When I think of creators that have handled Captain Marvel in the past, really only two names come to mind: C.C. Beck and Jerry Ordway. As of today, that has changed. I shall now add Jeff Smith to that list.
Today's new comic releases (2/7/07) included the first issue of Jeff Smith's new miniseries, 'Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil'. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mr. Smith, he is the multi-award winning creator of the series 'Bone'. If you've not read that, please start ordering your trade paperbacks now, and get caught up with the rest of us.
This new series is everything that needed to happen for Captain Marvel as a character. As much as I might love a grim outlook for some characters, the Big Red Cheese just isn't the one. Everything since Ordway's time with the character seems to have moved further and further towards that stance, and the newest, post-Infinite Crisis version has only cemented it to the point of fitting Cap for a pair of cement shoes.
It was about time for a breath of fresh air for Cap, and I think it is safe to say Jeff Smith has done exactly that. This series earns an easy 5 of 5 points from me. I'd give it six if I could. Go out and get yourself a copy immediately.
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN DVD
As promised a couple of weeks ago, I went and purchased a copy of the new Invincible Iron Man DVD. I happened to be going to Wal-Mart that day, and bought their exclusive version that had a Dr. Strange mini-comic inside. I then went to Best Buy, and realized they were selling it just a pinch cheaper, and their exclusive version had trading cards in it. I almost bought another copy just to get the cards. If my wife hadn't been with me, I probably would have.
The movie itself was pretty decent. The animation was a bit choppy in places like some video games a few years back. They must have skimped on a few frames here and there. They also messed with Iron Man's origin quite a bit. I'm sure diehard shellhead fans will be fairly disappointed. Ont top of all that, we have to wait until the very end to even really get the Mandarin involved, and even then it is over far too quickly.
3 of 5
COMICS I READ FOR 1/24/07
DC COMICS
52 Week #38 – Do I really need to tell any of you about this series? Go visit the website: http://52thecomic.com - 5 of 5
Supergirl And The Legion Of Super Heroes #26 – Entertaining issue with a nice cliffhanger ending that’s sure to draw you in for another issue next month. - 4 of 5
MARVEL COMICS
Civil War: The Return – No they didn’t… NO! THEY DIDN’T! Yes, they sure did. The one character we all thought would never come back from the dead: Captain Marvel. Marvel apparently kept very hush-hush about this project so no one would know who was coming back in this issue. Normally I’m not one to spoil surprises for everyone and would rather you read the comics yourself. This time, I’m just mad. I loved Captain Marvel (especially the Starlin stuff). I’ve always been of the opinion that to bring him back would just sully the classic stories that I love so much. I really honestly thought Marvel would never stoop that low. They proved me wrong. - 1 of 5
Doctor Strange Oath #4 (Of 5) – I’m not sure that I initially had high expectations for this series. I’m still not completely sold on the artwork, but I’ve otherwise been very surprised at the quality of the story. This is easily one of the best treatments I’ve seen of Doc Strange in a long time. - 4 of 5
Eternals #6 (Of 7) – The last issue of this series sold approximately 66,000 copies. That was enough to make it the 33rd highest selling comic for the month of November. I think it is safe to say though that it is still largely unappreciated, and should be selling higher. Apparently that lack of Civil War content has hurt it more than it has helped it. Thse of you who aren’t reading Eternals should be first in line to order the trade paperback when it comes out. - 4 of 5
Moon Knight #7 CW – I like this series very much, but wasn’t entirely happy here. The cover seemed to me to be a bait and switch. We see Spider-Man and MK both large as life, and Spidey is only on the first few pages. The cover also teases that this is a “Casualties of War” issue. I fail to see how this issue had anything to do with the Civil War. If I was purely a Spider-Fan or someone collecting only Civil War related issues, this really would have hoarked me off. - 3 of 5
Punisher War Journal #3 CW – Great stuff here. Just buy it and read it for yourself. - 5 of 5
Wolverine #50 – ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH! Marvel baited me for months. They let my excitement for this issue boil over completely. I was promised revelations. What I got was a friggin’ gimmick book that didn’t tell me squat except that if I want to find anything out, I’ll have to buy the next 5 or 6 issues. Bait and switch again. - 2 of 5
X-Factor #15 – The cover alone sold me on this issue, but the interior is even better. JUST BUY IT AND READ IT, FOLKS! - 5 of 5
COMICS I READ FOR 1/31/07
DC COMICS
52 Week #39 - The story here hasn’t lost any steam, but I found the art in this issue to be hurried and a bit loosely correlated. - 4 of 5
Teen Titans #43 - I really hope Geoff Johns never leaves this title. It just keeps getting better. - 4 of 5
MARVEL COMICS
Black Panther #24 Cw - Interesting, but not great. I am however intrigued to see the effect of the Civil War on this character much more than others. By the time we get the Panther in deep enough to matter though, the CW will be over. There’s only one more issue left. - 3 of 5
Daredevil #93 - The long saga of Daredevil’s unmasking is over. DD is finally getting back to Hell’s Kitchen, and the creators are getting back to the roots of the character. It shall be very interesting to see where they are going from here. - 4 of 5
Ultimate Fantastic Four #38 – Last month’s review of this title had me saying I hoped there would be more of Ultimate Thanos before this storyline is over. Unfortunately my wishes were not granted. We were only treated to battle scenes with his lackeys. I’ll have to just hope they get back the character soon. It shouldn’t be long though as apparently Reed is going to be inventing the first Ultimate Cosmic Cube. Sounds like fun to me. I’ll be buying this series for a while to come. - 4 of 5
X-Men #195 – I honestly don’t think I could have been less interested in an X-Men comic than I was this one. I think I had to pick it up at least four different times just to get through it. - 1 of 5
FINAL THOUGHTS
See you all next time. I'm off to read the stack of new comics I bought today...
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