Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

The Walking Dead #86 - PREVIEWBatman: Gates of Gotham #2 - ReviewWeekly Comic Book Review’s Top PicksPosted on June 29, 2011 by Ray Hilario

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Batman: Gates of Gotham #2 – Detective work and an overarching sense of mythos and history that serves to enhance the story and provide atmosphere without overwhelming the reader makes for an awesome read.  Really fun artwork makes it an even more awesome read.

Most Anticipated: Scalped #50 – Though it doesn’t get as much press as it should, make no mistake, issue after issue, Scalped is continually among the best of the month.  If you at all enjoy Jason Aaron’s other work, you need to be reading this; it’s the man’s best work by far.And here we are, at 50 issues.  Not at all shabby for a creator-owned Vertigo series.  I’m really interested to see what Aaron has in store for us in this sure to be special, landmark issue.

Other Picks: Detective Comics #878, THUNDER Agents #8, American Vampire #16, Amazing Spider-Man #664, FF #5, Venom #4

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: 2000 AD June “Pack” Progs 1732 – 1735 – This is kinda a weird pick because it isn’t one comic…..it’s four.  I just started reading 2000 AD for the first time and really enjoyed my first exposure.  If you aren’t familiar, 2000 AD is a weekly anthology comic that has been published in England since 1977, so the numbers get high really fast.  Here in the United States, we get them in monthly “packs” of 4 issues at once although they are going to weekly publication in the US in August I believe.  I can’t tell you how satisfying these were to read.  Even though I was picking up in the middle of an anthology series and many stories were 3-4 episodes into a tale, they had just enough exposition that I knew basically what was going on.  Bravo!  Really strong art too!  Why can’t American comics be more like this?

Most Anticipated: American Vampire #16 – Good Lord is this a packed week.  As I stared at my pull list about the only thing I was sure of was that X-Men: Prelude to Schism #4 would NOT be my most anticipated comics of the week.  Picking AV #16 off this list is like asking which of your 10 children do you love the most.  Still, Scott Snyder and Rafa Albuquerque’s tale of vampirism on a Japanese occupied Pacific island in WWII was taking some very cool twists toward the end of AV #15 and I’m very eager to see how things begin to resolve themselves.  American Vampire should be on everyone’s pull list.

Other Picks: Creepy Comics #6, Detective Comics #878, Scalped #50, Butcher Baker the Righteous Maker #4, The Walking Dead #86, Amazing Spider-Man #664, FF #5, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #6

Share this:Filed under: Picks of the Week Tagged: | Amazing Spider-Man #664, American Vampire #16, Avengers: The Children's Crusade #6, Butcher Baker the Righteous Maker #4, Creepy Comics #6, Detective Comics #878, FF #5, Scalped #50, The Walking Dead #86, THUNDER Agents #8, Venom #4

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This Week’s ReviewsFlashpoint: Project Superman #1 – ReviewFlashpoint: Hal Jordan #1 – ReviewIncorruptible #19 – ReviewWeekly Comic Book Review’s Top PicksLast Mortal #2 – PREVIEWSkullkickers #8 – PREVIEWThe Walking Dead #86 – PREVIEWMagdalena #7 – PREVIEWArtifacts #8 – PREVIEWAmerican Vampire #16 – Advance ReviewThe Spirit #15 – Review2000 AD Prog #1735 – ReviewFables #106 – ReviewZatanna #14 – ReviewSkullKickers Vol 1: 1000 Opas and a Dead Body -Graphic Novel ReviewHack/Slash #5 – ReviewAction Comics #902 – ReviewAll Nighter #1 – ReviewDark Horse Presents #2 – ReviewSuperman #712 – ReviewNew Mutants #26 – ReviewBrightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing #1 – ReviewFlashpoint: Reverse Flash – ReviewCaptain America #619 – ReviewThe Mighty Thor #3 – Review

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Invincible Iron Man #505 Review

"> June 23, 2011 Marvel Comments Off Tweet

Paris has been turned to rubble.  However, it’s not the structure of the city that’s been crushed into rock, it’s the people.  With everything going down, Tony Stark is faced with a horrible realization…  Not only do miracles exist, but some of them can actually be horrific events beyond science’s explanation.

Invincible Iron Man #505

The Grey Gargoyle has been turned into Mokk: Breaker of Faith, and one of the Serpent’s chosen avatars.  Mokk’s rampage through Paris was met by Iron Man, but little of what Tony can do seems to have any effect on the monster.  Thousands have died.  Just as Tony tries to take the battle to the air, Detroit Steel comes to his aid and appears to have the sheer power to beat back the beast.  This is short-lived as Mokk tears open Johnston’s Detroit Steel armor and freezes him in stone.  Using a cutter that uses much of his own repulsor’s battery, Tony does learn that slicing Mokk actually hurts him.  In retaliation the monster hits Tony hard enough that his repulsor cracks, forcing him to retreat to get repairs.  Solemnly, Tony returns to one of his bases and grabs a repair kit.  He flies away holding this “kit” close leaving us to wonder what thoughts are rolling around behind his defeated expression.

Matt Fraction delivers another strong issue.  He forces Tony to look the possibility of events beyond scientific explanation unfolding before his very eyes.  The situation in Paris is so bad, Tony has no clue how to fight it.  His whole game is based in technology and science trumping any terror he’s ever faced.  Now, he’s seeing something play out on a biblical scale.  While he’s not exactly succombing to the fear as much as, say, Spider-Man has, this idea of what Grey Gargoyle has become and what he’s done to Paris terrifies Tony.  We’re seeing something from Tony we’ve never seen before and there’s such a tone to the story itself that we can’t really know exactly how this is going to play out.  If you ask me, that’s exactly what I like to see in my comics and it’s something Fraction does on a regular basis.

Again, what more can I say about Salvador Larroca on this series?  His visuals are so gorgeous and so powerful that I honestly believe he could carry this book without a writer of Fraction’s skill.  For this entire series, I find myself spending more and more time reading each issue because the visuals are so strong and so appealing.  There’s such a cinematic composition to Larroca’s art that makes him one of my favorite artists of all time.  As an older comic fan, I have a hard time with artists who are highly stylized or overly realistic, but Larroca is different.  He’s been doing this for a long time now and has come to a point that if any writer wants their book to look like a movie or a TV show, they should hope Larroca’s available because no one does it better than he does.

Take one superstar writer who can carry every book he’s on even if the art isn’t so good, add a superstar artist who can carry a book without a strong writer, throw in a truly intriguging story about a hero faced with horror and a viewpoint-altering realization, and you’ve got yourself a truly great comic.  Just think…  These guys have done this consistently for over three years now.

A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATINGProsConsGripping story and fantastic art. This plays out like a movie and has me legitimately nervous for every character.None. I looked forward to reading this so much that I read it as soon as I got home from the shop and it did not disappoint. Rating100%

All Fear Itself reviews:

Fear Itself: #1 | #2 | #3 |

Fear Itself: The Home Front: #1 | #2 | #3

Fear Itself: Spider-Man: #1 | #2 |

Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt: #1 | #2 |

Journey Into Mystery: #622 | #623 | #624 |

Invincible Iron Man: #503 | #504 | #505 |

Avengers: #13 | #14 |

Secret Avengers: #13 | #14 |

Avengers Academy: #15 |

For more visit our Fear Itself tag @ acomicbookblog.com/tag/fear-itself

Tags: Fear Itself Invincible Iron Man Iron Man Matt Fraction Salvador Larroca

Related PostsYou might also like...Invincible Iron Man #504 Review - May 18, 2011Invincible Iron Man #503 Review - April 20, 2011Invincible Iron Man #502 Review - March 16, 2011Invincible Iron Man #501 Review - February 23, 2011Invincible Iron Man #500 Review - January 19, 2011Invincible Iron Man #33 Review - December 22, 2010Invincible Iron Man #32 Review - November 24, 2010Invincible Iron Man #31 Review - October 13, 2010Invincible Iron Man #30 Review - September 9, 2010Invincible Iron Man #29 Review - August 11, 2010 Comments are closed.

Author: Geoff Arbuckle visit my website

Featured: 0Roundtable: DC’s New DCU & Digital InitiativeJune 6, 2011NEWS 0Flashpoint #2 ReviewJune 3, 2011DC Comics 0Fear Itself #3 ReviewJune 3, 2011Marvel 0The Walking Dead #85 ReviewMay 26, 2011Comics 0Fantasy Battle TournamentApril 18, 2011Fantasy Battle Tournament Popular Posts This Month3 The ACOMICBOOKBLOG.COM "Relaunch"
June 27, 2011Highlight2 A Rocketeer Fan Film Worth Sharing Again & Again
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Avengers #14 Review

"> June 23, 2011 Marvel Comments Off Tweet

An Avenger falls in with the wrong crowd.  Avenger Tower just plain falls.  Another Avenger falls…  Eventually.

Avengers #14

This story can be summed up fairly quickly.  This is all about the Thing becoming one of the Serpents avatars (Angir: Breaker of Souls) and committing a pretty awful affront to the Avengers, and how the Red Hulk truly became a trusted and worthy member of the team.  After the Thing puts the whammy on Yancy Street, the Red Hulk arrives to take him on.  The two exchange heavy blows.  Eventually, Angir/Thing, breaks free long enough to whip his hammer through Avengers Tower.  The tower comes crashing down.  The Red Hulk tries to catch the falling building but is unable to.  One last attack on Angir sends Red Hulk flying.  Not sure if he is definitely dead or not, no one has seen him since.

Brian Michael Bendis infuses much more action into this issue of Avengers, but there’s still a major problem with this issue, and it has nothing to do with John Romita, Jr. returning to the book.  This is an arc that is having a huge identity crisis.  This is a tough time for the team, and they are using the Oral History of the Avengers as a way to discuss it.  We see the big battle between two fo the toughest Avengers out there with one possessed in a way to do some really bad stuff and the other proving his mettle and truly taking one for the team.

In principle, this could work well.  Dealing with a very tough loss in a really bad situation and seeing it in motion isn’t a bad way to write a story.  In fact, it’s been done a lot throughout several mediums.  The Oral History stuff has been received well…  When it’s in the back of the issues and written out, not played out in the comic proper.  The possible end of the Red Hulk has an emotional weight to it.  However, when put together, both the conversation and the emotional impact of the action undermines each other.  I would have much rather seen the oral history stuff as it’s own book that can blatantly tell us how the tone and the structure of the book will be.  That way, Avengers would be freed to tell the stories of particular characters’ struggles with the events.  While this ultimately would have appeared to be a knock off of how Secret Avengers is handling the tie-ins, it would have worked to have all the Avengers titles go this way (or at least the three main books, excluding Avengers Academy).  This set up is awkward and contrived.

I’m just leaving it at that for this review.  I don’t need to go into my disappointment with the art because, honestly, it’s not as big of a problem as the story itself.

A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATINGProsConsI like the Red Hulk. I really do. I like his heroic actions in this book and I like seeing him throw down with the Thing. I honestly love how he's been used in this series.Art (there, I said it). Bigger problem was the way this arc has been put together mixing in the static Oral History stuff and cutting back on the more dynamic action stuff. Rating50%

All Fear Itself reviews:

Fear Itself: #1 | #2 | #3 |

Fear Itself: The Home Front: #1 | #2 | #3

Fear Itself: Spider-Man: #1 | #2 |

Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt: #1 | #2 |

Journey Into Mystery: #622 | #623 | #624 |

Invincible Iron Man: #503 | #504 | #505 |

Avengers: #13 | #14 |

Secret Avengers: #13 | #14 |

Avengers Academy: #15 |

For more visit our Fear Itself tag @ acomicbookblog.com/tag/fear-itself

Tags: Avengers Avengers Reviews Brian Michael Bendis Fear Itself John Romita Jr.

Related PostsYou might also like...Avengers Academy #15 Review - June 23, 2011New Avengers #13 Review - June 23, 2011Avengers #13 Review - May 18, 2011Avengers #12 Review - April 20, 2011Avengers #11 Review - March 30, 2011C2E2: Saturday Wrap-Up - March 19, 2011Avengers #10 Review - February 23, 2011Avengers #9 Review - January 26, 2011Avengers #8 Review - December 29, 2010Avengers #7 Review - November 17, 2010 Comments are closed.

Author: Geoff Arbuckle visit my website

Featured: 0Roundtable: DC’s New DCU & Digital InitiativeJune 6, 2011NEWS 0Flashpoint #2 ReviewJune 3, 2011DC Comics 0Fear Itself #3 ReviewJune 3, 2011Marvel 0The Walking Dead #85 ReviewMay 26, 2011Comics 0Fantasy Battle TournamentApril 18, 2011Fantasy Battle Tournament Popular Posts This Month3 The ACOMICBOOKBLOG.COM "Relaunch"
June 27, 2011Highlight2 A Rocketeer Fan Film Worth Sharing Again & Again
June 29, 2011BLOGS1 How Being a Geek Became Cool: Geek Life
June 27, 2011Geek Life1 April 2011 Comic Book Sales Figures
June 6, 2011NEWSFrom Our Twitter:A COMIC BOOK BLOG wants to know…

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Copyright © 2011 A COMIC BOOK BLOG. All Rights Reserved.Grab our RSS FeedFollow us on Twitter!

Avengers Academy #15 Review

"> June 23, 2011 Marvel Comments Off Tweet

If there’s one thing we all know about war it’s that, often, it is fought by the young.  As Fear Itself rambles on through the Marvel Universe, it’s time for the kids of Avengers Academy to learn that fact so many have already known for centuries.

Avengers Academy #15

Commander Rogers informs Hank Pym of the escalading hostilities that’s taking place all over the world.  Rogers asks a simple question…  Will Hank’s students be ready if, and when, they are needed?  Pym, Quicksilver, and Justice are dispatched to Long Island to deal with the escapees from the Raft.  Tigra is left behind to prepare the students for their eventual deployment.  It isn’t long before they’re needed in Washington, DC.  Their task is simple, only fight the insurgents if their life or the life of a civilian is in danger.  Otherwise, they are only there to help evacuate the capital.  The students do well, but not without a couple setbacks.  Striker’s own memories of dying in his older body at the hands of Korvac is still proving to be a major issue when faced with a situation like this.  When Mettle kills one of the bad guys, his remorse nearly paralyzes him until Tigra can tell him that it was an unfortunate necessity, but one he may have to do again.  Meanwhile, the faculty cleans up the mess on Long Island and are immediately sent to Dubai to handle a transformed Absorbing Man and Titania.  Despite his issues with being sent there instead of relieving the kids in DC, he plans to deal with the two baddies quickly.  That is until he sees Absorbing Man and what he’s become.

Christos Gage, again, takes these characters and makes them believable and just damn interesting.  Whether it’s Hank Pym’s overprotective need to keep the kids out of harm’s way, or Tigra’s fierce personality, or Mettle’s heart of gold inside a monster’s body, Gage makes sure the readers know how his characters feel.  Some might say this method is about as subtle as a hammer to the groin, but I actually think that while each issue puts the characters’ thoughts and feelings at the forefront of everything they say, or how the artist draws their expressions, the series as a whole has developed these characters in a natural and subtle way.  We’re literally seeing characters adapt and mature.  A lot of that comes from Christos Gage being the only writer for 15 issues, but it also reveals how confident Marvel is in him as a creator.  And Marvel should feel very lucky they have a guy like him working on a new generation of heroes.

On top of all that, Gage has also had the luxury of being matched with good, solid artists that can add to the story.  Mike McKone, Tom Raney, and Sean Chen have the perfect styles to give the students a fresh, young look, while making the faculty look more experienced and a little older.  Hell, each of these guys have, in their own way, made Tigra look spectacular.  That’s part of her character to have an animal magnetism to her that keeps eyes stuck on her.

In all, Avengers Academy is a book most people should read.  It’s full of great characters, excellent writing, and about the most consistent art you’ll find from any series that’s had a few artist changes over the course of the run.

A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATINGProsConsGreat characterization and solid art. The Gage/Raney combo is just as good as the Gage/McKone and Gage/Chen combos and that's hard to do in today's comics.Only one, minor thing... The issue jumps right into the tie-in for Fear Itself. It's hard for brand new readers to know what's going on at Avengers Academy, but I know that's not really the fault of anyone. Rating95%

All Fear Itself reviews:

Fear Itself: #1 | #2 | #3 |

Fear Itself: The Home Front: #1 | #2 | #3

Fear Itself: Spider-Man: #1 | #2 |

Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt: #1 | #2 |

Journey Into Mystery: #622 | #623 | #624 |

Invincible Iron Man: #503 | #504 | #505 |

Avengers: #13 | #14 |

Secret Avengers: #13 | #14 |

Avengers Academy: #15 |

For more visit our Fear Itself tag @ acomicbookblog.com/tag/fear-itself

Tags: Avengers Avengers Academy Avengers Reviews Christos Gage Fear Itself

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Author: Geoff Arbuckle visit my website

Featured: 0Roundtable: DC’s New DCU & Digital InitiativeJune 6, 2011NEWS 0Flashpoint #2 ReviewJune 3, 2011DC Comics 0Fear Itself #3 ReviewJune 3, 2011Marvel 0The Walking Dead #85 ReviewMay 26, 2011Comics 0Fantasy Battle TournamentApril 18, 2011Fantasy Battle Tournament Popular Posts This Month3 The ACOMICBOOKBLOG.COM "Relaunch"
June 27, 2011Highlight2 A Rocketeer Fan Film Worth Sharing Again & Again
June 29, 2011BLOGS1 How Being a Geek Became Cool: Geek Life
June 27, 2011Geek Life1 April 2011 Comic Book Sales Figures
June 6, 2011NEWSFrom Our Twitter:A COMIC BOOK BLOG wants to know…

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Copyright © 2011 A COMIC BOOK BLOG. All Rights Reserved.Grab our RSS FeedFollow us on Twitter!

Ruse #4 Review

"> June 23, 2011 Marvel Comments Off Tweet

Simon and Emma are on the trail of Malcolm Lightbourne.  Can they stop him in time before he kills one of them or pull off an escape?

Ruse #4

Upon returning from the derby, Simon immediately retreats to his “think tank” to work out the pieces of how Lightbourne’s plan fits together.  After 24 hours, Emma opens the tank and Simon falls out dead!  However, Lightbourne this is nothing more than a Ruse (get it?).  Simon and Emma sneak their way to a cave that is kept clean, proving Lightbourne, as he was one of only a small group of people aware of the location of the cave, was indeed pulling the strings.  Lightbourne heads them off and when Simon reveals that his mentor understimated his “reach”, Emma helps bring the madman to his apparent death at the bottom of a pit.  It is then revealed that Queen Elizabeth herself is one of Simon’s agents and as payment for his services to protect the crown from the damning truth about Prince Albert’s gambing debts, the three agents who died from Lightbourne’s attack on Simon’s home are given a state funeral.

Mark Waid wraps up the revival of his Crossgen creation in fine fashion.  This issue, naturally, isn’t as steeped as the first three issues, but the conclusion is quite satisfying.  We do learn what Lightbourne’s ultimate goal is.  While the final confrontation brought out a bit of the villainous persona from Lightbourne, it’s still shown that he’s calculating and just a jerk.  Still the fun of this mini is in the characters.  Waid has created characters that are believably brilliant in Simon and Lightbourne, and just all around fun in Emma.  Even the slimier characters in this series are interesting and appealing.  That’s Waid doing what he does best – telling good stories with characters that you feel a connection to.

Mirco Pierfederici returns to the title after taking issue #3 off.  I so much more liked Minck Oosterveer’s style.  I’m not exactly sure what it is about Pierfederici, but it almost looks flat.  Not flat as in the art is bland, because it isn’t, and in most cases, it would work well.  I guess I see a bit too many two dimensional images.  The faces are well done, but it just looks like a flat surface as if there just isn’t enough depth in the images.

I hope Ruse returns again, but I was happy to get something after so long.  Kudos to Mark Waid for coming back after all this time and still showing that this series still has its place on the racks.

A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATINGProsConsSatisfying conclusion. It's easy to make us love these characters because it's apparent Waid loves them.Art has a flat quality to it that didn't really appeal to me for this particular series. Rating90%

Tags: Crossgen Comics Mark Waid Ruse

Related PostsYou might also like...Ruse #3 Review - May 25, 2011Ruse #2 Review - April 27, 2011Ruse #1 Review - March 16, 2011Crossgen Comics: Geek Life - February 21, 2011Sigil #4 Review - June 23, 2011Sigil #3 Review - May 18, 2011Irredeemable #25 Review - May 4, 2011Sigil #2 Review - April 20, 2011Irredeemable #24 Review - April 7, 2011Sigil #1 Review - March 9, 2011 Comments are closed.

Author: Geoff Arbuckle visit my website

Featured: 0Roundtable: DC’s New DCU & Digital InitiativeJune 6, 2011NEWS 0Flashpoint #2 ReviewJune 3, 2011DC Comics 0Fear Itself #3 ReviewJune 3, 2011Marvel 0The Walking Dead #85 ReviewMay 26, 2011Comics 0Fantasy Battle TournamentApril 18, 2011Fantasy Battle Tournament Popular Posts This Month3 The ACOMICBOOKBLOG.COM "Relaunch"
June 27, 2011Highlight2 A Rocketeer Fan Film Worth Sharing Again & Again
June 29, 2011BLOGS1 How Being a Geek Became Cool: Geek Life
June 27, 2011Geek Life1 April 2011 Comic Book Sales Figures
June 6, 2011NEWSFrom Our Twitter:A COMIC BOOK BLOG wants to know…

What do you think about the new site?

Like it Hate it "Eh" Liked the old site more

View Results

Recent CommentsJohn Barringer:I don't know why it hadn't hit me before but he could be a great steam punk type character...Geoff Arbuckle:This was really, really, really good. I'm not sure why the Rocketeer hasn't made a major ...Mark:Love it, the new design looks amazing. Bookmarked!About to read your Where to Start wi...Sasha:Love the new design! So much cleaner and easier. Keep up the good work....Victor Kutsenok:Amen. Brother. Amen.I couldn't agree with you more on all things Geek....Popular TagsAvengersBatgirlBatmanBatman and RobinBatman RebornBlackest NightBoom StudiosBrian Michael BendisBrightest DayComic Book MonstersCover of the WeekDeadpoolDynamite ComicsFear ItselfFree ComicsGail SimoneGeek LifeGeoff JohnsGotham City SirensGrant MorrisonGrant Morrison BatmanGreen Arrow BlogGreen LanternGreen Lantern CorpsHal JordanHulkIron ManMarvelMatt FractionPreviewsReturn of Bruce WaynereviewSecret SixSiegeSmallvilleSupermanTeen TitansThe Walking DeadThorTitansTrade Paperback ReviewsTVUltimate MarvelWolverineX-Men Pages: ReviewsBlogsListsWhere To Start ReadingNewsBrowse Categories: AboutContactDesign by WPZOOM.
Copyright © 2011 A COMIC BOOK BLOG. All Rights Reserved.Grab our RSS FeedFollow us on Twitter!