Here 'tis. Back with some of mine for this week shortly.
Justice League Unlimited #5 - usually I pay no attention to the “animated-style” books. Hell, most of the time I couldn’t care less about the “real” JLA either! But this issue spotlighted my favorite superhero, Blue Beetle, and actually portrayed him well. They played up his “regular guy standing alongside giants and gods” image, and made him goofy but competent and smart at the same time.
Deathblow: Byblows #1-3 - I had never heard of this 2000 miniseries previously, and it has a silly name. Frankly, Deathblow has one of the most unintentionally hilarious code-names ever. But I got these three issues for a grand total of a buck fifty, and they’re written by the great ALAN MOORE, so how bad could they be?
Lessee… New issue of Fables this month, with what was (to me) an unexpected twist regarding Snow and Bigby’s children. JLA - The Crime Syndicate getting some severe culture shock on the JLA’s earth. JSA - Hm. I really like this arc so far.
Got a good bunch this week but haven’t read most.
She-Hulk: It’s nice to see Slott is keeping up with how She-Hulk is being used in other books besides the one he writes. (Pay attention, Marvel Editors!!!) “I didn’t sleep with Juggernaut! Why does everyone keep saying…” 
I’m so glad I don’t read X-Men. In my continuity, the jade lawyer never slept with the murderous villain. Makes no sense anyway. From what I understand, most of Chuck Austen’s run should be discarded; a joke that was brought up in this week’s…
ToyFare: Twisted Toyfare Theatre. Probably the funniest TTT to come down the pike in some time (guest starring Ben Affleck)
Spider-Man/Human Torch: It was good, but I was hoping for a little more out of it. I’m spoiled on Slott’s She-Hulk I guess. Not bad at all, and a fun read, but since I have to budget myself, I think I’ll skip the next 4 issues and possibly pick up the TPB.
Also picked up but haven’t read Pulse and Marvel Knights Spider-man.
JSA - What a great story. We don’t realize how different the world (and the USA) was a mere 50 years ago.
And the personalized captions are a GREAT touch.
They were indeed. I’d forgotten, but they were nifty.
She-Hulk - I, too, am a fan of the nods to continuity here. And Doc Samson, crushed beneath debris, responding to She-Hulk’s query as to his status.
New Thunderbolts - Well, well. Seems like a second-tier villain is trying to keep up with Wolverine in “number of guest appearances this month”. This is one of the better Marvel books around at the moment, I think.
I said this in another thread, but wot the hell–it’s already dropped to the bottom of page two.
New Thunderbolts als features the return of fan-favorite
Hawkeye—he’s the new Swordsman.
- Swordsman trained Hawkeye
- The new outfit features pointy bits over the eyes, like Hawkeye’s cowl did and an armband. It’s also got the whole purple thing going.
- Busiek loves Hawkeye and has said that if Hawkeye ever died, Busiek would just bring him back…heh-it hasn’t even been 4 months!
- “I have an interest in seeing the Thunderbolts succeed”
- The “We never did get along” -esque comment.
I love the fact that Busiek/Nicezia(sp) aren’t even trying to hide who he really is. 
Fenris
The Rest :
Ultimates 2 - Ultimate Captain Britain in a cameo here… I still have much love for the Ultimates.
Nightwing #101 - Yay! Retro-spective on Dick’s last day as Robin!
Action Comics #823 - Boy, there better be a good payoff in the next issue after all this crap… what? Chuck Austen? Aw, crud.
Majestic #1 - I love Eradicator’s new look. This book is kinda how Superman should be.
Green Arrow #46 - Speedy joins the Titans. Not loving the art.
The Authority : Scorched Earth; Danger Girl : Odd Jobs TPB; Jenny Sparks : The Secret History of the Authority TPB; and the Authority : Revolutions #2.
JSA #69: Good, although I thought a couple of the “look how different the past was” things were a bit clunky and I found it odd that Johnny Thunder thought nothing of someone who looked like Jakeem walking down the street.
Hero Squared X-Tra Sized Special: Yay! Finally! It feels like I’ve been waiting for this book forever, and it was totally worth it. Great writing by Giffen and DeMatteis and I’d be very surprised if the artist - Joe Abraham - doesn’t end up becoming a high-profile artist in the future. His stuff here is great. Just a really fun comic all around, I highly reccomend it (don’t let the $4 price tag put you off - it’s 32 pages and no ads).
Oh, I also got last week’s issue of Flash. Are they trying to print this thing on the worst quality paper in the universe, or what?
The twist in Fables was just heartbreaking.
I want to know more about Mr. North. I don’t trust anyone from the homelands who can be so prosperous and free under the Adversary’s reign.
Anyone out there read INVINCIBLE (or, I suppose, SAVAGE DRAGON)?
I love INVINCIBLE and picked up the three TPBs, but I’m lost on a couple of points.
- Invincible’s in a shared universe with The Savage Dragon
- The Savage Dragon’s in the same shared universe as Youngblood, WildC.A.T.S, Supreme, Glory, and all the Alan Moore characters. But they don’t appear here.
- There’s also some guy who I don’t know, but I’ve seen before–I think he’s from the Ultraverse–blonde haired guy, wearing a blue skintight outfit with a wide white stripe down the center, a SHAZAM! style lighting bolt on his chest and a red Captain (Shazam!) Marvel-esque cape, but with a Green (Alan Scott) Lantern collar attached to his shoulders with big yellow buttons. I have no idea who he is, but he’s been around for a while. If you look closely at this link and then click on the cover, you can see a bit of him behind Invincible and Invincible’s dad (the guy with the mustache)
So what’s going on? Who’s in what universe? And who is that one guy I described anyway?
All that said, this book rocks. Highly recommended.
Fenris
I’m pretty sure that’s Mighty Man. Last I checked, he’s basically a Shazam analog except his Billy Batson is a woman. That said, I haven’t read Savage Dragon in approximately forever, so that’s probably outdated.
First of all, the guy you described is Mighty Man, a Captain Marvel analogue of sorts, one of Erik Larsen’s creations for his Savage Dragon universe.
Then you mentioned
Well, in the early days of Image Comics (1992), those were all part of the same shared universe, but each individual creator owned the rights to their characters. When Jim Lee took his Wildstorm imprint to DC around 1999, he pretty much took all his characters with him: Wildcats, Stormwatch, Gen 13, Team 7, Deathblow, Majestic, and later Wildstorm creations like Planetary and the Authority. So none of those guys are associated with Image anymore, since DC is publishing them.
Rob Liefeld was booted out of Image even before Jim Lee left, although some say Rob quit. In any case, major personality conflicts came between him and the rest of the group, so he took his characters and left too. Those included Youngblood, Supreme, and Glory. He started Maximum Press which didn’t last too long, and that led to Awesome Comics, which is when he brought in Alan Moore to write Youngblood, Supreme, Glory, and the Judgment Day crossover. Despite the fact that Liefeld has fallen out of favor with most fans, these were some really great comics with Moore writing Liefeld’s characters. Anyway, in the Supreme series, there were flashbacks to a JLA analogue group that Supreme and Glory were members of, and two of Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon characters were also members of this group: Mighty Man (Captain Marvel) and Super-Patriot (Captain America). I never understood the licensing or permission behind the scenes, but I just assumed Erik and Rob were friendly enough to let this happen, or Erik was just honored Alan Moore wanted to use two of his characters in Supreme.
Anyway, Awesome Comics didn’t last either, and now Rob is associated with Arcade Comics, who have managed to publish two different Youngblood #1 issues (written by Mark Millar and Robert Kirkman, respectively). Before that, Glory was last seen published by Avatar Comics, known for “bad girl” comics that border on porn, or sometimes cross the line to it. Supreme hasn’t been seen in a while, but Alan Moore now has his America’s Best Comics imprint through Wildstorm (and thus associated with DC). Here, he has continued working with Silver Age tributes and analogue characters of his own: Tom Strong (Doc Savage), Greyshirt (The Spirit), Cobweb (Phantom Lady), plus the superhero/police procedural Top Ten and the Victorian adventurers League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
None of the Liefeld, Lee, or Moore characters or titles are associated with Image in any way anymore (if they ever did), so they no longer have any connection to Savage Dragon or Invincible.
Hellboy: Weird Tales and B.P.R.D: Hollow Earth and Other Stories. I wasn’t a big Hellboy fan after reading Seed of Destruction, but fortunately a good friend sent me Wolves of St. August which I loved, and which sparked me to seek out some additional Hellboy and BPRD at the local library. Both of these volumes were pleasant surprises, even those shorts in which Mike Mignola appears to have had no direct (i.e., credited) involvement.
The Big Book of Conspiracies. Somehow I’m never quite satisfied after reading a Big Book, but somehow I can’t quite stop taking them out of the library. This volume was more enjoyable than most, containing a pleasant mixture of the plausible and tin-foil hat-level conspiracy tales.
Sin City. I had read this book a few years back, but for some reason almost all the details had erased themselves from my mind. In preparation for the movie - the luscious trailer for which leaves me drooling - I gave it another go. I should absolutely hate it for its portrayal of women, but I just can’t dislike it. Frank Miller’s art is simply stupendous. Although I’m probably one of the few who prefers The Big Fat Kill, this re-read of the original volume was still worthwhile.
Batman: The Killing Joke. Alan Moore is god, no doubt, but even with that mindset I just couldn’t get enthused about this story.
Forgot the best one of all! A cousin living in Malaysia gave me a copy of The Kampung Boy. It’s an autobiographical story of a young boy growing up, from birth to the time he leaves his family for school. The art is very distinctive, in a style that I suspect will polarize readers, but I quite liked it. Judging by the number of printings the book’s been through, it must be a very popular title for its publisher. Well worth seeking out, especially for those who enjoyed Persepolis.
Thanks Shy Guy and Voodoo Lou for the info!!
Been on board with Savage Dragon since the 3 issue mini 
. Consistently the best value on the comic rack.
Just picked up George Romero’s Toe Tags. I had been avoiding most of the recent glut of zombie books, but this was great.
Anybody get Space Ghost #1? It was a quick sell-out here in the philly area. There will probably be a reprint. Any good?
Anybody read Fade From Blue? Great book, but #10 is waaay late.
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Anybody get Space Ghost #1? It was a quick sell-out here in the philly area. There will probably be a reprint. Any good?
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If you can wrap your mind around the idea of a somber take on a crappy 60’s cartoon turned postmodern joke, it’s pretty good. The high point is Frank Olivetti’s art, which is gorgeous, especially on some of the backgrounds. The book so far is quite similar tone-wise to the current (and slightly superior) Adam Strange miniseries. It has a couple of off-putting oddities; frex, the future Space Ghost’s wife is written like she has a thick Russian accent – at least that’s how her dialogue plays out in my head – in a far-future world.
Don’t pick up my comics till Saturday, but looking forward to She-Hulk, Ultimates, Gotham Central, and the final issue of Hard Time (though like She-Hulk, it’ll supposedly be relaunched soon).
Other 5 star books this week:
The Pulse- Nick Fury goodness!
District X- Better every issue
Spider-Man Human Torch- retro cool start of a 5 issue mini, looks great so far
Adam Strange- I’m new to this character, but like what I’ve seen so far
Stormbreaker (Beta Ray Bill)- haven’t read yet, but Oeming can do no wrong
Thanks CROdell, I’ll pick up the Space Ghost reprint if there is one.