Let's Get Comical!

“You have a healthy mix of Marvel and DC on your pull list!” – Capstone Comics cashier

Welcome to yet another column where I review comics! I’m trying to get this posted THIS week instead of next week, so LEGGO!

I’ve decided to add a new feature: listing my purchases for the week. No real reason for doing this other than I wanted to start keeping tabs on when specific comics are released. Sometimes I purposely hold back comic reviews (like Fantastic Four #600 and this week, Batwoman until I can catch up), and I want to know just HOW long I’ve been putting them off. Plus, sometimes I get nostalgic and want to see when certain books were released. Lame, I know.

Officially dropped from the pull list this week was Wolverine and the X-Men. If I start hearing good things about it then maybe I’ll pick it back up, but it’s history for now, and you’re safe from its terror. Funny story, when I went to drop, the owner of the shop was working the register and commented on how I was the second person that day to drop the series. He asked what was wrong with it, and I chuckled, just mentioning the same thing I talked about here; the artwork is awful and the layout sucks, and it all combines for an overall uncomfortable experience.

I guess you can say that I’m talking comics now, and you may officially call me a geek.

Purchased This Week: Amazing Spider-Man #677, Batman and Robin #5, Batwoman #5, Green Lantern #5, Scarlet Spider #1, Wolverine #300

Batman and Robin #5

Light reading from DC this week, so let’s start with one of the better titles. It’s another Flashback/Backstory issue from DC, as Damian disappears with Morgan Ducard, and Batman scours Gotham in search of his son. Batman then recaps Morgan’s history; his father was Henri Ducard, one of Batman’s trainers. Henri was an international assassin, the best of the best. Stationed out of Paris, he soon fell in love with a woman who gave birth to Morgan. We then get a panel showing baby Morgan getting BREASTFED! I shit you not. Anyway, Henri’s wife was really an international assassin sent to murder Henri by the terrorist organizations that lost their best men thanks to Henri. But she fell in love with Henri, and her past caught up to her one day as the terrorist organization demands that Henri either be killed or they kill Morgan. Morgan, a teenager by now, takes matters into his own hands and murders his mom, which impresses Henri. Morgan becomes Henri’s apprentice until one day they encounter Bruce Wayne, who defeats Morgan. Henri decides to take Wayne under his wing as well. And the flashback ends there, as we go back to Morgan and Damian Wayne, who invade an embassy to kill a crooked ambassador. In a cool panel layout we see the two take out guards and sneak around the embassy until they make it to the ambassador. Damian swipes his gun, and Morgan tells him that his heel turn will be complete when he shoots the ambassador in the head, and we end on that cliffhanger. AWESOME STUFF yet again, as you can tell this one is setting up for some pretty serious shit. It felt kind of Star Wars-y to me, as Damian is Anakin, turning evil despite still having morals and good inside of him, Bruce is like Obi-Wan, grieving over the loss of the one he cares for most, and Morgan is just pure evil ala Palpatine. Can’t wait for more of this series, which is one of my favorites of the New 52.

Green Lantern #5

When we last left Sinestro and Hal Jordan, they were imprisoned with the rest of the citizens of Korugar by the Sinestro Corps, and Sinestro had given them all rings for them to use. So naturally, the angry citizens turn on Sinestro. But in another SWERVE, the false rings won’t hurt Sinestro! They manage to escape the cell with the power of Sinestro’s lantern, which is being held by the leaders of the Corps. The lantern kills a bunch of bitches and then Sinestro uses its power to place every member of the Sinestro Corps in an artificial coma. Korugar is finally rid of the evil of the Sinestro Corps, but they still blame Sinestro for their enslavement in the first place, and they banish Sinestro from the planet forever. So Sinestro takes the Sinestro Corps back to the Guardians while sending Hal Jordan back to Earth, where he is powerless once again. Hal goes to see his chick friend Carol, where he professes his love to her and she takes him back despite their problems. Meanwhile, the Guardians plan on abolishing the Green Lanterns and replacing them with something called the Third Army, and anyone that stands against them will die. And we’re out. Alrighty then. I couldn’t tell if this was a conclusion or not, but I guess we’ll see. This issue flew by pretty fast to be honest, and I’m interested to see where it goes. An up and down series so far, but I think I’ll keep reading.

That ends the new DC offerings for the week (I’ll review Batwoman later), so let’s get MARVELous, baby!

Daredevil #2

This is obviously a continuation of the Daredevil series I just started reviewing in my last column. Last issue, Daredevil was attacked by Captain America, who is after Daredevil for reasons they vaguely explain. Anyway, they come to peace and Matt Murdock’s partner Foggy is given some information from the new Assistant D.A. that should prove Jobrani, the defendant in the trial Murdock was kicked off of last issue, to be innocent. Daredevil, meanwhile, meets with another lawyer that refused to take the case. He is a closet homosexual I guess, and said he received threatening phone calls saying that if he took the case, bad things would happen to his boyfriend. Other lawyers reported similar threatening calls. So Daredevil decides to inspect Jobrani’s old electronics store, where he finds a factory of robots building some sort of machine. They knock Daredevil out and tie him to a weird machine as the issue ends. Much better issue than the first, as the story began to fall into place. I’m going to keep reading in hopes that it keeps getting better, as the hype is there and so far the series has been delivering.

Amazing Spider-Man #677

Last issue left a bitter taste in my mouth, so let’s see what 2012 brings. New writer and artwork to kick off the new year, and it feels a little weird after months of Dan Slott writing and Humberto Ramos drawing. This is actually Part 1 of a crossover with the Daredevil series I’ve started reading, and they hype it up a lot in this one, so I’m glad I started reading. Anyway, Peter Parker is moping around due to getting dumped by Carlie Cooper at the end of Spider Island, and being Spidey isn’t helping. One night he sees the Black Cat, an old flame, and acts awkward around a female. Hey, that’s MY gimmick! So Black Cat returns home but is arrested for the theft of an experimental Wi-Fi hologram projector from Horizon Labs. Only problem is that at the same time the projector was stolen, Black Cat was with Spidey. So Spidey tracks down Daredevil for legal help, and the two randomly encounter the true thieves, a group with high powered machine guns. Daredevil scares them off and it’s into the sewers for our heroes, where the tunnel they’re in collapses. And the last thing Spidey sees is the Black Cat, who has escaped from prison. Intriguing start, and the story will be continued next week in Daredevil #8, leaving me with a choice to make regarding my Daredevil reviewing schedule. I was going to do one per week until I was caught up but I might do #8 next week just so I won’t have to delay that review AND the next few Spider-Man comics. We’ll see.

Wolverine #300

I picked this one up due to it being the 300^th issue, as I’m a sucker for stuff like that. Let’s see how it is! I also feel I should mention that the best part about Marvel comics is that they contain brief summaries of the previous issues or story arcs before each comic begins, such is the case here, so it’s easy to just hop on and know the major plot points. In this series, Wolverine is on his way to Japan to stop a gang war between the Hand Ninjas and the Yakuza. After destroying a plane full of ninjas, Wolverine meets up with an old friend and learns about the Silver Samurai; he is dead, yet bore a son, who nobody has seen for years. Meanwhile, lots of random stuff is going on; Wolverine’s adopted daughter is captured while stealing some sort of device. Sabretooth eats an entire bull and makes out with a really old chick while negotiating some sort of deal in Los Angeles for a million dollars. The leader of the Hand Ninjas causes an old dude and his family to commit Seppuku. Wolverine then gets into a fight with Sabretooth and ends up kicking off the war between the Hand Ninjas and the Yakuza, where it is revealed that Amiko (Wolverine’s adopted daughter) has a boyfriend who is the son of the Silver Samurai. Also Sabretooth and Mystique are in a relationship now. Kind of a weird issue to be honest, mainly because there was SO much going on, and none of it every really explained. It was basically a bunch of mini stories put together randomly before everything tries to come together at the very end. I mean, my review is a little confusing, yet it’s only slightly less confusing than the issue itself. Was it worth the $5? I’d say no. I would be a lot happier had I paid the usual Marvel price of $4, but what can you do? A guy I follow on Twitter and the Blog of Doom, Bad Subject, asks if Wolverine has officially “jumped the shark,” so to speak. And I have to agree. I thought turning Wolverine into a headmaster would be intriguing but it’s just turned him into just another guy. As a Wolverine fan, I’m pretty disappointed. I might return for Issue 301 of Wolverine but I’m done with Wolverine and the X-Men until I hear it gets better. Which I guess means I’m done with Wolverine, which saddens me. I will point out that the issue was “bonus sized” yet all we got extra was a stupid preview for a Wolverine TPB and a cool gallery of EVERY cover of every issue of Wolverine. I’d say pass.

Scarlet Spider #1

Ending with my most anticipated title of the week. This is a spinoff of Amazing Spider-Man starring Kaine, the Peter Parker clone featured in Spider Island. Kaine is on the run from just about everything and is on his way to Mexico, but first he must make his way through Houston. He finds out about some sort of criminal deal going down at the Houston port and breaks it up easily. But the items being exchanged are truly horrifying; dead bodies of people that were to be sold into prostitution and slave labor. There is one survivor, which Kaine brings to a hospital (after taking the dealers’ money, as he doesn’t want to be a hero). So Kaine ends up staying in Houston and web slinging like he’s Spider-Man, although he doesn’t want to be a hero. However, a mysterious man heads to the crime scene and sets the cops and investigators ablaze. He later makes his way to the hospital and sets the surviving girl on fire as well, and that’s where we end. Like all #1s this was pretty vague, and it will probably take another issue or two for things to get rolling. But so far, I like what I see. Reads, looks, and feels exactly like Amazing Spider-Man, and I’m willing to give it a chance. OH, and they included a cool “History of the Scarlet Spider” segment after the Letters to the Editor page, which I thought was an awesome touch. But yeah, I’ll be back for at least the next few issues.

Overall, a MUCH better week than last week’s horrendous offerings. Batman and Robin continues to rock the body that rocks the party, and easily wins this week. Nothing else was as good, though nothing came anywhere close to sucking either. I could give a positive recommendation to everything! Well, maybe not Wolverine, although there WERE some parts about that issue that I did enjoy.

NEXT WEEK: More Daredevil, both new AND old! Hopefully more Batwoman! And more, which I can’t list because I don’t have the schedule yet!