A Crap Ton of Comic Book Reviews

I buy comics. I read comics. Let's review comics.

"Hell Yeah: The Last Generation of Heroes" #1: Joe Keatinge and Andre Szymanowicz- Bought this one on a whim, and it's another book that I can see lots of people that aren't me really enjoying. There's some neat concepts, most notably where Superheroes just show up one day, and society changes as a result. Still, there's not a lot here to really sink my teeth into, especially since the "hero" is a petulant jerk who has no idea why he's running around being a petulant jerk. Again, I think lots of people will dig this. Me, not so much.

"Resurrection Man" #7: Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Fernando Dagnino- Resurrection Man has to deal with a tenement fire and a drug war at the same time, all while trying to figure out the secrets of his past. This is a nice series, and has been a big surprise for me, but now that the supernatural elements seen to be lost in the shuffle, I find myself losing interest rapidly. I'm already buying too many books as it, so I'm out on this one. Sorry.

"Batman" #7: Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo- Once again, Greg Capullo manages to be a (gasp!) MONTHLY Comic Book Artist. Kudos to Capullo on being possibly the only New 52 Artist to do 7 straight issues. Other than that, you've really got two choices when it comes to Batman, you either are enjoying the "Court of Owls" arc, or you think it's stupid and hate. Personally, I think Snyder's story is gutsy as hell and shakes up the damn Batman boat in great and clever ways. I was on the fence with this one, but I'm officially in like Flynn. For now...

"Justice League" #7: Geoff Johns, Gene Ha- Woo. This issue is skippable. Boring Gene Ha art (wasn't he really good on "Top Ten"?) along with a story that's mostly just talking and crap. After the sheer kinetic insanity of the previous issues, this issue is a huge let down. You've got one issue to redeem yourselves, boys, or I'm out.

"Ragemoor" #1: Jan Strnad (really? Strnad? What kinda name is that?), Richard Corben- So, I officially am picking up anything that's drawn by Richard Corben anymore. This comic, about a living, ravenous castle, is pretty good. Throw in Corben artwork, and it's great.

"Lobster Johnson: the Burning Hand" #3: Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Tonci Zonjic (what the hell is up with these names?)- I could talk about all the things I like about this comic, or I could just say that I really enjoy this comic, and I'm glad it exists. The world needs more Lobster Johnson.

"BPRD: Hell on Earth: The Long Death" #2: Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, James Harren- So, I'm sure that sooner or later, the gang at BPRD are gonna drop the ball. But not today. Johann Kraus vs. Daimo. Awesome. And this isn't even the concluding issue yet. Also, while we're on the subject, the art team (James Harren on Art, Dave Stewart on Colors) is absolutely kicking total ass on this book. I love BPRD. Period.

"Haunt" #22: Joe Casey, Nathan Fox: So, Nathan Fox is credited as the artist, and he does the framing segments, but someone else does the bulk of the story, which is a 70s Exploitation ride filling in the blanks about our new character, Still Harvey Tubman. Besides the cool Exploitation craziness, there's a giant monster. I love giant monsters. Not as good as previous issues, but still good enough. Also the cover is excellent.

"Glory" #24: Joe Keatinge and Ross Campbell- Huh, this is the same guy that wrote Hell Yeah. I'll be damned. Just now figured that out. Glory is much better. Anyway, we get more of Glory's origin as well as what happened to her while the Extremeverse was...missing. She headbutts a demon king. That'll do.

"Prophet" #22-23: Brandon Graham, Simon Roy- Wow. This comic makes absolutely no sense, and I love every single second of it. This is. Just wow. This is what I want out of comics. Although, apparently, the story arc ends in Issue 23. Will there be more? I dunno. Guess I'll wait and see.

"Action Comics" #7: Grant Morrison, Rags Morales- I never used to really like Superman. Grant Morrison makes me love Superman. That's probably the best praise I can give this series.

"Wonder Woman" #7: Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang- This book is phenomenal. It just is. Azzarello creates a gutsy new take on Wonder Woman that gives her an exciting world and a wild cast of supporting characters. And every issue gives us something wonderful and new. This is comics, baby.

"Swamp Thing" #7: Scott Snyder, Yanick Paquette- So, y'know how we all assumed that Alan Moore's Swamp Thing would always be the best version of Swamp Thing and no one would ever be able to top it ever? Turns out no one told Scott Snyder, because he's playing the game no holds barred, for keeps. Great stuff.

"Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE" #7: Jeff Lemire, Alberto Ponticelli- Damnit. Fill in artist. Groan. Oh well, there's still Monsters and violence and whatnot, and a nice last page reveal. The real question is whether or not I'm sticking with this book once Lemire leaves.

"Animal Man" #7: Jeff Lemire, Steve Pugh, Travel Foreman- I like that we're still doing dream sequences in this book. I like dreams. Otherwise, this issue felt like we're stalling, waiting for something. Let's get this thing moving again, shall we?

"OMAC" #7: Dan Didio, Keith Giffen- OMAC gets stomped by Superman for a bit. Then we get talking animals and a not-so subtle reference to "Kamandi". Plus Simian shows up. Not bad, but after setting the bar so high on previous issues, this one feels like we're losing momentum as we slog towards the end.

"One Piece" vol. 61: Eiichiro Oda- So, waaaaaaaaay back in volume 53 the Straw Hat Pirates got separated, sent to the far corners of the world. In the meantime, Luffy has been, almost literally, to Hell and back. Now, finally, the gang gets back together in the most ridiculous, chaotic way possible. Hilarity ensues. I've got a much longer Rant about One Piece to do one day, but not today.

I also got the "King City" TPB, but haven't had a chance to read it yet.

New SDF on Monday.