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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:
O.C.T. #1 (of 4)
Comic Review by:
Larry "Bocepheus" Evans
Writer: Ms, Artist: Bh
This book is co-written and created by actress Rosario
Dawson and if you didn’t know she was a comic fan then you
do now. OCT stands for Occult Task Force and here we see a
lead who looks amazingly like the actress get recruited to
the special unit. The unit apparently recruits from the
police force and when we enter the book she has arrived at a
crime in progress before meeting some of the unit members
who get her suspended and tell her to bug off. The
photo-realistic art really moves the story along and we
enter a world where strange things happen but why they do is
handled by the unit. In case we wonder what the unit is all
about there is a huge portion at the end to catch us up and
lets us know things that our new heroine has no clue about.
You can see that there is a possible movie here but it works
better as a comic so maybe it will stay that way. With a
collaboration you never know who did what so I can’t say
that Dawson has a future in writing comics but perhaps has
luck finding a partner who is damn good at it.
MSRP: $0.00,
1st DAY SALE Price: $0.00 (That's 40% OFF,
Wednesday Only!)
Alternate Reality Price: $0.00 (That's 15% OFF, All
Week Long!) |
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 UNCANNY X-MEN #475
Comic Review by:
Larry "Bocepheus" Evans
Writer:
Ed Brubaker, Artist:
Billy Tan
The aftermath to X-Men: Deadly Genesis begins here with the debut of the new
creative team of Brubaker and Tan and man, this book rocks. If you haven’t read
that limited series then move along because I have to spoil it to review this.
We discovered that there was another Summers brother, Vulcan and his existence
was kept a secret by Xavier who after House of M regained the ability to walk
but has no powers. When the limited series ended Vulcan was making a path to
space where he could confront the Shi’ar empire and continue his Tazz like path
of rage. This first issue shows how this incarnation of the team is formed and
sets them off in a stolen ship to stop Vulcan. Brubaker does the time bending
thing and shows how Charles assembles the team while hitting all the reasons why
he wants them. It’s an eclectic mix of old and new that should create a good
dynamic when the battles start and also when the team has some down time. This
is all connected to the last addition to the team Polaris who is being hunted
down in Egypt. The art by Tan is amazingly detailed and powerful but you get the
sense of that from the wraparound cover he gives the issue. He handles the quiet
moment here as well as the action sequences and this could be the book that puts
him over the top after he kind of stalled out when he showed up at Top Cow.
MSRP: $2.99
Alternate Reality Price:
$2.54 (That's 15% OFF, All Week Long!) |
MARVEL ROUND UP…
New Excalibur #9 brings in Scott Kolins for a story that tells us what has
happened to Chamber after M Day. He is much worse off than he was last time we
saw him (during Weapon X which was written by the same writer Frank Tieri) but
here his status changes and we are left in anticipation for the next move from
villains we have seen before. The cover has nothing at all to do with the story
so don’t worry over it…Kid Colt and Arizona Girl has the two encounter a strange
town and shoot a whole lot of people. The gem of the issue is a tale of the
Philadelphia Filly drawn to perfection by David Williams and we also get three
Jack Kirby/Dick Ayers westerns to wrap things up…Marvel Team Up #22 continues
the Freedom Ring story. Here the evil Tony Stark gets loose and ties up loose
ends from Robert Kirkman’s Captain America arc prior to the Avengers breaking up
the first time before turning into the Iron Maniac. We also watch as Freedom
Ring recovers in the hospital…Last Planet Standing ends and I still haven’t read
a single issue so no comment works for me….Incredible Hulk #96 begins the
Anarchy arc of Planet Hulk. Hulk and his friends are being hunted but the
question posed here is which side has monsters? There is some bonding here and
history given in an issue that has enough battles to keep us interested…Franklin
Richards Super Summer Spectacular is goofy fun involving a master plan to be a
sports hero that gets Franklin in even more trouble…Beyond #1 (of 6) takes a
bunch of heroes and places them in an unusual place. The issue begins with
burial and a question to as what has happened then writer Dwayne McDuffie and
Scott Kolins get to have fun with the heroes and villains taken into space to
compete and fight. The ending is pretty shocking even though we know that it
couldn’t possibly happen and the dialogue is arch and funny as hell when it
needs to be.
DC ROUND UP…
Batman: Secrets #5 (of 5) concludes
the Sam Kieth limited series that dazzled the Keith fans and turned off the rest
of fandom. We learn here what the secret was that reporter Mooley Williams and
Bruce Wayne shared and witness an actual discussion between Batman and the
Joker…Jonah Hex #9 is drawn by the veteran Tony DeZuniga. The single issue story
involves revenge and a little girl. Something happens here that you would never
expect and the issue is pretty cool…Justice League Unlimited #23 is okay but not
written for me so I am not that concerned about it…Manifest Eternity #2 would be
a lot better if artist Dustin Nguyen went back to his old style. The light and
airy look he seems to be affecting takes too much away from the Scott Lobdell
story. If this isn’t a movie pitch that he couldn’t sell I will be shocked
because you can see all the signs that it is…Skye Runner #3 continues the saga
of a girl with big breasts saving the world that she lives in. We add the studly
male the Green Knight here and there is a lot of talking amongst the cheesecake
art. This book shouldn’t work but somehow it does…Battler Britton #1 (of 4) is
another in a series of British properties that DC picked up to see if American
audiences would be interested. The creative team here is Garth Ennis and Point
Blank’s Colin Wilson. Battler is a British fighter pilot and his division has
been merged with some of our boys as the fight against the Nazi’s continues.
It’s great looking and a pleasure to read but I don’t have any belief that it
will sell a lick.
IMAGE ROUND UP…
Pigtale #4 (of 4) has no appeal to me
and I have a hard time wondering just who the target audience is for when you
ship out a black and white title for $2.99 and expect people to pay for it even
though no one has heard of the creator. |
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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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