"BOCEPHEUS" |
"These reviews are based on the Sneak
Peek titles sent out by Marvel & Image (DC no longer sends them out). 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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 BOOK
OF THE WEEK:
WILDSTORM'S WORLDSTORM
Comic Review by:
Larry "Bocepheus" Evans
Writers: Various, Artists: Various
The DCU had it's Infinite Crisis
and while no one was looking the Wildstorm Universe had
itself an an Armageddon, courtesy of Captain Atom. In it's
wake there is a brand new Wildstorm Universe (a Worlstorm,
if you please) and from it in the past two weeks we have
seen the rebirth/re-imagining of Gen 13, the Authority and
Wildcats. Before that we saw the return of Wetworks from the
team of Mike Carey and Whilce Portacio and considering how
long it had been since that title was announced the first
issue was pretty cool. Of all the new/old WS titles that
book will ship consistently because the team has been
working on it for over a year. Gen 13 was next and it is
from the team of Gail Simone and former Aspen artist Talent
Caldwell. The first issue set up the team (and was a bit on
the wordy side) and their new status quo. It’s done in a
manner that makes it easy to get into if you had no idea who
the characters were but has enough winks to make older
readers interested. Grant Morrison and Gene Ha were given
the task to make the Authority interesting again and I
wanted to like it but the issue left me cold. Morrison tells
the tale in a clinical dry manner that ramps up the mystery
but never shows the team. You can get away with this if the
book was monthly but it’s a bi-monthly so you can expect a
major drop if we don’t see the team in the next issue. What
Grant miscalculates in Authority, however, he nails
perfectly with the assistance of Jim Lee on Wildcats. This
was supposed to have been the first of the new incarnations
of the Wildstorm Universe so the opening sequence is a bit
out of sync but after that we get a look at what has
happened to Grifter (and man, has he fallen low), Spartan,
Voodoo, Zealot and Majestic before seeing just how much of a
badass Grifter is. The book is lavishly drawn and gloriously
told. If Lee can keep his deadlines then this will be the
hit of the group.
MSRP: $2.99 standard price per each title,
Alternate Reality Price: $2.54 per title (That's 15% OFF!) |
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MARVEL ROUND UP…
Marvel Spotlight: Heroes/Onslaught Reborn takes us
down memory lane with Jeph Loeb and Rob Liefeld before their Onslaught mini
comes out…Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #11 is another fun issue for the pre-teen
set who are just getting into Spidey…New Excalibur #12 finishes off the Camelot
arc and has lots of dragons so I think it’s pretty cool (loves them
dragons)…Black Panther #21 has the honeymoon tour end up in Atlantis where we
see that Namor has fought with the Panther’s predecessor and sets up a major
battle between him and Iron Man over what is happening in Civil War next
issue…Exiles #87 has the team wandering in the general direction of another
version of the Silver Surfer who here is bigger and meaner. We see a mess of
cosmic destruction here and it all sets up an epic battle that connect different
versions of the Imperial Guard and the team next issue against the Surfer and
his master, Galactus…Sensational Spider-Man 331 finishes the Deadly Foes of
Spider-Man arc (which is inconsistently drawn by Angel Medina) in an unusual way
due to the role of Aunt May in the story…Piolus #1 is a well drawn book from the
partnership with the Dabel Brothers. The story involves a beautiful redhead and
her sword. I am not generally into the mystical fantasy type books that the
Brothers make but the art here makes this something I would get into just
because of it…Stan Lee Meets the Thing has a well done lead story by Stan and
Lee Weeks that shows that Ben Grimm is happier than Stan expected him to be that
is followed by a funny but effective Roy Thomas/Scott Kolins story about Stan’s
bullpen days and his encounters with various characters that ends with a great
possible poster of Stan and the Marvel Universe. The classic story that is
included is from Fantastic Four #79 and shows another take on Ben becoming the
Thing again after being returned to normal…Daredevil #90 has a great cover
showing him on a rooftop in view of the Eiffel Tower. The second part of ‘The
Devil Takes A Ride’ continues Matt Murdock’s international quest to find out who
has decided to ruin his life and delves more into the mystery that is Lily. When
last issue ended we discovered that Matt’s senses tell him that she smells like
Karen Page and here we learn more about her and see that she is going to be
major trouble to Matt before this is all over…Nextwave #9 (of what we now know
is #12) contains more silliness from the mind of Warren Ellis. This issue finds
the team in a city that has no residents waiting for something to happen while
we see flashbacks to earlier times before we see the rise of the corporate super
teams (one of which is led by the greatest lame hero of all time) and the other
side of the Ultimates equation. It’s all in good fun and if you listen close you
can hear Mark Millar laughing his ass off at the good natured digs tossed his
way by Ellis…X-Men #192 has a way cool cover and is the issue in which Rogue
picks her team to take on the Children of the Vault on their flying airbase.
Writer Mike Carey did say he had an interesting team planned for the book and
the one we see here is as different a team as has ever been called X-Men. There
is also some powerful Chris Bachalo art seen here surrounding some stellar
dialogue. This all wraps up next issue and when it’s all said and done I wonder
what the new team has in store for us next because this arc is very impressive.
IMAGE ROUND UP…
Common Foe #4 continues the infrequent shipping World War 2 tale involving
soldiers and vampires. This issue has them moving around bombed out areas and
trying to avoid becoming a snack while adjusting to the fact that for this story
at least vampires are real…Godland #13 is more of the same Kirby infused action
written as if it was talking place during the 60’s. I am trying to warm up to
what Joe Casey and Tom Scioli are selling but it doesn’t seem to be a book that
I can truly get into…Negative Burn #5 arrives with more black and white tales of
varying interest. All of the stories are interesting with the standouts being
the Matt Smith opener Fade, the silent Phil Hester tale of the Wretch, Table
Dance by the Taylor’s and the mysterious tale The Paradox Outlet by Jeremy
Nichols and Raymond Rieck. The bets offering in the book is Captain Bill by Ron
Kasman. It’s a story about a fan, a comic book dealer and a store that may or
may not be there…Impaler #1 is a sharp tale from the team of William Harms, Nick
Postic and Nick Marinkovich. This horror crime title deals with shadowy
monsters, gruesome deaths and the people who find themselves in the middle of
something that has been around for a very long time.
DC
LOOK BACK…
We can wrap this week up with a look at the first issue of the revival of the
Omega Men that just shipped. The first issue of this six-issue limited series is
from the team of Batgirl’s Andersen Gabyrich and Henry Flint who at one point
was called Flint Henry. Now the original run of Omega Men wasn’t a great one but
here the team kicks major ass. We get some great fights, the return of LEGION’s
Vril Dox, one very twisted religion, the Guardians and a final page that
suggests the team may be screwed beyond saving.
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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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