DC COMICS
52 Week #40 – I wasn’t crazy about the art in this issue, but the story still has me hooked. - 4 of 5
Astro City The Dark Age Book Two #2 – I love this stuff, but the fact that there is as much time between issues as there is leads me to believe this will be a much better read as a TPB. - 3 of 5
Shazam The Monster Society Of Evil #1 (Of 4) – Read my review of this issue: CLICK HERE - 5 of 5
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
Lone Ranger #4 – BUY THIS SERIES AND READ IT! It’s not too late for those of you who haven’t started yet. We’re only on issue four. I do know for a fact that the print runs are fairly low as the latest stats show #3 sold just over 20,000 copies. Call your local comic shop and reserve your copies while you still have a chance. – 5 of 5
Red Sonja #19 – Fantastic story and artwork, but I’m becoming a little less enamored with the character overall. That’s not to slight the creators at all, but I’m not sure there will be enough interest to keep me on a monthly book. – 4 of 5
MARVEL COMICS
Fantastic Four The End #5 (Of 6) – A perfect escape from the Civil War for those who are entirely uninterested. Come over here and enjoy a comic that is fun the way comics should be - 5 of 5
Incredible Hulk #103 – I have very much enjoyed this take on Hulk in space, and knowing that it isn’t going to be over anytime soon, I suppose I’ll continue to enjoy it. I am however feeling the absence of Hulk in other current Marvel storylines. I shall be excited to get him involved in the bigger picture again. I’m still surprised they saw fit to leave him out of the Civil War completely. Then again, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. - 4 of 5
New Avengers #27 – More of the Solo Avengers again. This time we get Ronin. I’m ready to get back to team stories. It’s a team book. I can’t say it enough times. The story was decent though, so I’m only subtracting two points for the non-team schtick where I really wanted to take away four. - 3 of 5
Punisher #44 – This may sound a bit childish, but more people need to die. By my count, the Punisher only kills two people in this issue and the supporting cast spends the rest of the issue jawing. I’m sure there will be plenty of gruesome deaths by the end of the storyline in a few issues, but I’d prefer to have my cake and eat it too. - 4 of 5
Squadron Supreme Hyperion Vs Nighthawk #2 (Of 4) – Interesting stuff here. I walked away asking myself again why Paul Gulacy isn’t drawing more Marvel superhero comics. – 3 of 5
Ultimate Spider-Man #105 - The ‘Clone Saga’ is over, and I’m honestly sorry it see it go. I’m pretty sure I’ve said it already, but this is one storyline they’ve definitely handled much better in the Ultimate universe than in the 616. If you missed the issues, you’d do well to pick up a copy of the trade and have a gander. - 4 of 5
Uncanny X-Men #483 – Hulk isn’t the only one who is out in space ignoring the CW. Longtime X-Men fans should thrill to this story. New fans however may be a bit lost and likely won’t catch up without the help of Google and a couple of Uncanny Essential reprint books. - 4 of 5
X-23 Target X #3 (Of 6) – I’m getting spoiled by Kyle and Yost. One of these days they are bound to let me down (my past columns will attest to my love of their run on New X-Men), but it hasn’t happened yet. This series may not be essential to current or future continuity of the 616, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting. - 4 of 5
X-Men Annual #1 – There’s $4 spent that I’ll never get back. I found this story to not be terrible, just unnecessary. – 2 of 5
X-Men Phoenix Warsong #5 (Of 5) – I loved the Claremont/Byrne Dark Phoenix. For that reason, it pains me to say that by the time I got to this last issue of this miniseries, I was pretty much bored with it. The Phoenix has been overused in the last several years, and is ready to be put to bed. - 2 of 5
2/14/07
DC COMICS
52 Week #41 – Better art this issue than the last. It’s still not on the level I’d prefer though. I suppose that’s one of the things we end up surrendering to get weekly comics. I still enjoyed the issue nonetheless. - 4 of 5
OMAC #8 (Of 8) – An appropriate ending for this miniseries. I think this will make a decent TPB read for anyone who wasn’t reading them off the shelf. Also, be ready for this character to return sometime in the future, even if it isn’t anytime soon. – 4 of 5
MARVEL COMICS
Astonishing X-Men #20 – Just buy it and read it. The art alone is worth the price of admission. The story is pure gravy. – 5 of 5
New X-Men #35 – Fantastic as usual, and continuing to be one of the best X-books every month. - 4 of 5
Punisher Presents Barracuda Max #1 (Of 5) - If you are a fan of the Punisher Max series, this book should sell itself. For the rest of you, you don’t need to really have read any of the previous stories involving this character to enjoy this series. Not very often does a comic make me laugh so loud that my wife has to come in the room and ask “What…?” – 5 of 5
Thunderbolts #111 – Not bad, but I‘m not completely sold on the new version of the T-Bolts yet. I will however let it ride for a few more issues before I give up on them. – 3 of 5
Thunderbolts Presents Zemo Born Better #1 (Of 4) – Everything you ever wanted to know about Zemo, but never asked. If what you want is an extensive history of the Zemo family, you’ll get it here. If however you are looking for a T-Bolts story you’ll be up the creek. – 3 of 5
Ultimate X-Men #79 – I’m still surprised at what’s going on in this series. In this issue we’re dealing with the fallout of the previous one, and I shall not spoil what that is for those of you who don’t know. Google it if you must. I’d recommend reading them instead, though. - 4 of 5
Wolverine Origins #11 – I think this series jumped the shark. {SPOILER ALERT} I just can’t buy into the idea that Wolverine has a son. All those years of the X-Men probing the world over for mutants with an enormous super-computer and they never found him? ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH! - 1 of 5
2/21/07
AVATAR PRESS INC
Night of the Living Dead Beginning #3 – Avatar definitely knows their zombies. This series was a wonderful prequel to the original movie, and was surely a story that had been waiting to be told. I’m glad Avatar saw fit to take care of that. - 4 of 5
DARK HORSE COMICS
Conan #37 – Yet another fantastic issues from Truman and Nord. I have yet to fail to be entertained by anything they’ve done. My only criticism this time is that I could have done without the Freddy Kruger shirt on Conan’s boxing partner. It made the whole scene fall somewhat out of contest for me. – 4 of 5
DC COMICS
52 Week #42 – This issue settles it: Ralph Dibny is now and forever big pimpin' in the DCU. No longer will I ever see him a third tier character. Buy it and read it, folks. - 5 of 5
Brave And The Bold #1 – I was genuinely excited for this issue to hit the stands. I was given a fun and interesting story (as per the usual with Mark Waid), but in many of the panels George Perez’s pencils just didn’t have the crispness of detail that I’m used to seeing with his work. This may be attributed to the quality of inking done on the pages, but I’m hesitant to throw the blame all at one person. Even the cover seemed a bit off to me. I hope that they clean it up a bit more for the next issue. – 3 of 5
MARVEL COMICS
Amazing Spider-Man #538 CW – Did they really do that? Again? No, I shall not tell you what ‘that’ is, and be a big spoilsport. But, did they really do it? Again? On a side note, now that the CW is over, this book should be able to get back on track. Let’s have some Spidey minus the Cap and Iron Man. - 3 of 5
Civil War #7 (Of 7) – I have one good thing to say about this issue: It’s the last one, and the CW is over. May it rest in peace. I just can’t get over how they ended it. I’m giving two points just for the pretty pictures. – 2 of 5
New Avengers Illuminati #2 (Of 5) – I’m enjoying this series so far, but I’m having a really hard time buying into it as far as 616 continuity is concerned. I can’t help but read it as a ‘What If...?’ story. It just can’t work in my mind any other way. – 3 of 5
Powers #23 – Another great issue. Buy it and read it. - 5 of 5
Punisher War Journal #4 – The funeral of Stilt-Man. Buy it, read it, and stash it away. No real Marvel Zombie’s collection should be missing this issue. – 5 of 5
She-Hulk 2 #16 – This is another example of something I enjoyed, but just doesn’t work for me in continuity. How many places is Wolverine supposed to be in at once right now? The creators of this series have made sure to let us all know that Shulkie is right in the middle of the CW working for SHIELD, but at the same time see fit to do a Wolverine story as if he hasn’t been in half of the comics published by Marvel recently. – 3 of 5
Ultimate Fantastic Four #39 – With just a hint of the ‘Ultimate’ version Thanos still lingering about, we’re introduced to the ‘Ultimate’ version of Diablo. The fanboy in me can’t help but get giddy over such things. Classic villains revamped are even more exciting than seeing the same thing done with the heroes. I truly believe that the Ultimate line of comics have seen this level of success due to many of those villain revamps. – 4 of 5
2/28/07
AVATAR PRESS INC
Plague of the Living Dead Special #1 – As Avatar is prone to do, they give us an oversized issue that leads us into a mini-series. I think that is a great way to go about things. Readers have a chance to get a hearty fill of what series might be like, but are given a chance to duck out after a done-in-one. Mind you, I’m not recommending anyone take a powder, but I like the fact that the offer is on the table. – 5 of 5
DARK HORSE COMICS
Conan & The Midnight God #2 (Of 5) – I’ll not be telling you about this issue other than I think you should go buy it and read it. – 5 of 5
DC COMICS
52 Week #43 – Just buy it and read it. – 5 of 5
Action Comics #846 – Two in a row. Buy it and read it. - 5 of 5
Firestorm The Nuclear Man #33 – This issue confused the hell out of me. I know I must have missed something somewhere, but I don’t remember ever seeing this Mr. Miracle before. It certainly isn’t Scott Free. I had trouble following the story as I kept wondering what I missed. I sure do miss the good old days of editor footnotes. Not everyone wants to run a Google search in the middle of reading a comic. – 2 of 5
Green Lantern #17 – The son of Abin Sur is out for revenge, and GL is at the top of his list. This story took a turn that I certainly hadn’t expected, and as I’ve said in past: I love surprises. It is this kind of writing that keeps me coming back for more. – 4 of 5
Justice #10 (Of 12) – Buy it and read it! (Looking at sales numbers, it appears most of you did, so you already know you liked this issue.) – 5 of 5
Supergirl And The Legion Of Super Heroes #27 - Nonstop action from cover to cover just like a good superhero team book should be. I'm handing out 5 points to this book. As good as the story was, a lot of that is for the Dave Cockrum tribute at the end. It was sad to think of Mr. Cockrum's passing yet again, but this tribute was tasteful and very moving. RIP, Dave. - 5 of 5
MARVEL COMICS
Black Panther #25 – The Thor clone returns. *yawn* Enough with the CW cross-overs in this series. Let’s get on to something more interesting. - 2 of 5
Civil War Front Line #11 (Of 11) – Far and away the best issue of the series. This story had far more insight into the ending of the CW than the last issue of the core series did. Honestly, this is what I’d have expected to see more of in the core series. It’s a shame really as many people probably bought only the core series, and were left in the dark about all of this. If you read the CW, you’ll need this issue, folks. – 4 of 5
Daredevil #94 – They had me sold just on the cover alone. John Romita, Sr. doing a DD cover! It’s not to be missed! As for the interior, the creative team did not fail to please. The story involves DD’s wife, Milla who is also blind. We get an intimate look at her life with both DD and Matt that we haven’t seen. Buy it and read it! – 5 of 5
Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born #1 – I’ve never read any Stephen King books. I suppose I’ve seen a few of the movies that have been made based on them, but never read any of his stuff. Reading this made me feel as if I needed to go about reading all of them. I thoroughly enjoyed the issue, and happily await the next. Buy it and read it for yourself. - 5 of 5
Doctor Strange Oath #5 (Of 5) – If you didn’t buy this series, you should have. Please call the local comic shop and order your TPB now. – 5 of 5
Eternals #7 (Of 7) – This is the last issue? The door is WIDE OPEN for a lot more story to come. I really hope there is another mini in the works, or I shall be feeling that I was left in the cold. – 3 of 5
X-Factor #16 – This is the second book this week where I found myself saying that this was easily the best issue so far in this series. I’ve really loved a couple of the prior issues, but this one takes the cake. Too many superhero comics spend all their time on the outside looking in. This is one series that is definitely doing the opposite. Peter David is giving us some of the best characterization I’ve ever seen. Buy it and read it, you won’t be disappointed. – 5 of 5
X-Men #196 – Why am I still reading this series? – 1 of 5
FINAL THOUGHTS
My next column for PT should be an interview with the owner/publisher of Masterpiece Comics, Ace Masters! Make sure not to miss it!
Also, some other upcoming reviews:
* Approbation Comics - Myriad #1-4 and Vampires Unlimited #1
* Head Press Publishing - Acts of the Spirit by Robert James Luedke
* Top Shelf Comics - Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie
* Top Shelf Comics - Regards From Serbia by Aleksandar Zograf
Thanks again to all of the creators and publishers who have donated materials for review. Your generosity has not gone unnoticed!
Here's a newer pic of my baby girl, Natalie. She was giving me the crazy eye right after finishing her bath...
I'm accepting any and all comic related submissions for review! Please e-mail me HERE for my policies and snail mail address. THANKS!
