War Journal Entry number 699 - Weekly Haul 11/18/09
MARVEL
Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth #5 - Victor Gischler + Bong Dazo. The action and the jokes are fired out in equal measure, i.e. constantly. Thankfully I'm still enjoying it all, and am even thoroughly delighted by some pieces. The Star Wars discussion is especially LOL worthy.
Incredible Hulk #604 - Greg Pak + Ariel Olivetti/Giuseppe Camuncoli. The boys play football until interrupted by a creation of the Leader. Continues to be a joy to read. The Savage She-Hulk back-up by Fred Van Lente + Michael Ryan delves more into her adversaries this time, but still stays strongly tied into who she is.
Mighty Avengers +31 - Dan Slott/Christos N. Gage + Sean Chen. Big Avengers action and nice character interaction make for a good read.
Punisher #11 - Rick Remender + Tony Moore. Morbius and a team of other monsters find the dismembered remains of Frank Castle and put him back together as... Frankencastle. There is a logic behind it and the superb art really sells it. But, yeah, the idea of it is pretty silly. But to all those who are screaming in outrage, I say, “Shut up and read Punisher MAX.” Seriously, this won't last, and the people that don't like it can come back once it's over.
Realm of Kings one-shot - Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Leonardo Manco/Mahmud Asrar. Quasar explores the tear in reality and finds himself on a dark, Lovecraftian world with its own twisted reflection of the Avengers. Wait until you get a look at the Hulk. But the real point is that upon meeting Quasar, these dark fanatics are clued into the fact that there are more realities out there for their evil masters to feast upon.
Realm of Kings: Inhumans #1 of 5 - Abnett/Lanning + Pablo Raimondi. You're probably getting tired of hearing this by now, but since this was done by Abnett and Lanning it was another fantastic read. Lots of logical followups to the events of War of Kings, plus the Mighty Avengers.
Thunderbolts #138 - Jeff Parker + Miguel Sepulveda. With Parker coming on as writer, I'm coming on as reader. This is a good introductory issue giving individual highlights for most of the team-members and laying out the team dynamics for new readers. I don't really care about these characters too much (except for Ant-Man), but it was still a good read. And with the team going up against Agents of Atlas next, I'm sure to thoroughly enjoy the upcoming issues.
Wolverine: Weapon X #7 - Jason Aaron + Yanick Paquette. The madness and horror in the Dunwich Sanatorium continues, and its one of the more original Wolverine tales told in along time.
X-Men Legacy #229 - Mike Carey + Daniel Acuna. Rogue's attempt to save Bling! from Emplate continues, while Gambit voices his displeasure to Cyclops for letting her go it alone. Much better than it sounds, and the art does a great job portraying the other reality and its inhabitants.
DARK HORSE COMICS
Alien Legion Omnibus volume 1 - Alan Zelenetz + Frank Cirocco/Chris Warner/Larry Stroman/Terry Shoemaker. Collects issues 1-11 of the first series. I already had a collection with 1-6, but it was worth it to get the rest of the issues I haven't been able to hunt down. That's how good Alien Legion is.
Dr. Horrible one-shot - Zack Whedon + Joelle Jones. It's the origin of Dr Horrible, and it's fantastic. The only way it could be better is if it was as filmed, with musical numbers. The artist thankfully went for a style of caricature instead of direct representation that allows you to recognize the actors without getting distracted by what doesn't match.
DC
Adventure Comics #4 - Geoff Johns/Sterling Gates + Jerry Ordway. Superboy Prime is confronted by Black Lantern Alexander Luthor of Earth-3. It's wonderfully meta and postmodern, and while there is a mix of humor and menace, it is all played straight. Includes a Legion of Super-Heroes back-up by Johns/Michael Shoemaker + Clayton Henry that acts and two characters' epilog to Legion of 3 Worlds.
Brave and the Bold #29 - J. Michael Straczynski + Jesus Saiz. I couldn't pass up Batman and Brother Power, The Geek, and it is very well done. Brother Power's role as the spirit of the sixties and what that means is a large part of the story, but just as important is Batman's reaction to it.
IDW PUBLISHING
Transformers #1 - Mike Costa + Don Figueroa. The ongoing series starts two years after the events of All Hail Megatron with the Transformers, both heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons, in hiding from a humanity that won't hesitate to wipe them out. Costa does a nice job mixing the tension of the situation with the characters' personalities. Meanwhile, Figueroa is employing a new modified design sense that excellently mixes the modularity of the live action motif with the classic Generation One aesthetic.
WILDSTORM
Authority vol. 4 #3: The Lost Year - Keith Giffen (with a nod to Grant Morrison) + Darick Robertson. The explanation for the world without superpowers that the Authority have found themselves on opens itself up to some interesting storytelling possibilities. It's impossible to tell how much is Morrison's and how much is Giffen's, but if this is where Morrison was going the series would have been much better received if he had gotten here quicker.
Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth #5 - Victor Gischler + Bong Dazo. The action and the jokes are fired out in equal measure, i.e. constantly. Thankfully I'm still enjoying it all, and am even thoroughly delighted by some pieces. The Star Wars discussion is especially LOL worthy.
Incredible Hulk #604 - Greg Pak + Ariel Olivetti/Giuseppe Camuncoli. The boys play football until interrupted by a creation of the Leader. Continues to be a joy to read. The Savage She-Hulk back-up by Fred Van Lente + Michael Ryan delves more into her adversaries this time, but still stays strongly tied into who she is.
Mighty Avengers +31 - Dan Slott/Christos N. Gage + Sean Chen. Big Avengers action and nice character interaction make for a good read.
Punisher #11 - Rick Remender + Tony Moore. Morbius and a team of other monsters find the dismembered remains of Frank Castle and put him back together as... Frankencastle. There is a logic behind it and the superb art really sells it. But, yeah, the idea of it is pretty silly. But to all those who are screaming in outrage, I say, “Shut up and read Punisher MAX.” Seriously, this won't last, and the people that don't like it can come back once it's over.
Realm of Kings one-shot - Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Leonardo Manco/Mahmud Asrar. Quasar explores the tear in reality and finds himself on a dark, Lovecraftian world with its own twisted reflection of the Avengers. Wait until you get a look at the Hulk. But the real point is that upon meeting Quasar, these dark fanatics are clued into the fact that there are more realities out there for their evil masters to feast upon.
Realm of Kings: Inhumans #1 of 5 - Abnett/Lanning + Pablo Raimondi. You're probably getting tired of hearing this by now, but since this was done by Abnett and Lanning it was another fantastic read. Lots of logical followups to the events of War of Kings, plus the Mighty Avengers.
Thunderbolts #138 - Jeff Parker + Miguel Sepulveda. With Parker coming on as writer, I'm coming on as reader. This is a good introductory issue giving individual highlights for most of the team-members and laying out the team dynamics for new readers. I don't really care about these characters too much (except for Ant-Man), but it was still a good read. And with the team going up against Agents of Atlas next, I'm sure to thoroughly enjoy the upcoming issues.
Wolverine: Weapon X #7 - Jason Aaron + Yanick Paquette. The madness and horror in the Dunwich Sanatorium continues, and its one of the more original Wolverine tales told in along time.
X-Men Legacy #229 - Mike Carey + Daniel Acuna. Rogue's attempt to save Bling! from Emplate continues, while Gambit voices his displeasure to Cyclops for letting her go it alone. Much better than it sounds, and the art does a great job portraying the other reality and its inhabitants.
DARK HORSE COMICS
Alien Legion Omnibus volume 1 - Alan Zelenetz + Frank Cirocco/Chris Warner/Larry Stroman/Terry Shoemaker. Collects issues 1-11 of the first series. I already had a collection with 1-6, but it was worth it to get the rest of the issues I haven't been able to hunt down. That's how good Alien Legion is.
Dr. Horrible one-shot - Zack Whedon + Joelle Jones. It's the origin of Dr Horrible, and it's fantastic. The only way it could be better is if it was as filmed, with musical numbers. The artist thankfully went for a style of caricature instead of direct representation that allows you to recognize the actors without getting distracted by what doesn't match.
DC
Adventure Comics #4 - Geoff Johns/Sterling Gates + Jerry Ordway. Superboy Prime is confronted by Black Lantern Alexander Luthor of Earth-3. It's wonderfully meta and postmodern, and while there is a mix of humor and menace, it is all played straight. Includes a Legion of Super-Heroes back-up by Johns/Michael Shoemaker + Clayton Henry that acts and two characters' epilog to Legion of 3 Worlds.
Brave and the Bold #29 - J. Michael Straczynski + Jesus Saiz. I couldn't pass up Batman and Brother Power, The Geek, and it is very well done. Brother Power's role as the spirit of the sixties and what that means is a large part of the story, but just as important is Batman's reaction to it.
IDW PUBLISHING
Transformers #1 - Mike Costa + Don Figueroa. The ongoing series starts two years after the events of All Hail Megatron with the Transformers, both heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons, in hiding from a humanity that won't hesitate to wipe them out. Costa does a nice job mixing the tension of the situation with the characters' personalities. Meanwhile, Figueroa is employing a new modified design sense that excellently mixes the modularity of the live action motif with the classic Generation One aesthetic.
WILDSTORM
Authority vol. 4 #3: The Lost Year - Keith Giffen (with a nod to Grant Morrison) + Darick Robertson. The explanation for the world without superpowers that the Authority have found themselves on opens itself up to some interesting storytelling possibilities. It's impossible to tell how much is Morrison's and how much is Giffen's, but if this is where Morrison was going the series would have been much better received if he had gotten here quicker.