Various Single Issues

Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #3 by Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette.

This issue is great. It has a nice stand alone story while moving along the overall story arc of Bruce Wayne moving in time. I still have no idea how this is happening, but Morrison is doing some cool things with the time travel part of it. Specially as the whole issue focuses on one particular time. It is interesting that Bruce is getting his memories back little by little, it should create interesting stories as the series goes on.

Overall, a great issue, I am looking forward to the rest of the series.

Superman #700 by James Robinson, Benard Chang, Dan Jurgens, J. Michael Straczynski and Eddy Barrows.

There are three stories on this issue. The first one is by James Robinson and it serves as an epilogue to the last two years of Superman he had written. It was a romantic story about Superman and Lois being back together. I haven't read anything by James Robinson before, but I didn't like this story. Essentially nothing interesting happens. I guess for those following the story it might be nice to see clark and Lois together but I didn't are.

The second story is by Dan Jurgens and I liked it quite a bit. It was fun. It was kid of ordinary in that it had Robin getting in trouble after not following Batman's orders and it was obvious Superman would come in to save the day. However, the last two pages have one twist after another that made the story a bit different, fun and funny. I enjoyed it.

The third story is by J. Michael Straczynski. Straczynski had a great run in Spider-Man and he wrote one of my favorite comic books, Midnight Nation. He also wrote the TV series Babylon 5. A series I like a lot. He is a high profile writer and he is planning a thirteen issue story of Superman walking across America to get back into his roots. I like the idea, I think JMS is very good with this kind of story (he had an episode in Babylon 5 about it, also, Midnight Nation involves walking across America to finding oneself). It is the kind of story that JMS does over and over and I think he will do a good job with it. However, this prologue to that story was very weak. It gives a completely dumb reason for Superman to do that. I really can't see how a woman can blame Superman for her husband's death and how Superman can react to it that way. Superman must know better. JMS should have been able to find a better reason for Superman to want to understand his roots in America.

Spider-Man: Marvel Adventures #2 by Paul Tobin and Matteo Lolli.

This is one of the issues that I have liked the least of this comic book series. It is not bad, but it is not that fun or interesting. The main thing I like is Carter Torino. A son of a mobster, but who doesn't want to be a criminal and who likes Spider-Man. It seems like good stories will come from playing with this.

Spider-Man: Marvel Adventures #3 by Paul Tobin and Matteo Lolli.

The issue is pretty fun and at the end it gets interesting with Bullseye finally doing something. I really enjoy how this series is simple fun without trying to be grim and gritty. Peter acts like a teenager and there are cool supporting characters.
I am happy I am reading this series.

One complaint about the art in this issue is that there's a character whose jacket looks different colors in different panels. It seems like the colorist made a mistake.

Various Recent Single Issues

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #37 by Karl Kessel, Paulo Siqueira, Kurt Busiek and Pat Olliffe.

The annual consists of two stories. The first one by Kessel and Siqueira and the next one by Busiek and Olliffe. The first story is about the first meeting between Captain America and Spider-Man. It was a fun issue. I like how Kessel treated Cap. The art was also quite good. I liked the second story more though. I thought it was a fun story, it made me want to read the other issues that Busiek wrote about Spidey's first year. It was worth buying.

Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #2 by Grant Morrison and Frazer Irving.

This issue is about Puritan Batman. The issue is not as good as the first one, but it was quite good. I liked how Bruce would use his power to save people from superstition. We are starting to learn a little bit more of why it is dangerous for Bruce to go back to the present, but it is still mysterious.

The next issue is Pirate Batman. I am looking forward to that, I have the issue right next to me, I will read it tomorrow. The cover is great.

Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine #1 by Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert.

I loved this issue. I was very surprised by it. I was not expecting an issue set in the past starting Spider-Man and Wolverine. The issue slowly explains how Peter and Logan ended up in prehistoric times, which I think works great. Jason Aaron really knows how to write and it doesn't hurt to have a superstar artist like Adam Kubert to help. Kubert has very detailed pencils. The images are very sharp and clean, I really like the feel of the story. I also like that Kubert is not afraid to put more things into the panels by putting the camera farther back. Really good stuff.

I am looking forward to the rest of this miniseries, it is shaping up to be a fantastic one.

Spider-Man: Marvel Adventures #1 by Paul Tobin and Matteo Lolli.

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man was rebooted into Spider-Man: Marvel Adventures and it starts with a solid first issue. I really like this series. It is full of joy and fun adventures with Spider-Man. Paul Tobin does a really good job with a teenage Spidey and I really like Chat, she is a nice supporting character.

Nemesis: The Impostors #4 by Ivan Brandon and Cliff Richards.

I am a little disappointed with this series. The art is really good (the best I've seen from Cliff Richards), but I think they should have put some kind of recap at the beginning of the first issue or something. Maybe I misunderstood the story, but it seems to me like the series depends on a previous series. I just didn't get the significance of anything that happened in this issue and I kind of didn't care about what happened.
I think it was a mistake to read this miniseries. I recommend reading another nemesis story first before trying to get into this one.

Models Inc.

Models Inc. by Paul Tobin and Vicenc Villagrassa consists of issues 1 through 4 of Models Inc.

Being a fan of the Project Runway show and seeing Tim Gunn on the cover, I had to give this comic book a shot, specially since it is written by Paul Tobin, a writer I like on Marvel Adventures Spider-man. I mean how can you say no to "Tim Gunn in the Iron Man suit". Well, the Tim Gunn story is just a back up for the first issue, and it is actually the best story out of the 4 issues. It was funny to see Tim Gunn talk about fashion in comic books and it was awesome seeing him take on the Iron Man suit to take the day. A fun story.

The four issues themselves are not that great. It is fashion week and several models are doing photo shoots. One photographer is murdered and Millie the model is the main suspect. There is an annoying cop looking for headlines, a model that is a superhero (don't remember her name), a model dating the Human Torch and a few models trying to learn how to fight. The story is fine, but it was not worth reading. I would have been glad just reading the Tim Gunn back up.

Recent Spider-Man Issues

Amazing Spider-Man #622 by Greg Weisman, Luke Ross, Fred Van Lente and Joe Quinones.
I love the TV cartoon "Spectacular Spider-Man" written by Greg Weisman, I was happy to find that his TV writing translated well into a great story about Flash Thompson. In the last couple of years, there have been a couple of very good Flash stories in the Spider-Man comic and I am happy to have them. We get Spidey three times a month, so I don't mind this issue not having the presence of Spidey be important. However, for those that would get bothered by this, there is a nice back up issue written by Van Lente, a writer I love when it comes to Spider-Man.
I should also point out that the art by Luke Ross was very good. Luke Ross was a great penciller for Spider-Man in the early 90s and while his style has changed, he still draws a great Spidey.

Amazing Spider-Man #623 by Mark Waid and Paul Azaceta with a great Michael Lark cover.
The cover for this issue is wonderful. It is my favorite Spider-Man cover. The issue itself is pretty good. I don't like how Azaceta draws Spidey, but he draws good sequences and he does a great job drawing the Vulture. This issue is the first of a two-parter.

Amazing Spider-Man #624 by Mark Waid and Paul Azaceta.
This issue is the second part. We get to see how Spidey defeats the Vulture (mostly by convincing him to stop attacking him and J Jonah). The second half of the issue has Peter losing his job and his reputation after J Jonah denounces him for fraud in a picture that Peter PhotoShopped to save J Jonah's political situation. It was interesting to see an honest side to J Jonah, including how bad he felt over the aid that lost his life to protect him. However it was very sad to see Peter go down so low, over a small mistake.
I am looking forward to the next issue, however I didn't renew my subscription in time, so the next issue I will receive is supposed to be #627, I already got my comic book store to order #626, but #625 is out of print, so I'll have to find it somewhere.

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #61 by Paul Tobin and Christian Nauck.
I have been enjoying this series very much up to the last couple of issues. This issue explains why Chat has been acting so weird and in doing so makes the rpevious issues a bit better. The comic is going from being $2.99 to $3.99 and for the jump they are going to renumber, which makes this the last issue of this series. The issue was pretty good, but it wasn't what one would expect of a final issue (the numbering is also weird in that respect). The next issue, which will be labeled #1, is meant to follow the story developing here, but they did manage to make it more accessible to new readers by having Peter no longer in a relationship.
I like how this comic dealt with Emma Frost and I really like the character of Chat. I am looking forward to more issues of this comic.

Web of Spider-Man #6 by Fred Van Lente, Jefte Palo, Ron Frenz, Tom DeFalco, Zeb Wells and Xurxo Penalta.
The first story is about the origin of the Lizard. I thought the story was pretty good, not great, but not bad. The art was very good and that made it worthwhile. The Spider-Girl story was average. I want to know more about Black Tarantula, he is an interesting guy. The third story was a prelude to a Lizard story to come in Amazing Spider-Man. The issue was average. Maybe I made a mistake by coming back to buying this series after I left it for two issues (I skipped issues 4 and 5).

Web of Spider-Man #7 by Fred Van Lente, Phillipe Briones, Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz, Joe Casey and Jim Mahfood.
The first story is pretty good. I have high expectations for stories written by Van Lente as he has written some of my favorite Spidey stories this year and he wrote a cool origin story for Rhino. This Kraven story wasn't great.
The Spider-Girl story is actually good, with an interesting villain called "Wild Card". Wild Card seems like a cool guy and somehow I think it is Peter Parker trying to get his daughter out of the gang war. This issue really makes me consider buying Spider-Girl #1. In fact, I think I will.
I was excited to see that the last story would be about PaperDoll. While the paparazzi arc in the #560s of Amazing Spider-Man wasn't critically acclaimed, I really liked it. I loved the art, I thought the villain was interesting, and I loved seeing the ethical issues for Peter in working as a paparazzi. With all that in mind, I was looking forward to reading this story by Joe Casey. While the story wasn't bad, the art threw me out of the story often, as the art is very strange. One thing I liked about the art was the sound effects, specially the "Twip" for when Spidey is throwing webbing.
Overall, the issue wasn't great. I won't stop buying this comic, mainly because it is changing its style from #8 forward, by no longer telling origin stories and going more for new stories.

More Single Issues

Casanova #1 and #2 by Matt Fraction and Gabriel Bá.

I had heard great things about this comic, so I had to try it out. The comic is all over the place and hard to understand at times. It took me a while to get into the style. I like the art and I like how the characters break the fourth wall to give us some jokes, however I didn't get interested in the characters.
While I can see why some people would love this series, it is not my cup of tea. I won't read the next issues, I just didn't get excited about what was going on.

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #60 by Paul Tobin and Christian Nauck.

I have been loving the Marvel Adventures Spider-man, however, this issue is not very good. While it was cool seeing Spidey with a badge and I am still wondering how Chat lost her memory, I just wasn't into this issue as much as before. Spidey was very funny and it was very Peter Parker-y for Spider-Man to mess up this new found opportunity, however I am not a big fan of my hero messing up an opportunity so quickly.
The next issue is the last of the series, deciding to renumber after it, going back to #1. I noticed that #1 will be $3.99 instead of $2.99, so maybe that's the reason for the renumbering, that's unfortunate, but maybe this will inspire them to make an extra good last issue and then an extra good first issue.

Various Single Issues

Marvels: Eye of the Camera #6 by Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern and Jay Anacleto.

This is the final issue in a six part miniseries. I read the first five issues about 6 months ago and I kept waiting for this issue to come out. The issue was quite good, giving us the back story on Maggie (from the mutant issue on the original Marvels) and giving a nice ending to the series. I think this series was worth it. It is not as good as the original, but it is a nice comic analyzing superheroes. I enjoyed it a lot. The artwork was great and while the issue itself is not fantastic, overall, the miniseries was very good.

Irredeemable #11 by Mark Waid and Peter Krause.

Now that the Plutonian is vulnerable, the comic is getting better and better. We found out about the past between Bette Noir and Plutonian and we found out some of the bad things Plutonian did as a child. The story is great and the art is very good (although, I think Krause is not that good on close ups as he is on the rest). A great series that I recommend people to check out.

Daredevil #226 by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli.

The last issue of the Frank Miller run that I hadn't read (his last issue was 233). Although I have not read Daredevil: Man of Fear, I'd say that is outside the run. This issue is a pretty good one-shot. It sets up the attraction that Foggy has for Matt's girlfriend, it has the Gladiator (a character who shouldn't be interesting but Miller and Brubaker have made interesting) and it has great art by Mazzucchelli.
It was worth reading. A nice one shot before the masterpiece that is Daredevil: Born Again.

Amazing Spider-Man #620 by Dan Slott, Marcos Martin and Javier Pulido.

The third issue in the three part story on Mysterio. I think the issue was pretty good. It was nice to see Mysterio be a competent villain and I liked the jokes. The art was great, I was surprised the art was consistent even though there were two artists. I think Marcos Martin is great when it comes to drawing Spider-Man.

Haunt #5 by Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley and Todd McFarlane.

The issue is good. An important character dies, changing the scene quite a bit and we find out a bit more about the past of the ghost. It is a bit surprising to me that there is almost no back story to the main character, but a lot of back story to the ghost character. Hopefully we'll find out more to get to be interested in the characters more.
I am starting to have second doubts about continuing with these series. It is not that it is bad, but I think that it is the weakest of the series I get monthly. I will give it a few more issues.
Not a recommended series, but not bad.

More Reviews of Single Issues

Amazing Spider-Man #616 by Fred Van Lente and Javier Pulido.

The issue continues on the Sandman story introduced in the previous issue. The issue continues with the great artwork and great writing. I particularly liked the artwork on a two page spread where the panel snakes up as Sandman is snaking up. The panel is creative and it makes the action look much better than if the panel were just a rectangle.

The ending in the issue is sad. It made me think about the government taking children away from parents because of negligence. Movies, comics and books many times put this in a bad light, but then again, abusive parents must be held accountable somehow. It is a tough subject. I think child's services is better for society than not having it, but some situations are just sad.

A very good issue.

What If Aunt May had Died instead of Uncle Ben? by Ed Brubaker and Andrea Di Vito.

The story is told as if the narrator was a comic book store owner talking to another comic book fan. It is nice that the owner has a T-shirt with The Watcher in it, as The Watcher is usually the narrator in the What If? storylines.

The story is a fun read. It makes it clear how important Aunt May is in the Spider-Man universe. Without someone to ground him, Spider-Man would lose control and go through more experiences before becoming a good superhero.

It was a good story and I really liked the way it was handled with the two superhero fans discussing this.

Star Wars: Purge Seconds to Die by John Ostrander and Jim Hall

The comic is about a Jedi that tries to take down the Emperor after Order 666. She acts as if she wants to be Sith. The Emperor tells her that he'll take her as a student as long as she defeats Darth Vader. Therefore we get a pretty good fight scene between them.

The issue was good. It established a character I didn't know in one issue and it made me care about what would happen to her.

A solid issue.

Marvel Adventures #57 by Paul Tobin and Matteo Lolli

This issue was great. It had humor, romance, action, Peter having moral dilemmas. Essentially it had everything that a Spider-Man comic needs.

The humor came in the guise of Emma Frost as the Silencer. She became a "villain" essentially to see Spider-Man in action, as her best friend Chat is Spidey's girlfriend. In the issue we get a lot of good dialogue between Chat and Emma, between Spidey and Chat and between Peter and Chat. This is the issue where Spidey and Chat have a fight, as Chat confesses that she knows he is Spider-Man and this fight is what generated the funny line I posted about yesterday "...we're sending messages through pigeons now..."

The series is fantastic.

Web of Spider-Man #1,#2,#3 by J.M. DeMatteis, Fred Van Lente, among others.

The first issue is not very good. It has a good but not great story about Kaine written by J.M. DeMatteis. It has a story about Spider-Girl, which I don't care much about, and it has a story about Frog-Man, which was funny but not much. I felt like the first issue wasn't worth buying.

The second issue has the origin of Electro, which was a good story. It had a better Spider-Girl story (now I start to care a bit more) and it has a pretty good final story involving Jameson. This issue is almost worth the price of admission, but it is not there yet.

The third issue has the origin of Rhino, which is a great story. I have a little more respect for Rhino after reading this. Then it has a good Spider-Girl story, which made me want to get the next issue to find out the conclusion to the Spider-Girl current arc. Finally, it has another J.M. DeMatteis story. This time he writes a nice short about May and JJJ Sr.'s honeymoon. It is a moving piece and very funny too. It is nice how he manages to make it touching and funny.

The third issue is very good and that is the reason I'l; get the next couple of issues.

Haunt #1,#2,#3 by Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Greg Capullo and Todd McFarlane.

This title generated a lot of news as it brings back Todd McFarlane into creating a character. McFarlane created this character with Kirkman and now inks the series. The comic is about a priest Daniel Kilgore, whose brother is a secret agent, Kurt Kilgore. Kurt dies and somehow his ghost can still talk to Daniel and if he gets inside Daniel's body, they become a powerful being called Haunt. This is the set up.

The first issue is a good start. The story moves fast and we are introduced to the two main characters, Daniel and Kurt,effectively. I like the first issue.

The second issue is even better than the first. We know more about Daniel and we find out that he has a thing for Kurt's wife. It is also fun to see how Daniel reacts to his newfound powers. The interaction between Daniel and Kurt is quite fun.

The third issue reveals to us a lot more. A creepy Bolivian woman calls him Haunt, somehow she's able to sense the ghost of Kurt. We also learn more about where Kurt worked before, as Daniel is there in their jail (while they try to find out how he was able to get into the secret facility). It is a very good issue. The series keeps getting better and better.

As mentioned yesterday, the fourth issue wasn't so great. The series however has great potential.

That wraps up all the issues I have read in the last two months, so I won't be reviewing any more single issues until next Wednesday when a new batch comes in. However I'll be reviewing a lot more trade paperbacks in the coming days.

What I Read Today (Wednesday Jan. 6)

Today was a good day for me in terms of receiving comics. I got five single issues and three trade paperbacks. I haven't read the trades yet, those reviews will appear sometime this week. However I read the five issues and the reviews follow:

Murderer #1 by Robert Kirkman, Marc Silvestri and Nelson Blake II.

This one-shot is part of the Pilot Season program in Top Cow Productions. The idea is that five one-shots written by Robert Kirkman and Marc Silvestri will come out. Then readers vote on which one they like more. The winner becomes an ongoing series in Top Cow Productions (note that Top Cow is part of Image Comics).

I decided to buy Murderer because the premise looked interesting. Jason is a man who can hear people's thoughts. He has no control over it, so it doesn't feel very good. I won't spoil the particular story of this issue, but I will say that it was very well done. It made me want to read more of this series. The art was very simple and has a lot to improve. However, the writing very well done and makes for a great read.

Now, I am planning on reading the other one-shots. If any of the others is this good, it will be worth buying all four. If none of the others is as good as this one, then I'll happily vote for this one to be an ongoing, I wish it were an ongoing already.

Haunt #4 by Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Greg Capullo and Todd McFarlane

The first three issues of Haunt were good. Each issue getting better. The third issue made me want to continue buying the series. Today I got the fourth issue and I was looking forward to reading it. I like the issue. The art is very good, which is not surprising as Ottley is a fantastic penciller.

The story is getting more interesting as more questions arise and we get to know the main character more. However, I was bothered by several unbelievable things that happen in this issue. There is one scene were a sports car is driven through a brick wall. In fact there are two scenes where this happens. I don't think this is possible, unless you have a very special car (tank). It did create a cool scene to watch, but it took me out of the story as it was too unbelievable.

Another problem I had was with the reaction Amanda has to the extreme violence. She witnesses a monster-looking thing brutally murder several people and then hugs him. That seemed very strange to me.

I am looking forward to next issue, but I have to say I didn't like this issue that much.

God Complex #2 by Michael Avon Oeming, Dan Berman and John Broglia

Another Image Comics book. The first issue of this comic was good, but not great. The second issue again is good but not great. The first issue made it seem like Paul (Apollo) would have a difficult challenge in this issue. It did take Paul 6 pages to get rid of the monsters threatening him, however, he was never really in trouble. It seems weird for a witch to summon powers of great Gods to create such lame adversaries.

After the initial six pages, the book actually gets good. We are introduced to a new character, Jimmy Wu, who has a lot of potential. I am interested in finding more about Jimmy as he seems to be more powerful than Paul, yet way calmer. It reminds me of a Jedi. The interactions between Jimmy and Paul are great.
I have to say that while I am not loving the series as much as I thought I would, I think the series will get better.

Amazing Spider-Man #615 by Fred Van Lente and Javier Pulido

Amazing Spider-Man has been a joy to read for the last 5 months. Every issue has been great, which must be hard to do if you have to publish three times a month as the title does. They rotate writers and all of them are great, but my favorite is Fred Van Lente. Van Lente did a wonderful one-shot about The Spot in Amazing Spider-Man #589 and then he wrote a great three issue arc #603-605 about the Chameleon. Van Lente is funny and his stories are very fun to read. This issue is no exception.

The issue is very funny and a lot of it comes from the great art work. Pulido has Spider-Man wearing a scarf and socks for winter and does a very good job of having Spidey look like Spider-Man. I don't exactly picture Peter Parker and Jameson the way he draws their faces, but the expressions he draws on them work quite well.

There was one scene that had me laughing a lot, so I'll share it:
Spider-Man comes to Betty to ask for some information on some guy. After Betty talks for a while, she turns left and sees the window open while she says "Spider-Man?". This is the last panel of one page. As we turn the page we see a looming Spider-Man on her right saying "I'm over here." It was such a funny scene, making a little fun of the often used stealthy superhero. This was a scene where the writing and the art were pitch perfect, this is the sort of scene that you can only do in comic books.

Excellent issue.

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #58 by Paul Tobin and Matteo Lolli

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man is a title for all ages. It is a fantastic comic book. The art is playful, the writing is funny and exciting. It is just a really good comic book. I don't know why, but a lot of "for all ages" products are better than the specific ones. If we look at Pixar, their movies are usually much better than the average movie. That is just one particular example, but this comic happens to be excellent and for all ages.

Let's talk about this issue in particular. We are introduced to a new character, the Blond Phantom, a superhero that makes money out of saving people's lives. She wants to recruit Spider-Man. The issue moves with a conversation between Spider-Man and Blond Phantom while we get some flashbacks to Spidey's day. I like the way the story is told and I love the new character. This issue is also great in that you don't need to read any other issue to get it. It works great as just one issue.

Again, there was one scene that deserves to be mentioned:
Spider-Man gets hit in the head by a pigeon. Spider-Man then talks to the pigeons about a girl. Blond Phantom is confused to which Spider-Man says "My Girlfriend, the girl I'm dating, can talk to animals. We had a fight. We're working through it, but for now we're too mad at each other to talk, so we're sending messages through pigeons. And yes, I know it's weird". Brilliant.