Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Doug Mahnke
Inkers: Christian Alamy, Tom Nguyen and Doug Mahnke
Colorist: Randy Mayor and Gabe Eltaeb

Story – Feared

Review
This is what I am talking about. Even though I have probably been the biggest critic of Blackest Night it is not because I don’t want to like the event but that it is not up to the quality I expect from the event and of Johns. The story has been slow and pondering on the same position it has been since the first issue. But if this issue is an example of where the event is going it looks like the series will finally be moving forward for the first time instead of backwards.

So far the tie-ins to Blackest Night have been much better and more effective in telling a more compelling story than the main series itself and Green Lantern #46 was another example of this. I think the thing that is making these tie-ins to Blackest Night better than the main series is that the writers are free to focus on the story than trying to make the stars of the DCU stand out above others, specifically the Black Lanterns JLA. This issue is an example of this as he is able to focus not on only the Black Lanterns and the threat they present to the universe but also on other members of the various Lantern Corps than just Hal Jordan.

And as this issue also shows Hal is an interesting character when he is interacting with characters like Sinestro, Carol, and Indigo-1 who each have their own distinct personalities and not a similar like Barry has. Johns did a very good job balancing the dialogue between the four characters as each one plays of the other very well. The dialogue was what carried the first half of this issue and kept things moving at a great pace as we entered the main event of this issue.

What was interesting to see is how we already have four of the seven main characters of the Green, Violent, Yellow, and Indigo Lantern Corps members together very quickly. It was stated that one of the other Lantern Corps members is needed to mix their “light” with the Green Lantern “light” to destroy the Black Lanterns and it was fun seeing it being shown with Hal and Carol combining their powers. The next main Lantern Cops member that will probably join the group of Hal, Sinestro, Carol, and Indigo-1 will be Saint Walker. That is if Sinestro stays with the group. It will be interesting to see if Agent Orange and Attrocius will join the ranks since those are the two that will be hardest to convince that they must join forces to defeat the Black Lanterns.

The best thing about this issue was of course the last half of the issue that gave us the main event fight of Sinestro vs. Mongul. The fight was properly brutal and epic as it has been built up to be in Tomasi’s “Emerald Twilight” story arc that happened just before Blackest Night. Even though Mongul dominated most of the fight the fight really showed why Sinestro is a badass character. The way the fight ended was awesome and is another example of why Sinestro has become one of the best and most interesting characters in the DCU.

The only problem I had with this issue is how slow and little attention is being paid to John Stewarts sub-plot that has been running through Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. Each issue of GL and GLC for the past few months have only given us a page or two showing us what John is doing and it is getting very boring. Personally with how little attention Johns, Tomasi, and other writers have paid to John this past year he has become the least interesting of the four Earth Green Lanterns as I haven’t found a reason to care what happens to the character.

Doug Mahnke’s artwork was again spectacular. He gives this issue the big event feel that Ivan Reis is giving the main series. The fight between Sinestro and Mongul was the highlight of the issue and Mahnke perfectly captured how epic the fight between two titans was. The only problem I had with the art is the inkers by committee this issue had. There were a few panels that had some inconsistent art.

Issue Rating
Story: 9.4/10 – Johns does a great job with all the dialogue in this issue and I hope we get more quality dialogue and storytelling like we got in this issue in the main series that Johns just has not provided.
Art: 8.7/10 – A few minor inconsistencies aside Mahnke’s artwork was phenomenal. Mahnke’s artwork did a nice job helping Johns dialogue by carrying the last half of the issue with the big fight we were given.
Overall: 9.1/10 – Green Lantern #46 was a great read. This is how Blackest Night should be written. We got some great dialogue and artwork that moved the overall story forward more than the main series has so far. Hopefully Johns carries this quality storytelling ability to the main series.

Teen Titans #75

Creative Team
Writer: Felicia D. Henderson (main story); Sean McKeever (back-up)
Artist: Joe Bennett (main story); Yildiray Cinar (back-up)
Inker: Jack Jadson (main story); Julio Ferreira (back-up)
Colorist: Rod Reis

Story – Wyld Thing

Review
After a great arc by Bryan Q. Miller we get yet another writer change for Teen Titans. Even though McKeever was on this title for a while before Miller and now Felicia D. Henderson came onto this title, Teen Titans has had a problem with major inconsistencies with the stability of the team. And I think that was one of the best things about Miller’s story arc as it felt that we finally had a permanent Teen Titans team.

For her part Henderson did a nice job carrying what Miller started. This is Henderson’s first comic book writing job with having previously only written for TV shows Fringe, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters and other shows. While she does not blow me away with her writing in this issue she definitely showed potential for growth as she transitions to being a comic book writer.

Henderson did some nice writing with the team chemistry as we see Aquagirl and Bombshell’s antagonistic relationship, Blue Beetle and Static showing themselves to be the stand outs of the team, and what looks like Miss Martian having a new crush. There were moments where the dialogue wasn’t very good but overall Henderson has a nice handle of each member of the team. The best writing Henderson provided was for Blue Beetle and Static as both continue to grow as their own characters with Blue Beetle especially standing out in this issue with the lecture he gave to Beast Boy at the end of the main story.

The problem Henderson faced in this issue was with re-visiting the Raven being controlled by her father or some demon. This storyline is old and has been told before and it feels like every time Raven appears this is the way a writer introduces the character to a title. Though the one part of this story I did like was Joe Bennett’s artwork as he was able to flex his muscle with some crazy things to draw.

Also I did not like how Beast Boy was written. If Henderson is trying to convince the reader that he is the new leader of this team she needs to portray him as a much more confident individual, which he showed a few times in the issue. Beast Boy came off as an immature school girl with how he acted anytime someone said something about Raven.

The Ravager back-up for this issue was probably the best we have gotten so far. McKeever showed why Ravager is a badass character. While I am not sure what this will do for the overall character.

Issue Rating
Story: 7.2/10 – While Henderson did not blow me away with the dialogue it definitely showed potential. The only problem I had with her writing was how she wrote Beast Boy.
Art: 7.6/10 – Bennett provided some solid artwork with the best being the dinosaur, tiger, gorilla, bull, hawk, and wolf hybrid monster.
Overall: 7.4/10 – Teen Titans #75 was another solid issue with the new creative showing some potential on this title. The only problem this story arc faces is it feeling “been there, done that” with Raven being possessed for the hundredth time.

Wolverine: Weapon X #5

Creative Team
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Ron Garney
Colorist: Jason Keith

Story – The Adamantium Men Part 5 of 5

Review
After the last issue giving us one of the most entertaining Wolverine issues we have gotten in a long time it was hard to see how Aaron and Garney would top what they did. And the truth is that this issue doesn’t reach that level which is a bit disappointing.

Even though this has been an action centered story arc this issue disappointed as it felt like the Aaron tried too hard to finish the story quickly. I would have much rather preferred it if we saw more action with Wolverine and Maverick fighting the rest of the Adamantium Men. The way Wolverine took them out with a helicopter felt to quick and not up to the standard set before it.

What I did like about this issue is that Aaron continued some strong characterization of Wolverine and giving us a strong supporting cast for the character that aren’t just the X-Men. Wolverine does come off the badass he should always be and the one person you do not want to piss off. While I didn’t like that the story was ended to quickly after thinking about it I did like how Wolverine took the methodical approach to take out the people after him instead of risking certain death in a fight that he probably would have lost.

Also this approach he took was made better because Aaron took Wolverine’s healing factor back to basics. His healing factor has become ridiculous over the years with how fast it is as he has become almost invincible. And I like that with his fight in the last issue Aaron showed Wolverine’s healing factor does have a limit again. Hopefully this limit is used more as Wolverine gets involved in bigger fights in this series.

The ending was very good as it set-up future plotlines with Maverick and Wolverine going against Norman Osborn. Aaron wrote a great Norman Osborn and it would be interesting to see Wolverine go up against him and the Dark Avengers which we might get in the Dark Reign: The List –Wolverine which is also written by Aaron.

Issue Rating
Story: 8/10 – Though Aaron does not reach the level he did with the story from the last issue his characterization of Wolverine was again very strong which made up for the lack of action.
Art: 8/10 – Garney’s wasn’t given much action to draw in this issue but it was still some solid artwork. His artwork is a great fit for this title.
Overall: 8/10 – Wolverine: Weapon X #5 was another solid read. This title feels like the old school Wolverine stories we used to get. Aaron and Garney have brought back the character to being the awesome and less convoluted character he once was. I definitely recommend any Wolverine fan and fans of action oriented titles to pick up Wolverine: Weapon X.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Weekly Comic Book Review for 9/30/09

Blackest Night: Titans #2 – The first issue of this three part mini-series surprised me with how food it was. The first issue had some nice old Teen Titans nostalgia for me and it should be interesting to see what other dead Teen Titans come back as Black Lanterns since there are hundreds of them.

Green Lantern #46 – I haven’t been the biggest fan of Geoff Johns work on Blackest Night so far but I did enjoy the last issue of Green Lantern. This issue is suppose to add the Mongul subplot along with what is going on with Sinestro and Carol so this should be an interesting issue.

Teen Titans #75 – I liked the last story arc of this title but I am not sure about how well Felicia Henderson will do on this title since she has only co-writing credits on TV shows. But hey she may be a hidden talent DC has found, which they desperately need.

Wolverine: Weapon X #5 – This has quickly become one of my favorite titles. This is how a Wolverine title should be writer. Aaron and Garney are doing an excellent job on this title and this final part to the Adamantium Men should a fun conclusion

DVD/Blu-ray
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies – Jeph Loeb’s work on Superman/Batman was the last work of his that I enjoyed and Public Enemies was his best arc on the title. It should be fun to see how DC Animation adapts this story arc that was honestly built to be an animated feature. DC Animation has done a good job so far with their animated movies so far so this should be another fun movie by them.

Video Games
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days – I love the Kingdom Hearts franchise. And I just recently finished playing Re: Chain of Memories for PS2 and it was a great game. This time around we are going to see the story being told from Roxas, Sora’s nobody, point of view and what he did in his time with Organization XII. I am interested to learn more of Roxas backstory of his days in Organization XIII since it felt underdeveloped in KH 2. And it will be interesting to see how Square Enix works around the limitations of the DS game cards as this series has been known for some great graphics and music to go along with the story.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Previewing the Week’s Releases: 9/28/09 – 10/4/09

Adventure Comics #1 (#504)

Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Francis Manapul (main story); Clayton Henry (back-up)
Colorist: Brian Buccellato (main story); Brian Reber (back-up)

Story – Superboy The Boy of Steel Part 1 (main-story); Long Live The Legion Part 1 (back-up)

Review
DC has always had a problem trying to get me hooked on their titles outside of Batman. It has only been recently with Sinestro Corps War that I started reading Green Lantern. While I have tried giving several different DC titles a shot I just have DC has never hooked me with most of their titles. This is especially true with Superman related titles. I have probably given Superman and his family of titles more chances to hook me than any other but I just have never read many stories outside of The Death and Return of Superman and the recent Brainiac storyline that I have actually liked. So coming into Adventure Comics #1 I wasn’t very optimistic about this title even if I liked Geoff Johns run on Teen Titans and how he wrote Superboy.

With that said Adventure Comics was a solid start to the new Superboy comic. Johns does a very good job with his characterization of Connor and his relationships with Superman, Krypto, and Ma Kent. It was nice to see that Connor’s death helped him realize that his life with Ma and Pa on the Kent Farm was much better than he originally thought.

Also I liked the mystery that Johns gave us with the swamp monster and how it is looking for Connor. I am not sure if this is a new threat or just an old Superman villain but I am interested to find out what the swamp monster wants with Connor.

With the mystery and Connor new outlook on life I am going to leave this title on my pull list for at least the Blackest Night tie-ins. The only negative about the main story was that not much really happened in this issue as this the main story was more about establishing Connor back to the present which is not such a bad thing.

Now I only wish the back-up was as good as the main-story. I not really too familiar with the Legion of Superheroes but the back-up really did not get me interested in the cast of characters. Overall nothing really happened in the back-up as it was only an introduction to the characters and I didn’t really get a good sense of who the characters really are. And since I am going to be getting the rest of this up to at least the Blackest Night tie-ins I hope Johns does a better job with the Legion story

Issue Rating
Story: 7.3/10 – Geoff Johns did a solid job with the main story with Connor but the Legion back-up story he wrote wasn’t very good.
Art: 8.4/10 – Francis Manapul’s artwork for the main story was gorgeous. Too bad that Clayton Henry’s artwork wasn’t as good as his artwork was just average.
Overall: 7.85/10 – Adventure Comics #1 was a solid start to this new Superboy title and it was enough for me to at least pick up the next few issues of this title.

Amazing Spider-Man #602

Creative Team
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Barry Kitson
Inkers: Barry Kitson and Rick Ketcham
Colorist: Jeromy Cox

Story – Red-Headed Stranger: Tenth of September

Review
The last time Fred Van Lente wrote Amazing Spider-Man was back in the one and done story involving The Spot, which was also his first issue as part of the Spider-Man Brain Trust. In that issue he showed a great sense for Spider-Man and that his writing style is a great fit for Spider-Man. But now after that one and done story he did Van Lente finally gets a shot at writing a multi-issue Amazing Spider-Man arc. And this first issue of this new Chameleon story arc was a good, but not great, start to the latest Spider-Man story.

In truth this wasn’t a great issue of Amazing Spider-Man there really isn’t anything wrong with this issue. Van Lente provided plenty of solid dialogue and Barry Kitson did a good job with his artwork and keep the look of the issue consistent.

I liked that Van Lente continued to show Harry is in worse shape than he was before the “American Son” arc. Though I am not really excited to see Harry fall into another state of depression and alcoholism I like that Van Lente used Harry’s problem as a way to get Peter and MJ together to help out a friend.

I also liked the new job Peter got in JJJ’s office. It is a new setting for Peter as he will not be able to wisecrack his way through this job as he won’t be allowed to mess around as much as he did back in the Daily Bugle.

Now the best part of this issue was the Chameleon. Van Lente did a great job making this new and improved Chameleon a much more menacing threat than he was before. I liked what Chameleon did to his victims after he stole their faces. It gave Chameleon a Batman villain feel with how violent it was.

Issue Rating
Story: 7.6/10 – Van Lente writing style is a great fit for Spider-Man as he did a great job giving this issue a nice mix of humor and drama.
Art: 8/10 – Kitson did a good job with the artwork. Hopefully he is given a little more action to illustrate in the next few issues.
Overall: 7.8/10 – Amazing Spider-Man #602 was a solid read that did a good job starting the new Spider-Man arc.

Batman #689

Creative Team
Writer: Judd Winnick
Artist: Mark Bagley
Inkers: Rob Hunter
Colorist: Ian Hannin

Story – Long Shadow Part 2: New Day, New Knight

Review
I feel a bit bad for Judd Winnick because out of the three Batman titles (Batman and Robin, Streets of Gotham, and Batman) the work he has been doing on Batman feels average when compared to the work Morrison and Dini are doing on over on the other two Bat-titles. This isn’t a bad thing as I am enjoying the work Winnick has done so far but so far he hasn’t done enough to set this title apart from the other two Bat-titles. So far Batman has given us good but not great reads, and this issue is no different, which is why this title is third among the three Batman titles.

With that said I did enjoy Batman #689. While I have not liked any of Winnick’s recent work over the past few years I actually like what he is doing on Batman. I am actually surprised that Winnick hasn’t really written anything that has made me hate his writing.

What I like about what Winnick is doing on Batman is exploring the relationship between Dick and Alfred now that Bruce is gone. Dick and Alfred were the closest and most trusted allies to Bruce both in his personal life and in fighting crime as Batman. And while Morrison and Dini have briefly touched upon how both these characters are handling Bruce’s death Winnick is fully exploring this aspect of the characters. And it is actually good to see that both Dick and Alfred are having a hard time with the aftermath of Bruce’s death and that each one of them is helping the other person ease the pain of losing a father and son, respectively. It gives Batman a nice family feel as both Dick and Alfred are showing how close of a family they were with Bruce and that these two characters have a nice father/son relationship that is similar to the one Bruce and Alfred had.

Also it is good to see that Winnick isn’t trying to force Dick to become like Bruce when he puts on the cowl. It makes sense that Dick would be a different Batman in his early adventures as Batman. As of right now he still seems to be acting as he did when he was Nightwing just in the Batman costume. While he will have to adopt more of the darker aspects that made Bruce successful as Batman even in his later years I like that we are seeing a transitional phase with Dick going from being Nightwing to Batman.

And I like that Winnick is using Two-Face as one of the main villains that Dick will have to face in his first adventure as Batman. If done right Two-Face could really become the new Joker for Dick as Batman. Tomasi did a great job in his final arc showing that Dick and Harvey share a long history with one another and it is good to see that Winnick picks up on this fact as it looks like Harvey knows that Nightwing is now the one under the cowl.

As for the art Bagley does a great job with the artwork in this issue. Bagley’s artwork is a great fight with this title as he gives plenty of energy to the fights that Dick’s acrobatic fighting style should have. And I especially liked the scene were we the Batmobile transformed into its flight mode and I look forward to seeing how he illustrates the big fight that was set up in the final page of the issue.

Issue Rating
Story: 7.5/10 – Winnick does a good job exploring more of the emotional aspect of Dick taking up the cowl but has yet to set his story apart from the one Morrison and Dini are telling in their books.
Art: 8.3/10 – Bagley’s art continues to impress. He gives this title a lot of energy and does a good job illustrating the dark scenes as much as the more light and action heavy scenes.
Overall: 7.9/10 – Batman #689 was a good solid read. While it is nothing special it does do a good job giving the reader their money’s worth.

Green Lantern Corps #39

Creative Team
Writer: Peter Tomasi
Artist: Patrick Gleason
Inkers: Rebecca Buchman and Tom Nguyen
Colorist: Randy Mayor

Story – Fade to Black

Review
While I have not been enjoying much of Geoff Johns work on Green Lantern and Blackest Night over the past few months I have been immensely enjoying the work that Peter Tomasi has been doing on Green Lantern Corps. And this issue of GLC does a great job not only developing the whole dead are rising aspect of Blackest Night that Johns has been focusing on in the first two Blackest Night and one Green Lantern issues he does an even better job developing the other aspects of the story by giving attention to what is going on with the Sinestro/Mongul Corps, the people in Daxam having powers, and the reaction of the whole Green Lantern Corps to the Black Lantern rings bringing back the dead.

First and foremost Blackest Night is a Green Lantern event and the Green Lantern Corps and the other six Lantern Corps have yet to appear in the event much less react to the Black Lantern threat. And Peter Tomasi does a great job showing that the Black Lanterns are a threat to the whole universe and not just one planet (cough*Earth*cough).

And that is what I have been complaining about with Blackest Night so far as Johns has yet to convince me this is an event that affects the whole universe. Tomasi doesn’t even show us the War of Light but what he does do is show us that the universe is about to go through one of its worse disasters in history by showing us how the Black Lanterns are already starting their attack on Oa.

I also liked that Tomasi continued to develop the Daxam storyline and Mongul’s takeover of the Sinestro Corp. What made those two scenes even more powerful by Patrick Gleason’s artwork. Gleason does a great job giving all the characters plenty of emotion and knows how to use light and darkness in scenes to make them more powerful.

The only thing I would have liked is that we would have gotten this issue before Blackest Night #2 as this issue, just like Blackest Night#1, felt like a set-up to the event. This issue would have benefited much more by being released before Blackest Night #2 as by now the dead rising from the grave isn’t the “WOW” feeling it had in Blackest Night#1.

Issue Rating
Story: 8/10 – Tomasi continues to tell a superior story than the one Johns is telling and he did a great job showing us how big Blackest Night really is.
Art: 8/10 – Gleason’s artwork is as great as it has always been. He does a great job capturing the sci-fi feel of this book.
Overall: 8/10 – Green Lantern Corps #39 was another solid issue by Tomasi and Gleason. GLC #39 did a much better job convincing me that Blackest Night is a big epic event that threatens to destroy the whole universe and not just one planet.

Red Robin #3

Creative Team
Writer: Christopher Yost
Artist: Ramon Bachs
Colorist: Guy Major

Story – The Grail Part 3

Review
Out of all the Batman: Reborn books out Red Robin has shown itself to be the weak link in the bunch. Yost has not made me invested in the story that Bruce is alive and that Tim is not crazy for believing it. So far Yost hasn’t made me believe that Tim is not crazy as he has yet to show the reader that there is one shred of evidence for our protagonist, Tim, to believe it other than he has a gut feeling. Even in this issue Yost tries to use that it may have to do with when Tim was infected with the Anti-Life Equation that he feels this way which is still not believable.

The Tim I am reading in Red Robin just does not look or read like the Tim Drake that has been written before this series. Tim continues to say that no one is trying to help him other than Ra’s but we have seen in these first three issues that Dick, Stephanie, and Cassie are trying to reach out to help him. Tim isn’t showing himself to being one of the best detectives around. Instead Tim just comes off as a very crazy and unstable person.

Also what doesn’t help Yost story is that the character already went through a similar storyline after Infinite Crisis when he became depressed and reclusive after Connor, and later Bart, died. And with both of his best friends back I don’t see why Tim is really pushing everyone one away and only trusting Ra’s. If anything Tim just seems like another version of Jason Todd, who also used the Red Hood name to cross lines that Batman and the Batfamily couldn’t cross. Yost really needs to give the reader more than just pure gut feeling by Tim to believe that this is a useless adventure that will only lead the character to become worse.

Issue Rating
Story: 4.7/10 – Yost story does far has been very thin read. He has yet to make me believe that Tim’s journey to find Bruce holds any logic to it.
Art: 5.5/10 – The art for this issue doesn’t make matters better. Red Robin #3 wasn’t a very good looking book as most of Ramon Bach artwork is very inconsistent through the issue.
Overall: 5.1/10 – Red Robin #3 was another weak read. So far out of all the Batman: Reborn titles this has been the weak link in the group.

The Marvels Project #1

Creative Team
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Steve Epting
Colorist: Dave Stewart

Story – The Beginning

Review
When a series has the creative team of Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting you do not need much to convince me to get the series. The team of Brubaker and Epting has been just money on Captain America. What makes this story of the same team telling the story of the Golden Age characters from Marvel’s history is that they have already been exploring some of the Golden Age throughout their run. And just looking at Captain America it can be said that they have been setting up to tell this story for a while on Captain America.

For a first issue Brubaker and Epting do a good job hooking me into this story. While this first issue was a slow start to this mini-series I really enjoyed the narrative focus on of this issue being told mostly from Thomas Halloway, who is the future Angel. It is an interesting choice made by Brubaker and for this first issue it works as an introduction to the WWII setting of Marvel’s Golden Age.

There isn’t much to say about this issue other than it was just good solid story telling that sets up the rest of this mini-series. And really that is all this issue was, as it works as a set-up for the rest of the series to introduce all the heroes of Marvel’s WWII stories in Captain America, Human Torch, Namor, Angel, and others.

Issue Rating
Story: 7.7/10 –Brubaker used this whole first issue to set-up the rest of this story. He provided plenty of solid dialogue to establish the main players of this mini-series.
Art: 9.2/10 – As always Epting’s artwork is very impressive in this issue. He does a great job giving The Marvels Project #1 a very grounded and gritty look that feels like we are going to be in store for a great espionage story.
Overall: 8.45/10 –The Marvels Project #1 was a solid start to the re-telling of Marvel’s Golden Age. If you have been enjoying Brubaker and Epting’s run on Captain America than this series is definitely worth checking out.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #001

Creative Team
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: David LaFuente
Colorist: Justin Ponsor

Story – A World According to Peter Parker

Review
There isn’t anywhere else I can start this review for Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #001 than by saying that this was another quality issue by Bendis that this series was known for throughout the 133 issues of Ultimate Spider-Man. In truth, while this series has been renumbered with a new #1 this issue very much feels like issue #134 of Ultimate Spider-Man.

This issue is everything I expect an Ultimate (Comics) Spider-Man penned by Bedis to be like. It has great humor, action, drama and solid character dialogue. It is an interesting dynamic that Bendis gave this issue as Spider-Man is seen as a hero and well liked by New York City but is having trouble with his new job. It is a interesting change from were Ultimate Spider-Man used to be as before the 6 month time skip Peter was actually holding down a solid job at the Daily Bugle and was hated as Spider-Man by the city.

And Bendis does a great job building up Ultimate Mysterio as a credible threat already with the actions he took at the end of the issue. Even though Bendis introduced to the character back in the third annual we never got to really see Ultimate Mysterio as a viable threat. But with the actions the character took in this issue it looks like Peter will be having his hands full in later issues

There were only two complaints I had with this issue. The first is the $3.99 price increase. We aren’t getting anymore content than we did when this series was simply called Ultimate Spider-Man. What I recommend Marvel to do to make the price increase not seem as bad is instead of publishing a four Ultimate Comics title is to put back-ups for the Ultimate Fantastic Four, X-Men, or other ultimate characters in Ultimate Comics Spider-Man to make up for the price increase.

As for the issue itself I really did not like the new Peter/Gwen relationship Bendis introduced in this issue. It just doesn’t feel since Bendis have always shown these two characters to share a brother-sister relationship and the new relationship just feels wrong.

Now as for the art David LaFuente artwork kicked ass in this issue. I loved his artwork for this issue. LaFuente inserts plenty of energy into every scene. The manga/anime style that LaFuente gave this issue does a good job giving this Ultimate Comics Spider-Man a much different look than most comic books Marvel and DC published that is refreshing to see.

Issue Rating
Story: 9.4/10 – Minor complaint aside Bendis provided some great mix of humor, drama, action and character work that this series has been known for.
Art: 9.2/10 – LaFuente provide some great artwork and his manga/anime style gives this series a great look that is different from most comics.
Overall: 9.3/10 – Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #001 was just a great read. Bendis was able to make this issue very reader friendly while still not missing a beat from his run on Ultimate Spider-Man. It is great to see that after going through the horror that was Ultimatum that this title continues to be one of the best titles being published right now.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Weekly Comic Book Reviews for 8/12/09

Now it looks like my pull list for this week is dominated by Marvel as I won’t be getting any DC titles this week. This isn’t anything for me new as other the Batman and Green Lantern franchises there isn’t any other titles/project to be excited about that DC is publishing right now. At the same time Marvel just seems to want all my money until I am broke as they publish more titles and projects that peek my interest. What a difference in approaches between the two companies right now. Hmmm!

Oh well! Enough of my small rant for this week now onto this week’s releases:

Comics
Amazing Spider-Man #601 – For the past few months Amazing Spider-Man has actually been providing some very good stories. And after the huge anniversary issue two weeks ago with issue #600 it seems as though this title is going to provide us with some great stories these next year. With this issue bringing back MJ back this issue and story arc should be very interesting as she interacts with both Peter and Spider-Man. Hopefully the supporting cast that the Spider-Man Brain Trust have built up still plays a large role in this issue and is not pushed aside because of MJ’s return. I also look forward to Mario Alberti’s artwork as I was a huge fan of his work on the X-Men/Spider-Man mini-series from last year.

Captain America: Reborn #2 – The first issue of Steve Rogers return was a lack luster return of the character. Even though I did not like the way Ed Brubaker revealed that Steve is still alive I still have faith that he and Hitch can deliver a much better story with this second issue.

Invincible Iron Man #16 – So far I have been mixed with “World’s Most Wanted” arc going on in this title. Matt Fraction has done a good job with building the problems facing Tony and Maria Hill but his execution sometimes makes this story arc read too much like other Iron Man stories from the past. Though with the announcement at SDCC of issue #19 being the final showdown between Tony and Norman I am hopeful Fraction can turn things around and start providing more solid reads on a consistent basis till then.

War of Kings #6 – I can’t believe the final issue is finally here. Time sure flies by when an event comes out on time doesn’t it? DnA and Paul Pelletier have been doing a fantastic good showing all current and future writers and artists of big events should execute big events. War of Kings has done an excellent job in both being a fast paced and methodical read as it has built up to the big confrontation between Black Bolt and Vulcan. And this should be one hell of a final issue as DnA and Pelletier have yet to disappoint with War of Kings. I can’t wait to read this issue.

Movies
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra – Though at first I was very hesitant about this movie being any good, but the more I see of this movie through the commercials and trailers the more I think this won’t be half as bad as I originally thought. If anything I going to go into the movie theater with the same mentality I went in with for Transformers 2: this should be a fun action packed summer blockbuster movie. As long as the movie can deliver with the entertainment like Transformers 2 I will look past the flaws in the story.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Previewing this Week’s Releases: 8/3/09 – 8/9/09

Comics:
Teen Titans #73 – The last issue of Teen Titans was a surprisingly good read. Hopefully Bryan Q. Miller can continue that momentum into this issue and get this title back on track.

Ultimatum #5 – After going through the horror that has been Ultimatum the final issue of one of the worst events in comic book history is almost over. The only real reason I have bother to pick up this mini-series is because I actually am looking forward to Ultimate Comics launching next month and I just want to see how this event affects the Ultimate Universe.

Ultimatum: Spider-Man Requiem #2 – The first issue of the “final” days of Ultimate Spider-Man was an excellent beginning to this two part story. I really liked the mix of Immonen and Bagley’s artwork though I hope for this second issue that Immonen gets a chance to draw more of the aftermath of the Ultimatum wave and not just leave this issue to be another flashback story.

DVD/Blu-rays:
Dragonball: Evolution – Even though I have heard only negative reviews on this movie as a Dragonball fan I am still going to go out and rent it to see if the live-action adaption to one of my favorite mangas is as bad as people say it is

Green Lantern: First Flight – DC has done a great job with their straight to DVD animated movies so far and from the trailer I am looking forward to the adaption of Hal Jordan’s origin story.

The Spectacular Spider-Man: The Complete First Season – With the Spectacular Spider-Man now into its second season we are finally getting a full collection of the first season of this great show on DVD. If you still have not given The Spectacular Spider-Man a shot than do yourself a favor and pick-up this season DVD as it is one of the most faithful and best comic book cartoon adaption we have had.

Movies:
Funny People – Though I probably won’t get a chance to go to the movie theater this week I am still undecided if I should watch this movie or wait until it comes out in DVD. Still the trailer looks good and a typical Judd Apatow movie.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Previewing the Weeks Releases: 7/27/09 – 8/2/09

Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Doug Manhke
Inker: Christian Alamy, Doug Manhke, Tom Nguyen, & Rooney Ramos
Color: Randy Mayor

Story – Only the good Die Young

Review
Now this may not be the popular opinion of but I am was very disappointed by Green Lantern #44. This issue was a very thin read that as Johns continues to disappoint me with his storytelling abilities. While I did give a good score to Blackest Night #1 last week it was mostly because it was a first issue and I understood that Johns had to make it new reader friendly so I wave off most of the negatives of the issue. But now with how big this event is I am not willing to read through more of Johns stalling tactics as he waste the whole issue on things that we already knew about Blackest Night and we are never really learn more about the event and the Black Lanterns.

Now before I continue my rant I will say there was something good to take out of this issue as Johns does an excellent job making J’onn a complete badass. With the way Johns is writing Black Lantern Martian Mahunter it makes me wonder why the character has been so poorly handled when he was alive. I really liked that the Black Lantern version of the character reminds not only Hal and Barry but the reader as well that he is one of the characters that is just as powerful as Superman.

Also I have to give much props to Doug Manhke for kicking ass on the art. As always Manhke does an excellent job capturing the epic feel of Blackest Night and does a great job with the fight scene between Hal and Barry vs. Black Lantern Martian Manhunter.

As I said before the problem with this issue that takes away from the good of the issue is that it reads very thin as Johns moves the story in a very slow pace. While I like Hal and Barry as characters I have really become less and less interested in scenes with just the two characters alone with one another. Right now Johns just seems to be wasting time as all the scenes between the two characters read the same as their scenes in Flash: Rebirth and Blackest Night #1. I might have like their interaction as well as their fight with Martian Manhunter if Johns did not dedicate 2/3′s of the issue to them and their fight.

The real problem I have with this issue is that Johns is dealing with such a huge story that is not just about a few characters like most events DC and Marvel have done but it is a galaxy spanning event that stars a huge cast. In many instances Blackest Night is a event that is 20x bigger than War of Kings with the amount of characters Johns has to handle. And with how big the event is Johns should not be wasting time with slow pondering issue were he continues to focus on Hal and Barry. With all the build-up I want to see more development with Larfleeze sending his Orange Lanterns to attack the Blue Lanterns, the Green Lanterns vs. the Red Lanterns, the Sinestro Corps vs. the Violet Lanterns, reactions to the Black Lanterns rising across the universe, and other storylines that have been developing since the end of Sinestro Corps War and even before that Green Lantern: Rebirth Johns should not be wasting time with these type of issues.

Johns even teases some these things yet again with a spread of these developments that was similar to the one we got in Blackest Night #1. So with the size of this event and how many interesting characters that are involved in the War of Lights Johns need to share the love across the universe and not to just two of his pet characters.

Issue Rating
Story: 4.1/10 – Johns continues his way of stalling tactics of storytelling that I have become tired of after a year and half of the same thing.
Art: 9.4/10 – Doug Manhke does a great job with the art and is one of the only saving graces of this issue.
Overall: 6.75/10 – Green Lantern #44 was yet another disappointing issue of this series. With how big Blackest Night is that it is not just an event involves the Earth and its heroes but the entire universe and the different Lantern Corps we cannot keep getting issues like this one.

Nova #27

Creative Team
Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Andrea Divito
Colorist: Bruno Hang

Story - Shock & Awe

Review
Picking up were the last issue left off Nova #27 we see that Richard and his two fellow Nova Corp members racing off to save his brother. Even though this issue is suppose to be a War of Kings tie-in DnA make this issue read more of an extension of the direction of this comic book has been on since the first issue and not just a senseless tie-in. And this is where DnA have really been excelling in with the tie-ins that we have had in both Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy. If anything else War of Kings has served as an excellent backdrop to further develop the Marvel cosmic characters that DnA have made me to become a big fan of.

Another thing they continue to do well is the dialogue of all the various characters in this book. While DnA have not really made me like Richard’s brother Robbie they have done a good job with rebuilding the Nova Corps and introducing some very good characters like Morrow and Irani who are his partners in this issue. It is great seeing Richard become more of a leader of the Nova Corps as he has that confident aura around him that takes to be a good leader.

Even in the situation of desperation were he has to save his brother and has to get through all the Negative Zone prisoners that are on the planet his brother is in Richard is able to stay calm and assess the situation even trying to make peace with Blastaar. And it is a nice parallel to how Morrow, Irani, and Robbie do things as rookie Nova Corp members as they rush into situations without thinking things through.

And while I was hoping to see more of a fight between Nova and Blastaar the interaction between the characters made up for it. I like how Nova and Blastaar have an underlying respect for one another and Blastaar is still able to maintain menacing figure he is as the reader knows that he will betray Richard as soon as he gets the opportunity.

I am really looking forward to seeing how Blastaar will figure into War of Kings and how his new escape from the Negative Zone will affect this title as it seems he could become a primary foe Nova will face in the future.

Issue Rating
Story: 8.5/10 – DnA continue to do an excellent job with all of the character work developing the new Nova Corps and Richard’s return to being Nova Prime again.
Art: 8.2/10 – Andrea Divito provides some very good artwork and he does a good job with the cosmic look of Nova.
Overall: 8.35/10 – Nova #27 was another good read as DnA, along with Divito, continue to work their magic in making the Marvel cosmic side one of the most interesting aspect of the Marvel Universe.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Weekly Comic Book Reviews for 7/22/09

Story – Blackest Night Prologue: Tale of the Black Lantern

Review
After going through two arcs were it felt as though Johns was phoning it in we finally get a good solid effort by Johns on Green Lantern. The biggest weakness of “Agent Orange” was that it felt as though Johns was stretching a story that was clearly made to be told two issues into a four part story. With all of Johns recent work on Green Lantern I was actually becoming worried that he was losing it and that the pressure of providing the epic story that fans have was getting to him. But issues like Green Lantern #43 made me remember just how good Johns is.

I like that it only took Johns one issue to gives us the back story of the leader of the Black Lanterns, Black Hand, and what dead characters we expect to see become Black Lanterns. Even though we got some of William Hand’s, Black Hand, origin story back in the “Secret Origins” arc I thought the expansion Johns made on his origin to be well done. There has already been a creepiness factor built into some of the Red and Orange Lanterns as they possess a horror picture character type feel to them but what Johns did with Black Hand in this issue put Black Hand and the Black Lanterns on a different level. All the scenes with Black Hand in this issue, especially his suicide, all had a creepy vibe to them which the final splash page of the issue just into a sick moment, as can be seen in this week’s Legen–wait for it–dary Highlights of the Week.

Doug Mahnke artwork on the issue made the whole story in this issue, especially the ending, even better. Mahnke provided the solid artwork that Green Lantern has been missing. Hopefully Mahnke can stay on schedule as his artwork is a great fit for this title.

Also, while none of the future Black Lanterns where surprising, as DC has spoiled who most of the members are going to be, it thought making Black Hand the Herald of the Black Lanterns, like Ion, Parallax and Predator, was a good move. This puts more of an emphasis on Black Hand and what makes him special within all the star power that the Black Lanterns will have.

Issue Rating
Story: 7.8/10 – Johns provided a solid origin story to Black Hand and the Black Lanterns as he shows he can still do a solid job with one issue stories.
Art: 9.7/10 – Mahke’s artwork throughout the issue was excellent. Hopefully he can keep to the schedule as he could do an excellent job with the tie-in issues Green Lantern is going to have with Blackest Night.
Overall: 8.75/10 – Green Lantern #43 was a very good issue that does a nice job setting up Blackest Night. While I have my reservations about the event I fully expect that Johns will be able to deliver with Blackest Night.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Green Lantern #43 Review