band characters, the Umbrella Academy and Saturday morning kids cartoons. It was a style I really loved and the colouring is perfect, massive gradients and garish basic colours splashed all over. It really is a nice sight. Well don the creatives involved.
There is a ten page intro teaching you the history of the school as though you were attending the classes, then introductions to a spoilt brat of a kid from a line of heritage, his alien mate, the mummy girl that has a crush on the brat and her ghost friend, as well as a couple of rival gangs in the school. After breaking up a fight the caretaker, whom has plant based powers, lets slip that he didn't die but instead retired his character to one of the young school kids. which is soon followed by this...


...a strange revelation that the heroes and villains are orchestrating their own battles together. Maybe for money? Maybe for fame. Still it was a nice twist on a classic genre, with a great cast of characters. I think I'm hooked already!

iZombie #13
Back to it's usual full cast and with reminders that everything is at stake here. A brilliant Scooby Doo reference at the start, followed by Amon, Ellie and Spot celebrate Gwen's birthday, that she forgot about. It seems like Amon made the cake out of brains though as the second Gwen leaves she starts getting somebodies memories. He tells Gwen that she's the only person to stop Galetia (now revealed to be a Frankenstein's monster type deal), from opening that space thing up and letting that big creature through. Gwen's childhood friend becomes one of the vampire group. Diogenes tells Horatio he has been called away on business to the UK and that he should stay behind to finish the zombie problem in the town. That Zombie problem including his girlfriend Gwen and also including the ones Spot just got cornered by!


As for the dead presidents back up. It's more relevant than you'd think. It's three agents one a Zombie like gwen, a male ghost and a female were wolf. A professional and much more badass version of the main gang. They are investigating a Russian radio tower that has been converted by some doctor and Galetia to be the start of the Xitalu project. Xitalu being the big monster thing from space. I found the parallels between this group and the main three to be really interesting. Is this what Gwen could be doing some day? Amon seems to think that she is the only onen to save the world.
Great stuff, story moving full speed again and the entire cast is featured in a well balanced story with even more new and intriguing ideas thrown into the mix with the presidents back up. How long till they clash with the main characters? Not that it needs to be said but Mike Allred is one of my favorite artists and his work is just great for the retro characters and popular B-movie spoofs. This is a good jumping on point but I would recommend getting the first two trades as there is a lot to catch up on.

DC Comics May 4th 2011

Secret Six #33
After all experiencing their own little piece of Hell...

Poor Mr. Shark.

...Ragdoll gives up the card and they escape Hell virtually without any coincidences. Except that Lady Blaze, the ruler of Hell, knows what is happening to Scandal Savages other current girlfriend up on Earth. If they leave and use the get out of Hell card on her ex then there is a very good chance that her current girl will be down in Hell very soon. A nice little touch. The trip to Hell hasn't been as eventful as it felt it would be. The storytelling favors the more bonkers missions and great funny dialogue of random missions and not a series trip to Hell. It feels like the wrong tone for the book in my opinion. You can't take Catman's visit to check his father is rotting in hell for the murder of his mother seriously when its got undertones of humour. Art sets the tone a lot better but this just feels like an odd story to me. Not one I can get into as well as the last few.

Superboy #7
Superboy touches some alien plant on an abandoned spaceship that was headed for Earth and Smallville, which makes him get lost in his own mind and imagine all the evil things he could do with his powers.


Rather oddly Psionic boy saves him, even though it was hinted at that he was from the future to destroy him and could have just left him there to die. Does this mean he's changed his mind? This series is full of one or two part stories and although it doesn't quite capture the magic of the golden age comics it definitely has a lot of the ideals and almost cliches of a one part story telling device and an eccentric cast of characters.

Marvel Comics May 4th 2011 Part 2

Fear Itself Book Two
There is always a danger of this book becoming too formulaic, with the 8 hammers landing, and finding who gets which,but a large number of them were claimed this issue so I am glad that isn't the root that was taken. There was also the danger that too much action would take place in tie-in books but it seems that most of the stories start in this and you can follow them elsewhere if you wish. Like Titania going to fin the Absorbing Man's hammer with him. Looks like that isn't worthy (pun not intended) of making the main story as it's advertised as being in the Ironman book.


The tension and fear is actual being portrayed rather well through a large amount of scattered news reports and coverage throughout the book, and from the speed of everything, the cut scenes are literally every other panel or page. A lot is fitted into this, lots to get your head around and anticipate or guess as to what could be coming next. Surely the Yancy street hammer must be for the Thing? Where is the Absorbing Man's hammer? Who else is going to be getting one? Is that why Odin wants Thor away from Earth? Is he likely to be targeted? Decent stuff all round.

Fear Itself: The Home Front #2
I find the idea of Miriam Sharpe being intelligent enough to stop and help Speedball really quite an good step forward for her. I also find the anger of the citizens of Stamford truly haunting. Rain Beredo's art is beautiful for such a dark subject it ads to the creepiness of it. Also turns out Speedball's semi-invulnerability doesn't work against being suffocated by a plastic bag.
The Agents of Atlas find the room in the castle where the cursed book was made from the skin of tortured Atlanteans. If they can use the pages that didn't make the final cut then this could be quite a major point for the Fear Itself story. I hope what they find makes it into Cap's hands in the main book. I want every little story I read to be for a reason when it comes to tie-ins.


Unlike the Purple man one pager which really is pointless. It's just him swimming to shore from the raft saying he wants to be known by his birth name from now on. Then a short about Liz Allen and her son Normie getting stuck between train stations on a train that's got people clambering all over it to get on board. People are wounded and it's from all the escaped convicts from the raft running riot in the city. It's this kind of story that has a sense of panic a realism that helps fuel the fear of the main book. I'm actually pretty glad I'm picking up this tie-in book.

Uncanny X-Force #9
Such an odd issue. A stand alone story that felt like it should have been the point one hop on point. The pacing is all off and is shown almost cinematically using a bizarre wide panel format all the way through, and far too much time depicting trivial moments unessential to the story. In the same way thumb nails would be used to plan what angle the camera should shoot from while shooting a movie. I have trouble with the art this issue also, there is a bizarre white highlight scribbled over much of the main art throughout and it really distracts from the story. The story could have been forced into half the pages here and still have the same impact.
It's all about Magneto breaking into X-force...

Deathlok is made of metal and Magneto controls metal. It was a one sided fight.

... and getting X-Force to kill some Nazi guy from during the war. Wolverine goes and does it alone to keep everyone else's hands a bit cleaner, I guess. Just not the X-Force I've grown accustomed to since the series started.

Marvel Comics May 4th 2011

Amazing Spider-man Sunday Spectacular
The main 12 double page parts of this were originally printed in American Sunday papers, I guess. They are pretty good for what you get. The story makes little sense in Marvel continuity. Two real world villains enter a comic book and try to steal the first time machine from Spidey. Wasn't the first one Doctor Dooms? (or I guess the more recent ret-con with all the SHIELD history stuff would be way earlier). Still it's pretty humourous and the double page spread art is amazing. Some better than others but always making full use of the space. It's reminiscent of what Mike Allred did with his strip in Wednesday comics. Examples being a Spidey and Doc Ock fight where the tentacles divide the page up, a helicopter and blades diving up the panels and an ariel view of Spidey's apartment as he walks around. Full to the brim with jokes about actors being cast in Marvel movies and in comic jokes.


Really beautiful stuff and exactly the kind of nonsense filled story you'd expect from Stan "the man" Lee.
The other half of the book was a short about Spidey seeking help from a psychiatrist about all of his different identities and then the punch line is, the psychiatrist needs help himself at the end of all of it. Not as much magic as the main story and perhaps missing out far too many of Spidey's costume and power changes, which is where I though the story was going at first. I wanted to see the Slingers, Cosmic Spidey, Iron Spidey, Ben Reilly and all the most recent Big Time ones. That would have been neato!

Annihilators #3
They beat that evil magic queen thing then take her to Limbo to try to free her people. They disown her and then things get worse as Immortus the time traveling ruler of limbo has sent a time army after the Annihilators. Meanwhile the Queen of that planet is in a cell next to Dr. Dredd or whatever he was called who gets himself free because he is working with the Skrulls who have infiltrated the place. I find myself caring very little about the first story. It's never characters I know or references to stories I have read, so I tend to zone out while reading it. Abnett and Lanning would have done better if they paid more time and attention to the team and less on the villains.


The Raccoon and Groot story is where it's at yet again. Really innovative as well. Halfworld is a mental asylum where the wardens are all animals to keep the patients calm. Raccoon was once head of security. The highest level threats in here are guarded by the clowns to keep them happy. The highest threat in here is Star Thief. So much so that all of the wardens make up a living key to lock him in place and to make sure it stayed locked, Raccoon had his memories erased and left for good. Thus throwing away the key. Only the living nervous system of the world made a great way for the psychic Star Thief's mind to escape into. Plus now that Rocket is back, he can free himself! I've said this before about other series (ahem–– Brightest Day), but how can a story with two heroes in be so much better written than the main one with some of the biggest cosmic names in its ranks. It boggles my mind even more when It's by the same writers! But then again Heroes for Hire by the same team went from hit to miss in 3 issues.. so it must just be their nature to not always hit the nail on the head. This half is so fun and different and feels genuinely original. Only one more issue left, and I will genuinely miss the Rocket Raccoon story.

May 4th 2011

Quite a week to follow from, but I'm glad it's a little quieter for my wallets sake. This week I got The Amazing Spider-man Spidey Sunday Spectacular, Annihilators #3 of 4, Fear Itself Book 2, Fear Itself: The Home Front #2 of 7, Uncanny X-Force #9, Secret Six #33, Superboy #7, Gladstone's School for World Conquerors and iZombie #13.
Not a lot, but still a lot of what I like. Which made me think recently- Why don't I give many bad reviews? and then I thought of course I dont, I only buy the comics I like and enjoy. So if there's one I go off it will only get a few bad reviews before I just stop getting it altogether. Duh! I can be a tad simple at times. Anyway reviews...

April Awards

At the end of a very good week I'm going to find this very hard to not give all the awards to stuff I've literally just put down after reading. Seriously what a good week and moth for stories.

Character of the month: This one is pretty easy for me and I know it's a bit of a cop out but Mark from Infinite Vacation as there are so many alternate versions of him! It's just so funny the variety and humour coming through the book.

Team of the month: Seen as their finale beat the crap out of their sister title, and this is the last week (for some time) that I will be able to give them this award, the Justice League International!



Cover of the month: Infinite Vacation #2 as the girl on it is drawn amazingly well. The colour use, textures and patterns is just perfect.



Story of the month: The Uncanny X-Force for doing the first ever interesting Deathlok story, and kinda making him part of the same "World" program that spawned weapon X etc.

Art of the month: Jock on Detective Comics for that killer whale start to the story. Fabulous art and a great mood setter for a fun, enjoyable mystery.

Surprise of the month: The Thunderbolts that made the Beta team. Just such strange choices. I hope they can balance the two teams in one book well though, they've managed so far.

Best single issue of the month: iZombie #12 with Hernandez's art in. I hate to see this title drawn by anyone but Allred but this I can live with, and also thoroughly geek out over.

Best over all title of the month: I would have gone with Detective but I already gave that an award, so I go with a title which has been consistently good for a long while now. Since Big Time started in fact. Yep I went with The Amazing Spider-man. Great writing for a large cast and I love all of the rotating artists.

Crap of the month: Dark Horse presents #1 as it had a lot to live up to and I really didn't think it was worth the huge cover price. There was a couple of decent reads but it was swamped with so-so stories and nothing really jumped out as having longevity to the ongoing stories.

Random award of the month: Biggest over use of splash pages of the month: Brightest Day #24, The last page was warranted, John Constantine in mainstream DC is a HUGE thing. 3 splash pages in quick succession for the fight between Giant Swamp thing and evil Swamp thing really was pathetic. Plus turning the comic sideways hasn't been cool since the 90's so please just don't ever do that again, some poor sod that buys that in a trade hardcover isn't going to be able to see all that image anyway. It's over used them during it's entire run and made me feel like it could have been about an 8 issue series if it didn't prat around with them and the pointless sub plots.

And that's our 3 month-aversary. I'm going to buy the blog a bouquet of flowers and take it away for a romantic weekend. Sorry for getting behind again. You know they make it online eventually... I already have next weeks books sat here and a pile of Free Comic Book Day books ready for reading plus it's release day again tomorrow. Eep best get a move on.