An entirely appropriate title, as there suddenly seem to be a ton of strange new faces around here these days... I'M WATCHING YOU ALL. One sign of anyone acting Skrully and I'll... well, I'll do nothing, but anyway...
I also have a question for our readers.
We here at PK love our readers, and usually the only gauge we have in terms of article interest is comments...going over the review session's history, we haven't been getting a lot of comments from you folks...so we ask you: Do you enjoy our reviews? How can we improve them? What are we doing right? What could be improved?
And now onto the reviews! Expect a bit of a revamp next week!
The short version:
[READ THESE]
Gotham Underground #9
Huntress #3
Green Lantern Corps #25
Captain Britain and MI-13 #2
Skaar: Son of Hulk #1
newuniversal: SHOCKFRONT #2
Wonder Woman #21
Negima! Vol. 18
Green Arrow & Black Canary #9
Invincible #50
Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust #1
[BROWSE THESE]
Angel After the Fall #8
The Last Defenders #4 (of 6)
[SKIP THESE]
The Punisher: Little Black Book (One-Shot)
Trinity #2
Chuck #1 (of 6)
Anyhoo, this week we have already reviewed Secret Invasion #3, so in this session, we'll review hot topic books such as Trinity #1 and Kick Ass #3.
Some choice quotes:
And then there is the story - which plays as another way to twist the DC universe up even further. Haven't fans had to endure enough to keep track of what is happening to whom with the entire 'Crisis' disaster?
Gratuitous violence is one thing, this was just absurd and ridiculous.
What the fu--? Seriously...what the hell just happened in this issue? I'm not sure if I should be offended by the hints of homophobia or the excessive violence and language that permeate the pages of this issue.
This week's Power Rankings!
[BUY THESE!]
1. Invincible Iron Man #2
2. Secret Invasion #3
3. Manhunter #31
4. Buffy #15
[READ THESE]
5. Nova #14
[BROWSE THESE]
6. Ultimate Origin #1
[SKIP THESE]
7. Trinity #1
8. Young X-Men #3
9. Astonishing X-Men Sketchbook
10. Robin/Spoiler Special #1
I hate Breakworld. I hate Ord. I hate all of this space mumbo-jumbo that Whedon has thrown at us during his run. I don't care much for the prophecy involving Colossus.
Shocking!!!
While I've enjoyed most of this series and while Stature fans may dig this one, I'm officially announcing my dislike for her.
Blasphemy!!
So it's finally here. 52 weeks of godawful Countdown, and we're here. And as far as I can tell, even the characters in this book have forgotten what happened in that series.
Fine by me.
Tantalizing!!
Next time a high profile writer gets on a Marvel project I think I am just going to wait until the trades come out so I can read the story in a single afternoon.
True!!
This week, we review heavy hitters Final Crisis, Astonishing X-Men, and 1985.
As for the Power List:
[BUY THESE!]
1. Giant Sized Astonishing X-Men #1
2. 1985 #1
3. Firebreather #1
4. Immortal Iron Fist #15
5. Huntress: Year One #2
6. Final Crisis #1
[READ THESE]
7. Ultimate Spider-Man #122
8. Thor #9
9. Batman #677
10. Angel: Revelations #1
11. New Avengers #41
12. Green Lantern #31
[SKIP THESE]
13. Young Avengers Presents #5
14. New Warriors #12
15. Ms. Marvel #27
By far the best comic I read this week was Incredible Hercules #117 (reviewed by Goblin). I have to echo everything in Goblin's review because this title has been getting better and better and I have this nagging feeling that it's being overlooked by quite a few people, which is a shame. You're missing out on the hilarious Nextwave-ish humor and some great characterizations of characters I personally wouldn't normally care about: mainly Marvel's pantheon of obscure Gods and heroes.
As for the rest of the books this week, it seems that DC isn't doing its strong female characters justice in their titles (Oraclechele gives both Catwoman and Birds of Prey a Skip It for the week). Meanwhile, Marvel falters with both Avengers titles (Mighty and The Initiative).
Power Rankings!
[BUY THESE!]
1. Incredible Hercules #117 (Book of the Week)
2. Captain America #38
3. Echo #3
4. Justice Society #15
5. X-Factor #31
[READ THESE]
6. Iron Man: Director of Shield #29
7. Fantastic Four #557
8. Robin #174
9. Justice League #21
10. Dreamwar #2
11. Superman/Batman #28
[BROWSE THESE]
12. Avengers: The Initiative #13
[SKIP THESE]
13. Catwoman #79
14. Mighty Avengers #14
15. X-Men: Divided We Stand #2
16. Birds of Prey #118
This week we were inundated with new releases, including the first issue of the new Batman RIP storyline, the second issue of Titans, Marvel's ongoing Secret Invasion tie-ins, and the debut of Guardians of the Galaxy, just to name a few.
The Power List this week:
1. Thunderbolts #120
2. Captain Britain and MI:13 #1
3. Guardians of the Galaxy
4. Sky Doll #1
5. newuniversal: Shockfront #1
6. X-Men Origins: Colossus #1
7. Batman #676
8. Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1
Stay tuned for more to be added during the weekend!
Your usual host for our Thursday morning quarterbacking is currently incapacitated (maybe if he had a Mac instead of Vista, ha!) so it's up to your intrepid sociopath to pumpkin bomb some reviews on your bad selves.
The name of the game this week is undoubtedly Secret Invasion. The first two issues have met with resounding success in the blogosphere and even satellite books such as New Avengers and Mighty Avengers are sharing in the basking warmth of those damn, dirty Skrulls. But let's not count out the Whedonverse as both Buffy and Angel: After the Fall have new issues out this week (from different publishers, strangely enough).
What's on deck this week?
1. Secret Invasion #2
2. Mighty Avengers #13
3. Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas #1
4. Buffy: Season Eight #14
5. Nova #13
6. X-Factor: The Quick and the Dead
7. Invincible Iron Man #1
8. The Boys #18
9. Thunderbolts: Reason in Madness
10. Angel: After the Fall #7
11. Logan #3
12. Cable #3
13. Midnighter #18
Did we make the right calls? Check out the reviews and let us know!
It looks like the summer events are starting to simmer up! This week, DC seeks absolution of all that was Countdown with DC Universe: Zero (doing a fine job in the process) and Marvel surprises us with some Skrull back story in New Avengers #40.
Power Rankings for the week:
1. New Avengers #40
2. Immortal Iron Fist #14
3. Action Comics #864
4. Green Lantern #30
5. DC Universe #0
6. Blue Beetle #26
7. X-Men Legacy #210
8. Avengers: The Initiative #12
9. Marvel Comics Presents #8
What did you folks thing? Agree? Disagree? Comment away!
This week we almost cried as we were exposed to Death of the New Gods #8, which brought the standards of professional comics to a new, unnerving low. The week also marked the end of the Countdown fiasco. But all is not dark with the world, as we found bastions of light in Ms. Marvel, Thor, and Ultimate Spider Man.
Power Rankings this week.
1. Thor #8
2. Ms. Marvel #26
3. Ultimate Spider-Man #121
4. Birds of Prey #117
5. Hulk #3
6. Mighty Avengers #12
7. JLA #20
8. Secret History of the Authority. Jack Hawksmoor #2
9.. Uncanny X-Men #497
10. Amazing Spider-Man #557
11. Countdown to Final Crisis #1
12. Death of the New Gods #8
[Edited to include Sgt. Sausagepants' books]
Agree? Disagree? Let us know what you thought of this week's books by commenting below!
This week marks our first Burn It rating for, no surprise here, Countdown to Final Crisis #2, and we couldn't have picked a more deserving book. I'll let Sgt. Sausagepants' review speak for itself.
Power Rankings are as follows:
1. Captain America #37
2. X-Men: Divided We Stand #1
3. Captain Marvel #5
4. Avengers: The Initiative #11
5. Catwoman #78
6. X-Factor #30
7. Robin #173
8. Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #1
9. Tangent: Superman's Reign #2
10. Dreamwar #1
11. Countdown to Crisis #2
This week produced slim pickings (with Titans #1 and Serenity: Better Days #2 being the notable exceptions), and as such, we had two different reviews of two books: Fantastic Four and Nova. With kid_ampersand transitioning over to his new weekend writer position, and shazamb ramping up to get started, we have fewer reviews for you this time. But fear not! Next week we'll be back to our normal state!
This week's PK Rankings are as follows:
1. Serenity: Better Days #2
2. Titans #1
3. Nova #12
4. Green Lantern Corps #23
5. JSA #14
6. Fantastic Four #556
7. Last Defenders #2
8. Countdown to Final Crisis #3
This week DC has difficulty keeping up the quality (with a major editorial mistake on Birds if Prey) as Marvel sees quite a few Buy It titles.
Here's a quick summary:
Buy it:
Bodha Te #1 (SLG) Captain Marvel #4 (Marvel) The Incredible Hercules #115 (Marvel) Captain America #36 (Marvel) The Immortal Iron Fist #13 (Marvel) Tangent Comics: Superman's Reign #1 (DC)
Read It:
Everybody's Dead #1 (IDW)
Browse It:
Grimm Fairy Tales: The Piper #1 (Zenescope) Justice League of America #19 (DC) Countdown to Final Crisis #6 (DC)
Skip It:
New World Order #2 (Image Shadowline) Birds of Prey #116 (DC)
Review: Wonder Woman #1 - #5
OK, so a couple of unkind reviews from me of late. Does that mean I hate the whole New 52? No, not at all. Does it mean that I only enjoy the new characters? Definitely not. Case in point: Wonder Woman is one of my favorite books of the relaunch. I think it's very good, with strong writing, an excellent ambience and fantastic art. Read on for why this reboot is the first time I've ever subscribed to Wonder Woman!...
