Comic Book Round up for the week of 10/01/14 *New* edition

Hey all! Its Roundup time again and the word of the day is NEW everything is new this week!   There’s a new Captain America and a new Thor. There are  Lots of new comics and new story arc starting this week,  though we do have one ending, we have some new villains old stories  and some old heroes in new stories.  There’s new insight into the inner workings of Gotham’s academia and there’s new legends being created about some classic characters.  So what are you waiting for?  If there was ever at time to jump into this crazy world of comics this is it!  Remember if you’re interested in any of the stories here to yourself a favor and head over to  comixology.com or your local comic shop and pick up an issue. also a reminder that there may or may not be a roundup next week, it depends on how chaotic the next week is.

Captain America #25

4/5

*NF: 3

Captain America gathers several avenger members together to announce his new role in the Avengers and the new Captain America.  Well, Falcon is now cap, and cap is now oracle. I’m ok with this change, mostly since I know nothing is ever permanent in comics and, unlike Thor’s replacement, Sam is the natural pick for replacing cap. The writers did a lot of heavy lifting pre announcement to make sure the transition flowed as smoothly into the story as possible. I can believe that Cap has to be sidelined for the time being and that his best friend /sidekick would be who he wanted to take over.  Of course now we have this secret council that apparently boast a traitor to the avengers in its midst, my money’s on Hyperion or one of the other recently added avengers, or a Skrull, it could always be a Skrull.

Thor #01

3/5

NF: 3

Malekith has made a deal with the frost giants and leads an army upon Midgard.  I have a million questions about this new run of Thor but the only one that seems to matter right now is, why? Why is it so necessary to replace our Thor with this new female Thor?  There is no real reason why Thor even needed a replacement at all male or female and the mystery shrouding the whole thing just make the whole thing more frustrating.  Captain America did it right, it established a very real and logical reason why cap could not be cap issues ahead of Sam being announced so when it came time to announce his replacement it just proceeded down the logical conclusion of the new cap. This new Thor is just shoehorned in because of reasons that no one will find out until at least 4 months in.  I can think of anything other than “surprise your adopted!”  that fury could say that would make Thor “unworthy”    I’ll have to wait and see how the story progresses  since I feel like we already lost  a little of the fine caliber of storytelling that was in Thor god of thunder.

Legendary Star Lord #04

3/5

NF: 3

Starlord confront Thanos and Mr. Knife places his sinister plans in motion.   It’s an ok read but not a great one.   Its biggest problem is that it’s so 10^th grade reading level that it comes across as hokey and silly rather then interesting and exciting.  We get a few more insights into what went down in the cancer verse but no mention of Nova.  I want to like this boo,k but it’s just comes across too childish for my tastes but at the same time it does have a certain charm.   If you Really like Starlord or are feverishly following the “what happened in the cancer verse “ story then this isn't a bad pick up but if you’re looking for awesome space adventures or cosmic wars  then stick with Silver Surfer or the main GOG.

Guardian’s 3000 #01

4/5

NF: 3

The Original Guardians of the galaxy host a meeting of the most influential members of the cosmic universe.   This was actually a lot more fun then I was anticipating.  I’ve never been much of a fan of the original Guardians of the Galaxy but this comic was actually pretty fun and closer to the cosmic events of old then most of the current space stories running around right now.  But let’s take a head count  3000 year in the future Gladiator and Starlord are still around and kicking, The Kree are on their last legs and there’s not even a mentioning of the Skrull, some New alien that I've never heard of,  Annillus has somehow allowed one of his spawn to grow and take over the family business and finally this thing representing the hunger.  What’s the hunger I don’t…Oh Galactus, hunger, I get it, funny.

Silver Surfer #06

5/5

NF: 2

Silver Surfer and Dawn begin their journey through the cosmos but Surfer finds that traveling with a human might be more challenging than he expected.  I love this comic.  It never ceases to make me laugh, I love this infinitely powerful alien being that has seen stars born and planets die and yet he is completely bossed around by this rather unassuming young woman who simply takes all these things in stride.  The story isn’t complex but it’s very heartwarming and full of adventure and as surfer says at the end “it might not be perfect but some things are better than perfect”

Fantastic Four Annul #01

4/5

NF: 2

Susan Richards launches and all out war against Latveria in order to retrieve her daughter.   I like the concept of Sue being the aggressor and doom for once being the innocent party and actually the good guy in the story.  It’s a great set up to show how upside down the FF’s world has become and how far Sue has been pushed.  There’s also the tease that sue might not be quite acting like herself due possible outside interference we will have to see how that one goes.

Bucky Barnes winter solider #01

2/5

NF: 2

Bucky takes over Nick Fury’s job as man on the wall to protect earth from unknown invaders.   Is something happening?  I can’t tell?  I see text boxes some shadows and a heck of a lot of red and black but very few distinguishable shapes.  Now some people may praise this art style and call it artistic and innovative creating mood, and for a normal painting you might be right, but for a superhero comic book it tends to defeat the purpose of the story if you can’t actually see what’s going on. 

Death of wolverine #03

5/5

NF: 1

Wolverine and Kitty Pryde track down Ogun only to find out he’s been closer then they realized.  I’ve never heard of Ogun until this story but from what I’ve seen he’s a fun villain.  The story continues to feel like all those great Wolverine tales of old where Wolverine is almost like a wandering ronin trying to reclaim his honor by hunting down his oppressors.   The artwork is also rather spellbinding to look at and the images that are painted of the Japan are beautiful.

X-men #20

2/4

NF: 1

The X-men look through the ships security images to try and figure out what happened on bored.   Well were back to X-Men being dull and pointless again.   The story really just kind drags on with either things we already know or things that we still don’t understand with the end result just being a big yawn. I also really wish the artists would stop drawing Psyloke and Monet back to back as it’s hard enough to tell the two  apart.

Spiderman 2099 #04

3/5

NF: 1

Spiderman fights scorpion and the spider slayers.  The battle was fun but the story aspect was only ok.  It’s not that this was a terrible issue just that is was rather average and a little mediocre compared to previous issues.  Unfortunately there really isn’t much more to say about this issue hopefully it will pick back up next month.

Edge of the Spider-verse #04

4/5

NF: 2

This is the story of Patton Parnel who decides to use his new powers for a more sinister purpose.   Ok so what? Morlun is just dimension hopping eating “totems” arbitrarily?  I mean I fail to see how this is any different or anymore threatening then what he’s done in the past.   He’s been beaten by several heroes not just Spider-man but this time because she can pop through dimensions he’s supposed to be more formidable?  I don’t know, I guess I’ll just have to wait and see where this goes. I also have to point out that the tag in the beginning of these books says they will introduce us to  a new spider-man that plays a role in Spider-verse every issue, but if Morlun eats them all how are they playing a role? 

Swamp Thing #35

5/5

NF: 2

After his battle with the Wolf and Lady weeds Swamp Thing is visited by a most peculiar being.  Ok, I’m saying it here; Calculus is my new favorite antagonist.   The idea of sentient machines as a kingdom is a lot of fun, and done better then marvels machine gods, and the laid back, fast talking personality of calculus piles on to that fun and makes the book a very enjoyable read.  I look forwards to the inevitable conflict of life versus artificial life that’s sure to come in future issues.

Green Lantern #35

3/5

NF: 1

The green lantern corps locates the indviduals who have stolen Mogo and Saintwalkers rings and go to take them back.    Having Highfahter and the new gods be antagonists is honestly rather frustrating.  First off it really doesn’t make any sense as to why a group so against what Darkseid stands for would be so aggressive and cruel.    I’m also a little vexed about the lantern rings once again being useless against and enemy, it’s an old trick and it’s not interesting anymore, especially when there’s no logical reason why they wouldn’t work on the new Gods when they were pretty effective against Darkseid’s hordes.  This is the problem with new 52 is that they can even keep their new canon straight.

Detective Comics #35

5/5

NF: 3

Batman’s weekend excursion Is interrupted by a plane crashing into the airport carrying a deadly cargo.  I was unimpressed with the first few pages ready to write the comic off as just another batman comic were nothing very interesting happens, but then that plane crashed through airport and the whole story took a new turn add in a killer virus and a ticking clock  and my interest level spiked way up.  I loved the tightness and down to earth style of both the art and writing I really feel like I’m there in this airport watching batman and the police investigate the crash.

Grayson #03

3/5

NF: 1

Dick Grayson next mission it to take out and subdue a man with incredible revolver skills.  This was the best issue of the series so far, that said it still was only so interesting.  The shot between Dick and Old Gun were really nice and when Spiral handles the situation in a way Grayson doesn’t approve of it’s fun to see some of his façade break down and his righteous fury peak out a bit. And dang he really didn’t waste any time sleeping with the enemy. I’ll give this comic one more issue to give a reason to stay on but if it Grayson doesn’t pick up its story I’ll be dropping it’s book.

Green Arrow #35

3/5

NF: 2

Oliver begins his movement to start fixing up star city while also receiving a visit from two unlikely people.  First we got a brand new artist on bored so the book is now being drawn in a more typical comic book fashion instead of highly stylized artistic brush strokes, which I’m ok with.   Second nothing really happened in this book other then the writers trying to force characters to do things they normally wouldn’t do.  I mean the way Bruce Wayne acted in here is completely ridiculous especially the idea of partnering up with Luthor, I just don’t see it that ever happening.  Also worth mentioning is that diggle looks like Luke Cage now.

Wonder Woman #34

3/5

NF: 1

Wonder Woman is brought out of despair and continues her fight against the first born.  I still don’t like that WW’s comic has more of everyone else then it does Wonder Woman. Add In this whole ridiculous family lineage  they been pushing since the beginning and the comic ends up kind of dumb and draws too much attention away from who Wonder Woman who tends to be sub-cast in her own book.

Lobo #01

1/5

NF:2

Handsome Lobo kills traditional Lobo then ends up taking a job to take out the world’s worst assassins.  Ok, I gave this a shot just to see if maybe the Lobo we all know and love would get top billing, but nope just sexy lobo taking over. Seriously if the Main Man is not going to be Lobo then I have no interest in a lobo story.  Besides this book is pretty lame in its storytelling and is littered with hundreds of text boxes winch is a huge turn off so I’m not even going to wait three issues I’m dropping this book. No hold on dropping is to good for it I want it obliterated! 

There that's better!

Gotham academy #01

4/5

NF: 3

Olive Silverlock is attending Gotham Academy where she finds herself getting into all kinds of strange adventures.  I don’t know what to make of this but I think I like it. I mean it’s like this weird combo of Saved by the Bell, Harry Potter and *Adventures in Babysitting but all centered in Gotham City with the main character having some unknown personal connection to batman. Its very different comic for D.C and I’m curious to see where it goes.

Fairest #30

5/5

NF: 0

A glamour is stolen from the farm so Clara and the chief detective of the mounted mouse police set out to solve the mystery.  I always enjoy reading anything from the fables series.  The wit and craft of storytelling are so incredibly literary in speech and presence it easy to forget I’m reading a comic book and not a novel.   I’m very interested in seeing how this whole thing wraps up and what the final fate of our fairy tales companions will be.

Figment #05

4/5

NF: 1

Blair and his crew of misfits find themselves back in London only to discover the articulate army has taken control.  I loved this comic and the ending was just as satisfying as the whole journey.  It’s not super mature or super childish but just the right balance of storytelling to stay family friendly and in a world full of cynical writers and sadistic readers it’s nice to see a book that is simply and unashamedly positive.   The message to encourage kids to follow their dreams is one that has gotten drowned out in today’s society and many children grow up believing that they will never be able to be anything then what they are and that dreams are just that, dreams.   Figment takes that notion and completely dismantles it and shows that as figment says “sometimes a dream can be a dream come true”

The Woods #06

5/5

NF: 2

Calder’s back story is revealed and it seems that the woods continue to hold more mysteries and perils.    This was fantastic!  I really like the way the books have been focusing each issue on one of the kids and giving us their backstory adding a little humanity to each character so they’re not just meat to throw in a grinder but living and breathing people that we can connect to and feel for.  I’m also a big fan of finding out Doctor Robot is part of a more savage species then we originally thought.

The Names #02

5/5

NF: 2

Katya continues her search for her husband’s killer and is joined by her husband’s son from a previous marriage.   I really like this puzzle piece mystery we have going here as walker try’s to communicate to his wife from beyond the grave helping her to understand what exactly happened to him.  Plus were beginning to dance on the edge of fiction and science fiction which is always a ton a fun, throw in a psychotic surgical assassin and you’ve got fun book on your hands.

Sherlock Holmes vs. Harry Houdini #01

4/5

NF: 3

Houdini arrives in London for a show but the great Sherlock Holmes is there to reveal how it was done but when angry spritist  begins to murder people the two men must work together to find the killer.   Ok. Its official I am reading far too many comics.   Still I won’t lie this was entertaining and I want to read the rest of it, but that might having something to do with Sherlock Holmes teaming up with anybody especially historical figures , or batman that’s always a fun one to.   The book is standard crossover affair, no real surprises or unusual takes on the characters, well aside from the fact that Houdini was a real person and Holmes is not, so don’t go in looking for anything other than what’s promised.

Cutter #01

2/5

NF: 3

 A group of friends in  high school  did something terrible at prospect creek and now Emily Higgens the girl they tortured has come back from the  to seek her revenge.  Ehh, this wasn’t as good as I was hoping for  the idea is still interesting but the story is pretty rushed and poorly  constructed making it difficult at times  to figure out who exactly is who and why certain things are even happening.   The black and white panels try to add ambiance but in the end it feel more like a cover up for mediocre art work.

Since everything is so shiny and new on the blog today I thought it would be appropriate to make the pic of the week center on our new villain calculus!

The line he delivers here is so cryptic and sinister yet so very true it turns into a very powerful statement about our society.

*Newcomer friendliness.

* Ok you got me.  I've never seen Adventures in Babysitting but I bet it’s something like this.