"BOCEPHEUS" |
"These reviews are based on the Sneak Peek
titles sent out by Marvel, DC & Image. It's not everything that's shipping for
the week, but it is a real good cross-section of this weeks releases. Check the
bottom of the page (after you read my reviews) for a link to some SNEAKY PEEKIES
of future titles" |
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It’s
too damn hot for long reviews this week so have fun munching on these Round Ups..
MARVEL ROUND
UP…
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11 is the start of
penciller Todd Nauck’s stint on the book which means most of the Young Justice
team is now on the title. It also begins a three issue arc involving battling
Mysterio’s (yep, two of them) who have decided to pop up at Peter Parker’s high
school since everyone knows he’s Spider-Man now. Most of the issue deals with
the reaction of the public and the students to the reveal and there are some
great character pieces here…Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man #18 is a tale dealing
with the Man Thing, a class trip and a family in trouble…Marvel Team up #23 is
the second to last issue and Wolverine shows up for smores and knitting. Okay,
what really happens is the two of them fight the evil Tony Stark and as Freedom
Ring learns what he can do they get their butts kicked so he can join in next
issue…New Excalibur #10 starts the Camelot arc and we get a history of the Black
Knight before time gets all screwy and we are left trying to wonder what has
happened…Moon Knight #4 has the mysterious man in the sunglasses reveal more of
Mark Spector’s history as Mark is having a heart to heart with the statue in his
home. We see another of his supporting crew return (and man, is she not happy)
and the Taskmaster shows up at the end to start trouble. It’s a quieter issue
than the previous ones but just as good…Uncanny X-Men #477 has Clayton Henry
give Billy Tan a break (which should be expected since the book is shipping
every two weeks at the start) and tells us what Vulcan has been doing while the
X-Men are heading into space. Believe me, it isn’t nice…Agents of Atlas #1 (of
6) is a fun little tale that is more complicated than you would think. Agent
Jimmy Woo was/is a SHIELD agent and something happened to him on a mission that
put him in a bad way but he was the leader of a super team and in this first jam
packed issue the band starts to get back together. Jeff Parker lays out a sweet
story and new Marvel exclusive Leonard Kirk draws the hell out of this book.
DC ROUND UP…
Y, the Last Man #48
introduces us to the Israeli soldier, Alter who starts out in a bad way but may
be Yorick's best friend. We get her history in a long flashback and she comes
off as a driven person who thinks only of her mission. Also included is a
preview of the new Deadman book from Bruce Jones and John Watkiss. The new
version isn't an acrobat, won't wear a costume and will be forgotten as soon as
the movie folk let DC know that they prefer the costumed version. Manifest
Eternity #3 lessens the cloudy factor of Dustin Nguyen's art but does nothing
the chance the fact that this book is going to be cancelled before the end of
the year. Sales are horrible and I wonder sometime who approves some of the
books that come out. Justice League Unlimited #24 is a tale featuring the Martian
Manhunter. Jonah hex #10 continues Phil Noto's stint on the book. This issue has
Jonah take up the cause of a black man who has a fatal encounter with some
backwoods alligator lovers. It's a violent revenge tale that is drawn to
perfection. Ex Machina #22 contains one of the weirdest single panel events I
have seen in a while in a continuation of the fireman in peril arc. We also
continue to deal with the fact that Mayor Hundred once smoked pot and once used
a cab to try to catch a criminal. Battler Britton #2 won't sell any better than
#1 did (and man that book just about died nationwide) but you cant beat a book
that has a lisping commanding officer. Creeper #1 (of 6) lets Steve Niles take a
crack at a character that is better in small doses. Here Jack Ryder is a liberal
pundit instead of a newspaper reporter and here we see his encounter with the
man who created the formula that turns him into the Creeper, Dr.Yatz. This time
around the serum involves nanotechnology that when injected can regenerate dead
tissue but when Jack gets injected it turns him into a green haired, yellow
skinned guy with an eerie laugh. I cant say that the Creeper in this incarnation
could support his own series but if Niles is interested then another limited
series would be cool. Batman: Son of the Demon is a comic book sized version of
the classic Mike Barr/ Jerry Bingham graphic novel. That project is the
inspiration for the arc that Grant Morrison began last week in Batman in which
we learned that Batman had a son. I remember reading this when I was younger and
even then I though that Bingham drew one hell of a Batman. Barr has Batman being
obsessive, driven, tender and shock of shocks actually doing detective work. Now
back then we did get imaginary stories from time to time but this GN was never
labeled as such so I wonder what took someone so long to decide to reintroduce
it into continuity.
IMAGE ROUND UP…
Noble Causes #22 contains fighting and
revelations but has the common decency to add female kissing to separate the
two. This book is never going to sell huge numbers but it is one of the best
ones out there…Invincible #34 shows us what happened after the last issue with
Mark being left in an unusual place. He is bloody, battered, reflective and
stuck in a dimension he doesn’t want to be in but since we are playing with
alternate dimensions and all that he ends up home at the end of the story with
help from his friends. Robert Kirkman obviously has fun writing this book and
his enjoyment comes thru each page…Emissary #2 ships this week and the world is
still wondering what this giant black guy was doing in the middle of downtown
last issue. Here he is smaller and the FBI is trying to understand just who he
is and why he is here. There are some great moments here as he is trying to
understand them as they realize that they are way over their heads. We also see
how the rest of the world reacts to the sudden appearance and of course, not all
of it is good…Dusty Star #1 arrives and to be honest the character never did
anything for me so I have no opinion at all…Doll and Creature #4 reminds me of
old science fiction comics and since they bored me I cant get into this either.
The cover is pretty though…Bomb Queen vs. Blacklight has the evil Queen and the
not evil Light happen to end up in Vegas at the same time. One is at a science
fiction/comic convention and one is looking at weapons so you figure out who is
seeing who. We have some catty remarks and lots of butt shots but the one shot
is pretty entertaining.
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"See, I told you I'd be
down here. We've got a bunch of SNEAKY PEEKIES of future
MARVEL, DC and IMAGE titles right
HERE" |
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All
Books/Characters pictured herein are © Copyright 2006
by their respective owners. No rights given or implied
by Alternate Reality, Incorporated.
Reviews © 2006 Alternate Reality, Inc. |
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