things i liked this week

Batman and Robin #11 (DC)
Grant Morrison/Andy Clarke/Scott Hanna/Tony Aviña/Alex Sinclair/Patrick Brosseau
devils, bats and sextons, oh my! Damian's probably not gonna forgive his mom.

Shield #1 (Marvel)
Jonathan Hickman/Dustin Weaver/Christina Strain/Todd Klein (cover with Gerald Parel)
Marvel history buffs, this one's for you. everything you know is ... well, let's just say nobody really knew anything. can you imagine the spinoffs? i vote for one that features Agents walking between the raindrops of (and influencing) Marvel events in the last twenty years (Jasper Sitwell, come on down!).

Superman: Secret Origins #5 (DC)
Geoff Johns/Gary Frank/Jon Sibal/Brad Anderson/Steve Wands
terrific story by Johns, with Luthor, Lois Lane's douchebag military dad and his tool protege all coming together to take down the naive Superman. this should have been the material to reboot the Superman franchise (especially considering Johns' history with the films and the Donners).


Uncanny X-Men #523 (Marvel)
Matt Fraction/Terry Dodson/Rachel Dodson/Justin Ponsor/Joe Caramagna (cover: Adi Granov, variant cover: David Finch/Peter Steigerwald)
although the Dodsons turn in some work not up to par with their standards (the X-Men teleporting a couple of times to cover a few feet?), Matt Fraction's handling of the newest X-crossover has been all pedal-to-the-metal, which i am liking. Scott's about to pay big time for authorizing X-Force, but first they have to bring back Hope and Cable safe and sound. not that easy.


Red Robin #11 (DC)
Christopher Yost/Marcus To/Ray McCarthy/Mark McKenna/Guy Major/Sal Cipriano
if Bruce Wayne is already here, what is Tim Drake doing running around looking for him though?

say it! "Red Robin ....... yuummmmmm!"

The Boys #41 (Dynamite)
Garth Ennis/Darick Robertson/Simon Bowland/Tony Aviña
Malchemical joins the bunch of retard ... oppps, sheltered superheroes in SuperDuper, and a chance meeting with Hughie adds to Butcher's suspicions. this is not going to end in a good way.


Thor and the Warriors Four #1 (Marvel)
Alex Zalben/Gurihiru/Dave Sharpe
Power Pack meets Pet Avengers in their quest to ask Thor for golden apples to cure their grandma. aaaaaawwwww. the only thing i need to point out is, didn't the kids meet Thor way back in the Mutant Massacre? why does it look like they're not sure he exists?


Turf #1 (Image)
Jonathan Ross/Tommy Lee Edwards/John Workman/John Barber (variant covers: Jim Steranko/Duncan Fregedo)
vampires in Prohibition era New York. i thought it was Punisher Noir. well, minus the vampires. let me guess: honorable vampire teams up with honorable mobster against the beasts. and i'm not even referring to the earth-bound bloodsuckers.


Wolverine: Weapon X #12 (Marvel)
Jason Aaron/Ron Garney/Jason Keith/Cory Petit
Deathloks! Old Man No Hand Logan! Buckaptain America! Butterfly Effects! wooooooooh!

Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers #1 (Marvel)
Reginald Hudlin/Denys Cowan/Klaus Janson/Pete Pantazis/Joe Sabino
the Hooters vs. Nazis vs. Wakandans. i meant the Howlers, dammit!!! USA! USA! USA!

Deadpool Corps #1 (Marvel)
Victor Gischler/Rob Liefeld/Adelso Corona/Matt Yackey/Clayton Cowles
i know, i know, its like the umpteenth Deadpool book in last few years. amused by the Prelude, i couldn't resist checking what trouble they'd all get into. now if they just put Humberto Ramos in here on art instead of 'Pool's co-creator ...

drive-by readings 021409

Cable #11 "Wasteland Blues" Duane Swierczynski Ariel Olivetti Jamie McKelvie GuruFx Joe Caramagna

This series gets more depressing as we go along. Cable's broken time machine can only keep jumping into the future, and that future progressively gets bleaker and bleaker. seriously, i needed to eat some chocolate after reading this. or play some Viva Pinata. anyway, Hope (the baby now grown up a bit) deserves a lot better than piggybacking with Nathan (and without chocolate!) to the future that contradicts her name (i'm sure Duane has a plan. right, Duane?). she also deserves not to be drawn like a seven year old with an adult head. thankfully, Jamie McKelvie restores some order in that regard.

Wolverine/Power Pack #4 (of 4) "Alex Power: Master Ninja" Marc Sumerak Gurihiru Dave Sharpe

the Power family mosey over to Japan, because Alex has been chosen to be contestant on a Japanese gameshow "Ninja Master". talk about exciting. and silly. of course, since the title of this book says so, they end up running conveniently into Wolverine (again), who's - guess what - fighting ninjas. the battle provides Wolverine to dispense ol' grampa wisdom to the kids, which in turn Alex uses to win the Ninja Master competition. at least in the eyes of his family. always a fun read, i hope there'll be more Power Packs coming our way soon.

Adventure Comics #0 "The Legion of Super Heroes"/"Origins and Omens" Otto Binder Al Plastino Geoff Johns Francis Manapul Swands Brian Buccellato

reprinting the now-classic (and also somewhat corny) Adventure Comics #247, where Superboy first meets the Legion, the rebooted series, ostensibly starring the Legion of Super Heroes, leads off with a #0 and contains a backup story by DC superwriter Geoff Johns. in the former, Superboy is recruited by the Legion and made to pass a series of tests. take note that they went back to the past to recruit him and he travelled back with them. they should loan Cable a time machine! so, back to future: Superboy only fails because there were other emergencies that delayed him, and thus he's rejected and subjected to jokes. it turns out they were just joshing him and he actually made the cut. this tells us that in the future, jerks will still abound and won't be eliminated in the evolving gene pool. of course, i was more interested in the backup story, where Luthor uses Brainiac to get out of prison. operating with that assumption proves disastrous, as Brainiac has other plans and forces Luthor to work for him. oh, and did i mention a dead Super -being might be involved?

cover of the week

Wolverine/Power Pack #2 by Gurihiru