Feh. Half my pull list was delayed due to shipping issues.
We’ll start this week with Manhunter #1 and #2.
It’s shaping up to be an interesting noirish tale, and the part’s pretty good.
I got nothing. Not till next week.
Anyone know if Common Grounds and PS238 are still being published, and what their last issues were? Been a while since I’ve seen either. Common Grounds was the American Pi one, and PS238 was the patriotic kids one.
Teen Titans # 16 - The setup for the new big Legion reboot. Eh. It looks like where this is going will be obvious (though hopefully, there will be at least some interesting twists. Geoff Johns is good, I’ll hold out some hope). I may be one of the biggest Legion fans in the world, but I don’t know how enthusiatic I will be for this new version, as it’s sounding like a radical departure from prior characterizations (unlike the Zero Hour reboot). I’ll give Mark Waid a chance to impress me, but this is the first time I’ve ever even thought about dropping Legion.
Also, I’m not at all crazy about Mike McKone’s art. He draws pretty pictures, but there’s no dynamism to it. It looks so still, but comic book pictures should be action.
H-E-R-O # 20 - Much better storyline, and a good way to wrap up this all-too-brief series. I just wish they’d acknowledge the history of the H-Dial with Chris King, Vicki Grant and Hero Cruz. Both Robby Reed and the villain are tracking down former H-dialers, and those three can’t be found? I really hate the way DC’s writers have recently been deciding they can ignore continuity just because they don’t feel like bothering with it (John Byrne’s Doom Patrol being Exhibit A). I really don’t find such things as enjoyable as if they were genuinely integrated into their historical universe.
Ultimate Fantastic Four - 22 pages?!? And holy advertisements, Batman! A very underwhelming issue.
Sleeper - Very good. Things are tying together much better, I’m starting to understand the various relationships (man, I really need to read the first trade…), and the alien twist is good.
War Games (Robin, Batgirl, Catwoman) - fantastic. I might be liking this more than Identity Crisis, but that may be due to the fact that I get a part of the story each week. There’s a seperate thread on this, if anyone wants to contribute.
Astonishing X-Men - more fantastic storytelling. The look on Cyclops, Wolverine’s and Beast’s faces were priceless as Cyclops and Kitty phased up through the floor. “That dragon thing’s behind me, isn’t it?” WHAM!
Wow, 6 books this week!
Teen Titans #16 - Hey, Kon-El has X-Ray vision now. Excellent. Legion World go boom? Oh no! Fatal Five Hundred - nice.
Avengers #502 - Major character apparently killed. Yeah, I’ll buy it when I see the body. Hey, wasn’t Quasar supposed to stay off of Earth? Or did they wrap up that plotline? Spidey gets some good lines.
Conan: Really considering dropping this one. Origin: Conan. Ugh.
4: I forgot that I promised to drop you last month, now I’m doing it. Ugh.
Walking Dead: Not too bad, but every issue is getting to be the same: they move in some place, feel comfortable, then it turns out that zombies have been within brain-eating distance the entire time and they eat a few people. They move, meet some new people and it all repeats.
Runaways: What a lousy epilogue issue. But, it’s for the kiddies and they like stuff like that. Not looking forward to the continuing adventures next year.
Black Widow: if there’s a difference between this and every other female spy comic that’s come out recently (it seems like that and zombies are the two big genres right now), it’s only because they have Seinkewicz’ art. Which is a big plus, but not enough to carry this book. I think they’re just recycling the first Punisher Max arc.
Hi guys! Miss me? I’ve missed posting the past couple of weeks. One week I had company and last week…I just didn’t get a chance to hit the boards much. But my store had a 20% off everything sale last Saturday where I picked up nothing but TPB’s
Ult Spider-man 4
Alias 1
Powers 5
Runaways 2
Age of Amalgam: Marvel Collection
All for under $50. That rocks!
Haven’t gone to the store this week yet since it was such a light week. Sadly I paid for that by accidentally hilighting the Avengers 502 thread and seeing the big spoiler 
I’ll have to go Saturday.
Usually lurk, but don’t post to these comic book discussion threads because I rarely read comics the same week they come out. But I actually stopped in a comics shop yesterday and got a few things. Today I finished everything I bought, including two tpb’s in one marathn reading session.
TOM STRONG #28 - With America’s Best Comics winding down, PROMETHEA delayed, the 49s mini-series AWOL, the second TERRA OBSCURA mini uninspired and Alan Moore nowhere to be seen, I’m trying to find a nice jumping off point. This issue might be it. Cute and unexceptional, this story of the Strongs from the POV of the robot Pnueman is mightily high on fluff, without any real depth or poignance. Brain Vaughan writes a mean Y: The Last Man but Tom Strong is not his strong suit.
ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE 1 & 2: The nice thing about my comics shop guy is how he’ll unquestionably drop everything he’s doing and retrieve issues I need from his ultra secret stash – like these issues, which were gone from the rack when I got there but he managed to produce. It’s nice to see Samuel L. Ja-- I mean, Nick Fury again, as well as Captain America, Black Widw and the others. I’m digging the unfrolding storyline so far – and I’m flabbergasted how much I like the Ultimate Universe’s Sam Wilson’s retconn as a military operator techno-savant who’s built his own damned falcon eings. Yet I like Priest’s take on “Snap” Wilson, ex-pimp, too – in the pages of CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE FALCON. Huh.
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR: I think the pacing and lack of action are really hurting this story. I like the storyline so far… but I’m not convinced I’ll stick around past the current Ellis issues.
DOOM PATROL: CRAWLING OUT FROM THE WRECKAGE
DOOM PATROL: THE PAINTING THAT ATE PARIS
I’d been waiting for VERTIGO/DC to put out a Doom Patrol tpb for a long time. Individual issues are nearly impossible to come by. So it was with bated breath that I sat down to read these two trades back to back… allowing me to describe them in two, carefully chosen and fully emotionally charged words.
Mostly disappointing.
Morrison’s mania for meta-fiction writng, culling and amalamating hard-science fiction tenets, various philosophical disciplines, 19th and 20th century fine art movements, conspiracy theories and straight up weird ideas is in full effect, and I see many ideas from THE INVISIBLES and THE FILTH originating here. Which is disappointing, because I rarely see the kinds of attempts at characterization, team member bonding and character growth that made those other series more appealing. There are individual stories and chapters I liked a lot – “The Soul of the New Machine” with the hilarious revelations about The Brain and Monsiuer Mallah – then there are others like Willoghby Kipling vs. the Cult of the Unwritten Book recysling Morrison’s fondness for conflicting and opposite ideas in tandem featuring a character doing the worst, and most blatant John Constantine impersonation since Spider Jerusalem hit TRANSMETROPOLITAN (no, wait – see I liked Spider.)
The series is mostly hurt by Richard Case’s sometimes indifferent art and the fact that some character’s motivations – notably Nile Caulder’s, are so shadowy and vague as to be off-putting.
It’s possible I need to re-read this again and try to savor this more, but this is my initial impression. of course, even bad Morrison writing throws out ten times the amount of manic new ideas than even the most carefully plotted issues of say, Christopher Priest and Mike Millar, so even a disappointing pair of trades as these gets a warmer than lukewarm endorsement from me.
Common Ground #5 came out this week. My regular store doesn’t carry PS238 so I don’t know about that series but there’s a new issue of Nodwick (#25) out this week with a PS238 back-up story.
Anyone else pick up the first two issues of Ultra? It’s developing slowly but looking good so far.
Yeah, I have’em. I’m still uncertain about the series.
The rest of my list this week will be forthcoming this evening, I think…
But check out the Conan reprints of the Marvel series, in Graphic Novel format. They’ve reached volume #5, & it just keeps getting better. 
Over on mediasharx.com, I checked out the 5 page preview of next week’s Amazing Spider-Man with MJ and Pete discussing Gwen’s children. OMG! If it’s going where page 5 looks like it’s going… :eek:
I thought they stopped when BWS left. I thought that Buscema was much better than BWS, especially in the later B&W stuff that didn’t get inked (I think that might just have been on Savage Tales).
Although my complaint with the DH reprints was that they’re like $5 or so per issue with some really poor scanning lettering and godawful coloring. In fact, the only reason I bought them was becuse I was told that the Essential Conan (which reprinted the first 20-some issues, essentially BWS’ run) was out of print…then I saw it in a freakin’ store. Ugh.
I do recall that late in the run, Thomas tried to do the origin of Conan (something about his parents being killed by werewolves) which was lame, but I think the stuff in the middle of the run really did a good job of portraying Conan.
Askia:
What about Ambrose Beirce from the Stanley and his Monster mini-series?
Link? I couldn’t find it over there.
KODT : Everknights #14, Nodwick #25, The Witching #4, Conan #8, Ultimate FF #11, Ex Machina #4, Army of Darkness #2, Flash #214, and some back issues.
I had a big stack again this week. I knew I’d added a few titles, but wow!
Avengers #502: Don’t know what to think, really. I don’t like this the way I usually like Bendis’ work. I’ll keep reading for awhile though.
Astonishing X-Men: What **Munch ** said.
Wargames: 3 issues this week! Maybe next time Stephanie will think first before inciting the violent destruction of Gotham. I like the way Tim handled the potential conflict with his dad.
Ultimate FF: Did anything happen? Oh, right, on the last 4 pages or so. Kinda fantasti-sucked plot development-wise, but I still like the book overall.
Teen Titans: Please, somebody make me care about the 31st century.
Flash: Wow, they set up the deal with Green Arrow having that ring with the suit in it waaaay back in GA # 20 or so. Smewhere in “Archer’s Quest”. I just re-read those issues last weekend, wondered again what the significance of the ring was, and then got the payoff Wednesday. Next issue: Wally reads a letter!
Ex Machina: Plot-thickening time! And the art world really does suck.
I still have *Manhunter * 1 & 2 and *Army of Darkness * #2 in my to-be-read stack.
I’m shocked that nobody’s yet talked about Lucifer #54 - shocked, I tell you. The book’s gearing up for what Mike Carey has told me will be its final year, at last we get a hint towards how it’s all going to end - something which I’ve not been able to figure out thus far, a rare occurence indeed - and there’s nothing but silence. The four-issue storyline hasn’t been exceptional by the standards of the book, but the events of the last seven pages are on a par with Amenadiel leading the Host through Lucifer’s portal for significance.
I don’t read Lucifer. I liked the character in *Sandman * (and in other appearances he’s had), but I don’t like the ongoing. Based on its beautiful covers I tried to read it and wanted to like it, but no dice.
I haven’t seen Teen Titans #16 yet, but I’m getting really tired of Legion reboots. I’ve liked Legion again lately and I just wish they’d just run with it for a few more years.