Thursday, September 29, 2011

The New 52



Ok, so it is finally over. All of the new 52 from DCs relaunch #1's are done. I was planning on actually buying all 52 titles but eventually decided not to. I ended up with going with roughly half of the titles. Now I will go through a list of what I wish I would have bought, what I am keeping, what I am dropping and what is hanging by a thread.

What I loved about this is that there are very few titles that everyone seems to agree on. People seem to gravitate toward different books for their own reasons. I love the discussion that the reboot has fostered.

With the amount of titles sold, I think that this can be considered a success so far. I just hope that the high sales continue after the hype has died down a bit

What I wish I would have bought.
This is going off of what I have heard on various podcasts and what I have read about and seem like I may have missed the boat and will most likely pick up next month in replacement of what I am dropping.

Batman #1. This miss was an oversight on my part. With all of the Bat-books that came out this month(13 not including issues outside of the bat family in which Bruce makes a cameo), I just didn't mark it down on my pull list. I have heard this is one of the best Batman titles and ties in nicely with Nightwing.

Wonder Woman #1. This was a very conscious choice to leave this off of my list. Then I have not heard a single negative comment about it. I hear it is exactly like a Vertigo book in both Art and Story.
I have never been a Wonder Woman fan but I will be picking up the second printing of this for sure

Superman #1 Another conscious choice I made was to not get Superman because I was already getting Action Comics. What changed my mind was when he makes a cameo appearance he made in Justice League Dark #1. His look and feel were amazing. I am hoping to grab one on Friday if my LCS still has and issues left (yes, I know, Good Luck)


Titles that are being Dropped from my pull list

Hawk & Dove. I am one of the people that did not hate this title. It was just tolerable. I don't feel it is a good use of my time with so many other issues I have to pass up with my budget. It was forgettable enough that I didn't recall much of the story at all when I thumbed through it to consider which stack I would be putting this into. I actually liked it when I first read it but I think it was mainly because of the newness of the whole reboot. I realize now that I really don't care about these characters or where this story ends up.

Green Arrow. I do stand by what I said about loving the look of this book and the new look of Green Arrow. However I am dropping this title, at least until issue 4(i think) when J. T. Krul is off of this title. Then I will re-evaluate again. I want to like this title but I don't want to wade through the corporate storyline that we have to wade through

Birds of Prey. This is the title I wanted to like so much. If my expectations would have lower, perhaps this would have ended up on the maybe list, but I just will not be picking this one up anymore.

Books that are hanging by a thread.

I, Vampire. As I said before, it is ok. Not great but I think there is enough potential to warrant keeping this title up for at least a few more issues. I hope this finds it's footing. I hope this one will be an eventual superstar, but it is on borrowed time if it doesn't find it a hook soon, it will be gone

Red Lanterns. Let's be honest, I am a Green Lantern freak so this will of course get a lot of extra padding from me. It is the weakest of the four Green Lantern titles so far. I am keeping my fingers crossed

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. This book showed so much promise in its Flashpoint mini series. Unfortunately I feel that it lost a lot of its magic for me on this issue. I am hoping that it pulls itself back up on issue #2

Superboy. I don't know if Superboy will be interesting enough for me to keep this title, especially considering that I get him in 2 titles that keep (Teen Titans and Young Justice). I would like to keep it but I don't know that I care enough to read him that much. It is not that there is anything wrong with this book, but I like that other titles more

The Flash. I will try this for one or two more issues but I don't know if the Flash is interesting enough to me to warrant reading his solo book, and I get to see him in Justice League in a smaller dose

Batman The Dark Knight. This is a good title. I enjoy it but with the amount of good Batman titles out, I feel this is the lowest on the bar.

Titles that made the cut and I am definitely keeping

Suicide Squad. I think I have made it abundantly clear how much I love this title. I know everyone may not agree with me but I feel like this is the breakout hit of the entire reboot
Justice League Dark
Catwoman. I really don't care about the negative press this title has received, A woman can be sexy and empowered at the same time and I feel that Judd Winick really did show both sides of her personality that way.
Nightwing.
Red Hood and the Outlaws. The more I read this title, the better it gets
Green Lantern
Green Lantern Corps
Green Lantern New Guardians. The best out of all the Green Lantern titles this month
Batgirl.
Batman and Robin
Batman Detective Comics
Justice League
Teen Titans
All Star Western. I was shocked that I liked this. I almost didn't read it at all but I love it now
Superman Action Comics



Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Comic Reviews for September 28, 2011









DC Comics

This is the last week of the official relaunch books. We will be starting #2's next week. My next blog will tell which I wish I would have picked up, which books I am keeping, dropping and what is hanging by a thread.

This will also most likely be my last week of reporting DC's new game of Where's Waldo with the woman in the blue cloak. At first it was kind of fun but now it feels tedious and silly

So on to my reviews. It is a big week


Green Lantern New Guardians #1
Team Tony Bedard/Tyler Kirkham/Batt

I really like this issue. In fact, I will go out on a limb and say this is my favorite issue of the Green Lantern books from the relaunch.

This book starts out with the origin of Kyle Rayner getting his Green Lantern power ring. It is a story that has been told but a great refresher in this title.

The action then goes to a member of each of the lantern corps (Red, yellow, blue, Violet ect) and one of each of them has their ring leave them and say they are going to a new replacement.

Wouldn't you know it, they all end up circling Kyle, trying to recruit him while he is in total bewilderment.

Last thing we see is members of all the Corps getting ready to attack Kyle for "stealing" their rings. To be continued....

The art is great. I also really enjoyed the storytelling and am very excited to see what happens next

The lady in the purple cloak shows up in the panel that the kid is making fun of Kyle's GL uniform

Grade A

I, Vampire #1
Team Joshua Fialkov/Andrea Sorrento

I was really looking forward to this title. It feels a lot more like a Vertigo book than a DC title which is just fine with me

The art looked like the stuff from the Gunslinger series.

Although I am not hooked yet, I am interested enough to buy the next book.

The story seems to circle around a Vampire killer that just happens to be a vampire as well (sound like Vampirella?) who is in love with another vampire... At least it isn't twilight and they don't sparkle

The woman in the cloak was actually cool to find in this one because it looked so good and creepy. She was hiding in a tree when Mary turned into a wold to hunt a swan

Grade C+

Teen Titans #1
Team Scott Lobdell/Brett Booth/Norm Rapaport

This is another title I was really looking forward to. I think that it did deliver big time.

We get introduced to 4 of the team in this issue. It starts with Bart Allen (Kid Flash) so far I don't like him at all. Then we meet Tim Drake(Red Robin, the third Robin) who will be masterminding everything. Then we meet Cassie (Wondergirl) who really doesn't want to be there and we finally get a brief shot of Superboy, who will start out as the teams enemy.

I like the art, and the storytelling. Really like the pacing. So far so good

I found miss Thing watching when Cassie was about to be taken into custody

Grade B+


Batman The Dark Knight #1
Team David Finch/Paul Jenkins/Richard Friend

I loved this title Pre-reboot and had high expectations for it. This one definitely feels a lot different from its predecessor. It is different but it is still good. Once again, we are getting a lot of Bruce Wayne out of his costume. No more of the heavy magic stuff in this title. It feels like a Batman book. Not that that is a a bad thing, but with all of the Bat-Books flooding the market, I would have like to have seen something to make it different from the pack.

There are shades in this book of Batman Inc with Bruce being questioned by Internal Affairs of Gotham PD with suspicions of funding the Batman

Art was great.

I couldn't find the woman in the cloak in this issue, or maybe I just didn't care enough to find her

Grade B-

The Flash #1
Team Francis Manapul/Brian Buccellato

Other than Flashpoint, I haven't read Flash in years. Nothing about this comic really stood out to me. It is not that there was anything wrong with it, but it was pretty much forgotten by the time i closed the book.

Perhaps I will try this one more time, but I don't know

I found the Woman in the cloak hidden among the reporters when Barry is being asked if the Flash may have anything to do with the crime that was committed

Grade C

Justice League Dark #1
Team Peter Milligan/Mikel Janin

The name does say a lot about this, it is very dark. It would definitely fall into the horror comic label.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. It really exceeded my expectations. The art was really beautiful. I will be picking up this book for the foreseeable future

I am not really familiar with any of the characters, other than Zatanna and Deadman. I really look forward to learning more about all of them.

A few cameos by Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg (and they get their asses handed to them)

This book also had the best line of the entire relaunch. "But what is the smell of sanity? The Reek of skinned Babies and sliced eyeballs."

The woman in the cloak shows up when Superman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg are about to face up with the witch that looks like the Spectre

Grade A+

All Star Western #1
Team Justin Gray/Jimmy Palmiotti/Moritat

This was the second book in my stack. As soon as I saw the art, I shut it and moved it to the bottom of my stack. So when I finally picked it up, I wasn't expecting much.

I WAS WRONG. The art so fit the story. It was like Batman meets Sherlock Homes meets John Wayne. Absolutely fascinating, I even turned around and immediately read it twice.

This takes place in the old west days in Gotham. Jonah Hex gets called in by Dr Arkham to help solve a Jack the Ripper type case.

Going back to the art, i suppose I just needed to get used to it. All of the art is washed in a Sepia tone that actually starts to make sense as you read the comic and are almost sucked into that time.

The Woman in the cloak can be found in the Bar when Jonah Hex and Dr Arkham are discussing Jonah's facial deformity

Grade A+


Marvel Comics



Wolverine #16
Team Aaron/Sudzuka/Wilson

This is the Wolverine that I love. It is the final aftermath of the rather bizzare story arc that has been happening.

Wolverine is slowly coming out of his insanity and gets to go kill people again for all of the right reasons. By the end you just get the feeling that everything is finally ok, well as ok as it can ever be for Logan.

I like the way this book left me feeling by the end of it.

Grade A+




Wolverine The Best There Is #10
Team Huston/Ryp/Mossa

Ok, I have given this title a lot of chances because, well, it is Wolverine. Not even going to waste my time on a review. This is officially off of my pull list. Done.

Grade D-








Venom #7
Team Remender/Fowler/Rauch

I really am not into the whole Spider Island thing and I would not have bought this if I wasn't digging the Venom title.

It is Venom vs Anti-Venom. I always hate saying Anti anything because it feels so cheesy to me. However this is an exciting fight and I feel that the Anti-Venom was explained very well. Although the origional Venom was evil so shouldn't the Anti-Venom be all good? Just a thought.

A bit confusing but that is mostly because I have been avoiding the Spider Island stuff.

Not bad but I expect that it will return to what I love about this comic next month when this event is over (I hope)

Grade B-


Icon Comics

Kick-Ass 2 #4
Team Mark Millar/John Romita Jr

This is still one of the best comics on the shelves today. I have not seen an issue that is less than stellar.

This book takes a very dark turn. There is shooting children, implied rape, beating of women, cop killing...Dark stuff. I feel like this would be way over the line but I feel it is very necessary to the storyline.

We see Kick-Ass' father go to jail at the end of the comic to protect him.

The stage is set for Hit Girl to return next issue and raise all kinds destruction to the bad guys.

This issue also makes for a complete turn of Red Mist from dopey stoner that is a bad guy but could find some sort of repentance in the end, to a fully evil human that there is no forgiveness and no semblance of any redeeming quality.

Grade A++



Image Publishing

Avengelyne #3
Team Liefeld/Poulton/Gieni/Weeks


Love this title. This is the end of the first story arc. Avengelyne gets her body back (hooray!). We really get to see that the Big Bad throughout this series will most likely remain the Red Dragon.

I was thrown off and almost didn't buy this title when I saw the cover of this. It is misleading in the fact that I thought that they had left the very distinctive art style that I have fallen in love with in this book. Luckly, that was just the cover and not the book itself

Grade A


Wednesday, September 21, 2011

September 21 2011 Comic Reviews


DC Comics


Green Lantern Corps #1
Team Peter J Tomasi/Fernando Pasarin/Scott Hanna

Well, so far so good. Not the most interesting of titles but not something I am going to get rid of any time
soon.

This Green Lantern title will be centered around Guy Gardner and John Stewart. It reminds me a lot of the very serious note that was started when Green Lantern Emerald Warriors first began. There is a ton of potential in this book if it ends up paying off.

Something the new DC seems to like to do is spend a lot of time with all of our superheros when they are not in their
costumes and really trying to give a focus to their other lives. It feels a bit like Marvel in that aspect, which may not be a bad thing.

All in all I will pick up this title again just to see where it goes.

I found the purple Cloaked lady on pg 12 behind John Stewarts architectural
construct/blueprint.... and what I may feel as another clue is a purple cloak hanging in the principals office when Guy Gardner is interviewing.

Grade B-



Nightwing #1
Team Kyle Higgins/Eddy Barrows/J.P. Mayer

Bravo. I loved this book. I have never really been a Nightwing fan, in fact this is the first Nightwing title I have ever read. I really enjoyed it. It was a very pleasant surprise.

The art was fantastic. The story was better than ok. I had heard some grumblings about the costume being Red and Black instead of Blue and
Black. I like the red and black personally. Its a bit reminiscent of Batman
Beyond(which I really enjoyed)

This is not a reboot title. It gives a bit of history that he was just the Batman for a while in Gotham while Bruce Wayne was "unavailable". You really don't have to know any of the prior history to fully enjoy and follow this story.

Once again, DC is doing a smart move and introducing a new villain. If I didn't know better I would think it was the child of Wolverine and Jason Todd. He is actually not after Nightwing, but rather Dick Grayson. It is a very interesting take.

The lady in the cloak shows up when Dick is visiting his old circus for the first time.

Grade A


Red Hood and the Outlaws
Team Scott Lobell/Kenneth Rocafort

Ok, this title is pure fun. I like it a lot. I like seeing a Punisher type character in the DC universe.

If you are not familiar with who Red Hood is, I will give a very abbreviated version. The second Robin, Jason Todd, was killed by the Joker quite a few years ago. He was brought back to life, went completely nuts and became Red Hood.

While the story was good, it was not without it's flaws. I don't really understand Starfire. Great eye candy but odd.. Another character I may need to know some history on I suppose. My only knowledge of her comes from the Teen Titans cartoon.

Ill keep picking it up

Oh, the lady in the cloak shows up in the one Chicago page. She is pretty tricky to find in this one

Grade A-


Catwoman #1
Team Judd Winick/Guillem March

This story is filled with Catwoman looking sexxy. Lots of her kicking ass. The art is terrific. The story was great.

Oh hey look, Batman showed up.......again.......for the 7th time... this month.....on the relaunch..well then

This will be a fun title to watch grow a bit. I think they really are going to try to make Catwoman a bona fide
Anti-hero star

Grade A


Birds Of Prey #1
Team Duane Swierczynski/Jesus Saiz

I want to like this book. Sad fact is that I just do not. Decent art. Story is confusing.

I may check out one more of this title, but I doubt it

The lady in the cloak shows up when Black Canary is going up to meet Barbra Gordon aka Batgirl aka Oracle

Grade D



Young Justice #8
Team Greg Weisman/Kevin Hopps/Christopher Jones/Dan Davis

This is the continuation of last months issue where you get to meet Artemis. I am kind of liking this story. This book may be all ages but that does not mean it is not fantastic.

Yes Batman makes an appearance in this book too. So if you are keeping score, of the DC Books this week, 4 featured Batman, 2 did not, however, He was made reference to in the Red hood title......He is one busy non-meta human

Because this is not one of the new 52, there is no Lady in the purple cloak

Grade B+



Marvel Comics




Captain America #3
Team Brubaker/McNiven/Leisten/Ponsor

Oh how quickly I am seeming to fall out of love with this title. The whole Ameridroid thing + time travel(or inter dimensional travel) thing just feels a bit silly to me.

This title has one more chance for me

Grade C-



Here Comes....Daredevil
Team Waid/Martin/ Vicente

So this is the exact opposite of Capt America. Every issue I am starting to like this more and more.

Although it may seem strange, nothing really happened in this issue. Yes there was action, and good story telling, but it was a bit like a Seinfeld episode...Nothing happens. It was self contained. I really liked it.

I love the art on this one by the way. Fantastic visual story telling.

It was a bit odd however that this issue did come out this week, when they just did a release last week. They can keep up that print schedule as long as they like as long as they keep giving me a great little escape like this one

Grade, A

Dynamite Entertainment


A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
Team Abraham/Patterson

So this comic will most likely be passed around a lot. I really like it so far
and I have at least a few friends that would be very into it.

To be clear, I have not seen the very popular show, nor have I read the novel, but this was very easy to follow and understand. I loved the art. I have a feeling I will be buying this book till it is down to its bitter end

Grade A+



The Bionic Man #2
Team Kevin Smith/Phil Hester/Jonathan Lau

I came into this one without first reading the #1 issue, but as usual, Kevin Smith seems to be a master at a slower build, so I was able to jump right in.

This title is great. If they made it into a TV show, it would probably be among my favorites like The Walking Dead and Sons of Anarchy.

Going into this, especially if you grew up watching the old 70s TV show with Lee Majors, you have a generally good idea of whats going to happen, but there are elements in this that are just a fantastic switch up that I have no clue where they will end up.

I am already excited to read the next issue

Grade A+

Vampirella and the Scarlet Legion #4
Team Harris/Malaga

It is time once again for the "other" Vampirella title. I usually like the main Vampirella title a lot more than this one, but this issue has me really hooked on this one.

This has a great cliff hanger at the end that I am very curious about. I do wonder if this is just its own story arc, or if this title will continue after and stay its own title, instead of being dissolved into the regular book

Grade A












Saturday, September 17, 2011

Digital vs Paper



I was once very against digital books. I like the feel of the paper and, lets be honest, books sitting on a book shelf looks so much cooler than a tablet. Then I ended up getting a Kindle, and I fell in love with it. I rarely buy regular books anymore, unless they are a great deal, or I need to get one that completes one of my small collections. It is so convenient to be able to carry hundreds of Lbs of books in a 10 oz device. Sure I miss the feel of a real book in my hand and that new book smell, but the benefits seem to outweigh the drawbacks to me.

When I saw that comic books have been making a huge push to really get into the digital market, I thought it would be a great thing. I ended up doing what I often do and started to
weigh out the positive vs negatives for me.

I like to be a positive guy so I will start with the positives.

Positives

Portability. As with books, it is nice to be able be able to carry hundreds of books with you wherever you go. Its nice to have extra room when you need it.

Convince. Instead of waiting at your LCS for your books, you can just download an app and have your comics in less than a minute after they are released.Cost Effective. Lets be honest, if titles run the same price for digital and for a hard copy, you would be saving money with digital...sort of. Yes you have to pay the initial cost of your iPad or other tablet device (which can be expensive) but after that you will save money on your weekly trip to your LCS(local comic store) because you wont have to pay for gas.


The Negatives

Art. In the books that I have downloaded, the art has not seemed to
translate as well as it does on the printed page. Because the art is such an important part of this medium, it is very difficult to overlook for me.

Loss of community. If you have read my blog, you know that I think that community is one of the most important thing to the growth of the comic industry. with the online store, there is no face to face interaction, no chance meetings of other people that share your hobby, and no shared excitement when you are sharing a great comic discovery that you have made, or vice-versa.

Loaning. I like to loan out my books and get people excited about a particular title, or even get them excited about comics in general. I find that I can tell people about comics till I am blue in the face, but if I can show them, they get excited. When I was a kid, I could trade comics with my friends, and that was part of the fun With the digital, that will disappear.
Loss of "free advertising". If you are on your tablet, no one can tell if you are reading a comic, watching a video or playing unhappy birds. The more people see others do something, the more apt they are to try it for themselves. We are the innovators
.

In my opinion, hard copies of comics are the better choice for me. As for you, enjoy your comics in whichever way you want, as long as you are enjoying your comics


You can follow me on Twitter @comicnotgeek




Thursday, September 15, 2011

My comic day ritual


I know that everyone has their own rituals for when they read their books. I just thought it may be an interesting article to talk about what I do when I read mine.

My ritual often starts Tuesday nights. I usually have the list pulled up on my computer of what will be getting released and is going to be dropped into my pull box. I will try to go through and do a quick scan through of the last issue or two so that I can really have a grasp on my new when I read them the next day. I then make sure that everything is back in the normal alphabetical order and in the right numbers(yes I know, my OCD is showing)

The next morning, I get up early so I have a lot of time to kill. Just to be clear, I don't get up early because it is new comic day, my work dictates that I am up at 5 am so my internal clock wakes me up by 6 at the latest. Anyways, during my down time, I try to get some of my pre-
production done on my blog for the comic reviews. I get all of the images I can, being very careful not to read any spoilers, or really any opinion pieces at all about the books I am about to dive into. I really don't like to have my opinion skewed before I read the book personally.
So after my formatting is done, it is just about time to go over to the comic store.

My Comic store experience is ever evolving so lets just say I pick up my books and go home. Maybe next article will be about how I want it to be.

So I go home and I organize my books into a very specific order of what I am the most excited to read to the least. I usually base it off of how good
the last issue was, or maybe just what title is (note, Green Lantern Titles almost always go first). I then like to turn on some mellow music, preferably something without words, and pull out my first book. I like to write each review right after I finish each issue. Then I will put the book in one of two piles. One pile is when I bag and board them, and as soon as they are done, I will organize them and put them into their proper series spots. The second pile is where I put the books that I really enjoy and want to read again. Usually that will be the next day, but on rare occasion, such as Suicide Squad #1 being so good, I will end up reading them again right after I finish my whole stack.

Yeah, that's about it. What are your comic reading rituals?




You can follow me on Twitter @comicnotgeek


Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Comic Reviews for September 14







To begin with, this was a huge week. So without further ado.....

DC Comics







Green Lantern #1
Team Geoff Johns/Doug Mahnke/Christian Alamy

My First concern when seeing the relaunch title of Green Lantern is to see Sinestro on the cover wearing a green ring. I read the book and am actually very surprised how much I enjoyed it. Yes Hal Jordan is still in the picture without his ring but I get the feeling he wont be without it for too long.

Sinestro had some wonderful moments in this issue, especially when he went back to Korugar and ended up fighting
his own Sinestro Corps. Seeing him with the Green Ring is absolutely destroying him and is making for some fantastic exploration of the character

Meanwhile, on earth, Hal Jordan is not doing well at all in adjustment to civilian life without the ring. His apartment is being Foreclosed on, he has no job, he ends up in jail while trying to do what comes naturally for him, being a hero. He no longer can relate with Carol Ferris and is screwing up everything.

This book may also be the end for the only guardian that anyone cares about, Ganthet, as it appears the other guardians have finally had enough of him not agreeing with them in all things.

This book doesn't seem like a reboot to me, just a simple re-numbering back to #1. I am fine with that. There is more life breathed into this book now however. Fantastic read

The hooded lady appears in Coast City while Hal and Carol are walking around.

Grade A+



Red Lanterns #1
Team Peter Milligan/Ed Benes/Rob Hunter

This is another really fun title. I don't know what I expected, but I do like it.

I like the sense of morality that the Atrocious, leader of the Red Lanterns, abides by, I hate to admit that I can relate to them....just not at that extreme degree. They are almost like a more powerful Punisher in some ways. I am not sure where this title is heading, but i am in for the ride

The Cloaked lady appears in a side ally where the two brothers are about to fight towards the end of the book

Grade B+

Batman and Robin #1
Team Peter J. Tomasi/Patrick Gleason/Mick Gray

This is the first time that I have seen Bruce and his son Damian together as Batman and Robin. It is a very different chemistry that the Dick Grayson/ Damian team up that I have gotten so used to. It is not a bad team up and I am looking forward to seeing where it will go.

This issue shows a lot of Bruce trying to kind of let Damian in as he is trying to let go of his past pain, but Damian is less then interested. He just wants do live in the now.

The lady in the cloak appears right beside the pool during a cutaway when Bruce and Damian are having their battle

Grade is a B-


Suicide Squad #1
Team Adam Glass/Frederico Dallocchio/Ransom Getty

To be completely honest, I was looking forward to this title more than any other title. This is my new favorite book. It is a take off of Secret Six. I love this title. Violent, compelling, dark humor, great art, this is the total package. I would have a hard time saying this is not the best book I have read throughout the whole new 52 so far.

Harley Quinn has never looked hotter or been cooler

This book left me speechless. Do yourself a favor and pick it up

The woman in the cloak shows up in the first scene when Deadshot is being tortured.

Grade A+++++++


Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E #1
Team Jeff Lemire/Alberto Ponticelli


This book has so much potential. There are some great characters,a very interesting premise, but it is just missing something. I feel like I should love this title but I don't. I said before that it is a Hellboy knock-off and that doesn't bother me. I wish that I could put my finger on what it is, but I just don't know.

The art feels a bit rushed. Ill give it another few issues, but only because I want to like it,

The woman in the cloak appears in the background when Frank is shooting Monsters in the city

Grade is a C

Superboy #1
Team Scott Lobdell/R.B. Silva/ Rob Lean

I had the absolute lowest expectations for this title. I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised.

It was very much the same origin story we have come to expect from the superboy titles. Nothing new, but if you like Superboy, you will like this. I liked the art but it got me the most excited to see what they are going to do with him on Teen Titans,

The woman in the cloak shows up in the lab right before Superboy is taken away on the Helicopter

Grade B










Marvel Comics



Ghost Rider, Fear Itself #3
Team Rob Williams/Brian Ching/Sean Parsons/Rob Schwager

When a Ghost Rider title is good, there is just the right mix of heresy, humor, spiritual enlightenment, action, great art and excitement that leaves you hungry for more. When it is bad, it is preachy, confusing, and pretty much boring. Luckily this was a good one. I really hope we get to see Johnny Blaze take back the Ghost Rider Mantle at the end of this story arc

Grade A-



Deadpool #43
Team Daniel Way/Carlo Barberi/Walton Wong/Jorge Gonzalez

Deadpool is such a polarizing character. Either you love him or you hate him. There is no in between. I just happen to be one of those poor, misguided souls that love him.

This issue takes place in England after he was broken out of a mental institution by a Dr that is crazier than he is. So crazy in fact that Deadpool himself is freaked out by her.

Lots of LOL moments throughout this whole book. Its a fun time

At the end there is a little special couple of pages for 9/11 that was really touching

Grade A-

Here comes Daredevil #3
Team Mark Waid/Paolo Rivera/Joe Rivera/Javier Rodriguez

Nice story this time. Daredevil basically get some ear damage fighting a villain named Klaw who is a master of sound. It is a very interesting premise considering sonar is how he sees.

I like to see Matt Murdock actually coming out on top at the end of a story. I hate how in the past, every time you picked up a Daredevil book up, it was just a masochistic torture of ole' Matt. I like this direction...at least for a little while

Grade B



Dynamite Entertainment



Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time #12
Team Robert Jordan/Chuck Dixon/Ronilson Freire

This is some absolutely beautiful art. Unfortunately I just came in on #12 so I am completely lost so I don't feel that I can give an accurate review












Zenescope Publishing

Fly #4
Team Raven Gregory/Eric J

This is probably one of the best comics that not enough people are reading. The art has been consistintly great, the storyline is riviting. Although I usually hate media with the "just say no" undertones to it, but this does not feel at all preachy or condesending. I will continue this till it ends