A Frickin' Ton of Comic Book Reviews

Bought a ton of comics. Let's do a bunch of really vague reviews. Here we go:

Kirby Genesis: Captain Victory #1- Dynamite Comics- Sterling Gates, Wagner Reis- So, this was a mistake. This comic is a frickin' low water mark for comics. Just bad. The artwork is so bad. So bad. I can't even really critically appraise this comic because the art is so dull and poor and boring and bad that I can't even... and the story tries to flesh out the Good Captain's backstory, but it's all kinda stupid and lame and oh man this comic sucks. Dynamite should be ashamed of themselves.

Defenders #2-Marvel- Matt Fraction, Terry Dodson- Why? Why do I keep wasting my time on Matt Fraction? Just because everyone else thinks he's the Second Coming doesn't actually mean he is. Anyway, the Defenders go up against a Z-Grade group of villains, look like chumps, the Surfer stills has ears and looks like a useless wussy, and everyone blathers incessantly. I'm done. For real this time. Done with Fraction. Done with this comic. Done. I'm not buying Issue 3, damnit. Really, I mean it this time. Sigh.

Vengeance #1-2- Marvel- Joe Casey, Nick Dragotta- Y'know. I have no idea what to make of this comic, and I kinda like it. There's, like, a billion things going on in this book, and I have no idea what any of it means or where any of it's going. And I kinda wanna read the rest of the series just to see if it actually comes together or not. The art is serviceable. Oh, and it's got the Inbetweener, who was in one of my all-time favorite Silver Surfer stories. Back when the Surfer didn't have ears and actually did cool stuff. Ah, the good old days. Which has nothing to do with "Vengeance", just thought I'd mention it.

The Cape #3- IDW- Jason Ciaramella, Zach Howard- Soooo, I picked this one up because some folks online recommended it up pretty good in some year end lists. .... It's not a bad comic. The art is great. Very nice. But, I mean, it's kinda slight. There's some flashbacks and one thing happens. Now, don't get me wrong, that One Thing that happens was Super Crazy Cool. But, I mean, there were a Ton of Super Crazy Cool stuff in most of the books I dug this month. This is comics, baby. The game is to stuff these babies. That sentence probably won't sound good out of context.

Haunt #19-20- Image- Joe Casey, Nathan Fox- Huh. More Joe Casey. When did I become a fan? Anyway, let us begin. WOWZERS!!!!! I've never read any of the previous issues of this series, I know very little about. And I don't care. These two issues were killer. Nathan Fox is another artist to come out of what I'm calling the "Paul Pope School", which is a big old thumbs up in my book. The art is wild and kinetic and beautiful. The only downside is that you occasionally gotta squint to follow the art, but it's a small price to pay. Anyway, um, this is great crazy wonderful comics wonderfullness. I am really surprised by this.

iZombie #21- DC/Vertigo- Chris Roberson, J. Bone- We've got a guest artist this issue, and there's some neat little revelations. I'm still trying to decide how much longer I wanna stick with this comic. It's nice. Really nice. But I'm starting to get a rather ridiculous stack of comics going on. I need to make some cuts, and I'm trying to decide whether this comic is kicking it enough to stay with. Another issue or two, at least.

BPRD: Hell on Earth: Russia #4- Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Tyler Crook- Wow. I love this series. There is just some bad ass stuff in this issue. Fitchie, if you happen to be reading this blog, you are gonna love this story arc when it gets collected. Trust me.

Red Lanterns #5-DC- Peter Milligan, Ed Benes- Sigh. Speaking of possible cuts. This one has been on the fence for awhile, and I think I'm gonna have to drop it. The story just isn't really moving quick enough. It's not a bad series, but it's never really risen to match the promise of that first issue. I feel kinda bad about dropping it.

Stormwatch #5- DC- Paul Cornell, Miguel Sepulveda- This comic just never seems to stop getting better. There's just a ton of wild and crazy in every issue, and you never really know what's gonna happen next or where any of it is going. I like that. Unfortunately, Paul Cornell's leaving the book after Issue 6, and I can't imagine anyone following his run.

Batman #4- DC- Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo- Speaking of nice comics that are nice, but I'm a little on the fence on because I'm buying too many comics and even I can only keep track of/afford so much, Batman is nice. The writing's quite good and Greg Capullo's art is excellent. But the next issue is going to have to be full tilt, or I may be out.

Justice League Dark #4- DC- Peter Milligan, Mikel Janin- One of the reasons I don't mind dropping "Red Lanterns" quite so much is because I can read JLD and get my dose of Peter Milligan madness. I really dig the sheer insanity and chaos of this comic. Also, the art is really pretty.

Batwoman #4- DC- J.H. Williams III- Best looking comic out there. Always worth reading for that alone. Story's not bad, either.

Action Comics #5- DC- Grant Morrison, Andy Kubert- A new version of Superman's origin and some full on craziness at the end. Intriguing.

Swamp Thing #5- DC- Scott Snyder, Yanick Paquette- I really dig this comic. Beautiful horror monster stuff. Also, I like the parallels with "Animal Man". Speaking of which...

Animal Man #5- DC- Jeff Lemire, Travel Foreman- Things just keep getting worse for the Baker family, but on the bright side, no one's dead yet. The Rot has proven to be one of the most exciting and brilliant concepts to emerge in Comics in awhile. I am perpetually floored by how unexpectedly good this comic is.

Wonder Woman #4- Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang- Speaking of being floored by an unexpectedly good book, Wonder Woman never ceases to amaze me. Great art, great story, Wonder Woman is exciting as a solo character, which I've never seen before. I love the mythology stuff. Great comic.

Batman Inc.: Leviathan Strikes #1- Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham, Cameron Stewart- The puzzle pieces start to fall into place, and we get some trademark Morrison craziness. It's nice to have this comic back.

Frankenstien: Agent of SHADE #4- Jeff Lemire, Alberto Ponticelli- Holy Crap! This is just non-stop comics goodness. This and OMAC make comics worth reading. Speaking of which...

OMAC #5- DC- Kieth Giffen, Jeff Lemire (that guy again? He's everywhere!), Dan (Does he actually contribute?) Didio- Ladies and Gentlemen, my favorite regular comic being published monthly right now. This month, OMAC fights Frankenstien. This makes me happy. Very, insanely, hideously happy. Stuff blows up. Buildings are torn apart. They throw cars and trucks at each other. AND we get a little plot advancement and some hints at the bigger picture (New Gods! They're totally hinting at the New Gods! I'm freaking out! Aaaaahhh!). Fun, dumb, crazy, bizarre, and awesome. And the art is killer. Best comic out there. Period. Which may explain why it's the worst selling comic at DC right now. Sigh.