$oss' Pull-List Reviews 5/23/12

Batman: The Dark Knight #8

Batman and Commissioner Gordon investigate a subway train full of dead passengers who apparently ripped each other to shreds. While underground Batman runs into Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum which leaves no doubt the The Mad Hatter is behind these mysterious deaths. 

I feel silly calling Ed Benes a fill-in artist but since he is technical holding down the fort for David Finch that is what he is. The book doesn't skip a beat art wise. I actually didn't realize that Finch didn't pencil this book until I started to write this review. Benes' style is a perfect fit. While The Dark Knight isn't quite on par with Batman and Robin or Batman it delivers consistently enjoyable tales from Gotham City.

Swamp Thing #9

A transformed Abigail Arcane squares off against Swamp Thing as The Rot makes it's push to eliminate The Green. Even in this deathmatch of rotting flesh and plants apparently love conquers all. Alec Holland reminds Abby that he used to bring her canned peaches and BOOM, she is back to her old self. Thank god because I couldn't stand that Venom looking creature she mutated into. 

Props to Scoot Snyder, Yanick Paqutte and Marco Rudy for a fantastic first arc. This book deserves all of the accolades it receives. 

Daredevil #12

I giggled when I learned that cover artist Paolo Rivera used a photo of himself as reference. I do the same thing if I need a certain simple pose that I can't quite nail. Of course Mr. Rivera's work is slightly better then mine.

Matt Muddrock goes on a date to an amusement park were he tells the origin story of how he and his partner Foggy Nelson met. Mark Waid writes fun Daredevil stories. It's a refreshingly lighthearted take on a character that is usually associated with the dark tones of Frank Miller and Kevin Smith.

Justice League #9

What a great job Lee and Johns do on this issue. Woven into the main story of an unknown villain named David Graves are mini origin flashback stories. For the first time I feel as if the reader is getting a opportunity to learn about what makes these characters tick. 

Lee's work is outstanding. There are more then one panel that are candidates for my Panel of the Week in this issue.

In the backup Shazam story Bill Batson begrudgingly sticks up for his new brothers and sisters and finds himself in a heap of trouble. Gary Frank and Geoff Johns have succeeded in getting me on board for the new Shazam book.

Saga #3

Marko, Alana and Hazel run into a group of ghost children in the Rocketship Forest and make a bargain to escape Cleave. Meanwhile The Stalk reaches out to The Will for some assistance. Do all bounty hunters in this book have to have "the" before their name.

Fiona Staples art is amazing as usually. The one woman art department does an excellent job of making the ghost kids loveable and creepy all at the same time. 

AVX #4

Hope tracks Wolverine down in Antarctica and convinces him that her plan of letting The Phoenix possess her is the best way to go. Since he and Cyclops aren't on speaking terms and Cap just stranded him in the middle of nowhere Logan doesn't have many options. The X-Men and Avengers battle rages across the globe as both teams search for Hope Summers. I can now see the value of having tie-in books available. There is no way that all these battles can be contain in one book. 

It turns out that Hopes plan is to get to the moon to intercept The Phoenix Force. Logan, seeing that this is a great chance for a battle royal, double crosses Hope and alerts both Avengers and X-Men to their location. The Phoenix Force arrives in the last panel of the book so I guess we will have to wait for that slugfest until next issue. 

Jonathan Hickman may have written the best part of this event so far. He had a lot of ground to cover in twenty two pages and wrote a great no frills story. Lots of good one liners like Tony Stark telling Cap how disappointed he is of him that he can't multitask. Can't wait for The Phoenix to take center stage next issue.-$

Panel of the Week: Batman and Superman kicking ass like only Jim Lee can draw it.