Comic Book Day - Marvel Duo (Now with Previews)

Ah, Comic Book Day! Welcome again to another Comic Book Day review, no doubling up this week so look for Worth Every Penny later today or tomorrow. Another two Marvel books but I promise that next week will be a Marvel Free Comic Book Day. Today though, we have Captain America #30 and Penance: Relentless #1. Two great writers and potentially two great books.

Captain America #30 - What a huge issue this is, I'll try to only ruin half of it since it'll be pretty hard not to ruin anything by talking about it. The Winter Soldier faces Crossbones and Sin... and hands them their asses! Bucks got a great line where he asks Sin if she's ever gone up against anyone will real training or that wasn't an innocent bystander, great line! Tony reads Steve's letter that was personally addressed to him and frankly makes me miss the old Steve and Tony. In fact the only time I've like Iron Man as of late was in Cap's book, he's annoying and pretty much just sucks in every title that he's in. Also he's in every title which is very annoying. Nobody liked it when Nick Fury did that shit either, keep that in mind Marvel. Sharron has TWO big moments in this book and I can't tell you either but after the break there will be one of the two revealed in the preview pages so be warned! So how do you have a book that doesn't even have it's main character? Well you give it to Ed Brubaker and let him work his magic. I have to say I'm very glad that he left DC, because I don't think they'd ever let him do what he's doing at Marvel.

Penance: Relentless #1 - If you read Civil War: Frontlines you probably ended up more impressed with it, then the actual Civil War. From the pages of Frontline we received Speedball reborn as Penance. Paul Jenkins took one of the worst characters in comics and made him a character first of all, but also interesting. I'm behind on reading Thunderbolts, but I decided to read this first any ways. The story follow Penance as he is rebuilding his personality after Stamford (See Civil War) and how his brain is dealing with the events. He's under constant supervision and knows it, he also keeps a journal filled with numbers. At this point it's anybodies guess as to what they mean, but Norman Osborn tries to give us some insight as to what he thinks they mean. The Thunderbolts get deployed to stop a Latverian terrorist cell from giving launch codes for missiles pointed at Latverian. The missiles were suppose to be disarmed of course and Doom and Latverian don't know that they aren't so the Bolts are deployed to keep the secrets not the piece. Penance takes down the whole terrorist cell single handed, and let's one of them escape to deliver a message to Doom. Needless to say, any message delivered to Doom demanding something from him is going to result in a not so friendly encounter with Doom at some point in the book. I was rather impressed with this issue, the art was great and the story hooked me, Jenkins and Gulacy are a fine team together and definitely have a hit here.

Here's a SPOILER WARNING for Captain America, so read at your own risk. Also I've included the first few pages of Penance for you to get hooked on.

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Worth Every Penny and Comic Book Day Double Header

Since it's Comic Book Day we've got a review, but I also thought it would be cool if I did a double article and make it a Worth Every Penny as well. Today we've got two Marvel books, since Marvel released the most books this week let's see which one is worth your 3 bucks plus tax shall we.

Ghost Rider #15 - Daniel Way has managed to make the Ghost Rider the new Peter Parker, where life just dumps on him constantly. If you haven't been reading Ghost Rider I'll recap briefly for you. The Devil has escaped Hell, but has been shattered into... you guessed it 666 pieces, and these pieces have taken over recently dead's bodies. Ghost Rider is tracking down and killing each body which makes the remaining bodies that much stronger. In this issue two angel's are born over night from a teenage girl, her Mom who was ripping the shit out of her in the last issue all the sudden wants to take care of her and when the girl has to leave on a mission with the angel babies the mom gives her, her muscle car that's probably worth more than the house they're living in. Devil set's GR up with two problems: Stop a stadium of people from blowing up (which he doesn't actually know about yet) or save a little league group of kids that are being held some where. It's a quick read but frankly that's due to the fact that it's not very interesting and Way's strong point isn't dialog and never will be. I've decided to stop reading Ghost Rider with this issue since it's become the same thing over and over each issue. Whereas the initial idea was cleaver, tracking down a new piece of Satan each issue gets rather boring when they all end the same way. Also I get the fact that GR doesn't care if the innocent get hurt because he'll just have more avenging to do, and the Johnny Blaze aspect of it just isn't interesting enough to keep me caring. All it takes to stop Johnny's control of GR is a bonk on the head and GR pops back in. We'll see how long this latest series lasts, but for me the road to vengeance stops here!

Punisher War Journal #11 - For starters don't let the cover fool you Olivetti is not doing the interiors of the book which is a shame because he really makes up for a lot of story telling aspects that Fraction isn't able to write and or director the artist to do. This is one of those issue where the main character isn't even in half the book. I don't know who started this trend, I remember when I first read an issue and the character wasn't in it I was like wow that's a good writer to be able to do it. Let's just say Fraction isn't there yet. The book spends most of it's time with G.W. Bridge and Ian the fake cop from some issues back. Iron Man is trying to talk Bridge out of retirement and Ian is being brainwashed into possibly being the next Punisher. Both stories where pretty boring and I've really have found myself not caring about Bridge, I don't like his character and whatever Fraction is trying to do with him just isn't interesting. Every time he shows up I let out a big sigh and wait for it to be over. As far as Ian the fake cop is concerned, I don't even know his character to care about what he's going through. The Punisher and Winter Soldier do not square off in this book, they barely have a tussle if you can call it that so don't expect the few pages they spend together to be action packed or the battle you've waiting for because it's not. Overall this was a disappointing issue for me since I've just read the last six issue of the series all in a row, when I got to this one it was kind of a road block and I'm left wondering if I should pass it.

The Winner: And not by much is Punisher War Journal #11, at least the few pages of dialog between the Punisher and WS were more interesting then the whole of Ghost Rider, and Punisher's "shock ending" might lead to a better storyline in the next issue so spend your 3 bucks on Pun rather than the Rider.
Preview Pages after the break.

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Comic Book Day - Incredible Hulk 110

We're coming at you with a second helping of Comic Book Day reviews and yes it's another Marvel book because I haven't reviewed anything Marvel for a while and I just got caught up on my Incredible Hulk/World War Hulk reading. For starters I don't think this issue should have come out before WWH #4, but it did so oh well. Also WWH really hasn't been that cool as of late because so many books aren't dealing with it (Like Spider-Man, the X-Men in their own titles, etc.) so it doesn't feel like it's really happening.

This issue takes the oppurtunity to remind us yet again that Tony, Reed, Strange and Bolt rocket the Hulk into space and inadvertently killed the Hulk's planet, wife and unborn child. Frankly speaking if they remind me of this one more time it's really going to make me not care about the event which would suck because it was a good storyline and a touching Hulk moment. After all what was the prologue for it not to tell us what they keep reminding us of. At any rate Amadeus Cho has infiltrated Madison Square Garden which has been turned into a Gladiator Arena. After a feel misunderstandings Cho presents an idea to the Hulk, he's apparently stolen 1.2 Billion dollars from Archangel (Who I don't think is that rich and if he is that would still hurt him bad!) and bought the original testing site that made the Hulk and a bunch of land around it. With his device anything that's not Gamma made, like the Hulk, would go numb upon entering the field and anything electronic would shut down upon entering the field. So no one could bother the Hulk or bomb the Hulk.

Except that's not what the Hulk wants. Cho then goes on to tell the Hulk he's not a killer and goes through his past and debunks everyones beliefs on who he's actually killed and what not. The body count is surprisingly low in Cho's favor (who's arguing the Hulk isn't a killer to the Hulk who's arguing that he is a killer). Cho drops a bombshell on us though... the Hulk sees in numbers like he does. Meaning he can see all the risks of his every move, and where civilians are and how to destroy tanks and helicopters without killing anyone. It really rings true, even throughout WWH he still hasn't killed anyone. Hulk still tells him to eat shit and Scorpion blasts him with a new concoction that messes with him bad, and while he's down for the count Amadeus tells the Hulk that every thing, is his own fault and that he is a monster. It's pretty a great line, and Cho uses it to push the Hulk in to a fury of rage. The Hulk's response of course is to smash, and he buries Cho alive but uninjured as we find out when he's freed by Herc.

There's a lot of good stuff happening in this book, even if Amadeus Cho has taken over the title for the most part. I just wish the Hulk wasn't a broken record in each issue and it always kinda seems like something has to attack him in each issue of WWH and IH. I'm still looking forward to the ending of WWH and seeing the new ramifications it has on the Marvel U, but I don't think this is a storyline is one for the history books.

Preview pages enjoy!

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Comic Book Day - Amazing Spider-Man - One More Day

The One More Day storyline starts here, and boy is it pretty disappointing. I've been a fan of J. Micheal Straczynski's Spider-Man since his first issue with the great J. Scott Campbell covers. There has not been a single issue that I have not enjoyed and I really think that people will one day see how important his writing was to the character and over looked story lines like Sins Past will be acknowledged as the great stories they are. One More Day is suppose to reinvent the wheel for Spider-Man... which doesn't make any sense. After all he's broke because Marvel made him that way, with the decisions they've made with his character over the last year.

With issue 543, Peter Parker became a criminal. Not just an un-registered hero, but an actual law breaking hero all in the name of Aunt May. I wasn't too impressed with the last issue, but this issue definitely let me down. I'm really having a hard time with Peter's motivation for not letting Aunt May die, or why he hasn't turned himself in so that the government can start footing the bill. In this issue the new doctor at the new hospital apparently owes Spider-Man a favor because he saved his uncle's life, he also just so happens to be holding a copy of the newspaper that shows Peter revealing his identity. Thank God for convenient story telling right? Also he finally squares off with Tony Stark and says pretty much everything that's already been said between both books and the Avengers and whatever else had either of them thrown into it. So after Peter is unable to convince Tony to foot the bill, Tony sends Jarvis to pay for everything. I'm also having a hard time with Mary Jane's character as of late. She's gone all 50's Housewife all the sudden. In the last two issues its been, "Yes Dear", "No Dear", "Be careful Peter", and "You know I love you right?" Seriously she's tolerating a lot of shit from Pete and isn't saying anything when he's being completly dumb and make rash decisions.

Quesada's art wasn't what I was expecting. Peter looked like he had to take a shit the whole time and he was constantly running and look like a total baby. It was like Quesada had read an issue of Spawn and decided he really liked the style and was going to imitate it. There's a point when you start adding to much detail to things, that it makes them look ugly, and in Peter's case he stopped looking like Peter. Also I don't really think Quesada knew what to do for Peter's eyes since he almost never shows them, which starts to throw his perspectives out of whack and you kinda start to wonder why you're looking up the Doctor's nose and at Peter's head the whole time. I will say that one the last page Peter finally gets into costume and it looks pretty bad ass, and it was about time since he didn't wear the costume at all in the last issue and he's be sporting the black outfit which no one could draw for shit. I can't say that I'm really looking forward to the next issue, and hope that One More Day doesn't ruin one of the best characters in comics. If he and Mary Jane break up, or they start the book over I'll stop reading this book because nothing will be able to justify that happening. I believe the next issue comes out in another two weeks, so we'll have to see if it starts to live up to all the hype. Right now it's looking to be my least favorite Straczynski story line yet. Check out some preview pages and see for yourself.

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Comic Book Day Reviews - The Mice Templar 01 with Preview

It seemed only fair to review The Mice Templar, after reviewing Mouse Guard last week. Let me start by saying that this is not an attempt to cash in on Mouse Guard's success, this is just one of those weird moments when two similar ideas hit the market at the same time and no one knows why. If you're unfamiliar with what I'm talking about check out Reaper vs Chuck in the archives.

Glass and Oeming craft a dangerous and mysterious world that has a Secret of NIMH feel to it, but with a lot more blood. Since this is Oeming's brain child, I have to wonder if they'll ever truly be enough blood and loss of limbs in a book for him. Either way I don't really care so long as he continues taking his unique style of art to the next level. If you are familiar with Oeming's style then you might be able to just look at the book and say, "Yeah that's him." but others still may have a hard time with it. It's definitely a step up in his artistic journey and really shows that he's not a one trick pony but that he's got some artist chops on himself.

The story opens with a brief history of the Templar's as told by Leito, a young mouse apprenticing with an exiled Templar. The Templar's are like the Musketeer's and have fallen from grace, having caused a war within it's own ranks and nearly destroying the Mice community. But when trouble strikes the exiled Templar (Now a Blacksmith) is there to the rescue. A spider that's been stalking the village makes an attack and the Blacksmith jumps into action flipping the spider onto it's back and chopping off it's legs. Whereas Mouse Guard shy's away from showing any actually blood or loss of limbs, Mice Templar embraces it head on.

The story however does not follow the Blacksmith, it is not about the Templar of old but the Templar that are to come. Karic is like any youth, easily excited, full of energy, and totally in love with the stories about the Templar and pretends every night that he is a great Templar. This is his story and how his dreams are going to come true, but he'll soon find out that they might come out a terrible cost. After all isn't that how the real world works? You might have noticed that I said night before, that's because the world the Mice live is from dusk to dawn. When I read that I thought it was brilliantly simple. It's enjoyable to watch Karic's Mother tuck him in as the sun rises. Since there's an Owl on the cover and an Owl at the end of the issue, I guess that Owl's will some how come to play within the story. As always I've included some preview pages, and since this book is a double sized issue and goes for 4 bucks, I don't think 6 pages will harm your reading experience. Enjoy and more comic reviews this week!

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Comic Book Day 08-22-07 - Mouse Gaurd Winter 1152

Here's another great book from Archaia Studio Press that I had the opportunity to pick up at Comic Con. Everything is done by David Peterson, who I must say is quite talented. Story picks up after the Fall of 1152 storyline. The original Black Axe has joined the Guard again, as the best of the Guard have been sent out to get supplies and necessities for the main city, whose name escapes me at the moment. One of their own is sick and they need to get medicine to them, the doctor's have given the sick guard a day and our troops are at least 3 away. The thing I like about Mouse Guard is that there's a lot going on, but not a lot of story at the same time. Really I've already ruin the entire issue for you and yet if you read it you'll still be, or should still be interested in it. This is due mostly in how it's presented. Archaia loves to break traditional comic book format, having books that are taller then current standards, or in Mouse Guards case being short and wide. Peterson's art and color are fantastic and just work so well with the format and story, that you have to wonder when someone else's is going to be bold enough to try it as well. Image Comics has a mouse book coming out as well, The Mice Templar, which hits a little too close for comfort. Mouse Guard has been great so far and with the new series out, it doesn't show any signs of letting up. The hardcover for Fall 1152, is out now as well and is a great read and full of extras if you're interested in catching up with the series. You don't need to but you'll probably want to after reading the first issue of Winter 1152. As always, visit Archaia's site as well as Mr. Peterson's site. Also buy the book after reading two of my favorite pages from the book after the break. Enjoy!

Oh I forgot to mention, this is a new weekly article/blog I will be doing where I review a book that's come out that week. So every Wednesday you can stop by and see what I'm reading that week and what's worth putting in your comic collection... or not worth putting in your collection. I'll still review comics from that week later on the week so look for updates all the time! Thanks for reading.

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