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"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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 BOOK
OF THE WEEK:
FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDERMAN #8
Comic Review by:
Larry "Bocepheus" Evans
Writer: Peter David, Artist: Mike Wieringo
Last issue while on a date with Jarvis Aunt May saw Ben
Parker, her dead husband outside the restaurant and was
understandably shocked along with the rest of us. When this
well done issue begins we see a teenaged Peter arriving at
his house only to discover that something has happened but
not in the manner that we remember. From that point
everything is different and Spider-Man becomes more of a
media maven than a hero and in that the family dynamic
changes a great deal before Uncle Ben comes home from a
movie and we see that something very strange is going on.
One rain soaked conversation and we see that something else
has changed while we were waiting for the next issue-the
Hobgoblin. You see, this version is from somewhere else and
he has been fighting guys in spider costumes for years. And
with that the book ends and we wonder what really happened
and how Peter and family is going to get out of this
situation. Now this story can be considered a cheat since we
all know that Ben is dead (but so was Bucky we thought) but
David keeps us on our toes anyway. He throws out a few
things then a few more and all of a sudden we’re caught and
wonder what is going to happen next. David is helped along
masterfully by the very tight pencil work of Wieringo. He
packs a lot of emotion in each page and gets you even more
involved in the story.
MSRP: $2.99,
1st DAY SALE Price: $1.79 (That's 40% OFF,
Wednesday Only!)
Alternate Reality Price: $2.54 (That's 15% OFF, All
This Week!) |
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MARVEL ROUND UP…
Marvel could have helped out with this week’s reviews by sending Civil War #1 in
the Sneak Peeks but they didn’t so I will see what happened at the same time as
everyone else. Of what they did send… Annihilation Silver Surfer #2 reunites the
Surfer with other heralds of Galactus as the Annihilation Wave continues on. The
mystery behind why Thanos is hanging around deepens here… Exiles #80 finishes
the tour of the world of the Maestro (but not the saga of Proteus) before we
visit the world of Heroes Reborn next issue. The bulk of the issue is a knock
down drag out fight so it goes by pretty fast… Marvel Team Up #20 gives the new
ring the Mandarin had made with a piece of the Cosmic Cube to a guy who is going
to screw things up for himself somehow even though he seems to always use it for
food. It’s the first part of a 5 part story arc so it’s a “Jump on Here” 1st DAY
SALE book… Sentinal Squad One #5 (of 5) the history lesson ends here and we see
how the team finally came together in this well done issue. Here we see what one
team member went thru before finally arriving at the Xavier mansion and learn
how these particular folks were chosen… Spiderman Unlimited #15 has cool short
stories from Klaus Janson (involving brothers and action figures) and Merrill
Hagan (involving what its like being the wife and child of the Lizard)…Marvel
Romance is one of the funniest things I have read since the latest issue of the
Goon…X-Men: The End #5 leaves us with a bad situation that I guess makes the
title somewhat prophetic.
DC ROUND UP…
What I mentioned about Civil War #1 above is ditto to DC and Infinite Crisis #7,
although they can be forgiven for wanting to keep the ending "unspoiled" until
Wednesday…Hard Time #6 sets up the last issue and I still can’t figure out why
this second series got approved since no one cared about the first one… Swamp
Thing #27 Sales on this title are spotty and this issue sort of tells you why.
It’s the start of an arc (and a “Jump on Here” 1st DAY SALE title) with Jason
Woodroe and even though the Joshua Dysart story is sort of interesting the art
by Enrique Breccia brings new meaning to the word icky…Y, The Last Man #45
Kimono Dragons continues with revelations about Ampersand, dead staff members
(there seems to be a lot of death this week), a possibility of sex, swords, male
robots and an interesting story that shows a massive amount of planning out by
Brian K. Vaughan as far as back story goes. We learn a lot and are promised to
learn a whole lot more next issue…Team Zero #6 of 6 the Chuck Dixon/Doug Mahnke
limited series that tells the origin of the Wildstorm team ends this week with
lots of explosions, gun fights, discussions on what the team is supposed to be,
dead Germans and macho talk coming from heavily muscled guys with a growing
collection of scars…and the Exterminators #5 is particularly bug heavy!
IMAGE ROUND UP…
Season of the Witch #4 The bright and sunny feeling our heroine had when she
first became a buxom, sword carrying ruler leaves this issue and somehow rotten
fruit is involved…Shadowhawk #11 things are pretty bad as far as the new
Shadowhawk is concerned since he has a bit of an overreaction problem to crime.
In fact things are so bad that the powers that be realize they have to fine
someone else so wear the costume. The issue also includes pages from the new
title Emissary and shows how the character arrives on the scene…Sea of Red #9
contains a lot of violent imagery and Nazi’s, I hate those guys!
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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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