Random Comic Reviews

[Velorath]

Justice Society of America v2 #1


Writer:    Geoff Johns
Penciler:  Dale Eaglesham
Inker:      Art Thibert
Colors:     Jeromy  Cox

After a brief hiatus, Geoff Johns makes his return to relaunch the JSA.  And well, we've got quite a cast here.  So far there's at least 12 members on the team, including founders Green Lantern, Flash, and Wildcat who seem like they might be focusing more on training the younger generation rather than doing a lot of the field work.  We've also got a good number of the cast from the last series returning, and a few interesting new additions.

Johns packs a lot into this issue, with the team more or less already formed by the last page (as opposed to the JLA relaunch).  There's also a plot with someone killing off Mr. America's family (presumably he's a new character, though he shares the same last name as the original), and a sub-plot is introduced involving Wildcat and someone who might possibly be his son.  Of course by packing so much into this issue, new readers won't really get a chance to learn much about the cast.  Johns is going to have his work cut out for him trying to juggle this many characters and still give each one enough "screen time" to justify their use in the series.

As a new #1, it might not be the best start for new readers.  Rather they'd be better off picking up TPB's of the last series before jumping into this one.  As a continuation of the previous volume though, Johns does a good job of introducing JSA fans to the post-IC JSA.  Hopefully it won't be too long before he can work Black Adam into the book somehow.


Newuniversal #1

Writer:  Warren Ellis
Artist:   Salvador Larroca
Colors:  Jason Keith


This book would feel like Deja Vu even if it weren't a reboot of the New Universe.  The "realistic" approach to the world being introduced to superhumans has been done several times since the New Universe ended.  Hell JMS has done it twice in recent years with Rising Stars and Supreme Power.  Even the TV show Heroes is covering similar ground.  Don't get me wrong, the writing is solid and the art is good, but I'm not really sure what the justification for this book is when I know Ellis could be writing something ten times more entertaining.  Given the recent articles Newsarama has been doing on the upcoming Thunderbolts revamp, I'm getting a little wary of Ellis' run on that as well.  Traditional superhero stuff isn't really Ellis' strength.

[HaemishM]

I liked Newuniversal. I don't think it's going to be typical superhero stuff, or even the regular folks get superpowers story. There seems to be a good bit of Watchmen-esque alternate history stuff going on in the background, and I think that's going to play into a lot. I think this book is going to have a more Planetary feel than traditional superhero stuff.

I haven't read the JSA yet.

[Velorath]

I liked Newuniversal. I don't think it's going to be typical superhero stuff, or even the regular folks get superpowers story. There seems to be a good bit of Watchmen-esque alternate history stuff going on in the background, and I think that's going to play into a lot. I think this book is going to have a more Planetary feel than traditional superhero stuff.

I don't know.  Like I said it's well written, but right now it feels like Ultimate New Universe.  Not exactly a bad thing, but I just expect more out of Ellis.  I wouldn't be suprised to see an Ultimate Universal Power cross-over at some point in the future by the way.

[Llava]

I did like it, and I'll keep picking it up, but it's not Ellis in his best genre for sure.  I worry it'll end up like Ultimate Galactus- short of the standards expected of Ellis, even if it is a decent read.

[Velorath]

Immortal Iron Fist

Writers:  Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction
Artist:     David Aja
Colorist:  Matt Hollingsworth

One can see that there have been a lot of #1's in the last couple weeks.  Continuing on then, we have Immortal Iron Fist.  Brubaker, apparently unable to devote his full attention to this book due to working on a multitude of other titles, is co-writing this book with the help of Matt Fraction.  The result sort of has a Brubaker Lite feel to it.  You can feel his influence in the book, but it's not as gripping as most of his stuff.  With all the exposition this issue, I mostly just flipped through the book the first time, and then went back and reread it later.  Hydra aren't particularly compelling villains as it is, and the use of a big mechanical spider seems more like a bad reminder of Wild Wild West than something that should be any sort of a threat to Iron Fist.

There's a good book in here somewhere, and Aja and Hollingsworth do a great job on the rooftop fight scene in the rain.  Flipping through the book and just looking at that art was a lot more enjoyable than trying to read all the narration.  The art style is simplistic, but that fight scene has a real washed-out beauty to it.



Conan and the Songs of the Dead #1-5

Writer:  Joe R. Lansdale
Artist:   Timothy Truman

One of my favorite creative teams in comics, these are the fine gents that brought us three good Jonah Hex minis years back.  Perhaps it's because those books were so great that I found this mini (to be collected as a TPB in a few months) to be a little disappointing.  Their writing is as good as ever, but the book read exactly like their Jonah Hex stuff, to the point where it didn't feel like I was actually reading a Conan book.  If Lansdale just had Conan say "I reckon" a few times, I would have sworn that this was made from an unused script for another Jonah Hex mini that just never saw the light of day.

If one can look past those problems though, you'll get a good story filled with Lansdale's dark humor, and Truman's beautiful artwork.  The end is a slight letdown, possibly because it's too quick an ending for 5 issues of buildup.  Regardless of this books failings it's always nice to see these guys working together again.  With Mignola doing some issues of the Dark Horse's main series, it cool to see a lot of top notch guys in the industry doing their take on Conan.

[HaemishM]

The Iron Fist book had some promise, but they kind of spoiled the character with having him pose as Daredevil. And this book didn't really make a lot of sense with the past history of the character. Of course, I don't know how they brought him back to life either, since last I'd read him years ago, he got killed by Luke Cage at the end of Power Man and Iron Fist.

[Velorath]

The Iron Fist book had some promise, but they kind of spoiled the character with having him pose as Daredevil. And this book didn't really make a lot of sense with the past history of the character. Of course, I don't know how they brought him back to life either, since last I'd read him years ago, he got killed by Luke Cage at the end of Power Man and Iron Fist.

It's probably for the best that neither of us read the story where he came back to life.  I got this from wikipedia:

Power Man and Iron Fist ended in 1986 with Rand contracting cancer from radiation poisoning and inadvertently dying at the hands of Captain Hero, and Cage becoming a fugitive as the prime suspect in Rand's death.


Resurrection
The storyline would not be resolved until years later, in the 1990s in Namor. Rand apparently returned from the dead, but was revealed instead to be the Super-Skrull, who admitted that he had been Captain Hero, and that the plot to destroy Rand and Cage's lives had been masterminded by Master Khan. It was also discovered that the "Iron Fist" that had died was actually a doppelgänger created by the H'ylthri. Rand had, in fact, been kidnapped and replaced by the H'ylthri just after he had left K'un L'un for the last time. While in stasis with the H'ylthri, Rand had managed to focus his chi and cure the cancer. After the Onslaught incident, Rand and Cage decided to reform Heroes for Hire, Inc. with an expanded team, working for Namor's Oracle Corporation. This was chronicled in a new Heroes For Hire series, but the title was eventually cancelled due to low sales, ending with Namor dissolving Oracle as well as Heroes for Hire, Inc.

[Llava]

I'm convinced that everyone in comic books is actually a doppelganger, and all the real people are stashed away in some alien suspended animation chamber.  And entire world where no one is who they are.

[HaemishM]

That ressurection story sounded super-retarded. I'm going to bet that since it was done in Namor, it was an idea hatched of John Byrne's fevered mind, especially since it sounds so damn much like the resurrection of Jean Grey that he did in Fantastic Four.

EDIT: Yep, John Fucking Byrne.

[HaemishM]

Finally read Justice Society #1. Yeah, that's some good JSA right there. The last few issues of the series were poor, but this one kicks off the new series with a bang. Great start.

[Velorath]

Finally read Justice Society #1. Yeah, that's some good JSA right there. The last few issues of the series were poor, but this one kicks off the new series with a bang. Great start.

The last few issues of the last series were written by Paul Levitz, hence why they weren't as good.

[HaemishM]

Yeah, the Levitz stuff didn't have the same oomph, and I've never been much of a Gentlemanly Ghost fan. The Ordway art I like sort of, but I have to be in the mood to look at his stuff and I wasn't. After the whole Infinite Crisis stuff and the weighty stories before that, it felt like filler time they could have left out.

[Furiously]

Just finished Batman: Hush. Was pretty enjoyable.

[Velorath]

X-Factor #14

Writer:    Peter David
Penciler:  Pablo Raimondi
Colorist:   Brian Reber


With Nextwave going the way of the Dodo in a couple months, X-Factor is the Marvel book you should be reading for your fill of humor.  This issue was actually one of the best of the series so far (especially the scene with Madrox and Rictor), and it still amazes me that David can take a minor character like Jamie Madrox who has mostly been used as comic relief, and make him into what is currently one of the most interesting characters in the MU right now.

This issue sets up a new story arc, with Jamie feeling overwhelmed by how much his dupes are affecting his life.  Seeking to regain some measure of control, Doc Sampson helps Jamie come up with the idea of rounding up all his stray dupes that he sent out into the world.  His first stop is to try to reabsorb the Jamie Madrox, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. dupe that showed up a few issues back.  As usual, David successfully juggles humor and advancing all the characters' sub-plots, although this issue more or less ignores the larger plot with Singularity this issue.

All in all, good stuff that give you faith that Marvel hasn't quite gone completely down the shitter yet.


Punisher Max: From First to Last HC

Writer:   Garth Ennis
Various Artists

Be forwarned, I don't actually have this HC, so if there were any sort of printing issues with it, I don't know about them.  I have however read the three double-sized one-shots contained in this book, and I can safely recommend it to Punisher fans and non-Punisher fans alike.  For the record, the stories collected here are:  The Tyger, The Cell, and The End.

I won't go too much into detail.  Partly because I've talked about some of these stories before, and partly because I think they're good stories to read without too much of an idea what you're going to get.  I will say that the Tyger I felt was the weakest story in the collection, though it was still good.  The Cell, and The End though are just great stories, and one good thing I can say about the Punisher Max stuff Ennis does, is that he manages to tell completely serious stories rather than the over-the-top stuff that can get tiresome in his other work.

For some reason Amazon doesn't list this as shipping until the end of the month.  Wal-mart.com has the cheapest price I've seen so far though (and listed as shipping tomorrow) at around $13.  I only mention this in-case your local comic shop is trying to sell it for $20.  The book is listed as 152 pages, so it's close to the same size you'd get with a book that collects a standard 6 issue arc.

[Margalis]

Peter David is probably the most under-appreciated writer in comics today, or maybe ever. You never hear his name mentioned with other great guys but he has been putting out great stuff for decades. He needs to pimp himself more or something. A Peter David book is almost always worth a read.

[HaemishM]

Peter David is probably the most under-appreciated writer in comics today, or maybe ever. You never hear his name mentioned with other great guys but he has been putting out great stuff for decades. He needs to pimp himself more or something. A Peter David book is almost always worth a read.

He gets the shaft a lot. DC gave him the shaft with the Fallen Angel series he did (which is now published by an Indy), Marvel has given him multiple shafts, twice on the Hulk. He's the guy who should be in charge not only of writing books, but also in a position like Geoff Johns is over at DC, being able to drive company-wide editorial decisions and whapping Quesada on the nose with a newspaper every time Big Joe comes up with some retarded shit like House of M or variant covers.

[Margalis]

I agree 100%. The guy just has a mind for good stories.

[Velorath]

New Avengers #26

Writer: Brian Bendis
Artist:  Alex Maleev

Here we have the Hawkeye/Scarlet Witch issue that Bendis promised a while back as a break in the action from all the Civil War tie-ins, and the resulting story drags this book back down to the terrible levels of writing that have plagued this book for most of its run.  Some recent issues, especially the one that focus on Luke Cage haven't been too bad.  New Avengers #26 though is on par with Avengers Disassembled in that it shows how much Bendis just doesn't get these characters.

The book starts with Hawkeye going to visit Dr. Strange for some answers as to his condition, and to see if Doc knows where Wanda is.  Doc tells Hawkeye he's very much alive (especially for someone who was recently killed twice), he has no idea where Wanda is, and that confronting Wanda won't do anything to help him feel better about what happened and will likely only make things worse.  Hawkeye goes looking for her anyway and after a stop in Genosha (which isn't shown) he finally locates her in a town by Wundagore Mountain just in time to stop a kid who stole her purse.  As he returns the purse, he sees who she is and faints.  He wakes up, and finds that she's obviously created a new life for herself with her powers.  She still calls herself Wanda Maximoff (and supposedly has an Aunt Agatha that lives with her, who we never see), but doesn't seem to have any memories of her former life, nor does she even know much about the world outside of this small town.

So of course, impressed by Hawkeye's heroics earlier retrieving her purse, the have sex.  Afterwards, Hawkeye recalls Dr. Strange's words about making things worse than they were before, and that's the end of the book.  So we get a whole issue that's supposed to show us what Hawkeye has been doing since the end of HoM, and all we find out is that he tracked down the Scarlet Witch and fucked her while she's obviously still not in a right state of mind.  I can only imagine that Bendis is having fun seeing how many times he can piss all over these two characters.

[HaemishM]

Yeah, if that book had not had Maleev's art work on it, it would have been total shit. As is, it's still total shit, just well-drawn shit. How many pages of forlorn looks and no fucking dialogue can you write? Can you just not come up with anything to write? That's probably it, because shit, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO SAY AFTER FUCKING THE CHARACTER WHO HAD YOU KILLED? LITERALLY HAVING SEX WITH HER?

The book was just total crap. Why not just have both characters raped by Wildebeasts or something, since you obviously hate them so. I can't imagine how this passed the editorial sniff test.

[Velorath]

Winter Soldier:  Winter Kills (one-shot)

Writer:  Ed Brubaker
Artists:  Lee Weeks, Stefano Gaudiano, Rick Hoberg
Colorist: Matt Milla


The Winter Soldier (formerly Cap's WWII sidekick Bucky for those who haven't been following Bru's work on Captain America) stars in this one-shot flashing back and forth between the last Christmas he had before his "death" in 1944, and his first Christmas back (taking place during the Civil War).  Aside from the odd choice to have him team up with some of the Young Avengers to fight Hydra, this book had some pretty good character moments to it.  Aside from Bucky talking to a holographic Nick Fury over in Cap's book, this is the first time we really get to see him interacting with other people, and Brubaker doesn't go the obvious route of making him completely anti-social.

Between the flashback of Bucky and Toro going to a Christmas party during the war, and the last few pages of the issue with Bucky and Namor, Brubaker does a great job of reestablishing the friendships of all these WWII characters for the readers.  I'd definitely buy an Invaders book if Brubaker was writing it.  Good stuff here if not groundbreaking.


Onslaught Reborn #1 & 2

Writer:  Jeph Loeb
Artist:   Rob Liefeld


I wish I could say this book was humorously bad, but the sad truth is that it's just the ordinary kind of bad.  It's not worth reading just to see how bad it is, because it's just fucking dull.  So dull that I can't even dredge up the ability to be bothered by the lack of continuity (the Heroes Reborn world currently resides where Counter-Earth used to be, on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth).  So dull that it seems to feel the need to take a detour in issue #3 with a Onslaught-controlled Thor fighting the Hulk for no real reason.  If you're going to do a book like this that pays homage to one of the low points of comic history, why not at least make it so shitty it's entertaining?


Astonishing X-men #19

Writer:  Joss Whedon
Artist:   John Cassaday
Colorist: Laura Martin


This issue marks the start of Whedon and Cassaday's final arc on AXM, "Unstoppable".  We get our first real look at the Breakworld here, as well as the basic setup for the story that will wrap up Whedon's 24-issue run on the book.  I'm not so sure I like the drama building up between Kitty and Peter, especially since Joss only recently made progress with the relationship which had been tediously on-again, off-again, for many years.  Peter's attempt at making a joke later in the issue though was one of my favorite parts of this issue.

This is a promising start so far, but I can't help but notice that we now have two out of the three X-men books involving missions out in space at the moment.  I wonder if it's because it allows their books to involve actual... heroics, without having to get caught up in all that Civil War shit.  I suppose that if you aren't already reading this book, you're probably not likely to start with this issue, but it does seem to have more promise than the last couple arcs (which weren't bad, but were obviously stretched out to fit the 6-issue arc format).

[Stormwaltz]

A Peter David book is almost always worth a read.

Sorry to come in late on this, I rarely read this board.

David also did many of the Star Trek novels worth reading. Vendetta, his "Borg" novel, managed to avoid the later pit/pratfalls of Hugh and Seven of Nine when presenting an attempt to re-humanize an assimilated victim. It also has neat tie-ins with the Old Series episode "The Doomsday Machine."

I haven't read it in years, so I can't guarantee I'd still find it superb. But in '92 it was a fun, tense read from a guy who obviously knew the continuity - and explored it better than the TV writers later did.

[HaemishM]

Onslaught Reborn #1 & 2

Writer:  Jeph Loeb
Artist:   Rob Liefeld


I wish I could say this book was humorously bad, but the sad truth is that it's just the ordinary kind of bad.  It's not worth reading just to see how bad it is, because it's just fucking dull.  So dull that I can't even dredge up the ability to be bothered by the lack of continuity (the Heroes Reborn world currently resides where Counter-Earth used to be, on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth).  So dull that it seems to feel the need to take a detour in issue #3 with a Onslaught-controlled Thor fighting the Hulk for no real reason.  If you're going to do a book like this that pays homage to one of the low points of comic history, why not at least make it so shitty it's entertaining?

I read the first one, and it was DREK. Total shit. Having Liefeld draw it certainly didn't help. I still can't figure out why the fuck they'd want to bring Onslaught back. It was a shitty year in comics, made shittier by all the creative teams getting replaced halfway through (though anyone replacing Liefeld is a good thing). I haven't read #2 yet, but it can't possibly get better.

Astonishing X-men #19

This is a promising start so far, but I can't help but notice that we now have two out of the three X-men books involving missions out in space at the moment.  I wonder if it's because it allows their books to involve actual... heroics, without having to get caught up in all that Civil War shit. 

That's because CIVIL WAR: X-MEN!!!! is so shitty and so out of sorts with the rest of the X-Men books that they had to remove all the interesting characters from Earth (except Cyclops). I swear, the X-Men editor should be shot. He just has no control over the book or its characters. They are everywhere and without any continuity whatsoever. At least the regular X-Men books are being written well again, even if the line is a complete mess.

[Ironwood]

I like NewUniversal.

However, I loved New Universe as a kid.

[Velorath]

A Peter David book is almost always worth a read.

Sorry to come in late on this, I rarely read this board.

David also did many of the Star Trek novels worth reading. Vendetta, his "Borg" novel, managed to avoid the later pit/pratfalls of Hugh and Seven of Nine when presenting an attempt to re-humanize an assimilated victim. It also has neat tie-ins with the Old Series episode "The Doomsday Machine."

I haven't read it in years, so I can't guarantee I'd still find it superb. But in '92 it was a fun, tense read from a guy who obviously knew the continuity - and explored it better than the TV writers later did.

Don't know how much your read comics, if at all, but David has been writing a mini based on Stephen King's Dark Tower stuff.  I think King more or less plotted the story (it's an early tale about the main character of the series) and David I think is scripting and putting it in comic book form basically.  So you've got a Stephen King story with Peter David dialogue.  Should be an interesting combination, and I"m sure it will get collected in Graphic Novel form.

The first issue (of seven)  of Dark Tower:  Gunslinger Born ships at then end of the month if I'm not mistaken.

[Velorath]

Pride of Baghdad (HC)
Writer:  Brian K. Vaughan
Art:  Niko Henrichon


It actually took me a long time to get around to picking this book considering how many good reviews it got.  I guess part of the reason I was hesitant to read it was the description:

From one of America's most acclaimed comics writers a startlingly original look at life on the streets of Baghdad during the Iraq War inspired by true events. In the spring of 2003, a pride of lions escaped from the Baghdad Zoo during an American bombing raid. Lost and confused, hungry but finally free, the four lions roamed the decimated streets of Baghdad in a desperate struggle for their lives. In documenting the plight of the lions, Pride of Baghdad raises questions about the true meaning of liberation - can it be given, or is it earned only through self-determination and sacrifice? And in the end, is it truly better to die free than to live life in captivity? Based on a true story, Vaughan and Henrichon have created a unique and heartbreaking window into the nature of life during wartime, illuminating this struggle as only the graphic novel can.

Not that I disliked the concept, but I was hesitant just because everything you need to know about the point of the story and the overall message can be gleaned from just reading the description.  This book isn't exactly an exercise in subtlety, and it's message is one that many of us have long since figured out on our own.  I'm a big fan of Vaughan's and the art that I had seen beforehand was beautiful, so I knew this would be a well crafted book.  I just didn't think I was in for much in the way of suprises though.

I was both right and wrong in that respect.  Like I expected, there was very little in the way of subtlety in the way the message was delivered.  Neon lettering wouldn't be able to make it more apparent.  What did end up surprising me was the characterization of the lions.  Now keep in mind, other than reading some positive statments here and there about the book, I never read though a full review of it.  I was under the impression that the book likely wouldn't have much dialogue, as the main characters are lions.  I figured it would largely be set pieces of lions walking around the rubble and devestation, but Vaughan opted to humanize the animals instead so there's actually quite a bit of dialogue and a lot of background and characterization in the case of the lions.

So while the overall story was nothing unexpected, I would strongly recommend this book based on the combination of the story, the characterization and the art, especially since it's reasonably priced at around $14 for the hardcover on Amazon (local comic book shop prices obviously may vary).

[Velorath]

Justice Society of America v2 #3
Writer:    Geoff Johns
Penciler:  Dale Eaglesham
Inker:      Art Thibert
Colors:     Jeromy  Cox

The plot continues to move along as the Fourth Reich massacres all of Commander Steel's relatives (with the exception of his grandson, who manages to survive) at a family reunion.  Sandy makes an appearance (now dressed more like Sandman) at the JSA HQ informing the team that Liberty Belle and Stargirls families are the next targets, and Vandal Savage attacks Wildcat and his son.

It's good stuff as usual, but perhaps of more interest is the fact that events both here and in a few other books seem to be building up some Kingdom Come related plotlines.  The Starman currently shown in this book and Wildcat's son (who reveals at the end of this issue that he can turn into a were-panther) both match characters shown in Kingdom Come.  Elsewhere in the DCU, Dr. Fate's helmet no longer has a host, for lack of a better way to put it.  It's also been pointed out that Plastic Man's son Offspring, previously only shown in The Kingdom (a Kingdom Come sequel) has had brief appearances in Teen Titans and 52 (both of those appearances were also written by Johns).  As a fan of Kingdom Come, I'm curious to see where Geoff Johns is going with this.


Astonishing X-men #20
Writer:  Joss Whedon
Artist:   John Cassaday
Colorist: Laura Martin

The X-men finally land on the Breakworld, but get separated during their landing.  And that's about it really.  As usual Whedon at least manages to get some good scenes in, even if the plot doesn't move forward too much this issue.  In particular, I liked the scene between Hisako and Wolverine (who at the time is regenerating all the flesh he lost during the landing) which more or less makes her an official member of the team.  The issue ends with half the team (Emma, Cyclops, Beast, and Agent Brand) coming across a giant picture carved in stone of Colossus clutching the Breakworld in one hand and frying it with the Sun he has clutched in his other hand.

This looks like another slowly paced arc that will be dragged out to fit 6 issues (I imagine this arc and the last were plotted out when Marvel was still pushing the six issue, paced for the trade style).  Whedon's TV experience might work against him in this respect as well, as from Buffy and Angel, he's used to dragging a story out across 22 episodes and making incremental progress in each one.  With comics generally being a quick read and a month wait until the next issue (or two months as this book has sometimes been) that kind of plotting generally doesn't work as well.  Still enjoying this book, but hopefully his Runaways stuff will have a faster pace to it.


Thunderbolts #111
Writer:  Warren Ellis
Artist:   Mike Deodato


The second issue of Ellis' run on Thunderbolts has the team facing off against Jack Flag.  Moonstone's inept leadership during the battle actually gives Flag a chance as he knocks out Swordsman and Songbird (Moonstone is also forced to have Venom put down for a bit when he tries to eat Flag).  Jack almost gets away but is caught by Bullseye (away from news cameras) and has part of his spine severed, paralyzing him permanently.  The fight scene is pretty good, but I do have a problem with Songbird's interview at the beginning of the book.  She hasn't seemed to have much problem living a normal life when she wants to.  At the start of New Thunderbolts she was going to college and wasn't keeping her identity secret.  I'm unsure why at this point, she would need to have (another) pardon.  All in all, I'm still on the fence about this book.


Thunderbolts Presents:  Zemo: Born Better #1 of 4
Writer:   Fabian Nicieza
Penciler: Tom Grummett

The other Thunderbolts book to come out this week.  This mini is being done by the Thunderbolts' previous creative team, and put the focus on the Zemo lineage after Helmut is trapped in the past.  In the present day, student Wendell Volker is trying to find out what happened to Helmut, as he has spent a lot of time researching the Zemo family for his thesis, and wants to interview Helmut (and I'm guessing Wendell will end up being related to the Zemo family).  Fabian has given a little information of Harbin Zemo (first Baron in the Zemo line) previously in the Avengers/Thunderbolts mini.  Helmut appears in the past during Harbin's dying days, and helps guide Harbin's grandson, Heller, before being teleported through time again, presumably to meet more of his ancestors.

Now I'm not a big fan of time travel stories as it is, and I didn't think Fabian's writing (which can already be convoluted at times) would be particularly suited to it.  Since taking over the Thunderbolts way back in the early days of the first series though, Fabian has done a great job at making Zemo an interesting character, and I'm enjoying watching him flesh out the rest of the Zemo line.  For those who aren't really into continuity and don't particularly care about who the previous Baron Zemo's are, than you likely won't care about this story.


The Dark Tower:  The Gunslinger Born #1 of 7
Creative and Executive Director:  Stephen King
Plotting and Consultation:  Robin Furth
Script:  Peter David
Art:  Jae Lee and Richard Isanove

One day I'll actually get around to reading the novels.  In the meantime though, I'll enjoy this mini which appears to be fleshing out some of the history of the main character, Roland.  My understanding from what others have told me is that a lot of what takes place in this issue has already been mentioned in the novels, so people who have read the books might not feel like they're getting anything new so far.  That having been said, coming into this book with only a general knowledge of the overall plot of the books, I found this issue to be a good read, and there's a nice map and supplemental story (by Robin Furth) in the back.  There's also some beautiful art in here, which surprisingly rarely seems to sacrifice visual storytelling in the name of being flashy.


Chronicles of Wormwood #1
Writer:  Garth Ennis
Artist:  Jacen Burrows

The Antichrist has arrived and... well, seems to have little desire to do much other than run a Cable TV network, put up with the talking rabbit that lives with him, and hang out at a bar with a slightly brain damaged Jesus.  Oh, and he also manages to cheat on his long time girlfriend with Joan of Arc.  And yet for all that, Danny Wormwood seems to have more depth to his character than most of Ennis' other recent creations.  I like his series The Boys (which apparently DC decided they didn't want to publish any more and is moving to a smaller publisher), but the book just didn't seem as smart as Ennis' early stuff like Preacher and Hitman.  This book has plenty of over-the-top, juvenile humor to be sure, and by involving religion it might in a way cover some of the same ground Preacher did,  but at least this book seems like it has something it wants to say.  By far the most promising new book Ennis has released in years.

[Llava]

As always, Runaways and Deadpool were the best comics out this week.  Pick them up if you can.  I recommend reading the editor's page of Runaways, as it includes the farewells to the original creative team behind the book.  There's a funny bit in there when they're each asked what they expect the Runaways to be like in 10 years.