HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
Order any of the below titles by clicking here!

FINAL CRISIS ROGUES REVENGE #1 (OF 3), $3.99, DC Comics, 40 Pages
Written by Geoff Johns; Art and covers by Scott Kolins

OK, so Final Crisis isn’t what it was cracked up to be. Few really thought it would - but if we have learned anything over the past could years of Major Event Mania, it’s that there are often little gems to be found in the tie-ins to the major events. This might be one of them.

It is hard to forget Geoff Johns’ outstanding run on the Flash - he is still missed on that book, in fact. That is a perfect reason to give him a chance here - he has proven he can write a fantastic Flash story, especially when it involves the Rogues. Of course, DC is promoting that horrible “It is a Crisis, so a Flash has to die” thing again, which could be a bad tiding for this story, but we can hope that DC has learned from its mistake last time here. Johns is the best Flash writer in recent memory - this series should be a safe bet.

FOOLKILLER WHITE ANGELS #1 (OF 5), $3.99, 32 Pages, Marvel Comics (MAX)
Written by Gregg Hurwitz, Art by Paul Azaceta

The last Foolkiller series was semi-decent. Not quite as thought provoking as Gerber’s original (this one seemed more Punisher), but if you like gory, violent comics, you probably enjoyed the last one. It didn’t win any stellar reviews, but sales must have been good enough to warrant a second run.

Of course, speaking of Punisher, this series is heavily hinting that Frank will be making an appearance in this story, crossing paths with Foolkiller as he hunts down a White Supremacist gang. Hopefully Hurwitz takes this opportunity to contrast some of the differences between the two characters, to put to rest the notion that the Foolkiller is little more than a Punisher clone.

HELLBLAZER #246, $2.99, 32 Pages, DC Comics
Written by Jason Aaron; Art by Sean Murphy; Cover by Lee Bermejo

It might have been a bit of a downer to get a fill-in arc so early into Diggle’s run, but this one hasn’t turned out too bad so far. Of course, Jason Aaron’s name just kinda popped on the map - he has a creator-owned title (Scalped) being put out by Vertigo that is getting good reviews, and he just signed an exclusive with Marvel, and is already drawing Eisner nominations. Some decent credentials to say the least. Looks like this is one fill-in worth checking out.

For those who are still pining for Diggle’s return - you will get than next month. Just a little longer!

MIGHTY AVENGERS #16, $2.99, 32 Pages, Marvel Comics
Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Khoi Pham and Jason Keith

Well, it probably isn’t as important of a mystery as Marvel would like you to believe, but in terms of retcon, it will be interesting to see how far back Marvel is going to introduce this Elektra-Skrull thing. Was she a Skrull back during that horrible Enemy of the State Wolverine story? Even farther? This issue is supposed to answer that question, and tell us exactly when Elektra was replaced. Probably not enough of a resolution to attract new readers, but if you are really into the Secret Invasion story, this is an issue you can’t miss.

SKY DOLL #3 (OF 3), $5.99, Marvel Comics
Written by Barbara Canepa, Alessandro Barbucci, and C.B. Cebulski, Art by Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa

The worst part of this? This is the last Sky-Doll for a while. Issue #4 hasn’t even been released in Europe yet! You would think that Soliel was Image Comics or something - they have been working on issue #4 since before Sky-Doll was originally released in America 2 years ago in Heavy Metal Magazine. Frustrating - this is a great story with a lot of complexity and flat-out beautiful art. Should Marvel have waited to release this one? Maybe - but then, considering how long it has been since #3 was first released in Europe.

Hopefully Canepa steps up the pace on production, so we can see the rest of this story before it fades away into distant memory.

SPOTLIGHT PICK OF THE WEEK

UNIVERSAL WAR ONE #1 (OF 3), $5.99, Marvel Comics
Written by Denis Bajram and Paul Benjamin, Art by Denis Bajram

Well, Sky-Doll has been outstanding - makes spending the money on this new Soliel release that much easier. This series looks like it will have more of a hard sci-fi angle than the cultural sci-fi we see in Sky Doll, retelling a civil war between the outer and inner planets of the Solar System. Hm, sounds a little like Firefly. Unlike Firefly, in this series, a strange wall has divided the warring planets, and this series follows a crew who has been sent to investigate the mysterious phenomenon. Sounds interesting - a good sci-fi premise. This story has received its share of acclaim overseas, so it must be something worth checking out. Could be a good read.

DC COMICS

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #9 $2.99 Now: $2.69
CHECKMATE #28 $2.99 Now: $2.59
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS TP VOL 02 $19.99 Now: $15.99
FINAL CRISIS ROGUES REVENGE #1 (OF 3) $3.99 Now: $3.49
FLASH #242 $2.99 Now: $2.69
HELLBLAZER #246 $2.99 Now: $2.59
WORLD OF WARCRAFT #9 $2.99 Now: $2.69

DEVIL’S DUE COMICS

FORGOTTEN REALMS THE LEGACY #3 (OF 3) $5.50 Now: $4.99
WORLDS OF DUNGEONS & DRAGONS TP VOL 01 $18.99 Now: $15.99

MARVEL COMICS

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #566 $2.99 Now: $2.69
FOOLKILLER WHITE ANGELS #1 (OF 5) $3.99 Now: $3.49
IRON MAN DIRECTOR OF SHIELD #31 $2.99 Now: $2.69
MARVEL ILLUSTRATED ILIAD #8 (OF 8) $2.99 Now: $2.59
MIGHTY AVENGERS #16 $2.99 Now: $2.69
SKAAR SON OF HULK #1 2ND PTG $2.99 Now: $2.59
SKY DOLL #3 (OF 3) $5.99 Now: $4.99
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #56 $2.99 Now: $2.69
ULTIMATE X-MEN TP VOL 18 APOCALYPSE $13.99 Now: $11.99
UNIVERSAL WAR ONE #1 (OF 3) $5.99 Now: $5.39
WAR IS HELL FIRST FLIGHT PHANTOM EAGLE MAX #5 (OF 5) $3.99 Now: $3.49
X-FACTOR #33 $2.99 Now: $2.69

FAVREAU UP FOR ANOTHER

The Iron Man film to me has been the shock of the summer - perhaps it was my low expectations, but of the comic films that have been released thus-far, it has been the most enjoyable. We will see how that holds up once I see Hellboy (and Batman is released), but it is a great start.

That makes this news all the better - Jon Favreau has officially signed to direct the sequel. It might seem like that was going to happen regardless, but after Marvel released a tentative date for the sequel hitting theaters without even contacting Favreau to secure his services (and later accusations of Marvel dodging and a lowball contract offer: all rumors), there was some fear that studio-director conflict might put an end to that partnership and place the film in the hands of a new director. Comic movie-goers certainly can think of a few examples of the worst that can happen with a popular franchise gets a new director.

But it is all happy and good - Favreau is on for the sequel, and we will likely see it in 2010, if not the next year if things don’t go smoothly!

NOTE: Opinions here may not reflect those of X-World Comics LLC or its staff and are solely the opinions of the writer.

Post your comments in the Forum!