ON THE SHELF THIS WEEK
by Craig Reade

DC COMICS
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52 WEEK #42, $2.50, 32 Pages. Written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid; Breakdowns by Keith Giffen; Art by Chris Batista and Rodney Ramos; Pat Olliffe and Drew Geraci, Joe Bennett and others. Just when things started to be picking up, last issue seemed like another pacing issue
- definitely not what we needed right now. Makes them tacking on an extra 4 issue WWIII event seem all the more fishy…

AQUAMAN SWORD OF ATLANTIS #49, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Kurt Busiek; Art by Ricardo Villagran. Busiek’s last issue – and much like his departure from Conan, this departure is going to make fans of the current Aquaman a little bit nervous. Hopefully Tad Williams has huge feet….

BIRDS OF PREY #103, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Gail Simone, Art by Nicola Scott and Doug Hazlewood. Maybe it is just a rocky start, but I am just not buying this conflict between Lois and Barbara. Not that I put it past Barbara at all – but this seems really out of character for Lois, no matter how aggressive a reporter she might be. Still a pretty good read, just a strange bit of conflict that didn’t quite sit right. Things should shape up this issue… Also Available: BIRDS OF PREY PERFECT PITCH TP, $17.99, 224 Pages. Written by Gail Simone; Art by Joe Bennett, Paulo Siqueira and Various. Collects Birds of Prey #86-90, and 92-95.

CATWOMAN #64, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Will Pfeifer; Art by David Lopez and Alvaro Lopez. There is just something about Pfeifer’s style on a title like this that is really enjoyable. Everything seems so basic at first, but it is such a pleasure to read that you don’t even notice how intricate things suddenly become. It is really tough to describe, but he definitely has a flavor all his own that just works with certain titles.

CHECKMATE #11, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Greg Rucka, Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir. Rucka is enjoyable on this title, but Weir and DeFilippis would also be awesome on an ongoing basis… this arc is nothing but a tease! This title continues to be surprisingly good – hopefully that continues for this short two-issue arc which features guest art and some writing. CHECKMATE VOL 1 A KINGS GAME TP, $14.99, 168 Pages. Written by Greg Rucka; Art and cover by Jesus Saiz. Collects Checkmate #1-7.

ION #11 (OF 12), $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Ron Marz; Art by Greg Tocchini and Jay Leisten. Already almost over – man how time does fly. Kyle Rayner fans got a year reprieve – Hal Jordan’s return had many fearing that Rayner would fade into oblivion. Naturally, those fears are starting to return now that Ion is coming to an end. With Guy pretty firmly entrenched as the star of Green Lantern Corps, and Hal’s dominance of the Green Lantern book, you have to wonder where they could use Kyle – hopefully something comes about real soon. Hate to see such a good character vanish.

OMEGA MEN #5 (OF 6), $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Andersen Gabrych; Art and cover by Henry Flint. While not as terrible as some might have expected, this series does suffer a bit when stacked up against the cosmic powerhouse that was Annihilation. Perhaps this group just isn’t suited for Main Event status, and the editors at DC should keep this group as supporting characters who just pop up from time to time?

ROBIN #159, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Adam Beechen; Art by Freddie E Williams II. Not sure if Williams is actually doing the art for this issue – he was billed as the artist for the last issue as well, but Frazer Irving did the job. In any case, the best that can be said about Robin is that Willingham continues to be sorely missed. It has been a rough time for this book.

SHADOWPACT #10, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Bill Willingham; Art and cover by Tom Derenick and Wayne Faucher. This title has finally settled down to be an enjoyable read, though it still suffers a bit artistically. The art isn’t so much bad as the art for Day of Vengeance was just so good – it has been about a year and the step down is still being felt. Clearly an example of expectations being too high. This book continues to improve, so hopefully it won’t be too long before that one little nitpick can be forgotten.

SUPERMAN #659, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza; Art by Carlos Pacheco, Peter Vale, and Jesus Merino. Last issue fast forwarded things – this issue rewinds, taking us back to Superman’s early days in Metropolis. Superman fans seem to be enjoying recent stories, though I am forced to wonder why contemporary Superman stories are so hard to come by – it seems like the most interesting and often used story devices are set in a different time. Perhaps this really is a character who’s best times are behind us? Still iconic of course, but if there really is ground left to cover, why is the focus so often on his early days?

TEEN TITANS TITANS AROUND THE WORLD TP, $14.99, 192 Pages. Written by Geoff Johns; Art and cover by Tony Daniel and Sandra Hope . Kind of interesting to note that so far, the trades due out this week haven’t followed the standard 144 Page – 6 issue collections. That is kind of refreshing. Perhaps a sign that the tired convention of rigid six-issue arcs is behind us? We can hope. This trade collects the post-Infinite Crisis issues #34-41 featuring a new team and the start of the Titans East story. Teen Titans started to improve again during this period, so the trade may be one to check out if you haven’t picked up the title in a while.

WONDER WOMAN #4, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Allan Heinberg; Art and Cover by Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson. Knowing that Heinberg’s time on Wonder Woman is going to be brief indeed, soon to make way for novelist Jodi Picoult, who will in turn guide this title towards the Amazon War event, it suddenly already feels like it is treading water. The switch might be a blessing for those who really want to read a Wonder Woman monthly – issue #3 came out three months ago, itself late – the delays are causing the title to suffer a bit. Wonder if DC maybe wishes they could have a do-over on this one.

VERTIGO

HELLBLAZER #229, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Mike Carey; Art by John Paul Leon. A stand-alone issue in preparation for Diggle and Manco’s arrival next month. Considering how many Losers fans are apt to try out Hellblazer for the first time once Diggle comes aboard, a decent stand-alone issue to introduce the character is a really good idea. If you are planning on picking up Hellblazer for the first time next month, you should consider moving up your plans this week. This issue should help ease you into a title that is traditionally difficult for the new reader.

WILDSTORM

EX MACHINA INSIDE THE MACHINE, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Brian K. Vaughan; Art and cover by Tony Harris. They say that new readers will get a lot out of this, but these handbook-type things are really best suited for those who are fans of a series. If you are the latter, you will definitely want to pick this up. You will get the standard “behind the scenes” fare – sketch pages, new art, profiles, scripts – the works. A nice bonus to add to your run.

RED MENACE #4 (OF 6), $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Danny Bilson, Paul DeMeo and Adam Brody; Art by Jerry Ordway and Al Vey. Just past the halfway mark on this series, and the best way to describe it is – generic. It is a really, really tired concept, executed to give off that “deeply important” feeling. For what it is, it is executed well. There is just nothing at all new here.

IMAGE
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NOBLE CAUSES #27, $3.50, 32 Pages. Written by Jay Faerber, Art by Yildiray Cinar. A new artist – you know, that might not be such a bad thing. The art has been a bit chaotic of late, and considering the sheer number of characters, it is really important to have a solid artist onboard who can keep everything straight. Noble Causes is still an entertaining read – it has lost a little bit in the move from series of minis to ongoing, but there is potential here for something even better. If Faerber can get a handle on the soap-opera style ongoing story, that is.

MARVEL COMICS
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AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #538, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by J. Michael Strazinski, Art by Ron Garney. Civil War seems to be finally winding down, as is Spider-Man’s involvement in it. Will this issue give us the long-promised catalyst for Spider-Man’s return to the Black? That is probably a pretty good bet. This issue has the potential to be pretty important.

CIVIL WAR #7 (OF 7), $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Mark Millar, Art by Steve McNiven. Is this it? Are the long delays over? Will the several year long event season finally come to an end? Hopefully so – the most exciting thing about this issue is that it is finally OVER, and we can hopefully move on without crossover madness for a little while. Good, bad, or indifferent, it is nice to be able to look forward to just reading books again without worrying about the next “OMG HUGE CROSSOVER INTERACTION/CONFLICT/DEATH/BETRAYAL/CHANGE!” thing. Refreshing indeed.

HELLSTORM SON OF SATAN #5 (OF 5), $3.99, 32 Pages. Written by Alexander Irvine, Art by Russell Braun. While an artistic treat, this series really hasn’t delivered much that could be called spectacular. Finally wrapping up this month, this title just didn’t generate the interest you would think needed to have this character stay around for a while. Perhaps it will be a lot more interesting in the trade format…

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #3, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker, Art by David Aja. Man, who would have thought a couple years ago that we would see the day where Ed Brubaker’s Marvel Midas Touch would be revealed. Seriously, has he written anything outright bad since he went to the House of Ideas? The least enjoyable thing is probably Uncanny X-Men, and even that isn’t close to “bad.” Not to downplay Matt Fraction’s contributions at all – this series has been interesting through and through for the first two issues. Hopefully it keeps up.

LEGION OF MONSTERS WEREWOLF BY NIGHT #1, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Mike Carey and Skottie Young, Art by Greg Land and Scottie Young. Wouldn’t it be nice if Marvel put their marketing muscle behind these books? Good or no, it is great that Marvel is at least showing a little effort to bring back some classic western and horror books, but it seems like sometimes if you don’t just happen to see them on the shelf, you wouldn’t ever know they were there. Horror and Western books have the potential to bring some much-needed diversity to Marvel – hopefully they take off.

MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #10, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Jeff Parker, Art by Juan Roman Cano Santacruz. Want a light and fun Superhero read? Something a little old-school but without the overabundance of cheese? That is probably the best thing about this book. An unabashed superhero book without a pretentious story, and perfectly safe for all ages. We need more comics like this.

NEW AVENGERS ILLUMINATI #2 (OF 5), $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Jim Cheung. Illuminati – the Infinity Gauntlet? If you enjoyed the previous Illuminati one-shot, you will no doubt like this series. Though there are going to be a good chunk of fans who won’t like the mucking-about with long-established continuity. The very idea of this group is at odds with some of these character’s past portrayals, so you have to forget a lot to really accept this book.

POWERS #23, $2.95, 32 Pages. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Michael Avon Oeming. Man, how time flies. It seems like this title is still a new addition to the Marvel line-up, but it is already 2/3 of the way towards eclipsing the original Image run. Quality is still really good too – a solid title that is always a good one to sample if you are looking for something new.

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #4, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Matt Fraction, Art by Mike Deodato. See – this is why you don’t start a title with a crossover to a major event. What now? This title started off so strong, then last issue just broke. Frank was on his own once again, and since there was no “norm” built-up for this book prior to the “crossover,” there was nowhere for the story to go. Still, that might just cause a short-term hiccup – if Fraction gets right on the ball this month, things should start to go a little more smoothly.

SILENT WAR #2 (OF 6), $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by David Hine, Art by Frazer Irving. Hine’s follow-up to Son of M is off to a good start. Between this, Son of M, and District X, am I the only one curious to see what he would be able to do with an X-Men ongoing?

SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #1, $4.99, 104 Pages. Written by Sean McKeever, Art by Terrell Bobbett. So much right and wrong about this title that it is tough to make heads or tails of it. McKeever writing is always a huge plus, but on the other hand, since he just signed with DC, that isn’t going to last very long. Anthology-style is great, but we could do without the reprints of “classic” stories. And this is Spider-Man “family” right? What about a Spider-Girl back-up? Or a Mattie Franklin one? Or even one of the Slingers, or Spider-Man 2099? Fans would really eat up an anthology book like that one.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #39, $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Mike Carey, Art by Mark Brooks. Yay – another Ultimized villain! We don’t get nearly enough of those! Yeah, a tired complaint for sure, but really – this book hasn’t been good in a really long time. Millar’s arc had its fans, but it wasn’t anything special. If Ultimate Spider-Man wasn’t so consistently good, I’d be fearing for the future of the Ultimate line right about now…

X-MEN FIRST CLASS #6 (OF 8), $2.99, 32 Pages. Written by Jeff Parker, Art by Roger Cruz. This series is vastly underrated. Even if it took a while to realize it. Yes, the dialogue can be a little cheesy at times. But what Parker is able to accomplish with this book far outshines that one flaw. He has captured what the X-Men were always supposed to be – and he has done so in a series of single issue stories. If the writing could be tightened up just a bit, and a little story originality added, this could be the perfect example of what Ultimate X-Men always should have been.

Craig’s Pick of the Week

CABLE AND DEADPOOL #37, $2.99, 32 Pages, Marvel Comics. Written by Fabian Nicieza, Art by Reilly Brown. Last issue accomplished one thing – it made me wish once again that this was a Deadpool solo book. Seriously – it was so good! It was everything a Deadpool book should be – Nicieza’s handling of the character, a bit of Joe Kelly-style humor, with a hint of the classic supporting case. All that was missing was Deuce. Man, wouldn’t a Nicieza-penned L,L,& L arc be something else? This issue looks like more of the same – a return engagement for Deadpool’s former keychain, Rhino. A can’t miss issue.

NOTE: Opinions here may not reflect those of X-World Comics LLC or it’s staff and are solely the opinions of the writer.Want to comment on this week’s newsletter? Give your feedback here!

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