Gint's 5-16-12 Pull-List Review

Five books on the ol' Pull-List this week. And none of them were bad.

Fifth Place:

Supergirl #9

The fantastic Mahmud Asrar is back on pencils after an issue by George Pérez. Its good to have him back. This is Asrar's book. I'm not sure why they'd throw Pérez on for one issue anyhow. Just screws up the flow of the book and will break up the trade when its collected.

Where the first seven issues of this book really had me rocking and rolling, these first two Silver Banshee issues have me waiting to love it. This issue in particular was just a big fight. Sure, we learn a little more about Kara's powers and the lore of the Banshee's in the New 52, but that's just a lot of exposition during the fight.

Michael Green and Mike Johnson have a good record with me though so I'm not writing them off just yet. Just a little bump in the road.

Fourth Place:

Voltron #5

This book lands in Fourth Place this week due to bad artwork. I can't even call it bad, it just underachieves. And considering this is the first issue we actually SEE the Voltron robot, that's simply unacceptable.

Ariel Padilla is the artist on this book and while most of the issues have been passable, he's not one for detail. Or backgrounds. The pilots finally get Voltron up and running but you can't really tell what's happening because Padilla's panels are poorly placed and confusing.

Brandon Thomas' story however keeps rolling along at a great pace with some great ideas. Padilla's artwork needs to catch up to the quality storytelling.

Third Place:

Wonder Woman #9

What's a guy got to do to get Cliff Chiang to draw this book unimpeded? Tony Akins is on pencil duties this month and though he does a fine job, he just isn't Chiang. I feel lied to. I was promised Wonder Woman by Azzarello and Chiang, and so far, Chiang's record is spotty.

So how was the issue? Good as usual. Wonder Woman is set to marry Hades and the good guys cobble together a plan to save her. Azzarello takes us through the story with sharp, tight dialog that allows each character to breathe and get some nice face time.

Fingers crossed that next month Chiang is back on art. If he didn't do such a great job it wouldn't be such a big deal.

Second Place:

Justice League #9

Geoff Johns and Jim Lee's Justice League is really picking up steam and looking like the book we all expected it to be when it was announced. Lee's art has never looked better (with the help of Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair) and Johns story is really beginning to get into the meat and potatoes of who the Justice League are.

The way this issue is written, we get a nice little flashback about each character when they're introduced into the story. Just a short couple-panel flashback on a moment that defines who they are. In the meantime, someone named David Graves captures Steve Trevor to torture him in to helping bring down the League. We've seen this story before, but the unique way its being set up gives a lot of promise as to how its going to unfold.

Johns and Gary Frank's Shazam back-up story is equally well done. I have NEVER been this interested in Shazam before. And a book with art by Jim Lee and Gary Frank is rarely going to get bad reviews from me.

First Place:

Green Lantern Corps #9

This issue doesn't have a whole lot of action. And its almost a perfect issue. Peter Tomasi writes and Fernando Pasarin illustrate a great issue telling the story of John Stewart's trial for killing a fellow Green Lantern in the line of duty. Green Lantern Kirrt Kallak, after hours being tortured, Kirrt is about to spill the secrets of Oa to the bad guys. So John, who's also being tortured, snaps his neck.

Tomasi shows how the events leading up to the trial and the trial are dealt with by the Alpha Lanterns, Guardians, other Lanterns and Guy Gardner. Fernando Pasarin, as usual does a great job taking us smoothly through the issue without a hitch in the storytelling.

Once again, Tomasi and Pasarin create an amazing issue that flies under the radar of most critics.

Panel of the Week:

No one does the Universe on the scale that Fernando Pasarin does. Ariel Padilla could take some lessons on background and sets from this guy.

-Gint