comics

i'm gonna keep it short and sweet.

i read some books. not all are brand new, but whatever. i haven't gotten around to picking up Secret invasion #1 or Kickass #2 , yet. so what?

Let's go!

Omega the Unknown #7 ( of 10 ) - GREAT ! BRILLIANT ! there has been a lot of set up and now, with 3 issues left, it is all coming together. i love it.




















Thor # 7 - GREAT! guest art from Marko Djurdjevic blew my mind. his line work is as good (if not better ) than his painted works. great fill-in for the stellar Olivier Coipel.




















New Avengers #39 - the controversial 'swipe' issue by David Mack. it was a really good issue and Macks art was great. i liked it. i don't know if or what was swiped and i don't care because i know that Mack doesn't need to swipe. GREAT!

















All Star Batman & Robin #9 - i never thought i could dislike a book by Jim Lee and Frank Miller. i hate this book. it is not Batman.
' OH MY GAWD, BATMAN PAINTED EVERYTHING INCLUDING HIMSELF AND ROBIN YELLOW AND STARTED A FIGHT WITH GREEN LANTERN!!!!!'
wow. riveting.
LAME!!!! the lamest thing is that i keep buying it. argh!

All Star Superman #10 - story by Grant Morrison = BRILLIANT. art by Frank Quitely = SUPER BRILLIANT. love it.

Comics Now! #2 - the alternative to Wizard magazine is PRETTYGOOD. this issue was a little more content, which is good. i will continue to buy this.

i'll have my Toronto ComiCON review/story in a day or 2. i'll let you know what went down.

comics

here's some stuff i read recently

Kickass#1 by Mark Millar & John Romita jr. this is about a kid in a real world setting who just decides to get a costume and become a superhero. great end to a first issue. this is gonna be another wicked ass Millar story. art by JRjr was (and always is) incredible. if you liked Wanted then you'll like this. BRILLIANT

Omega the Unknown #6 - this story is wacky and wonderful. there is nothing else like it. i cannot wait to see where all this is goin. Farel Darymples art blows me away.
BRILLIANT

DC Special: Raven #1 by Marv Wolfman & Damion Scott. this story was not particularly original or interesting. I'm not a fan of Raven's, the Titan's, or DC's Crisis continuity and you'd have to be to like this story. the story here is just another example of why i don't currently buy DC books that aren't All-Star Superman. every time i try a DC book these days i find that they are not 'New Reader Friendly' and i quickly get lost and lose interest. you may be asking, 'Shane, why did you buy this book then?' and the answer is Damion Scott. Scott is one of my all-time favorite artists. his 40 issue run on Batgirl is some of my favorite comics ever. a lot of those were action packed, little dialogue but great story, quick read comics. my own book 'the Almighty' is very influenced by Scott's Batgirl. Damion Scott draws in a very great urban, hip hop, graffiti-ish style. His chicks are cute, his villains are mean, his layouts,expressions, and storytelling are incredible. one thing that always stood out to me about Damion's art was the way he always incorporated people of all ethnicity's. not only does he make his characters and background characters multicultural, he makes them actually look, unmistakably, like the ethnicity the character is suppose to be, not just a white guy colored with brown skin.

did i like this book? YES. did i read all the dialogue? no. i skipped most of it, especially towards the end. Will i keep buying as long as Damion Scott is on art chores? damn right.

this book: PRETTYGOOD

Ultimates 3 #3 by Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira. goddammit, i had such high hopes for this book. the artwork by Joe Mad is out-of-this-world, but is it too much to ask for a half decent story to go along with it? hey Jeph Loeb, have you ever heard of the words 'imply' or 'subtle'? we get it, Hawkeye has a death wish now that his family is dead, he doesn't have to say shitty lines like, "I'm better off dead anyway." am i gonna keep buying this book? (sigh) yes, but i think i might start whiting out all the word balloons first. separate ratings for this, art: BRILLIANT, story: LAME.

Comics Now! #1. this book was put together by some of the Comic Geek Speak Podcast guys, and a bunch of their friends. this is a new comics magazine along the same lines as Wizard, but not a corporate machine. the truth is, Wizard use to be my favorite magazine. in the late 90's and early 2000's i looked forward to Wizard's monthly news as much as i did my comic books. now though, i can't read Wizard. it has become a comic book movie magazine. i love comics but i don't love comic book movies, and when i read a comic book magazine i want to read about comics. why doesn't Wizard make a separate magazine strictly for comic book movies and focus on comics in the original mag? i wanna read about indie stuff i've never heard of as well as the mainstream stuff. what little comic book articles that are in Wizard are basically rotating from DC to Marvel content, with no journalistic integrity any more. now that i've ranted about Wizard i can say that Comics Now! is a good alternative. it actually reminds me of early Wizard magazines from the 90's, that focused on up-and-comers and indie books as much as DC & Marvel books. this first issue is a little light on the content but is a very well put together, professional magazine. i am glad to support Comics Now! because we have been long overdue for a quality comic book magazine.

it's funny, i was listening to the latest episode of Comic Geek Speak and they were talking about how they have been doing the show for 3 years now and one of the interviews that put them on the map was with Gareb Shamus (owner of Wizard). i bet when they did that interview none of the Geeks thought that 3 years later they'd be in direct competition with Shamus.

this mag: GREAT

Thor #6. i am so pleased with this book. buy it, you won't be disappointed. story is GREAT, art is GREAT.

i picked up the variant edition with an Art Adams cover.
i wanna mention that everything i see Art Adams doing these days is incredible. his covers on Incredible Hercules and Avengers Classic are so amazing. i don't want to buy either of these titles but i just might for the covers alone. Art actually makes Hercules look cool and mean. Art Adams only gets better with age. i will probably be picking up Avengers Classic #12. it reprints an old Avengers story by Lee & Kirby with a new one by new creators. not only does this book have an amazing Art Adams Mole Man / Giant Man cover, it also has a new story by Bob Burden (Flaming Carrot). sold!

2 other books that have caught my attention are


Marvel Comics Presents #9. this book has an awesome Steve McNiven cover, plus interiors by Niko Henrichon and Ed McGuiness. sold!

1985. a comic by Mark Millar and Tommy Lee Edwards. i don't know what this is about and i don't care. i've been waiting for an excuse to pick up a book by Tommy Lee Edwards for a while. add Millars name to it, sold! i'm gonna buy this and try to ignore any info on what it's about. just pick it up and probably love it. i didn't read this article but if you wanna know more you can read about it here.

wednesday comics - what i got

I picked up my comics this week at one million comix , over on Yonge st. great shop

a quick run down

my new rating system is gonna be one word system to sum up the entire issue

BRILLIANT - i love every inch of this book
GREAT - i really enjoyed this issue & i would recommend to others
PRETTYGOOD (yes, one word) - it had it's moments
LAME - it was an effort to read, did not enjoy
YAWN - just not my taste


Astonishing X-men #23 - i loved it. Whedon finally uses Cyclops properly. You always hear that Cyclops is a great character but no one does him right. well, this is it. this issue shows why he's the leader of the Xmen. I love the back & forth banter between Wolverine & the newest Xman, Armor. John Cassaday's art, great as always. The only bad part is that Whedon & Cassaday have only one issue left. me = sad.

this book: BRILLIANT

New Avengers: Illuminati #5 (of 5) - great issue. lots a fightin'. great surprises. still not sure how i feel about the Skrull deal. It seems that Bendis & other marvel writers can now undo pretty much any story, cuz it could a been a Skrull. I love Jim Cheung's art. He is quickly becoming a favourite of mine. I especially love his Namor & would love for him to do a regular stint on a Namor book. best issue of the 5. only problem with this book is the timeline. is it before or after WWHULK? WWHULK #5 isn't out yet. i guess Hulk lost?

am i gonna buy Secret Invasion? you betcha.

this book: GREAT


Silver Surfer: In thy Name #1 (of 4) - I was really surprised. it was good. the story started off really slow & was very wordy. 1/4 of the way through, i found myself liking this book. The art is great. Tan Eng Huat + Jose Villarubia = excellent. I'm not usually one to go for cosmic books, but i loved Tan's designs for all the different aliens. Apparently the covers are gonna be done in this order, Mike Turner #1, Gabriele Dell'otto #2, Paul Pope #3 ( it looks amazing) ,& TanEng Huat #4. I was pleasantly surprised at Turners cover. I'm not a huge fan of Mike's. not that Mike Turner's bad , it's just not my taste. but this cover is exactly how the Surfer should look. the colours & line work are very sleek looking. good job. I will definitely be picking up the rest of this series.

this book: PRETTYGOOD

my spontaneous pick of the week,
MoonKnight #13 - this is Charlie Huston's last issue on Moon Knight. This issue is about Moon Knight trying to register for the Superhuman Registration Act. It's pretty damn good.
I picked up the first 4 issues of this series , hoping for good things & was sadly disappointed. I love Dave Finch, but now i realize that it was his art, & not Huston's scripts, that was keeping me from enjoying this book. Sorry Dave , i love ya but i found myself not enjoying the issues. The artist on this issue is Tomm Coker. I don't know where this guy came from but i love his art. i've seen a few other images from Coker & was very intrigued. the splash page where Moon Knight jumps off the roof , after talking to Tony Stark is incredible. I wanna see more from Mr. Coker. there is a new creative team taking over on #14 , & i wont be picking it up , but that was a refreshing surprise.

this book: GREAT

OMEGA the UNKNOWN #2 (of 10) - loved it. the cover alone is something to look at. this is a very weird book with really great art. there is just enough robot smashing. it seems that there is alot being set up that is gonna pay off towards the end of the series. I love the character of Omega, he is very weird & mysterious , with a little bit of power , but not so much that he is a superman. Omega has yet to utter a word & he is easily one of my favourite characters. i wanna know more about him, but at the same time, i don't. can't wait for the next issue.

this book: BRILLIANT

for more opinions on comic goodness check out Digital Kontent for Milo's From the Rack to the Bin & Jason Troung (King of Toronto Comicons) 'Boughts & Thoughts'



next time , i will post some sketches of Omega the Unknown,
see ya around,

shane