Comic Reviews for March 28, 2012

                                            
                              DC COMICS







Green Lantern New Guardians #7
Writer - Tony Bedard
Artist - Tyler Kirkham
Colorist - Nei Ruffino

"INVICTUS"

Another solid issue for the New Guardians.  Something very interesting happened in this issue, I realized that I am actually beginning to really care about and like all of the characters on this team, not just a few select.

We got the back story on who Invictus is, what the Orrery is (surprise, its all clones)and that Larfleez has been playing them the whole time.

We also learned that all of Larfleez's constructs are made from the essence of beings that he has killed.  That is why Glomulus seems so sentient.   It makes a lot more sense to me.

This title is still a lot of fun to me.

My only complaint at the moment is that it does not seem that Bleez will be able to lead her own faction in the Red Lantern series while being involved in this team because it is all going on at the exact same time.  Who does DC think she is, Spider-Man?

Grade
Story- A 
Art - B

Teen Titan #7

Writer - Scott Lobdell

Artist - Brett Booth

Colorist - Andrew Dalhouse

"ASSAULT ON PROJECT 13"

I am actually liking this book more than the Justice League. 

This book is never on the top of my list, but it is never on the bottom.  I am however being seeped deeper and deeper into their world and am really enjoying their world.  

I find the N.O.W.H.E.R.E thing a bit uninteresting but once I get past it, I think I really am enjoying everything else quite a bit.

Toward the end, I am a little confused by the Red Robin and Solstice interaction.  I will need to read the next book but I don't know exactly what happened.  I don't know if that is to build suspense or if it is bad storytelling with a huge hole in it.  I shall see what the answer to that is next month/

Grade

Story - B+

Art - A-

                                                                     

                             IMAGE COMICS

Alpha Girl #2

Writer - Jeff Roenning

Artist - Robert Love

Colorist - Diego Simone

This is a fun book but I don't feel the same warm fuzzies that I felt with the first issue, but I think there is a lot of potential in this title.

I still don't understand why our main character is not one of the Zombies.  

The inking is a bit inconsistent in spots but the art is a lot of fun in general

This book is cheesy, but in the right ways/

Grade

Story - B

Art - B

No Place Like Home #2

Writer - Angelo Tirotto

Artist - Richard Jordan

Colorist - Paul Little

Now we are getting somewhere.  I tried to buy this title last week but I accidentally got the second printing of issue one instead.

This one goes a lot deeper into the Oz mythology with seemingly hundreds of Easter eggs dropped into the book.

The villain of this book so far is not the crazy drunk, it is one of the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz.

I am in for this book

Grade

Story - A

Art A-

                                            

                          MARVEL COMICS

Ghost Rider #9 (FINAL ISSUE)

Writer - Rob Williams

Artist - Lee Garbett/Emanuela Lupacchino

Colorist - Rob Swagger

After a lot of ups and downs with this title, It went out on a high note.  

They did end up giving the Spirit back to Johnny(it should have never left) and that made the 9 issue series close very nicely.

Aljeandra is around and could be used in the future...but she doesn't HAVE to, and that is all right with me.

I am sure this title will be back within a year

Grade

Story - B+

Art - B+

Comic Reviews for March 14, 2012

It is a heavy DC week for me with my Marvel titles coming in later by mail.

It doesn't matter if you have been reading Batman & Robin or not, you need to pick up this issue.

DC COMICS

BATGIRL #7

Team

Writer - Gail Simone

Artist - Adrian Syaf/Alitha Martinez

Colorist - Ulises Arreola

"A VIEW FROM BELOW"

This book is starting to be a lot more interesting to me. The last few issue were a bit blah to me, but now I feel like it is really finding its groove.

It is her finally training again and trying to get over her messed up Psyche.

Black Canary fit very well into this issue and I hope she will have a recurring role.

I really did not the look of commissioner Gordon at all. He just did not look right.

I like that Barbra looks like she will be on a runaway train that is going to eventually put her into the path of the one person that has damaged her more than anyone else.....the Joker

Grade

Story- A

Art - B+

BATMAN & ROBIN #7

Team

Writer - Peter J. Tomasi

Artist - Patrick Gleason

Colorist - John Kaliz

"DRIVEN"

This issue starts where last issue left off, Damien being tortured while Bruce has to listen. If there was EVER a time for the Batman to kill, this would be my breaking point.

Some absolutely beautiful page layouts in this issue.

The last page of this book literally sent chills up and down my spine. It made me feel like I felt when I watched the last scene from this weeks Walking Dead TV show. Things will definitely change after this.

Did I ever mention that Damian is my favorite Robin ever?

Pick up this book. I will get some backlash for saying this but this is 10 times better than the main Batman title with the court of owls.

Easily my book of the week

Grade

Story- A++++

Art - A+++

GREEN LANTERN #7

Team

Writer - Geoff Johns

Artist - Doug Mahnke

Colorist - Alex Sinclair

***************************

**SPOILER WARNING!!**

***************************

"SECRETS OF THE INDIGO TRIBE Part one"

It is still so odd to see the Black Hand as the mindless drone wearing the Indigo Ring. How the mighty have fallen..

I have rarely been so flustered at the end of a book like this before. If I had hair, I would be pulling it out right now.

Such a great, edge of your seat beginning. Hal is starting to show great shades of his former self, Sinestro is being his normal piece of crap, but of course for the greater good, then Carol puts on the ring once again.

Then a cutaway to the Guardians being the little bastards that we all have grown so accustomed to seeing as of late. Geoff Johns is doing his job, I really hate them.

Then another cutaway to Hal being held in an Indigo Lantern jail by the Black Hand.

Then it basically ends. Why is it not next month yet!!!!

It was nice to have Doug Mahnke back after the last issue

Grade

Story- A+

Art - A+

SUICIDE SQUAD #7

Team

Writer - Adam Glass

Artist - Clayton Henry

Colorist - Val Staples

"THE HUNT FOR HARLEY CONCLUSION"

And it is a death count of two for this issue. Amanda Waller blew off one of the twins, Lime, head completely off of her body because she was captured and couldn't keep her mouth shut. I won't tell the second one, but it is a game changer for sure.

We had a little more about Harley's origin

We also got a rather chilling scene of Deadshot wearing the Jokers face while Harley is trying to have a conversation with him...as the Joker of course.

Grade

Story- B+

Art - A

IMAGE COMICS

AVENGELYNE #7

Team

Writer - Mark Poulton

Artist - Owen Gieni

Colorist - Dexter Weeks

"THE HUNT Part 1"

There is a whole lot of new characters introduced in this issue. Nine of them actually. As well as a few guys from the Youngbloods(which I have not read since 1992)

While I like that they are thickening up the cast a bit, I think it is a bit too much for one issue. On top of that, the Priest storyline. He is still thick into story with no signs of stopping. I hope that they are not going to put the brakes on with him because I find him very interesting, more interesting than Avengelyne herself.

Speaking of Avengelyne, it appears that she is still being possessed by the Red Dragon on a very part time basis(See issues 1-3)

Art is feeling a little more rushed and sketchy.

Grade

Story- B

Art - B-

This weeks books were once again bought at Comic Oasis in Las Vegas, NV

Marketing, or the lack thereof

I was on twitter recently, as I usually am, and someone posed a question that got my wheels spinning. The question was, and I am paraphrasing, Why did the Harry Potter movies translate to such huge amounts of book sales, when Comic movies make almost no difference to comic sales? I don't know if I actually have any definitive answers but I think I may have a few good ideas.

I blame it 99% on simple marketing. Whenever a new Harry Potter movie hit the big screen, everywhere you would go, you would see the Harry Potter posters, backpacks, journals, toys and most importantly BOOKS. The same thing would happen whenever they released the DVD's. It didn't matter if you were at a bookstore, a chain store such as WalMart or KMart, Starbucks or a gas station. The merchandise AND the books were available everywhere.

Now let's take as an example, the 1989 release of Batman. I use this example because it is the

template for every single Comic book movies' marketing campaign ever since. There was the Bat-Symbol everywhere. Fast Food had Batman giveaways, Prince had an epic(at the time) soundtrack that was all over MTV and the radio, backpacks, toys, EVERYTHING, except what was most important.....Comic Books. Yes, just like today, you could get it from you local comic store, but Batman #346 was not in front of your face at all times.....You had to go looking for it. Once the hype from the movie goes away, it is too late, unless people have gotten invested in the ongoing story, not just the stand alone story that was told on the big screen.

Another huge advantage that the Harry Potter Franchise has is that they (by they I really mean

J.K Rowlings) let the audience grow up with the characters. It started with young kids, just old enough to want to read and be impressed enough by the material to want to share it with their children, when that time came. The film company decided to let the films grow as well and every film was more mature so it would keep it's original fans. It never talked down to it's audience. And it never strayed far away from it's source material.

Comic movies on the other hand seems to hate its core audience. They don't want to invest in the future, to have characters that a child can relate to and obsess over for the rest of their lives.

Comic film marketers need to change the model that they are using. If more people were involved in the Serialized stories, they would be making more money on the merchandise, movies and the Comic Industry would be making more money. It is a Win-Win for everyone.

I do have ideas on merchandising that have been said a thousand times, by a thousand people but never seem to see the light of day. Like a free Avengers comic given away at the movie theatres when you are going to see the Avengers, or getting comics involved in the Fast Food Advertising or even stocking Major titles at places like WalMart where they are selling all of the Toys.

You can follow my Twitter @ComicNotGeek

Comic Reviews for March 7, 2012

DC COMICS

RED LANTERNS #7

Team

Writer - Peter Milligan

Artist - Ed Benes/Diego Bernard

Colorist - Nathan Eyring

"REBEL YELL"

I know, I know, everyone hates this book. It is growing on me.

We are seeing a lot of the new earth Red Lantern and getting to see what is going on in his head. This honestly should have been issue #2 or maybe #3.

The Biggest problem in this book is probably the snails pace that it has been moving.

I am actually starting to really like the characters. When Bleez is torturing on of the former yellow lanterns by ripping his skin off, it made me really dig her even more.

I really enjoyed John Moore and Guy Gardners interaction and it showed that there is still a bit of humanity in the Red Lantern still.

I am also digging where they are taking Atrocious. I like him more alone than having to deal with being the leader of the Red Lantern Corps.

Grade

Story - B+

Art - A

HUNTRESS #6 (of 6)

Team

Writer - Paul Levitz

Artist - Marcus To

Colorist - Andrew Dalhouse

"CROSSBOW AT THE CROSSROADS Part 6"

********************

**SPOILER ALERT**

********************

So what we have been looking at this whole time is actually the Earth 2 Huntress we are supposed to be getting in the World's Finest that will be starting in May.

I actually will be going back and reading the whole series with the knowledge that I now have. Suddenly I think I will be ending up getting up adding World's Finest. I will give it a 3 issue trial anyways.

The ending pulled this whole series from just a little bit above average to a very good, re-readable book. It would be worth your time actually buy the Trade Paperback when it comes out, if you have not been buying the single issues as they came out

Grade

Story - A

Art

AVATAR PRESS

FERALS #3

Team

Writer - David Lapham

Artist - Gabriel Andrade

Colorist - Digikore Studios

And the award for the most gory and blood-drenched comic of month goes to..........Once again, Ferals. Seriously, this book is porn for a serial killer.

Its is twisted, but just in the right way.

There is a lot unraveling here and I am really looking forward to next issue for some big reveals. There is a lot going on in this book right under the surface.

I doubt you will be able to just jump on to this book at a random place. I think every issue will take you deeper down the well. Get this book before it is too late

Grade

Story - A

Art - A

MARVEL COMICS

WINTER SOLDIER #3

Team

Writer - Ed Brubaker

Artist - Butch Guice

Colorist - Bettie Breitweiser

"THE LONGEST WINTER Part 3"

There is no such thing as better art than this book.

Robot Dr. Doom? I am in.

I like this book, but I really don't care about the characters yet. I hope that changes soon or I can't justify keeping it.

It is stunning to look at. This is another one being moved to the DCBService pile

Grade

Story - B-

Art - A++

WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN

ALPHA AND OMEGA #3 (of 5)

Team

Writer - Brian Wood

Artist - Roland Boschi

Colorist - Dan Brown

My guess is that this book is a mini-series to turn Quinten Quire from a Weaselly, Arrogant, Self-Absorbed, Misunderstood bad guy, into a Weaselly, Arrogant, Self-Absorbed, Misunderstood good guy.

I did enjoy this issue more than the last, but I still am not sold on reading and X-Men team books after this series ends in two months.

Grade

Story - B

Art - B

IMAGE COMICS

HELL YEAH #1

Team

Writer - Joe Keatinge

Artist - Andre Szmanowicz

Colorist - Jason Lewis

"THE WORLD THEY MADE"

Wow. I am recommending this book to everyone. No really, I am, all over twitter and my friends I know that read comics have gotten texts to go get it.

I just got this feeling that this will end up as my favorite book in a very short time.

It's a superhero book that is based in a closer reality than your average "cape and cowl".

I don't want to spoil anything so please, based purely on my enthusiasm, buy this book!

Grade

Story - A++

Art - A

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

VAMPIRELLA VS DRACULA #2

Team

Writer - Joe Harris

Artist - Ivan Rodriguez

Colorist - Adriano Lucas

This is the last Vampirella issue I will end up buying from my LCS. I will continue to get them from www.DCBService.com. The $3.99 price tag is just too high of a price tag for me to buy on the release day. $2.39 and waiting a week will be just fine.

This particular Vampirella title is a bit hard to follow. It seems a bit all over the place.

The art feels a bit weak.

I am keeping with it, but barely at this point.

Grade

Story - C

Art - C+

Comic Reviews for March 2, 2012

It is a bit late but I hope that you enjoy it.

DC COMICS

JUSTICE LEAGUE #6

Team

Writer - Geoff Johns

Artist - Jim Lee

Colorist - Alex Sinclair

"JUSTICE LEAGUE PART 6"

As always with this book, it is its own art gallery. Completely beautiful to look at. It is the end of the first major story arc and it seems to have wrapped up nicely. The ending felt a bit cheesy, but with the overall tone of the arc, it felt forgivable.

The second ending left me a little confused. We got to meet the mysterious "Pandora". Sadly, it felt like a "back-door" written in months ago before DC knew if the new 52 was going to work out as well as it did or not.

The star of the book was a toss up between Superman, because, well, he's Superman, and Cyborg. What I liked about cyborg, especially in this issue is that he was the only reason they saved the day, but it wasn't jammed down your throat like certain writers seem to like to do with some other characters (ahem, your guess here, ahem)

Grade

Story - A

Art - A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

MARVEL COMICS

VENOM 13.4

Team

Writer - Rick Remender

Artist - Lan Medina

Colorist - Marte Gracia

"VENOM GOES TO HELL"

So I went through this book, enjoyed the journey it took me on, appreciated the art, really got sucked into the book.......and then closed the book and said "HUH?

Maybe I am just a but under the IQ bar but I have no idea what just happened

I am a bit grateful that this even ends next week so I can go back and read it all in a long graphic novel fashion.

Grade

Story - B-

Art - A-

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #680

Team

Writer - Dan Slott & Chris Yost

Artist - Guiseppe Camuncoli

Colorist - Frank D'Armata

So when I first started reading this issue, I thought is was to be yet another retelling of the famous Symbiote story when John brings it back from space, but this is something.....well, different.

I really am enjoying Spidey's exchanges with the Human Torch. It's a battle of the Smart-Ass. (where is Deadpool when you need him?)

Dr. Octopus is just damn scary looking. They are doing a great job of modernizing the villains. It is great to the visual end of things.

This is going to be a fun arc.

Grade

Story - A

Art - A

IDW COMICS

ROAD RAGE #1

Team

Writer - Joe Hill & Stephen King

Artist - Nelson Daniel

It was written by Pop Culture Horror Writing god Stephen King and his son, who is blazing his own trail in the world of Graphic Novels, Joe Hill. It shows. With a pedigree like that plotting this out, anything less than exceptional would not be acceptable. This was ridiculously fantastic.

I know it is a bad idea to judge a book by a first issue so heavily, but this feels like the new bar of Graphic Novel storytelling.

I am a huge fan of the show Sons of Anarchy. I am a huge fan of getting on my own V-Twin and cruising a few hundred miles down the highway. Even if you are not a fan of those things, you will still get it when you read this book, but the interest may help

Grade

Story - A+++++

Art - A

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

THE BIONIC MAN #7

Team

Writer - Kevin Smith & Phil Hester

Artist - Jonathan Lau

Colorist - Ivan Nunes

"BODY AND SOUL"

Again a great story. Not a whole lot about it that I can say that I haven't said about all of the previous books so far. It is still great and I would still highly recommend it to anyone.

There was a moral to the story....The Govt is evil and should never be trusted no matter what

Grade

Story - A+

Art - A