Comic Book haul/review thread

[Sandman54301]

So we got a thread for movies, video games, and hauls, so I figured us comic geeks should have a thread too. Someone stickying this would be great. So what's on your pull list? What storylines are impressing you? Here's what Im digging on lately.

Hellboy/BPRD: The Wild Hunt #6, which came out yesterday, dropped a huge bombshell about HB's parentage. Seriously, this opens up some new ideas and guarantees that next year's arc, The Sounding Horn, will have some epic battles.

The Darkness/ Witchblade: Jackie is assembling his own team of inglorious bastards to take on the Sovereign, and simultaneously teaming up with PITT. And I am still kicking myself for missing so much of this book. Meanwhile, Sarah is PMSing because her and Dani each have half of the Witchblade, and Sarah ended up with the evil half. Somethin's gotta give.

SPAWN: New guy is interesting, if Todd would hurry up and make something happen. Endgame needs to end. Let's move on.

The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft. It is a terrifying thought: What if all those weird stories were based on fact? This series asks a different question: what would happen if Howard's stories somehow escaped into the real world? He took his ideas from dreams, but in this book, his dreams are coming to life. How can he survive without sleep?

The Goon: It's gonna be another two months until the next issue comes out, but the last volume of 2008's Year of the Goon, Calamity of Conscience, comes out next week. So that's highly recommended.

[Tablehead]

Sounds cool!
I love Comics!

Just got back with my stack, aamof-

Image-

Elephantmen #21 7/10
I really love this comic- In this issue MAPPO (the bad guys) gain control of Ebony Hide (our hero)
& turn him back into a killing Machine-
Most of the comic is taken up by a huge battle between Ebony & some likewise controled Crocs while the narration talks about the humanizing of the Elephantmen...
In a short backup story, we see the Elephantmen aren't the only ones with chips in their heads~

DC-

Green Lantern Corps #40 (Blackest Night)
I'm kinda waiting to read a big stack of these in one sitting-
What I've read so far hasn't really done it for me........

Doom Patrol #2
Sold Out!?! This was my pick of the week & now I have to wait 'till next week to read it!  (It's now been added to my 'pull list')

StormWatch #23 6/10
Another quick issue...I hear SW has been canceled-
maybe merged with one of the (soon) 2 Authority books~

Marvel-

The Marvels Project #2 9/10
I'm a sucker for Golden Age comics-this one's off to a great start

War Of the Kings: Who Will Rule? 7.5/10
Cosmic Marvel's always been my favorite Marvel & now-a-days this is what we get-
I'd be fine with no X-Men involvement &
It ain't no Surfer or Thanos, but it'll do~

Hulk Team-Up #1 (of 1) 1/10 
They've really been destroying the Hulk lately...
I picked this up because I hate holes in my collection (& I have a huge Hulk collection)
Wish they bring Bruce Jones back as writer-
the Hulk was much cooler before he became cool....

Thor: Tales Of Asgard #5 (of 6) 9/10
Collected & reprinted, TOA was a bunch of backup stories in the Thor comics of the '60s by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby 

Indies-
Vampirella: the Second Coming #1 7/10
Story's off to an interesting start but (imo) the art could be better-
Still good to see Vampi back on the stands~

[Tablehead]

& some back issue/ebay hauling for last week-

Ever since the nine issue (1999) "Justice Society Returns" that led into the
JSA (1999 - 2006) series as well as Justice Society of America (vol. 3)
(2006 - current) the JS has been one of my favorite regular old 'superhero comics'
month after month-
A perfect mix (imo) of the old & the new-

I decided to start checking out some earlier stuff with these-

DC Special #29 Aug/Sept '77 & Last Days Of the Justice Society Special (1986)



& America vs. the Justice Society 1-4 (1986)

[Tablehead]

Pretty light week-
(which means I'll probably get slammed next week) 

BLACKEST NIGHT #3 (OF 8 ) Looks good-I'll probably get around to reading these next 'rain day'~
JSA VS KOBRA #4 (OF 6) 8.5/10 Great little mini series! I'm enjoying it much more then the regular series right now~

AGENTS OF ATLAS #11 7/10
I'm not sure how I ended up with this comic on my pull list
(not my usual style of comic) I'm liking it so far, though~
CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN #3 (OF 5) 9/10 Never was much of a Captain America fan,
but Ed Brubaker's a great writer~
DARK REIGN LIST DAREDEVIL ONE SHOT 8.5/10 not bad- DD's the kind of guy that doesn't usually get involved with the 'company' stuff (Civil War, Dark Reign....) which is just how I like him-
I guess if he's got to make an appearance, this is how to do it~
THOR ANNUAL #1 2/10 I've been a Thor fan since I was a kid....I
hope the new creative team does a good job with him~

light week for back issues, as well-

finished up my (Quinn & Vigil) Faust collection with
(the very thin & hard to find)
 
Faust: Singha's Talons #1 Preview Edition (Variant)
(didn't even know about this one 'till recently) &
Faust: Claire's Lust #1 (of 1)
 

[Tablehead]

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #37 4/10- filler issue waiting for Robinson to start his run

DARKNESS PITT #2 (OF 3) 8/10 fun stuff- great to see Dale's art again
MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #17 FI    9/10 final issue.....very sad....

FANTASTIC FOUR #571 8.5/10 this new incarnation of the F4 has a very 'ABC/Tom Strong' feel to it- Great Stuff!
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #18 8/10 looses a point or two for  Wesley Craig's art- I hope they get rid of this guy.........
INCREDIBLE HULK #602 5/10 not as bad as some od the newer Hulk stories.......
NOVA #29 9/10

BUCK ROGERS #4 (may drop) 4/10 truding across the tundra.....
mile after mile......
PROJECT SUPERPOWERS CHAPTER TWO #3 ! 9/10 I just love this comic~

& some groovy back issue reprints-



'Replica' editions of Batman & Superman's first annuals
JLA reprints and Weird Secret Origins-
don't know how I missed that one,
I have most of DC's ('90s) 80-Page Giants~

[Silent_Samurai]

I just read all the Battle for the Cowl stuff. I just realized that this is basically "The Death of Superman" rehashed. The only difference, there's only one guy trying to run around being Batman instead of four, and we get told who he is pretty quick. And it's kind of lame. The 15 or so comics that are supposed to "tie" together, barely do because they all have their own stories they focus on, and really only mention what's going to happen with Batman in passing.

If you don't know what's happened to Batman, basically he died trying to kill Darkseid in Final Crisis. And the rumor is, is that he's supposedly the next Spectre. But the Battle for the Cowl comics is kind of lame, and who actually takes up the mantle and becomes Batman could have been spotted a mile away. The Knightfall stuff was a much better story in terms of losing Batman and finding out who the new one is. I just hope that Bruce doesn't stay gone for too long. Because that kid Damian sucks ass.

[Sandman54301]

DARKNESS PITT #2 (OF 3) 8/10 fun stuff- great to see Dale's art again

agreed.


John Constantine, Hellblazer # 259: 8/10. This comic is fucked up, and I love it. New cover artist Simon Bisley handles interiors for this issue and the next. Constantine is obsessed. An innocent girl has died because of him, but unlike all the other victims he is responsible for, this one he has promised to resurrect. To that end, he has taken refuge in Chas's wife's country home, to do some literal soul searching. What can go wrong? Apparently, alot.



The Goon: Calamity of Conscience: 8.5/10. The Return of Labrazio comes to its shocking finale. Check out this whole storyline, which starts in volume 7, A Place of Heartache and Grief.


Coming out this week:




and The Darkness #80:

[Sandman54301]

Almost forgot:

Judge Dredd: Heavy Metal Dredd. 7.5/10. This collects some of the goriest, darkly satirical Dredd strips. I like it, sometimes the humor is too much tho. Overall, good volume.

[Tablehead]

Batman as the new Spectre?

Sounds cool-
I'm not really digging this Crispus Allen guy.................

I'm going to try & really build up my Spectre comic collection
over the next few months~

[Tablehead]

5 weeks in September makes for another light week-

GREEN LANTERN #46 -still haven't started reading these............
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 80 PAGE GIANT #1 -5/10 Cool to see a new '80 Page Giant' Story was OK, I guess- I think I was just spoiled with Morrison's run~
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #31 -8.5/10 JSA's always 'top of the stack'-
I hope the last page shocker isn't true........can't be!

CYBERFORCE HUNTER KILLER #2 (OF 5) -6/10 Always loved CyberForce (Guilty Pleasure?) Don't really dig the art in this.......As in most crossovers, the 2 'good guy' teams are still fighting each other.... ....maybe they'll get on to the 'bad guys' in #3- interesting story, though~

HULK #15 -4/10 Enter Red She Hulk! for cripes sake She does kind of remind me of a Coop creation- so that's a bit of a plus.......
SON OF HULK #15 -?/10 I'm going to have to give these a reread- I'm quite lost with what's going on here.....
THOR #603 -9/10 Good solid issue- only one more in this guy's run~

DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP #4 (OF 24) 9.5/10



Preview

Real happy with how this is going-
On time releases that seem to be selling out & going back for second prints-
Wish there was some news on Marvel's "Electric Ant"


also spent a lot of time (rain days) with my (Harris) Vampirella collection



rereads, seeing what I need to finish it up, putting them in order, stuff like that......

Next week- CHAOS !

[Alice]

First of all I hate the new artist's guts.  UCSM picks up right were USM ended.  MJ and Kitty are still fighting like retarded females.  They started fighting because they both liked Pete.  Now they're just fighting because they hate each other, and have pretty much forgotten all about Pete, and only care about bugging the shit out of each other.  Meanwhile, Pete is out having picnics and getting kisses from Gwendolyn (*YES!*), and kicking female robbers in the face.

Meanwhile, Pete's 616 self just fucked Black Cat.  Spider-Pimp.



Funny that the artist on this Bat story is Mark Bagley, seeing as he practically just finished his 111 book run on USM and signed a contract with DC.  Sucks that Bruce is still dead, but if anyone was gonna take over the cowl Dick was the right choice.  I find it amusing when Alfred makes fun of him for complaining about the suit.  Then he proceeds to remove some armour to make the suit easier to maneuver in, but then gets shot in the back with tranqs, and doesn't have enough armour to stop them.  See, Dick (and by Dick I don't mean Richard)?  Don't second guess the Bruce.  Nigga built the suit like that for a reason.

[Tablehead]

Pretty cool week...
not too small, not too big-

AUTHORITY #15 6.5/10
a quick read with a lot in it as DnA pick up the pace working towards the end of their run. I hope the new team is a good one~

DOOM PATROL #3 9.75/10 -this is a very cool comic! The 'Metal-Men' backups are great, too~
JUSTICE LEAGUE CRY FOR JUSTICE #4 (OF 7) 8.5/10 This one doesn't get very good reviews, but I like it- Can't wait 'till Robinson takes over the regular JLS title~
MAGOG #2 damn...I did forget one.......
STRANGE ADVENTURES #8 (OF 8 ) 8/10 Another one that doesn't get very many good reviews- I've been loving Starlin's recent DC stuff....
It's like a mid-'90s Cosmic Marvel book filled with semi-obscure DC characters!
I think this is the last of them, though~ 

SAVAGE DRAGON #153 9/10 The Dragon marches on- 'nuff said

DAREDEVIL #501 9/10 A good first issue for the new team- I just hope they keep DD out of all Marvel's 'events'- he's always worked best that way~
TORCH #2 (OF 9/10 both this and 'The Marvel's Project' are great reads with great art!
X-MEN VS AGENTS OF ATLAS #1 (OF 2) 6.5/10 fun little story...I've never been much of an X-Men guy~

CAPTAIN ACTION #3.5 REACTION 3.5/10  "Ever want to rewrite a story? We did & that's what we've done here"  This comic has yet to live up to the coolness of the '60s toy line (one of my favorites) but I'll keep buying it......just one of those things~
PROJECT SUPERPOWERS MEET THE BAD GUYS #2 (OF 4) 7.5/10 a little extra along side the regular PSP series (which I really dig) liked this issue better then the last even though the 'bad guy' was (kinda) a Lobo rip-off~

[Sandman54301]

Tomorrow is a big haul day. First, my LCS is getting Hellboy: The Ice Wolves. Also, the following books is coming tomorrow.


Hellboy: The Wild Hunt #7


Presented in 3D!!!!


Collection of stories inspired by HPL.

[greengooey]

Dear Marvel,

Please get rid of Greg Land.

Thank you.

[Tablehead]

'nother light week-

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #41 (BLACKEST NIGHT) ?/10- I've tried to get into this whole Blackest Night thing- but it's just not happening for me....
HOUSE OF MYSTERY HALLOWEEN ANNUAL #1 8/10- (the new) HOM is a title I pick up for my wife (along with 'The Unwritten') but I had to check out the annual as there was a Merv Pumpkinhead story in it- haven't seen him in 8 years as well as a bit of a preview for  Chris Roberson and Mike 'Madman' Allred's  upcoming Vertigo title 'I Zombie'! which looks great, btw~



JSA VS KOBRA #5 (OF 6) 9/10 -Just a good old superhero comic~


MARVELS PROJECT #3 (OF 8 ) 9/10 -Great Stuff! Exploring the early days of the Marvel U~

VAMPIRELLA SECOND COMING #2 (BRERETON CVR) 7/10 -Still no Vampirella in this new mini but there are a lot of other Vampirellas.....interesting story so far & the art seems a hair better then the first issue.
Glad it's not another origin story~

[Sandman54301]

Comic shop had a sale recently, and I picked up HellSpawn: the Ashley Wood Collection. I love it. Great stuff.

[Silent_Samurai]

I read Batman/Superman: Absolute Power here recently. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

[Sandman54301]

Picked up the TPB of BPRD: The Black Goddess. 7/10.This one is part 2 of a 3 part arc called Scorched Earth, and is the 11th book overall.  Part 1 of this arc was entitled The Warning, then there is this one, and The King of Fear starts in a couple months. After the last mini was nothing but build up, its good to see this one actually resolve something. Plus there is an epic battle, and plenty of story to resolve in part 3. The last panel makes me want to read The King of Fear ASAP!!!! In the single issues, this one ended with the message: TO BE CONTINUED-IN JUST 7 MONTHS!!!!! I was upset.

This one isn't really the best place for new readers to jump in. It's the most continuity heavy book I've ever read in the Hellboy-verse. And that's saying something. There are threads of this story that go back all the way to the very first Hellboy comic, as well as all the previous BPRD arcs. Good if you've been following, but if you haven't, this one will just confuse you.

Abe Sapien: The Haunted Boy. 8/10. I dunno, this one was really good, but if felt like this one was kinda shoe-horned into the 40 page one shot format. The art and story reminded me of The Drowning, which is a very good thing. After the fucking scary case that Abe started out on there, he is relived to get a case that is 'just a haunting'. But things are never that simple in a Hellboy-verse book. Good stuff just in time for the 31st.

[Tablehead]

Big week!

BLACKEST NIGHT #4 (OF 8 ) Did this ship? On my list but wasn't at my comic shop....
GREEN LANTERN #47 (BLACKEST NIGHT)
I'm just not getting into this 'Blackest Night' series....give me Cosmic Marvel any day- think I'll ebay these whwn it's all over.
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #32 9.5/10 my favorite ongoing out of DC right now~

FANTASTIC FOUR #572 8.5/10 (I think) this arc could have used one more issue- but yeah, the FF is (finally) good again
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #19 Story 9/10 Art 2/10 my favorite ongoing out of Marvel right now with some of the god damn worst (fill in) art ever- Man! I hate that guy! 
NOVA #30 7/10 an OK fill in issue before next week's (#31) REALM OF THE KINGS 'story!
HULK #16 ? 6/10 Stupid, but stupid's OK in comics from time to time......maybe we'll find out who (& why) the Red Hulk/Red She-Hulk is one day.......
SON OF HULK #16 next month's the last issue-
then I'm going to read these all in one sitting

BUCK ROGERS #5 7.5/10 this is getting pretty good! Glad I didn't drop it~
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP #5 (OF 24) 9.5/10 They're doing a great job with this-
Glad to see that it's selling out! I hope Marvel gives up some news on their 'Electric Ant' series 

[Tablehead]

In other comic book news..............
Last week I was rereading a bunch of my Big Bang comics,
particularly, the (vol.2) Savage Dragon crossover-
where the Dragon toured the past, present, future & alternate earths of the Big Bang U



as well as the tail end of the Image run (after #35 we got a bunch of one shots with a shrinking Big Bang logo)



Big Bang Comics first appeared in 1994, with five issue mini-series (numbered 0–4),  a Dr. Weird oneshot & (the start of) a Knight Watchman mini series published by Caliber Comics.
Their second series was published by Image Comics (1-35) the complete Knight Wathman mini as well as 7 one shots.
In July '06  Big Bang tried self publishing with Big Bang Presents -6 issues were published.

I really miss this series~