Best Of 2008!

Hey Chums,


Everybody out there does a best of list for the years end. Since they pretty much miss the mark, can I do any worse? Here is my best of list for 2008. Enjoy!



Best issue: Criminal: A Wolf Among Wolves. Marvel (Icon).



Best limited series: Universal War One. Marvel (Soliel).



Best continuing series: Captain America. Marvel.


Best (NEW) continuing series: X- Files. DC (Wildstorm).


Best continuing series in trade format: Fables (1-10). DC (Vertigo).



Best trade packaging: Local. ONI.





Best Graphic novel (read this year): Goon Chinatown. Dark Horse.




Best book by a foreign creator: Mesmo Delivery (by R. Grandpa). Ad House.




Best independent comic: Sulk (1-2). Top Shelf.


Best Black and White comic: Sulk (1-2). Top Shelf.



Best Cover: The Immortal Iron Fist #17. Marvel.





Best zero issue: Captain America White #0. Marvel.



Best licensed comic property: Star Trek. IDW.



Best character in a continuing series, limited series or one-shot: The Punisher. Marvel.




Best character surprise resurrection: Mockingbird. Marvel.


Comic book company of the year: Marvel.



Best Writer: Ed Brubaker. Marvel/Icon.




Best Artist: Sean Phillips. Marvel/Icon.




Best book related to comics: Watching the Watchmen. Titan Books.



Best book on an artist (that I had to buy again): Tim Sale Black and White Revised and Expanded. Image.


Best comic book related podcast: Fanboy Radio.



Best comic book con: San Diego Comic-con.


Best piece of published fan art: Doc Savage The Man Of Bronze. San Diego Comic-con art book (by D.L. Nelson).





Best (Superhero) movie: Iron Man. Marvel.




Best movie period: Speed Racer.




K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the weeks of 12-17 and 12-24

Hello Chums,

Two weeks this time around for the end of the year.

12-17:

Marvel:

Thor God -Size (one-shot). The story of Skurge The Executioner. By Fraction with Brereton and Allred.

Uncanny X-Men #505. More Matt Fraction doing the X-Men with art by the Dodsons.

The Immortal Iron Fist #20. Danny Rand vs. the killer of Iron Fists conclusion.

Dark Reign New Nation (one-shot). Five short stories featuring: Secret Warriors, Agents of Atlas, War Machine, Skrull Kill Krew and New Avengers.

The Age Of The Sentry #4. More sixties style action with The Sentry.

The Mighty Avengers #20 Secret Invasion Epilogue. Wasp funeral issue. Not that it's not good but, they'll make an issue about anything these days.

Punisher War Zone #2 (of 6). The Resurrection of Ma Gnucci continues.

Samurai #4 (of 4) (Soleil). The conclusion of a very well drawn and colored story.

DC:

Air#5 (Vertigo). The first arc of this series concludes. It's time for me to drop this book.

The X-Files #2 (Wildstorm). A pretty decent story with nice character likeness' by Brian Denham.

DC Universe Holiday Special (one-shot). Multiple stories by multiple creative teams but the best part is the Frank Quitely cover.

Image:

Elephantmen #14. Unfortunately no Moritat art.

IDW:

Star Trek The Next Generation The Last Generation #2 (of 5). More Star Trek multiple crew stories.

The Pick Of My Pile this week is Thor God Size.

12-24:

Marvel:

Thor#12. This Loki betrayal story line is almost done .... It concludes in issue 600.

Captain America - Theater Of War - America First! (one-shot). Howard Chaykin does Captain America Commie Smasher with a different Cap set in the fifties.

Secret Invasion Requiem (one-shot). This is a nice issue that re-presents the first appearance of the Wasp (with her origin) and the trial of Yellow Jacket after he beat her.

Ultimatum #2 (of 5). Ultimate universe chaos after Magneto's flood hits New York City.

Stephen Kings The Dark Tower Treachery #4 (of 6). More Jae Lee art with Peter David script.

Hulk #9. The third and final part of the Loeb, Adams and Cho run.

Patsy Walker Hellcat #4 (of 5). It's taken what seems like forever, but this story is just about finished.

The New Avengers #48 (Dark Reign tie in). Welcome back Mockingbird, Spider-Woman and Captain America, but good bye Iron Fist.

Punisher War Zone #3 (of6). The resurrection of Ma Gnucci continues with Frank fragin bad guys.

Dark Horse:

Mister X #1 (of 4). Who knows what going on here, but there is very old school looking art.

ONI:

Resurrection #6 (end of vol. 1). The conclusion of the first story arc.

Resurrection Annual #1 (2008). The story of Spock and his escape.

Image:

I Kill Giants #1-5 (of 7). The story of Barbara a fifth grader who might just kill giants or is as crazy as her class mates think she is.

The Pick Of My Pile this week is Secret Invasion Requiem. The re-colored Jack Kirby art from Tales to Astonish #44 was very nice to look at. It's too bad they don't go back and re-color/reprint more old classics.



How many one-shots are there these days? It used to be easy to start picking up a limited series because you knew that there was going to be an ending. But now there are too many limited series' so you have to pick and choose what you would get started on. Now there are ALMOST too many one-shots also.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the weeks of 11-26,12-4 and 12-10

Hello Chums,

I'm back with a few more picks. Check them out.

11/26:


Marvel:

Hulk #8. Jeph Loeb, Arthur Adams and Frank Cho bring us the 2nd part of this 3 part story. The art in these issues is soooo good, I wish this team would continue on forever (or at least 12 issues).


Thor: Reign of Blood #1 and Man of War #1. These books are actually p.1 and p.2 of a two part story. Matt Fraction has written a pretty good story which features Thor battling Odin.


Secret Invasion Inhumans #4 (of 4). The conclusion of Medusa's search for Black Bolt.


True Believers #5 (of 5). The conclusion to the entry of the True Believers into the Marvel
universe.


Captain America #44. A Cap story that ties into a Winter Soldier mission from 1968.

Vertigo:


Jack of Fables #28. Jack becomes the Commander-In- Chief.






The Pick Of My Pile for this week is Secret Invasion Inhumans #4. We get to see Black Bolt whisper a word!


12/4:


Marvel:


Secret Invasion #8 (of 8). The conclusion to the Secret Invasion story line, however it goes directly into Dark Reign.


The New Avengers #47 (Secret Invasion). Where's Luke Cage and Jessica Jones baby?



Secret Invasion Front Line #5 (of 5). The conclusion of writer Ben Urich's street level view of the Secret Invasion.



Marvel Zombies 3 #3 (of 4). Machine Man and Jocasta's mission continues against the Marvel Zombies!


Marvels Eye Of The Camera #1 (of 6). Another street level story. This time featuring Phil Sheldon from the original Marvels.



X-Infernus #1 (0f 4). Peter wants his "little" sister back. Maybe leaving her in hell is a better idea.



Iron Man-The Incredible Hulk-Nick Fury #1 (one-shot?). This Iron Man story ties directly into the Iron Man movie.


The Punisher X-MAS #1 (one-shot). Frank kicking ass in the spirit of Christmas.


ICON:



Criminal Bad Night #4 (of 4). This conclusion is not what I expected. Maybe a little bit of a let down.





Hellboy The Wild Hunt #1 (of 8). It starts off on a mission to kill giants... Who knows where this is going?




The PICK OF MY PILE this week is The Punisher X-MAS. Great story and art in the Christmas spirit.



12/10:


Marvel:



Punisher War Zone #1 (of 6) (Marvel Knights). Garth Ennis. Steve Dillion. Frank Castle. Nuff Said!




Secret Invasion Dark Reign #1 (one shot). Norman Osborn is now in control. Step one: Assemble a new team. Namor, Emma Frost, Dr. Doom, The Hood and Loki. This team can't be built for good.




Astonishing X-Men Ghost Boxes #2 (of 2). Two more parallel earth X-Men stories.



Ythaq The Forsaken World #1 (Soleil). Sixty page sci-fi / fantasy story.




Dark Horse:



B.P.R.D. War on Frogs #2. A team of B.P.R.D. agents search an abandoned boat. Could Frogs be there? This story is one shot like in it's execution.






The Pick Of MY PILE this week is easy. Punisher War Zone #1 sets up for a very entertaining six issue run. And It's weekly! I can't wait.













K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the weeks of 11-05, 11-12, and 11-19

Hello Chums,

After having multiple computer problems (the computer was in the shop twice), I'm finally back on line! Let's hope it lasts.

Since I have missed many weeks of The Pick Of My Pile, I'm going to put multiple weeks together. So here goes.

11/5:

Marvel:

Stephen King The Stand Captain Trips #3 (of 5). Excellent adaption of King's best work.

Stephen King The Dark Tower Treachery #3 (of 6). I'm under impressed so far.

Franklin Richards Sons Of Geniuses! #1 (one-shot). Mostly for kids, but fun anyway.

Daredevil & Captain America Dead On Arrival #1. Lame. Lame. Lame.

Ultimatum #1 (of 5). This could be a great story. Let's hope for it. The art is great.

Marvel Zombies 3 #2 (of 4). Not as good as the first issue but I'll hang in there.

Punisher War Journal Annual #1. Great art and coloring in a "Murder World" type of story.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Sketchbook (free). The Wizard of Oz + Skottie Young = CRAP! Can you get your money back on a free book?

DC:

Kingdom Come Special Superman #1 (one-shot). Alex Ross story and art. Nuff said.

IDW:

Star Trek Mirror Images #5 (of 5). An okay ending to this mirror universe story.

Dynamite:

Project Superpowers Chapter Two Prelude. Very nice Alex Ross pencil pages.

Image:

Kick Drum Comix #2 (of 2). Two more stories written and drawn by Jim Mahfood.

The Pick Of My Pile for this week is Kingdom Come Special #1. Check out the cool Alex Ross cover.

11/12:

Dark Horse:

B.P.R.D. The Warning #5 (of 5). Great Guy Davis art. The story? Ehh.

Image:

The Mice Templar #6. The end of the first arc. I might drop this title before arc two starts.

Marvel:

Wolverine #69 Old Man Logan p.4. More of Logan and Clint in the future.

Because of the lack of books to pick from, Wolverine #69 has back doored it's self into The Pick Of My Pile for this week.

11/19:

Marvel:

Punisher War Journal #25. Frank verses the Skrulls. Attaboy Frank.

Uncanny X-Men #504. The Mojo universe, Scott has a secret "black box" in his brain and the return of Dr. Nemesis.

The Age Of The Sentry #3. The most fun comic in quite awhile. With great cartoony art also.

Fantastic Four #561. Excellent story from Millar and Hitch.

Avengers / Invaders #6 (of 12). A good story that I wish could of happened after the Secret Invasion.

Wildstorm:

The X-Files #1. More Mulder and Scully set in or around the fifth season.

Star Trek The Next Generation The Last Generation #1 (of 5). The great start to a time travel (or multi-generational story) with many of the different Star Trek crews set in different time periods.

The Pick Of My Pile this week is Age of The Sentry #3. The retro story and art is a lot of fun and should not be missed.

That's it for now.

Keep Reading Comics.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 10-29-08

Hello Chums,



I have a nice reading list this week. Check them out.



Marvel:



The Immortal Iron Fist #19. Continuing on with the story of the killer of Iron Fists.



Thor Secret Invasion #3 (of 3). Conclusion to the return of Beta Ray Bill story.




Thor #11. Continuing with the return of the Asguardians in good 'ol Oklahoma. And oh yeah, Thor talks to the ghost of Captain America.




Astonishing X-Men Ghost Boxes #1 (of 2). Two stories of the X-men set in different worlds.



Ultimate Captain America Annual #1. The origin of Ultimate Black Panther. And how Captain America replaced him.



1985 #6 (of 6). A very fine conclusion to this retro story set (mostly) in 1985.



Captain America Theater Of War (one-shot). Single mission Cap story set in 1944 which pits Cap against the Nazi's. Nuff said!



Vertigo:



Jack of Fables #27. Turning Pages p. 3 (of 3). What's going on here?



ONI:




Resurrection Annual 2008. Somehow I've got this issue but I haven't got issue 6 yet (which completes the first arc). So I'll hold off and read this later.



Dark Horse:



Hellboy In The Chapel Of Moloch (one-shot). I may be in the minority here but I didn't think this story was that great. Also for Mignola's first drawn story in a while, I was under impressed with the art work. This reminds me of when McFarland stopped drawing Spawn and Capullo took over. In just a few issues Capullo was out McFarland(ing) McFarland. When McFarland did do an issue it couldn't hold up to Capullo's art.



Image:








Kick Drum Comix #1 (of 2). Over sized book. Check. Two stories in one. Check. No adds. Check. Art and story by Jim Mahfood (kind of a Paul Pope look and feel). Check. Nice Package.

The Pick Of My Pile this week is Kick Drum Comix #1. Not your usual super hero fare with entertaining art in a "new" nice size package.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 10-22-08

Hello Chums,

A great week for comic book reading this week. I picked up quite a few solid reads. Let's check them out.

As always Marvel first.

Thor - The Truth Of History 1 (one-shot). Alan Davis does the art and writing on this 34 page story. This story features Thor, Volstagg, Fandral and Hogun in Egypt when the pyramids are being constructed. For fun Laurel and Hardy make an appearance in present day.

Hulk #7. Jeph Loeb, Arthur Adams, Frank Cho. Nuff Said. Maybe not. How about this: Two stories written by Loeb, one drawn by Adams the other by Cho. Hey these guys are so slow this is a good way to get them in a monthly book. They only have to draw 11 pages (each) a month. We get 22 pages of great art and hopefully they can keep up.

Samurai #2 (of four) (Soleil). More great story and art set in feudal Japan.

The New Avengers #46 (secret invasion tie-in). When is this going to be over? This issue tells the story of how the villains find out about the Skrull invasion.




Captain America #43. The first Bucky as Cap arc after the 18 month death of Captain America story.



True Believers #4 (of 5). Since Payback is in a coma for most of this issue, it's a good time for some flashbacks.



Secret Invasion #7 (of 8). The least interesting parts of these event books is when all of the characters finally go at it at the same time. This issue has too much of that.



Criminal #6 (Icon). Bad Night part 3 of 4. Jacob and Iris together. No way. Poor Jacob.



Vertigo:

Air #1. A story set in the world of airlines with flight attendants, sky marshals, and a very frequent flier all post 9-11.

Image:

I Kill Giants #1. A story of a fifth grader who might just kill giants. Or is she just a dreamer who plays Dungeons and Dragons. Black and white art with gray tones.

Top Shelf:

Sulk #1. Jeffrey Brown doing what he does best. This time it's 64 pages of Big Head stories. Issue #2 will feature a cage fight called Deadly Awesome. I can't wait!

This week there were no less than four great books: Hulk, Samurai, I Kill Giants and Sulk. I wanted to point out two clear winners. First is Hulk, this issue features a Jeph Loeb story with Mr. Fixit. What is great is the art by Arthur Adams. My copy has the Michael Turner cover. How many more Turner covers can there be? Secondly, is Sulk by Jeffery Brown. His stories are off the wall and his artwork is so much sharper and more detailed than just a few years ago.

So this week I have a duel Pick Of My Pile. Hulk #7 and Sulk #1.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 10-15-08

Hello Chums,



Here are my picks:



Marvel:



The Age Of The Sentry #2. More ret-con of The Sentry into the Marvel Universe.



Uncanny X-Men #503. Empath, taken out by Pixie?



The Mighty Avengers #19. A Captain Marvel story. Boring.



Secret Invasion Frontline #4 (of 5). More street level invasion from Ben Urich.



Ultimate Origin #5 (of 5). Nice story and art. Wrapped up?



Astonishing X-Men #27. Nice looking art. Story eeh. We'll see.



IDW:



Star Trek Romulans The Hollow Crown #2 (of 2?). The finish of a decent story. I think?



Not a real solid book this week. However, the Ultimate Origin conclusion was pretty good and it is The Pick Of My Pile.



K.R.C.



D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 10-08-08

Hello Chums,

A nice buying week overall. Here's my picks.

Marvel:

Stephen King - The Stand - Captain Trips #2 (of 5). The second brilliant issue (of the first limited series) based on King's best book.

Stephen King - The Dark Tower - Treachery #2 (of 5). More Dark Tower with Jae Lee art.

The Twelve #8 (of 12). Nice old school looking art by Chris Weston.

The Inhumans Secret Invasion #3 (of 4). Black Bolt is missing and Medusa will do whatever it takes to find him.

Marvel Zombies 3 #1 (of 4). I was very bummed out Kirkman and Phillips weren't doing this third installment, however this first issue was very good.

Avengers / Invaders #5 (of 12). This story would have been bigger had it taken place in a world without a Skrull Invasion.

Dark Horse:

B.P.R.D. The Warning #4. I thought I knew what was going on here. Maybe not. Nice Davis art though.

DC:

Batman Strikes #48. An issue I didn't get pulled when I had a subscription. This issue must have been so popular this month that they couldn't fill their subscribers needs. And it couldn't be reordered either I guess.

IDW:

Star Trek - Mirror Images #4. More of Kirk maneuvering to steal the Enterprise from Pike in the Mirror Universe.

Although I really liked Marvel Zombies 3 #1, The Pick Of My Pile this week is Stephan King - The Stand - Captain Trips #2. This limited series has been great so far and is really setting up something special for the limited series that follow.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 10-01-08

Hello Chums,

An incredibly small week this week. Let's get right to it.

DC:

Batman Strikes #50. The last issue of this animated style series. I hope next series is more like the first.

Marvel:

Punisher War Journal #24. (Secret Invasion) The start of a nice Punisher versus Skrulls story line.

March On Ultimatum Saga (free). A text heavy, thirty page over-view of the Ultimate Universe. Not up on your Ultimate Spider-man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate X-Men or Ultimates? No problem. Read this wordy monster and get caught up quick.

The Pick Of My Pile this week is non-other than the free March On Ultimatum Saga. Although this issue is text heavy, each page has two or three panels of nice art from today's top artists. The best free issue in quite awhile.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Summer Movie Spectacular

Hello Chums,

Welcome to my Summer Movie Spectacular. Why is it spectacular? Did you see the line up of movies this summer? It was pretty spectacular. I saw fifteen movies this summer. That I'm quite sure is my all time high. I decided I would rate these movies best to worst. Or as this case would be worst to best. So let's go!

#15: Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Whatever, Indy 4. This movie should never have been made. 1950's?, Aliens?, no Nazis?, drag races?, Greasers?, sword fights from moving vehicles?, surviving a nuclear bomb in a refrigerator?, son swinging from vine to vine with monkeys ala Tarzan? NO SEAN CONNERY??? This movie could NEVER live up to it's own hype. The WORST movie of the summer. PERIOD.

#14: Star Wars The Clone Wars. I hold George Lucas personally responsible for the two worst movies of the summer. This was another movie I was looking forward to that was a real let down. This movie had almost no story and consisted mostly of battles. Now I know the movie is called Clone Wars so there should be battles. But how about some story? This movie was incredibly BORING!

#13: Wanted. A decent movie but it should not have been called Wanted. To be called Wanted it needed to actually be the Wanted story, which it was not. Maybe they should have read the COMPLETED story before they did a movie, not just the first issue of a six issue story. Oh, and casting was terrible.

#12: The Happening. Not a bad movie, but clearly not one of M. Night Shyamalans best. Even though it was rated "R" it had very little punch to it. His last two movies are nowhere near as good as his first four or five.


#11: The Hulk. Even though the visuals were okay and the story was okay, I couldn't connect to it. I'm just not a big Hulk fan. This movie was way better than the first one but I have had a enough of The Hulk. It's time to do some other (Marvel) characters.


#10: Sex In The City. I'm not a fan of the show. I've only seen a hand full of episodes in passing. Hey, I took my wife to it for her birthday. It was easy to follow and yes it was better than The Hulk.

#9: Get Smart. Well cast and funny in places. However, the story was a little lacking and dragged in the middle. More action is needed for a sequel.

#8: Hancock. I'm not a Will Smith fan. I'm not even sure I have liked a movie he has been in. Until Hancock. It's a good movie, nice effects, well acted and a great cast.


#7: Wall-E. The trailers make this look like a funny story about a lonely robot. But it is so much more. It's another Pixar hit. Watch it and enjoy.

#6: The X-Files I Want To Believe. I know what your thinking: Nobody liked this movie. I know. However, I saw it after it had been out for awhile and my expectations were very low. This movie made sense to me. It takes place five or more years after the shows end. Both Mulder and Scully are out of the FBI now and have a life together. But something has to happen to mess it up.



#5: Kung-Fu Panda. From the opening dream sequence, this movie is a a lot of fun. Great story, nicely animated, good voice actors and plenty of action. What more could you want from a cartoon? Can we still call them cartoons?


#4: Hellboy and the Golden Army. Guillermo Del Toro movies continue to get better and better. I thought the first Hellboy movie was better than Blade 2. And I thought Pan's Labyrinth was better than Hellboy. But this is his best yet. If this continues how good will the Hobbit be?


#3: Batman The Dark Knight. As much as I liked the first Tim Burton - Michael Keaton Batman movie, this is quite possibly the best Batman movie ever. I think it lived up to it's hype, which is something most (all) movies never do. This is the only movie that I have seen twice on the list. After seeing it the second time I realized it does have a couple of slow spots toward the end. However, the overly talky areas of Batman/Dent, Joker/Two-Face do move the story along.


#2: Iron Man. What's not to like? Great Casting? check. Great Story? check. Great Special Effects? check. Okay the Iron Monger ending was a bit weak. But I can't wait to see it again. Bring on the sequel.


#1: Speed Racer. THE BEST MOVIE OF THE SUMMER!!! This movie has everything. Great casting, special effects, and a story staying true to it's past while looking like something from the far future. The colors are like nothing you have ever seen. The Wachowski brothers (? siblings) have made this movie the Tron of the new millennium. Go Speed Racer! GO!

If you liked the movies of this summer, enjoy them now. Remember good stuff always leads to bad stuff. It 's around the corner people, get ready for it. If it's good enjoy it right now because it's about to suck.

Hey, go see a movie in the theater.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 9-24-08

Hello Chums,



An absolutely gigantic week of comic buying. Check out my picks.



Marvel:



Samurai Legend #1 (of 4) (Soleil). Great story and art so far. Another hit from Marvel/Soleil.



The Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall And The Death Queen Of California (one-shot). Great story and art set in 1920's HOLLYWOOD LAND. This story makes me want more Orson Randall Iron Fist.



The New Avengers #45. Secret Invasion back story with (Skrull) Jessica Drew and (Skrull) Hank Pym.



Ultimates 3 #5. I like Jeph Loeb as a writer but what is this crap? If I did a bottom of my pile this would be it.



Wolverine Origins #28. With no Steve Dillon art (again) this should be my last issue.



Fantastic Four #560. The New Defenders come calling from the future. This arc is way better than Millar's first.



1985 #5 (of 6). Another Mark Millar book this week. This limited series started off good, however this issue slowed down the story. I hope it finishes off strong.



Captain America #42. The finale of the story line that started in issue 25 with the death of Captain America. An okay ending but I was expecting more.



Dark Horse:



Hellboy The Crooked Man #3 (of 3). Another okay ending to a story that started off with a bang.



Image:



Back To Brooklyn #1 (of 5). A Mafia story by Garth Ennis and Jimmy Palmiotti.



DC:



Superman / Batman #52. The conclusion of the Li'l Leaguers story. A nice story courtesy of Mr. Mxyzptlk.



Jack Of Fables #26 (Vertigo). Turning Pages ch. 2 Priscilla.



All Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder #10. This story is actually starting to come together. Could it finish like All Star Superman by issue 12? My prediction is if it does it will end up making more sense.



There were some strong books this week including All Star Batman, Fantastic Four, Samurai and Iron Fist. However, The Pick Of My Pile is The Immortal Iron Fist Orson Randall And The Death Queen Of California. A very nice surprise for a book that I wasn't going to buy.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 9-17-08

Hello Chums,

A moderate buy week this time around. Check out what I picked up.

Marvel:

The Age Of The Sentry! #1. Old school looking art that's too sharp to be old school.

True Believers #3 (of 5). The origin (& first story) of Payback.

Secret Invasion Thor #2 (of 3). Thor and Beta Ray Bill!

Uncanny X-Men #502. This one's got the Dazzler and (oh yeah) the Hellfire Cult.

The Mighty Avengers #18. More Secret Invasion with Nick Fury's new team.

DC:

All Star Superman #12. The last Morrison and Quitely issue. How long did these 12 issues take?

IDW:

Star Trek Assignment: Earth #5. How Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln "removed" President Nixon from office.

SLG:

Tron #6. The last issue. I thought issue five was the last issue.

Some decent books this week but my fave and Pick Of My Pile is Star Trek Assignment: Earth #5. John Byrne FINALLY does a time travel story that I like.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 9-10-08

Hello Chums,


After last weeks small week, a huge week for me this week.


My Picks:


Marvel:


Ultimate Origins #4. Things are starting to add up, but Nick Fury part of the Super Soldier Program? I'm not sure about this.


Stephen King The Dark Tower: Treachery #1 (of 6). More PAD and Jae Lee.



Stephen King The Dark Tower: Treachery #1. Midnight Opening Variant. Special cover.



Stephen King The Stand: Captain Trips #1 (of 5). Awesome start to my favorite King book with Perkins art.

Secret Invasion #6 (of 8). Skrull Spiderwoman: He loves you. Spiderman: Uh.. He who? Skrull Spiderwoman: God. Nick Fury: Yeah? Well MY God has a Hammer! The battle lines have finally been drawn.



Patsy Walker Hellcat #3 (of 5). What the hell is going on here?



Secret Invasion Inhumans #2 (of 4). The Inhumans kick some Skrull ass and are going after Blackbolt.



Criminal (Icon) #5. Bad Night #2 (of 4). Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips Nuff Said.


Dark Horse:



B.P.R.D. The Warning #3. This is shaping up to be one of the best B.P.R.D. stories in a while.



DC:



Superman/Batman #51. The Supes and the Bats confront the miniature Justice League courtesy of Mr. Mxyzptlk.



IDW:



Star Trek Romulans: The Hollow Crown #1 (of 2). Romulans and Klingons together again?



Star Trek Mirror Images #3. A great Mirror Universe story featuring a young Lieutenant Jean-Luc Picard.



There are some really good books this week: Criminal, Secret Invasion, The Stand and Star Trek Mirror Images. However, The Pick Of My Pile this week is Star Trek Mirror Images #3. This Jean-Luc Picard story was a pleasant surprise.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 9-03-08

Hello Chums,

After considering it for some time, I finally decided to give up my subscription service at New World comics. This was particularly hard because I have been with the same store since 1981. Hey I'm their second customer ever and have been shopping their longer than the current owner has been alive. Now I am a free agent and can shop anywhere!

Here's my picks:

Marvel:

Secret Invasion Front Line #3 (of 5). More street level Skrull stories with Ben Urich.

Punisher War Journal #23. Jigsaw p.6 of 6. More Howard Chaykin art.

The Twelve #1/2. Classic stories of the Twelve.

Universal War One #3 (of 3). The sci-fi story concludes with phenomenal art and coloring.

DC:

The Batman Strikes #49. Robin in school and handling crime solo style.

The Pick Of My Pile this week is very easy. Universal War One is a nice space /time travel story with a clean (non-messy) ending. A+

Keep Reading Comics.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 8-27-08

Hello Chums,

I've bought some decent comics this week. Let's get right to them.

Marvel:

Marvel Your Universe Saga (free). This is kind of an over-view of what's happening in Marvel comics right now.

The Immortal Iron Fist #18. Danny Rand versus the killer of Iron Fists p.2.

The New Avengers #44 (Secret Invasion). The story of The Illuminati.

The Mighty Avengers #17 (Secret Invasion). Some more Yellow Jacket/Skrull story.

Wolverine #68 (Old Man Logan). Wolverine and Hawkeye continue their trek across the U.S.

Marvel Comics Presents #12 (of 12). The conclusion of the Vanguard and Weapon Omega story lines and a nice Man-Thing story.

Kick-Ass #4 (Icon book). Graphic story telling just the way we like it with Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl and Big Daddy.

H.P. Lovecraft's Haunt of Horror #3 (of 3) (Max Book). Richard Corben concludes his run on Lovecraft tales.

D.C. / Vertigo:

Jack of Fables #25. Turning Pages Chapter 1:Robin.

IDW:

Star Trek Year Four #5. Enterprise Experiment Part 5. Conclusion of the D.C. Fontana story.

The Pick Of My Pile Is H.P. Lovecraft's Haunt of Horror #3. Nice creepy stories with Richard Corben black and white art.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 8-20-08

Hello Chums,

Check out my pile this week. Nothing but Marvel comics. Hey, Make Mine Marvel!

Marvel:

Captain America #41. The Death of Captain America: Act 3, The Man Who Bought America: p.5. This story line (that started at issue 25) is finally winding down. I really hope the next issue isn't anti-climatic.

Uncanny X-men #501. Brubaker, Fraction and The Hellfire Cult (Club). Nuff Said!

Secret Invasion Thor #1 (of 3). The return of Beta Ray Bill.

Secret Invasion Inhumans #1 (of 4). Where is Blackbolt?

1985 #4 (of 6). Toby and his dad are on the run from some deadly Marvel villains. Then Toby finds a door to the Marvel universe. Could the heroes be far away?

True Believers #2 (of 5). Reed Richards drunk driving the fantasti-car? What's next?

All of my picks this week were decent however, 1985 with it's entertaining story, art and coloring, stands above the rest. So it is The Pick Of My Pile.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 8-13-08

Hello Chums,

Check out my pile.

Marvel:

Ultimate Origins #3 (of 5). It's Prof. X meeting Magneto for the first time in the Ultimate Universe.

Secret Invasion #5 (of 8). Spoilers! The newly alive Mockingbird is a Skrull. What a pisser. Who's next Captain America?

Daredevil Saga (free). Primer for Daredevil jumping on point #111.

The Punisher Kills The Marvel Universe (one-shot). The Punisher kills the Marvel Universe. Nuff said.

Astonishing X-Men #26. I'm starting to warm up to Simon Bianchi's art.

Fantastic Four #559. Millar and Hitch. This arc is shaping up to be better than the first.

Universal War One #2 (of 3?). (Soleil) The best art this week by far. Check back for full review when this story is completed.

Halo Uprising #3 (of 4). Even though the delays on this book are unforgivable, the story and art make up for it.

Dark Horse:

B.P.R.D. The Warning #2. Good story so far with Guy Davis art.

Hellboy The Crooked Man #2 (of 3). Continuing on with the best Hellboy story in a while. And with Richard Corben art!

IDW:

Star Trek Year Four: Enterprise Experiment p.4. Kirk and Co. with Romulans and Klingons. What more do you need to know?

Star Trek Mirror Images #2. The Mirror Universe Kirk vs. Pike for the Enterprise.

Where's the DC books? Oh yeah, they (currently) suck.

The Pick Of My Pile this week is Ultimate Origins #3. The story was interesting and the artwork was nice.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 8-06-08

Hello Chums,



Last weeks entry mentioned how I liked limited series' with their nice endings. This week I noticed seven of my ten titles purchased are limited series. What does that mean? Maybe I'd like to phase out on-going titles altogether. Maybe I could/should phase out single issue comics altogether also (in favor of trades.) You do get a nice thick, meaty story to read without all the ads. And they will sit on your book shelf nicely.



My Picks:



Marvel:



Franklin Richards Son of a Genius Summer Smackdown #1(one-shot). More Franklin and Herbie humor.



Secret Invasion Front Line #2 (of 5). The street level view of the secret invasion continues.



Punisher War Journal #22. Fraction and Chaykin on Jigsaw p. 5.



The Twelve #7 (of 12). Watch for a full review when the story is complete.



Avengers/Invaders #4 (of 12). I wish this story could have happened after the Secret Invasion.



Patsy Walker Hellcat #2 (of 5). The Hellcat in Alaska fighting with spirits in the form of bears, wolves...



Criminal (Icon) #4. Bad Night p. 1.



IDW:



FX#6. Last issue? Maybe six more.



Star Trek Assignment: Earth #4. Gary Seven and Roberta battle aliens, Isis handles a purse snatcher.



DC (Vertigo):



Jack of Fables #24. Finish of the Jack Candle Gang story arc.



The Pick Of My Pile this week is once again Criminal. The new story arc "Bad Night" is off to a good start.



K.R.C.



D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 7-30-08

Hello Chums,



Aren't mini-series' great? They usually have a nice, tidy ending to their story. Sometimes I like to collect the whole series then read it all in one setting. Wow! The story usually makes more sense than when you have to wait months on end for late books to ship (and forgot what the heck has been going on). Here is my pile for this week.



Viper:



A Dummy's Guide To Danger Lost At Sea #4 (of 4). The conclusion of the second arc.



DC (Vertigo):



Northlanders #8 (of 8 ?). The conclusion of Sven The Return.



Marvel:



Wolverine Origins #27. Again no Steve Dillion art. Maybe my last issue.



Thor #10. Not a lot of action, but the story is picking up.



Wolverine #67 (Old Man Logan p.2). Wolverine and a blind Hawkeye fifty years in the future.



The Immortal Iron Fist #17. New creative team? No Brubaker. No Fraction.



Haunt of Horror #2 (of 3) (Max title). More black and white Richard Corben art!



The Pick of My Pile this week is The Immortal Iron Fist #17. Decent story. And check out the kick ass cover.



K.R.C.



D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 7-23-08

Hello Chums,


How about my picks for the week of Comic-con? Check them out.


Marvel:


H.P. Lovecraft's Haunt of Horror #1 (of 3). (MAX title) Black and white Richard Corben art.


Marvel Comics Presents #11. More Machine Man and a B. Clay Moore Stingray story.


The New Avengers #43. More Secret Wars goodness.


The Uncanny X-Men #500. Brubaker!, Fraction!, Land! and Dodson(?) on X-Men!

DC:

The X Files #0. ( Wildstorm title) Nice character likeness' by Denham.

IDW:

Star Trek New Frontier #5 (of 5). Finally an end to a very confusing story.


Image:

Elephantmen #13. The Weakest Elephantmen story yet. This is a 1 (of 3) story hopefully it will improve.


Liberty Comics Big 1st Amendment issue. Stories featuring: The Boys, Criminal, Elephantmen to name a few.



A hard week to pick with not a real solid standout. That being said, The Pick Of My Pile this week is The New Avengers #43. Captain America punching out Zabu, classic.





Keep Reading Comics





D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 7-16-08

Hello Chums,




On to my picks.



Marvel:


The Mighty Avengers #16. More answers about the Raft and how Electra was replaced.



Captain America #40. The Death of Captain America story continues.



Sky Doll (Soleil) #3 (of #3). Nice looking art. Check back for full review of this series.




1985 #3 (of 6). The sheriff bores a striking resemblance to Sheriff Buford T. Justice.




Ultimate Origin #2 (of 5). The Ultimate Universe is all connected part 2, Captain America.




Universal War One (Soleil) #1 (3 or 6). Fantastic art and coloring. Check back for a full review.




Image:




The Mice Templer #5. So looong between issues I have trouble remembering what's going on.








IDW:



Star Trek New Frontier #4 (of 5). A confusing turn of events in space/time story telling.








The Pick Of My Pile this week is Ultimate Origins #2. A nice surprise for a book I initially wasn't going to buy.





Keep Reading Comics.


D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 7-09-08

Hello Chums,

Here's a quick run down of my purchases this week.

Marvel:

Secret Invasion (4 of 6). Nick Fury and Co. continue to fight the secret invasion.

Secret Invasion Front Line (1 of 5). The street level view of the secret invasion.

Ultimate Origin (1 0f 5). The Ultimate Universe (it's all connected).

Captain America White (#0). Jeph Loeb / Tim Sale. Nuff said.

Viper:

A Dummy's Guide To Danger Lost at Sea (3 of 4?). The detective and the quadriplegic ventriloquist dummy team up for arc #2.

Dark Horse:

B.P.R.D. The Warning #1. B.P.R.D. and Lobster Johnson?

DC:

The Batman Strikes #47. Batman vs. The Black Mask.

Loeb and Sale back together at Marvel? Captain America White #0 is easily The Pick Of My Pile for this week.

Keep Reading Comics.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 7-02-08

Hello Chums,



An absolutely gigantic week for me this week, however a couple of these books came out last week. Check out my list.



Dark Horse:



Hellboy The Crooked Man #1 (of 3). A Hellboy story from 1958.



D.C./Vertigo:



American Splendor vol.2 #4. More Harvey Pekar.



IDW:



Star Trek Mirror Images #1. Kirk and Co. in the Mirror Universe.



Star Trek Year Four Enterprise Experiment p.3 #3. Kirk and Co. vs. the Klingons.



Star Trek Assignment: Earth #3. Gary Seven and Roberta at college.



FX #5. Tom and friends meet some urban legends.



CTMG (?):



Hancock movie covers book. (free comic)



Marvel:



Wolverine Origins #26. No Steve Dillon art this issue. I may drop this book.



Avengers / Invaders #3 (of 12). Namor meets King Namor under the sea.



1985 #2. Marvel villains (and heroes) invade Toby's town.



Patsy Walker: Hellcat #1 (of 5). A Hellcat moves to Alaska.



Astonishing X-Men #25. Ellis and Bianchi's first issue of their run.



Punisher War Journal #21. Jigsaw p.4 (of 6).



Thor Reign of Blood (one shot). Fraction on Thor book 2.



Stephen King The Stand Sketchbook. (free comic).



Captain America #39. The Death of Captain America Act 3. The Man Who Bought America p.3.



Not a clear winner this week, however I did like the Richard Corben art in Hellboy. So The Pick Of My Pile is Hellboy The Crooked Man #1.



K.R.C.



D.L.

New York trip recap

Hello Chums,



You may have noticed I have slowed down on my graphic novel/trade reviews. Maybe not. I have been reading plenty but haven't felt like doing a review since my trip to New York. Well whether you care or not I thought I would blog about that trip. Eleven days with the family. Six days in Syracuse visiting family (great time, I wish we could have stayed longer.) Then five days in NYC. Record heat + injuries + sickness = the worst (half) of a vacation ever.





However, I did make it to The Big Apple Con. Yeah, I took the subway (by myself) down to the Penn Plaza Pavilion. The Big Apple Con! A con going on when I just happened to be in NYC! Sweet! It was the same weekend of the TERRIBLE OKC con. I would trade any con for that shitty con. Anyway the Big Apple Con was in a very old building/hotel (?) The con space was a rather cramped/claustrophobic area stuffed with comics and comic people. But mostly all comics! Great deals were found in my limited time there. I saw a couple of comics creators also. Can't complain about that.





While in New York I also hit four comic book stores. Two in Syracuse (one really nice and one in a mall.) And two stores in NYC. The first store was Midtown Comics by Times Square (a hard to find little let down of a store.) But the second store was Jim Hanley's Universe a large store with an amazing selection of books/trades/shirts/comic book stuff. Sitting right across the street from the Empire State Building, it's not to be missed. Not a big selection of back issues but a great store none-the-less. I picked up a few books I had been looking for there.





Between the con and the four comic book stores, I knocked out quite a few nice purchases in New York. I can't complain about that. Let the reading begin!





K.R.C.


D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 6-25-08

Hello Chums,

An absolutely huge buying week for me this week. Check out what I picked up.

Image:

76 #4. Continuing the two stories of Jackie Karma and (my favorite) Cool.

ONI:

Resurrection #5. The Continuing story of America after the "Bug" invasion.

Dark Horse:

B.P.R.D. The Ectoplasmic Man (one shot.) The story of Johann Kraus.

Marvel:

The Mighty Avengers #15. More Secret Invasion with the replacement of Yellow Jacket.

The New Avengers #42. The Secret Invasion continues with replacement of Spider-woman.

Young Avengers Presents #6 Hawkeye. Clint Barton passes the Hawkeye name to Kate Bishop.

Uncanny X-Men #499. Omega Red. Nuff Said!

The Ultimates 3 #4. This book is so late I can't remember exactly what"s going on.

The Immortal Iron Fist #16. Danny Rand's 33 birthday and Matt Fraction's last issue.

Fantastic Four #558. Death Of The Invisible Woman part 1.

Marvel Comics Presents #10. Four stories featuring Machine Man and Deadpool.

Two things are obvious about this list. No DC books. And where 'o where is Captain America #39? Even though it was on my pull list, my L.C.S. sold out without pulling me one. This is the fourth comic that they have missed (on my list) in the last month. This has got to stop.

The Pick Of My Pile this week was hard to pick. I really liked five books this week. The Three Avengers books, Iron Fist and B.P.R.D. were all strong. But I think the best overall book was The Mighty Avengers #15 with a nice Yellow Jacket story.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 6-18-08

Hello Chums,



A very light buying week this week. Lets get right to it.



IDW:

Star Trek Year Four Enterprise Experiment #2. Continuing Kirk and companies fourth year.



Marvel:

Wolverine #66 Old Man Logan. Mark Millar and Steve McNiven bring us a Wolverine story from the far future.



My Pick Of The Pile this week is Wolverine #66. A story of the future after the heroes fell.



K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 6-11-08

Hello Chums,

Another week of good reading. Let's get right to it.

DC:
The Batman Strikes #46. A Killer Croc love story.

Dark Horse:
B.P.R.D. War On Frogs #1. B.P.R.D. story from 2005 featuring Roger!

Icon:
Kick Ass #3. This kid's name is Kick Ass!

Image:
Elephantmen #12. Some serious clean up.

Marvel:
Secret Invasion Who Do You Trust? (one shot) Five Secret Invasion stories.

The Punisher Little Black Book. (one shot) Frank nice and violent just like we like him.

The Pick Of My Pile this week is The Punisher Little Black Book. A quality one shot with gritty (Criminal style) art.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 6-04-08

Hello Chums,

Lets get right to it again. Here's my picks.

Dark Horse:

Abe Sapien #5 of 5. Conclusion of The Drowning.

Icon:

Criminal vol.2 #3. The story of Danica.

IDW:

Star Trek Assignment: Earth #2. More Gary Seven.

Star Trek New Frontier #3. Continuing story of the star ship Excalibur.

Star Trek The Next Generation Intelligence Gathering #5. Picard and co. versus Romulans.

Marvel:

Avengers / Invaders #2 of 12. The Invaders invade the current Marvel continuity.

Astonishing X-Men sketchbook. The new costunes for the Ellis / Bianchi run.

Punisher War Journal #20. Jigsaw part 3 of 6.

The Dark Tower The Long Road Home #4 of 5. The Dark Tower continues.

Secret Invasion #3 of 8. More is reveled about Iron Man and Spider- Woman.

My Pick Of The Pile this week is Criminal vol. 2 #3. Brubaker and Phillips continue to deliver.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 5-28-08

Hello Chums,



Right to my picks for this week. Marvel comics leads the way with 7 comics bought.



DC:

All Star Superman #11 Convoluted story but pretty pictures.



Marvel:

Giant Size Astonishing X-Men # 1 Conclusion of Whedon and Cassaday run.

Young Avengers Presents # 5 of 6 Stature story.

Uncanny X-Men #498 X-Men in San Francisco and Russia.

Thor #9 Asgardians in Oklahoma with a female Loki story.

New Avengers #41 More Secret Invasion in the Savage Land.

Marvel Comics Presents #9 Four independent stories with the Hulk and Machine Man.

The Immortal Iron Fist #15 Solo story of Iron Fist Bei Bang-Wen.



The Pick Of My Pile this week is Thor#9. This issue was good enough to save the title from me dropping it for a few more issues.



K.R.C.

D.L.

Captain Marvel: R.I.P.

Hello Chums,

I've been busy reading trades this week (and last week) and I neglected to post my review. However with the past multiple review posts, I'm currently ahead of schedule on my target of 52 reviews this year. I'll try my best to stay on track (when I can.)

This time around I thought I'd talk a little about The Death Of Captain Marvel. I never read it when I was a kid and I thought I'd give it a try now. Could this Jim Starlin story that's referred to all the time, stand the test of time?

I won't go into all of Captain Marvels past history, this is his story at the end. Early in this story we find that Marvel is sick and diagnosed with what people of Titan call the Inner Decay, we call it cancer. Yep, the BIG "C". There is no cure for it in the Marvel universe either.

To say the Captain is well liked is an understatement. When the diagnosis comes to light, all of Marvel's big brains look for a cure. It's a race to save the Captain. But nothing seems to help. After spending time with friends and lovers, Marvel realizes it's the end and he makes peace with it (and with some enemies) before the inevitable end.

About every major Marvel character is at Captain Marvel's bedside at the end. After Marvel is gone we see part of his journey into "the light." A fitting end to a well liked hero.

Okay this isn't Brian's Song, but it is an effectively sad story.

Rating: Story and Art: A-

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 5-21-08

Hello Chums,



Back on buying track this week with Marvel comics dominating my purchase with 5 out of 6 comics bought.



IDW:

Star Trek - Assignment: Earth #1 Gary Seven is back, courtesy of John Byrne.



Marvel:

Fantastic Four #557 Conclusion of World's Greatest.

Wolverine Origins #25 Conclusion of The Deep End.

Avengers Classic #12 The Avengers verses the Mole Man.

The Mighty Avengers #14 More of the Secret Invasion.

Captain America #38 The Death Of Captain America Act 3, The Man Who Bought America: p.2



It's not an easy week to pick the best book, however Captain America is still entertaining 13 months after the title characters death.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 5-14-08

Hello Chums,



I have a very short stack to pick from this week and a rather odd occurrence, no Marvels bought. Let's get right to it.



IDW:

FX #3 - Continuing the story of a high school student getting used to his new powers.



DC:

Batman Strikes #45 - A Batgirl stand alone story.



Image:

True Story Swear To God #11 - Tom And Lily plan their wedding.



Dark Horse:

B.P.R.D. 1946 #5 - Conclusion of the 1946 story line.



The Pick Of My Pile this week is True Story Swear To God #11. Tom Beland continues to entertain with his true life stories.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Yet another grab bag of books from the Kansas City con

Hello Chums,

Besides my pile of new comics, I've been busy reading three trades this week. So how about some quick reviews.

First up is New York Times and L.A. Times best seller Fun Home. Fun Home is labeled as "A Tragicomic." I suppose it means the story is drawn in comic form and it's a tragedy. Drawn: yes. Tragedy: no. I've read autobiographical books like this before that have been more sad in content and executed better. The story is okay. However, I was put off by the way the author tells the story and then goes back and revisits ground already covered. The use of references to classical fiction got tedious also. We get the point. The author's father was well read and would refer to passages in literature when making points or telling stories.

So what's Alison Bechdel's Fun Home about anyway? This story is her look back at her family being repressed by her closet-queer father who knows more about interior decorating, gardening and fashion for girls than any straight man would. Oh yeah, her father was also the town mortician at their funeral home (fun home.) Alison's story rolls from childhood through her own budding lesbianism and the the death of her father.

Next up is Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Who Is Scorpio? More sixties secret agent action from Jim Steranko! With all the gadgets, locals, enemies and women, Nick Fury once again reminded me of the sixties James Bond. There should be a book like this available currently. Maybe we'll see more of good 'ol Nick after Secret Invasion.

What's it about? Taking out the bad guys and having a looker of a woman waiting in the wings. Sixties style. That's all you need to know.

Lastly is Scalped vol. 1, by Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera. I got my copy at Planet Comicon in Kansas City. I bought my copy then went across the aisle and had it signed by Jason Aaron. I enjoyed his Vietnam story The Other Side and the first issue of Scalped and every interview I've read lately with different creators has had Scalped as one of their favorites. So what the heck.

Scalped tells the story of Dashiell Bad Horse. He's one lone Indian who goes back to the reservation fifteen years after leaving on bad terms. Upon arrival he meets up with his estranged mother and former (now married) ex-girlfriend. The Rez (Prairie Rose Indian Reservation) is now overrun with drugs and organized crime. Think of it as The Sopranos on a reservation. Oh yeah, Bad Horse is now an undercover FBI agent. I can't wait for vol. 2.

Ratings:

Fun Home: story D+, art A-

Nick Fury: story B+, art A-

Scalped: story A-, art A

K.R.C.

D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 5-7-08

Hello Chums,

Another large stack of comics this week with more Marvels than anything else.

Marvel comics:

Mighty Avengers #13 - Secret Invasion with Nick Fury

Franklin Richards - Not-So-Secret-Invasion #1

Punisher War Journal #19 - Jigsaw (part 2 of 6)

Dark Tower - The Long Road Home (part 3 of 5)

Secret Invasion #2 (of 8)

Avengers/Invaders #1 (of 12)

Dark Horse:

Abe Sapien #4 - The Drowning (part 4 of 5)

DC:

Action Comics Annual #11 - Last Son Conclusion

Vertigo:

American Splendor #2 - more Harvey Pekar

With the return of Mockingbird and the appearance of Jewel, Secret Invasion #2 is easily my Pick Of The Pile for this week.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Spys spying on spys who spy on spys

Hello Chums,

Okay the title of this post is a little misleading. It should be: Spies who track and kill spies who track and kill spies (or something like it.) Super Spy, by Matt Kindt, is broken up into thirty seven small stories. These stories intersect with each other in many ways and they're presented out of order. Several spy missions overlap each other and characters who are already dead make appearances in later stories (this helps to explain plot points.)

The stories takes place during World War II in Germany, France and Spain. Throughout the story, we're introduced to multiple agents trying to complete various tasks that might include: stealing documents, sending messages in code, eavesdropping, surveillance and assassination. All solid acts that you would expect any spy to preform.

What's it about? The Germans are working on a secret project that could turn the tide of the war. Meanwhile the Allies are using their agents anyway they can to get any scrap of detail about the project. The story starts off slowly as we get hints that there is something going on. As the story progresses, agents that have been used are eliminated (usually brutally.)

I liked this story but it's not for everyone. It has a lot of very graphic violence, but that's what we expect in the world of super spies isn't it?

Rating: Story: (including out of order chapters) A

Art: Stylized ink brushed strokes with usually one (different) color per chapter B+

K.R.C.

D.L.

Free Comic Book Day '08 review

Hello Chums,



Was your Free Comic Book Day this year fun? Mine was. I took my two boys to the four comic book stores in my area. We picked up numerous books for free (and bought a few too). Three of the four stores had decent sales and party type atmospheres (free pizza, cookies, drinks and people in costumes and drawings for free merchandise.) I think the fourth store really missed an opportunity to get fans (and non-fans) excited about comics.



My free comics this year:

Tiny Titans #1 - DC

Hellboy (new material) - Dark Horse

World of Aspen #3 - Aspen

Atomic Robo - Red 5 Comics

Dan Dare - Virgin Comics

Impact University vol.4 - Impact

Gekiga! - Drawn & Quarterly

The Moth - Rude Dude

Ignatz - Fantagraphics

The Death- Defying Devil - Dynamite

Maintenance - ONI Press

Owly and Friends - Top Shelf

Comics go to Hollywood - Twomorrows

Graphics Classics Special Edition - Graphics Classic

EC Comics Sampler - Gemstone

Neotopia - Antartic Press



After picking up all our books, we went to see Iron Man. Now that's a Free Comic Book Day!



What no Marvel in my stack? Oh well, but it looks like I have some real gems. I had better get reading.



K.R.C.



D.L.

Pick Of My Pile for the week of 4-30-08

Hello Chums,

Marvel leads the way this week with four books bought. Here's my books:

Marvel:

The Immortal Iron Fist #14 The Capital Cities of Heaven Round 7 (conclusion)

Marvel Comics Presents #8 four separate stories (one featuring Machine Man)

Thor Ages of Thunder #1 Matt Fraction story

The New Avengers #40 Secret Invasion continues

Image:

76 #3 Two Seventies Kung Fu/Street stories

Crawl Space XXXombies #4 (conclusion)

Elephantmen War Stories #3 (conclusion)

DC Universe 0 (The return of Barry Allen?)

My pick this week was easy. The conclusion of Elephantmen War Toys was very good. The art wasn't bad either.

Keep Reading Comics

D.L.