Weekly Review Podcast Episode 17- X-men #204

I picked X-men #204 this week because I finally understood what's been going on and that it was linked to Messiah Complex and I was pretty stoked about that. Eric and I also discuss our mixed feelings about Flash and Green Lantern Corps and more. We throw you guys a little bone with a great DVD recommendation and we finish off the podcast with our top 5 superhero costume changes/upgrades.

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Book of the Week 10/31/07 Batman #670

Written by Grant Morrison
Pencilled by Tony Daniel
Inks by Jonathan Glapion

This week kicked off two big events from the big two companies. While I thought Messiah Complex was very good, with it being Halloween, I've gotta go with the guy in the bat costume. I've been awfully critical of Morrison's work on Batman thus far but I'll admit I'm really excited for the resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul. This issue mainly serves as setup for the main drama which kicks off soon. We do get treated to some great scenes between Talia, the "new" Ra's, and the original plan for Damian. To Morrison's credit, Damian isn't completely irritating in this book and his need for approval from his father is clearly shown. The dynamic between Damian and Ra's will be an interesting thing to watch as this story unfolds. Talia seems to be a third wheel in this story so far so I'm hoping that she will take on a larger role as time goes on. With Ra's back in the picture, I think she's going back to second string status.

This has the feel of the large, off-beat story that Morrison is known for, as did his previous arcs. I think the difference with this story is that it's a subject that fans have been wanting to see happen since the end of "Batman and Son". There is a slight worry that I've had (and this issue only reinforces it) that DC may be grooming a new Robin. That drama alone will keep me coming back for more.

This Tony Daniel guy can draw! Working somewhere between Andy Kubert and Jim Lee, Daniel's Batman is a stylistic masterpiece. Together with Glapion's inks, the shadows in this book come alive. I know this is all expected in the world of Batman but it's not everyday that the finished product looks so good.

Weekly Review Podcast Episode 16 Catwoman #72

Eric thought Catwoman #72 was the best book he read this week because of the emotional punch in the gut that it gave him. We also give you guys our thoughts of Mighty Avengers #5, Captain America #31 and more. We finish off the podcast by discussing the current season of Smallville, a review of this week's Heroes episode "Fight or Flight" and a little listener feedback.

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Book of the week 10/24/07 X-men#204

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Mike Choi
Coloring by Sonia Oback
Lettering by Cory Petit


I can't believe there was a time that i didn't like Mike Carey's X-men run. I really didn't like his first story arc with Rogue's new team, the weird children villians and the whole hecotomb stuff but with this issue it really seems like all of those things happened for a reason and it's now building to a head.


This issue is taking us straight into Messiah Complex and like I've said on the podcast, I'm really excited about this crossover. Carey does a great job of doing a little re-cap in this issue but also with finally providing us with answers as to what it going on with the X-men

I've said before that it seemed like what was going on in X-men was big, but was still being kept a mystery and in this issue, the cat is finally out of the bag. We found out that sinister is hunting down mutants with ties to the future because he doesn't want the X-men to know about something that about to happen, and it looks like that event is the first mutant birth since Decimation and that's taking us straight into Messiah Complex.

Mike Choi also did a wonderful job with the art in this issue, while I did think that Humberto Ramos' art was growing on me, I think Choi is a better fit with this title. His art is very sleek and straight forward and I think Ramos' cartoony style distracted you from the story.

So congratulations Mr. Mike Carey. I did not like you're first two arcs at all but this last one has made it all worth it, you don't see that a lot in comics, but I'm so glad I stuck with you and this book and I can't wait for Messiah Complex.......which starts next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Book of the Week 10/17/07 Catwoman #72

Written by Will Pfeifer
Pencils by David Lopez
Inks by Alvardo Fletcher
Letters by Adam Hughes

This was a really tough one for me. While buying my books, I realized I finally had the good fortune of opportunity to review Powers and thought for sure it would be the pick. Catwoman came out of left field this week and blew me away, earning it the Book of the Week title.

This issue deals with Selina attempting to deal with her decision to give her daughter up to foster parents. Asking Zatanna to help her forget what had happened and also change her back to a villian were "lump in the throat" moments. I truly thought this might be the issue that the Countdown promo teases as Catwoman stands side by side with the Joker (which as a fan, I'm not especially looking forward to). What we get instead is Selina's reasoning for why she made that decision (I don't want to give it away here, read the book!) and a look at how Selina changed over the years.

Will Pfeifer knows these characters! Selina has just the right amount of attitude and tenderness that make her character so interesting and one of the most compelling female characters in comics. The interactions between Selina, Zatanna, and Bruce flow naturally and left me feeling like I got punched in the gut. Good work gentlemen!

CAP LIVES!!!

Marvel announced today that Captain America will return in Captain America #34 and it won't be Steve Rogers in the costume. Speaking of the costume, Superstar Alex Ross designed the new suit which goes back to the old school feel of Captain America but also includes a gun. Obviously the first thought is the Winter Soldier will step into the uniform but who knows! I can't wait to find out. Here's some pics of the new suit.




And you can read the article with Ross and Brubaker here

Book of the Week 10/10/07 Green Lantern #24

Written by Geoff Johns
Pencils by Ivan Reis
Inks by Oclair Albert and Julio Ferreira
Colors by Moose Baumann
Letters by Rob Leigh


Are you kidding me?

Seriously, you have to be kidding me!

I honestly didn't think a single issue could be this good!!!

I know that we have picked Green Lantern titles a lot since the Sinestro Corps War started and with good reason, because the books are fantastic, but when I saw that Green Lantern #24 was coming out this week I decided then and there that it couldn't be the book of the week no matter how good it was.......

I guess I should just give up trying to fight Johns' work.

The main reason why I pick this book is because it was by leaps and bounds, the best issue of the Sinestro Corps storyline so far and all the prior issues have also been fantastic. I'm not sure how long Johns has been planning this but honestly a grand kudos goes out to him for one of the greatest storylines in comics, without a doubt.

We're really getting to the final hour of the war here and you actually feel that reading this book, I honestly got chills upon reading the last page. Reis really needs to be commended just as much as Johns with his book because the art is stellar. It's very crisp, extremely clean and I love his facial expressions, they really lend to the tone of the book. Something else that Eric and I am keep on mentioning is the coloring in this book and really coloring is key to a Green Lantern book, but with this war going on and the distinct parallel between will and green and fear and yellow, well Mr. Moose Baumann has also done a brilliant job.


Simply put, not only is this storyline exact what a big event should be, but Green Lantern #24 is the perfect example of what a single comic book should be. It was fun, engaging, moving, humorous, epic.......I could go on forever.

Bottom Line: Go read this book, and after that......go tell everyone else to read it also!

Great work DC!

Ganthet: "Will you forgo your elevated status and accept this ring again?"

Kyle Rayner: " Hell, yes"

Marvel unveiling Alex Ross' secret project

Go to the marvel.com website and this is what you'll see, a big banner indicating that tomorrow 10/11 Marvel plans on unveiling the new project that's bringing Alex Ross back to Marvel. We've seen some teasers posters of a Cap suit with "The Return" in the background so it should be interesting to see what this new project is all about.......I'll remain hopefully optimistic until I hear what it is, but be sure that we'll post it here tomorrow for you guys.

Weekly Review Podcast Episode 15- The Vinyl Underground #1

This was a pretty light week for books so Eric took a chance on The Vinyl Underground #1 and dug its originality. We also discuss Cyborg:Superman #1, Green Lantern Corps #16, Buffy The Vampire Slayer #7 and more. All this and we give you reviews of the things for taking up a lot of out time lately....video games! I give you my spoiler free review of Halo 3 and let you know if it makes up for the lackluster ending of Halo 2. And Eric gives his reviews of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS and Metroid Prime for the Wii.


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Weekly Review Podcast Episode 14- X-men #203

We're back!!! After a little hiatus we're back and I picked X-men #203 as the book of the week because Mike Carey really seems to know what he's doing. We also give you our thoughts on JLA #13, Avengers: The Initiative #6 and Eric discusses the shocking ending of the Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding series. The new season of Heroes started so we run down some highlights of the first two episodes and we also give you our review of Superman:Doomsday, DC's first animated movie. All this and we give you guys a few surprises about some changes we'll be making in the future.


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New iron Man Teaser Poster

Superherohype.com has given us a first pic at the new Iron Man poster and man is it looking good. I was pretty skeptical about this movie at first but now I am just getting more and more excited about it. I mean just look at this pic? How can you not be excited about that?

Book of the Week 10/3/07 The Vinyl Underground #1

Written by Si Spencer
Pencils by Simen Gane
Inks by Cameron Stew
Letters by Jared Fletcher

In a week that left much to be desired, I had a hard time getting into my normal group of books. A few were somewhat exciting but still left me feeling underwelmed (Sinestro Corps Special) and others, despite their great writers, were fraught with holes and tie-ins to a story I have no interest in (Detective Comics). A new title that sounded interesting was the only thing that left me intrigued this week. While not the strongest first issue I've read, The Vinyl Underground was exciting and fresh enough to keep my interest.

The premise of this book is nothing new. The subtitle "Cracking occult crimes in the U.K." should give you an idea. However, this is not an idea that I feel is played out or boring. I like investigative stories, I like occult stories, let's put those hands together. This book introduces a gang of misfit celebrity Londonites who unsuspectingly solve occult mysteries as a side job to their normally wayward lives.

This issue serves as the introduction to our main characters as well as starts them off on a new mystery. While the dialogue didn't always feel natural (which may just be because I'm not from England), it was the mystery aspect that intrigued me with this book. This very much felt like CSI meets E! In a week of normal superhero shenanigans, this book provided a breath of fresh air.