It was a 50/50 kind of week from the Pull-List. Can't have Aquaman and The Flash every week now.
Swamp Thing #3
I'm still getting myself caught up on the wonderful book that is Swamp Thing. I'm glad I was able to procure the first so many issues to get on track because its a damn good book.
Regular artist Yanic Paquette gets an art assist from Victor Ibáñez in one of the most impressive fill-in roles I've seen in a long time. Not only does Ibáñez very closely mimic Paquette's work, but its also excellent in its own right.
The story really ratchets up the creepy as the young William Arcane finds his connection to The Black and kills three kids and a doctor. The doctor was killed by having what looked like either his intestines or his lungs pulled out of his mouth. A truly disgusting and well done illustration by Ibáñez.
I really dig superhero/horror stuff. Supernatural, Hellboy and now the new Animal Man and Swamp Thing. Bring on the gruesome.
Red Lanterns #8
The story of the Red Lanterns continues to plod on somewhat unnecessarily. Eight issues in and the basic rundown of this book hasn't changed: some is really cool, but most is just dragging on to... well... we don't know where.
Atrocitus apparently tried creating the first Red Lanterns from the remains of marooned travelers. These guys turned out pretty gross and were buried then disinterred and repowered by some new master who is yet to be revealed.
Sometimes I give a shit about this book and sometimes I don't. If it was among the next round of cancelled New 52 books, I don't think I'd mind too much.
Action Comics #8
Oh, Action Comics. You got off to such a great start before devolving into your basic Superman story.
Grant Morrison and Rags Morales wrap up the first arc on this book with more of a whimper and less of a bang. Superman defeats Brainiac and saves the bottled cities of Kandor and Metropolis. He also gets a new sidekick in Mrs. Nixley (his landlady) who knows his secret but won't tell anyone. That's REALLY strange.
I don't know. Lex Luthor's strange OCD attitude, Lois being essentially unnecessary, just a really odd opening arc the further we got through it. Maybe this is one of those deals where it's a better read when you read it all at the same time?
Better luck next arc.
Voltron: Year One #1
The success of Dynamite's Voltron title has spawned Voltron: Year One by the same writer. Brandon Thomas is in charge of reshaping the Voltron mythos for a more adult audience. So far he's doing a great job.
Craig Cermak is on art and does a great job. Its a great looking book. All the panels are drawn with care. Foregrounds and backgrounds. That's a particular distinction because Ariel Padilla on the regular title doesn't care much for backgrounds or details.
Year One starts before Space Explorer Squadron #686 is put in charge of the Voltron robot. Sven is in charge and Lance is 2nd in command. Keith is just tactical support and the Princess is nowhere to be found. Since Thomas is in charge of both books, I expect some cool bits showing up in one from the other.
Thomas has a big job ahead of him. So far so good.
Animal Man #8
Jeff Lemire does it again. Lemire, with the help of Travel Foreman and Steve Pugh makes Animal Man the book to read these days.
And its such an easy read. Every panel and piece of dialog is used with such efficiency that you can breeze through this book and still pick up all the little nuances and subtleties that make this book great.
Steve Pugh, taking over from Travel Foreman has been an adjustment, but I think I'm adjusted. He's really good at drawing some horrifying stuff. He also does a great job this issue of making Buddy Baker an awesome power. Lemire writes it so Buddy really cuts loose this issue and Pugh really makes Buddy pretty intimidating and scary.
Oh, and (SPOILER ALERT) Maxine, Buddy's 9-year old daughter get killed by a pack of wolves and resurrects herself in the body of a fox before transforming the flesh to look like her former self. WHAT?! Yeah. This is an amazing book.
Panel of the Week:
A beautifully creepy image. Well done, Yanic Paquette.
-Gint
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