The Week in Comics – Week of 07/15/09

Sorry for the delay everyone! I was at a concert Sunday night and in my excitement for the show I completely forgot about putting this up! Worry not, faithful readers, for I have your Week in Comics!

Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #2 (of 3) (Marvel Comics)

In this issue, Beta Ray Bill is continuing his efforts to starve Galactus, and he runs across a race of aliens who don’t like his plan of having them all evacuate and then blowing up the planet, they want to fight back. In the past these aliens bio-engineered their aggression out, and have to wear special helmets that let them fight….yeah, it was just as terrible on the page as you think. Bill takes advice from a prisoner on his ship, Scuttlebutt, who tells Bill to unleash a nano-virus onto these people, and he not to give them the antidote until they leave the planet….yeah, again, just as dumb on the page. In the end Bill can’t lift his hammer any more because it wasn’t a noble act. Uh, DUH, of course it’s not! This was a terrible comic, and I had high hopes after the first issue. Man, issue #3 better be AMAZING. Not recommended!

Amazing Spider-Man #599 (Marvel Comics)

The thrilling conclusion to the American Son five part arc! Norman and Harry go at it pretty hardcore, and since they hate each other like only a father and son can, it’s a pretty good fight. Normal calls of H.A.M.M.E.R. and the “Avengers” so he and Harry and duke it out alone, and even Spidey can’t help because he’s pretty jacked up. Harry could have seen Peter’s face, but he chose not to, stating he “doesn’t care who he really is.” Harry beats Norman, and has the chance to hill him but Peter talks him out of it in a pretty awesome scene. In the end, they allude to Harry falling off the wagon, which I hope doesn’t happen. Recommended!

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1 (of 3) (DC Comics)

I like getting to know some of the other colored Lanterns, and the Blue Lantern’s story was the best of the ones presented here, although the Yellow Lantern Mongul’s was pretty interesting too. I don’t get the Indigo Tribe at all, and this didn’t help that situation at all. Recommended for Lantern fans.

Deadpool #12 (Marvel Comics)

This book was an awesome conclusion to the Bullseye/Hawkeye vs Deadpool conflict of the past few issues. Bullseye/Hawkeye’s recovery dream was awesome, with he and Wade teaming up to blow up a school together as kids. Once he wakes up, he realizes that after he took the meat-hook to the chest last issue, Deadpool actually brought him to a civilian hospital because he didn’t want their “game” to end. Deadpool explains the how the game kill is everything to him, and he just lets his payments rack up in an off-shore bank account. He plans to do nothing, and let Deadpool go stir-crazy in anticipation. When he does finally go after Deadpool, he manages to run Bullseye/Hawkeye over with a large pickup truck. Bullseye/Hawkeye tells Deadpool that Norman Osborn wants to bribe him, when it’s actually Bulleye/Hawkeye that wants to escape with his life. The end of the issue is a pretty cool scene, so I’m not gonna ruin it here. Highly Recommended, Book of the Week!

Dark Reign: Mr. Negative #2 (of 3) (Marvel Comics)

This issue suprised me at how good it was. This is a very good “What If? Spider-Man Was a Villian” type book, but withing the constraints of the current universe. Mr. Negative explains how his power makes someone as bad as they are good, and in this case that makes Spider-Man very, very bad. He decimates the villians set out to kill Mr. Negative in a variety of awesome ways, and the best part is that they show his new thoughts about why he is doing what hes’s doiong, and it’s very well written.  He is then told by Mr. Negative to kill Betty Brant, which Spidey gleefully sets out to do at the end of the issue. We all know it won’t happen ad Spider-Man will regain control of himself in issue #3, but I am looking forward to seeing how it happens. Recommended!

Agents of Atlas #8 (Marvel Comics)

Atlas leader Jimmy Woo leaves on a personal mission with the robot M-11, and the rest of the team investigate a distrurbance at one of the Atlas facilities they haven’t investigated and mothballed yet. When they get to the base, they discover it was being used to perform experiments on drifters found in the desert! The abductors got more than they barganed for when their recent price was Bruce Banner, A.K.A. the Hulk, who is apparently stupid again or something. I never know what’s up with the Hulk these days. Overall, a pretty boring issue with a standard Hulk as an enemy trope. Dissapointing, not recommended.

Punisher #7 (Marvel Comics)

I really like the fact that this issue felt more mature than the previous issues of this non-Max run, with Frank being offered a chance to have his family brought back from the dead by the Hood. Sadly, this is countered by a horrible story about the villans brought back to life fighing amongst themselves, which dragged the issue down. Recommended to Punisher fans.

Captain America #601 (Marvel Comics)

The issue was drawn by Gene Colan, who is 82. This is really impressive given the quality of this double size issue, but I’m SO over these flashbacks to Nazi-era cap. At least this was Cap vs. Vampires, which was slightly more interesting than the regular Red Skull battles. Recommended for Nazi-fighting Cap lovers.

Dark Avengers #7 (Marvel Comics)

X-men, mutants, public nuicense, locked up for their own good, blah blah blah. Skip it, X-men should stay out of crossovers.

Blackest Night #1 (of DC Comics

As much as last week’s Prologue issue bored me, this OWNED MY FACE. I was pretty suprised as how much I liked this, and I think it’s because it’s not just a Green Lantern thing like I was expecting. I don’t want to spoil to much, but I gotta say, right now DC might do better zombie supes than Marvel ever did. Highly Recommended!

The Walking Dead #63

This was an interesting issue. It seems that the undead are starting to weaken and lose control of their functions. No idea why this is happening, but this could mean hope for the survivors. They discover this while looking for Dale, who has been taken captive by “The Hunters,” who sadly, are hunting humans for pretty much the reason you’d expect from Kirkman. I like the Preacher character a lot, and hiding out in the church could be interesting. This issue also comes with the first issue of Chew flipped on the back, which is an interesting little Image comic. Can’t beat a free comic! Recommended!

Fables #86 (DC Comics – Vertigo)

FINALLY a decent issue of Fables! I’ve been feeling that the book has lost it’s way, but this was an excellent exploration into the past of Mister Dark, the newest (and oldest) Fable villain on the block. He was presented rather creepily, especially the last few pages of the issue. I’m actually looking forward to reading Fables again, which is pretty nice! Recommended to Fables fans!