More Comic Reviews

I've been doing a bit more comic book reading lately. Not only on the bus, but also during lunch. Between that and my Captain America business card holder and Lisa Simpson bust-up on my desk, I'm getting the reputation amongst my bank co-workers as the pop-culture gal. There are worse things they could refer to me by, so I'm totally OK with it.

Remember, I am a bit behind on the reading, so these books may be a few weeks old by now.

The End League #2
Dark Horse Comics. Written by rick Remender, pencils by Mat Broome, lettered by Rus Wooton. $2.99.
This seems like it's taken a while to come out. Maybe I'm wrong. Still, it's a book worth the wait. Really great art, although occasionally Broome seems to get lazy on backgrounds - leaving them blank or barely filled in. The story is good to - very solid and interesting. Strong use of different and clear hero archetypes that fight to save not only the few remaining humans left, but also to save themselves. I love that one of the strongest of the heroes, the "god killer" Divinity, is a woman. Not only is she super tough, but she also cries and fights to keep her love, Brian, from death. A

Green Arrow and Black Canary #7
DC Comics. Written by Judd Winick, penciled by Mike Norton, letters by Jared K. Fletcher. $2.99
Turns out that the alien invasion wasn't quite so alien after all. But their discovery starts a new investigation where we find a new bad guy. Fun issue! I especially enjoyed the unique method of torture Canary & Arrow threaten the fake aliens with to get them to spill their guts. This comic is fun & well written with art that works for it. Good stuff. A

Titans #1
DC Comics. Written by Judd Winick, penciled by Ian Churchill, lettered by Comicraft, $3.50.
I did not read the "Part One" of this story arc, and had mistakenly thought that this was a non-continuity story, which appears not to be the case. Still, I thought it was a good read. It seems like it will be a good story - strong start, I will definitely keep reading to see what comes next. Very good art as well. I do think the cover price was a bit too high - let's try to keep these prices at $3, ok publishers. B+ (because of price)

George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards #1
Dabble Brothers Publishing. Written by Daniel Abraham, art by Eric Battle, lettered by Bill Tortolini. $2.99.
I am not familiar with George R.R. Martin's version of this tale. It is a premise that's been done - humans come into contact with foreign chemical, foreign chemical kills some humans, mutates others, granting a few with unusual abilities. Still, I thought it was well written and the art was OK - a little bit lacking in finer details, but still good. My biggest concern with this and the other Dabble Brothers comics we should start to see - lateness. They had problems before their Marvel partnership and during the Marvel partnership, so I am not optimistic that they can keep things on-time after the Marvel partnership. I won't give this one a bad grade because of what might happen in the future though - I'll wait until it happens, or doesn't. B

Avenger's Fairy Tales #2 (of 4)
Marvel comics. Written by C.B. Cebulski, Pencisl by Nuno Plati, lettered by Artmonkeys. $2.99
These fairy tale inspired stories of Marvel characters are fun. I think it is pretty creative to take the Marvel characters and fit them into fables of old. Vision as a Pinocchio character was very good. The art is, as it has been in these "tales" stories, done in a more manga/animation style. I am not always a fan of that style, but it seems to fit with these stories. They are each a one-and-done story too, which makes them great for young and old, collectors and folks new to comics. Entertaining. A

Project Superpowers #1
Dynamite Entertainment. Plotted by Alex Ross, Script by Jim Krueger, art by Carlos Paul, lettering by Simon Bowland. $3.50
The art is very pretty, which I'd expect from anyone working with Alex Ross. Bright colors and lots of detail in every panel. Interesting characters in these stories - The Green Lama is a monk who can teleport via vines- that's pretty unusual. I did not read the 0 issue, so I kinda thought I was lost because I did not seem to know what the premise was. But I did figure it out, or at least I think I did. I will be interested in seeing where it goes. A

Well, I think that's it for tonight. I'm getting pretty tired and I think I've given away too many A's for one day.

The Free Comic Book Day gold sponsored comics arrived today, so I'm looking forward to starting to check those out. Hopefully no dildos in the panels this year! I'll be looking. I can't believe it's only a few weeks away now (May 3). It's always our biggest event of the year, and I am really looking forward to it. We will have some of our local 501st and Rebel Legion folks on hand again, and they are great at bringing in people - and ringing up big sales on all things Star Wars at the register. We will also collect food for the Waukesha food pantry, so don't forget that it's not just about getting free stuff, but also about helping those less fortunate - give to receive. And that's the weekend of the Iron Man movie too - which is also VERY exciting. It's a great time to be a pop-culture gal!