Book of the Week 1/30/08 Black Adam #6

Written by Peter Tomasi
Pencils by Doug Mahnke
Inks by Christian Alamy and Rodney Ramos
Colors by Rob Leigh


Damn, this was excellent. I really wish that other writers in DC would strive for the kind of storytelling achieved through this 6 part storyline which concludes this week. With a few notable exceptions, DC stories seem to rely too hard on the high concept blockbusters. "Black Adam" has proven that small, character driven stories can be equal parts action and emotion.


This is primarily a story of lost love. Black Adam is by no means a hero or even an anti-hero. Yet throughout this series, I have become more and more interested in the continuation of a character that is actually a mass murderer. Tomasi gives Adams every action a reason. There is no insanity here, just the dire lengths that Adam will go to to be reunited with his lost wife. Tomasi also has given us a complete bridge from where we left Adam at the end of 52 to the beginning of Countdown. While this story was plenty dark, there were several little moments that made me chuckle such as Adam finally discovering his magic word again.


Much of the credit of this series needs to go to Mahnke's pencils. This book is graphic and quite honestly, I'm surprised it was not labeled as a mature title. Mahnke seems to have a soft spot for horror books and movies as he continually finds new and disturbing ways to animate corpses and dismemberment. Almost everything in this book is the stuff of nightmares. Ex. Faust's eyes.


This series has proven to be a great "under the radar" book. While not garnering much attention, it has proved consistently entertaining. While there was one other series which came to an end this week that I really wanted to skip ahead to (I'm reading it in trades) I figured I'd give a little attention to this mini-series that should be an example to the rest of DC. Their characters are capable of great depth but can also kick ass at the same time.

Weekly Review Podcast Episode 26- Young Avengers Presents #1

Young Avengers Presents #1 took the book of the week because it was freshing to see a Young Avengers book out and it was really well done! We also discuss X-men #207 the end of the Messiah Complex crossover and give our final thoughts. We cycle through Astonishing X-men #24, Teen Titans #55 and more. After Amazing Spider-man #548 I finally decide if I'm going to continue reading Spider-man and we finish off the show with our picks for our top 5 Superhero teams.

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X-men writer Mike Carey discusses the future of Marvel's Mutants in a post Messiah complex world

Messiah Complex is now over and while it answered some questions, many were left opened and even more questions were raised.

Mike Carey, current writer of X-MEN(which will be changing to X-MEN:Legacy) talked to newsarama.com and discusses the twists and turns of Messiah Complex and what we can expect in the future.


Check out the interview here

Book of the week 1/23/08 Young Avengers Presents #1: Patriot

Written by Ed Brubaker
Pencils by Paco Medina
Inks by Juan Viasco
Colors by Nathan Fairbairn
Letters by Cory Petit

I've been pretty vocal about how much I loved Young Avengers and that it's something that Marvel really needs to address. Allan Heinberg came out with one of the best books in the past few years and in my opinion he took the Teen Titans formula and greatly expended on it.

But that was years ago and we still haven't seen a new Young Avengers book. We've been teased with appearances in The Initiative and Civil War tie-ins but we still haven't received an on-going title and hopefully this new mini series will lead into that.

This new take of Young Avengers is a six issue mini that focuses on the individual characters and we're first given a closer look at the team leader Patriot. Brubaker goes back through Patriot's origin story and gives us a little more depth of the character and if this is something that we'll see throughout this series then I have no doubt that it will be something special

Something that I really loved about this issue in particular is that it basically is the hero's quest tale. Eli is a young boy with so many conflicting emotions and he doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing, much less what he should be feeling. There are also a lot of racial undertones in this book and as an african-american male I can really relate to what the character was feeling and it brought me into the story in a very profound way.

I've always gushed on Paco Medina's art and this issue is now exception. I'm a huge fan of team books, especially younger teams and Medina's bright and vibrant art works well in that context.

I'm happy to have anything Young Avengers right now and I hope we get the series back soon, but until then I'm looking forward to getting to know these characters better on an individual basis.

Book of the week 1/16/08 New X-men #46

Written by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost
Pencils by Humberto Ramos
Inks by Carlos Cuervas & Dave Meikis
Coloring by Edgar Delgado
Letters by Dave Sharpe

Well I hate to start off this way but this was a pretty mediocre week for comics for me. I've loved Messiah Complex and I've picked it a lot for the book of the week so i was hoping something else would jump out at me today but New X-men was the best book I read this week hands down.

I've become huge fans of Craig and Kyle and I've mentioned them various times on the podcast, they're done something that I didn't think was possible anymore and that's make a new generation of X-men likable.....very likable. And it was great to see then take on the whole X-universe in this issue

We only have one issue left and there are still twists and turns abound and the main reason that I love this story so much is that is truly feels epic. We still don't know everything about this baby but you can feel how important this event is.

We saw some great battle scenes in this book and there is a great undertone of desperation for this characters that really makes the reader engage in this story and I've been very impressed so far.

I do have some concerns about how this is going to wrap up with only one issue left but the Messiah Complex team has done a great job so far so I'm going to put my trust in them.

And the scene with Rogue and the baby......just who is this kid?

Weekly Review Podcast Episode 25 Green Arrow/Black Canary #4

Eric picked Green Arrow/Black Canary #4 as the book of the week because of how powerfully emotional it was and gives credit to Winick and Chiang for the great work they're doing on the book. We also discuss Green Lantern Corps, Nightwing, Countdown and more. We give you guys an in-depth review of Amazing Spider-man #546 the first issue of Brand New Day and finish the podcast off with the top 5 comic events we're looking forward to in 2008

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More Brand New Day info

Newsarama.com has posted new info about Brand New Day.

They have an interview with Amazing Spider-man writer Dan Slott on the new status quo of Spidey and what we can expect from the book

And they also have some very interesting interviews with Comic Book retailers and how the Spider-man changes have affected sales.

Check out the Dan Slott interview here

And if you're a comic fan I really suggest checking out the interview with the retailers here

Dawn of a Brand New Day

Amazing Spider-Man #546 is out and we are offically introduced to the new status quo of Peter Parker.

Obviously you guys know I was pretty passionate about One More Day so you can read my thoughts on Brand New Day here.

And post and let us know what you guys think of the new Peter Parker.
We're interested to see how it's being received.

Book of the Week 1/9/08 Green Arrow and Black Canary #4

Written by Judd Winick
Art by Cliff Chiang
Colors by Trish Mulvihill
Letters by Pat Brosseau


This was another hard week to pick just one book. As I bemoaned several weeks ago, I wasn't thrilled with anything coming out. That has greatly changed. Almost every book I read this week could have made the list...almost (I'm looking at you Brand New Day). In the end, I'm a sucker for an emotional story and Green Arrow and Black Canary delivered that in spades.


This issue picks up just after Conner had been struck down in the last issue. What this chapter centers around is Olivers frantic reaction to get his son help and then reflection on what kind of father he's been over the years. There was an intense feeling at the beginning of this book as Oliver shouts out orders to get the boat they're on to shore even though he's not really helping, culminating in his frantic screaming for Clark to come help. The intensity gave way to uncertainty. Winnick writes the hospital waiting room scene so well that anyone who is unfortunate enough to have had to sit through those kind of tense moments will greatly identify with Oliver in this scene. Several other great moments punctuated this book such as Hal yelling back at Ollie after being pushed into the O.R. and Bruce telling Diana that reassuring words don't mean much when you lose a son. This comic is a testament to dramatic superhero books that I would give to anyone curious about the medium of comics.


Judd Winnick has always excelled at comics like these. From his days of writing Green Lantern, to the resurrection of Jason Todd (who no one has written as well as Winnick), and his run on Green Arrow, a dramatic flare has always been present. That's not to say that Winnick can't right great action scenes but there is something special about how he writes the bonds between certain characters. You get the feeling that you really know these characters even if you haven't read anything they've been in in years. To compound that, you feel like you've been punched in the gut when something happens to them. I remember feeling that way several times with Kyle Rayner during Winnick's Green Lantern series.


I love Chiang's art. It is a thing of pure beauty. It's not animated but not quite realistic either. It's like a hybrid of the two styles that so greatly fits this book. Expressions on the faces of Chiang's characters are a strong part of this issue. It should also be noted that Trish Mulvihill's colors make a great addition.


This book was strong out of the gate and doesn't feel like its slowed even a bit. It's intense, fun, fast, and emotional. This is one that is not to be missed!

Spider-man image reveals New Status Quo and answers some questions

Marvel.com released this new image of Spider-man by John Romita Jr. and answers some of the questions about the new status quo of Peter Parker. (It's a pretty blurry image so click on it to enlarge it and then magnify it.)

I can't say I'm very happy about the explanations, it just seems like damage control but I guess we'll see ho things go from here.

Weekly Review Podcast Episode 24- Uncanny X-men #494

New Year! New episodes!Uncanny X-men #494 was the best book this week because of all the great twist and turns that Messiah Complex is taking on us. We also discuss Detective Comics, Buffy season 8, Countdown, Teen Titans Year One and more. We finish off the show with our thoughts of the new status quo of Spider-man established in One More Day and all the controversy surrounding the story.

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Book of the Week 1/4/08 Uncanny X-men #494

Written by Ed Brubaker
Pencils by Billy Tan
Inks by Danny Miki and Allen Martinez
Coloring by Frank D'Armata
Letters by Joe Caramagna

This was a pretty light week and I know I've been raving about Messiah Complex but Uncanny was truly the best book that came out this week and that is due to the twists and turns that this story is taking.


When Marvel started teasing this event months ago they told us there would be a lot of twists and you would see certain characters do things that you wouldn't expect but I have truly been shocked by the last two issues.

The last issue ending with two very powerful revelations. The first being that Bishop may be a traitor to the team and the second being that the alternate future that Jamie and Layla are in is the same future that Bishop came from. In Mike Carey's X-men run you saw Sinister and the Marauders taking out any mutants with time-traveling capabilities or knowledge of the future but Bishop wasn't on the list and while I noticed it then, I thought he was just being overlooked as a character because he often is.

Well he clearly was not overlooked and Lucas Bishop seems very determined to kill this new mutant baby and we have no idea why. It's been 10 issues so far and while I still don't know what's going on, I'm loving this ride and this issue really seemed like it was a turning point and we're heading into the downward spiral.

Brubaker seems to have the strongest issues in this crossover so far but the whole story has been splendid. Tan's art seems to be improving with every issue and he's really growing on me. (now if he could only figure out how to draw Scott's visor like it's not the most ridiculous thing in the world).

So we're almost to the finish and I loved the last page of this book and I'm excited about what it's going to mean to the rest of the story. As an African American male I'm a big fan of Bishop and hope he has his reasons for his actions, but it's not looking good for him at this point.

Spider-man One More Day Fan Reaction

I've been pretty vocal about what I thought about the One More Day Spider-man story and now that it's over.......a lot of fans aren't happy.

You can read what I thought about One More Day here.

Also check out newsarama.com's interviews with Marvel's editor in chief Joe Quesada here

And also what Amazing Spider-man writer J. Michael Straczynski thought about the story, his disagreements with Quesada and which parts of OMD were re-writes.

Sigh, this is such a mess.