Quick Hits - Worth the read... For the most part

Let's get right into it shall we?
Potter's Field #2 - So it's only a mini-series huh? That sucks because this is one of the best books I've ever read! Issue two was no let down as John is inadvertently set up by one of his operatives over a woman... kinda of. Really I don't want to say to much other than Paul Azaceta is just really good at drawing action and having it make sense! If you've ever read a comic that wasn't superhero action you know that sometimes you have to really study the page to figure out what the hell the characters are talking about because the Artists' skills where inadequate in expressing the Writer's story. I'm really hoping that there's either more mini-series or they just turn it into an on-going series because I really can't wait till issue three and I'll be sad once I read it since that will be it for the mini. Seriously can't stop thinking about how good the book is, I really think Azaceta has a spell over me or he just works story book magic with this and Talent. I can't wait to see what he does next.

Black Panther #31 - Dear Mr. Hudlin, please get Black Panther and Storm away from the FF because you're story lines with them are very boring and it is not what I like about this book. Thank you. Seriously I couldn't even remember what issue 30 was about and I didn't read it that long ago. This book needs to get Panther back to earth and doing things other than fighting B list FF villains. Issue 32 seems like it's going to suck even more than this issue and I hope the Thing does kill the frogs... or something cool happens I don't care at this point I just want to like the book again.

Crime Bible #1 - I'd say my only grip with this book are the ridiculously long titles and the fact that DC can't seem to pick a cover and stick with it. Otherwise I'd say that Rucka does a great job with the new Question in making her a character and not an annoying character. The Crime Bible itself is an interesting concept and the fact that the Question knows so much about it is interesting. It's almost helping her know the future or something, or I'm reading to far into it. The art was fitting and unlike other DC mini's it was actually good! Not one of there random assholes who draws everyone the same and has shitty inker that can't cover up their rough penciling. There were some art issues on the sub-characters but overall much better than other mini's by DC. But the Question didn't ask any questions? Kinda the point of the character no?


Fantastic Four #550 - I love the fact the McDuffie loves the character Gravity, because so do I! Finally Black Panther and Storm depart the book. What a cool concept ruined by the fact that Reed and Sue were still in the book the entire time. If it hadn't been for that fact it would have been a pretty cool run of the book. I remember when the FF would have different team members like all the time it seems but now... well they could barely go an issue without the old team which is sad really since the book has a lot of potential. But the family is back together and now we can stop having really shitty Black Panther and Thing dialog which was never funny and really it seemed like the Thing hated Black Panther. Also Johnny hasn't said shit in the book for like four issues. Where's the wise cracks?

Lord Havok and the Extremists - So I haven't read the Countdown issue that ties into this book, and I know nothing about Lord Havok but I guess it was kind of a big deal that he was back. To me he seems like a DC's Red Skull and that dude with the shield seems like a poor man's version of Awesome Comic's poor man version of Captain America, and if you check out DC's original cover posted on their site you'll probably see the same thing I did. Otherwise it was just another Super-Villain organizing more villains. Seems to be a trend in Comics right now. I guess the publishers realized that if the Villains just show up and get their asses beat that it's not a very interesting story. Frankly this issue was a snooze fest and it took the whole book to finally get to... well something! Any thing! I'll probably get issue two just to figure out what the hell the book is about before I give it the axe.


Black Summer #3 - Does this book get any cooler? Yes it does. I just wish everyone would stop talking about how the book is going to change the future of comics and how it blows this book or that book out of the water. Frankly let the book be what it is and the readers will decide what it does to the future of comics not the media and news zines. Surprise, surprise, Tom's powers still work and man he has some bad ass powers. He suits up and goes out to prove to the other's that surrendering is not an option and gets blown up by a tank... yeah right! I'm sure he'll show up in the next issue alive and well but that's how the issue leaves you. Fantastic story and the art is just getting better and better some how. No flashbacks in this issue though, I missed that.

What If?... Planet Hulk - There's two stories in this book and only one of them is worth reading. The first story is the cover, they recap everything for the 50th time about Planet Hulk and this time his Queen lives and wants revenge. They don't show the Hulk's son because I'm sure it's going to come into play one day in the future and I'm also sure it will suck. As for the other story it's about what would have happened if the Hulk had landed on the right planet. It's a fun story as the Hulk and Banner take turns screwing the other over, leaving themselves in a more and more secluded area and having to find a way out of it. But while there the Hulk and Banner end up protecting a species from purple snake creatures. In the end Banner and Hulk merge into one perfect being. Only part that bothered me was the fact that Banner killed one of the things to and was eating it but hey whatever.

Action Comics #858 - Does it seem like Action Comics comes out a lot to you too? I mean I just bought 3 issue of this book and I had only stopped buying comics for a month! Gary Frank is far to good and be working at DC but for some reason everyone and their mother wants to work on Superman, not that theres anything really groundbreaking or interesting to happen to Superman since his death, but everyone still has this dream of working on the book. Finally DC starts answering some questions about all the Legions running around and the Lightning Saga questions get answered as well. Supes goes to the future and is powerless! Why? Red Sun! But wait a red sun doesn't instantly drain him of powers but slowly right? Not true I guess because Supes gets shot through the hand! But its okay because he doesn't respond with a painful cry or anything just a lot of talking from the Legionaries... Hopefully he'll find Supergirl and bring her out of Legions book that way DC can cancel the book yet again. The art was amazing even if once again I feel I've missed what the hell happened with General Zod? Can someone tell me what book to read that explains it?

New Avengers #35 - Once again a Super-villain is organizing other villains, but I actually really like it. I liked it so much I'd rather read a book about the Hood and the villains than another Superhero book since the whole initiative thing is getting a little old. I didn't like the fact that Tigra had to be beaten down and made an example of. She was already in character dumps-ville thanks to shitty writing. Also I thought Jigsaw was in Punisher? I could be wrong but I think Marvel messed up again and maybe I read to many books! Yu's art is amazing and anyone that thinks otherwise can stop reading one of the best comics out there. No other book has been as consistently good as New Avengers and it actually comes out on time! As for the story... well read it yourself! It's really cool and finally gives you some insight as to what Bendis has been sitting on for over a year.


Doktor Sleepless #3 Bastard of Tomorrow - And now the book makes sense! The Nurse's past is partially revealed and one heck of a real world concept is dropped on our lap. Digging through the website I found the Warren Ellis has some really dedicated fans that already have tattoo's from this book even though it's not even finished! Basically John tells his captors that he's created a phantom of himself and that the phantom is carrying on his work for him. Or is the phantom the one locked away? We also meet the man who raised John... and he's probably going to try and kill him.

Thunderbolts #117 - Another Ellis book that's also Really good! Yeah I guess that's not saying much. What is saying much is the fact that Ellis gave Doc Samson a haircut and made him less of an annoying jackass that constantly betrays other heroes for the Government. Oh and Penance is really fucked up! I had my doubts about how Ellis was handling the character but wow he really knocked it out of the park with this issue! Green Goblin finds his mask in his desk freaking him out which should be really cool with how crazy the team's getting. I think that's Ellis' ultimate goal to tear the team apart and rebuild it differently and new, you just have to wait for this one to erupt which should also be cool to watch.

Ah! It feels good to pump out some Quick Hits, yeah I know I complained some but I needed to get it out of my system. Pick up the books that sound interesting for you and feel free to share some opinions on the same books or others! Thanks!

Read More......

Quick Hits - Attack of the One's

Well there have been several first issues over the last 2 weeks, mostly last week so here's another addition of Quick Hits that features all 1st issues!

Drafted #1 - DDP - It's true you can't stop Mark Powers, and this issue is no exception. The book starts a little slow, but I think that's good in a war story. You don't want to have guns blazing the whole time, you need to give the world character. In this issue we get to know the President and I get the feeling that he's soon to become the World's President during the looming War. We also get to know a few of our characters better, other wise who would care if anything happened to them through out the course of the story. The main event of the issue is that an Alien species broadcasts itself to the entire planet and speaks to everyone in their own language. The UN decides (with the help of the Prez) to tell the Aliens to face them in person or basically go to hell. It does do one thing for the World though, they start working together as another tragedy strikes. Quick Hits - Runner Up!

Friday the 13th: How I Spent My Summer Vacation #1 - Wildstorm - So this book was interesting. Jason goes hacking on a summer camp, nothing new but the art was good, finds a kid being picked on because let's face it he kinda looks like Jason. So our Slasher kidnaps the kid... and kills a bunch of people on the way out. There's a Sheriff that talks to himself and does a lot of Meth, he accidentally kills two of the counselors and makes it look like Jason did it... I don't think that's going to pan out for him but whatever. Now he's on the hunt for the kid too because the kid is his only witness and let's face it he's on Meth so whatever he decides to do will just have to be good enough for us right? The FBI is in the story as well, I'm sure a bunch of them will get murdered too... did I mention the art was really good? Yup, it is.

Justice For Hire #1 - Creative Impulse Publishing - This issue is actually a few months old but I just finally got it in the mail so it's new to me. I was actually very disappointed with this book. Did you notice how good the art on the cover is? Well don't get attached because it looks like every other half assed amateur company that tries to bite off more than they can chew. The story is very obviously a rip off of Marvel's Heroes for Hire, but that didn't bother me because I was hoping it would take that formula to the next level. It did but it didn't work. The story is sporadic, the characters all sound the same, even the women, the art is horrid! There were panels so bad I couldn't tell if it was the Luke Cage rip off or the Iron Fist rip off I was looking at... maybe you didn't catch that; I couldn't tell if it was a black guy or a white guy that's how bad it was. I could give several more examples on how bad the art was but this is Quick Hits, so I won't. I hope in issue two they make the cover artist do the interiors... I know it won't happen though. Quick Hits - Save Your Money!

Potter's Field #1 - Boom! Studios - I like Mark Waid... some times, but I really had my doubts about this book. Until I read the first few pages where a character narrates the main characters story. The concept is this: There are hundreds upon hundreds of unmarked graves in New York, and John Doe is on a mission to give each of those graves a name so that they can rest in peace. Pretty cool huh? What's cooler is that he has an entire underground team that helps him with pieces of the puzzle, only they don't know each other. There's no hand shake, there's no names written down, only John Doe knows who they are and what they can help him with. In the first issue he is tracking down the murder of a little girl that was ruled a suicide and in doing so takes on another operative. He black mail's them sure, but he black mail's them so they have the oppurtunity to redeem themselves. This is a book that you just have to read to fully understand and I have not read anything as good as it since Boom!'s Talent. That's why it's getting the Quick Hits - Pick of the Week!

Parade (With Fireworks) #1 of 2 - Image - This has to be one of the most depressing comics I've ever read! It's basically about how WWII screwed up Italy and ruined a family that had be simple farmers making and selling olive oil. Forgive me because the main character's names didn't stand out enough for me to remember them, just know that it's about two brothers and one of them has just returned from America because he was tired of everyone killing each other over Olive Oil. The art is fantastic and I love the style, I just wish the story fit the style better. Not to say that the story was bad, it just wasn't for me. The prologue had me scratching my head wondering what to expect from this book. I'm also baffled by the title, I mean yes there is a Parade, no there isn't fireworks, but what the hell to either have to do with Olive Oil? Since there's only 2 issue I'll probably get the second issue just to see how it ends, but it's still a depressing book.

Suicide Squad #1 - DC Comics - I think that the Suicide Squad is probably one of the coolest ideas in comics. I also think that DC doesn't have the balls to use the Squad to it's full potential. This mini-series takes place in the DCU's past before all the crisis business when you could read just about anything and not worry about what other book you needed to read in order to understand the whole story. Since I don't know a lot about the DCU and the Squad this flash back issue wasn't that interesting to me. I only like Deadshot and he didn't have much face time so I wasn't blown away by the book. The Squad is a bunch of Super-Villains that do black ops jobs to get there record expunged, then they go back to being villains forcing them to do more jobs but the jobs are super dangerous and there's a strong guarantee that someone will die on one of the missions. This issue starts off with someone dying and then the team gets their asses kicked by some lame ass Russian team that all wears fruity costumes. If you're a long time fan of the series or character check it out otherwise you might want to pass.

The Zombie Project #1 - Jam Packed Productions - I'm a sucker for a Zombie story so I had to pick this one. For starters the art did not blow me away, it also felt very amateur like Justice For Hire which sucks because I ordered them at the same time, there wasn't enough detail in the panels to make it feel like any of it was happening in the world. It just looked like a bunch of action poses put together and someone scribbling in the background. The story was nothing new but that's no surprise since apparently Zombie comics are like the hardest thing in the world to do I've read a lot of Zombie comics and only like 3 of them. The gimmick of this book is that it starts at a Catholic School, which would be cool but what the hell is really going to happen at a Catholic School? Is one of the Priest's going to pull out a shot-gun and bless it and start blowing Zombie's away? I doubt that since it follows so punk ass kids that of course think there hot shit and blah blah blah, whatever. I'm not really sure what the project is since there was no mention of it in the book so I guess it was to see if they could project me into reading the next issue but that project failed. It scores only a smudge higher than JFH where I wouldn't ask for my money back out right but I would definitely think about so it get is own Quick Hits: Why'd I Rush To Read This?

Wonder Girl #1 - DC Comics - I hope this book isn't an ongoing title, I think it's just 6 issue which might be good. Let me say that Wonder Girl is not a strong enough character to have her own title yet. When every other page has to mention Wonder Woman or Donna Troy and the first issue guest stars Robin (There still trying to deal with there F'ing kiss from over a year ago which would have been resolved if Countdown, Amazon's Attack and everything happening in Batman, Wonder Woman and Titans wasn't going on I mean hey I'm interested and think they would make a cool couple so just do it already or stop bring it up!) and Hercules which made no sense. I can't remember what happened to Herc in WW but something did which would make it impossible for him to be helping WG and if he was he'd still pretty much be a bad guy. Wonder Girl is "playing Atlas" as the book tells us, cleaning up after the Amazon war even though she's despised by the World... well America any ways but they say World in the book because that's the way it is so with closed minded people. The reason I'm glad this book is possibly a mini is due to the fact that it wasn't very good. DC just threw some artist on the book so it just looked kiddish. Maybe I'll get issue two but if Robin shows up again I'm done.

X-Men: Emperor Vulcan #1 - Marvel Comics - It always a great story when some editor over at Marvel wants to finish a writers idea and decides to throw one of their most over used and over rated writers on a book... no, no it's not never mind that. Yost has the potential to be really good but Marvel is inflating his ego and giving him to much control over it's Might Mutants. You know rather than bashing this book I'm just going to say that I enjoyed the art, the inker and colorist must be the same as the team that work on Uncanny or did a very good job of keeping the book consistent. I really like the idea behind the book, leaving some of the X-Men in space to take up the role of the Starjammers. I just wish they would do it either the same way as any other X-title or how they always did it before with the Jammers... sparingly. Also I don't see how this space book fits in with the rest of what's happening in space which is just annoying because they should reflect each other instead of having huge events and not matching up, but whatever I'm not an editor for Marvel so what do I know right?

JLA: Wedding Special #1 - DC Comics - You know why DC has so many mini-series and first issues? Because they have a hard time keeping anything afloat for very long, most of the time you lose interest by issue 8 so that's why they do SOOOO many mini-series and specials and one-shots. So who knew that this book which looks like a follow up to Black Canary Wedding Planner, would actually have relevance to the next story arc in Justice League. The Injustice League is back and they're forming a new roster and hey wouldn't you know they had the same idea that Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Brad Meltzer had to look at photos of everyone and decide who's going to make the cut. I mean come on I barely believed it when the JSA did it why the hell would I buy the same cow now for the bad guys? Also the writer should never be allow to write for the Joker or Luthor again it was horrible and convinced me that if the series was going to be the same that I would not be buying it. In the same regard please don't write for Batman, Hal Jordon or Superman it was just as shameful. Superman only said one sentence and he came off like a drunk retard with chips in him mouth it sucked. The worst part is that I didn't know that it was going to be a serious issue, I thought it was a joke until some poorly drawn fighting happened, especially when Firestorm made an appearance. Maybe it reads better the second time I don't know but I was pretty disappointed with it and probably came off like a fan boy but I hate it when someone tries to add new twists to characters that are pre-defined and have their own books. In teams books you define the teams character not the character's character. If you try to do both the book will suck and all the character will feel out of place and fan-boys will come for your blood far worse then what I have said today.

That wraps it up thanks to anyone reading this and google for giving me so many bogus hits, that's really annoying, any ways maybe I'll do some movie Quick Hits next time or have some better books to read at least... hopefully... please?

Read More......