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The Rest of the Stack: Action Comics, Red Robin, and Radical

Posted on November 16, 2009 by Walt

I’m finding that I’m more and more dissatisfied with the Superman books. While I’ve not entirely enjoyed the stories (the writing’s been good, though), the art on the various books have really put me off. As such, I haven’t paid much attention to details, as I just try to enjoy what I can of the stories.

This past week’s Action Comics issue presents Flamebird and Nightwing in new costumes, it seems–the duo having given up the “Iron Man meets Sandman” getups for a more super-heroic look. The next sleeper they’re tracking has also been revealed, AND we see Chris age yet again, providing a fairly worrisome cliffhanger.

Though I’m interested in what happens, and find the stories to be well-written (if not likeably-illustrated)…my interest on the whole continues to decline.

Also, while this week’s Booster Gold issue brought Blue Beetle into the main story (foregoing the backup/”Second Feature” status of BB) quite effectively, I doubt this title will do that anywhere near as effectively with Captain Atom, whose “Second Feature” story seems to have brought him into the current status quo.

I have particularly mixed feelings on the Red Robin title–the sole Bat-title I’m continuing with at present. This latest issue has some nice imagery (the cover resembles that Jim Lee cover of Batman on the Gargoyle, overlooking the city, giving Tim Drake a similar “iconic” image).

Yost continues to add a bit of depth to the League of Assassins, and seems to be telling a very capable tale of Tim Drake and his journey to find Bruce Wayne. I also appreciated the acknowledgement of the Blackest Night: Batman mini and Tim’s “break” to go back to Gotham and having faced the Black Lanterns.

Unfortunately–for the title, if a single reader matters–I’ve been losing interest overall. With rumours out there that Bruce will be brought back as early as Summer 2010, I’m hesitant to “invest” in this title not knowing if it can survive long-term…but I’m banking on payoff in the form of this being where any “Return of Bruce Wayne” story might kick off.

Both Action Comics and Red Robin faced stiff competition this week, with 3 Blackest Night issues out, and two Deadpool-related issues. I’m rather disappointed to say that Action Comics actually earned the “Bottom of the Stack” status this week–though I chose to buy it, the issue went straight to the bottom when I was sorting comics by order I planned to read. (Booster Gold #26 was top of the stack).

The fact that both these titles went to the bottom in deference to the Blackest Night and Deadpool issues out of hand rather than winding up there by necessity of SOMETHING being at the bottom gives me something to think about in terms of buying vs. not-buying.

On another note, Radical Comics had a preview book out this week. My local comic shop was giving it away “free” with any $5 purchase. I nearly didn’t grab it, but figured I was already buying at least $5 in product, so might as well take a look-see.

This book is basically a bunch of double-page ads for various upcoming titles Radical is putting out. The art has its merit with all of these, putting a great foot forward. Each title has a premise given with the art as well as the creative/writing talent behind ’em. Most of these seem pretty interesting in concept…but I’m not willing to–at $2.99 or more per issue–invest in these mini-series.

I find that for the most part (Blackest Night stuff being an exception offhand) I have near-zero interest these days in any mini-series. The projects put forth in this preview all read like something I’d be MOST interested in reading in their “graphic novel” or “collected volume” format. That way, even if there’ll be ongoing/serialized minis, I’d be assured a more full story.

On the other hand, an anthology with a few pages of each of these stories per “issue” might be something I’d be interested in giving a try. As-is, I get the impression that Radical‘s output is largely to “sell” the concepts as movies moreso than any ongoing story universe, which adds to my disinterest in any single-issues they might put out, at least while I have no real track record to follow by way of their past output.

Filed under: The Rest of the Stack | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Booster Gold #26 [Review]

Posted on November 15, 2009 by Walt

Full review posted to comixtreme.com.

Story: 4.5/5
Art: 4.5/5
Overall: 4.5/5

Filed under: Blackest Night (Event), Booster Gold, cxPulp.com, DC, DC Universe | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Green Lantern Corps #42 [Review]

Posted on November 15, 2009 by Walt

Hungry Heart

Story & Words: Peter J. Tomasi
Penciller: Patrick Gleason
Inkers: Rebecca Buchman, Tom Nguyen
Colorists: Randy Mayor, Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer: Steve Wands
Editor: Adam Schlagman
Cover: Gleason, Buchman & Mayor and Buchman (variant by Greg Horn)
Publisher: DC Comics

This issue is mostly battle scenes, as we see the Green Lanterns (with help from the Indigo Tribe) defending Oa from the Black Lanterns. Killowog faces the Black Lanterns of recruits who try to stir up his guilt for failing to keep them alive. And the Black Lanterns reach 100% power…and prepare to Devour WILL. With things looking bleak, Kyle seizes on an idea that might just buy the defenders an edge–and sets his plan into motion. Unfortunately, an Alpha Lantern’s interference sends things in a less than desireable direction.

The ending of this issue was pretty much what I expected as the story progressed–from the moment the Alpha Lantern showed up, I had a sinking feeling…and the heroic action that resulted left me all the more sunk. The final page, seeing the body and the ring’s declaration that its Green Lantern was deceased and flying off…totally heart-breaking. Especially given WHO it was.

The action in this issue was so fast-paced that I hardly noticed the art. Where I did notice it, it didn’t seem all that bad. Gleason’s art seems much more well-suited for the alien characters; and even the cartooney aspect that usually bothers me so much didn’t really show through in this issue. The story was basically a straight-forward battle sequence followed by a fairly typical “heroic death” sequence. While significant in and of itself, it’s nothing special, and is rather formulaic in execution.

On the whole, a mostly average issue tending toward the better side for me as one who generally has not liked the visual style of the title’s artist. While the death at the end sucks, it fits in with the story, and provided me the biggest “Oh, crap!” moment since the end of Blackest Night #1. I must also applaud all involved for not letting this slip beforehand–I had no idea this was going to be the issue’s end when I bought the issue.

As usual, I certainly recommend this to anyone following the title anyway or Blackest Night as a whole.

Story: 7.5/10
Art: 6/10
Whole: 6.5/10

Filed under: Blackest Night (Event), Comic Reviews 2009, DC, DC Universe, Green Lantern Corps | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

R.E.B.E.L.S. #10 [Review]

Posted on November 15, 2009 by Walt

The Son & the Stars Part One

Writer: Tony Bedard
Artist: Andy Clarke
Colorist: Jose Villarrubia
Letterer: Swands
Asst. Editor: Rex Ogle
Editor: Brian Cunningham
Cover: Kalman Andrasofszky
Publisher: DC Comics

This issue opens with a brief re-telling of the origin of L.E.G.I.O.N. and what got characters to the current R.E.B.E.L.S. status quo. The characters deal with the ongoing conflict with Starro, and we see Dox losing control as his son is taken by agents of Starro, and the forcefield he’s created to contain Starro is endangered. As Dox and crew jump into action to deal with this, they encounter seveal Sinestro Corps members…and discover that something even WORSE is chasing the sinestros. The issue ends on a relatively high “holy crap…that’s awesome!” moment (though it was topped by this week’s ending of Green Lantern Corps #42).

The writing’s solid, and the art is good stuff. There’s a distinctive style to the visuals that sets this apart from a lot of other comics; sets it above, actually. It fits the story and gives a definite feel that adds to the narrative.

On the whole, not a bad issue. I’m somewhat familiar with the characters, mainly from giving this series a try for its first 3-4 issues. I’d dropped the book for boredom and not really caring about the characters. This issue doesn’t do much to change that…but the context of the Blackest Night tie-in makes things a bit more interesting. And the ending has me VERY interested in what comes next–all the moreso if it adds a lasting element to the status quo BEYOND Blackest Night. Didn’t take much, but this certainly out-did the Doom Patrol tie-in last week, which earns it additional credit in my sight for that alone. Not as good as the Booster Gold issue this week, or GL Corps…but still a worthy chapter of the overall Blackest Night story.

Story: 7/10
Art: 7/10
Whole: 7.5/10

Filed under: Blackest Night (Event), Comic Reviews 2009, DC, DC Universe, R.E.B.E.L.S. | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Plastic Ring quest #2

Posted on November 12, 2009 by Walt

ringquest002Now, this is getting to be more like it! Including that Black Ring from Blackest Night #1, 4 out of the 8 rings are now available.

I’m very thankful that my comic shop, at least, is giving the rings away with purchase of the comics that had to be ordered in X quantity to be able to order the rings.

I have not yet asked the comic shop if (any of) the rings are going to be for sale individually–I think the temptation to try to purchase an extra or two might be a bit too great. Of course, when you get right down to it, the ones I’d most be interested in getting multiples of would be the Green and Yellow.

But as-is…cool as these are, I think they’d lose just a little bit of specialness if they weren’t unique items in my collection.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Doom Patrol #4 [Review]

Posted on November 7, 2009 by Walt

Dead Reckoning; The Coming of…The Clique!

DOOM PATROL
Writer: Keith Giffen
Penciller: Justiniano
Inker: Livesay
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Colorist: Guy Major
Cover: Justiniano, Andrew Mangum, Guy Major
Associate Editor: Sean Ryan
Editor: Elisabeth V. Gehrlein

METAL MEN
Plot: Keith Giffen
Dialogue: J.M. Dematteis
Art: Kevin Maguire
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Nick J. Napolitano
Associate Editor: Sean Ryan
Editor: Elisabeth V. Gehrlein

It took me 3 attempts to make it all the way through this issue. The first two, I got hung up in the main feature. At the third attempt I managed to get through the main feature, and then all the way through the co-feature with no trouble at all.

I’m not entirely sure what was going on in the main story. To my knowledge all the characters are new to me–none of them rang any bells for me. We’re introduced to a bunch of characters contextually, though to be honest–I’m not sure if those are characters that are part of the current book, or references to the previous incarnation of this title, or what.

But as standard in Blackest Night comics so far, we see dead rise to elicit emotional response from the living, the aim being to ripen a heart with strong emotion before the subject is killed to power up the Black Lanterns.

The art’s quite good, to keep it simple. Though I’m unfamiliar with the characters, there’s no trouble telling them apart nor in following the action. And nothing to the visual style gave me any pause to contemplate quality.

The story itself was not enjoyable for me. I was not interested in the concept of this Doom Patrol before, and I’m not now after reading this issue. That’s not to say the story itself is bad–it’s not–but it doesn’t appeal to me.

This reminds me a bit of my early days in reading X-Men comics: being entirely unfamiliar with the characters and having no real sense of continuity, who characters were, and so on. While the story structure seems good, it just doesn’t interest me. However, for sake of following the entire Blackest Night event, I still intend to pick up the next issue.

If Doom Patrol’s your thing, this’ll be well worthwhile I think. If not…it doesn’t seem like it’s going to–from this issue, at least–add much to the Blackest Night event. Moreso the other way around–the event’s inserting something into this title’s story.

The Metal Men co-feature has nothing to do with Blackest Night, and seems quite timeless. A group of “female” robots have been activated by an arrogant creator seeking to outdo Magnus’ Metal Men. These girlbots proclaim themselves The Clique, and stir up trouble that gets the Metal Men involved (though they were quite happy enough to begin with, shopping with Magnus for a birthday present to give Tina–aka Platinum.)

I’m somewhat familiar with Magnus from 52, as well as the Metal Men from same as well as elsewhere around the DCU. They’re hardly my favorite characters; basically a take ’em or leave ’em situation. However, something about this story kept a sense of fun about things with some goofiness and the fantastic.

I was more engaged by this story than the Doom Patrol, and while I find The Clique to be a stupid/stereotypical element, it still works overall.

As a whole, I’m not entirely satisfied with the purchase as just a comic. In addition to simply being a Blackest Night crossover issue–the first tie-in of the event that’s not a Green Lantern book or mini-series–this issue is the first of several that are part of DC’s “ring promotion,” wherein retailers could order a bag of rings for every X number of copies of this issue they ordered. This issue came with a Yellow Ring. My inner fanboy was almost giddy at receiving the ring at no additonal cost–and for sheer enjoyment of starting a collection of the colored rings, this issue was more than worth its cover price to me.

Doom Patrol
Story: 4/10
Art: 7/10

Metal Men
Story: 6/10
Art: 7/10

Whole: 6/10

Filed under: Blackest Night (Event), Comic Reviews 2009, DC, DC Universe, Doom Patrol | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Superman: World of New Krypton #9 [Review]

Posted on November 7, 2009 by Walt

Full review posted to comixtreme.com.

Story: 3/5
Art: 2.5/5
Overall: 2.5/5

Filed under: cxPulp.com, DC, DC Universe, Superman: World of New Krypton | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Plastic Ring quest #1

Posted on November 5, 2009 by Walt

Goofy as it might seem…some things very easily amuse me. I got the biggest kick out of receiving this cheap plastic black ring back in July with the release of Blackest Night #1.  All the more because it was “big,” thick, and ACTUALLY FIT.  I could wear this thing, and not uncomfortably at that.

And I was quite excited at the prospect a couple months back at more rings, one for each of the Corps. The rumour was confirmed, and I’ve been looking forward to these.  Yesterday, I obtained the Yellow Lantern ring with my purchase of Doom Patrol #4, the first of the “traditional” crossover/tie-in issues of the Blackest Night event.

Pictured below are the two rings so far…

Lantern Corps: Black and Yellow

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Expectations of the Stack: November 4, 2009

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Walt

This may or may not become a regular feature with this blog, but I thought it’d be interesting to try in the short-term. This probably-weekly piece will be brief thoughts I have regarding the comics I’m looking at purchasing, based on the week’s shipping list from Diamond. If nothing else, I’ll be interested in seeing for myself how my expectations, sight-unseen, hold up to what I think of the books after I’ve read and thought on them for a bit.

Now, for the week of November 4th, 2009…

DOOM PATROL #4 (BLACKEST NIGHT)
Only reason I’m planning on getting this issue is that it’s an official Blackest Night tie-in. Also admittedly looking forward the the plastic ring that I’m hoping I’ll be able to get–they may be cheap hunks of plastic, but honestly…they’re just about the coolest promotion I can recall.

SUPERMAN WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #9 (OF 12)
Been getting this series, as with the other Superman titles. Almost seems a shame that it’s “only” 12 issues…but at the same time, better a finite-from-the-get-go series than yet ANOTHER supposedly ongoing series getting chopped hardly a year into its run. If anything of New Krypton (the planet) survives the arc, I hope they keep the numbering of this, even if they drop Superman’s name from the title…

HAUNT #2
Picked up the first issue thanks to blatent online promotion of the book. Wasn’t horrible, wasn’t wonderful. But given the “star power” behind it, I want to give it a couple more issues to grow on me…it’s got plenty of potential, and all that.

DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #899
Though I tend to complain a lot about Marvel’s numbering (among many other things), I take the numbering of this as tongue-in-cheek, and given it’s Deadpool (and the nature of the character) I actually find this series’ numbering fairly amusing. The sheer audacity of the “countdown” numbering (as if it’s gonna last the next 5 years, let alone 75-some) fits nicely. The absurdly-high number will also keep this at a higher number than any other of the longest-running and recently-renumbered Marvel books out there.

DONALD DUCK AND FRIENDS #347
Speaking of numbering, I love the fact that even though they could simply start the numbering from scratch on these books/concepts, Boom is keeping the old numbering and CONTINUING these Disney books. However, I certainly hope this does NOT have some 2-part cover split across editions of the same issue. I don’t like variants to begin with, but so long as I can get a copy with the cover I prefer of what’s out there, I’ll simmer in relative silence.

All in all, looks to be a decently-small week for me. Also one of the most diverse weeks, with 2 DC books, an Image book, a Marvel book, and a Boom book. Most weeks I seem to be all-DC with maybe one exception, if any.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Rest of the Stack: Rise of the simultaneous dual format release

Posted on November 3, 2009 by Walt


November 3, 2009

Based on this week’s shipping list, the Rise of the Olympian arc from Wonder Woman is being released tomorrow in collected-volume format. While this in and of itself is NOT odd…what’s odd is the fact that it is being released SIMULTANEOUSLY in both Hardcover AND Softcover.

JUL090244 WONDER WOMAN RISE OF THE OLYMPIAN HC $24.99
JUL090245 WONDER WOMAN RISE OF THE OLYMPIAN TP $14.99

Now, I’m curious as to why such a difference in price. Seems that lately, the price difference between a hardcover and softcover is only $5-6. A $20 hardcover becomes a $15 paperback. The $25 or $30 hardcover becomes $20 or $25, respectively. Here it’s a whopping $10.

If I recall correctly, the original arc was 8 issues, at $2.99/issue…which puts the hardcover at a mere $1 above cover price of those single issues. And the softcover is priced such that you’re getting the contents of each single issue for about $1.88, $1.11 cheaper per-issue than the singles which had ads breaking up the story and with a month’s wait between chapters.

While this is frustrating–particularly for having given the title a chance with that arc, and then not being engaged ENOUGH to stick around for the single issues (in part for seeing both collected volumes solicited several months back). Had I simply waited, I’d get a nice, huge story at an EXTREMELY reasonable price! (I suspect some of my feelings might have more merit if one places Spider-Man: Noir vol. 1 TPB on the shelf next to Rise of the Olympian TPB, both at the same retail price).

Despite the frustration mentioned, and having zero real clue about the reasoning of the price points and both versions being put out together (and not having noticed ANYthing like this in books thus far solicited down the road)…the prices are how I’d like to see more collected volumes.

1. I’d rather have stuff in paperback, so it all goes together on the shelf; the old and new material. Not waiting during an extra long gap to buy a paperback because of the hardback having to have its turn on the shelf first.

2. Either way, the paperback should be significantly cheaper. Especially on the bigger books (I’m thinking of Planet Hulk and the Marvel: Noir books in particular), if I’m going to actually buy the book, I’d gladly pay the “mere” $5 to “upgrade” to the hardcover. If I’m already going to spend $30, $35 isn’t all that bad for a book so much larger physically. Same goes for the digest-size Noir paperbacks compared to the full-size hardcover counterparts.

But this Wonder Woman book…for the $10 difference, and the paperback being like getting almost 3 issues’ content “free” compared to the single issues’ cover price…I’d absolutely be all over buying the paperback just to get the story!

If books were REGULARLY released this way, it would allow for more choice in “collecting format.” Buy the singles as that’s the traditional format. Buy the collected (hardcover) for about the same price, perhaps slightly more, to have a nice hardcover for the bookshelf. Or go the cheapest route, and get a likely lower-quality of paper, but get to read the story without constant ads interrupting the flow, and getting the contents of comics for effectively the price of comics a decade ago. (Yeah, this doesn’t consider the stuff from the publisher side or the actual production costs and all that stuff.)

Despite all this…I’m a sucker. That $15 for the expected size of this book is rather appealing, especially for the ability to read everything in one volume. And add Wonder Woman to the shelf, s I’ve somehow never wound up with a Wonder Woman collected volume despite my 20+ years as a comics reader.

Filed under: The Rest of the Stack | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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