[Shawn]

Thor #11 - A solid one-off issue (I guess). I haven't read Thor since issue 2 or 3 and thought I'd check it out. It had some great scenes with Thor talking with the spirit of Steve Rogers. JMS nailed both characters well. And Thor's tribute to commemorate the anniversary was wonderfully done. Meanwhile Lord (!?) Baldur is having to find ways to keep the other Asgardians under control while Loki whispers in his ear. I rather enojyed and found it easy to follow with a few exceptions.
When did Loki become a chick? Is Baldur now ruler of Asgard? Or just Thor's second in command? Where's Odin?

[JasonT]

Amazing Spider-Man 575: As of this issue, the team of ongoing writers includes Joe Kelly, who brought us the brilliant issue of Deadpool that took the mickey out of Lee/Ditko Spider-Man. Joe hits the ground running here with a great superhero comic. The contemporary slang is laid on a little too thickly for my tastes — it'll date the comic as badly as the slang Stan used in the sixties — but apart from that, this issue is well plotted and looks great. I particularly like the sense that several plot lines are being advanced, in classic Spider-Man soap opera style, while at the same time something actually significant happens. Or to put it another way, it's not just another instalment in an overextended serial; it's "the issue where Spider-Man gets [spoiler removed]." Not for the first time, I wonder how long they can keep up this quality.

[Husamuddin A]

Read JOKER.

The art is absolutely sick. The story however is lackluster, uninspired, predictable, and so on. Azzarello's attempt at taking the Joker to new heights in fucked uppery is to do the same thing everyone does and have him kill a lot of people.

Also, there's a rape. And a guy who looks like Sting.

The art is worth it, though.

[Christian]

Thor #11 - A solid one-off issue (I guess). I haven't read Thor since issue 2 or 3 and thought I'd check it out. It had some great scenes with Thor talking with the spirit of Steve Rogers. JMS nailed both characters well. And Thor's tribute to commemorate the anniversary was wonderfully done. Meanwhile Lord (!?) Baldur is having to find ways to keep the other Asgardians under control while Loki whispers in his ear. I rather enojyed and found it easy to follow with a few exceptions.
When did Loki become a chick? Is Baldur now ruler of Asgard? Or just Thor's second in command? Where's Odin?

All the Norse gods needed to be reincarnated after the events of the final Ragnarok (see Michael Avon Oeming's story-arc that closed out Thor vol. 2), and Loki just happened to end up reincarnated as a female this time (something to do with the cycles of the gods).
Loki revealed that Balder is actually Thor's brother, which Thor and Odin kept a secret all these years (right now it's a mystery why the two kept it a secret, if it is indeed true). Loki tricked Balder into taking command of Asgard while Thor is shirking his duties by spending time doing mortal things. I hope this is a direction that sticks, because it'd be a welcome change, and Loki pulling another trick to cause dissension is just so terribly old, so hopefully Balder is really Thor's brother. Odin is dead for good (see Dan Jurgens run). Odin sacrificed his life in Thor vol. 2 to finally destroy Surtur, and is now trapped in an alternate dimension time paradox where he must spend all eternity killing Surtur over and over again, for if Odin ever fails, Surtur will unleash a plague of fire that will wipe out Midgard, so Thor took his father's place in the pantheon.

I love what JMS is doing on Thor, and his dialogue is beautiful, but this issue left me a little cold because of the importance given to Capt. America, a character I never cared about.

[TestosteRohne]

Superman 681: this was a padded scrap of story aimed at the kind of reader who's into double page splash panels of the JLA standing around. What was my reaction supposed to be — "OMG, the Justice League appeared in a comic book!!!1!" ? But what I really want to know is, why were words in the speech balloons bolded at random? Was it lettered by someone who doesn't speak English?

Especially when this whole New Krypton event encompasses two major Superman events.
The death of Pa Kent and well New Krypton.
Both are incredibly important and I'd rather see Johns himself tackling this over 12 monthly issues (With one artist) then these events being used as an excuse for yet another watered down crossover.

These title changing events deserve a better execution.

[Christian]

Kull #1-I was never able to get into the Dark Horse Conan series, and I feel it's because the character has been tapped into so well, from the original Robert E. Howard stories to the Roy Thomas run at Marvel, we have seen the definitive Conan in the past. I always felt that Kull was a very interesting character who never caught on the way Conan did and therefore was never as fully developed, so there's far more ground to tred with Kull, very similar to how Conan was once upon a time. The Marvel series wasn't bad, it was just so unfocused because of the oft-changing creative teams, it never got the 100+ issue chronology that Conan got with Thomas.
Don't get me wrong. I do see reasons why Conan would end up the more popular character than Kull, because the conception of Conan opens itself up to more interesting potential ideas than Kull's story, already being a king. But, it takes place before the fall of Atlantis, it's a great companion piece to Conan.
Anyway, as to this issue in itself, well, it was problematic. There was little to no characterization and the only character who was even decently introduced was Kull. The story started in the middle of the plot, really. Now, it gave some good action scenes and it felt like there was something happening, which you don't always see in first issues of today's comic books, and for me it wasn't so bad because I've read earlier Kull work, but I have to review this as new readers would see the book, and I doubt there's a lot that would pull them into Kull's world in this first issue.
I do plan to stick around for the next issue, because I'd like to see Kull given a definitive treatment. Hopefully, this will be an interest series, but who knows if Kull will get better treatment here, or whether the character will be doomed to be that "other barbarian type character".

Weapon X: First Class #1-Awww, I was hoping Fred Van Lente was writing this. The writing is good, but heavily padded. It goes over all the secret history of Wolverine stuff that's been played to death for years, but I guess this book is meant for younger readers who might not have read all the original stories. The other First Class books haven't been like this though. This issue just ends with the opening of the Barry Windsor-Smith Weapon X mini-series. The back-up Sabretooth story is more interesting (with art by Tim Seeley), as it features a bit of a ret-con in the history of the formation of the All-New, All-Different X-Men team. Eh, still, always fun to relive earlier X-Men continuity.

Secret Six #3-One word. "Brilliant". After a lull last issue, this issue was genius. The mystery of the card was revealed, and it's an interesting idea. Simone continues to make me like Catman, no matter how much I try to resist. I would have to almost go page-by-page to sum up all the great moments in this issue. Very fun, easy book of the week.

I also have a copy of Essential Hulk vol. 5 sitting in front of me....pure joy.

Dr. Who won't be in until next week here.

[Balthazar]

Spawn #151 - Rereading David Hine's run on Spawn for the monthly Hine read over at his forum. Damn good stuff. Mostly a setup issue for the greatness that comes in later on. Thamuz and his Inquisitors ready for blood. In this issue, not too much happens although we get some nice back-story on Chris, the kid-Spawn that was "re-born" from Al's heart. Before we find out his tragic origin, we also get a nice Chris vs Kincaid moment. I loved the scenes between the two, would have loved to see Kincaid come back at some point along with Chris. Have their own bit of a rivalry. I absolutely loved the comic bit that Dave and Phil used to tell Chris' back-story. A bit of experimentation of story-telling that I loved in Dave's Spawn run.

Art, I freakin' loved how Phil just goes crazy with the rotting of Chris and Al. The gore and blood is just yum goodness and who doesn't love that page of Thamuz taking the ring out of Al? And Al ripping his head from the hook to get the ring back! Yeesh! And that wonderful ending. That was just a hands over mouth moment with Chris falling apart in front of his mom and his eyes dripping out of it's socket. Good stuff!

Savage Dragon #139 - This series is just a blast! A good majority of the SD villains team up to revolt against Solarman, the new hero who's been killing villains left and right. Of course, Solar man massacres them all, leaving behind only two to kill some more villains that Dragon and guest star Invincible were trying to stop. Of course, a group that Solarman kills aren't really bad but misunderstood, but Solarman doesn't care, they were causing damage and needed to be stopped. Next issue is the Image JLA-style team up! Savage Dragon, Invincible, Spawn, Witchblade, and Shadowhawk against Solarman!

Gemini #3 - Took forever for this to come out but it definitely was worth it. The story of Gemini is quite interesting. A man who is a superhero but doesn't know it because he's being controlled by a secret agency. The art is very hooky and cartoony and goes well with the writing. The humor is great and colors are beautiful. Next issue is Gemini vs the kids of Dynamo 5! Oh boy oh boy will this be tons of fun!

[dogpoet]

The last four issues of I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space.
Bought mostly for the title, but great fun. Lovely pastiche of '50s SF (complete with matching art, coloured in with little fake letterpress dots, Lichenstein style), and a few good jokes. I love the fact that the lesbian space pirates are using a "gaydar" to track down potential recruits...

[johnconstantine]

I´m enjoying Superman comics and this New Krypton´s arc, very solid and a great entertainment to a big Superman fan as myself.


I also liked Captain America, Uncanny X-men and Final Crisis after all grant Morrison´s comics is always great.

[Husamuddin A]

I've read I was kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space, and it is wonderful in every way you can imagine, and in a couple that you can't.

[dogpoet]

Yep indeedy. When this one appears as a bind up, I suggest everybody gets it.

[TestosteRohne]

After all Grant Morrison´s comics is always great.

Sadly, Batman R.I.P says otherwise.

[johnconstantine]

After all Grant Morrison´s comics is always great.

Sadly, Batman R.I.P says otherwise.

That I agree with you, R.I.P is bad.

[Husamuddin A]

Garth Ennis' Battlefields: The Night Witches #1 is my cop of tea, my favorite Garf book of the year.
It's the first issue in the first mini in what appears to be a trilogy of WWII stories, this one is centered around these women.

Though I am confused as to why the soviet General in the story is named after the Soviet General in Brubaker's Captain America.

[Husamuddin A]

100 Bullets continues to be awesome with #97, thought I don't care for the new cover one bit. The issue ends with Will Slaughter and Vic , each with a sniper rifle, taking aim at Graves and Medici, and the remainig leaders of the trust, respectivly. The hangiest of all cliff-hangers. Bah! Nice bit there with Lono almost getting chewed out by a couple of dogs. Could Graves not having been bluffing?

[Jessie]

I've read I was kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space, and it is wonderful in every way you can imagine, and in a couple that you can't.

Oooh, I read that as it was being published online. I'm seriously considering buying it.

[slinker]

100 Bullets continues to be awesome with #97

i agree! i'm also digging the stand, though the captain trips part hasn't really kicked in after 3 issues, it is developing the characters the same way king did, making them important to the reader.

[Ian Morris Dwight Walrus]

I read The Joker: Dark Knight

Fucking brilliant art, insipid story. And is it just me or does rape just not seem the kind of thing The Joker would do?

Also, what's with Azzarello's Penguin?

[TestosteRohne]

I read The Joker: Dark Knight

Fucking brilliant art, insipid story. And is it just me or does rape just not seem the kind of thing The Joker would do?

Also, what's with Azzarello's Penguin?

More importantly what's with Azzarello's The Riddler!

Azzarello frustrates me, he could be one of the greats.

[Husamuddin A]

Also, what's with Azzarello's Penguin?

If by that you mean why is he is renamed "Abner", I haven't the faintest idea.