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 HEADS UP FOR THE WEEK OF: 070307

BOOK OF THE WEEK: WORLD WAR HULK FRONT LINE #1
Comic Review by:
Mike Kurnat
Writer: Paul Jenkins
Artist: Ramon Bachs
Publisher:
Marvel Comics
MSRP: $2.99,
Alternate Reality Price:
$2.54 (That's 15% OFF, All This Week!)
"I like to see a familiar story from another character’s perspective or telling a story about something grand from a normal person’s point of view and that’s what you get here"
The issue does start out slowly with the audience getting a chance to know the characters and some background. When that is over, we get a nice on the side view of this big event. I’ve always been a fan of peripheral stories for some reason. I like to see a familiar story from another character’s perspective or telling a story about something grand from a normal person’s point of view and that’s what you get here. During the events of the Hulk invasion, someone has to cover the story, and that is part of this series. Journalists Ben Urich and Sally Floyd are covering the story for their small newspaper. The genius in this is that we get to see their interviews with witnesses of Hulk’s Negotiator Krog’s landing and how they feel about aliens coming into their local bar. Beyond this, with the aliens walking among us with the agreement that they would abide by our laws, when someone attacks one of the aliens, the negotiator wants justice. Sally’s husband is a detective and is assigned this case. At the very end, we get a glimpse of Iron Man in his big Hulk busting suite taking on the mean green one of course from a ground level perspective. If you are looking for a Hulk book, there are plenty of other choices because I wouldn’t classify this as a Hulk book. He does only appear twice and once is on video. Honestly, I think that I’m will enjoy this book more than most people but I did really like it.

KIDZ CORNER COMIC REVIEW:
TEEN TITANS GO #44
a DC Comics ongoing series

Comic Review by:
Jim "Good Old JR" Rutkowski
Release Date:
062707

Way back when I was initially assigned the rigorous duty of reviewing the kiddie comics, one of the first I took on was Teen Titans Go. I can’t recall for sure but I think that I was less then enthralled. (Editor's Note: JR's review of Teen Titans Go #36 can be found HERE) So I decided to take another look. Well, maybe old age is setting in but I must say that this return visit was a bit better than the initial outing. Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not exactly calling this the next Watchmen. But I do feel the level of storytelling has improved. This issue centers on Raven. After a recent run-in with Trigun, where parts of her psyche were fractured into multiple beings, Raven has not told her young super-powered pals that one part of her psyche, the dark portion, is still on the loose. Her reasoning is that since the dark psyche has not been returned to her, her life and demeanor has become much happier. Unfortunately, the dark being is wreaking havoc on the city. Raven comes to realize that she must have this portion of her personality returned to her even though it means she will be unhappy. Outwardly this looks like just another take of the evil twin chestnut but more so, the story is about sacrificing ones own happiness for the greater good. Heady stuff for a kid’s comic and a pleasant surprise. Put this book in your child’s hands and you may end up having some interesting conversations about it. Recommended.

MSRP: $2.25, Alternate Reality Price: $1.91 (That's 15% OFF, All This Week!)
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THIS WEEK'S ROUND UP…
Black Panther #28
The Marvel Zombies are back again and this time they are on the Skrull planet. We are introduced to a Skrull Fantastic Four apparently because they can’t figure out how to make a Super Skrull. However, they can still assign one power to one person. A pretty good issue, I still really like the Marvel Zombies dialog with each other.

Countdown #45
We are once again treated to a ho-hum issue of countdown. The most important part of the issue gives us a little more background on the Forerunner and a little more insight to what is going on with the monitors. Also of note, Holly Robinson has a secret admirer who wants to give her a place to stay. As interested as I still am about some of these story threads, I need something soon from one of them to liven things up a bit.

Daredevil #98
Daredevil escapes from the back of a squad car to get to his wife in time before, Melvin Potter a.k.a. The Gladiator kills her. Potter is off the deep end and we get to see some real vintage DD fighting and righteous behavior while he wants to tear Potter apart. Very solid issue.

The New Fantastic Four #547
I think Reed Richards’ power is to invent something out of nowhere and be a prick about it. This power is on display when he comes across a rock in space that turns out has a special message inside. The rock came from a planet that can communicate via smell. After a quick invention session, the odor is transferred to video (?) and we see a planet invaded and the invaders are heading for earth next. The Wizard also makes an appearance to kidnap Sue and possible blow up Mr. Fantastic. This issue was ridiculous and boring.

Thunderbolts #115
I have a real issue with the premise of this book. How can you control Venom to act in a team? Not going to happen. Anyway, Bullseye is tricked into thinking that his “chains” to the team have been broken and he starts doing what he does best, killing people. However, he gets his butt handed to him by American Eagle. It was an alright time in the end.

Wolverine Origins #15
We get a little more history of Wolvie in this issue. Apparently, all the women in his life that have died were all because of some master government plan to set Wolverine off at certain times. They are really not trying with this series. The plots are mediocre at best, and the art is plain and unimaginative. Pass on the issue, pass on the series.

World War Hulk: X-Men
The Hulk drops in on the Xavier Institute while Beast is training some of the students. The Hulk demands to see the professor and Beast obviously has to decline the request. The new X-Men are forced to confront the PO’ed monster to a low degree of success. Hulk does some nasty things to them in the process but eventually the A team shows up. A nicely drawn issue and a real good start to a three part miniseries.

"COMICBOOKMAN"
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.

All Books/Characters pictured herein are © Copyright 2007 by their respective owners. No rights given or implied by Alternate Reality, Incorporated.

Reviews © 2007 Alternate Reality, Inc.

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Every week we give you our opinion on what's playing at the cinema.

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