Another exciting week at the comic shop. Spoilers within
Amazing Spider-Man 551: And so ends Marc Guggenheim's first arc on the book. All in all, it was fun and very much in the vein of classic Spider-Man, by which I mean the Spidey stories of the 60s through the mid-80s that I grew up reading. Also, I like the villain -- Menace is a good Goblinesque foe without being a rehash of Green Goblin or the Hobgoblin. I'm looking forward to seeing if the next writer (Bob Gale) can match Slott and Guggenheim.
Umbrella Academy 6: A very satsifying conclusion to the miniseries. Way and Ba really succeeded in creating something new and fun. If you skipped this one, it's definitely worth checking out when the trade hits.
Angel: After the Fall 4: This series continues to do a pretty good job continuing where the TV show left off. The art is growing on me, though I still don't think it's great.
Godland 21: For 20 issues, this book has been a pretty spot-on pastiche of 1970s Jack Kirby. This issue, though, Scioli's art seems different. The layouts are still very Kirby-esque, but the finishes don't have the same Kirby feel that Scioli's art usually does. As for the story, it's still very Kirbyesque: basically a big fight between our hero (Adam Archer) and the Triad (Ed, Eeg-Oh, and Supra -- just the kind of names The King might have given to a atrio of villains).
Lois 1: Apparently, in the kinds of circles Harvey Pekar runs in, the thing to do is publish our own autobiographical comic, just like Harvey. Lois is written by Lois Gilbert (with some help from Pekar) and illustrated mostly by frequent Pekar collaborator Gary Dumm. Lois Gilbert is a former stripper and a current stand-up comic, although I don't find the sotries in this comic sexy or funny. They are pretty interesting and entertaining, though, so if you like autobio comics, this one is worth a look.
Spirit 14: Aragones and Evanier kick off their run with art by Mike Ploog. If that creative team doesn't make you want to pick this up, nothing I say will change our mind, but let me try anyway: this is a great story, very much in the tradition of Eisner. I was worried when Darwyn Cooke left the book, but the title (and Will Eisner's flagship character) are in good hands.
Justice LEague of America 18: Blech. I completely forgot this was part 2 of a 3-part tie in to a mini (Salvation Run) I'm not reading by a writer (Alan Burnett) I don't really care about. There's a backup by Dwayne McDuffie -- he's the reason I buy this book -- but it didn't really click with me.
Brave and the Bold 10: This book is pure fun. There's an ongoing storyline about a powerful being called Megistus and the Challengers of the Unknown, but Waid spends just a few pages on that before giving us two team-ups (Superman/Silent Knight and Aquaman/Teen Titans) that, while ostensibly tying in to the ongoing story, are really just stand-alone tales. Who cares -- Waid's writing some of his best stuff, Perez's art is as gorgeous as ever, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
So what did you read this week?
Posted by Jason Fliegel at February 22, 2008 10:45 PM
Not to mention Ed Benes makes me want reach through the page and force him to look at some real women.
I thought the ending of ASM sort of screwed things up. What, Spidey's Spider-Sense is a lie detector now? There's only one Sara Ehret in all of Brooklyn? She just closes the curtains and he gives up? Sigh. So far, and yet so close. Better than Slott, though.
The Un-Men #7- man, this artwork is good. Man, this story is pedestrian. But I don't care, because the artwork is so damn good.
Ultimate Human #2- Awww, cute, Ultimate Pete Wisdom is all sad because no one appreciates him and his genius- why didn't they all listen to HIM? Because he was a bullying git who didn't deliver, much like his creator who's got to pander to losers like me. That said, it's perfectly acceptable HULK FIGHTS IRON MAN COMIC and I liked it, it's surprisingly spry for a talky Ellis story.
I'm willing to give the Spider-Man team a little rope on the whole "Sarah Ehret" thing, since they've promised us a resolution. I really hope that resolution doesn't turn out to be "Mary Jane is Jackpot," though.