Overall it was a solid week of books, including the brand new Sinestro #1.
Seventh Place:
Green Lantern: New Guardians #30
This book had some real mojo behind it when Justin Jordan and Brad Walker kicked it off. Now its very pedestrian and doesn't inspire a lot of excitement.
Kyle Rayner and Carol Ferris are wondering around the galaxy with the New Guardians, essentially teaching them about this universe they're unfamiliar with. So they get into this big throw down between, what seem to be real gods, and naturally, a group that calls themselves the Godkillers. The idea behind the story seems sound, but its just not delivering.
Maybe its the fact that I'm not a huge Kyle guy? Maybe its just that this book is JUST okay.
Sixth Place:
X-Men #13
The whole "Jubilee has a baby" storyline of this book has felt out of place. How does she just take an abandoned baby and claim it as her own? I assume that was all setup for this story here, part 1 of Bloodline.
And in Bloodline we learn that the father of Shogo (the previously mentioned baby) is coming to kill all the X-Men and take his son back. What we briefly learn about him is that he's pretty badass and isn't afraid to kill kids. He's also been alive for a lifetime. Writer Brian Wood is going to have to iron out some background details in future issues.
The revolving X-artist door continues as Clay Mann turns in a heck of a performance. He's able to draw unique characters and I'm ALWAYS in favor of that. Some of his pages are reminiscent of Sean Murphy's from The Wake. Nice to see Mann get a whole issue instead of couple-page backups.
Fifth Place:
Nova #16
Gerry Duggan has done a great job picking up from Jeph Loeb's initial setup. And while David Baldeon isn't necessarily Ed McGuinness or Paco Medina, his art is solid enough to make this one of the most consistently enjoyable books on the shelves.
Nova wraps up his most recent adventure with Beta Ray Bill and opens the scope of the Nova universe a little bit more. There's a lighthearted tone that Duggan has been able to tap into that fits the character perfectly.
Just an example of a really good comic book. There's a lot of books that should be so lucky.
Fourth Place:
Sinestro #1
I never thought the Red Lanterns should have their own book. They've been stripped of their initial modus operandi in order to have some kind of coherent narrative. Had the comic version of the Red Lanterns been introduced like the Green Lantern: The Animated Series' Reds, it may be different. Sinestro and the Yellow Lanterns were the ring slingers that should have had their own book. And now they have one.
Written by Cullen Bunn (who I know nothing about) and drawn by the super talented Dale Eaglesham, they kick off this new on-going pretty successfully. Bunn really keeps the Sinestro-mythology created by Geoff Johns intact. That's much appreciated since the current team of Green Lantern writers take too many liberties. Bunn and Eaglesham take you through a setup issue without boring your brains out.
In a lot of ways this book felt like a throwback to the Geoff Johns days. I'm all in and can't wait for #2.
Third Place:
Batman and Wonder Woman #30
The search for the body of Damian Wayne leads Batman to Themiscyra and Wonder Woman's help. The rest of the Amazons and Ra's al Ghul are not happy about it.
What stood out to me in this issue was Patrick Gleason's art. I know him and Doug Mahnke share/shared a studio and have similar styles, but this was the first issue I really felt a heavy Mahnke influence in his work. Maybe because I just read Mahnke's Justice League #29?
I've really enjoyed this book. I'm okay if it stays a Batman and... title. Peter Tomasi and Gleason tell great Batman stories, so its a way to feature DC's biggest character while also having a "Brave and the Bold"-style book in DC's stable. Its also manages to stay pretty separate from the rest of the Batman silliness happening in the other books.
Second Place:
Justice League #29
I can honestly say, outside of Teen Titans Go!, that was the most enjoyable Cyborg-centric story I've ever read. I still think its goofy that its up to Cyborg to save the day and its all based on Geoff Johns love of the character that he appears at all, but this was a cool issue.
Drawn by Doug Mahnke, Cyborg leads the Metal Men to take on Grid, the Crime Syndicate's Cyborg doppelganger. The way Johns writes the Metal Men in the DCnU is prime material for a kids show, or even a movie like The Incredibles. But these last two issues have been Cyborg issues. I guess we're meant to see him grow up, come to terms with this half human-half robot nature and be the Justice Leaguer he was meant to be.
Unfortunately, for as cool as an issue as this was, Cyborg will forever be a Teen Titan in my heart. Shine him up all you want, he's still Cyborg.
First Place:
Batman #30
This has been the most enjoyable issue of Zero Year in quite a while. The last so many issues have just been dragging ass, taking their good old time, and boring me the fuck out. This issue jumps into some brand new shit that makes it exciting again.
When last we saw Zero Year-Bruce, he got blown up in an explosion. He wakes up nearly a year (its a fuzzy timeline) later in a foliage-overgrown Gotham that the Riddler has been holding hostage all this time. Gordon and Batman are thrown into such new, crazy circumstances that I'm instantly interested again.
A word about the art. Greg Capullo's pencils with Danny Miki's inks are impeccable. Every panel is constructed with such care and detail. Its amazing. However, what's keeping me from loving this book is its non-traditional color palette. FCO Plascencia is responsible for the colors, and while they're bright and vibrant (they color one hell of a sunset) its the pastel palette they're using that's killing me. I want my Bats dark and realistic. The bright, yet washed out colors in these Zero Year issues are giving it a 70s movie/80s comic feel that I'm not buying.
Panel of the Week:
Sexy and scary. No better combo in my opinion. Lyssa Drak care of Dale Eaglesham.
-Gint
X-Men #13
The whole "Jubilee has a baby" storyline of this book has felt out of place. How does she just take an abandoned baby and claim it as her own? I assume that was all setup for this story here, part 1 of Bloodline.
And in Bloodline we learn that the father of Shogo (the previously mentioned baby) is coming to kill all the X-Men and take his son back. What we briefly learn about him is that he's pretty badass and isn't afraid to kill kids. He's also been alive for a lifetime. Writer Brian Wood is going to have to iron out some background details in future issues.
The revolving X-artist door continues as Clay Mann turns in a heck of a performance. He's able to draw unique characters and I'm ALWAYS in favor of that. Some of his pages are reminiscent of Sean Murphy's from The Wake. Nice to see Mann get a whole issue instead of couple-page backups.
Nova #16
Gerry Duggan has done a great job picking up from Jeph Loeb's initial setup. And while David Baldeon isn't necessarily Ed McGuinness or Paco Medina, his art is solid enough to make this one of the most consistently enjoyable books on the shelves.
Nova wraps up his most recent adventure with Beta Ray Bill and opens the scope of the Nova universe a little bit more. There's a lighthearted tone that Duggan has been able to tap into that fits the character perfectly.
Just an example of a really good comic book. There's a lot of books that should be so lucky.
Sinestro #1
I never thought the Red Lanterns should have their own book. They've been stripped of their initial modus operandi in order to have some kind of coherent narrative. Had the comic version of the Red Lanterns been introduced like the Green Lantern: The Animated Series' Reds, it may be different. Sinestro and the Yellow Lanterns were the ring slingers that should have had their own book. And now they have one.
Written by Cullen Bunn (who I know nothing about) and drawn by the super talented Dale Eaglesham, they kick off this new on-going pretty successfully. Bunn really keeps the Sinestro-mythology created by Geoff Johns intact. That's much appreciated since the current team of Green Lantern writers take too many liberties. Bunn and Eaglesham take you through a setup issue without boring your brains out.
In a lot of ways this book felt like a throwback to the Geoff Johns days. I'm all in and can't wait for #2.
Batman and Wonder Woman #30
The search for the body of Damian Wayne leads Batman to Themiscyra and Wonder Woman's help. The rest of the Amazons and Ra's al Ghul are not happy about it.
What stood out to me in this issue was Patrick Gleason's art. I know him and Doug Mahnke share/shared a studio and have similar styles, but this was the first issue I really felt a heavy Mahnke influence in his work. Maybe because I just read Mahnke's Justice League #29?
I've really enjoyed this book. I'm okay if it stays a Batman and... title. Peter Tomasi and Gleason tell great Batman stories, so its a way to feature DC's biggest character while also having a "Brave and the Bold"-style book in DC's stable. Its also manages to stay pretty separate from the rest of the Batman silliness happening in the other books.
Justice League #29
I can honestly say, outside of Teen Titans Go!, that was the most enjoyable Cyborg-centric story I've ever read. I still think its goofy that its up to Cyborg to save the day and its all based on Geoff Johns love of the character that he appears at all, but this was a cool issue.
Drawn by Doug Mahnke, Cyborg leads the Metal Men to take on Grid, the Crime Syndicate's Cyborg doppelganger. The way Johns writes the Metal Men in the DCnU is prime material for a kids show, or even a movie like The Incredibles. But these last two issues have been Cyborg issues. I guess we're meant to see him grow up, come to terms with this half human-half robot nature and be the Justice Leaguer he was meant to be.
Unfortunately, for as cool as an issue as this was, Cyborg will forever be a Teen Titan in my heart. Shine him up all you want, he's still Cyborg.
Batman #30
This has been the most enjoyable issue of Zero Year in quite a while. The last so many issues have just been dragging ass, taking their good old time, and boring me the fuck out. This issue jumps into some brand new shit that makes it exciting again.
When last we saw Zero Year-Bruce, he got blown up in an explosion. He wakes up nearly a year (its a fuzzy timeline) later in a foliage-overgrown Gotham that the Riddler has been holding hostage all this time. Gordon and Batman are thrown into such new, crazy circumstances that I'm instantly interested again.
A word about the art. Greg Capullo's pencils with Danny Miki's inks are impeccable. Every panel is constructed with such care and detail. Its amazing. However, what's keeping me from loving this book is its non-traditional color palette. FCO Plascencia is responsible for the colors, and while they're bright and vibrant (they color one hell of a sunset) its the pastel palette they're using that's killing me. I want my Bats dark and realistic. The bright, yet washed out colors in these Zero Year issues are giving it a 70s movie/80s comic feel that I'm not buying.
Panel of the Week:
Sexy and scary. No better combo in my opinion. Lyssa Drak care of Dale Eaglesham.
-Gint
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