Quick Comic Reviews - October 18th, 2010

Still trying to catch up after the peed on laptop incident.  We're still taking donations or check out some ads and help the recovery fund.  Or don't.  We do appreciate the donations we've gotten.  In the grand scheme of things it seems trivial.  However, to the flat ass broke people out there, pretty big deal.  Anyway, if you like comics (and I know you do) we've got some more fun stuff.

New Avengers #5 - Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Penciled by Stuart Immonen.  The mystery of who is after the Eye of Agamotto continues.  And this issue we have the White Lantern Iron First.  Wait, wrong title.  But Iron Fist in a white outfit is actually pretty decent looking.  In fact, I kind of prefer it, so nice costume change there.  Will he keep it?  Probably not, but nice to see.  So it seems like we're starting to find out who is really after the Eye, and if it is who they're thinking it is, this could be very interesting.  The only problem I had is that it wasn't Strange himself who really figured it out.  I do like the solution they come up with at the end of the issue, it made some weird kind of sense and made it fun.  The artwork was top notch as usual, no complaints here.  The mixture of this team is the most interesting, which makes it one of the best Avengers titles right now.  Having Power First and Doctor Strange in the fore-front makes it even more interesting and the storyline works pretty well.  Worth checking out and a solid issue to pick-up.

Bruce Wayne the Road Home Batgirl #1 - Written by Bryan Q. Miller and Art by Pere Perez.  This issue was much better than I expected.  I honestly thought it would be awful, but at least they kept the same writing team.  This is almost a coming of age issue in which Batgirl is accepted by Bruce and even respected.  You'll see the same thing the whole issue.  You know this guy running around in an uber-powered suit is Bruce.  How he got back?  Well, you see, the whole Return of Bruce Wayne series should be done by now, but whatever delays occured held it back.  So we see the aftermath BEFORE it resolves in the appropriate series.  Which is fine, because Grant Morrison completely dropped the ball on that storyline anyway, so who cares.  I do have a rant about this whole ordeal that I'll publish in a few days.  The story is simple, there's nothing wrong with it.  The artwork is just fine and dandy, no complaints there either.  But we get the same Stephanie we've grown to love and a decent enough story involving Bruce Wayne.  Do you need this issue?  No, but it isn't bad at all.

Booster Gold #37 - Written by J.M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen with Pencils by Chris Batista.  This issue follows Booster and Ted Kord who has been turned into a chipmunk during a break-out attempt of a prison ship that's about to invade Earth.  The hi-jinx are complemented this issue by a super tough prisoner named Estrogina, who is fighting her way to freedom.  Along the way she decides Booster would be a good mate, so she decides to take him with her for... later.  She also decides to eat Blue "Chipmunk", cue hilarity that is bound to follow.  Talk about a fun issue with tons of laughs.  It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the comedy involved is pretty hilarious stuff.  Everything is just plain absurd and that's what makes it even better.  Giffen and DeMatteis take the characters and just have as much fun with them as humanly possible.  This made it hard for me to decide the best title this week just because it's one of those rare unforgettable issues that will stick with me forever.  I think that alone makes it a must buy if you like crazy comedy and superhero hi-jinx.  Some of the laughs may not appeal to everyone though, but if you like that stuff, I couldn't recommend it more than I am right now.  BUY IT!

Thor #616 - Written by Matt Fraction and Art by Pasqual Ferry.  Ok, cue the theme and story from last issue, except move it nowhere.  Oh, and do nothing but double panel spreads so the comic takes about 5 minutes to read.  I'm not even going into it, besides to say that I'm disappointed with this issue.  I was interested to see what these "World Eaters" would do.  There was barely anything in here to give you the feeling that the issue was moving anywhere.  What you came out with last issue for knowledge, pretty much the same thing here.  There is one poignant panel in the end towards moving the plot forward and that's about it.  This issue is really more character focused, which is fine and all, but for $3.99, you kind of want to feel like you got more out of an issue.  I talked with a friend of mine about this issue and I asked him if it read real fast to him.  He thought about and sure enough, it read in about 5 minutes for him too.  Those two page spreads are nice as far as the artwork goes, but it got old after awhile.  There are 9 two page spreads in this. NINE!  I know Fraction is overworked right now, but we didn't need him for this title.  Bad move by Marvel.  Only buy if you want to feel like you just got $3.99 stolen from you, unless you're buying it just for Pasqual's artwork.

Shadowland #4 - Written by Andy Diggle and Penciled by Billy Tan.  Crap starts going down quick in this issue as the heroes launch a major last ditch offensive on Daredevil.  That is the entire issue.  All of it.  So I just talked about how quick Thor read, this one read pretty quick too.  It was moved forward by a lot of action though as well.  So can the heroes stop the resurrection of Bullseye?  I'm not huge on major battle issues, but we all knew this one was coming so it isn't that bad.  The scenes are a little confusing in parts and I dislike how Billy Tan draws the Punisher.  There honestly isn't much memorable in this issue and I'm left feeling like next issue is the important one.  This one just didn't feel important when I got to the end of it.  That's just my feeling though.  I thought Billy Tan's artwork was ok, not all that impressive this issue.  The colors just didn't seem to fit this issue either.  I almost felt like Wolverine's costume was almost glowing in some spots it was such a bright blue.  Ugh!  This is just an ok issue in what has been a pretty good major event so far, take it or leave it.

Quick Comic Reviews - October 18th, 2010