Weekly Pull List 3-5(12)-14

Two weeks to catch up on today. I will start with a new number 1. Cullen Bunn, creator of Sixth Gun, started a new Magneto series. I picked it up because it's Bunn. Magneto hunts down a mutant killer when he turns all sentinel and tries to kill Magneto. I like the idea of a cyborg type sentinel and Magneto hunting down the people who did that to the poor kid promises to be an exciting fun ride. The creative/dark storytelling of Bunn taking on the intriguing character of Magneto is a wonderful match and I love it a lot so far. Gabriel Hernandez Walta on art is pretty good. The design of Magneto is a little odd. His face is more round and less tall than the normal look for him. It's a little jarring and feels like more of a Lex Luthor than Magneto. Otherwise the backgrounds are gritty and dark. Showing the not best side of the world. 4.5 out of 5.

Also in the Marvel villains category, Loki Agent of Asgard 2. I love this issue. It has Loki at a speed dating event. He's there talking to a human who has a power to see through any lies, including Loki's mirage. It's an extremely absurd premise for a book, but Ewing perfectly portrays Loki's charm so it shines through to the reader. A great book. It portrays a heist scene the best I've ever seen on a page. This issue sets up a plot that promises to be Loki's Eleven which is always a fun story to follow. Art is by Lee Garbett and isn't the most detailed, but when mixed with Nolan Woodard's colorization it provides a basic, flat look that works perfectly for the story. While the first issue caught my interest, this one has certainly caught my attention. 4 out of 5.

Now we'll hop over to Image for Velvet 4. Ms. Templeton attends the Carnival of Fools and hunts down an old rival from the KGB who is being hunted. After saving his life they discuss the situation he is in until he reveals a twist that turns her past upside down. More great work by Brubaker. I've been reading some of his Captain America and Winter Soldier stuff over on Comixology. They were both stellar, but don't have as excellent espionage as Velvet though. This story is still unravelling fairly slowly, but gives enough intrigue and mystery each issue to make it exhilarating. The art manages to capture the intensity of the moments and the joy and fun of the carnival only a couple pages apart. There's a 3/4 page panel that just glows with the excitement of the carnival and is 100% mesmerizing. Once again, can't wait for the next issue. 5 out of 5.

Now we will head over to DC for a bit of Green Arrow 29. Book 4 of the Outsiders War. This issue is just as good as the previous few. It does feel like it's dragging on too long to get to the actual story, but still a fun read. Oliver heads to Prague to take on Komodo and the spear clan and believes he has saved the city, but alas, he only stopped one of the four ships of sarin gas. Solid issue. I've already raved about Sorrentino's art in this book and this issue keeps up that trend. There's a lot of similarities to the Arrow show at the moment, but not in a bad way considering there's a limited number of characters who work well in a Green Arrow story. This issue is good more for the setup than for the actual events. Especially the cliff hanger which is mildly intriguing in the sense I want to know how Lemire gets out of it. Even though it's obviously a misdirection. Good, but nothing too impressive. 3 out of 5.

Now for this week. Justice League of America 13. This book is alright. Stargirl fights with Despero some more. It has possibly the worst twist I've read in a while. It's a cliched "by the way, what's been happening isn't really happening" story. It's also a story that just doesn't feel very fresh or exciting in any way. It's not horrible, just a resounding okay. 1.5 out of 5

Lastly, I got The Mercenary Sea 2. Fun book. This issue sets up the plot for the first full arc. The crew gets a job and sets off to do it. It's a very unique book and one that I never really thought I'd see. It's a beautiful book on top of it. Second issue is a whole lot of fun. Looking forward to reading the whole story. I said I was going to wait for trade on this one, but might pick up the first run in issue format. Like Loki, this book has grown in excellence. 4 out of 5.

Weekly Pull List 2-12-14

Solid week this week. Got a few great books and took a chance on a new one. I'll start with the new one. I saw the cover of The Mercenary Sea which looks straight out of a James Bond comic. It's a fun read and pretty quick. Follows a crew of a mercenary ship floating the seven seas. Imagine Pirates of the Caribbean meets Firefly, set in modern times, with a bit of spy thriller thrown in.   The art is pretty cool, but the colors are rather flat. Not a ton of shading and detail, but it works. It's a pretty light story so far and the simplistic art matches quite well. I like it, but I think I'm going to watch for the trade to get the full story. 4 out of 5.

Next up is Justice League of America 12. Still following Martian Manhunter and Stargirl as they fight Despero and try to save the rest of the League as well as the world. J'onn tells an old Martian children's tale which relates to Stargirl's trials in the issue. Decent book as usual. It's just fun, not overly important in the grand scheme of things. The art is spot on with a solid realism and vibrant colors to keep things interesting. The whole Forever Evil thing is rather boring to me which is why I enjoy this smaller, more personal story. 3 out of 5.

Now I jump over to Marvel for Thor God of Thunder 19.Now. First, Marvel's decimal numbering is stupid. For more, go listen to the Watchtower Podcast as I share much of their views on the subject. In this case, however I think it works on this round as it's a new storyline that's pretty simple to jump into. Now for the book! Great start to the new story! Back on Midgard, Rosalind Solomon is following whales when attacked by some whalers. She's saved by Thor and arrives at a press release where Dario Agger of Roxxon is announcing his new ice harvested from a moon of Jupiter. Thor thwarts his plan of world domination via making boatloads of money. In the future, King Thor revels at how blue Earth used to be when an ancient Galactus shows up. Excellent start to another epic tale. It's great to see Thor really caring about the Earth. Also excellent to see Esad Ribic back!! His art is so smooth and beautiful. Fits the epic, medieval feel to the book. He's always been the perfect choice for this book. 4.5 out of 5. Excellent story and room for improvement.

The Sixth Gun 38 rounds out my list this week. You've heard me praise the heck out of Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt. This issue's scale has expanded greatly from what the last few had been leading up to. Loads of action, lots of characters, and a ton of tension being released. They start working to shave off the overload of characters to make the book a little smaller and more intimate like the earlier stories. A story that is not only fresh, but done incredibly well to add to the novelty of it. Best issue I've read in a while. And still a favorite book. 4.5 out of 5.

Pull List 2014 Part 1

And we're back. I didn't get to my last batch of books last year so I'll briefly go through those as well as what I've picked up so far this year. I got Justice League of America 10. A continuation of the forever evil tie in story with Martian Manhunter and Stargirl looking for the rest of the heroes. Good book. Then in issue 11 Stargirl and J'onn travel across the U.S. to get to her parents. Fighting, flashbacks, getting jumped by Despero and ending underwater fighting to surface. Nothing too incredible, I think it will be a better story after we get a few more issues to complete the story.

Lazarus 5 and 6. War is still building between the families. I need to go back and reread these issues. It's been a while. Still good. Rucka is as good as ever. Fun story. Great world. Beautiful art. I have zero complaints about this book.

Pretty Deadly 3 and 4. Another book that will be better in its entirety. Although issue 4 was the best so far as it actually led somewhere. There was some actual development that will matter after this issue. It did feel like a lot of set up, but I wish that this is where we were after issue 2. I will be rereading this series before the next issue so I will get more in depth at that point. The art in the most recent issue took a slight step up. It's almost as if Emma Rios is getting more comfortable with the book. It's got water color style muted colors that tell the gruesome story in the best way.

Thor God of Thunder 16 and 17. The conclusion to the Accursed story. A less obvious touch on a fairly obvious twist made this not quite as good as the previous godbomb story, but it still ended fairly well. As usual the dark elves are predictable in their savagery and chaos-loving natures for a great twist which promises this won't be the last of Malekith. Very solid arc overall, probably a 8 of 10. I'm really looking forward to where the book is going.

Superman Unchained 5. Decent book, but incredibly well written. The whole story feels pretty familiar, even though I have nothing to really compare it to. Wraith is an enemy, then a friend, then he isn't, then he is, and then he fires all the nuclear missiles in the world. The flashback to the first time Clark fries is pretty sweet. It's a fun story, but not the best. I'll give it another issue or two but it's not lasting long.

Next up is Green Arrow 27. Part 1 of the Outsiders War. Decent issue. The art, as usual, is phenomenal. Not really sure how to explain it, but I'll try. Sorrentino uses smaller panels to draw emphasis on small detail or transition between bigger moments. It's amazing. Easily my favorite art of any book right now. Story wise, Oliver goes back to the island and Shado helps convince him that he was stranded there for a reason. The book ends with a pretty shocking twist. I'm kinda wary about it and am withholding judgement until I see how it plays out. I've liked Lemire's work all over the New 52 so far, so I'm hopeful. Great book. Looking forward to the rest of this story.

Velvet 3. My favorite new book from 2013. A great spy thriller set to beautiful art by Steve Epting and incredibly colored by Elizabeth Breitweiser. It's a dark gritty tale is matched by the smooth watercolored backgrounds and stunning art. This issue introduces you to a character you grow to admire in the 23 pages of this single issue. Great mystery and intrigue. The characters are great. It's like reading a James Bond movie if Bond were female. Fantastic all around. Can't wait for more.

Finally I got a few issues (35-37) of Sixth Gun. It's not my favorite story of the series, but it's still got the mysticism and action that usually comes with it. Bunn nails it with the story and Hurtt's art is still excellent. I'm with this book as long as they keep making it. So that catches us up from the holidays. I'm hoping to keep this going steadily and get more other blogging in, so keep the good vibes heading this way.

Bi-Weekly Pull List November Part 1

Several books over the first two weeks of November, and they're most of my favorites. All from the big two though. Over in Marvel I picked up a pair of books by Jason Aaron. The exquisite Thor: God of Thunder 15. This book takes the League of Realms through Alfheim and Jotunheim chasing Malekith and his band of dark elves. There is drinking, merriment, epic battles, and all around goodness. Aaron does great work exploring the worlds and showing Thor and his group. It's a whole bunch of fun and Garney's art helps portray the joyous, yet serious mood of this issue. This is still one of my favorite books ever! 5 out of 5.

Next up, I picked up Amazing X-Men 1. A book coming off the Battle of the Atom story and heading in a nice direction. Nightcrawler is sitting on the edge of paradise (read heaven) when Azazel and his little red BAMFs show up and they have a little showdown. Back in Westchester, Firestar shows up at the Jean Grey school for her first day of teaching. After a busy, busy day the teachers discover a portal inside a wall where a bunch of other BAMFs are hanging out. The discovery leads to Wolverine and Northstar being sucked in to warp them to paradise where they run into a giant pirate ship. Not a whole lot of interesting stuff here. But the promise of seeing Nightcrawler being a badass. It promises to be an epic series for sure. 4 out of 5.

Now over to DC. We've got Superman Unchained 4. This book is pretty good. Seperman teams up with knock off Superman. It's fun and there's a lot of solid action. Not much to say about it, but I like it and am in for the long run (even the short run if the rumors be true). 3 of 5.

Justice League of America 9 follows the Martian Manhunter and Stargirl as they go through the prison to find the others. Stargirl catches up with J'onn as he faces off with himself then they escape, only to be met by Deathstroke and several other villains. And oh yeah... the Manhunter is in Stargirl's head. Alright story. Great art. Fun book. Hope it goes well. 3 of 5.

Lastly, I've got Green Arrow 25. This book has the Zero Year tag on it. It takes place as Oliver returns to Seattle. Mrs. Queen has gone to Gotham to help those in need, accompanied by none other than John Diggle straight from CW's Arrow!! She gets attacked when Batman steps in. As he's about to lose, Green Arrow shows up. As always, Sorrentino's art is phenomenal and stylistically awesome. Great issue and a solid book all around. 5 of 5.

Weekly Pull List 10-16-13

Had a well-balanced, light week this week at the comic shop. First off I got Justice League of America 8. While it is a Forever Evil tie-in (and first of the 4-part arc in the book.) it was interesting enough to hold my focus. It follows the Martian Manhunter and Stargirl as Manhunter infiltrates what turns out to be a high tech prison holding the Justice League members. The book ends as Stargirl finds a way to escape! Into a world with a blackened sky and a burning US capitol. A well written issue. Matt Kindt knows how to use the Martian Manhunter character. Interesting set up and I love that I don't have to be reading the Forever Evil main series to follow it. I hope the JLA books continue in that vein. 

In the Marvel Universe I picked up Battle of the Atom Chapter 8 in Uncanny X-Men 13. Interestingly, when I put away my large stack of comics, I realized I never picked up part 4 so it's on order. This issue is a strange one. I don't really know what happens other than people fighting. They try to send the past X-Men back, but can't for some reason, so they test the time machine. It's odd. Not sure what's going to happen, but I'm hoping it'll pick up. With only 2 issues left, we shall see what goes on. 

Monthly Pull List September

Late again, but I've been adjusting back to working days again and no other real reason besides laziness. Let's start up with Lazarus 4. The plot thickens as Forever recovers from the bomb and heads to the Sequoia Compound to get checked out. Throughout the book we see two stories in parallel. One story follows Forever's fight of the troops trying to finish the job. Back in Sequoia we see Mason and Johanna plotting and setting Jonah up as the scapegoat. Still a great book! I love every minute of it. Rucka does fantastic work writing and his world is visualized beautifully by Lark's artwork. The only downside is that the story is unravelling too slowly in single issue form. Can't wait for the full story. 5 out of 5.

Thor God of Thunder 13 - Thor and friends are having a feast when it is interrupted when a visiting dark elf feels a "disturbance in the force" as Malekith the accursed is rescued from his prison. They go to investigate and a scuffle ensues until Thor uses his lightning and Mjolnir to cauterize an elf's wound. Great story, but it worries me when they do a story to specifically to tie in with something else, i.e. Thor 2 comes out in a month, and it has Malekith as the bad guy. That mild annoyance aside, this story looks to be good and I trust Jason Aaron to do good work.

Continuing the Battle of the Atom story we have Wolverine and the X-Men 36 and All New X-Men 17. More time travel and epic storytelling reveals that the future X-Men team are not actually the good guys. We also learn that they come from a future where a mutant was elected president and shortly assassinated, which drove the team a little nuts. We still know very little about why what's happening is going down. Past Beast, Ice Man, and Illyana Rasputin head to the future to find out that stuff out and to bring back future Colossus and others. Pretty sweet book that's more intriguing about its future than the quality of the book. 3.5 of 5.

Now to the land of DC! Teen Titans 23.2: Deathstroke 1. This issue follows Slade Wilson's long time rivalry with Deathblow as well as exploring his past with his son and introducing his daughter just a bit. It seems to be a recap of his same history as before the New 52. It doesn't seem to be updated at all, but it does work as a nice recap. Good issue if you like Deathstroke or need a brief recap then it really works. I don't think it's an overwhelmingly good issue, but it serves its purpose. 3 out of 5.

Justice League America 7.3 - Shadow Thief 1. This is a character I'd never even heard of but seemed interesting. When I read it, I was hooked. The origin's a bit cliched with a science experiment gone wrong, but also includes a suit that allows our protagonist the ability to pass through shadows. Aviva Metula is ex-Mossad, and now runs around killing aliens as they were behind the explosion that killed her parents. Tom DeFalco does well with the story and dialogue and Chad Hardin's art does what it needs to to keep the story going. 3.5 out of 5.

Green Arrow 24 - After a brief recap, we see that Oliver can no longer shoot straight as he's still being affected by Count Vertigo, who has followed him back to Seattle. Shado knocks out Oliver to go take out Vertigo by herself. She gets taken out by Komodo who doesn't want Vertigo's chaos to be stopped. Arrow wakes up and goes to find the Count. Since Oliver has been affected by the vertigo attack for a few days, he is able to find a pattern in his attack and take him out, including ripping out the device that shoots out the vertigo waves. Then finally we see the reveal of a man who has a score to settle with the dragon. And Diggle is introduced to the comics. Again, the comics are reflecting the TV show. I'm pretty okay with this though, as Diggle is a fantastic character in the show. This issue is great and has excellent set up for the three dragons story which should be coming up. As usual Andrea Sorrentino's artwork is incredibly complex and super cool. 5 out of 5.

Last up is The Sixth Gun 34 - Becky is still trapped in her dream realm, managing to kill her pursuers using the guns in the dream. She comes across a withered old body of Drake in a cage in her dream and is able to communicate with him outside of the dream. It's so cool! He tells her to ditch the sixth gun and runs through several worlds until she ends up at one where another Becky is married to what looks like another version of Kirby Hale, another of her cohorts, and has 2 kids. Still amazing. Favorite book every month. Can't wait for more. 5 out of 5.

Weekly Pull List 8-14-13

And we're back to talk about the comics I picked up this week. A little bigger week than last week. Wait, what's that? There's no post for last week? Well I suppose it will be an extra long post since I need to catch up.

Let's start with Green Arrow 23 - We catch up with Ollie and Shado as they work on escaping Count Vertigo and his mountain lair. There's some really cool action sequences and I really like how the book portrays Vertigo as a hapless, amateur of a villain. We first see him undergoing brain surgery to fix the damage done to him and his vertigo device last issue. There's a fantastic flashback sequence that is drawn as if on old parchment in shadowy silhouettes. It's beautiful and some of the best comic art I've seen. The comic ends with the pair driving away then a tease of a new villain, Richard Dragon, arriving to take over Seattle. Fantastic issue! I love the new take on Vertigo, the art is incredibly awesome, and the tease is quite intriguing. They wrapped up the Vertigo arc a bit quickly but they really set him up to get better and be a classic nemesis to Green Arrow. 5 out of 5.

Helheim 6 - This wraps up the first story starring the undead Rikard. He confronts the second witch and his new companion manages to kill her as she tries to get away. The witch's dark magic pulls many dead souls out of the Helheim that is the undead Rikard and in a moment of clarity he has Rikard's father behead the monster. The book again ends with a tease of the young girl walking through the empty village and into a cabin where Rikard's body is being sewn back up by some demonic looking characters. This book's pacing has been very odd throughout. The first couple issues seemed slow and thepace has been quickening until this book where it went way to fast. I wish this had been an 8-10 issue arc or just start a bit later in the story and skim over the content of the first issues in flashback. Still a solid book that has lots of intriguing magic and mystical forces in it. At least it leaves me excited for some more Rikard stories. 3 out of 5.

Trinity of Sin: Phantom Stranger 11 - This is an odd book where Phantom Stranger has taken Batman, Deadman, and Katana into "Heaven's Basement" in order to talk to Dr. Light to get some clues on his killer. Naturally he doesn't really know anything and in bringing them there, the Stranger has broken a promise so he apparently killed by an angel. As a Trinity War Tie-In this book works in that it's not necessary to the overall story. On the other hand, it's superfluous. The characters know nothing more after this issue than they did before. The dialogue is pretty good and the art works well for the world of "heaven's basement." 2 out of 5.

Now onto this week: We get part 4 of Trinity War in Justice League of America 7. Pandora visits Lex Luthor to see if he can open the box, Martian Manhunter and a bunch of others find the Outsider and interrogate him, Catwoman and her team visit the House of Mystery and find Batman, Katana, and Deadman, and the book ends with Wonder Woman breaking in and grabbing Pandora's box before Lex can. Again this issue didn't do a whole lot to progress the story. I feel like most of it could have been told in 5 or 6 pages. Doug Mahnke's art is gorgeous and really saves the book from being boring. This story was apparently spoiled when Geoff Johns announced the next event in DC, but I have managed to avoid that spoiler so far. Anyways, 3 out of 5.

Constantine 6 - Following the Trinity War Tie-In last month, Constantine is nearly dead and in the astral plane fighting Chris who has been waiting in the Astral Plane for a time to kill Constantine. There's a new cult led by Tannarak who is out to get something from Constantine and while he's distracted with being MOSTLY dead, Tannarak is able to find Constantine's place and raid it of some artifacts. Fun book. Not entirely sure what's going on, but I am definitely interested in the next few issues.  3 out of 5.

Thor: God of Thunder 11 - The conclusion of the Godbomb story picks up as the bomb is exploding and all the gods throughout time begin to die at once. Thor grabs hold of the 2 Mjolnirs and tries to take the bomb into himself to save the rest of the gods. All the other gods begin praying to Thor and give him enough strength to become the god of gods and survive the godbomb. Thor kills Gorr with his axe and they drink Mead. Thor takes some worldless gods to the world with no gods that he visited before to nicely wrap up the story. As I said before, I was getting a little tired of the Gorr story. This wrapped it up perfectly and was a great palate cleanser to get us to a new story next issue. Jason Aaron is a master story teller and brought out some fantastic story from Thors of three eras and will continue to kick some ass as the series goes. Great story, beautiful art, nigh perfect wrap up. 5 out of 5.

Weekly Pull List 7-17-13

Justice League of America 6 - Part 2 of the Trinity War. The fighting in Kahndaq continues until Superman tells them to stop and turns himself in. ONce in custody Superman is visited by Batman and Wonder Woman. A discussion of science vs. mythology ensues and is followed by Diana going to talk to Hephaestus and then when science and mythology fail, she goes to find the Justice League Dark to see if magic would work better. The last page introduces us to the Question for the first time in the New 52 I believe. I am excited to see what happens with the Question as he's a pretty awesome detective character. Great moments are when Vibe totally takes out the Flash with a crazy sweet audio blast, and finding the Question. They do touch more on Superman being brainwashed which is a good thing. Solid issue, good writing, fun art, exciting set up. 3.5 out of 5.

Sonic Universe 54. In the penultimate issue of the Worlds Collide crossover. This issue is mostly a fight between Sonic and Mega Man and Metal Sonic and Bass. Great action sequences including a montage of them teaming up and using all of Mega Man's new weapons from the series. Pretty awesome. 4 out of 5.

Thor God of Thunder 10. Part Four of the Godbomb arc. Gorr has completed the godbomb and revels in his imminent victory when his wife calls him her god. With his vision of gods, Gorr doesn't like this and kills her. His son realizes this and decides to help the Thors earn their escape and regain their hammers (or axe in the case of young Thor). With weapons in tow they attack Gorr who is working on activating the godbomb. Again a very nice issue. It's a little weird when the other gods refer to them as a Thor, but mostly it's just a very fun ride with beautiful art and ends with the bomb going off in a glorious cliffhanger. Again, it you like Thor at all you should be picking up this book. At the very least in Trade. While I thoroughly enjoy what Jason Aaron is doing with this book, I am ready for the Gorr story to be done, which it is next issue according to the letters page. This just gets me even more excited for the coming issues. Another shout out to Esad Ribic and Ive Svorcina for the amazing pencils and extraordinarily beautiful colors respectively. 3.5 out of 5

Finally, and I mean that in every sense of the word, we get to Scarlet 7. In this issue we see Scarlet set up a rally as a distraction so she can break into the mayor's office and try to blackmail/threaten him into firing all of the cops who are corrupt in the city. This issue isn't great. It's a transition between parts of the story. Very much filler, but it makes for an interesting story. This series always leaves you wanting more which is due to Bendis being an epic writer. Maleev as usual brings out the story in a beautiful way with his gritty, rough art. The only real problem with this book is that the creators are so busy that this one takes too long between issues. While the book is always good, this one was not worth the long wait, unless the next few issues come out quickly. 3 out of 5.

Weekly Pull List 6-28-2013

Solid week this week as I start to prepare for the DC crossover of the summer, Trinity War. This story will cross the three Justice League books.

Let's start with Jusstice League 21. This is the finale of the Shazam backup storyline in the previous issues of Justice League. I am not a huge fan of the character so it wasn't great for me. It's very well written and the art is very solid. we see the introduction of the super-powered Batson family, as well as a super-powered tiger. Fantastic artwork and Geoff Johns' solid writing make it a solid book and if I cared about Shazam at all I would have enjoyed it more. 2.5 out of 5.

Next up is Justice League Dark 21. Again a wrap up to a story I haven't been following. It's a bunch of magical characters fighting Doctor Destiny. It was probably a good story guest starring the Swamp Thing and the wrap up is pretty good. Written by Jeff Lemire Ray Fawkes and art by Mikel Janin, the story was tight and crisp artwork really sold it. I enjoyed it although I would have liked it better had I read the full story, I imagine. The Flash makes an appearance as well zooming around the city and stopping other monsters. Without the cameos I would have enjoyed this much less as I have little background with most of the characters. Decent, but better with context. 3 out of 5.

Justice League of America 5 follows the JLA as they infiltrate the headquarters of the Secret Society as Catwoman has supposedly been killed. Alas! It was Martian Manhunter all along! Not a great reveal as I don't think anyone actually thought she was dead. This book actually serves as somewhat of a prelude to Trinity War as Steve Trevor and Amanda Waller discuss their team to see if they're ready to fight the Justice League. The wrap up of the Secret Society story works much better than the set up of the crossover. Not a great book, but it works all right for me. 3 out of 5.

Lazarus 1. The premiere issue of Greg Rucka's new story follows a dystopian future where wealth is power and power rests in a handful of families. They each have a superior family member called a Lazarus. The book opens with one such person, Forever Carlyle being shot dead. Then getting up and killing her assailants. It's incredibly intriguing and introduces us to a superbly built world where I am looking forward very much to exploring! There's hints of an undertone of family and love that I'm sure will be explored. Greg Rucka does fantastic work and the art by Lark is superb. Stylistic, yet beautiful and a very beautiful blue tinted palette. Three word review would be: Intriguing and Mysterious.
4.5 out of 5.

Weekly Pull List 5-29-2013

This week I only had 3 titles. I picked up Justice League 20 which actually came out last week, but I hadn't decided to continue with this story yet. But with the impending Trinity War crossover I think I'm going for it.

Anyways, Justice League 20 takes place immediately after issue 19 which followed last weeks Firestorm 20. It has the three newest members of the Justice League; Firestorm, The Atom, and Element Woman; facing off against Despero on the Watchtower (the Justice League's satellite fortress). They get taken out pretty quickly, but the day is saved when the Martian Manhunter shows up to take him out. It then reveals that the new Atom is a spy sent by the Justice League of America. The story wasn't as cool as I'd like, but it works great as a set up for the crossover. The artwork is pretty solid. It isn't overwhelmingly good. I mean it's good work, but like many artists I have problems with some of the faces in the issue. It doesn't hurt the book at all, just me wishing it could be better.

Next I got Justice League of America 4. This book follows the JLA as they go to infiltrate the secret society. This issue serves to move the plot forward while showing the creation of Dr. Light, and ends with the apparent death of Catwoman when she's shot in the head by the Joker. Again, a fill in issue that Johns writes superbly. The artwork is beautiful in the book and serves to build the tension and tell the story beautifully. Not much else to say other than looking forward to the crossover.

The last book I got this week was Sonic the Hedgehog 249. We pick up with Mega Man, Sonic, and friends battling their mechanized friends. They work together to release their friends and start going on the offensive. This story surely does not disappoint in any way. It may be cliche and rather predictable but it's just very pleasing to read. It's cute, nostalgia inducing, and a whole lot of sweet action.