The Week in Comics – Week of 07/08/09
This was a pretty slow week of comics, and after last week I needed a break! Let’s get to it!
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #36 (Marvel Comics)
I admit, this issue really bored me for the first half. It opens with a person begging for their life from an assailant, who looks like Peter Parker! I figured this for another story where someone was framing Peter, so I thought nothing of it. Peter goes with Aunt May and her fiance for their engagement dinner. Her fiance found the remnants of May’s family from Boston, and they have a small family reunion. During the dinner, Peter goes to the restroom, and is attacked by someone calling themselves the Raptor. Peter escapes and changes into Spider-Man to continue the fight for real. The villain continues to claim that he’s not evil, and he didn’t mean to hurt anyone caught in their fight, but they continue to brawl across the city. This is what finally caught my interest in this issue.
Eventually, Spidey corners the Raptor, who when asked why he is trying to kill Peter Parker, he claims he has no idea who that is, he wants to kill Ben Reilly! You may remember Ben Reilly as the “Spider-clone” from the mid-90’s, and one of the stupidest ideas to come out of Marvel. Well, looks like they are bringing him back! I guess we’ll see if they can handle this better the second time around. Recommended!
Punisher: Frank Castle Max #72 (Marvel Comics)
In part two of Welcome to the Bayou, Frank goes back to help the college kids he met in the first of the arc. He sneaks past the psychotic woman and finds one of the girls tied up and about to be raped by one of the rednecks. Frank puts a stop to that and frees the girl, only to be surprise attacked by the woman he snuck past, and before he can deal with her she alerts the rest of the group. Frank goes outside, shoots a few, beats a few down, and then is assaulted by a giant of a man who knocks him down with one punch. Looks like Franks in the shit now! I liked the art and the story is typical fare, but fun to read. Recommended!
Boster Gold #22 (DC Comics)
Rip Hunter shows up in the Batcave to tell Booster that the Black Beetle has unlosed a fixed point in time, he manages to allow Deathstroke’s son to kill Dick Grayson when he lead the New Titans! This was a pretty weak issue for me, as the 1980’s Teen Titans hold no special place in my heart, but if they did then this issue would be a blast from the past. Recommended if you grew up with the 80’s Teen Titans.
Red Robin #2 (DC Comics)
Tim is assaulted by a hit team from the League of Assassins, and reflects on what lead him to strike out on his own as Red Robin. Spoiler show up in the flashback, and we see how they parted ways. I liked the action in this issue, and I liked how the writers are alluding to the Leage itself being hunted down. At the end of the issue, Tim starts a discourse with Ras Al Ghul, one of my favorite’s of Batman’s Rogues Gallery, so I have high hopes for this plot. Recommended!
Wednesday Comics #1 (DC Comics)
This is a hard issue to review. There are fifteen different one page comics here, and each is by a different author and artist. It’s an inventive format, for sure. It looks like a newspaper, and it feels like one too. It’s a fresh format, and while not all the stories were amazing, there was enough there to recommend it, if only to experience this format for yourself. Recommended!
Green Lantern #43 (DC Comics)
OK, finally, I figure I should jump into this whole “Blackest Night” ho-down that is happening in the DCU. First of all, the cover is a giant tease, next, The Black Hand? Yeah, we new he was the Black Lantern from the Free Comic Book Day issue. Oh, wait! This take place AFTER Blackest Night #0! Silly us! I liked the issue, as it was a good set up to WHY they chose the Black Hand, and it gave us a look into his past, but it was a little meh overall. Maybe you should just wait for the ACTUAL Blackest Night event to start.
North 40 #1 (of 6) (Wildstorm)
Two teens come across an eeeevil book, that when opened and read unleashes a shockwave across the small town that seemingly turns half the town into H.P. Lovecraft inspired monsters, and the other half into people with the ability to stop these monsters. The art is beautiful, but the story in this first issue left a little to be desired. I am willing to stick around for the gorgeous art promising to draw more horrible monsters, while hoping the story pulls together to be something awesome. Recommended, Book of the Week!