Saturday, October 1, 2011

Comics Roundup for 9/28/11

Big week, so I'm going to keep these as brief as possible:

Aquaman #1 - I've read quite a few of these "New 52" titles from DC, and I think that this is easily among my favorites.  I've liked the character back when Peter David was writing his title, and I liked him when he appeared in Grant Morrison's JLA, but I'm still surprised at how much I wound up liking him in this one.  This is Geoff Johns at his best, as he has a knack for making superhero stories focus on character.  Also, Ivan Reis is easily one of the best superhero artists working today.

Brilliant #1 - This is the new creator-owned series from Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley.  What did I think?  It was okay.  I'm buying too much stuff right now though, and I didn't like it enough to check out the next issue.

Justice League Dark #1 - I wasn't originally planning on getting this title.  It was interesting though, and I might check out the second one, but honestly, I doubt that I will.  I'm not familiar enough with many of these characters, and I didn't feel like I really got much of an introduction to them.

Kick Ass 2 #4 - Pretty violent stuff going on in this one, but what else would you expect?  It's still entertaining as hell, and just like the first series, I don't think that it would necessarily work as a movie.

I, Vampire #1 - I had no intention of getting this one until I read a bit about it and saw some of the preview artwork.  Andrea Sorrentino's artwork reminds me of Jae Lee, and that's a good thing.  Anyway, this certainly feels different from everything else that's out there, and I liked it for that reason.  It was also nice to see that it focused primarily on a long-standing debate between two characters.  Plus, we're likely to see the rest of the DC Universe get involved with all these vampire shenanigans.  Too bad Blade isn't part of the DC Universe.

Superman #1 - As modern as Grant Morrison's Action Comics feels, this other Superman book feels positively old school - well, old school for me anyway, as I started reading in the 1980s.  You definitely get a lot of story packed into one issue, and that's a nice change of pace.  Still, I'm a bit disappointed to hear that the creative team will be changing after issue seven.  Hopefully they can keep it good.  Oh, and an unmarried Superman is definitely the way to go, so I'm glad that this is another marriage "undone".

The New Avengers #16.1 - Norman Osborn returns as does veteran artist Neal Adams.  While Adams's work doesn't hold up to his stuff from the 70s and 80s, it's still pretty good, even if he does make Norman Osborn look more like Harry Osborn.  Anyway, I'm interested in what they're setting up here, and I'm looking forward to what's going to happen in what's easily the best Avengers book on the stands.

The Amazing Spider-Man #670 - Dan Slott is doing a great job of building the tension and mounting more and more problems to Spider-Man's situation in the continuing "Spider-Island" storyline.  I wonder what the long-term impacts of this story will be?

Wolverine #16 - I liked this issue well enough, but I felt that it resolved Wolverine's current self-loathing a little too quickly - or at least, it seems like it did.  Hopefully next issue will show that he still has a lot more healing to do.

Captain America and Bucky #622 - Not much to say about this one other than it was another solid installment in a storyline that started when the series changed its name.  Bucky has come a long way in Ed Brubaker's hands, and he's no longer just the sidekick who died.  Oh, and I still think that they're going to be bringing him back.

The Flash #1 - This was a series that I bought primarily for the artist.  Francis Manapul is doing a nice job in that department, and he makes the revised version of Flash's costume work better than Jim Lee does.  As for the writing?  Manapul is co-writing with Brian Buccellato, and this issue is a pretty good start.  I'm down with the next issue.

Batman:  The Dark Knight #1 - This was pretty good.  I don't think that I liked the writing as much as I did on the first go-round with this series - at least, not with just the first issue as my criteria.  Hopefully with Paul Jenkins on board though, this storyline will have a more satisfactory conclusion.

1 comment:

Devin Kates said...

I didn't know the 2nd kickass was out. I love that series! Definitely checking that one out.