Book of the Week 7/24/08 Avengers:The Initiative #15

Written by Dan Slott & Christos Gage
Art by Harvey Tolibao
Colors by Jay David Ramos
Letters by Joe Caramagna

Eric and I talked about our difference in opinion with the way Secret Invasion is going so far and while I am loving the story, I can see where it may frustrating for some people. I think this issue of Avengers:The Initiative is a great story for those readers.

This issue while fully immersed in the invasion, really stands on its own. We see the invasion trough the most unlikely of heroes. A Skrull who has embraced humanity and decide to be a hero and join the initiative.

I have to admit that I wasn't a huge fan of the idea when I first starting reading but after doing into the back story of the character and the interactions that he had with both humans and skrulls, I just thought it was a very witty way to tell a story within this crossover.

Slott and Gage get some major points for thinking outside the box and actually making us care about this Skrull hero and making his love for the Earth believable. I wasn't a huge fan of the art, I thought it was a little bit too detailed and gritty bit it got the job and I really enjoyed the fight scenes.

All in all I just had a lot of fun with this story and it was a new way to experience Secret Invasion. Avengers;The Initiative is one of the strongest titles at Marvel right now and I hope it continues to soar post-Secret Invasion.

Episode 42- Final Crisis Rogue's Revenge #1

We're back from hiatus and ready to review some books! Eric chose Final Crisis:Rogue's Revenge as the best book of the week because it's Geoff Johns writing the characters he loves and that equals comic goodness. We also discuss several books from this week and last such as Captain America White, JSA, Batgirl,Mighty Avengers, Secret Invasion and more. We give you our thoughts of the Watchmen and new Terminator trailers and discuss the biggest movie of the summer, The Dark Knight.


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E3 2008 Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe was teased a while ago and while I was skeptical about the concept, I figured I would wait until I saw more footage to make my judgements. After seeing the new E3 trailer I am really against this game. It's weird to say,because I feel like such an "adult" but seeing my favorite DC characters in a gore ridden game......those are two worlds that I don't want to see together. Plus more than GTA or a regular Mortal Kombat game, this is going to attract the attention of smaller kids and I think that's a problem.

Here's the trailer though, judge for yourselves

E3 2008 DC Universe Online

Jim Lee came out during Sony's keynote speech at E3 to show off a trailer of the new DC Universe online game. A MMO game based in the DCU that lets you create your own hero or villain and then interact with the greatest names in the DC universe.

Book of the Week 7/16/08 Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #1

Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Scott Kolins













Well, we're back from our hiatus and ready to go again. As our return BoW I picked Rogues' Revenge #1. Final Crisis has drawn some criticism due to its apparent lack of direction. This may be valid or may not depending on if you judge its overall merits or by it's monthly offering. Rogues' Revenge I'm happy to say contains a more focused story...oh man...sorry, Batman and Robin is currently on TV and I forgot Coolio is in it. Poor, poor Coolio. Anyways, Rogues' Revenge=focused narrative albeit containing very little actual relation to the Final Crisis story. That's okay really.


Johns writing these characters again is a treat. This book acts as a follow-up to the much botched Bart Allen Flash series. We find the rogues on the run and ready to give up the lifestyle when Bart's killer, Inertia, is freed. The rogues, feeling that they were tricked into being a part of Barts death go after Inertia to get their "revenge". Zoom also shows up with an agenda of his own. Now I was there when Bart died. The rogues saying that the Flash should have been able to survive their attacks doesn't make me sympathize with them. They were a part of it whether they believe that or not. However, I am looking forward to seeing them try and follow their own twisted moral code.


Kolins' art is serviceable in this issue but its truly Johns' writing that makes this book stand out. The characters stating that "the death of kid flash was a mistake" feels like Johns not too subtly slamming DC in their decision to do away with Bart and if anyone can give us the final chapter in his death, I'm glad Johns is on it.

Book of the Week 6/25/08 X-Men Legacy #213

Written by Mike Carey
Pencils by Scott Eaton
Inks by Andrew Hennessy
Colors by Frank D'Armata
Letters by Cory Petit

This was a huge week for comics and I had the pleasure of reading a lot of quality books but in the end X-Men Legacy #213 was the title that struck me as the best thing that I read. I've been very lukewarm about this book because I didn't understand the motivation behind this book and why we needed it and while that still may be the case I think this is pretty much the best post messiah complex X-title out there and this is the only X-book that seems to have any read direction.

The current plot in this book revolves around the return of Mr. Sinister, who we saw die in Messiah Complex, and how his return is connected to Xavier. Carey is really doing some retconing but that's something that comics need to stay fresh and I'm really interested in the story that he's telling and where it's going. Something that engaged me within the first couple of pages is Sinister telling and showing Charles how much of a jerk he's been to the X-men and it's nice to see that addressed and to see Charles' reaction to his past mistakes.

I can't say that I am a huge fan of Eaton's pencils yet but I can say that I like him more and more as time goes on and I'm really glad that his Charles Xavier no longer mimics Patrick Stewart. His art does have a nice classic feel to it so I am digging that. I do think he could benefit from some better coloring though, the colors seem to be a little too wet and streaky.

All in all I'm happy that I am enjoying one of the X-books out there and, as I said before on the show, Sinister is one of my favorite villains and Carey is giving us a very interesting glimpse into his past and I like it.

Also, the very last page.......very cool.

Book of the Week 6/18/08 Y: the Last Man Book 10

Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Pencils by Pia Guerra
Inks by Jose Marzan Jr.
Colors by Zylonol
Letters by Clem Robins
Covers by Massimo Carnevale

My store was shorted some books this week and I was only left with about three regular comics. With such a light stack I walked over to the trade isle and remembered that this week...finally...after so much anticipation, Y the Last Man Book 10 was released. Being that it was by far the best thing I read, I'm switching things up this week to review this trade and the series on whole.

Admittedly I was late to the party. I'd heard about why but hadn't bought any of the series. After deciding to start some new books in trade format, I bought the first book and was instantly hooked. Vaughan and Guerra's basic idea of taking "the last man on earth" fantasy and turning it into a nightmare was excellently handled. As I picked up more books and watched situations progress and characters develop, the thing that stuck out to me most was how the gender role was so reversed in this book. With the men wiped out, women don't build utopia but militarize, hunt, and war with eachother. Meanwhile Yorick is not the most manly of males (which was great). Vaughan definitely plays on the darker side of humanity throughout most of the series which at times seemed to cast a shadow over the book but also always pushed the characters to grow and mature.

Apart from the overall themes, I fell in love with the characters. Yorick and 355 were the perfect odd couple comedy act. Every person had a specific dynamic with another character that no one else shared. Even Ampersand became endearing. With Book 10, which I won't spoil here, the goodbyes for each character were a mix of painful, bittersweet, and poetic.

Initially I thought that Pia Guerra's pencils were nothing special. The almost cartoony look I felt diminished the realism of the series world. Over time though, I changed my tune as I realized how much emotion Guerra's characters displayed and also how the somewhat "cartoony" look helped the book to not become too mired down with the previously mentioned dark storylines.

As much as I loved this story, every good story needs a good ending, Robin Hood shoots his last arrow, the Rebel Alliance defeats the Empire, Marty makes it back to 1985, and so it must be for Y. Book 10 utilizes a favorite concept of mine, the fast forward. After some fairly heavy story beats near the end, the last chapter zooms ahead 60 years. We see civilization somewhat rebuilt and it's revealed how the human race continued on. Throughout the flash forward, we go back in time at several points to say goodbye to key characters which is touching. In the last pages of the future, Yorick's fate as I stated earlier is a poetic fairwell that shows just how deep the scars of his journey are.

I truly loved this book. I believe that this is probably one of the best modern comics of recent times and will be held as an example of what the modern age of comics can be. Now, like all good comics, we wait for the movie.