Stuff I Read This Week Episode 8 or It's Time to Take Seth Rogen Off The Cross

East of West #1: I know that this blog finds me singing Jonathan Hickman's praises quite often, but he just won't stop earning it. This week in AWESOME sees us taking a look at his non-superhero work. This title puts Hickman's sci-fi skills to good use, blending equal parts fantasy, western, early American myth, biblical lore and cyberpunk to craft a story about the Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse awakening to a world that looks like half Sergio Leone/half Orson Scott Card seemingly in search of their fourth, shooting, stomping and maiming everything they come into contact with. He doesn't seem to be shy about letting you know right away that this is going to be a bloody ride with a ridiculously high body count. Although the action and the immersion into this new world and it's history leaves a small bit to be desired as far as story direction, we're left just enough of a sample to make us curious about where it's all headed.

You never know if you're going to see a saloon right out of Unforgiven or a towering behemoth of a skyscraper compound that looks right out of Star Trek. This new, strange world offers much to explore thanks to dazzling visuals compliments of Nick Dragotta. Anyone who is familiar with his work alongside Hickman on FF will be able to attest to his ability to leave you reading a book twice in one sitting just to go back and enjoy details and mannerisms you previously missed. And you certainly won't want to miss anything here.

Bottom Line: A strong, gorgeously rendered start to what looks like a promising sci-fi/fantasy tale. 8.5 out of 10

Green Hornet #1: I'm going to be the guy who says what nobody else wants to say. It's time to go ahead and forgive Seth Rogen. In fact, we should go ahead and thank him and his script being 100% awful. The Green Hornet movie sucked so badly, it's virtually faded from memory (now if only that same theory worked for pogs, Herman Cain and the Dallas Cowboys), meaning it's totally okay to start from scratch and reintroduce Batman's archetype with the action packed gusto he deserves. Mark Waid's work on Daredevil leaves him more than qualified to offer his take on the classic pulp hero, giving a proper introduction to new readers who were sound of mind and saved their money when the movie came out.

All You Need to Know: Britt Reid is a newspaper magnate who is secretly a vigilante masquerading as a criminal mastermind. Oh, and he has a sidekick named Kato with "a mastery of something called 'the martial arts'."

Make no mistake; this is a bare bones opening, giving us the basic premise as well as the cast of characters we're going to dealing, a crash course with which to navigate the gritty, noir world of 1930's Chicago. However, fans like myself will frown a bit at the fact that, aside from the twist ending, that's pretty much all we get. Despite a fun, well written (albeit slightly talky) adventure, there's not much you're left to wonder about if you're ever read, watched or listened to a standard Green Hornet adventure. It's a nice book to look at, too. Daniel Indro's dark, rough pencil work serves the tone of this story and its characters well. His facial expressions really come alive in dialogue heavy moments. Although some panels feel a little too scratchy at awkward times, it's still a good looking book nonetheless.

Bottom Line: An exposition heavy but fun jumping-on point to pull new readers into a classic character. 7.5 out of 10.



Fantastic Four #5AU: Since I'm not reviewing Marvel's big crossover title, Age of Ultron, this week, I decided to offer a look at one the tie-in issues. The great thing about this event is that it's so straight forward (an evil robot finally got smart enough to conquer/kill mankind), it doesn't require a lot of tie-in "community service" issues from other comics, subtracting from their respective plotlines to feed the ongoing event. However, Marvel is just greedy enough, they'd hang your baby kitten upside down and shake it if they thought there was money in it. So, of course, they're going to do tie-ins anyway. On the upside, the powers that be over at the house Stan Lee built have decided not uproot existing stories and, instead, just give us an "AU" issue in addition to the ongoing series that you don't necessarily have to read to keep up with your title.

Of course, if you're not already reading Age of Ultron, reading this book is going to be awkward for you. Although it's not a bad book, Matt Fraction would really rather not be telling this side-story (the main FF story is already awesome) and he doesn't seem to care who knows it. Basically, Reed Richard's children are left a holographic message that the gang had to go fight Ultron and they'll be back....perhaps. In keeping with Age of Ultron's opening survival aftermath theme of "Where Were You When the Evil Robot Came and Took Revenge For Not Being Pre-Programmed with Flash", we get scenes and flashbacks of Marvel's First Family joining the fight for mankind. There's not much left to the imagination plot wise. If you were already reading A of U, you know what's going on. If you weren't and you just investing in Fantastic Four...well...now you know. If nothing else, the book looks amazing. Andre Araujo's style has a catchy, old school look with a penchant for rounded, asymmetrical figures. The action looks urgent...especially where Ben Grimm's fight panels are concerned.

Bottom Line: It's not the most urgent book in the world to read, but it sure is pretty. 7 out of 10

Stuff I Read This Week Episode 7 or Finally, the Mainstream John Constantine We've All Been Waiting For....

Constantine #1: The sad fact about comic books is that no matter how well a hero works, how good the book is, how legendary and inspirational it can be.....nothing is sacred. This is especially true for DC Comics and their "New 52" reboot initiative. Part of DC's aim seems to be consolidating obscure or "outside" characters and properties into one universe. From what I can tell, it's been mainly an unequivocal failure (looking at you, Static, Grifter, Stormwatch) for reasons I'll be outlining in another post. The solo introduction of John Constantine isn't a complete bomb, but it's not quite the success it should be either.

For those of you that have never followed this character in Hellblazer, it's basically the story of a cynical, profanity laced occult detective conning his way through the supernatural underworld. And now he's being introduced into a world of superheroes. Great. Jeff Lemire does a serviceable job of not only conveying the basics we need to know about our hero, but using him and the less intriguing people (and other creatures) he's surrounded by to convey a general idea about the world of magic: It comes with a dark price. Just ask whoever keeps doing that to Lil Kim's face.

Although the overall theme is well conveyed and Constantine gets a decent introduction, everything else....like the plot....seems to fall to the wayside. Honestly, I couldn't tell you what happened in that book without looking at a spoiler blog. And the things I do remember advancing the story just didn't intrigue me on any level whatsoever. Shit happened.

Renato Guedes offered some pretty good artwork with cool designs for all of the magical effects, really making the few moments of gore stand out. The baddies, one of which looks like a "demon hipster chick" from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, are a particularly fun kind of creepy to look at. Now, if only they actually served some memorable purpose.

Bottom Line: Great designs, a fun lead and an interesting theme. Oh, yeah....and there was a story somewhere in there. 6.5 out of 10

New Avengers #4: So, this part of the Avengers franchise is where we're given the "shit just got real" premise. Jonathan Hickman brings his classic sci-fi influence to the "Illuminati", a think tank consisting of the most influential members of the superhero community who gather in secret and make all the "hard choices." In addition to being my theory on how Channing Tatum keeps getting work, it's the scenario we're used to superheroes convincing the status quo doesn't actually happen. Hickman's tension-building and characterization is tight to say the least. We get a truly resonant moment with Doctor Strange that shows what kind of individual it takes to be as powerful as him (let's face it....he's one of the most powerful and most underrated characters in Marvel Comics) and, ultimately, what this book is supposed to be about.

Steve Epting brings his "A" game to this title's art once again, perfectly portraying the constant sense of urgency delivered by Hickman's premise: "The universe is ending....somehow." He also does a great job of portraying what kind of smug douchebag the Sub Mariner is even when the whole of creation is on the brink of going the way of the dinosaurs....or season two of Heroes.

Bottom Line: Top shelf storytelling and visceral artwork makes this book twice the treasure it was in the last issue. 9.5 out of 10



Justice League of America #2: I'm convinced that some comic review sites out there are smoking crack (I'm looking at you, IGN). It's either that or perhaps their being punked, receiving issues of Daredevil: End of Days with the cover from the latest issue of Justice League of America taped on them. It's the only feasible way this book could possibly be receiving the high marks it's been getting. For those of who've been out of the loop concerning this book (as you should be), this is the story of a superhero team assembled to upstage the Justice League and, if they ever get out of hand, take them out. Because if Superman ever decides to enslave humanity, it's good to know Catwoman and the muslim Green Lantern (wherever the fuck he came from) have got our backs.



Geoff Johns is doing everything he can to make this revamped regurgitation of the excommunicated Justice League International premise bearable. He's not succeeding, but he hasn't completely failed either. This issue sees our heroes finally getting acquainted and deployed to take on the Secret Society who may not be who the team expects but totally what anyone who has ever read comics expects. In a thirty page book are exactly three positive points that altogether take up three or four pages:

-Amanda Waller is basically being set up to be DC's version of the Nick Fury characterization: "Suck it up and do your job....even though I'm probably lying to you."

-Stargirl might be the first character in the whole New 52 reboot I've seen smile.

-We get a brief but hilarious exchange from Vibe and Hawkman meeting for the first time.

And that's about it. I really want to like David Finch's artwork, but he and Jim Lee are the embodiments of one of the principal problems with this entire reboot initiative. Just look at the cover. With the exception of Stargirl, nobody ever smiles. Nobody's happy about anything. Ever. Everybody's either indifferent or pissed off like they just heard that there's going to be another Transformers movie. Oh, and no matter the book, the emotion or situation, Catwoman is the Megan Fox of comic books: she's only ever allowed to pout and that's probably because she has a chest cold. I mean, look....how could her chest NOT be cold?

Bottom Line: There's literally one entertaining page in this book. Maybe two. Google them. It's free. Since I was nice enough to give the first issue a four..... 3 out of 10.

Stuff I Read This Week Episode 6 or Marvel Needs to Hurry Up With Some "Cyclops Was Right" Shirts....

Uncanny X-Men #3:

"Scott Summers, you murdered Charles Xavier right in front of us. And thank you for putting a big X on your head for me to aim at."

I haven't been this interested in the X-books in quite some time. The identity of each title is becoming clear. With the mutant community's post "A vs. X" disarray, All New X-Men is a quirky look at the core team finding a way to cope with the rift caused by Cyclops killing Charles Xavier. "Uncanny" focuses on Scott Summers, now a self proclaimed Che Guevara leading a revolution team who recruits, protects and trains new mutants for what he perceives to be an impending war on his quickly blossoming race. The latest issue gives us the inevitable stare down between the renegade X-Men and the Avengers, resulting in an epic monologue/speech from Cyclops just when I was beginning to miss him chastising classic Marvel characters. I'll admit it is a bit heavy on exposition which is a common occurrence with Bendis books and there's a flashback moment I found sort of unnecessary, but aside from that, this was a solid issue for story development

I'm a fan of Chris Bachalo's artwork although he doesn't have the most diverse color palette when it comes to different races. He seems to be great at really making action panels jump out at the reader. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough action in this issue for him to truly shine. Still, the visual pop enough here to keep your eyes entertained.

Let me also say that I didn't expect Cyclops' new uniform to be so goddamned awesome. After the luster of the movies wore off, the design of a lot of the team's (in most incarnations) uniforms were geared toward being more superhero like, getting away from looking like the Black Panther Party making a cameo appearance in Saturday Night Fever. Even though, I enjoyed the updated version of his "original" outfit from his early years, if anyone needed and upgrade it was Scott Summers. Although I could see where the huge X might raise some eyebrows, think about it. As far as strategy goes, Cyclops is the Batman of the Marvel universe. Being in a holographic classroom designed to kick his ass, training to defend himself against giant killer robots since before he was old enough to shave is pretty badass. And now in addition to being an epic asshole, he's a revolutionary with a target on his back. What would an asshole revolutionary do? He'd put the target right on his head because he has every confidence there's no fucking chance of you hitting it. It's the ultimate "come and get me."

Bottom Line: Art and scripting are up to par enough to make this alpha male pissing contest between Captain America and Cyclops and enjoyable addition to this series. 8 out of 10.



Wolverine #1: "Tell Max I'm coming for the Wolverine uniform I keep behind the bar."

 I'm just going to say the obvious thing. Wolverine has too many damn titles out. And seemingly for no reason. The Savage Wolverine is basically the "Wolverine Stabs Dinosaurs." Wolverine and the X-Men is "Stabby Man and his Non Stabby Friends." And now we have this title in which, from what I can tell, we get a look at what Logan does when he's not stabbing things in the jungle or at mutant school. Paul Cornell throws us right into the middle of the action with a seemingly desperate hostage situation. The tension is there, the dialogue is on point, and even Alan Davis' pencils are absolutely beautiful, but at the end of the day, it still seems to come down this being a story thus far that should be titled "Someone Get Me My Suit....I Have to Stab Something." It just came down to....eh.

Bottom Line: Another title of Wolverine in the urban jungle looking to stab something. Very pretty, though. 6 out of 10.



Age of Ultron #2: "So, the end of the world actually happened and I slept through it? How much more me could I possibly be?"

Brian Michael Bendis opened this crossover event strong in the first issue and, although the tone shifted just slightly, he has yet to lose steam. This is definitely taking a slightly different tact than prevous Marvel events. Secret Invasion and Siege didn't use their quarterback writer correctly, going for the 50 yard touchdown pass instead of taking time with a good running drive down the field. It seems like it's doing a better job of exploiting what Bendis is best at: character development, dialogue and subtle yet rising tension. This reads less like a superhero epic and more like a "Where were you when the evil robot skull fucked the world?" disaster aftermath event.

This installment gives us some insight into where (as teased on the cover) the Black Widow and Moon Knight ended up in this post apocalyptic cyberpunk wonderland as well as how Spider Man ended up in the dire straits we found him in last issue. We don't get quite as much action as we did in the first issue we get enough movement in the story that it seems an adequate trade off. In his own way, Bendis like building epic story arcs that interchange action for exposition from issue to issue. For some readers picking comics upon release expecting their socks knocked off, this can be aggravating, but ultimately makes for a compelling story in the long run. Bryan Hitch is still no slouch in the art department. You can get lost for hours in the environments he creates, very reminiscent of Moebius' old work.

Bottom Line: Another awesome chapter in what looks to be a breath of fresh air for those tired to the usual crossover. 8.5 out of 10

Stuff I Read This Week Episode 5 or Evil Robots and the Fanboys Who Love Them....

Age of Ultron #1: Although I've never really liked Ultron, I have to respect a determined, goal-oriented supervillain who knows what they want. He's cold, calculating android. He wants to enslave and/or destroy humanity. More or less, he's the worse case scenario of "I'm sorry. I can't do that, Dave." He's a lot like a couple of my exes, actually. He's also perfect since Marvel was due for a new bloated crossover event for us to get behind and they wanted to bring us a villain we haven't seen truly shine in a while (Kobe Bryant was busy).

In this first installment Brian Michael Bendis throws us head first into the post apocalyptic war zone, not bothering to catch us up on how Ultron managed to throw the set pieces from Blade Runner right on top of New York and conquer the world. This is awesome and bizarre all at once, considering at least half the point of Marvel NOW is to reel in new readers (presumably the movie audiences). Current fans will feel right at home, seeing the state of some of their favorite characters. First timers might feel like they're playing catch up despite the right-to-the-point synopsis offered on the first page.

While actual storyline progression is light, we get some quality action and a pretty good idea of the desperate emotional state most of our characters are in. Bendis is fond of getting his readers' attention before giving up backstory, so it's safe to expect a bit more context in issues to come. Bryan Hitch's pencils are every bit the top notch work fans of his work on the Ultimates and The Authority have come to expect. His vast landscapes portraying the battle-scarred, techno wasteland that was once New York City are gorgeous. The two page splashes for action beats are more than enough to consider your money well spent.

Bottom Line: A vague yet action packed, engaging opening to what could be a strong crossover title. 8 out of 10.


Avengers #7: It seems Marvel has adopted the idea that, being the flagship franchise, the Avengers books should offer different things for different readers. Whereas Uncanny Avengers, gives us more of the slugfests we're used to thus far, this title seems to offer conflict of an epic yet cerebral scale. With a writer like Jonathan Hickman on board, the world isn't ending...."the universe is broken." The heroes don't jump out of their jet guns blazing. They ponder, plan, prepare and react. In this book, existence is definitely in some unknown peril and, in this issue, the Avengers are....well, talking about it. Hickman is clearly fond of classic sci-fi lore from the likes of Orson Scott Card and Isaac Asimov, masters of crafting epic adventures with characters as vehicles for grand scheme events. Some comic fans might be harder to sell on that than others. For readers who are used to their heroes seeing a bad guy and solving the problem by punching him in the face, this book might not be their cup of tea right away.



Dustin Weaver's pencils are lovely. The scenes are consistent and coherent, making Hickman's story easy to digest. His everyday citizens don't exactly jump off the page, but the renderings of Captain America and Iron Man stand out in particular. Hopefully we get to see how they look when they're in action.

Bottom Line: Despite a glut of exposition that may turn some readers off, this is a strong, good looking book that is worth keeping up with if you enjoy story over instant gratification. 7.5 out of 10

All New X-Men #8: This book is still in winning form with the X-Men teaming up alongside their young counterparts. The original five are still finding their bearings, coming to grips with the state of mutant affairs in the present day. And they are still not liking the things life is showing them. This is focuses mainly on young Angel trying to figure out what's happened to old Angel. Bendis handles the awkwardness between the idealistic naivete of teenage Warren Worthington and his older self's (let's face it) crazy humorously while staying true to the character. Not only should Bendis be writing ALL of the X-books, but after reading a hilarious exchange between Iceman and Shadowcat, Kitty Pryde is long overdue for her own solo title. While the head this whole story should be building towards is coming slowly which tends to be a frequent worry when writing a Bendis title. However, the journey is so good, you almost forget about the destination. David Marquez's pencils are incredible. His characters really know how to emote during dialogue panels and the aerial combat scenes are awesome although, at times, it's easy for his characters to get lost in the backgrounds.

Bottom Line: Another gorgeous addition to this already fantastic X-saga. Hopefully, it's going somewhere soon. 8 out of 10.

Stuff I Read This Week Episode 4 or Superheroes Treat Mind Control Like a Preexisting Condition

Uncanny Avengers #4: When I started reading the Marvel NOW titles, the one that caught my eye first was this Rick Remender/John Cassaday cross pollination of two superhero teams that, until recently, had been in notoriously separate corners of the same universe. How could you NOT be excited about this? You take a few upper echelon Avengers, some X-Men that could do for an upgrade, throw in Wolverine (because it isn't a Marvel team without Wolverine) and you get a potentially awesome premise. Thus far, this series has yet to disappoint me. Issue 3 left off with the Red Skull, who stole Charles Xavier's brain, using the dead mutant's psychic powers to turn New York murderous. It's just kooky enough of a conflict and just enough of a kooky villain to be a strong start for this title. We see an unlikely faceoff between team members is going to bring both joy and nerd rage to fanboys, surely sparking "who would win" debates for a while. This does present a issue for me about "brainwashed friend" subplots.

Has anyone ever noticed how little teammates do to save friends suffering from mind control? It could just be me, but this issue of UA saw the team do almost nothing to save their friend. In fact, it seemed very much like it didn't take much before they started regarding him as another villain. Still, this doesn't take much away from the progression of the story. Remender is still getting his bearings with the voice he wants for this book, but he's doing a good job while he does. John Cassaday is at the top of his game with his brilliant pencils, perfectly capturing an amazing page that gives a not so subtle nod to Days of Future Past and an ending that can only be described as "What the Fuck?"

Bottom Line: Despite a couple of clumsy scripting moments and talky narration, this book's strong plot, gorgeous visuals, well written characters and sneak attack ending make for an enjoyable read. 7.5 out of 10


Batman Incorporated #8: Well, it's about that time of year. The tides are just right. The stars are aligned. Some planet's in retrograde. It's time for a "major" Batman character to die. I wanted to try not to give away spoilers, however DC has made that impossible with not only putting said character on the cover with a big "RIP" at the bottom of the page, but the endless ads in an attempt to rope first time readers.

This issue sees the return of Damian Wayne to the fight for Gotham as the city is overrun by Leviathan. Morrison gives plenty of leeway for Batman's douchbag son to steal the show with a really fun script that does an adequate job of trying to take our minds off of the fact that we all already know where this is going. The action reminds us of how good Damien and Dick Grayson work together. Meanwhile, the Bat himself spends most of this book at the mercy of his lover/nemesis, Talia, who is fleshed out a small bit as a villain in a refreshing manner. Chris Burnham and Jason Masters' pencils do a pretty good job of creating a feel that doesn't come across with a typical superhero feel yet still manages to be exciting, stepping up to compliment Morrison's scripting.

As for the ending, it's hard to say whether or not it was a necessary event. I have a feeling it's going to be one of those comic book moments that we look back on after all the fallout being undone and realize that it was completely unnecessary....like Marvel's Civil War.

Bottom Line: A fun, well scripted, tightly penciled lead into a questionable comic moment that may or may not matter in Bat-mythos to come. 8.5 out of 10