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Last Week In Comics: Mayan Snow Ninjas!

SpaceBooger’s weekly review of last weeks comics is back giving a fresh take on 5-day-old comics:

All New Atom 22

All New Atom #22 continues to entertain us with the attack of the killer virus, or subatomic monster. No, I am not referring to the virus that was built up in Countdown to Final Crisis and wiped out a whole Earth in one issue… No this virus is from the blood of one superhero know as the Atom. The monster that was enlarged from Ryan Choi’s blood continues to ravage Ivy Town like something out of a “B Movie.” As much as I want to pull a MST3K on this issue, I can’t because it was a fun read:. Te best part of the issue is a tossup between the angry homeowner and the demise of the forced romantic interest.

Amazing Spider-Man 555

Amazing Spider-Man #555 had the Webhead being all emo like, cracking jokes with Wolverine, and then fighting Mayan Snow Ninjas… Yeah… I said Mayan Snow Ninjas… At first I was disappointed by the continual whining by Peter Parker and even more annoyed by the random encounter with the Mayan Snow Ninjas… But after thinking about all of the Avengers books and this Secret Invasion crap… I decided this silliness is just what Marvel needs. Reading this issue again for the review I decided that I liked this randomness from a Marvel book… it was kind of different… it was fun.

Detective Comics 843

Detective Comics #843 almost made Best Comic of Last Week. It’s dialog was superb from the interaction of Batman and the scared security guard to the flirting of Zatanna, shown above. The issue showed the return of Scarface with a new Ventriloquist, any comic with a well written Scarface is a good comic in my opinion. As I already mentioned the best part of this issue was Zatanna almost begging Bruce to “go steady” since she was the one to erase his memory.
WTF!
As much as I would be interested to see how writers would handle a Batman/Zatanna love affair I think it is quite odd that Batman would be willing to fool around with someone who could, and already had, erased his memory during Identity Crisis. If it was not for that little weirdness this comic and the inclusion of the Moose, this comic would have easily been the best of last week.

Moose is awesome

Tec 843 also has the return of the recipient of one of Batman’s best KO punches as shown in Friday Night Fights: Knockout! Round 12.

Nightwing 143

Nightwing 142 again plays the strengths of Dick Grayson well. Nightwing is a master detective like his mentor, but unlike his mentor he is a people person and a leader. All of these character traits are played out well in this team up with Robin to infiltrate the base of those responsible for reanimating dead super-villains. The interaction between Nightwing and Robin was funny it almost reminded me of a Wonder Years episode. Even though it was a sub par ending to the story arc the interaction between the original Boy Wonder and his newest replacement made this issue a fun read.

Secret Invasion 1

Secret Invasion #1… Crap! I should have not flipped through it before I read it because once I came to this checklist for 33 crossover issues with more to come after summer I decided not to read it. Thanks Marvel way to scare me off. I only buy Spider-Man comics and was willing to give this “big event” a chance so that maybe I would get back into the Marvel universe upon the completion of the crossover, but NO you had to scare me away with too many tie in titles.

and…

THE BEST COMIC OF LAST WEEK:
Action Comics #863

Action Comics 863

Action Comics #863 was the final issue of the saga of the future Justice League and its crusade against aliens. When this story arc first began it started off slow and I still had an awkward taste from the last interaction of Superman and the Legion in “The Lightning Saga,” but as the story moved on I really began to like it more. The ending seals the deal. Now after seeing Superman being the Superman I remember and enjoy from my youth (see the above image) and stopping a war with just his presence and command, I have to admit that this is my favorite Superman arc since Infinite Crisis… yes this even surpasses the phenomenal “Up Up and Away!” story arc.

others...

Other comics worth mentioning… but maybe not worth buying:

Countdown #4: Ok, we apparently are back to the Jason, Kyle, Dona, Mary, and Ray Palmer story… well after a couple issues of non related content to their cause I completely lost interest. There is only three issues to go so I will finish the series, but I have to admit that the writing and pacing of this weekly series will make me think twice before picking up the next weekly series.

Supergirl #28: MMM DROP!

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Posted by Fred, on 04/7/08 8:51 PM Bookmark this post Digg Reddit Blogg-Buzz StumbleUpon

High Hopes in ‘08 for a Crisis Critic

Instead of doing my graduate work I was browsing over at Newsaram this morning and read three articles with Dan Didio regarding DC Comics in 2008. (one, two, three)

Before I share my opinion and speculation of DC Comics in 2008, let me share my opinion on the recent “big projects” of the DCU.

Infinite CrisisInfinite Crisis was met with mixed reviews, while I am not a big fan of giant crossovers I do enjoy reading them. The problem with company wide crossovers is that many times it breaks up the flow of the company’s regular issues. Infinite Crisis did not interfere with the the regulart titles too much, meaning that you had to read Infintie Crisis to understand what was going on in Superman’s regular title, or vice versa. After Infinite Crisis I was a big fan of the One Year Later (OYL) concept. One Year Later gave the writers a fresh start with continuity without giving up continuity. Some OYL titles were a huge improvement/success such as the Superman and Nightwing along with the great new characters and series such as the new Atom and Blue Beetle.

52While the new series that came out of Infinite Crisis were very good the best byproduct was DC’s weekly series appropriately titled “52.” 52 proved to me that a comic publisher can have a huge universe wide event that did not interfere (for the most part) with the monthly titles. The success of 52 led DC to being a new weekly series almost immediately after its end, the Countdown to Final Crisis was not received as strong as its predecessor.

Countdown to Final Crisis is a comic that I have enjoyed, but I can easily say that it is not on par with 52’s writing, art, and appeal. Where Countdown went wrong was not the writing, art, or even appeal instead it was the fact that unlike 52 it directly tied into many of the regular ongoing monthly books. The direct tie broke the flow of the normal monthly books sometimes causing a story that seemed forced and out of place.

Looking into 2008’s future…

Blue BeetleIt seemes inevitable that DC will begin a new weekly sereies, and it has been reported that Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley will be helming the project. Possibly learning from DC’s sucess with 52 and the mistake of Countdown Dan Didio confirmed that the new weekly book, titled “Trinity”, will not be a direct link to the monthly titles but instead a stand alone book.

Didio also discussed another book, DC Universe #0, and dropped hints of what to expect from Final Crisis. DC Universe is a bridge that will take readers from Countdown and the monthly comics directly into the event that is Final Crisis. DC Universe, according to Didio, will not just connect Countdown to Final Crisis it will also lay hints to where the montly books will take readers. Atom

It has been rumored that Batman will die, some even thought he would become a God, Braniac and the Legion of Super-Heroes will play a larger role in the DCU. I have to say that even if I am against a company wide crossover, I seem to be magnetically drawn to them no matter how horrid I think they are, i.e. Civil War.

Lightning SagaI know that I will be purchasing, reading, and ranting about Final Crisis, yet I do not think they will be too negative. I have renewed faith based off what has happened, and seems to be still happening, with the Superman and the Justice League’s Legion of Super-Heroes storyline. It seems that DC has learned to write great individual stories and arcs for monthly books that tie into the larger picture.

Didio and DC bring on the Final Crisis I am looking forward to it with high hopes, I am tired of being a Crisis Critic.

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Posted by Fred, on 02/10/08 8:41 PM Bookmark this post Digg Reddit Blogg-Buzz StumbleUpon