DC:
PICK OF THE WEEK
Aquaman #1
Written By: Geoff Johns
Drawn by: Ivan Reis
-My original notion was to have JL: Dark as pick of the week, because let’s face it that is a really cool idea. However, I just had to pick Aquaman because this is the first time I’ve actually enjoyed reading an Aquaman story. The character has been ridiculed for years, some of it deserving and the rest not worth it. However, all of that ridicule goes away now. Geoff Johns has completely revamped the character and made him a guy with real emotions. He feels, anger, sadness, joy and nostalgia all together in one book. Not only that, the story set up is great as well. We get some cool villains and realistic dialogue for a comic book. Geoff Johns plays his strengths here, and only slips up in the matter that the story is moving at a pretty slow pace. Ivan Reis’ pencils are great as well, giving characters detailed touch ups and thick lines that mix with the inks and a great color palette to breathe the book to life. This is one series I will be sticking with for a long time. 4.5/5
MINOR:
All-Star Western #1
Written by: Justin Gray
Drawn by: Jimmy Palmiotti
-To my surprise, this was a very well done book. The dialogue was a lot smarter than I initially took it for and it managed to capture the time period while adding a nice psychological aspect to it. The artwork was decent, if simplistic at most parts. The coloring is very grey and brown which adds to the element of simplicity. A decent issue. 3.5/5
Batman: The Dark Knight #1
Written by: Paul Jenkins and David Finch
Drawn by: David Finch
- David Finch’s writing isn’t very exciting. I found nothing of merit here because the writing is mostly a bunch of classic Batman clichés. T’s nothing new and it certainly isn’t exciting. However, I found myself coming back because the art was pretty gorgeous. Stay for the art, ignore the dialogue. 3/5
Blackhawks #1
Written by: Mike Costa
Drawn by: Graham Nolan
-This was far more interesting than Men of War but it wasn’t that great. I had a hard time keeping up with some of the characters and story. I guess war books aren’t for me. The supernatural aspect was cool, and I hope they work with it more. The art was pretty much awesome as well. Will check out a second issue 3/5
Green Lantern: New Corps #1
Written by: Tony Bedard
Drawn by: Tyler Kirkham
-As I’ve said before, I’ve never been a big fan of Green Lantern or his myriad of books. This relaunch has done a lot for my enjoyment of Lantern books, and New Corps only solidifies this feeling further. Kyle Rayner proves to be an excellent Lantern in my book, being heroic and human. The story proves to be hooking and the artwork helps it a lot as well. The detailed penciling and the solid coloring is fantastic. One of the best books of the last week by far 4/5
I Vampire #1
Written by: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Drawn by: Andrea Sorrentino
-As much as I want to say it, this is not an example of “Don’t Judge a book by its cover”. I mean sure it has cool vampire action, but it’s very Twilight-esque with its romance heavy sub plot that takes up a lot of the book. It’s very tepid and uninspired, and it mimics a terrible series. 2/5
Justice League: Dark #1
Written by: Peter Milligan
Drawn by: Mikel Janin
-Red Lanterns was terrible. Peter Milligan? Not so much. I like to believe he fluctuates as a writer. When he’s writing superhero stuff (Red Lanterns) he’s terrible, but when he’s writing magical, Vertigo-esque stuff it’s incredible. And thank god this is Vertigo esque. Milligan plays his talents at writing Shade and Constantine and shows his ability to write Zatanna great as well. We see most of the team members but not actually together though. The artwork switches up throughout and it keeps you on your toes, with simplistic styles mixing in with complex and gritty work. It’s a book I look forward to seeing more of already. 4/5
Savage Hawkman #1
Written by: Tony Daniel
Drawn by: Philip Tan
-Tony Daniel was boring on this book. Enough said. Well, not really, but I could care less about Hawkman and his convoluted history. An attempt to fix it is tried here, but it doesn’t work. It just gets convoluted and boring. The artwork has a nice photorealistic style that I can dig though. 2.5/5
Superman #1
Written by: Jesus Merino, George Perez
-Not disappointed so much as bored reading it. I read books when I want to read large amounts of dialogue, not comics. I mean, I do enjoy reading comics, but I don’t like the books to be filled with words. That’s what happened with this book. So much dialogue covers the artwork and its distracting. Not only that, but the writing bores to tears. This is not a great book, period. Action Comics is better than this. Keep Action comics on your pull list instead of this. 2.5/5
Teen Titans #1
Written by: Scott Lobdell
Drawn by: Brett Booth
- Scott Lobdell isn’t a bad writer, but his X-Men work was terrible. I’ve never liked him on team books. But his work on Red Hood and teen titans shows he has talent for a team book. The interplay between Red Robin and Wonder Girl is great here and his Kid Flash is well, Flashy. He infuses the characters with personality and it makes it fun to read. I just wish I could’ve gotten slightly better artwork here and more of the actual team. 3.5/5
Voodoo #1
Written by: Ron Marz
Drawn by: Sami Basri
-Not going to lie this was pretty bad. The story and the artwork were pretty much a bore. It’s not even the explicit content that gets me as much as the terrible writing. I can’t even read it without laughing hard. The artwork has no saving graces either, with its cartoony, drab style and odd choices of coloring. Worst book of the relaunch. 1/5
The Fury of Firestorm #1
Written by: Ethan Van Sciver, Gail Simone
Drawn by: Yildiray Cinar
-Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone made this book fun and easy to read. It feels like the most relaunched book out there, with easy to understand story elements and some cool characterizations. The characters feel like realistic high school tropes and it showcases how neither trope can get along with each other. What I love about books with “glowing” characters like these is that the artwork is always very bright and detailed, immediately drawing you in. A pretty good book 4/5
The Flash #1
Written by: Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato
Drawn by: Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato
-The Flash is a favorite of mine because his power is so damn cool. There’s a lot that can be done with super speed and Flash has proven that time and time again. Now, for the actual book, there’s no questioning Manapul’s gorgeous art, but his writing leaves something to be desired. He comes off as a b grade Geoff Johns. I guess if you’re going to imitate, you imitate the best though. 3/5
MARVEL:
Pick of the week
Kick Ass 2 #4
Written by: Mark Millar
Drawn by: John Romita Jr.
-Kick Ass 2 has been one of the best series of 2011. It’s just so much fun and it has a story that draws you in without having to be too complex. You always wonder what Mark Millar is going to pull out of his head next. Here, he pulls out some of his best, disturbing material. Basically, his villain, The Mother[frick]er (formerly known as Red Mist) is truly a villain. He doesn’t wait around for the hero to stop him. He goes out, shoots toddlers in the face and rapes women. He truly defines what a real life supervillain would and could do. Basically, I’m nominating him for best villain of 2011. The story also progresses nicely. Kick-Ass gets in even more trouble than he should be in and starts to take things seriously after the end of the issue. It’s exciting and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Romita’s art is pretty amazing here as well. His slightly unfinished pencils give the series a cartoony-meets-realism that looks perfect for the series. This is what real life superheroes would look like. Not buff as hell dudes but skinny dudes in costumes carrying weapons. Romita’s art is just awesome for the book and the coloring helps it even more. Another great issue for the series. 5/5
Minor:
Venom #7
Written by: Rick Remender
Drawn by: Tom Fowler
-Venom has been a decent series so far. The artwork is great and tells the action nicely. The fight with Anti-venom is really cool. I never thought a Venom series could last this long because the character is pretty gimmicky, but it surprised me. 4/5
FF #9
Written by:
-Did not enjoy this issue. Scratch that, I haven’t enjoyed this series at all. FF is nothing but boring to me. Even the art doesn’t do anything for me 2/5
Mighty Thor #6
Written by: Matt Fraction
Drawn by: Oliver Coipel
-A nice story bogged down by average superhero comic art. It tells a decent Thor story, which I do enjoy, but I feel a little left out because I don’t follow Marvel regularly. 3/5
Vertigo:
American Vampire #19-
Written by: Scott Snyder
Drawn by: Jordi Bernet
Holy crap. I don’t even care if it has a fill in artist, holy crap. This issue was good. Scott Snyder deserves a lot of praise for his work here, as his writing manages to weave a complex tale together without alienating new readers. This series, along with Sweet Tooth, is among Vertigo’s best right now. 4.5/5