StillontheShelf.com » On The Shelf This Week

September 9, 2008

On The Shelf This Week - 09.10.08

Filed under: On The Shelf — Craig Reade @ 9:44 pm

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
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FINAL CRISIS REVELATIONS #2 (OF 5), $3.99, 40 Pages, DC Comics
Written by Greg Rucka; Art by Philip Tan, Jeff de los Santos and Jonathan Glapion; Covers by Philip Tan

You know, it is almost worthy of some kind of scientific paper, or even a mathematical equation. Maybe this one should be Reade’s Law of Event Tie Ins: The quality of the Event Tie In is inversely proportional to the quality of the event itself. For the longest time, I have touted the brilliance of some of the tie-ins to substandard event books, and this one is no exception. Final Crisis - well, it sure has its fans, but it has its critics as well. Few are questioning the quality of the tie-in stories though. The first issue of this series came out one month ago, featuring the return of two beloved characters of the beloved Gotham Central series - in their new, more colorful roles. And it was great. Is great. Any fan of Gotham Central should be reading this. So should everyone else, for that matter.

GOTHAM CENTRAL HC VOL 01 IN THE LINE OF DUTY, $29.99, 240 Pages, DC Comics.
Written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka; Art and cover by Michael Lark

Speaking of Gotham Central - if Final Crisis Revelations doesn’t make you miss that series, this should. This series was one of the saddest losses to the Infinite Crisis/One Year later shake-up, and there hasn’t been anything since in the DC line-up that has even come close to filling that void since. The Gotham PD has always been an important fixture in Batman’s universe, but Rucka made them stand on their own and shine in this series. The cops are so often bystanders in comics, Gotham Central showed what it was like for them to continue to work despite the colorful crazies and masks. A real human story in the middle of the unreal.

Missed it? Buy this hardcover - it collects the first ten issues of that outstanding series. Maybe if this book does well enough, something like this series will finally return. Fingers crossed.

STAND CAPTAIN TRIPS #1 (OF 5), $3.99, Marvel Comics
Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacas and Stephen King, Art by Mike Perkins and Laura Martin[/size]

Card’s adaptations have been favorably received - The Dark Tower comics have sold exceptionally well - why not The Stand? The newest Stephen King title to be adapted by Marvel will, like the first Stephen King “event,” start with a chunk of the beginning of The Stand, and presumably will continue on through several minis.

Honestly - this is a great idea. King’s name brings real exposure - and his adaptations sell well among comic fans, and expose the medium to readers who wouldn’t normally buy comics. Even though a lot of these “outsiders” will probably purchase this adaptation in trade format from a bookstore, it still introduces the comic medium to them, and helps establish it in the mainstream as a viable artistic and entertainment format. A better overall public perception is a good thing for comics no matter how you look at it. And it doesn’t hurt that thus-far, these have been extremely well done. Expect The Stand to be the same high-quality product that The Dark Tower has been thus far.

ULTIMATE X-MEN FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #1, $3.99, Marvel Comics
Written by Aron Coleite and Joe Pokaski, Art by Brandon Peterson

You have all heard about Ultimatum by now - though we are supposed to be seeing the beginning rumblings of that story in all of the Ultimate books this month, this is probably the first real push for that story. Ultimate Origins set out to establish how the Ultimate Universe ticks - and Ultimatum is supposed to blow it apart. This story is pitting the Ultimate X-Men against the Ultimate Fantastic Four of two different time periods. Might be complicated, but it looks to be an action book, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to follow.

If you are at all intrigues by the idea of Ultimatum - this is the issue to start with.

X-MEN MAGNETO TESTAMENT #1 (OF 5), $3.99, Marvel Comics
Written by Grek Pak, Art by Carmine Di GiandoMenico and Matt Hollingsworth

Villains make terrible protagonists in ongoing comics. But they are a great focus for a mini. Magneto especially has been at the center of several over the years, and this one could well be the next in a line of good ones. It’s another “origin” mini - some are turned off by that, but as a character, Magneto’s origin story in Nazi Germany is an interesting one, and worth exploring. Pak is the kind of writer who usually puts story before hype- he can be counted on here to deliver a compelling read. This series is a must have for X-Men fans.

WONDER WOMAN #24, $2.99, 32 Pages, DC Comics
Written by Gail Simone; Art by Bernard Chang; Cover by Aaron Lopresti

This is an important moment in Gail Simone’s run - perhaps even a defining one. Her last arc (though admittedly, well reviewed - Simone is still somewhat bulletproof when it comes to this book) was a jarring shift in tone and pacing from her outstanding first arc. The very best ongoing story threads that remained from the start of her run were thrust way in the background for a strange diversion, the point of which is still somewhat obscured. Simone deserves the benefit of the doubt- time and time again on Birds of Prey, she frequently had slightly-less-than-incredible arcs, that invariably set up something big in the future. Something that was worth a little confusion. At this time, those seeds aren’t readily apparent, however, and the last arc overall seemed like something of a letdown.

Diana is back in her usual element in this arc, however, and the greatness of the previous story should be a little more front and center. Should Simone jump right back into that stride, stronger for this diversion, the worry would have been for not. Her history suggests she will - and all memory of last arc’s criticism will be forgotten. Hence the importance of this issue. Hopefully Simone delivers. A betting man would be smart to count on it.

SPOTLIGHT PICK OF THE WEEK

DEADPOOL #1, $3.99, Marvel
Written by Daniel Way, Art by Paco Medina, Juan Vlasco, and Marte Garcia.

The issue Deadpool fans have been waiting for with a hint of dread has finally arrived.

Towards the end of Cable & Deadpool, many readers finally got their wish. Cable was gearing up for his own solo book, and was very active in Messiah Complex - so the title converted to what amounted to a Deadpool solo book. And it was outstanding. Fabian Nicieza gave Deadpool fans everything they could have possibly wanted out of a Deadpool book - only then it was taken away from them. Cancelled.

Possibly in reaction to fan outrage, Marvel eventually announced a new Deadpool ongoing, only it would be produced by the same team that handles Wolverine: Origins. Fans frowned. Dillon’s art isn’t very well received, and considering the poor reviews Way gets on that title, people had little hope for the Deadpool ongoing’s potential. Deadpool did feature prominently in an extensive arc on Wolverine: Origins shortly thereafter, however, and that helped some. The art was still a bad fit, but in his story, Daniel Way showed a hint of potential.

And then Mavel made things even better by announcing that it would be Paco Medina, and not Steve Dillon handling the art chores. Fans weren’t quite ready to rejoice, but there was an audible sign of relief.

Will Way’s Deadpool live up to the hopes of Deadpool fans? Probably not. But the potential is there for it to be substantially better than many fear, and it could even be a decent read. Way has a slightly different presentation of Deadpool than that we are used to, but there are elements there that show a lot of potential. Bottom line? This is worth trying if you are a Deadpool fan. It is easy to expect the worst, but Way’s presentation of Deadpool in Wolverine: Origins was far and away better than no Deadpool at all. This series deserves a chance.

DARK HORSE COMICS

GOON #28 ~~$2.99~~ Now: $2.69

DC COMICS

BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #21 ~~$2.99~~ Now: $2.69
FINAL CRISIS REVELATIONS #2 (OF 5) ~~$3.99~~ Now: $3.49
GEN 13 #22 ~~$2.99~~ Now: $2.59
GOTHAM CENTRAL HC VOL 01 IN THE LINE OF DUTY ~~$29.99~~ Now: $23.99
GREEN ARROW BLACK CANARY #12 ~~$2.99~~ Now: $2.69
SIMON DARK #12 ~~$2.99~~ Now: $2.59
TRINITY #15 ~~$2.99~~ Now: $2.69
WONDER WOMAN #24 ~~$2.99~~ Now: $2.69

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA ORIGINS #9 ~~$3.50~~ Now: $2.99
RED SONJA #37 ~~$2.99~~ Now: $2.59

IMAGE COMICS

INVINCIBLE #52 ~~$2.99~~ Now: $2.59
PAX ROMANA #3 (OF 4) ~~$3.50~~ Now: $2.99

MARVEL COMICS

The opinions in this article are the writer’s alone, and no not necessarily reflect the views of X-World Comics or comiXtreme.com.

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