Detective Comics #855 (DC Comics)

Wow. Just…wow. This book way absolutely amazing, from the cover to the final page. The art? Fantastic. The art just flows throught the pages like the artist, JH Williams III, just poured the ink all over the page and it laid in the shapes set forth by the script.  The writing? Top notch, and you’d expect nothing less from Greg Rucka. The characters? Way too awesome. Batwoman is bad-ass, and her new villian, Alice, is really cool and interesting. Sure, she may end up being a simply Joker analog, but now she is new, fresh, and awesome. Highest Recommendation, Book of the Week!

Dark Reign: Hawkeye #4 (of 5) (Marvel Comics)

First off, damn, isn’t that just a bad-ass cover? Ok, on to the story. We left Hawkeye/Deadpool (let’s go with HawkPool) surrounded by people in Deapool costumes. HawkPool manages to take most of them out, until he is caputured and strapped to a chair. In comes Kingmaker, who just happens to be HawkPool’s father! He wants HawkPool’s body to house his brain, because his body is dying from what HawkPool did to him in the past. Well, based on the last few pages that doesn’t seem like it’s going to work out. Awesome issue! Recommended!

Dark Reign: The Hood #3 (of 5) (Marvel Comics)

I like the Hood as a character, but it’s hard to get past his bad ass image from EVERY other Marvel book, where in this one he is a caring husband and father. It’s a good issue if you’re into his struggle against the influence of Dormammu, but man, I’m just not anymore. Not Recommended!

New Avengers #55 (Marvel Comics)

This book had me cracking up, with Spider-man regretting that he let them all know he was Peter Parker a few issues back the whole issue. The writing of this book continues to be fantastic, and I really enjoyed the debate about killing Norman Osborne, even if Amazing Spider-man dealt with that for a five issue story line.  Recommended!

Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-man #2 (of 4) (Marvel Comics)

This issue was better than issue one by leaps and bounds! It was disturbing, hilarious, and a real joy ride! I think you can easily get away without reading issue one before this, so I recommend you do just that! Recommended!

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

This was my favorite of the three books, for one reason: Kilowog! This issue covers his origin, which is pretty damn awesome. Even if it did have a Gunney-rip off as his instructor, it was still a really good story. The second story was a lot weaker, it’s about Green Lantern Arisia and how her family is rare in that the ring is passed down the family line, and how she’s passed up twice. Really meh. But, hey, Kilowog! Recommended!

Blackest Night – Tales of the Corps #2 (of 3) (DC Comics)

This issues gives us stories of the Star Sapphire Carol Ferris and the Red Lantern Bleez, both of which are better than the previous issues exploits. I found it interesting how the Star Sapphire ring changes the wearer, as this is my first time reading about that ring. I also liked the connection to Hal Jordan that the Ferris family has. Bleez was interesting as well, showing us how the “Angel of the Red Lanterns” was captures, enslaved, and tormented by a member of the Sinestro Corps and gained her Red Ring. Good book on some interesting characters! Recommended if you’re reading Blackest Night.

Green Lantern #44 (DC Comics)

A classic team up of Barry Allen and Hal Jordan take on the newly zombified Black Lantern Martian Mahunter (BLMM). I really liked seeing how BLMM was made, and seeing the Choco fall and crumble was a nice (and symbolic) reminder of MM’s funeral. I enjoyed the battle a lot, especially when BLMM says “I’m a strong as Superman. Why doesn’t anyone remember that?” and throws a building. Really fun issue, it’s making me look forward to seeing how Blackest Night pans out! Recommended!

Amazing Spider-man #600 (Marvel Comics)

The first of two milestone #600 issues this week brings back a classic Spidey villain, Doctor Octopus. He attempts to take over the city, and Spider-man has to fight the city itself as he tries to locate Doc Ock’s lair. The subplot to the issue is that J. Jonah Jameson is attempting to stop his father and Aunt May’s wedding. I really liked the new look of Doctor Octopus and the way he’s made due with way his body is failing. I thought the marriage ceremony was sweet, and the twist at the end could be cool, if done well.  I thought the “Covers You’ll Never See!” were a bit on the cheesy side, but I thought that the Identity Crisis story was funny, with Spider-man showing all the physical changes he’s had over the years. The story about Uncle Ben’s relationship with Peter was nice as well. Overall, this is the best one of these #600 issues I’ve read, especially since it has all 100% original stuff and no re-prints. Highly Recommended, Book of the Week!

Herogasm #3 (Dynamite Entertainment)

Another interesting issue of the mini-series, this one featuring a much larger role by The Boys than previously seen. When the Hero Fantastico dies is a “splashy” way, the Boys use the commotion to slip in and kidnap someone with the information they need. In the midst of it all, Hughie runs into Black Noir, and is violated in a terrible way. Recommended by fans of anal raping Batman analogs and Boys fans!

Immortal Weapons #1 (of 5) (Marvel Comics)

The first dozen or so pages really dissapointed me, as it was just a reprint from previous issue, but once the original stuff kicked in this got awesome. Fat Cobra is a hilarious character in the Iron Fist series, and I’m glad they picked him for issue #1. I enjoyed his exploits, but now that he’s out of the way they can show more of the character we don’t know a lot about. I liked the first installment of the Iron Fist story running through all the books, and hey, anything new Iron Fist related is gonna be decent. Recommended!

Dark Wolverine #76 (Marvel Comics)

More of the continuing exploits of Wolverine’s son Daken, as he sows distrust in the ranks of Norman Osborne’s Dark Avengers. I didn’t find this issue as entertaining as the past issue, as I think this is setting the stage for a really cool fight next issue. I did enjoy Dakens interactions with the Fantastic Four a good deal. Recommended!

Guardians of the Galaxy #16 (Marvel Comics)

I must have missed something, or something happened in the War of Kings crossover, or something, because I feel totally lost now. I’m thinking about skipping all the cosmic books until this crossover is finished. Only read if you are following the War of Kings, Not Recommended otherwise.

The last issue in the series, because no one read it, and it was one the best comics Marvel has put out in a long time. This nicely closes the books on the MI-13 group, with suprisingly happy endings for everyone. I highly recommend people check this out when they are out in trades, see what they missed, and clamor for a new ongoing MI-13 series. While you’re at it, check out the Wisdom MAX series from a few years back, it was an awesome lead-in to this series. Highly Recommended!

Incredible Hulk #600 (Marvel Comics)

Wow, how far the Hulk has fallen since the Planet Hulk storyline. This book sucked donkey sack. The Red Hulk is just a mean Grey Hulk and I fell asleep half way through this, literally. BIG TWIST: Red Hulk makes it so Bruce Banner can never be the Hulk again! So, basically Bruce will be happier than ever, but Marvel will find some stupid way to make him become the Hulk again. Not Recommended.

Invincible #63 (Image Comics)

HELL YES ATOM EVE DIDN’T DIE!!!!! I was going to drop this book if Kirkman did really kill her off, seriously. Invincible gets some help from Eve in this fight, and brutally bashes the invaders face in with his own forehead. It was crazy brutal….maybe a little too brutal for Invincible. Don’t get me wrong, I love violence, but I don’t know if the story is better served with so much. Still, second best book of the week and Highly Recommended!

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!

Good week for comics! A lot of big issues that were pretty good, and only a few let downs among all I read! Let’s get to it!

Agents of Atlas #7 (Marvel Comics)

I’m not a huge fan of most team books, but I really do enjoy Agents of Atlas. In this issue, Jimmy Woo makes an interesting offer to an old friend, and tries to break Namor’s ties with Norman Osborne. I liked both story lines, and although this issue was an end to an arc it could stand alone. Recommended!

Batman and Robin #2 (DC Comics)

Ah, now THIS is more like it! I was let down by issue one, but I figured it was a set-up for good things to come, and this issue shows great promise. I really liked the fight scene in the police HQ, and just how un-Robin Damien is. The interplay between Dick and Damien was very well written in this issue. I think this is growing on me! Recommended!

Captain America – Reborn #1 (of 5) (Marvel Comics)

The event no one was waiting for! The chance to screw over a currently awesome comic just to sell a few more copies! Woooo! So, the breakdown of this is: Captain America, got shot by Sharon Carter with some sort of “tachyon” bullets or some mumbo jumbo, and now he’s “unstuck in time.” Ugh, what a terrible comic book trope, really. I wasn’t impressed with this issue, but maybe it’ll become less cliched as the issues progress. Cautiously Recommended.

The Mighty #6 (DC Comics)

I like this series, I really do. It’s a non-DCU story about a Superman-esque hero, the only one in the world, and his human liaison. He’s beginning to suspect that Alpha One isn’t as squeaky clean as the world believes, and events in this issue lead him even further down the path to the truth. I really liked the scene where Alpha One takes him into space with him, their conversation is excellently written. Recommended if you like off-beat supes stories.

Cable #16 (Marvel Comics)

I am completely over Cable’s story. I liked the crossover with X-Force because I like most of the characters on that team, but I just don’t care about if this girl is going to be Jean Grey, and I don’t care that YET AGAIN, Cable has issues with his technorganic virus, yadda, yadaa, I’m done. Ugh, and that cover is TERRIBLE! Not recommended!

Justice League: Cry for Justice #1 (of 7) (DC Comics)

Hal Jordan is pissed and he’s not going to take it any more, and a few other, not quite are popular, DC heroes are also pissed. Hal Jordan getting mad is nothing new, and really? The Atom? Congo Bill? The Original Starman? I’m interested to see where this leads as this does tie into the new direction of the Justice League, so I guess we’ll see. The art was pretty damn awesome! Recommended for Justice League history buff who may know who the hell Congo Bill is.

Crossed #6 (of 9) (Avatar)

I am a fan of Garth Ennis’ writing, and I also like the art in this comic because while it is simplistic, the gore is done pretty well. This issue our intrepid survivors deal with a undesirable amongst them, and set a plan of action to escape the Crossed that surround them. They make a smart, believable choice as to how to escape, and I’m looking to see how this pans out for them….and I assume it will end badly. Recommended!

The Sword #18 (Image Comics)

Dara takes down another one of the three who killed her family, and the last one reveals herself as a god to humanity, which will turn the world against her. This story is really getting interesting, and I really cannot wait to see what happens next. I really loved the fight scenes in this issue, the action is dynamic, visceral, and gory without being gratuitous. Highly recommended, Book of the Week!

Uncanny X-Men #513 (Marvel Comics)

Part 2 of the Dark Avengers/X-Men/Dark Reign tie-in, where they cram the events of the X-comics into the rest of the Marvel U, like they do in every single crossover event. Boring, pointless, bleh. Skip it!

Greek Street #1 (DC Comics, Vertigo Imprint)

I’m a sucker for new Vertigo series, but this one just didn’t grab me. I guess this is about a street somewhere which has all the classic Greek myths playing out on it. Or something. It wasn’t really clear, and since the issue was only $1, I’m willing to give it another shot. If #2 doesn’t grab me, I’m bailing. Recommended because it was $1 and could be interesting.

The Astounding Wolf-Man #17 (Image Comics)

Gary and his daughter reconcile over bloodshed, Zecharia is captured, and Gary follows The Face to try and bring him down. A pretty standard issue, but it did resolve the Dad/Daughter issue (which was dragging on), the Zecharia issue (the same), which is good. The last page was a little sudden and out of the blue, and it has the potential to be cool. Recommended.

Deadpool – Merc with a Mouth #1 (of 6) (Marvel Comics)

This makes, what, three Deadpool series now? Looks like three was the ticket, because this issue was TERRIBLE. The art sucked, the jokes fell flat, and it just felt like too much. This is definitely the third wheel of the Deadpool comics, AND it plays off the pretty much bleck Marvel Zombies 4 Deadpool’s head angle. AVOID!!!

Invincible Iron Man #15 (Marvel Comics)

Tony Stark is losing more and more of his mind, and barely remembers Pepper Potts when she finds him in Russia, and is unable to remember almost the simplist things, but can remember some high level stuff at times. When Madam Masque attacks, Tony has to fight without his armor and with only half a mind. Pretty cool scenes in this comic, and I am really enjoying this series. Recommended!

The Boys #32 (Dynamite)

The Female isn’t dead, but really, really fucked up. While at the hospital, the Boys are attacked by the tream of C-listers recruted in issue #2 of Herogasm, and after the initial suprise they enact some vengence of their own. Good issue, kind of by-the-numbers though. Recommended for fans of the series.

Sadly, as of this publishing I wasn’t able to get my hands on Buffy Season 8 #26, or Angel #23. Sad but tue.

Harris Comics, best known for the character Vampirella, asks Do You Beleive in $1.99 Comics? this week with the announcement of a new, reduced price Vampirella mini-series launching in September. Comics are extremely expensive these days, and Harris is hoping that it’s lower point will expant the fanbase of a once popular character. Vampirella comics have always been cheesy T&A fests, but in the best, B-movie way possible. I know I’ll give the series a chance!

All good things must come to an end. In this month’s “Previews” catalog for September shipping comics, it was revealed that J. Michael Straczynski’s Eisner-nominated run on Marvel Comics Thor is coming to an end. This is a damn shame, because Thor is currently one of my favorite comics on the market. Straczynski moved Thor from a Thee and Thou relic of the silver age to a modern character that was actually interesting and fresh again. This departure was rumored earlier this year, when it was reported that an upcoming Marvel crossover event will be an “assault on Asgard,” which apparently he wanted nothing to do with. JMS’ departure will occur in a 64-page “Thor: Defining Moments Giant-Size”  one-shot by Straczynski and Marko Djurdjevic.

Captain America #600 had a special Monday ship date to comic store owers, but they had to pay extra to get it so a great number of you comic fans won’t be seeing it till this Wednesday anyway. Also, why would anyone make a special run to the comic store to just get one issue from their pull list? What a moronic idea, Marvel! In response, Robert Kirkman (Imvincible, The Walking Dead, The Astounding Wolf-Man) issued this statement over at Imagecomics.com about Invincible #63:

In an unprecedented move, writer Robert Kirkman and illustrator Ryan Ottley have made a cryptic, semi-confident promise that INVINCIBLE #63 might be kind of a big deal for reasons they wouldn’t say and plan to back it up with a special Wednesday shipment direct to comic shops!

“All I’m saying is INVINCIBLE #63 reorders should be double or triple over all retailer’s orders combined plus fifty thousand,” Kirkman stated. “I even heard President Barack Obama might call a press conference to discuss the contents of this very special issue, because there may be something of national interest in there. Also, every newspaper ever could possibly make it a front page story. Who knows?! All I can say for sure is every single human being on the planet, regardless of whether they read comics or even know what they are, will definitely be extremely interested in this issue, maybe even enough to buy a copy!”

INVINCIBLE #63 might even possibly be the biggest comic book event of all time, up there with The Death of Superman, The Death of Captain America, The Entirety of the Early Nineties and Action Comics #1! The only certainty is everyone must place a ridiculously massive order for a non-returnable product they may or may not make a profit on sometime in the near future. Or never. Don’t ask – just buy it! You trust us, right?

Added Image Comics Publisher ericstephenson, “There’s a chance this could very possibly be an event of undetermined importance, both for comics fans and people of all walks of life, with only the most passing familiarity with comic books, or even books, period. We can’t really say what happens in this issue, but trust us, something does happen. And it might even be something interesting. Best not to jinx it, though, so let’s just go with, ‘Something happens.’ It’s somewhat likely a number of people we have yet to identify will want one. ”

INVINCIBLE #63 (APR090384), a 32-page full color comic book easily worth around $500, but costing only $2.99, will be in stores June 17th, 2009.

Not only can Kirkman write amazing comics, guy even makes a press release funny!

Speaking of Captain America, looks like Cap is coming back from the dead already. Marvel announced Captain America: Reborn issue #1 is hitting stands on July 1st.  This is the first issue of a five part miniseries bring Steve Rodgers back from the dead. Please Marvel, keep Bucky as the main Captain America!

That’s the really notable stuff from the past three days, I’ll  see you here again on Friday!