Weekly Pull List 7-9-14

A very middling week this week as most of the issues are stories that aren't super important and are merely middle of the story. First of these is Justice League United 3. It feels like nothing happened in this issue. There's some techno babble about the zeta beam and they undo what happened last issue, then Manhunter helps win over the child who can destroy the world or something. Then Hawkman saves everyone by taking a bomb far into the atmosphere and blows up. Story is still rather boring. I'll finish this story next issue then see what the next story looks like. Likely to only be a few more issues for me. 1 out of 5.

On the Marvel side we have Amazing X-Men 9 where the team gets up to Canada to find Wolverine only to have him turn into a Wendigo and kill Talisman after she and Puck showed up to save him. It's not a great story but does have a few strong points. The first half of the book jumps around in time to tell the story in a montage style. It works very well here for some reason. They also escape their crashing Blackbird by Iceman freezing them all in a giant ice block then having Firestar thaw them out. Awesome teamwork being shown which is when the X-Men work so well as a story. That said, I have no real attachment to any of these characters or the story. Again I will probably finish out this arc then I'm out. 2 out of 5.

Next up we have Nightcrawler 4. Another issue spent trying to undo the villainy of last issue. Amanda and Kurt chase after Margali, who apparently set up all the trimega attacks in order for her to find a way to the afterlife and claim it for her own. There is a ton of action in this book and it wraps up nicely with Amanda making it through the afterlife portal. Kurt is left on Earth since he chose to leave heaven he is unable to return. This book shouldn't be as fun as it is, but I did quite enjoy it. There are actual stakes it seems. I am looking forward to seeing where this arc ends up. 3 out of 5.

Lastly for Marvel, Jason Aaron and Al Ewing take a break from their regularly scheduled books to bring the Original Sin tie-in miniseries Thor and Loki: The Tenth Realm 1. This book is super interesting. It's also a good way to take care or tie-ins for the big events. Instead of putting the story in the normal run of the book, just make a new miniseries so it's easy to skip them if you aren't interested. As far as story, this book is quite intriguing. It introduces the idea and history of a tenth realm and Thor's long thought dead sister. This book fits logically in the timeline of Thor: God of Thunder and Loki: Agent of Asgard which makes sense due to the two writers being the writers of those books. It's crazy that they're retconning the history of Thor and Asgard by adding a tenth realm and intriguing enough to hook me from the get go. Thor and Loki head out and break into the locked off and long-lost realm in search of the lost sister. Artwise this book is good. Not overwhelmingly great, but good. It's not as stylistic and gorgeous as Ribic's work on Thor but also not as cartoonish and jovial as Loki. The weird part is that Simone Bianchi does a full 2-page spread as Thor and Loki arrive in the tenth realm and it is beautifully painted. It works since it's a new world we haven't explored yet. Excellent book. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out. 4 out of 5.

Last up is Bunn's The Empty Man 2. This issue is all about history. More history of the virus which appears to cause all sorts of hallucinations, Langford apparently has a dead wife, son, and both parents, and hints that Jensen has some sort of bad history with the virus. We don't know exactly what yet, but it's there. This story is sufficiently dark and wonderful. Mystery at its finest. The art is a mystical, stylized painted style and it matches the story perfectly. It's a little too stylized. The character designs aren't always distinct enough to tell the characters apart at times. Looking forward to more as usual. 4 out of 5.

Weekly Pull List 7-2-14

Several great books this week. Let's start with Batman '66 Meets The Green Hornet 2. Since I already got number 1 and it's a 6 issue arc, I figured I might as well go all in. This book is mostly impressive at the way it captures the voices of the characters and the overall jokey and lighthearted feel of the show. General Gumm teams up with the Clown Prince of Crime in this issue and once again we are left in a harrowing cliffhanger!! A lot of fun. It's not the most exciting or brilliant story, but it's fun so I call it a win. 4 out of 5.

Next up is Lazarus 9. Been waiting several months for this one, but we finally find out about the Lift. Turns out the Lift is a test of sorts. It allows a few members of the serf population rise up and begin to work for the family populations. Art is still cool. This issue works great to expand the universe and give us a little of the history of Forever as well. Still a great book and I love Rucka and Lark's teamwork. Lark's artwork works so well with Rucka's writing style. There's a reason they've been working together for so long. All good things. I'm glad this issue finally came out. As usual I'm excited to see more. 4 out of 5. 

Thor God of Thunder 24. The epilogue of the Last Days of Midgard story cleans up Broxton and teases stuff for a future story arc. This is a nicely done issue. Not the most action filled issue, but it's very well done and good to see a transitionary story done right. Most of the issue discusses the rebuilding of Broxton and the decision of Asgard to move elsewhere in order to protect the people of Midgard. We see Jane Foster again and have a lovely conversation between her and Thor. Future Thor explores the newly flourishing, old planet Earth and Galactus is ravaging Mars when the remnants of the Black Blade of Gorr infect him to create the Butcher of Worlds. Great issue. Ribic's art is still stellar. It's a shame we don't get more until September. 3 out of 5.

Also in Marvel land comes Magneto 6. Magneto hunts down a bunch of clones of a mutant team who helped hunt down other mutants. He eventually finds the facility where they make them and alters the formula so they'll be loyal to him somehow. Strange jump to make and the plot doesn't move a whole lot, but the art is awesome. They use colors excellently to emphasize certain pieces of the art. The deaths are equally gruesome and gorgeous. All around an excellent book. This issue was a bit of a lull, but I'm sure it will pick up. 3 out of 5.

Lastly, Green Arrow shows some new tricks in issue 33. There's some great flashbacks between Diggle and Ollie exploring their history with Dragon. He's mad at Arrow for stopping before. It turns out that was during Oliver's depression after his mother died so Diggle ran out as the Arrow to stop some crime. Oliver finds Dragon and Diggle only to find Vertigo as a guard of sorts. The issue ends as Dragon throws Digg out a window and Fyff takes a gunshot to the abdomen while trying to rescue Emiko and get her to safety. Definitely the biggest cliffhanger of the bunch. As usual the art is incredible and the story is very fun. Great issue and it seems things are about to go nuts which is always fun to see. 4 out of 5.

Weekly Pull List 6-25-14

Decent pull this week. I've got 3 books from 3 different small press publishers. I was finally able to catch up with The Sixth Gun 41 from Oni Press which came out about a month ago. This issue is a stand alone story telling the history of the Grey Witch (general Hume's mother). It's pretty cool to take a moth off from the main story to see some of how she was created and the dark world she grew up in. The otherworldly creatures that raised her created the monster that she is. Decent story and a nice break. Looking forward to picking up where we left off though. 4 out of 5. 

Next from Image, Outcast 1. A new noir supernatural mystery by Robert Kirkman. A new horror story following an exorcist and a young man who is supposedly being chased around by a demon who is possessing anyone he gets close to: His mother, his wife, and now a little kid that he helps the priest with. I didn't want to like this book as I'm a little burnt out on Kirkman, but it's really good. There's a lot of intense scenes while they're exorcizing the kid. There's hints that the world is a lot bigger and darker than it appears to be and I look forward to see it  as it expands. 4.5 out of 5. 

Finally, I've got Dark Horse's Serenity: Leaves on the Wind 6. The crew goes and breaks out Zoe. This issue wonderfully wraps up this story. I love how it ends on such a high note where things seem back to normal. All around a fun issue and I hope they continue the series. Not sure they will as this is supposedly a miniseries. If there is more, then I will be back. 3 out of 5.