New comics are released Wednesday in the States and guess what, in the UK too! Here's a brief look at our expectations for the books we're picking up this week.
Stewart R: With Marvel’s big event coming to its conclusion today I’m guessing that’s the signal that the Summer is really over (the weather in the UK seems to agree all of a sudden too!) and that we’re headed towards the new year and the next ‘big thing’. It seems that a fair few comic readers that I know couldn’t really give two hoots about Fear Itself #7 coming out and many of them jumped off a few months back, leaving any tie-in titles behind in the process. To be fair the series didn’t really show any clear direction until well after the midway point, so it’s not surprising that many figured that Marvel were once again missing the mark with their tentpole title of the year. I’ve been enjoying it though and I’m looking forward to seeing just how things pan out now that Iron Man has finished preparing the weapons for the final battle ahead.
That will also mean that Invincible Iron Man #509 should be read before Fear Itself #7 as Tony gathers said weapons and bids a farewell to Svartalfheim as he heads off to confront the Serpent’s Worthy followers. It’s been a little telling that Fraction may have been distracted by writing duties on Fear Itself - and possibly Casanova as well - as Invincible has seen a dip in quality over the past 4 issues or so. That’s a shame considering the heavy personal cost that Tony has had to pay in order to get access to Odin’s forges. Thankfully it seems that things will get back on track from #510 onwards as Stark is forced to face his personal demons as well as some reappearing faces from his past!
...Wait....Wuh, what the....NO! You’re kidding? Mark Millar has actually managed to get two issues of one comic out within a three week period!! Wow. Superior #6 arrives in stores some twenty one days after #5 following a good few months absence for what has been a really entertaining title. Obviously there was some breakdown in the process - possibly from Leinil Yu’s other artistic commitments - but it’s good to see some sort of regularity now. The way things were left last issue, with the pint-sized space monkey (yes, that is a touch crazy) Ormon offering young Simon a heavily loaded deal having already teased him with his temporary superhero powers, this latest instalment could be a real page-turner. I have a few issues with Millar’s projects but one thing he does seem to get is pacing and with Superior he hit the ground running and hasn’t let up since.
I suppose the same could be said for DC’s relaunch so far as the slew of #2 issues that we’ve seen to date have been impressive. This week, 5 of the 13 comics released make my pull-list and I’m pretty confident that all 5 titles will be still there this time next month. Batman #2 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo will no doubt explore that surprising cliffhanger ending that implicated one of the Bat-family in a nasty murder and I really can’t wait to see Snyder get Batman into full detective mode! Then there’s Peter J. Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin’s Green Lantern Corps #2 which may follow a similar detective theme, as Guy Gardner and John Stewart investigate the brutal murders of several Corpsmen. I think these two very different human Lanterns are going to make a really interesting team, almost having directly opposing methods of policing the galaxy, and with the extended cast of familiar faces this certainly adds that little ‘something else’ that Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern seems to be lacking at present.
One other title that I think worthy of a mention this week is Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta’s Vengeance #4 from Marvel. I had no clue who the Teen Brigade were heading into this miniseries but now that we’re this far in I’m really enjoying reading about a team of young superheroes acting well under the radar of any of the other ‘big’ Marvel teams and characters and ultimately influencing much of what transpires in the world with their actions. The villainous covers are possibly a touch misleading as those featured baddies may only sparingly feature in the overall plot but that’s not been detracting from an otherwise damn fine read! Casey will be dragging the youthful prince of mischief into the action today as Loki gets a meeting with the Young Masters so we’ll see what sort of trickery unfolds.
Stewart R: With Marvel’s big event coming to its conclusion today I’m guessing that’s the signal that the Summer is really over (the weather in the UK seems to agree all of a sudden too!) and that we’re headed towards the new year and the next ‘big thing’. It seems that a fair few comic readers that I know couldn’t really give two hoots about Fear Itself #7 coming out and many of them jumped off a few months back, leaving any tie-in titles behind in the process. To be fair the series didn’t really show any clear direction until well after the midway point, so it’s not surprising that many figured that Marvel were once again missing the mark with their tentpole title of the year. I’ve been enjoying it though and I’m looking forward to seeing just how things pan out now that Iron Man has finished preparing the weapons for the final battle ahead.That will also mean that Invincible Iron Man #509 should be read before Fear Itself #7 as Tony gathers said weapons and bids a farewell to Svartalfheim as he heads off to confront the Serpent’s Worthy followers. It’s been a little telling that Fraction may have been distracted by writing duties on Fear Itself - and possibly Casanova as well - as Invincible has seen a dip in quality over the past 4 issues or so. That’s a shame considering the heavy personal cost that Tony has had to pay in order to get access to Odin’s forges. Thankfully it seems that things will get back on track from #510 onwards as Stark is forced to face his personal demons as well as some reappearing faces from his past!
...Wait....Wuh, what the....NO! You’re kidding? Mark Millar has actually managed to get two issues of one comic out within a three week period!! Wow. Superior #6 arrives in stores some twenty one days after #5 following a good few months absence for what has been a really entertaining title. Obviously there was some breakdown in the process - possibly from Leinil Yu’s other artistic commitments - but it’s good to see some sort of regularity now. The way things were left last issue, with the pint-sized space monkey (yes, that is a touch crazy) Ormon offering young Simon a heavily loaded deal having already teased him with his temporary superhero powers, this latest instalment could be a real page-turner. I have a few issues with Millar’s projects but one thing he does seem to get is pacing and with Superior he hit the ground running and hasn’t let up since.I suppose the same could be said for DC’s relaunch so far as the slew of #2 issues that we’ve seen to date have been impressive. This week, 5 of the 13 comics released make my pull-list and I’m pretty confident that all 5 titles will be still there this time next month. Batman #2 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo will no doubt explore that surprising cliffhanger ending that implicated one of the Bat-family in a nasty murder and I really can’t wait to see Snyder get Batman into full detective mode! Then there’s Peter J. Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin’s Green Lantern Corps #2 which may follow a similar detective theme, as Guy Gardner and John Stewart investigate the brutal murders of several Corpsmen. I think these two very different human Lanterns are going to make a really interesting team, almost having directly opposing methods of policing the galaxy, and with the extended cast of familiar faces this certainly adds that little ‘something else’ that Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern seems to be lacking at present.
One other title that I think worthy of a mention this week is Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta’s Vengeance #4 from Marvel. I had no clue who the Teen Brigade were heading into this miniseries but now that we’re this far in I’m really enjoying reading about a team of young superheroes acting well under the radar of any of the other ‘big’ Marvel teams and characters and ultimately influencing much of what transpires in the world with their actions. The villainous covers are possibly a touch misleading as those featured baddies may only sparingly feature in the overall plot but that’s not been detracting from an otherwise damn fine read! Casey will be dragging the youthful prince of mischief into the action today as Loki gets a meeting with the Young Masters so we’ll see what sort of trickery unfolds.
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