Book of the Week 4/23/08 The Mighty Avengers #12

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Alex Meleev
Colors by Matt Hollingsworth
Letters by Dave Lanhpear


I surprised myself with this one! On average most of my books were good to great this week giving me quite a selection to choose from. However, with more and more Marvel books being tagged with "secret invasion" I had to flip through and have a peek. Initially pulled in by Maleev's sketchy but oh-so-beautiful art, I decided to sit down and spend some time with the missing Mr. Fury. Boy am I glad I did!


This issue flashes back to show us how Nick Fury discovered the Skrull threat, and what he's done about it while staying off the radar. While I have never been an enormous fan of Fury in the past (admittingly having not read much of him), this issue is what I always imagined his character should be like. His interaction and warning to Maria Hill was handled wonderfully as well as his secretly recruiting Jessica Drew as a special agent, adding a new layer of depth to her discovery of "Skrullektra".


Bendis does what he does best and I'd be beating a dead horse by saying what a great writer he is. What I will say is I am always amazed at the consistency of his work. Rarely do I read something of his that doesn't feel natural for the character. In this book, everyone feels pitch perfect.


Maleev's art is wonderful. It's refreshing to get art like this that differs so much from so many "standard" superhero artists like Ed Benes where everyones bodies are interchangeable. This book has the feeling of an old classic movie like Casablanca where the women are sultry (not oversexified...but sultry) and the men are tough and grizzled. Maleev especially makes Fury look as though he never sleeps. Also, I'm so glad Fury is out of Shield and not having to wear the costume (which I've never liked). The wispy beard is the icing on the cake.


While I haven't been reading this book regularly, I may start with Secret Invasion commencing. I'm eager to have more badass Nick Fury weeding out the Skrulls. How about that wall full of photos with a few telling circled characters on the last page? Fury is all man!

Weekly Review Podcast Episode 36- X-men Divided We Stand #1

I chose X-men:Divided We Stand #1 as book of the week this week because I was surprised by how well the characters were written and blown away by some of the emotional punches of the book. Eric and I also discuss Countdown to Final Crisis #2, Captain America #37, Avengers:Initiative #11 and more. We finish off the show with a little listener feedback and discuss the upcoming Mortal Kombat vs. DC video game.


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Book of the Week 4/16/08 X-men: Divided We Stand #1

Written by Mike Carey, Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, Skottie Young, Matt Fraction
Art by Brandon Peterson, Sana Takeda, Skottie Young, David LaFuente, Jamie McKelvie
Letters by Cory Petit

I make a pull list every week before going to my store and I saw X-men Divided We Stand on Marvel's list of new books and I completely disregarded it. I thought it was a collection of stories gathered after messiah complex or at best a preview book of things to come and I decided that was not going to be worth my money. But when I got to my store I found that this book was already in my box and it being a somewhat light week, I decided to go for it and I am glad that I did.

Divided we stand is a group of short stories following various X-men characters following Messiah Complex and it was truly a great book. I've had my fair share of complaints about Messiah Complex, mostly about missing characters in the aftermath and this book did an excellent job of showing different characters reacting to what being an X-man meant to how they deal with the team no longer being around.

The stories varied from good to great but the stories with the New X-men were truly touching and emotional. I'll go into depth more on this week's podcast but there was a certain storyline in this book that really addressed something very important about being a young student at Xavier, something that I don't ever think has been addressed before.

Over all this book should have came out a couple of months ago and it would have really helped smooth the transition from Messiah Complex but regardless it was a book filled with wonderfully crafted character examinations and truly touching emotional moments.

This is a must read for any X-fan out there.

Weekly Review Podcast Episode 35- Echo #2

Eric picked Echo #2 by Terry Moore as the book of the week because it's a little like Strangers in Paradise but it's also nothing like Strangers in Paradise. We also discuss JSA #14, Countdown #3, Fantasic Four #556 and more. We go in depth on the new Titan's series to see if it's any good and if we'll stick with it and with Tomasi's return to Green Lantern Corps with issue #23 we reflect on the Corps as a whole give our opinions on whether the Corps book is necessary. We finish off the show with Eric requesting a little help from all you gamers out there, so listen it and help him out!


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New Hulk Poster

While I'm not incredibly excited for this movie, I do love a good teaser poster and this one looks great. A little Phantom Menace-ish though.

Book of the Week 4/09/08 Echo #2

Story and Art by Terry Moore
















A lot of big books came out this week that I was really excited about. While many were thoroughly enjoyable, I really wanted to take this week to acknowledge the shear talent that is Terry Moore. This weeks issue of Echo continues to entertain and showcase Moores art.


Echo is the story of a government experiment gone wrong. A weaponized combat suit which has been secretly developed is lost in an explosion during a test run. Said suit rains down in a million pieces over a desert where our heroine is taking pictures. Pieces of the suit attach themselves to her, recreating part of itself and getting stuck in the process. That was issue one. This chapter deals with Julie, the main character, dealing with the fallout of having part of a weird metallic suit attach itself to her. Her confusion and reaction are very entertaining, especially the doctor and shower scene. Meanwhile we learn that the owners of the suit have started hunting for it. This book feels alot like a science fiction prime time television show. The pacing and characterizations are great.


With this book, Moore makes a drastic departure from his more familiar SIP material. The story works well though and mixes action and intrigue with the more familiar small character moments that Moore is known for. While the artwork is consistently great, it is still hard to not see SIP characters. I think for me, it will just take time to get used to seeing a new cast in this style. The thing I really love about Moores art is that the characters look like actual people and are not over-emphasized like we typically see in most comics. It's really refreshing.


Terry Moore has taken a chance on a new type of story that people weren't probably expecting but he's done a great job at setting up and executing a new and exciting premise.

Weekly Review Podcast Episode 34- Secret Invasion #1

Secret Invasion #1 hit stores this past week and it was easily the best book of the week. Eric and I dissect the book and do a role call of who we think are true heroes and who are skrulls. We also discuss the The Trials of Shazam #12, Countdown #4, Young X-men #1 and more. We finish off the show by discussing of few of our favorite things to arrive this past week, Battlestar Galatica season 4 and a very well done mock trailer of a Legend of Zelda movie. This is a show you won't want to miss.


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