Deadshot's Bullet Reviews Week of May 26th.

I am back with a handful of reviews that are mostly positive this week. I must be in a good mood! Now on with the reviews....

Thor#610
Keirion Gillen, Doug Braithwaite

The Siege is over and the Heroic Age has begun in the Marvel universe. All is happy and shining once again except for those poor Agardians who have had their home destroyed. This issue serves as a wrap-up for the events of Siege and starts laying the foundation for where the book will go next. The last piece of business to attend to before closing the door on this dark chapter of Marvel history? Beating the snot out of Ragnarok (or Clor as I like to call him). A solid tie-up stand-alone issue.
4 out of 5 bullets.


Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #2
Grant Morrison/Frazer Irving

The table is set. The guests have arrived. Thanksgiving. Or...this is the second issue of Grant Morrison's epic(?) Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne mini-series. Picking up where last issue left off (except with a different artist), Bruce fights the KRAKEN! Okay, maybe not THE kraken but a kraken-like creature. Most of the issue sees Bruce playing the part of Brother Mordecai, Witch Hunter. Pretty standard witch trials type story and at the end Bruce quantum leaps to his next issue: Bat-pirates of the Carribean. Still not really feeling this story but if you are a Morrison or Bruce Wayne Batman fan, then this book is for you.
3 out of 5 bullets.


The Guild #3
Felicia Day/Jim Rugg

This final issue offers more the same from the first two issues which is a good thing. It's written by the writer/creator of the Guild web-series, Felicia Day so if you are a fan of that series, you owe it to yourself to pick up this book or the collected trade (its only 3 issues) when it becomes available. This final issue sees the official formation of the Knights of Good as well as a resolution to poor Cyd's love life with Trevor of the Randy Bards!
4 out of 5 bullets.




Superman: War of the Supermen #4
James Robinson, Sterling Gates/Eddy Barrows

It seems like I say this every week but...."It all comes down to this!!" New Krypton is no more and General Lane's plan comes face to fist with General Zod's mad desire to lay the smack down on earth. Believe me, if it is up to him, there will be lots of kneeling involved. Basically, this final issue of the month long mini wraps up the entire New Krypton saga that has been brewing for a number of years in the Super titles. If you like the big epic confrontation style books, then this one is for you. My one complaint is that I thought this part of the conflict (the actual war) should have gone on longer.
4 out of 5 bullets.


Justice League Generation Lost #2
Keith Giffen, Judd Winick/Joe Bennett

Max Lord is back and no one knows because no one remembers him except our Super Buddies Booster Gold, Fire, Ice and Captain Atom. The quartet attempt to get the first string DC heroes of what has happened only to be dismissed or abused by those they consider friends. Top that all off, they are systematically being discredited to make things worse. Giffen and Winick are serving up a familiar story but in an entertaining fashion. It does feel a little like Countdown to Infinite Crisis though. If you like JLI or Booster Gold pick this one up.
4 out of 5 bullets.


Wolverine Weapon X #13
Jason Aaron/Ron Garney

The war against the Deathloks continue as Wolverine and company attempt to find out what is causing all the Deathloks to appear and how they can stop them. However, the Deathloks seem to have a problem with being stopped and are prepared to screw up the timeline to prevent it. A fun story so far and I am looking forward to the rest of the arc.
4 out of 5 bullets.

The Wry's Rants for May 26 Comics

It's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood, a beautiful day for a neighbour. Won't you be mine? No? Well then fine. I'll just stay home and read some comics. Let's see... how about Secret Avengers #1, Green Lantern Corps #48, Amazing Spider-Man #632, and Detective Comics #865. Yeah... that's the ticket.


Secret Avengers #1

I want to tell you about this new series by Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato, but SHHH!! It's a secret! Wait, what, that's not why it's called Secret Avengers? It's called Secret Avengers because it's like a black ops team? And also the team members are Steve Rogers, Sharon Carter, War Machine, Black Widow, Moon Knight, Ant-Man, Beast, Valkyrie, and Nova? And that the story is about Roxxon, a version of the Serpent Crown, and the team that needs to get their ass to Mars?
Okay, enough with the question marks. I don't know about Valkyrie and Nova (maybe because they're more like powerhouses), but the rest of team works with this "Black Ops Avengers" idea. It doesn't hurt that I'm a fan of both Brubaker and Deodato, so I had no problem enjoying this issue. Deodato's art is perfect for this concept, and of course Brubaker with his work on Daredevil and Captain America shows he can do the sneaky-stealth-espionage stuff. I recommend it to everyone! Well, at least give it a look.

Green Lantern Corps #48

Things are being cleaned up on Oa, but Tony Bedard and Ardian Syaf aren't leaving it at that. It starts with Ganthet, Guy Gardner meeting with Atrocitus on his home planet. Ganthet tells them about a dire situation that needs to be fixed, but we're not told what the problem is or what their plan is. What we do know is that Ganthet stops become a Guardian (even a Blue Guardian) and instead becomes a Green Lantern, with ring and everything. Oh yes, and it looks like the Alpha Lanterns are building their numbers as Green Lanterns are being requisitioned by them, which seens to be the active story right now.
The tricky thing with this book is that since it has a large number of characters involved, so if the current storyline involves Lanterns you don't care for, it results in an issue you don't care for. Personally, this is not the case for me on this current story. I recommend it for Lantern fans and those who liked Blackest Night.

Amazing Spider-Man #632

This is part three of a (I think) four part story by Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo. The story is "Shed" and is about the Lizard shedding Curt Conners mentally by killing his son Billy last issue (I thought it was a "he seems dead but not really" moment, but boy was I wrong). There's also the literal shedding of the Lizard's body as a new Lizard emerges, stronger both physically and mentally. In fact, he's now able to communicate with the reptillian portion of our brains and have us act on our more base instincts. He makes Spidey run away, and causes actions in some random folk that are definitely more primal in nature. How's Spidey gonna stop him? No idea.
Definitely one of the darker stories that's been on Spider-Man. I'm not a fan of Bachalo's art, but in this story it works very well with the theme. Obviously you should pick up the previous two issues if you're planning on picking up this issue. Right now it seems to going for the "darkest before the dawn" feeling, and right now for Lizard is pretty freakin' dark. Recommended for anyone that likes Spidey.

Detective Comics #865

This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. This is Dr. Arkham's brain, which is just $%#@ed up! By David Hine and Jeremy Haun, this is the second part of a two part story. It shows how Arkham became Black Mask as well as showing what's going on with him at Arkham. It shows how nothing is what it seems, whether it the goings on inside Arkham's head, or what's going on in Arkham Asylum itself. It just goes to show just how manipulative an expert in psychology can be. There's also a Second Feature with the Question, but I'm not recapping it. (see last week's rant on my opinion of second features)
I had dropped Detective after Batwoman took it over, but picked it up again after this story (involving BatMAN) No real action in this, but the story didn't need it either. After showing how Arkham is NOT in good hands, you know that we're going to be getting a recurring Batman villian. If you are a fan of the Batman rogues, or the Batman universe in general, I very much recommend this story.

The Wry's Rants for May 19 comics, with a Rant on Second Features

Happy long weekend to everyone! This week I'm covering Avengers #1,
Justice League of America #45, X-Factor #205: Second Coming Revelations, and Batman: Streets of Gotham #12. I'll also be doing a second rant in as many weeks, this time on those Second Features we're seeing on some DC titles.

The Avengers #1

The big reset button on the Avengers universe starts with this title, brought to you by Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr. It starts off in the aftermath of Siege, with Steve Rogers going around and asking heroes if they want to join the Avengers, with almost all of them saying yes. They're not all going to be on this title, most of them are being spread out. The one person that said no was Wonder Man, who gives Steve a warning not to do this. (oooo, foreboding...) Anyway, the plot is that Kang (!!) shows up and warns them that in the future Ultron has taken over the world. On top of that, the Avenger's children are the ones who take him down, but now THEY are the ones taking over the world. So the Avengers have to go in the future to prevent the world from ending.
Good, solid first issue. Nice to see "the big three" together, even though one of them is Bucky America. Clint Barton is back as Hawkeye, which I liked better than Ronin. Always good to have someone there to banter with Spidey. Don't know how the other Avenger titles are going to work out, but if you plan on being one or two of them, this title should be one.

Justice League of America #45

It's the prelude to The Dark Things, a JLA/JSA crossover. The issue by James Robinson and Mark Bagley is setting up all the players involved from both teams. The story is about Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern, and the Starheart, which is what gave him his powers. It seems a big chunk of it has now come to earth, bringing along Jade. The JLA and the JSA end up meeting at the Starheart's landing, where a seemingly possessed Power Girl starts kicking all their butts. Turns out this isn't a coincidence, as a few things like this have been happening globally. At the end Alan Scott, who has been spending the issue in sort of a waking coma, is now alert again but has been changed. To What? Buy the damn issue and find out.
The only reason I got this issue is because I get JSA and only getting half the issues of a crossover REALLY sucks. But this was a good setup issue for the crossover. It looks like it's going to be a good story (I hope) so getting the JLA issues for the crossover will be fine (I had dropped the title once the roster got really weak). Plus I'm a fan of Mark Bagley's work since waaay back on Amazing Spider-Man, so I enjoyed this issue. If you're a JLA or JSA fan and you haven't been getting these series, at least pick them up for this story.

X-Factor #205: Second Coming Revelations

It's a Second Coming side story by Peter David and Valentine De Landro, and this issue is part 2 of 3. Last issue had Trask, under the orders of Bastion, getting the X-Factor team eliminated. But it seems (surprise!) that they are actually okay, and knew they were being setup. It also has Trask's team try to take out Siryn (actually she's now going by Banshee) in Ireland, but things don't quite go the way they were hoping once Shatterstar and Layla show up.
This story is related to the events in Second Coming, but it's not (so far) mandatory reading for the crossover. It's a good story, and I like Peter David. X-Factor has been a solid title for a while now (not on the top of my read pile, but no threat of being dropped either), and it continues here. Not needed for those only getting Second Coming, but I still recommend the title.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #12

This story by Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen focuses mostly on a girl named the Carpenter, who's known for making or re-structuring villian hideouts, complete with booby traps and the like. At this point she's currently doing some pool hustling when someone approaches her with a job to take a theater and lethalize it. Her employer is some guy called the director (hence the theater hideout) who wants to make snuff films with superheroes in the lead roles. His first target? Batman. However the Carpenter finds out that not all is what it seems and gets in trouble
before she can do anything.
Okay, I'll say it, Paul Dini has been my favourite Batman writer since he took over writing duties on Detective Comics. Maybe I have a bias because he did great scripting those "Batman: The Animated Series" episodes back in the 90's, but it's there. No epic storyarcs, no massive events, no 12-part series. Just good stories that usually are just 1 or 2 parts (anything longer is the exception, not the rule). And I like Streets of Gotham because it doesn't HAVE to be about Batman directly,
like this story is. I recommend it to people that feel burned out by "events", and just want good comics.Oh yeah, this issue also has a Second Feature about Manhunter, but it's not why I buy this title, so I'm not going to review it. In fact, while we're on the subject of Second Features, let's now go to....

The Wry's Rant on "Second Features"

Okay, DC has been going on this concept for a little while now (and Marvel has jumped in with Captain Amercia and Nomad), and I've seen enough now to form an opinion on it.
I do not like it.
Basically they're taking a 2.99 comic, reducing the main story by about 4 pages, then adding a backup story that has nothing to do with the main story and raising the title by a dollar to 3.99. Now if you a fan of both, then this is actually a great deal. (I liked the Booster Gold/Blue Beetle combo, for example) If you don't mind the characters and like the backup story then it's not so bad (like JSA/Hourman-Liberty Belle), but with backup stories that I don't really care for (like Captain Atom, The Question, Manhunter) then that's when it bugs me.
If they want to run a story that they don't think will make an ongoing, then release it as a limited series. Having to pay an extra dollar per title per month would pretty much get me an extra issue to buy.This is kind of a wierd issue because it's only a negative issue if you don't like the second feature that's in the comic you're buying. I found myself already dropping one of these titles (Teen Titans w/Ravager), and if I need to drop other titles, I think the ones with Second Features
would be the ones going first.

Remi's (slightly) Obsessive Reading Log! Week 5

Wooo, I'm not very good at this game! Oh well, at least I got some pretty decent reading done this week!

Caught up on my Secret Warriors, read all of Bendis/Maleev's Spider-Woman, which was amazing, and while I'm pretty sad to see it go, I'm very excited about their upcoming Scarlet title!

I was able to read Brave and the Bold #33, and while we're sold out at The Comic Hunter, if you get a chance to read this, DO NOT pass it up!

The end of Siege came out this week, as well as it's sister title, Siege: Embedded. Both were pretty solid reads throughout, although we were also forced to read Siege: The Fallen, which while I have no problems with them killing off the character they did (as much as I enjoyed him), this issue read nothing like what it should have been for this character. It was a little ... whatever the pc-way to say retarded is...

Dark Avengers also finished up, and was easily one of the best 16 issues ever published in a row by Marvel. Check it out if you haven't yet!

It was nice to see Giffen and DeMatteis‎ back doing what they do best, Booster Gold (on two books), Max Lord and the JLI!

Week 5
May 10th (count = 9)
Secret Warriors (2009) #15
Siege: Secret Warriors (2010) (one-shot)
Spider-Woman (2009-2010) #1-7

May 11th (count = 11)
Amazing Spider-Man (1963-) #630
Brave and The Bold (2007-) #33
Deadpool (2008-) #22
Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth (2009-2010) #10
Kato Origins (2010) #1
Many Loves of Spider-Man (2010) (one-shot)
Nova (2007-) #36
Rebels (2009-) #15
Ultimate Spider-Man (2009-) #9
X-Factor (2005-) #204
X-Men: Legacy (1991-) #235

May 12th (count = 8)
New Mutants (2009-) #13
Sentry: The Fallen (2010) (one-shot)
Siege (2010) #4
Sweet Tooth (2009-) #1-5

May 13th (count = 5)
Amazing Spider-Man (1963-) #631
Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis (2010) #1
Dark Avengers (2009-2010) #16
Flash (2010-) #2
Justice League: Generation Lost (2010) #1
New Avengers: Finale (2010) (one-shot)

May 14th (count = 0)

May 15th (count = 9)
Birds of Prey (2010-) #1
Booster Gold (2007-) #32
Daredevil: Cage Match (2010) (one-shot)
Punishermax (2009-) #7
Rebels (2009-) #16
Terminator: 2032 (2010) #1
Titans: Villains For Hire (2010) (one-shot)
Ultimate Spider-Man (2009-) #10
Wolverine #900 (2010) (one-shot)

May 16th (count = 8)
Avengers: The Initiative (2007-2010) #35
Batman & Robin (2009-) #11-12
Batman: The Search For Bruce Wayne (2010) #1
Deadpool Team-Up (2009-) #893
Marvel Project (2009-2010) #1
Sam & Twitch: The Writer (2010) #1
Siege: Embedded (2010) #4

Total after Week 5 = 223(-65, and it continues downwards)

Deadshot's Bullet Reviews Week of May 12th

A monster week in comics this week and that sound you hear is comic fans' wallets screaming. Still, its a good scream as lots of good stuff hit the shelves this week. Let's get to it!

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1
Grant Morrison/Chris Sprouse

The inevitable return of the one true Batman begins here. Picking up from the end of Final Crisis, we find Bruce Wayne kicking it really old school in caveman times. No Fred Flinstone in sight but a crew of cave dudes who seem vaguely familiar to more modern day Gothamites who come in conflict with another tribe of more warlike cavemen led by one Vandal Savage. At the end of the issue Bruce Wayne Quantum Leaps his way forward in time just before some familiar friends track him down. They say Bruce can't make it back to his own time on his own or the future is doomed! I wasn't crazy about the issue as Morrison usually tries too hard to weird but this isn't him at his worst in this regard. The art by Chris Sprouse was top notch and I am interested to see where this goes. Still, I like Dick Grayson as Batman and I hope the return of Bruce Wayne doesn't prompt an immediate switch of the cowl.
3 of out 5 bullets.


The Flash #2
Geoff Johns/Francis Manipul

The new Flash series continues on with a surprising reveal on who killed the Mirror Monarch. The story adds in familiar Flash elements such as time travel and the advantages of having super speed (i.e. rebuilding destroyed apartment complexes in a blink of an eye). Johns is assembling the pieces albeit a bit slowly for my tastes (and ironically for a Flash title). Manipul's art is solid and works well with the type of action that he is called upon for a Flash title. The Barry Allen supporting cast is still developing but some potentially interesting sub-plots are starting to develop.
Its early in the title but its Geoff Johns so I am willing to give him at least the first arc to get things set up and rolling. If you are a Flash fan or a Johns fan definitely worth picking up (and #1 as well if you missed it).
4 out of 5 bullets.

Siege #4
Brian Bendis/Oliver Copiel

This....is....it! After 7 long years, the 'epic' Bendis story reaches its final resolution. The war of Asgard is over and things shift to the final confrontation with Sentry in all his Void-ness. The core of the original Avengers reunite to find a way to take out Sentry and save the world bringing to an end all the turmoil that has beset the Marvel universe in the last 7 years. The art was great but this event ultimately disappointed because it was a rather lackluster finale for me. I was never a Sentry fan (a blatant Superman rip-off) so I am glad to see that they finally did something with him after years of him moping around being crazy.

Still, while the Bendis grand sweeping saga had some interesting moments, I guess I wonder what it got for us in the end? Steve Rogers is running S.H.I.E.L.D and the rest of the Avengers are back together and buddies again. The Registration Act is gone and everyone can go out in jammies and beat up criminals again. I am looking forward to the beginning of the Heroic Age and putting this dark period of Marvel's history behind me. 3 out of 5 bullets.


Iron Man - Legacy #2
Fred Van Lente/Steve Kurth

The new Iron Man title rolls along as Tony continues his one man war against the country of Transia. It seems that one side of the civil war is using Stark patents which makes Tony a wee bit upset. I like the political aspect of this storyline. Tony is in doing what he feels is right but it at the cost of some political bank with Henry Gyrich and the U.S. government. Tony gets to see the personal impact that this civil war has on its populace and there are some cool fight scenes showcasing some of the stolen Stark tech. At the end of the issue, Tony comes face to face with the individual who is making these new 'Iron Men' which is a nice cliffhanger for next issue.

I am enjoying this title but am surprised that they didn't slide this under the new Astonishing line which seems to unhinge the title from current continuity. I am not overly familiar with Steve Kurth's art but have liked what he has done with this title so far. Looking forward to the rest of this arc.
4 out of 5 bullets.


Booster Gold #32
Keith Giffen - J.M. DeMatteis/Chris Batista

I was ready to drop this title and I have been pulled back in with one issue by the new (old?) creative team. Giffen/Dematteis are no strangers to Booster having written him during one of his defining time periods as a member of the Justice League International. Their sense of timing and humour are still evident here but more they working with a more competent Booster who is not quite so slapstick as he was in those days. The story opens up as Booster has been tasked by Rip Hunter to retrieve an artifact in the 30th century. It just so happens that Booster arrives to pick up said artifact on the same day that Darkseid enslaves the Daxamite people and gives them the powers of Superman and has them doing the heat vision version of carpet bombing the surface of the planet.

The style of this issue was a throwback to an old day. There were lots of panels and stuff going on. No decompression here. Batista does a great job fitting in all the dialogue and still putting in some great details. There was a bit of unevenness with the story, however. While I did like some of the lighter tones to the book at one point it didn't seem to fit with what Booster was seeing. Still, I chalk that up to the new (old?) writers returning to a familiar character but attempting to work with him in his more mature state. I think there is enough good stuff going on here to warrant checking it out.
4 out of 5 bullets.

Justice League - Generation Lost #1
Keith Giffen-Judd Winick/Joe Bennett

The sister title to Brightest Day sees its release this week in the form of Justice Leage - Generation Lost. One of half of the legendary JLI writing team - Keith Giffen - teams up with Judd Winick to follow the exploits of four former JLI'ers: Booster Gold, Fire, Ice and Captain Atom as they hunt for the man who betrayed them all - Maxwell Lord. The issue starts off strongly with a worldwide manhunt for the returning from Blackest Night - Maxwell Lord - co-ordinated by the Justice League. The rest of the issue follows the four above mentioned members as they get involved in the manhunt but soon find themselves as the only one who even remember who Max Lord is.

I loved the scene between Max and Booster near the end of the issue that was very reminiscent of the scene between Max and Blue Beetle that kicked off the events leading to Infinite Crisis. I'm eager to see what Max is up to and why he was one of the one's resurrected at the end of Blackest Night. 4 out of 5 bullets.


Titans: Villains for Hire Special #1
Eric Wallace/Fabrizio Fiorentino -Mike Mayhew - Sergio Arino -Walden Wong

The languishing Titans title gets a 'bold' new direction with this special which sees Deathstroke recruiting a new team of villains in flashbacks as they take on their first mission of dispatching a now redundant hero. I was not expecting much from this issue and bought it mostly out of morbid curiousity. Wallace was able to invoke a bit of sympathy for the poor hero in this case but Deathstroke's recruitment scenes for each member was exactly the same. The art was a mismash of styles that at times was jarring and didn't help the what little story there was.

I'm a Deathstroke fan but even I hope that someone drives a sword through this title's gut like we saw Deathstroke doing on the front cover of the issue. I suspect that DC is hoping to put the actual hero impaled on the sword on any 2nd prints of this issue. Hopefully there won't be any. :)
2 out of 5 bullets.

The Wry's Rants for May 12 comics, with a Rant on Siege

The New Avengers Finale One Shot

Brought to you by the combo of Brian Michael Bendis and Bryan Hitch/Stuart Immonen, this is the final New Avengers until next month's New Avenger's #1 (shouldn't that be New New Avengers?). This issue finally ends the on-again off-again story that these guys have had with the Hood. Hood and Masque had fled the scene during Siege and went to her dad for help, who just happens to be Count Nefaria. The Avengers track them down and chaos erupts in the form of a fight scene. Also some flashback scenes at the end of the issue with various artists from various points during the series.
Well, if you've been getting New Avengers then you should pretty much pick this up as well. If you haven't been getting it, then there's no need to unless you want to find out what happens with the Hood.


Birds Of Prey #1

Ah, it's Gail Simone and Ed Benes, and they're back on Birds of Prey. It's been a long time since these two have been on this title together, and personally I'm glad they're back. This issue is basically Oracle forming the team again, this time with the roster of Black Canary, Lady Blackhawk, Huntress, Hawk and Dove. Most of the issue is spent bring everyone together, but the story why they're brought together is that Oracle got some files delivered to her that she wasn't expecting. It was files on about a dozen heros/villians, but the info on them were complete. All their secrets, all their habits, all their behaviours. And Oracle wants to find out who sent this to her and why.
Good title, good writing, and great art. It's nice seeing Benes's art so clean (it seemed really scratchy on Justice League) and I hope he sticks around for awhile. Definitely recommended.


Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1

Now it's time to get things fixed. This is a six issue miniseries by Grant Morrison and Chris Sprouse, and it's about getting Bruce Wayne back into the modern day DC universe. Grant was the one who put him there so it's makes sense that he should be the one to correct it. The first issue has Batman in the caveman era, but apparently he doesn't remember anything. He's found by one tribe that's being hunted by another tribe led by Vandal Savage. After dealing with that situation Bruce gets transported to another time era. It also has Superman, Booster Gold and Green Lantern (Jordan) looking for him and to get him back.
Well, it's Grant Morrison, which to me is a bad thing. I was not a fan of Final Crisis, and I HATED Batman R.I.P., so I'm wondering how this could go wrong as well. Usually Grant starts off his stories fine, but then the middle gets all wacked out, and then the story ends, hopefully with an actual resolution. Get this if you're a Morrison fan, if you're a Batman fan then get this if you don't mind Morrison. If you don't like Morrison then I'd advise against getting it.

Siege #4

It THE Marvel event! (just ask them) And it's now coming to a close, by Brian Michael Bendis and Oliver Coipel. At this point it's no longer about invading Asgard as it's about stopping the Sentry in his void mode. In a surprising move, Loki actually helps out once he sees how much out of hand this has gotten. Once it's all over, the Avengers are back, Steve Rogers is now running S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Registration Act is no more. It's not really doing anything new, just a reset more than anything.
What's my opinion of this issue/story? Well, we can just use that to segue into the following rant:

The Wry's Rant on SIEGE

So THIS is the big ending of this seven year epic by Bendis? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Disassembled, I liked New Avengers, Civil War was fun (although the ending was abrupt), Secret Invasion was good (just the main story, all the tie-ins were unnecessary), and Dark Avengers was surprising well done. I just got the feeling that this story was more or less resetting the status quo other than changing it.
You have Steve Rogers now running SHIELD, which I have no problem with since Bucky will stay as Captain America. They got rid of the Registration Act, which again I agree with as that has run it's course. Don't know what to think of the 14 new Avenger titles are starting during the next few months, though. And I thought all the SIEGE one shots were a waste of time. Seriously. You could have not read any of them and you wouldn't have missed a thing.
I like Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man #1 was when I started reading his stuff), and the fact that he had this huge story in this head that was able to publish is very cool (it's like Geoff Johns and his Green Lantern work). Was this a good story? I thought so. Did it wraps things up? Absolutely. I just don't think SIEGE was the epic story that Marvel was making it out to be.

Rise of the Eldrazi Game Day!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=127416160606532


SUNDAY, MAY 23rd, at 12PM/NOON

The Comic Hunter is hosting a casual day of magic playing!

We'll be running a Standard Constructed tournament, which will be FREE to play. For participating, everyone will get a full art Staggershock, and the Top 8 players will received a full art foil Deathless Angel. Two for the Angel's will also be awarded as door prizes!

http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/442

So come out and have a good time, play some cards, get some free stuff! :D

Remi's (slightly) Obsessive Reading Log! Week 4

Almost kept up this week, but still falling behind. I managed to snag a copy of the Orbiter graphic novel by Warren Ellis, which I didn't know existed. Solid read, nothing too exciting, but a good science-fiction storyline set in the near future.

Still keeping up with Siege and Second Coming, both have been great reads! Brightest Day is also starting off well enough. They're obviously setting it up to be a year long event, and are taking their time to get a lot of story out of it!

Incorruptible Vol. 1 finally came out, and I was more than happy to devourer that one in a sitting! Highly recommend this one, and Mark Waid's sister title, Irredeemable, if you want some good alternative super-hero books!

Week 4

May 3rd (count = 2)
Earth X (1999-2000) #0
X-Men Forever (2009-2010) #1

May 4th (count = 12)
Orbiter HC (104 pages, counts at 5)
Powers (2000-2004) #12
X-Men Forever (2009-2010) #2-7

May 5th (count = 4)
Batman (1940-) #687
Brightest Day (2010-2011) #1
Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine (2010) #1
Mighty Avengers (2007-2010) #36

May 6th (count = 10)
Punisher (2009-) #16
Stand: Soul Survivors (2009-2010) #1-2
Ultimate New Ultimates (2010) #2
Uncanny X-Men (1963-) #524
Vengeance of Moon Knight (2009-) #8
Walking Dead (2003-) #71
X-Force (2008-) #26
X-Men Forever (2009-2010) #8
X-Men: Hellbound (2010) #1

May 7th (count = 1)
Girls (2005-2007) #1

May 8th (count = 0)

May 9th (count = 17)
Amazing Spider-Man (1963-) #629
Batman (1940-) #688-690
Fantastic Four (1961-) #578
Green Lantern Corps (2006-) #47
Incorruptible (2009-) #1-4
Invincible Iron Man (2008-) #25
Outsiders (2009-) #29
Secret Warriors (2009-) #13,14
The Stand: Soul Survivors (2009-2010) #3-5

Total after Week 4 = 173 (-57, still falling behind...)

The Wry's Rants for Apr 28/May 5

Hi everyone, I've been gone for a few weeks due to illness. I just didn't have the energy to put together a rant for a couple of weeks now, but I'm better now! (Whee?) I picked up two weeks of comics, so this is a review from a two week pile. The comics I'll be covering are Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine #1, Invincible Iron Man #25, Deadpool #22, Secret Six #21, and I Zombie #1.


Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine #1

This is the first part of a six part mini-series, but it's bi-monthly, so it won't be done for about a year. Spidey and Wolverine start off back in the prehistoric age, which they were sent back in time as they were stopping a bank robbery. Peter tries to figure out how they can get back before the asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs hits the earth. Logan, well, deals with things his own way.
I like the take on this issue as it takes into account the dynamic between these two, and how they don't really like working with each other (for their own reasons). Even when they meet at the bank robbery, their dislike for each other is noted immediately. I don't like idea of this being bi-monthly, because intentionally waiting two months for the next part bugs me. That's really the only negative for me, though. I still recommend it to Spidey fans, Wolverine fans, and fans of team ups.

Invincible Iron Man #25

This title continues it greatness, in my own wonderfully biased opinion. Tony has finished rebooting his brain and has reinstalled his memories (seriously. I'm not using metaphors), but it seems that his memories only go up to shortly after he got the extremis armor, so there's quite a memory gap between then and now. This issue has him dealing with that issue, but it introduces the characters involved in the next storyline with Hammer Industries (not Osborn's H.A.M.M.E.R., but Tony Stark's Hammer)
Like I said, this series continues to rock. Any fan of Iron Man owes it to him or herself to get this title. Even if the only thing you've done is seen the movie, if you liked that, you'll like this.

Deadpool #22

There's a new sheriff in town! Sheriff Deadpool that is. This is a nice little one-off story about Deadpool on a bus that gets robbed in a part of the country that looks like the back drop of 'Deliverence'. Nobody can call the cops because, well, the cops were the ones that robbed them. So it's up to Deadpool to deliver justice to these crooked cops whose dialogue includes more apostrophes and contractions than I could ever believe possible.
Again, it's a fun issue, being the only REAL Deadpool title out there. Hey, I like some of the other stuff, but he's getting more overexposed than a open roll of film laid out on the beach. And this is coming from a Deadpool FAN. It's a stand alone story, so it's good for a read if you're interested.

Secret Six #21

Catman is on the prowl! Er, on the hunt! Or whatever cat related metaphor you'd like to use. Blake's son has been abducted and now he's after the people that were responsible. Deadshot, Ragdoll, Black Alice and Savage are after him, leaving Bane to take care of the group's contractual obligations by getting other metahumans involved. This issues gives some glimpses into Catman's childhood, giving a little insight on how he became who he is.
I enjoy this this book. There really hasn't been any weak issues since the ongoing started, and I do like how Catman and Deadshot have a friendship that neither of them will admit to. Now they're exploring a possible Ragdoll/Alice thing going on, which surprises Ragdoll as much as anybody. Recommended for people that like good team books.

I Zombie #1

And now, time for something completely different. This is from Vertigo, and it's the story of a girl in Eugene, Oregon who has a friend who's a ghost, and another that's a were-terrier. That's right, not a werewolf, a wereterrier. Oh and by the way, the girl's a zombie (hence the title) that needs to eat brains once a month of someone that has just died. But when she eats their brains, she's getting the final memories of their life, and this issue the dead guy that she's munching on seems to have been murdered, but will she do something about it?
Interesting book, but not a fan of the art. Vertigo has a good idea with this comic and is selling it for just one dollar, so if you check it out and don't like it, you're only out a buck. It's something that all new ongoing series should try with their first issue to try to get people on board. Established characters are one thing, completely new ones are hard.

Remi's (slightly) Obsessive Reading Log! Week 3

Seems keeping the reading level up is going to be harder than I'd originally planned! Not too sure I'm going to reach my goal of 3000 books in a year, but I'm going to keep at it and see what I get to!

This weekend was FCBD, which was our most successful yet! I can't even begin to count how many people came through our doors, but if our numbers reflect our sales, it's nearly twice as many as last year's!

My brother René was down visiting, and helping out with FCBD, and if all goes well, you'll all be getting to know him soon enough, as he may become the next Comic Hunter employee!

All this to say, little time to read, so here we go, week three!

April 26th (count = 0)

April 27th (count = 11)
Astounding Wolf-Man #11
Invincible #48-57

April 28th (count = 5)
Hercules: Fall of an Avenger (2010) #1-2
New Avengers (2004-2010) #64
Thor (2007-) #609
Thunderbolts (1997-) #143

April 29th (count = 8)
Dark Wolverine (2009-) #85
DV8: Gods and Monsters (2010-2011) #1
Green Lantern (2005-) #53
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008-2010) #25
House of M: Masters of Evil (2009-2010) #1-4
Justice League of America (2006-) #44
Siege: Spider-Man (2010) (one-shot)

April 30th (count = 0)

May 1st (count = 0)

May 2nd (count = 7)
Firestar (2010) (one-shot)
Invincible (2003-) #58,59
Sif (2010) (one-shot)
X-Men Forever: Alpha (2009) (X-Men (1991-) #1-3)

Total after Week 3 = 127 (-53, this is going to be TOUGH! hahahaha)