Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Weekly Comics - March 25, 2009

Caped #1 (I have to admit, another deconstructionist/humorous take on superheroes didn't really sound like my thing, but this story of the executive assistants to superheroes is kind of fun)

Captain America #48 (A relatively optimistic finale to the most recent three-parter)

GI Joe Origins #2 (Y'know, I'm as big a GI Joe fan as you'll find, but I'm having real trouble following the story here. I can't quite sort out what's supposed to be going on, and I'm only about half-certain who most of the characters are at any given time)

Guardians of the Galaxy #12 (Much stronger than the previous issue, although there's a lot of hand-waving and power shifting and such, it's a pretty satisfying resolution that ties into Nova)

Incredible Hercules #127 (Great stuff, as always... I know it's not coming, but I keep hoping for some swanky omnibus of all the Pak/Van Lente Hercules stuff)

The Incredibles Family Matters #1 (Mark Waid nails it. I loved the Incredibles movie, and Waid does a terrific follow-up that is perfect all-ages superheroes, with spectacular artwork from Marcio Takara. Boom! takes a great license and turns out a great book, which is sure to be one of my favorites for the year)

The Muppet Show #1 (Roger Langridge on The Muppet Show, which is by turns weird, funny and sweet, capturing the vibe of the show with a fresh spin for its new medium... all the praise is well-deserved.)

Nova #23 (Richard Rider on Earth turns out to be pretty interesting, and I liked the reveals on Dr. Necker and the twists that lead to the cover image)

Star Wars Legacy #34 (After the diversion on Mon Calamari, it's back to the main story, which reminds me why I like the book so much. It's a bit melodramatic, but Duursema's art is terrific, and Ostrander is telling a pretty sweeping story that keeps with the Star Wars feel nicely)

Superman #686 (Y'know, I'm re-reading Starman in omnibus form right now, and Superman just doesn't compare. We spent an entire issue setting up Mon-El's secret identity? Really?)

Thunderbolts #130 (T-Bolts has a streak of dark humor, but Deadpool's wacky shtick is kind of a weird fit for the book, and Bong Dazo's artwork, while good, is more inline with the McGuinness school of art that defined Deadpool than the Deodato-style that has defined T-Bolts. In other words, an OK issue, but one of the weaker ones)

Umbrella Academy #5 (Vampires and giant mummies in Vietnam, a plot to time travel and make sure Kennedy's assassination goes as planned, some of the weirdest superpowers ever... this book is trippy, beautiful and fantastic)

Usagi Yojimbo #119 (Usagi and his allies vs. a demon sorcerer and zombie samurai. Awesome.)

3 comments:

Jim B. said...

I'll try to be brief --
*Cap: still strong, but I miss Epting and Perkins more with every issue.
*T-bolts: growing weaker every month, both in art and story. Maybe adding some more familiar team members would help? I'm cautiously psyched about Diggle on Daredevil, though.
*Umbrella Academy: sometimes, trade-waiting sucks. This is one of those times.
*And finally, Superman: It's now the one Super-title I'm not reading. Between this and the Batman Face the Face arc a few years back, I'm off the Robinson bandwagon. If his possibly-apocryphal JLA ongoing-now-limited series ever materializes, I will reevaluate at that time.
I hope you'll stick with Action (and maybe Supergirl) for a bit, Randy. Both are thoroughly entertaining, IMO. And I was reading zero Superbooks a year ago.

Well, I only said I would TRY to be brief...

Colin said...

Randy, there may not be an omnibus, but there is an oversized hardcover of Incredible Hercules coming on July 8...

INCREDIBLE HERCULES: SMASH OF THE TITANS HC
Written by GREG PAK & FRED VAN LENTE
Penciled by GARY FRANK, KHOI PHAM, ERIC NGUYEN, REILLY BROWN & BOB LAYTON
Cover by GARY FRANK
When the Hulk returns to Earth for the senses-shattering events of World War Hulk, we can all guess which puny humans will fight against him. But which of Earth's heroes will fight for the Hulk? Don't miss the shocking revelations as Amadeus Cho, the boy genius who took on Reed Richards on behalf of the Hulk in INCREDIBLE HULK #100, confronts She-Hulk and Doc Samson – and precipitates a gamma-powered smash-fest in the wilds of Jersey! Then, the dust has settled after WORLD WAR HULK and Hercules and Amadeus Cho find themselves outlaws, a situation further inflamed by Cho’s grudge against the super-spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and Herc’s feud with his estranged half-brother — Ares, god of war, who isn’t above abusing his new federal clout for the sake of sibling rivalry. It’s Marvel’s mightiest manhunt, guest-starring Wonder Man and the Black Widow. Then, the Greek Goliath gathers the most powerful super-team ever assembled to counter-attack the Skrull gods! Face front, True Believers, and prepare for the pantheon-pounding premiere of...THE GOD SQUAD! All this plus an untold tale pitting Hercules against the Incredible Hulk! Collecting INCREDIBLE HULK #106-112, INCREDIBLE HERCULES #113-115 and HULK VS. HERCULES: WHEN TITANS COLLIDE.
248 PGS/All Ages ...$29.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3698-9
Trim size: oversized

Randy Lander said...

Huh. You know what, I saw that "Smash of the Titans" but I thought it was a premiere hardcover. I'll definitely need to give that a bump when it comes up on FOC.

Thanks, Colin!