"BOCEPHEUS" |
"These reviews are based on the Sneak Peek
titles sent out by Marvel, DC & Image. It's not everything that's shipping for
the week, but it is a real good cross-section of this weeks releases. Check the
bottom of the page (after you read my reviews) for a link to some SNEAKY PEEKIES
of future titles" |
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It’s too damn hot for long reviews this week so have
fun munching on these capsules.
MARVEL ROUND UP…
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11 is the start of penciller Todd Nauck’s
stint on the book which means most of the Young Justice team is now on the
title. It also begins a three issue arc involving battling Mysterio’s (yep, two
of them) who have decided to pop up at Peter Parker’s high school since everyone
knows he’s Spider-Man now. Most of the issue deals with the reaction of the
public and the students to the reveal and there are some great character pieces
here…Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man #18 is a tale dealing with the Man Thing, a
class trip and a family in trouble…Marvel Team up #23 is the second to last
issue and Wolverine shows up for smores and knitting. Okay, what really happens
is the two of them fight the evil Tony Stark and as Freedom Ring learns what he
can do they get their butts kicked so he can join in next issue…New Excalibur
#10 starts the Camelot arc and we get a history of the Black Knight before time
gets all screwy and we are left trying to wonder what has happened…Moon Knight
#4 has the mysterious man in the sunglasses reveal more of Mark Spector’s
history as Mark is having a heart to heart with the statue in his home. We see
another of his supporting crew return (and man, is she not happy) and the
Taskmaster shows up at the end to start trouble. It’s a quieter issue than the
previous ones but just as good…Uncanny X-Men #477 has Clayton Henry give Billy
Tan a break (which should be expected since the book is shipping every two weeks
at the start) and tells us what Vulcan has been doing while the X-Men are
heading into space. Believe me, it isn’t nice…Agents of Atlas #1 (of 6) is a fun
little tale that is more complicated than you would think. Agent Jimmy Woo
was/is a SHIELD agent and something happened to him on a mission that put him in
a bad way but he was the leader of a super team and in this first jam packed
issue the band starts to get back together. Jeff Parker lays out a sweet story
and new Marvel exclusive Leonard Kirk draws the hell out of this book.
DC ROUND UP…
Y, the Last Man #48 introduces us to
the Israeli soldier, Alter who starts out in a bad way but may be Yorick's best
friend. We get her history in a long flashback and she comes off as a driven
person who thinks only of her mission. Also included is a preview of the new
Deadman book from Bruce Jones and John Watkiss. The new version isn't an
acrobat, won't wear a costume and will be forgotten as soon as the movie folk
let DC know that they prefer the costumed version.Manifest Eternity #3 lessens
the cloudy factor of Dustin Nguyen's art but does nothing the chance the fact
that this book is going to be cancelled before the end of the year. Sales are
horrible and I wonder sometime who approves some of the books that come
out.Justice League Unlimited #24 is a tale featuring the Martian Manhunter.Jonah
hex #10 continues Phil Noto's stint on the book. This issue has Jonah take up
the cause of a black man who has a fatal encounter with some backwoods alligator
lovers. It's a violent revenge tale that is drawn to perfection.Ex Machina #22
contains one of the weirdest single panel events I have seen in a while in a
continuation of the fireman in peril arc. We also continue to deal with the fact
that Mayor Hundred once smoked pot and once used a cab to try to catch a
criminal.Battler Britton #2 won's sell any better than #1 did (and man that book
just about died nationwide) but you cant beat a book that has a lisping
commanding officer.Creeper #1 (of 6) lets Steve Niles take a crack at a
character that is better in small doses. Here Jack Ryder is a liberal pundit
instead of a newspaper reporter and here we see his encounter with the man who
created the formula that turns him into the Creeper, Dr. Yatz. This time around
the serum involves nanotechnology that when injected can regenerate dead tissue
but when Jack gets injected it turns him into a green haired, yellow skinned guy
with an eerie laugh. I cant say that the Creeper in this incarnation could
support his own series but if Niles is interested then another limited series
would be cool.Batman: Son of the Demon is a comic book sized version of the
classic Mike Barr/ Jerry Bingham graphic novel. That project is the inspiration
for the arc that Grant Morrison began last week in Batman in which we learned
that Batman had a son. I remember reading this when I was younger and even then
I though that Bingham drew one hell of a Batman. Barr has Batman being
obsessive, driven, tender and shock of shocks actually doing detective work. Now
back then we did get imaginary stories from time to time but this GN was never
labeled as such so I wonder what took someone so long to decide to reintroduce
it into continuity.
IMAGE ROUND UP…
Noble Causes #22 contains fighting and
revelations but has the common decency to add female kissing to separate the
two. This book is never going to sell huge numbers but it is one of the best
ones out there…Invincible #34 shows us what happened after the last issue with
Mark being left in an unusual place. He is bloody, battered, reflective and
stuck in a dimension he doesn’t want to be in but since we are playing with
alternate dimensions and all that he ends up home at the end of the story with
help from his friends. Robert Kirkman obviously has fun writing this book and
his enjoyment comes thru each page…Emissary #2 ships this week and the world is
still wondering what this giant black guy was doing in the middle of downtown
last issue. Here he is smaller and the FBI is trying to understand just who he
is and why he is here. There are some great moments here as he is trying to
understand them as they realize that they are way over their heads. We also see
how the rest of the world reacts to the sudden appearance and of course, not all
of it is good…Dusty Star #1 arrives and to be honest the character never did
anything for me so I have no opinion at all…Doll and Creature #4 reminds me of
old science fiction comics and since they bored me I cant get into this either.
The cover is pretty though…Bomb Queen vs. Blacklight has the evil Queen and the
not evil Light happen to end up in Vegas at the same time. One is at a science
fiction/comic convention and one is looking at weapons so you figure out who is
seeing who. We have some catty remarks and lots of butt shots but the one shot
is pretty entertaining. |
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"See, I told you I'd be
down here. We've got a bunch of SNEAKY PEEKIES of future
MARVEL, DC and IMAGE titles right
HERE" |
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All
Books/Characters pictured herein are © Copyright 2006
by their respective owners. No rights given or implied
by Alternate Reality, Incorporated.
Reviews © 2006 Alternate Reality, Inc. |
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