Weekly Pull List August-September 2014

Well I moved. I have now caught up on my comics purchases and am mostly moved in out east so it's time to catch up. I will start off over at image. Velvet number 7 follows Colt and Roberts as they work counter-espionage on the official side of things. It's another brilliant issue. Brubaker and Epting are still a glorious pair. Beautifully realistic art really makes me wish it was a TV show. It would be incredibly awesome to see this on a high quality network like AMC or HBO. 5 out of 5.

Next up is Lazarus 11. Conclave part 1 has a wonderful scene exploring the politics of the world. Seeing interactions between two Lazaruses (Lazari?) is always interesting A lot of buildup and anticipation for something that I'm not sure where it's going to go. We're at the peak of the chain lift on the roller coaster getting ready to go over the edge. 4 out of 5.

Now over to DC. We have two Futures End tie-ins. The first is Justice League United which is a surprisingly interesting story. A classic "getting the band back together" story set in the future. Several members of the old JLU congregate to hunt down the Martian Manhunter, who has been captured by Gorilla Grodd and the guy behind the whole thing: Captain Atom!?! it's a decent story. I was interested enough to want to go get the next part of the story in the Justice League tie in. I want to read the main story, but I really wish it was much shorter. 52 is a lot of commitment for a mediocre story. I'll give it 3.5 out of 5 for a surprise ending, even though they just seem to be trying way too hard to find a place for Captain Atom in the New 52. 

The other tie in is Green Arrow which is a solid issue. It's a nice wrap up to this creative team. Has a few nice callbacks and such to other moments in the recent issues. Oliver fakes his own death on live TV in a fight with Deathstroke only to realize it was Magus. His sister Emiko is acting as the Green Arrow in Seattle. Not a bad issue. Sorrentino is amazing as usual. Another book that piques my interest in the Futures End story. 4 out of 5.

Last book from DC is Batman '66 meets the Green Hornet 4. Comic hilarity continues as the two teams continue to torment each other due to ill timed torment from the kings of crime. Another middle story that serves its purpose and not much else. Fun book all around, but I'm glad it's only six issues so I can get the next two and not have to worry about it any more. 3 out of 5.

Now over to Marvel! First up is Nightcrawler 6. This issue follows Kurt and the young Rico as they hunt down the mysterious mutant girl that the pirates are also after. An exciting battle ensues and they manage to rescue her. A fun story that doesn't seem to have any real impact on the world as a whole, apart from introducing the new mutant, Ziggy, and the mysterious bossman who promises his revenge. Another fun series that I will probably not be picking up anymore as it is not very exciting. It's a few minutes of joy, but I have no real connection to it and am trying to buy fewer comics. 2.5 out f 5.

Next up we have 3 issues in the Thor saga: Thor and Loki The Tenth Realm 4 and 5 and Thor God of Thunder 25. Battles rage until Loki brings Odin out of his prison in Asgard and back to the Tenth Realm. He halts the war upon realizing Angela is his long-lost daughter. Which begs the question: Have they truly never met before? Apparently not as Odin isn't around nearly as much as he seems to be and Angela showed up about 20 years ago and was mostly a Spawn character until merely a few years ago when she starting hanging out with the Guardians of the Galaxy. A mildly anticlimactic ending to the tale, but it works as a great setup to the new Thor series as Thor gets told a secret by Fury in Original Sin that makes him unworthy to wield the hammer. Making way for a lady Thor in a new upcoming series. In issue 25, King Thor's granddaughters are reading ancient stories about his past exploits when they come upon one in chains. It is revealed that this book is titled Unworthy and the book ends with Thor Odinson trying desperately to hoist Mjolnir off the surface of the moon. This book is and always has been fantastic! Looking forward to seeing where Aaron is taking us on this ride. The art on both of these series has been incredible. Different artists provide wonderful different takes on the characters as they traverse different realms or appear in different eras. These books are truly masterpieces. Overall they get 5 out of 5.

The last of my Marvel books and the first off my Cullen Bunn books is Magneto 9: A March to Axis. Eric breaks into a concentration camp of sorts in order to assassinate the Red Skull and save some of the kids in there. Everything goes to hell, of course. This issue is a setup to some massive war between the Avengers, X-Men, and the Red Skull who has apparently taken Xavier's mental powers? Interested to see where this is going. Walta does a wonderful job with the gritty looking art. Great issue that has me hooked until next issue. 4 of 5.

Now over to Boom! for the Empty Man 3. Apparently the Empty Man isn't a disease, it's an invasion! *gasp* We get a creepy scene where we see some Frankenstein seeming doctor talking to an apparent carrier of the Empty Man or something. Still a gloriously creepy mystery that promises an awesome finale to this story in a few issues. Del Ray's art is once again brilliantly murky. Love this book. 4 out of 5.

Now for the Sixth Gun 42 and Days of the Dead 2. The prequel uses Jesup to tell us some history of the Knights of Solomon and the Sword of Abraham. There's also the mysterious Yum Kimil who seems to be a cajun god of some sort. Real cool series and history. The main series is setting up the grand finale where the Grey Witch will be using Jesup and the six to recreate the world. Drake, Becky, and Nidawi are trying to plan a way to stop her, and the Knights of Solomon are doing the same. It's amazing how these two series are being released along side each other and are so entertwined. Of course I love these books. It has been well documented. 4.5 out of 5.

Weekly Pull List 6-4-14

I got a handful of books this week. First I will start with the Amazing X-Men title. There was issue 8 and annual 1. I'll start with the annual. It comprises two parts. The first is a story where they go to Africa to confront a monster from Storm's past and the 2nd is a history of Firestar with art as if it was drawn by a child. The Storm arc is great and a lot of fun. Art is absolutely beautiful. All the characters are crisp and emotional and there is an obscene amount of atmospheric art (dirt, sand, etc) that really enhances the entire book. I love it. The second part serves as a scrapbook honoring Firestar. There's a page that's only a faux-Egyptian style painting, one that's "drawn" by a student on his math notebook. Incredibly interesting idea. Execution wasn't great. There's several pages and they are all different, making it feel disjointed and choppy. As a collection of art it's pretty cool. As a story being told, it is pretty lame. Overall a decent annual. I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 all together.

In Amazing X-Men 8 starts of the World War Wendigo story. Wolverine goes to Canada and meets an old friend only to try to find someone. Turns out he was attacked by a wendigo. Turns out there's tons of them. The other X-Men hope to get there in time to save Wolverine (who has no healing factor anymore.) Okay book. Not a huge fan of Wolverine, but he was used excellently. He's sniffing out a crime scene all detective-like. I like seeing a side of Wolverine that's not the tear everybody apart side. The art is pretty cool. Not incredible in any fashion, but also no problems with it. Solid book. 3 out of 5.

Next up Loki Agent of Asgard 5. Crazy fun book. Loki and Lorelei break into Asgard to find Sigurd and such. This issue acts the same as a third act of a heist movie where they reveal the twist and how they managed to pull it off. Super fun. Art is super cool looking. Where this book ends isn't great, but the journey totally works for me. It's fun which is exactly what I want from a comic book. 4 out of 5.

I finally found Magneto 3 so I was able to catch up on that series. In issue 3, Magneto infiltrates the Sentinel factory and he destroys it. In issue 4, he follows a lead to find some of the mutant smugglers to take them out. In issue 5, he meets a stalker of his and eventually agrees to have her help him. Bunn does great work on this series. The only real complaint I have is that it's moving pretty slowly. It's nice that the issues are fairly stand alone so they work fairly well on their own. Artwork on this book is by Gabriel Fernandez Walta and is wonderful. It has a nice watercolor feel to it, while being beautifully precise. I'll give these 3 collectively a 4.5 out of 5.

Last up for Marvel is Nightcrawler 3. Nightcrawler brings Amanda and their sorcerer friend Margali back to the mansion and fighting breaks out. All of a sudden many, many trimegas show up for a fight. It's a fairly decent read. Not super great, but it's alright. I've got probably 3 issues left for this to amaze me before I drop it. There is a really nice scene between Kurt and Logan in this issue. Logan's all friendly and brotherly towards him and it's a really great moment for both of them. 3 out of 5.

Now let's head over to Boom! Studios for The Empty Man issue 1. A new series by Cullen Bunn. It follows a multi-agency task force assigned to investigate a series of deaths somehow linked to the "empty man." It's unclear if it is some sort of virus, a supernatural monster, or just a plain old fashioned serial killer. Bunn doesn't disappoint with his ability to build the world and an incredible intrigue in what's going on. Can't wait to read more. Vaness R. Del Rey is on art and it looks gorgeous. There's a really sketchy style to it that really works in the horror genre. The characters are pretty decent so far, granted we haven't really seen them much. As usual Cullen Bunn has delivered a masterpiece. Incredible intro to the story and the world. 5 out of 5.

I also picked up Futures End 5 and 6 but don't really remember anything that happened. It's fairly uninteresting and most of the characters feel off due to it taking place 5 years in the future and they aren't the characters that we know now. It's not a great book. So I will be dropping it. Meh out of 5.

Justice League United 2 is another book that's not groundbreaking. It might as well be called Exposition United as it's a lot of talking. It serves the plot of the book, but doesn't do much else. These types of issues are a great argument for waiting for the trade so you can move right on in the story. Art still works fine and I am looking forward to a new arc in this book. That said, I did enjoy the brutal fighting between Lobo and Hawkman. Pretty excellent. 3 out of 5.

Over in Green Arrow 32 Oliver returns to Seattle only to find a super villain team-up in progress and Diggle kidnapped by Richard Dragon. Still my favorite art in a book on a monthly basis. There's some flashbacks that have stylized golden-age art look to them. The story has moments that feel fairly familiar but they are woven together in a new way to make it feel fresh. Great book as usual and it sets up a new story that promises to be good. 4.5 out of 5.

Weekly Pull List May Pt. 2

Time to play some catch up. Been a bit busy with moving halfway across the country so I let this get away from me. So let's begin. A lot has been happening in the DC Universe. Most of it has been fairly uninteresting to me. I will start with Justice League United 1. The crew assembled in the 0 issue are battling some giant monster that got released last issue. It changes between rock, fire, lightning, etc to battle everyone. As the creature goes to reform, they teleport for a faraway world. Meanwhile, Lobo fights Hawkman and brings him to scientists who have created "Ultra the multi-alien... The slayer of worlds." from the DNA of thousands of prisoners from across the galaxy. Still build up for a story that may be interesting, but the cosmic stuff typically doesn't do much for me. It's a fine book, but definitely nothing special. 2 out of 5.

Now the big new weekly event. Futures End issues 2-4. Issue 2 is Green Arrow's funeral where everyone is sad and it calls back to the relationship between Ollie and Animal man that we see beginning in Justice League United 1. Issue 3 is mostly Grifter researching something and Lois finding out that Red Robin is alive. Issue 4 is Red Robin realizing that Batman Beyond is here and Frankenstein invades S.H.A.D.E. and gets recruited to avenge his former lover. Plastique and some other guy recruit coil for a "last job" which involves breaking into Terrifitech. Grifter finds a lead to the same but gets zapped and knocked out. Overall, I'm bored with this story. It's a lot of characters I have almost no interest in. The one's I want to know more of (Firestorm, Batman Beyond) are all peripheral characters who have yet to take part. I will probably continue picking this up, but I started getting it thinking it was a 12 or 13 issue series and not a 52 week thing. So I don't really see myself going all the way, but it has until I miss an issue or at least a few more issues to pick up a bit before I'm out. 2 out of 5.

Next up is the conclusion of the Outsiders War in Green Arrow 31. Death, destruction, moral quandaries, etc. all wrap up this story fairly quickly. It's a good arc, but it ended rather abruptly and works out a little too nicely. It's pretty awesome how the Diggle story that we've seen bits and pieces of over the last few issues is now heading toward being the focus of the book. I wish there had been another issue of wrap up for the story. This one felt a little rushed and like everything is crammed in too tightly. Art-wise, still an excellent book. Can't wait to see what Lemire does with the gang of classic Green Arrow villains he introduces at the end. 4 out of 5.

Over on the other side I had Loki: Agent of Asgard 4. A fun little issue and a bit of a battle of wits. The twists are a little heavy handed, but didn't hurt it too badly. The dialogue is fairly painful as it feels like an older person trying to talk like the "cool kids nowadays" and it just comes off forced and awkward. Quite a bit of fun, but this story isn't the best. Solid book with pretty awesome art. 3.5 out of 5.

Nightcrawler 2 follows Nightcrawler and Amanda as they return to the circus of their childhood in hopes of finding some answers. They scuffle but the automaton Trimega shows up. Boring. The issue is a fun read, but there's no real movement in the story. There's nothing that really changes between the beginning and the end. It feels like a filler issue. Which is awful because it's number 2. I'll give it a couple more issues, but I don't think it'll last. 1.5 out of 5.

Continuing in Marvel, Amazing X-Men 7. Firestar and Bobby are going shopping for the mansion. Yes you read that correctly. That's the premise of this issue. Then a baby shows up in their cart and Spider-Man arrives chasing him. They take him back to his alien parents. This may be the dumbest comic I've ever read. Definitely this year. Art is cool, but this is obviously a filler issue as it's not Jason Aaron who wrote it. Pretty, but lame. 0.5 out of 5

Thor God of Thunder 22 wraps up my Marvel stuff so far. This is still a great book. The girls of Thunder still fight Galactus whilst Thor the Avenger and Rosalind explore Roxxon's shenanigans and find out about the Trolls under Broxton causing all the sinkholes. Heck of a fun read. I love this book. Both stories are incredibly intriguing and a lot of fun. Classic Thor tale. The end has a great call back to the first arc of the series which ties things together quite nicely. Artwrk is gorgeous as always. 5 out of 5.

Now onto the smaller sector. Serenity Leaves on the Wind 5. Fun issue. It builds up to the final issue next month in an exciting way. It looks to be a solid arc as a whole, setting up another rebellion and whatnot. Action-wise this is the issue where the art really doesn't work. There's a lot of excellent action and fighting, but the art isn't crisp enough to make things clear. There are several panels that aare just awkward and confusing to look at. It's a little disjointed as well. The flow isn't as smooth as some other issues. The jumps between character stories are a bit hard to follow. Still love this book and cannot wait to finish off the first arc. 4 out of 5.

Over at Image I got Velvet 5. This issue dives into Velvet's past and gives you more information about why what is happening is so hard on her. It is incredible character stuff and it manages to work as a declaration of intent on the future of the series. I'm excited to go back and read the first 5 issues that serve as a great introduction to this world and a hint of the main antagonist of the series: the corruption within Velvet Templeton's organization. I imagine I will likely pick this up in trade format in the future to make it easier to get people into this series. Brubaker does a great job of going into the past and making us care a lot about the situation and the characters even if they aren't the normal or most important ones. Incredible book. This series is one of my favorite. 5 out of 5.

Last up is Sixth Gun 40. Everyone knows how I feel about this book so I will keep it short. This issue leads right into the endgame. This series is supposed to end with issue 50 so Bunn and Hurtt are bringing it around towards the final conflict. This issue did feel a bit rushed, but also had some really cool character moments that were excellent to see. They also dismiss a possible time travel argument in a few lines of dialogue. It's always funny when writers acknowledge the complaints that readers will have before they happen. Anyways, good book and I'll be back for more. 4.5 out of 5.

Weekly Pull List - May Pt. 1

Time to play a little catch up. I thought I would have a ton of books last week to talk about, but there was a shipment error and also errors in my pull list doc. So, first book is from April 30 and it was the only book that week. Serenity 4 picks up where we left off. There's several call backs to the show. It's a fun read and feels like classic Firefly. Heist work, inevitable betrayal, Zoey being badass, etc. I really need to go back and reread this series as I was a little lost in this issue. Good story with some pretty solid art. Still a bit lighthearted and I think it's not the best choice for the story, but it is good objectively. I like where the story is going and I think there's a lot of strong threads there, I'm just worried that it's focusing too much on connecting to parts of the show and not exploring or expanding the story from the show. Totally a solid read, but not the best. 3 out of 5.

Next up are some books from Free Comic Book Day and last weeks pull. Our FCBD was apparently super busy so I was only able to pick up the DC New 52 Future's End #0. This starts the weekly story which is taking place 5 years in the future and follows Batman Beyond, Firestorm, Grifter, and others. The story is that Mister Terrific's Brother Eye has evolved and started infecting people to take over the earth. Not surprisingly, a lot of setup in the 0 and 1 issues. Some good cause and effect can be seen already. Everything feels neatly put together and planned out so far. This gives me a lot of hope for the next couple months of this book. The stakes are high as it is the earth itself who is in danger from Brother Eye. It's an interesting book as it follows 4 different stories: Grifter, Batman Beyond, Mr. Terrific, and Firestorm. There are also 4 stellar writers; Brian Azzarello, Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens, and Jeff Lemire; who all work together on the story and each write one of the characters. At least that's how I've heard it works. The art work is great. Patrick Zircher draws a dynamic and action filled issue. It's an intriguing setup for the story. It feels mildly familiar plot-wise but different enough to pique my interest. We shall see how this goes. 3.5 out of 5.