New comics are released tomorrow (in the States at least; we have to wait until Thursday in the UK!). Here's a brief look at our expectations for the books we're picking up this week.
Stewart R: Egad, the potential quality doth approach from all sides this week! Where will my little eyes be drawn first?? I dare say the pair of them will head straight for Matt Fraction’s Uncanny X-Men #526 as the Five Lights saga gets underway in an incredibly mysterious time for the mutant-folk of planet Earth. After all that M-Day malarkey with the Scarlett Witch going a little ‘postal’ with her powers and decimating the mutant population to just a few hundred it seems that a new age now approaches and with it comes a multitude of story possibilities for the many X-writers out there. Fraction has done a tremendous job through Utopia and Siege and I have full faith that he is the writer to keep things interesting and exciting over the coming months with Hope, Cyclops and the ‘Lights’ that have burst into life.
It’s a similar amount of faith that, after only one issue, I have fully invested in Paul Cornell as his second chapter of ‘The Black Ring’ swoops down at us in Action Comics #891. It was a few of the other members of the Paradox Comic Group who bigged up the first instalment so enthusiastically that made me have a quick peak and then quickly pester Andy at Paradox for a copy. It was a terrific window into Lex Luthor’s life post-Blackest Night and his brush with power and avarice in their purest forms. Things took a turn for the weird last time out with the brief reveal of Mister Mind and it should be entertaining to see where Mr Cornell takes things next.
It is a shame to say but my interest in Brightest Day as an event is starting to wane ever so slightly having dropped the main title a couple of months back and I'm now eyeing two other associated titles with a slight amount of ambivalence. That’s not to say that the Sword of Damocles is hanging above either title but Green Lantern #56 and Green Lantern Corps #50 need to step things up a notch to recapture the love for them that I had from the beginning of Blackest Night. I’ve a feeling once Atrocitus’ plans are fully revealed things could kick into high gear and give the GL title something of a boost, though I’m not certain that will happen in this coming issue. I’m somewhat surprised that nothing special appears to have been planned for Green Lantern Corps reaching the fifty issue milestone but that could be down to several factors like the recent change in creative team or the fact that DC might feel that they’re already throwing too many $3.99 titles into the fray.
Thankfully only a handful of the titles I will be picking up this week are at the higher price point and a further bonus appears in the form of two issue #0s from Radical Publishing as they drop The Rising #0 and Ryder On The Storm #0 into the battle-zone that is today’s comics market. This publisher knows how to do sleek presentation so I’ll be expecting decent visuals regardless of plot and characterisation quality and at $1.00 a pop it’d be almost foolish to not pick these up and have a little experiment. Radical’s leaning towards darker, science-fiction based fiction does appeal to me and as long as they keep throwing these samplers and teasers into the marketplace I know I’ll keep looking.
It’s random experimentation that led me to two Image titles that form the regular backbone of my pull-list and both of them have further instalments heading our way in glorious paper format this week. Haunt #8 will continue to follow the bizarre symbiotic life and afterlife that the brothers Kilgore share together and the captivating cover imagery indicates that this hero pairing may be in far deeper trouble than either of them realised. Robert Kirkman has kept this title fresh since the very beginning and with Greg Capullo getting into full swing on artistic duties I’m predicting that things can only get better for this comic. The other bat-shit crazy title is Cowboy Ninja Viking #7 and following the rather cool surprise ending to last issue I’m chomping at the bit to discover what Duncan’s ‘change’ could mean for the rather unhinged and unpredictable team of Triplet Assassins.
The rest of the bundle will include American Vampire #5 which promises to be a watershed issue for Scott Snyder’s bloodsucking tale of revenge as Pearl Jones finally takes the fight to the mysterious Coven’s door and Stephen King’s Skinner Sweet story also reaches its conclusion. I’ve enjoyed the double story format of this book so far and I’m intrigued to see how these writers leave things at the final page of this issue. Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #4 will no doubt sit higher in the pull-list of some of my comic compadres but I’ve felt that the past two efforts from Morrison and his rotating pool of artists has lacked the quality and impact of that the first epic issue. I will be looking for Morrison and Cameron Stewart to raise their games and convince me that this series was the big Bat event that was worth sticking with.
Stewart R: Egad, the potential quality doth approach from all sides this week! Where will my little eyes be drawn first?? I dare say the pair of them will head straight for Matt Fraction’s Uncanny X-Men #526 as the Five Lights saga gets underway in an incredibly mysterious time for the mutant-folk of planet Earth. After all that M-Day malarkey with the Scarlett Witch going a little ‘postal’ with her powers and decimating the mutant population to just a few hundred it seems that a new age now approaches and with it comes a multitude of story possibilities for the many X-writers out there. Fraction has done a tremendous job through Utopia and Siege and I have full faith that he is the writer to keep things interesting and exciting over the coming months with Hope, Cyclops and the ‘Lights’ that have burst into life.It’s a similar amount of faith that, after only one issue, I have fully invested in Paul Cornell as his second chapter of ‘The Black Ring’ swoops down at us in Action Comics #891. It was a few of the other members of the Paradox Comic Group who bigged up the first instalment so enthusiastically that made me have a quick peak and then quickly pester Andy at Paradox for a copy. It was a terrific window into Lex Luthor’s life post-Blackest Night and his brush with power and avarice in their purest forms. Things took a turn for the weird last time out with the brief reveal of Mister Mind and it should be entertaining to see where Mr Cornell takes things next.
It is a shame to say but my interest in Brightest Day as an event is starting to wane ever so slightly having dropped the main title a couple of months back and I'm now eyeing two other associated titles with a slight amount of ambivalence. That’s not to say that the Sword of Damocles is hanging above either title but Green Lantern #56 and Green Lantern Corps #50 need to step things up a notch to recapture the love for them that I had from the beginning of Blackest Night. I’ve a feeling once Atrocitus’ plans are fully revealed things could kick into high gear and give the GL title something of a boost, though I’m not certain that will happen in this coming issue. I’m somewhat surprised that nothing special appears to have been planned for Green Lantern Corps reaching the fifty issue milestone but that could be down to several factors like the recent change in creative team or the fact that DC might feel that they’re already throwing too many $3.99 titles into the fray.Thankfully only a handful of the titles I will be picking up this week are at the higher price point and a further bonus appears in the form of two issue #0s from Radical Publishing as they drop The Rising #0 and Ryder On The Storm #0 into the battle-zone that is today’s comics market. This publisher knows how to do sleek presentation so I’ll be expecting decent visuals regardless of plot and characterisation quality and at $1.00 a pop it’d be almost foolish to not pick these up and have a little experiment. Radical’s leaning towards darker, science-fiction based fiction does appeal to me and as long as they keep throwing these samplers and teasers into the marketplace I know I’ll keep looking.
It’s random experimentation that led me to two Image titles that form the regular backbone of my pull-list and both of them have further instalments heading our way in glorious paper format this week. Haunt #8 will continue to follow the bizarre symbiotic life and afterlife that the brothers Kilgore share together and the captivating cover imagery indicates that this hero pairing may be in far deeper trouble than either of them realised. Robert Kirkman has kept this title fresh since the very beginning and with Greg Capullo getting into full swing on artistic duties I’m predicting that things can only get better for this comic. The other bat-shit crazy title is Cowboy Ninja Viking #7 and following the rather cool surprise ending to last issue I’m chomping at the bit to discover what Duncan’s ‘change’ could mean for the rather unhinged and unpredictable team of Triplet Assassins.The rest of the bundle will include American Vampire #5 which promises to be a watershed issue for Scott Snyder’s bloodsucking tale of revenge as Pearl Jones finally takes the fight to the mysterious Coven’s door and Stephen King’s Skinner Sweet story also reaches its conclusion. I’ve enjoyed the double story format of this book so far and I’m intrigued to see how these writers leave things at the final page of this issue. Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #4 will no doubt sit higher in the pull-list of some of my comic compadres but I’ve felt that the past two efforts from Morrison and his rotating pool of artists has lacked the quality and impact of that the first epic issue. I will be looking for Morrison and Cameron Stewart to raise their games and convince me that this series was the big Bat event that was worth sticking with.
4 comments:
Just so your aware, Cameron Stewart isn't the artist on Return Of Bruce Wayne 4, he was replaced with George Jeanty(name something like that).
Yeah your correct Joe,
http://cameronstewart.blogspot.com/2010/06/happy-trails.html
I did point this out in my last Review Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3....
Its a shame his work on Batman & Robin was top stuff.
Yeah, from the sketches and variant cover, Stewart would have kicked all kinds of @$$ on this! Then the art in the preview by this replacement guy, just killed most of my excitement
Bumlets, sorry guys, was taking poor intel from DC themselves on that one. That'll teach me to go to the horses mouth next time! =) Jeanty actually does a decnet enough job I think though I'm finding myself starting to lose interest in the series.
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