$oss' Pull List Reviews 11-30-11

Deadman #1-3 

My local comic shop had a midnight sale on Thanksgiving discounting all the #1 and #2 issues of The New 52. DC has done an outstanding job with all the books that I've read so far so I took this opportunity to try out some titles that I skipped the first time around. Seeing that my favorite books from the New 52 have mainly come from the darker side of DC (Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Justice League Dark) I thought Deadman would be another home run. Wrong. What should have been a dark and haunting tale of possession, the dead and the undead turned out to be just another superhero story.

Bernard Chang's talents would be much better used on a traditional title like Superman or Green Lantern. When compared to the strange and exotic illustrations in Animal Man or the gruesome, photorealistic art found in JL Dark and Swamp Thing Chang's work simply doesn't fit.

Voodoo #3 

I feel like this book is my dirty little secret. If Gint was with me at the comic shop he would probably slap this book out of my hands. And what's worse is it's not really even that good. Sami Barsi is an amazing artist. Each month I fall in love with the clean lines and great character design. I'm going to start a petition to get Barsi on a quality book. 

The story.....kind of shitty. Standard "aliens walk among us" type stuff. But the story wasn't the biggest problem I had with this issue. Green Lantern is featured in this book but I was unsure if this Green Lantern was Kyle Rayner or Hal Jordan. It looked like Kyle, but since I only read Green Lantern and not any of the hundreds of other GL centric books I'm not even certain if Kyle still rocks a ring. This could have been cleared up with one caption saying "Kyle Rayner. Green Lantern". I'd imagine this would really confuse a brand new reader who is unfamiliar with Earth's multiple Lanterns. Shame on you DC editorial staff.

Wolverine and the X-Men #2 

The question is still left unanswered. Do I like Chris Bachalo's art? This month was pretty shaky. Jumbled panels and bad coloring are the major culprits here. Bachalo also has a habit of not drawing backgrounds for many of his panels. It gets hard to gauge where the characters are. I end up spending more time figuring out where the action is taking place than what is going on in the story. It's a shame because the story is interesting. The evolution of Wolverine, Kitty Pryde and Iceman is enjoyable. Jason Aaron is taking these characters to places that haven't been explored. I just wish the art could clean itself up to match the storytelling.

Justice League Dark #3

The cover art promises a story involving Deadman, John Constantine and Zatanna. Instead we get Shade the Changing Man and a villain named Mind Warp. What a dirty trick. Despite these two dumb characters hogging all the panels this month I'm still totally invested in this story arc. I'm having a lot of fun with this book and it's strange cast of characters. 

Mikel Janin's art is mind blowing (or mind warping, zing!). I especially like the way Deadman is presented. He isn't just a pale bald dude. You can see the bones underneath his wrinkled, shagging skin. He looks like a corpse and isn't that the whole point?-$

Panel of the Week: Oh Kyle, you are so creative.

Hipster?

While real life Dom would never be upset about an 80's tee shirt he does hate "those fucking Rivers Cuomo glasses" and "computers with fucking fruit for a logo." I don't see the problem with either. -$

Gint's 11-22-11 Pull-List Review

A heavy week as I left the comic shop with eight books. Were they all good? Read on and find out...

Eighth Place:

Teen Titans #3

The Teen Titans' headlines this past week have been all about Bunker (dumb name) being super gay. But I really didn't think he was written all that gay. If I didn't read the headlines, I wouldn't know he was gay at all. And that's probably how writer Scott Lobdell wants it. I'm sure Miguel's homosexuality will be more on display as we learn more about the character, but this issue didn't put a spotlight on it. And also, Bunker is one of the few likeable characters in Lobdell's run so far.

Lobdell is setting up a handful of running plotlines that I hope dovetail soon. At some point I'm going to start forgetting stuff month to month. That probably says more about my misfiring brain than Lobdell's writing prowess.

This was an okay book. Not a glowing recommendation, but there are worse books out there.

Seventh Place:

Superman #3

Get comfortable. You're gonna be reading this one for a while. George Pérez is at it again cramming as much stuff as he can into one comic. Between his text and his breakdowns Nicola Scott's exceptional artwork barely gets room to shine. However, her work inside Pérez's breakdowns looks a lot better than previous artist Jesus Merino's.

This book has some nice moments that don't drag on like past issues. Oh, it has those moments too, but they're fewer and farther between than issues 1 and 2. The best parts of this issue are the subtle hints at the relationships between our classic characters in this DCnU. If Pérez did it on purpose, kudos, but I'm skeptical.

I'm still counting down to the new creative team, but this issue wasn't terrible. That's the best review I can give.

Sixth Place:

The Fury of Firestorm #3

I really want this book to be better. Its not bad, but its missing that intangible that normally gets me excited about reading a book. With the co-creative team of Ethan van Sciver and Gail Simone, this should be a no-brainer. But something is still missing.

We learn this issue that Professor Stein created Firestorm Protocols for every nuclear powered country so they'd each have a Firestorm for defense. Well, the US version, Helix, apparently went nuts and nuked a whole town including his kids and half of his wife's body. His wife, Director Zither, works for the covert government agency trying to corral our two heroes.

Yildiray Cinar's pencils are fine, but he can do better. He has the potential to really tighten up his artwork and make everything a little sharper.

I'm hoping van Sciver and Simone find a groove for this book because so far The Fury of Firestorm is a middle-of-the-pack effort.

Fifth Place:

Annihilators: Earthfall #3

Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning keep the space epic rolling in Earthfall. The Magus is back and has escalated the threat of the Universal Church of Truth to Earth and the extended Universe beyond.

The last two issues of this book have really hit a certain stride with the Annihilators that we haven't seen before. This book now feels more in-line with the tone of the Marvel U. that Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova started. DNA's time on their Flashpoint tie-ins and the first Annihilators' story had shaken my faith in them, but I feel its been restored.

The art of Tan Eng Huat is still pretty crappy. But its crappy in a way that's readable. I won't say enjoyable, but it apparently gets the job done because I don't get furious looking at his work. Its become amusing at this point.

As for the Rocket Raccoon and Groot backup story, DNA are clearly mailing it in. Its much less entertaining than their first backup tale and not as good as their appearances in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Fourth Place:

Green Lantern: New Guardians #3

Tony Bedard may have finally tapped in to what makes a Green Lantern book work. His work was up and down through his time on Green Lantern Corps., but these last couple issues of New Guardians have really been pretty good.

Bedard is setting up a mystery surrounding why one of each of the colored rings were drawn to Kyle Rayner, and he's doing it without dragging the story out. He's keeping the story pumping every issue so nothing feels dragged down. Three issues in and those eager for finally seeing where Larfleeze is get their wish.

The only negative this issue is the dual art duties from Tyler Kirkham and Harvey Tolibao. Tolibao isn't as strong as Kirkham and they're styles are different enough to be a little jarring when going from one's work to the other. I'd like to know why Kirkham isn't drawing this whole book because he didn't seem to have a problem keeping a schedule on Green Lantern Corps.

Bedard and Kirkham are proving me wrong in my assertion that a third Green Lantern book wasn't needed. Fingers crossed that they keep it up.

Third Place:

I, Vampire #3

This one took a couple reads to fully comprehend. Whether it was Joshua Fialkov's dialogue or the Penguins/Canadiens game in the background, I don't know.

Fialkov offers up a bit of DC vampire mythos trivia to the reader that our main antagonist and protagonist might not even know. If this book continues to do what it's been doing, this could provide a heart-wrenching plot twist for the end of this series.

Andrea Sorrentino, who I recently just found out is a dude, draws the heck out of this issue even though the gruesomeness is dialed way down from last issue.

The pace of the story has been sped up a little bit and we move closer to our first meeting between a vampire and an honest-to-goodness DC resident. I will most certainly keep reading.

Second Place:

Aquaman #3

The excitement for Aquaman continues. Geoff Johns clearly has this story planned out and is giving it a great pace. He's also laying hints for future stories and I'm hoping this doesn't become a Superboy situation where Johns writes 6 issues and is out. This could set up for a long successful run and I'd like to see it continue.

Arthur and Mera (who may be my new sexiest lady in comics) find out a little more about the Trench while getting a couple hints dropped about Arthur's past and the history of his trident.

The negative this issue: the inking. Joe Prado normally does a masterful job of inking Ivan Reis. And maybe its part Reis fault too. Bottom line is some of this work feels rushed. Some linework feels carelessly thrown on the page but its really not enough to hurt the book. Just a critical eye by yours truly.

First Place:

The Flash #3

This is a damn intelligent book. I've read that all the kooky science terms that Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato use are actual science terms and theorys, as crazy as they may sound. And the way these two are writing Barry's powers will really challenge any other Flash writers to up the ante.

Barry Allen is now able to tap his brain into the speed force. It gives him the ability to forsee a handful of different outcomes before he acts on a situation. This may sound like a nice deux ex machina for some situations, but so far Manapul and Buccellato use it very unobtrusively.

And its all beautifully illustrated by Manapul with expert colors by Buccellato. These dudes should really be proud of the produce they're creating. A+ work all the way around.

Panel of the Week:

Look at that hand-rendered text. I haven't done that since school and Manapul and Buccellato are using it to give The Flash a very unique quality by using some old school comics' tricks.

-Gint

Bothans

Anyone else ever question who/what a Bothan is? They are never mentioned anywhere else in the Star Wars films but supposedly played a big part in getting those shitty Death Star plans.  Well here is the Wookieepedia entry for these brave souls complete with a very disturbing picture of a female Bothan. 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Bothan

Special thanks to my buddy Joe for coming up with idea for this strip. -$

$oss' Pull-List Reviews 11-23-11

Captain America #4

Cap is trapped in an alternate universe created by his old teammate Jimmy Jupiter. The good news is this place is supposed to represent Steve Rogers' ideal version of America. But we all know how that is gonna work out. It's more like The Matrix: Reloaded. And nobody liked that movie. 

Steve McNiven's brilliant panel design is on display again. Every page has a distinct look. His use of oddly shaped panels really is fun to follow. Another standout issue. 

Justice League #3 

The slow burn continues. I'm not saying that the way Geoff Johns is handling introducing each member of the team is bad, just slow. This all could have been handled in two issues. I liked the foreshadowing of Darkseid and the tie-in to Cyborg's tech. I have to disagree with Gint on the inclusion of Victor Stone on this book. There are more then enough of the traditional big time heroes on this title. There is room for one odd ball. 

I'm going to commit comic book blasphemy and criticize Jim Lee. He crowded every page in this issue. I recognize this is a team book with lots of action but it's becoming difficult to separate foreground and background elements. This also could be partially colorist Alex Sinclair's fault. His choice of an overall cold and metallic palette didn't work for me. Typically Sinclair's work is the best in the business so I'm not sure what was up.

Swamp Thing #3

The pieces are in place and the story is really starting to roll. This month we are introduced to William Arcane, a young boy who must live in a plastic bubble to survive. William also happens to be the avatar for The Black or the Rot much like Alec Holland is the avatar of The Green and Animal Man is the same for The Red. Once this kid escapes his bubble you can almost hear the shit hitting the fan. What I'm most excited to see is how Scott Snyder plans on tying the events of Swamp Thing with Animal Man. The overlapping themes surely will deliver a big payoff of readers down the road. I suggest you pick up both of these titles to get the full scope of the story Snyder is constructing.

Wonder Woman #3 

This marks the first big shakeup to the old status quo. Brian Azzarello has rewritten the origin of one of DC's most recognizable heroes and my only question is why did it take so long? I always maintained that a major reason Wonder Woman was a difficult character to empathize with was because she was made of clay. Yes, for those of you that don't know, she was sculpted out of clay and brought to life. That's so ridiculous that it makes getting bitten by a radioactive spider seem completely reasonable. 

Azzarello reinvents Diana as the illegitimate child of Zeus and Queen Hippolyta. Seeing as how Zeus' lady Hera wouldn't take kindly to the idea of him stepping out on her, Hippolyta crafts said tale of creating a baby from clay. Upon learning the truth of her birth Diana decides it's time to leave Themyscira and the Amazons behind and adopts the name of Wonder Woman. The only thing that could have improved this powerful scene would be Diana shouting “Screw this noise!”

Everything in this issue made perfect sense. It addressed the history behind the character while updating it to a version that is understandable and gives the hero a new sense of direction. This is what The New 52 truly is about: fixing and updating parts of a character's mythos while keeping the core of what makes them intriguing intact. -$

Panel of the Week: I know I just bitched about the art in this book. What can I say, I'm a sucker for Wonder Woman and Jim Lee. Put them together and I'm powerless to resist. 

A Car for (fucking) Dudes

Being the owner of a Volkswagen Beetle requires one to have a thick skin. You're really not going to make it through your ownership without someone making cracks about how non-masculine your car is, and by association, yourself. It's been a long row to hoe, but also much cheaper than finding and upkeeping a 1967 Impala. And how efficient on gas is the Impala with all the driving Sam and Dean do? Not very, I say.

-Gint

Gint's 11-16-11 Pull-List Review

A good round of books this week with all four being solid reads.

Fourth Place:

Supergirl #3

As far as nicest looking books of The New 52 goes, Supergirl is right at the top. Mahmud Asrar, with Bill Reinhold and Paul Mounts on the art, whip up one nice looking book. Mounts' color is particularly impressive has he uses a watercolor style and an almost faded color palette. It brings a lot to Asrar and Reinhold's pencils/inks.

Michael Green and Mike Johnson continue to craft a really interesting story about Kara being trapped in a strange land, not even knowing the language. Superman appears and tries to help, but, her refusal to trust him and believe him when he tells her Krypton has been destroyed lands her in a bad situation at the end of this issue.

I would like to give Kudos to whoever created new villain The Brain, who is essentially a brain and nervous system inside a man-shaped gelatinous goo. Its equal parts, weird, creepy and awesome.

Green and Johnson are proving that the initial solicits' description of our new Maid of Might were way off and this is a Supergirl we can all get behind. (HEY-O! No pun intended.)

Third Place:

Green Lantern Corps #3

This month's issue gives us "guest penciller" Geraldo Borges. When I see "guest penciller" I expect it to be a treat. Geraldo Borges filling in for Fernando Pasarin is not a treat. Borges' work isn't bad, but it looks like someone trying to draw comic artwork. Does that make sense? The lack of Fernando Pasarin hurts this issue.

As far as the story goes, Peter Tomasi moves it along masterfully as usual. The team of GL's on the planet Xebel need help and and teleporting Lantern sacrifices himself to get them all out of trouble. BUT, he's not able to teleport John Stewart and a couple other Lanterns back home. So next issue I expect Stewart to be in some serious shit.

I would like full disclosure from out comic book publishers. I know we'll never get this, but I would really like to know why we get fill-in artist sometimes. Does Borges fill-in because DC wanted to give him a shot or because Pasarin is having trouble keeping on schedule?

Here's to Pasarin's return next month.

Second Place:

Justice League #3

I hesitated putting this lower than Wonder Woman this week, but if I'm going to be honest, Wonder Woman, and almost Supergirl, were better books.

Jim Lee draws a great book and Geoff Johns writes one. But I felt like nothing really happened in this issue. Wonder Woman and Aquaman show up and there's more fighting with parademons. The biggest forward-motion of the book is learning that Victor Stone's new Cyborg hardware is apparently connected to Darkseid somehow. BUT, I don't really give a shit about Victor Stone. Geoff Johns has a boner for him, so he's part of the Justice League. But so far, I still don't care. Maybe its just the familiarity of Cyborg, but he'll always be a Teen Titan and second tier hero to me.

And I don't like the way Johns writes Hal Jordan in this book. Johns has been writing Hal for so long now that I expect him to have a better handle on his character. Even though this is 5 years before the current Green Lantern book, Hal still feels WAY too juvenile to become the Hal we've known since Rebirth.

This was the book I wanted to absolutely not be able to wait for from month to month. But maybe those high expectations (like the ones I had for Club Dread after Super Troopers) have ultimately hurt this book.

First Place:

Wonder Woman #3

One thing that the storytelling of comics books can give us is a wider breadth of genre than any other medium. Comics allow us to have, in one universe, hell on one planet, Gods, demons, aliens, ghosts, vampires, magical beasts and any number of fantasy, horror, or science fiction tropes you've ever come across all in one place, playing in the same sandbox. It's akin to being a kid and having Luke Skywalker and He-Man team up against Megatron and Mumm-Ra.

This leads me to Wonder Woman's new origin. Spoiler Alert for those of you who feel you need it. Brian Azzarello writes out Diana's "made of clay" origin and makes it much simpler. She's the daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus. Simple. I know there are legions of Wonder Woman fans that are outraged at this revision, but it makes sense doesn't it? Wonder Woman's history is so tied to Greek mythology, that isn't it somewhat natural for her to be the daughter of Zeus?

Azzarello and artist Cliff Chiang are hooking up a great book. It feels new and interesting. A perfect example of what The New 52 set out to do.

Panel of the Week:

The very interesting creation, The Brain. Hopefully Green and Johnson will make him a recurring villain for Supergirl.

-Gint

How Are You With Drywall?

The idea for this strip came to me while I was attending a wedding. I realize JC doesn't have "powers" per say, but the turning water into wine thing alway seemed kind of crazy to me.-$ 

$oss' Pull-List Reviews 11-16-11

Moon Knight #7

The Kingpin of the West Coast is reveled in this issue. I'm a long time Marvel reader and even I don't know who Count Nefaria is. I guess C-list villains for C-list heroes. It's a shame, I was hoping for a more well known villain. 

Alex Maleev continues to produce high level, gritty artwork. He delivers an amazingly realistic book each month that truly fits the superhero crime-noir style. From what I've read about Maleev's artistic process, he uses photo reference for every panel. I can't imagine how much he has to pay out in modeling fees. Another solid outing for one of the best Marvel books on the racks. 

The Boys #60 

Garth Ennis served up a pretty silly one this month. The Seven have been planning for months on a way to remove the President from office and install Vick the VP in his place. But all their planning turns out to be unnecessary when The Children's Association of Special Pets visits The White House. Their dirty work is handled for them when pet wolverine gets loose and rips The President to shreds. This panel along with the subtle hint on the cover to a certain fast healing Canuck really made me laugh. 

The final splash page was also pretty hilarious. "Stop standing there like fucking lunatics and come and sit down, you're going to give me a migraine," was the line of the week. 

The Avenging Spider-Man #1 

Is it necessary to have another Spider-Man title on the shelves? When it's as good as this book the answer is an emphatic yes. Zeb Wells and Joe Madureira's newest spin on The Web Slinger is the best rendition of this character in years. This book avoids all the dumb crap that has made Spider-Man unreadable since J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr. left. No homage to the boring stories of the 80's, no deals with the devil, no Spider Island and thank God no Anti-Venom. 

Avenging focuses on Spidey and his involvement with The Avengers. The first issue addresses how he has time to be an active member in two separate Avengers teams as well as how his teammates feel about him. In short he annoys the shit out of them. The book opens with a two page splash of the team taking on a larger then life villain, too large for Peter Parker to be of any use. Spidey patiently stands aside as the heavy hitters like Thor, Iron Man and The Hulk handle the problem. Afterwards when he asks for a lift home each member of the team turns down his request stating that he is a pain in the ass. I love this kind of stuff.

Joe Madureia shines in his return to Marvel. His characters all look great and his panel design is excellent. It's weird since I'm usually not a fan of comic art that doesn't feature traditional inks but this style really works for this book. At long last there is a Spider-Man book that I can get behind.-$

Panel of the Week: Spider-Man taking it easy.

Halloween '06

 

You're safe at work if you Google Image "Black Adam." But just for clarification, I'll provide a handy link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Adam

-Gint

Gint's 11-9-11 Pull-List Review

A solid week for comics as Green Lantern really hits a stride and Batman and Robin continues to be excellent.

Fourth Place:

Resurrection Man #3

The continuing story of Mitch Shelley, the Resurrection Man, continues. Slowly. Very slowly. Writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have managed to stretch one day in Mitch Shelley's life into three whole issues. And the day might not be over yet.

This story just isn't compelling so far. I don't know if its the character of Mitch that isn't interesting or just the slow pace of the story dragging things down. The superpower of dying, resurrecting and coming back with a new power each time, in theory, is kind of cool. And if used in the right way, a la Quantum Leap, could be a very awesome ongoing story. So far, Mitch Shelley is no Sam Beckett.

Fernando Dagnino's artwork is pretty good this time round. You can tell he really enjoys drawing the ladies. His two antagonists, the Body Doubles, are pretty sexy each time out. He even gives us a nice panty-shot. Looks like Benes isn't the only guy to showcase some T & A.

Note to DNA: I know you can write a good comic. Lets pick up the pace, find a likeable angle for Mitch and make this a book I enjoy reading.

Third Place:

Superboy #3

It surprises me how one writer, Scott Lobdell for instance, can write a good book and a bad book all at the same time. I would prefer his Teen Titans to be just as good as his Superboy, but its really not.

For all the changes that have taken place with the Boy of Steel, Lobdell is really making this story interesting. He's dropping just enough clues and advancing the story just enough from week to week to make each issue so far really entertaining.

The art from R.B. Silva certainly helps. I love me some nice clean lines and Silva is all about it. He also makes the most of out the medium he's working in and doesn't conform his pages to a certain layout. He uses different techniques and framing throughout the book to really tell a smooth story.

If I had to guess when the reboot started that I'd like this book as much as I do, I'd have said no. Superboy is a pleasant surprise.

Second Place:

Batman and Robin #3

When you read a Batman book, you expect to see him fight a member of the world's most famous rogues gallery. One of the things keeping Batman and Robin feeling like a fresh part of the DCnU is that the "rogue" in question is someone named Morgan that we know nothing about. And this isn't some wacky Black Glove Morrison thing. Peter Tomasi has made this guy a legitimate threat to Bruce and Co. Morgan is fucking scary.

And Patrick Gleason captures is all in dire shadows and art that feels right at home in Gotham City.

Between the threat of Morgan and the mental instability of Damian this has become a book that I can't wait to get each month.

First Place:

Green Lantern #3

Well that was awesome. This may have been the best of the Green Lantern reboot. Geoff Johns manages to touch on everything a Green Lantern book should touch on: Carol, Sinestro, Earth, Space... a little bit of everything for the GL fan in us all.

The bulk of the book is spent on Hal and Sinestro talking to each other about their situation which also brings up Hal and Carol's strained relationship. Its a really nice look into Hal and Sinestro and it felt incredibly natural. In light of this issue, Hal maybe didn't feel like Hal in the first two. He does in this one and the story really gets moving.

Johns and Doug Mahnke are a great duo and provide a great cliffhanger that really makes this book sing.

Panel of the Week:

A classic shot of Hal enjoying himself by Doug Mahnke.

-Gint

Criminal Minds

If everyone that got a superpower were a good guy, the world would be a pretty boring place. C'mon, Superman has to fight somebody right?

-Gint

$oss Pull-List Review 11-09-11

Fear Itself # 7

Thank you Marvel. Thank you for bringing this horrible story to it's conclusion. Besides Stuart Immonen's brilliant art there isn't much that was good about this entire story. Matt Fraction had absolutely too many things happening in this book. The lack of focus was ultimately the downfall of this storyline. It was impossible to form an emotional connection with anything that was taking place.

The Avengers get snazzy new Asgadian weapons and matching costumes. When I was a kid I would have thought this was awesome, but now I think it's a cheap excuse to show The Avengers in glowing spiky uniforms. Thor battles a giant talking snake. 

***SPOILER ALERT*** The talking snake kills Thor. Again, cheap plot device. We all know Thor will be back in a year, or at the very least in time for Thor 2's debut in theaters. I feel like Marvel should give me back the $34.93 that I spent on this awful cross-over event. 

Voodoo #2

It's been a long time since I've purchased a book strictly for the art, but that is what I'm doing with Voodoo. I wish Sami Basri was on another book. His simple, clean line work reminds me of Steve McNieven. It would really be awesome to see him work his magic on a book with a better main character. Jessica Kholinne's work as colorist is also praise worthy. This whole issue takes place in a hotel room at night with the lights off but the way Kholinne handles the colors it never feels dark. The whole book has a great tone. 

The story still sinks. I don't blame Ron Marz for this. He is doing the best he can with a fairly boring cast of characters. The first two issues have read like The Invasion of the Body Snatcher's. With strippers. I may hang in for one more issue to see if this improves, but it will take some serious black magic to make this a quality read. 

Astonishing X-Men #43

A nice change of pace from the current term of the team breaking up. Emma Frost and Danger travel to the Quincarrier to answer a distress call. The call came from a machine powered with deadly artificial intelligence. I don't really understand why they would try and breakout a prisoner of the Avengers. You would think one of them would say "Hey, maybe this dude is in here for a reason".   

The story has theme of how both Danger and Emma are perceived by their teammates and the public. Both are former villains so this common bond is exploded here. It was refreshing to read an X-book that wasn't completely wrapped up the Scott / Logan feud. 

Animal Man #3

This book gets more twisted each month and I love it. Buddy and Maxine travel to The Red Place where they learn that Maxine is the true Avatar of the animals and Buddy was granted his animals powers merely to protect her. Back at home his wife Ellen and son are visited by what can only be described as insects in people suits. Kind of like Edgar in the Men in Black movie but more disgusting. 

Travel Forman's art continues to disturb and intrigue me. As Gint said in his review "it's fucking weird". But he continues to be the perfect compliment to Lemaire's storytelling. DC made a fantastic choice when they assigned him to this book. I can't think of an artist that could bring this strange world to life quite like Forman has. 

Jeff Lemaire is constructing a modern classic. Each issue has ended with a great cliffhanger and there was this month was no exception. I just put this book down and I'm already counting down the days until Animal Man #4.-$

Panel of the Week: Twelve year old me would have LOVED this panel.

Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend

I refuse to believe the Empire with all it's vast resources couldn't find a guy simply because he changed his first name. There had to be more to that story. Those Storm Troopers must not have tried very hard to hunt down ol' Obi Wan. 

While Attack of The Clones revealed that all the Storm Troopers are in fact copies of Bobba Fett's dad I choose to think of them as regular dudes that are only working for the Empire for the benefits package. -$ 

Gint's 11-2-11 Pull-List Review

I'd say it was a 50/50 week with two so-so books, a good book and an outstanding book.

Fourth Place:

Supernatural: The Dogs of Edinburgh #2

The solo Sam story, The Dogs of Edinburgh wraps up with a pretty quick ending. Emma of the Isles leads Sam to help her take down a homicidal ghost who owns homicidal ghost dogs. Its a cool story, but it's missing a certain charisma that a Supernatural story usually has. I attribute it to writer Brian Wood acclimating himself to these characters and the lack of Dean Winchester to play Sam's character off.

Grant Bond's art once again does good and bad stuff. His colors are a good, dark moody pallet but his full-body figures need some work. There's some really awkward large heads/hands here.

Despite its couple shortcomings this is still an enjoyable book. Supernatural the show is an underrated product. It would be nice if this comic was a little higher quality to peak interest in both the comic and TV arms of the brand.

Barely registering Third Place:

Red Lanterns #3

Storywise, Red Lanterns hasn't been all that special so far. Interesting, but not special. Its the ass-tastic art of Ed Benes that puts it ahead of Supernatural this week. What I'm going to start doing in Gint's Pull-List Review is start chronicling all of the blatant ass shots that Benes throws into this work.

Click for larger asses.

This issue Atrocitus increases the intelligence of Bleez above basic animalistic rage-level. This is still an incredibly convenient way of writing yourself out of a corner by using the Red Lanterns to begin with. Well apparently there's unrest in the Red Lantern ranks as Bleez has designs on leading the red corps herself.

Besides all the ass Benes throws around, all of his other work is still fantastic. A nice touch is when Atrocitus puts his arm through a guy and continues talking to Bleez... with the guy still hanging from his arm.

This issue peaks the interest of the story and starts it rolling, but it still feels false under the pretense that the Red Lanterns can even think at all.

A strong Second Place:

Action Comics #3

Some of the sheen seems to have come off of this book. I may be saying that too soon. After all this is only the third issue. But unlike issues #1 and 2 which embarked on a new journey for the Man of Steel, #3 falls in to some of the old tropes of previous Superman stories.

We get some unique art from Gene Ha that introduces us to the DCnU's Krypton and its populace. But other than some new looks its the same old "Brainiac takes over Kandor then comes to Earth" story. Some other New 52 writers have said they're not going to use any of the old villains for a while. When I hear that I immediately think, "I don't want to have to suffer through reading about some new dumb villain. Use the tried and true rogues!" But this issue convinces me that a way to keep things fresh is to NOT fall back on what's been done before and really branch out with some new stories. A good place to start is with a new villain or two.

As far as this issue is concerned it seems to move along really fast. Especially the "montage" in the middle. The beginning and end are tight and concise but the middle gets a little sloppy. Almost like Morrison knew he had to hit certain story beats, but had to cram them in a space too small for them.

Rags Morales' art continues to give this book a unique voice and Gene Ha's pages are used just for the Krypton scenes. I was afraid it was going to be more of a fill-in capacity.

You're not going to hit a home run with every issue. Even if you're name is Grant Morrison.

An outstanding First Place:

Animal Man #3

Best book of the New 52. And I don't say that lightly. DC's reboot has offered up a lot of good stuff, but Animal Man surprises me every issue out.

This isn't a wordy book. Jeff Lemire is incredibly efficient with his words to define each character's personality and never loses the essence of who they are. He's made Buddy Baker's son Cliff and wife Ellen just as interesting as Maxine and Buddy himself. He's using each piece of this puzzle to create a story that's really unlike anything else out there right now.

And what can I say about Travel Foreman's art? Its so fucking weird and so perfect for this book. The attention paid to the detail in the crazy shit that he draws up is impressive. If I'm going to knock anything regarding the artwork, its that I'd like to see some clean inks other than the straight pencils on some pages.

Also a nod to letterer Jared K. Fletcher. The simple task of appointing a different font for each of the Hunters Three and to the Totems of the Red is damn effective.

And to think, I almost didn't get this book.

Panel of the Week:

Travel Foreman hooks up some WACKY. ASS. SHIT!

-Gint