Scientific Progress

It's pretty crazy that advances in science are bringing things we've seen in movies to life. This break through in synthetic skin could lead to authentic looking prosthetics. So in the event that your dad gets all crazy and slices your hand off you won't have to run around sporting a hook. The medical bot will be able to patch you up good as new! -Soss

Gint's 10-24-12 Pull-List Review

The ol' Pull-List is a little lighter this week since I've officially dropped Superman and Teen Titans. They suck, the following books did not.

Fourth Place:
The Fury of Firestorm The Nuclear Man #13

With Dan Jurgens on words and art, this book has a decidedly lighter tone than when Gail Simone and Ethan Van Sciver kicked it off for the New 52. And that's not a bad thing.

Its actually exactly what the character of Firestorm is about. The sci-fi bend of two high schoolers inhabiting one body to create a super hero plays out much better when treated as a more traditional super hero book than it does dark international thriller. The story may be fairly simple, but Jurgens' treatment of the characters makes it a fun book to read.

International intrigue is too dark for Firestorm. It may not be the sexiest book out there, but at least its on the right track now.

Third Place:
Justice League Dark #13

The JL Dark and Felix Faust continue to race to find the Books of Magic and Mikel Janin draws another impressive issue.

The ace up Faust's sleeve that surprises Contstantine and Zatanna is their old, previously dead, friend Nick Necro. He's back from Hell and apparently more powerful than ever. He's able to control a couple magical creatures and possess Deadman putting Constantine at a distinct disadvantage. He also control the House of Secrets which really puts our heroes on their heels.

Not much to say about this one other than another great job by Jeff Lemire and Janin.

Second Place:
I, Vampire #13

I, Vampire has been running along at a smooth pace since issue #1. It hasn't been deterred by bad/fill-in artists or lag in story. I can really appreciate that.

Andrew, our hero, has taken all the vampires evil spirits into himself. He's now waaaaay bad. Mary, our previous antagonist, is now human and our good guy. Josh Fialkov has managed to turn this entire book upside down in such a smooth fashion that you wouldn't even know the roles had been reversed. He totally avoided any kind of gimmicky storytelling and kept everything organic and real.

It upsets me that this book always seems to be on the cancellation bubble because its one of few books from the New 52 that has had all its trains running on time from the start.

First Place:
The Flash #13

There are so many things I like about this book. What springs to mind this issue is, unlike Brian Azzarello's Wonder Woman, you feel like Frances Manapul and Brian Buccellato's Flash is the same one you read in Justice League. Its almost like Azzarello goes out of his way to write a different Wonder Woman than Geoff Johns.

The Gorilla's have landed in the Gem Cities and its up to the Flash and the Rogues to take them on. Its such a great, seemless super hero story, I just can't get enough of it. Manapul and Buccellato really know what they're doing with these characters. They have such distinct voices for them its hard to imagine I was ever worried when they got put on the book.

I can say Manapul and Buccellato's art is my favorite in the biz right now. There's never a sour note in the book.

Panel of the Week:

What Manapul and Buccellato's Flash gets credit for is something they call "reading the pictures. Not everything needs a caption or word balloon or sound effect as witnessed in Gorilla Grodd subtly sniffing in this panel featuring Grodd's nostrils.

-Gint
               

We Stand Corrected

Young Dominic's exile into the wild wilderness has made him a better man... though he still plays World of Warcraft. I suppose there's no cure for that.

I also suppose this strip was inspired in a few ways by The CW's Arrow. To be honest, I had very little hope for this series. As soon as they dropped the "Green" from the title I was skeptical. When I heard beloved Star City was being called Starling City, I was even moreso. BUT, I have been proven wrong. Three episodes in and the creators have me hooked. Its just as good as Smallville was when it started and Steven Amell is a superior lead actor to Tom Welling. The writers have dropped enough DCU hints to keep fanboys like myself satisfied while keeping me wanting for more.

What Arrow is that no one at DC will tell you, is their way of getting a Batman live action show. The characters are so similar, but Green Arrow allows more flexibility story-wise.

Regardless, so far this show knows what its doing and I highly recommend it.

-Gint   

Soss' Pull-List Reviews 10/25/12

Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #2

This has been my least favorite of the Before Watchmen series. Maybe it's that Dr. Manhattan is a dry character who is better served as a supporting character. 

This story tells a tale of an alternate reality where Jon Osterman's accident never happens. I guess that's why this story is so boring. We spend the entire time watching Manhattan follow his past self around like a ghost.

Adam Hughes' art is underwhelming. It appears that he is a little off his game after years of only producing covers. 

Cyber Force #1

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Image Marc Silvestri has relaunched one of it's original titles. With Matt Hawkins and Khoi Pham on board the task of changing this tile from a cheesy 90's fluff book into something more is in capable hands.

The original book was a direct rip off of the X-titles that Silvestri was made famous on in the late 80's. Hawkins elevates the story from standard capes and tights to something more. In the near future things are looking bleak (of course they are). Technology is becoming more integrated with our everyday lives, turning almost everyone into a cyborg of some kind. Naturally there is a sinister government conspiracy and it's up to some cute red head and her dog to make this information public.

Hawkins does a great job of updating the source material. This first issue read like the first 10 minutes of a blockbuster sci=-fi action thriller. Blade Runner for this generation. Khoi Pham does a wonderful job on art. Cute girls and menacing cyborgs. He always did great work at Marvel and I'm glad to see him get a steady gig.

This was a very enjoyable book. Action packed with an intriguing plot and great art. And the best thing about it.... it was free! You can read it all at Comics Alliance or do what I did and download it for free to your Comixology account. If you don't have an account yet I highly recommend it. Digital comics are a great addition to the comic book reading experience. -$

Panel of the Week: Adam Hughes still draws the prettiest girls.

Prequel-Style

One of the greatest disappointments of my life is the Star Wars Prequels. Maybe the greatest. George Lucas took a franchise that was previously filled with heart and character and mined it until it was nothing but a rotting wasteland floating in dead space. The Red Letter Media Star Wars Reviews are really well thought out. They get really fucking strange, but bear with them. The message remains true. I suggest checking them out.

What does his have to do with Superman you ask? Well, DC has apparently taken the Prequel approach by handing over the book to Scott Lobdell who doesn't seem to know one thing about who Superman is or what his world is about. After one issue Lobdell managed to take what's essential to the character and snuff it out. Lobdell would prefer Lara El to be able to take on three guys with karate totally missing the point of what makes Kal-El special: that he comes from humble parents, both on Earth and Krypton and becomes something greater; a symbol for humanity.

But fuck that. We're just going to play up all the sci-fi, make Jor-El a supergenius AND a badass and therefore eliminating Superman's own uniqueness.

You know why no one likes Superman, DC? Because you keep giving the book over to writers that don't get it. Superman's Scott Snyder is out there. You just have to take a chance on handing a stranger the keys to the Fortress of Solitude.

-Gint

Gint's 10-17-12 Pull-List Review

The way things have been going lately, I consider it a good week when nothing goes in the Flaming Trashcan.

Fifth Place:
Green Lantern: New Guardians #13

This book immediately loses points for bad artwork. Are there really that few good artists out there that a big company like DC has to rely on mess like this?

"Artists" Andrei Bressan and Amilcar Pinna take turns shitting on this issue. The story, which has been pretty solid by Tony Bedard also dips a little. Atrocitus just appears to make Kyle feel rage. Nothing is really explained about how he got there, or how Kyle's green ring can suddenly channel the red and blue spectrums. Atrocitus shows up, makes Kyle mad, Kyle kills some terrorists and that's it. Issue over. AND I'm pretty sure our esteemed artists didn't bother looking up how to draw Atrocitus or Carol Ferris' new costume either.

Ugh... this book has really had potential the last few issues and this one pissed it away.

Fourth Place:
Wonder Woman #13

Its a good thing Tony Akins' art is similar enough to Cliff Chiang, because if it was drastically different, I couldn't take the change from month to month. I know Chiang is great and all, but he needs to start being faster.

Azzarello's story goes on. What once started as a great story has really begun to slow down and drag on a little bit. For those of us that appreciate a shared universe, Azz is really holding out on us. Its making me appreciate Gail Simone's run even more as she made Wonder Woman a real hero of the people, and not just the lead in a story about gods.

For as nice as the book looks, I'm getting bored.

Third Place:
Supergirl #13
 
Gint-favorite artist Mahmud Asrar is off issue #13. Seems like a thing this week. In his place is Sami Basri who does quite an effective job. Still, there's some subtle qualities that Asrar delivers on that Basri could use in his own work. But the art was enjoyable regardless.

Michael Green has left the book to pursue some of his other work and left Mike Johnson at the helm. #13 felt a little wordy and I don't know if that was just this issue or what's to come from Johnson going solo.

Kara beats the new and improved Simon Tycho once again, and pretty handily too. Tycho doesn't seem to be much of a threat yet. Tycho helps her discover that part of her ship broke off in the ocean and created her own Fortress of Solitude called Sanctuary. I know this is really more of a clubhouse than a home, same with Supes, but I'd really like to see writers do away with the Fortresses and just have Supes and Kara fly off to their own apartments in the city. You know why no one can relate to the Super-characters? Because real people don't have Fortresses of Solitude.

Other than that I still really enjoy this version of Kara and where this book is going.

Second Place:
Sword of Sorcery #1

This is one of the best looking books on the shelves these days. Between Aaron Lopresti on the main Amethyst title and Jesus Saiz on the Beowulf backup, you'll be hard pressed to find a better looking book.

Christy Marx and Tony Bedard's stories in each respectively take us to world's loosely tied to the greater DCU. I imagine we'll see more of that as the series goes on. Beowulf started looking like its own universe until we see him fight a couple Waynetech Wardrones.

The only critique I can think of is having them get an inker for Lopresti, but that's small potatoes for the great work he's doing.

First Place:
Justice League #13

This is what I like from my Justice League book. Yeah, we got some action, but we also got a good look at the interpersonal relationships between our heroes. If we don't care about them as people, why should we care about them as heroes? Geoff Johns understands this like few other writers.

The remaining six members of the League set off to help Wonder Woman track down the Cheetah. What we learn is that the Cheetah is a virus that can infect Superman. We also learn than Wonder Woman and Supes' relationship post-kiss is complicated.

The best part of this issue? I forgot how fucking good Tony Daniel's artwork is.

Panel of the Week:

Tony Daniel's work on Justice League is phenomenal, but its Tomeu Morey's colors that really make this the Panel of the Week.

-Gint