Invincible Presents: Atom Eve #2 of 2

The most disappointing aspect of this issue was the wait for it to finally come out. I'm sure the trials and tribulations of the independent publisher are monumental, but with a two issue miniseries I just wish that Kirkman would have waited to have both in hand before soliciting and then publishing issue #1. It should be noted that this miniseries isn't critical to the "Invincible" monthly and is really just one big flashback over Eve's early life. Having said that, I did enjoy the read. Writer Genito Cereno has found Eve's voice and does an excellent job of presenting her early adventures. Artist Nate Bellegarde also is in good form producing art work that fits in well in the Kirkaverse. I enjoyed the read and would recommend it to "Invincible" fans.

Invincible #49

Coming quickly on the heels of the last issue, "Invincible" #49 keeps the action (and intrigue) coming hard. Writer Robert Kirkman is setting up some big changes for the 50th issue of this series and the long laid seeds of Darkwing and the Reanimen come to fruition. Artist Ryan Ottley continues to impress with is great layouts and action sequences. I really like what he does with the title character.

I cannot recommend "Invincible" enough. I didn't hop on the bandwagon at the beginning. I was out of comics then. I did notice the "Invincible" section at the San Diego Comic Con. That's what got me interested. After picking up the first TPB, I was hooked. Everyone that I've loaned that TPB too has loved it. I'm now reading the "monthlies" and find that this series is a breath of fresh air. Of all of the Kirkaverse titles, this one truly stands out.

Brit #4

It was a long wait, but the 4th issue of "Brit" finally hit the stands. I jumped onto "Brit" late picking up the nicely colored TPBs and then moving to the monthlies. I thoroughly enjoyed the "Brit" TPB and the first couple issues of the monthly. However, this issue puts me into unknown territory - having to report on a disappointing read from the Kirkaverse. "Brit" #4 is a bit of a mess. The pacing is off and the transitions between scenes are very abrupt. It gets a bit wordy in the middle as well. This book needs some serious editing. While I like government intrigue as much as the next guy, the cool part of "Brit" is that the title character is a real badass. With said character being held in stasis, the comic just seems to be spinning its wheels. I like the supporting cast, but they are ill-used in this issue as well. All-in-all, I just didn't care for this issue.

I'm staying on the title for the near-term, but I'm looking for things to pickup. Kirkman needs to step in and make the direction of this book clear.

Youngblood #2

I am a bit late on reviewing this title. I picked it up a couple of week's ago and had a hard time getting through it. Every time that I picked it up, I just got bored within a couple of pages. So, today, I decided to forge on through and see if it got any better...it didn't. Someone needs to edit this book. In my "Legion of Super-Heroes #39" review I said that writer Jim Shooter could get wordy. Well, writer Joe Casey not only is wordy, he name drops, and babbles. The characterization is very poor with only Shaft and Die-Hard having unique voices. Every other team member is interchangeable. It is all just one big mess. Government conspiracies are handled much better over in Robert Kirkman's "Invincible". Here, the one-dimensional government lackies are just pitiful. The premise of a reality series just falls apart here with the government openly sponsoring the bad guys. I just don't buy it. With all of the world balloons the art gets lost.

In the end, with little story, character development, or action to move things forward or grab my interest, Casey decides to kill off a character. We all know that death sells, right? It all just rang hollow. I'll give this one more issue, but across the board I'm disappointed.

Marvel Zombies 2 #5 of 5

Reaching the final chapter of "Marvel Zombies 2", I have to look back over the whole miniseries and evaluate whether this would be a good TPB to buy. Writer Robert Kirkman did an excellent job in the first half of this miniseries building the tension for the confrontation between the returning zombie heroes and the survivors on Earth. Sean Phillips' art was very good in that it captured the fun (and grossness) of the zombie heroes and the age and hard living of the Earth survivors. However as the second half of the miniseries kicked in, the fun meter started to fall as the zombie heroes lost their hunger and reflected on what they had done to their universe. Kirkman, realizing he couldn't just go on-and-on with zombies eating, turns the corner and shows that humans can be truly evil. If you read Kirkman's "The Walking Dead" this concept is not new.

I felt as the series moved on that it was loosing steam. As compared to the first miniseries, this fell flat. However, Kirkman does setup up a somewhat cliffhanger ending allowing for future editions. I am a big Kirkman fan but, in this instance, it just didn't capture the Kirkman magic.

Invincible #48

Robert Kirkman goes back-to-back week's following up last week's tasty "Walking Dead" with an action packed "Invincible". To be honest, I wasn't really sure where we left off, but Kirkman gets you back up-to-speed quickly. The opening sequence with Mark and his friends lead me to believe that this issue would be more story driven. I was wrong. After the first couple of pages, Kirkman kicks into high gear. I wasn't quite sure if I was reading setup or advertisement during the cross company splash pages. However, they do play into the story and show who's who in the "Kirkaverse". Kirkman's dialogue continues to be good with villains monologuing and heroes "spouting silly lines". Both of which, Kirkman pokes fun at. Ryan Ottley's art started off shakey but tightened up during the climactic battle sequence.

This issue has me looking forward to issue #50. Having read all of the TPBs and now going month-to-month, I don't think Kirkman and company can put this book out fast enough.

The Walking Dead #46

Damn! That was a long wait between issues. I started reading "The Walking Dead" by picking up the TPBs and finally caught up a few months ago. I was getting used to reading several issues at once - no waiting - and I really got spoiled. The wait between issue #45 and #46 was extended because of the holidays. Well, the wait was worth it. Kirkman amps up the suspense as the warring factions do a little dance. I love the unique touches that Kirkman gives each character with the bat-shit crazy Governor shining this issue. Adlard's art continues to be solid. If they ever color this series this will be one disgusting issue to read. Adlard does a fantastic job during the critical point of this issue and really brings home the brutality of the Governor.

I read the first bit of the letters column and Kirkman says that they are going to get caught back up and on schedule. I love this book and waiting 6-8 weeks between just sucks.

The Pull List - January 23, 2008

Looks like a DC week with no Marvel or Image books on my pull list coming out:

ACTION COMICS #861
BATMAN #673
BLACK ADAM THE DARK AGE #6 (OF 6)
COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE #6 (OF 8)
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 13
DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #5 (OF 8)
GREEN LANTERN #27

Lots of good stuff here with "Green Lantern" and "Action Comics" topping the list. Both books written by Geoff Johns have been very good lately. I'm also looking forward to the conclusion of Peter Tomasi's Black Adam miniseries. What is the magic word? Maybe will find out this issue. Will Grant Morrison keep my attention with "Batman"? His "Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul" didn't thrill me. The final three are all Countdown related. As we near the beginning of "Final Crisis" the Countdown books have been getting better. We'll see if Starlin can build some more excitement in regarding the demise of Kirby's New Gods.

I'd really like to know when Kirkman is going to get over his holiday hangover and get some of his books back out. January was a Kirkaverse dry month and I'm itching for some new "Invincible", "Brit", "Astounding Wolfman", and "The Walking Dead". The pages over on his website Kirkmania for these titles just makes me want to get them in my hands more.

Capes Volume 1 TPB

Continuing to meet my son's "Kirkmanina" decree, I picked up the "Capes" TPB. "Capes" follows the story of Capes, Inc. a hero-for-hire type company. Robert Kirkman was going for funny in this series and the comedy seems forced at times. You can tell that this is early work from Kirkman. While Kirkman was already putting out "Invincible" and "Tech Jacket", "Capes" is not up to even the lesser "Tech Jacket"'s standard. The story is pretty light and fun with some interesting Kirkman-twists along the way. It does have some funny moments and I liked Bolt and some of the players, but the concept didn't seem like enough to support an ongoing series. I think this team serves as a good backup to any of the Kirkaverse titles out there.

Tech Jacket Volume 1 TPB

In an attempt to fulfill the decree of my son to get all of writer Robert Kirman's Image output, I happened upon "Tech Jacket". "Tech Jacket" predated the premiere of both "Invincible" and "The Walking Dead" and was Kirkman's first creator-owned output from Image. It should also be noted that "Tech Jacket" predates DC's current version of Blue Beetle as the similarities in both execution and tone are interesting. The whole time I was reading this book I kept making comparisons to "Blue Beetle". While "Tech Jacket" didn't grab me as much as Kirkman's "Invincible" did, it was a fun read. Kirkman mixes in tidbits from other superheroes including Green Lantern, Iron Man, X-O Manowar, and others and makes what could be a generic superhero book an interesting read. In Invincible's initial adventures, Kirkman kept the character on Earth. Here Kirkman gets the hero off planet for the the six-issue arc. The covers for issues #7 and #8 are in the TPB and I would have liked to read those issues. Of note, the art here by E.J. Su is different than what you see in Kirkman's current series. It has a slight manga-feel to it without being overdone. I think it fit with the tone of the series.

Kirkman has come a long way with his dialogue since he published these stories. Some of the dialogue comes off as rushed and clunky. However, the story is pretty good. You can see Kirkman laying the seeds for future stories along the way. I hope the Kirkman revisits this character. I'd like to see him team up with Invincible or Brit in their series.

Marvel Zombies 2 #4 of 5

I can feel the stretch in this issue. What has been up until this issue a tight and interesting miniseries, writer Robert Kirkman slows the story down just enough to make this miniseries reach five issues. I hope this wasn't done to make a better collected TPB. After the reveal of Colonel America in the last issue, this issue doesn't really advance the plot very much. It bordered on being a boring, pedestrian read. At the end of this issue, Kirkman has almost painted himself into a corner, leaving not much left to say. Hopefully the last issue will be a bit more interesting with some true Kirkman twists and turns added in.

BRIT TPB Vol. 1 and #1-3

Robert Kirkman continues to expand upon his Kirkmanverse with the addition of the monthly "BRIT". Brit is a very old, invulnerable government operative. The TPB collects three one-shots and presents them for the first time in color. I enjoyed the TPB as Kirkman pulls out the stops and just has fun riffing with the character. It took a while for Kirkman to put together the monthly with all of his time spent on writing three Image monthlies and quite a few other books over at Marvel. Instead of writing this one Kirkman steps up as editor and has handed the writing chores over to Bruce Brown. Brown does a fine job of developing Brit's extended family in the first three issues and does some unusual things with the character. I like the interactions between Don and Brit's sister and the action is non-stop. Cliff Rathburn the cover colorist and gray tone artist of "The Walking Dead", provides very nice art here. He captures the action nicely.

"BRIT" is a fine addition to the Kirkmanverse and my pull list. I just hope that Kirkman can keep the output level up with now four Image monthlies coming from him.

Youngblood #1

I bought the first "Youngblood" series when Rob Liefeld and Image published it in the early 90s. I enjoyed it a lot then but it seemed to disappear off the map. It is nice to see the guy who was the leading impetus for the formation of Image Comics back with the company along with his premiere title "Youngblood". This time Liefeld is handing the reigns over to writer Joe Casey and artist Derec Donovan. My first impression of this book is that the art and story telling are similar to that of Robert Kirkman's "Invincible". While the first issue is all setup as the government puts the team back together, I liked the reality TV aspect of the story and Shaft's attitude towards the reformation of the team. I'm not sure that the supporting team members are all that compelling but I like Shaft's characterization.

While this first issue did not blow me away, I'll stick around for a few more issues and see if Casey can work some magic on this old Image throwback team.

Invincible Presents: Atom Eve #1 of 2

When I started reading the "Invincible" TPBs, I immediately liked the character Atom Eve. In over 45+ issues of "Invincible", creator/writer Robert Kirkman has done a fine job of developing both Eve's character and her relationship with Invincible. "Invincible Presents: Atom Eve" writer Benito Cereno presents an interesting back story for Atom Eve in the first of this two-part miniseries. Cereno takes us from Eve's birth through her coming out as a superhero. Eve's characterization is handled well and provides a good explanation as to how Eve acts in the current "Invincible" monthly. I wasn't as impressed with Nate Bellegarde's art. While Bellegarde's art serves the story well and has the feel of an "Invincible" story, it was a bit rough in spots.

The two-page backup story by Robert Kirkman got a chuckle out of me.

I'm looking forward to what Cereno has in store for the next issue. If you are an "Invincible" completist you will like this book. However, it doesn't seem to be required reading for the regular monthly.

Marvel Zombies 2 #3

First off, I had to use the cover for "Tales of Suspense" #39 because that is the what is "zombified" for this cover and Marvel had the wrong one posted. The cover does harken to what happens inside the book, which is a change of pace. I'm really enjoying this miniseries. Writer Robert Kirkman has done an excellent job of giving each character a reason for being there. No one is there just to be slaughtered. Artist Sean Phillips brings his A-game this issue and does some nice layouts. All-in-all, I'm satisfied with this series. Kirkman has provided a plausible reason for the sequel to the great first series (other than to make Marvel more money) and doesn't tread old ground.

The Astounding Wolf-Man #1, 2, 4

If you have read my blog, you will know that I discovered Robert Kirkman this year and have been reading my way through his catalogue. I didn't know about "The Astounding Wolf-Man" until I saw an add for it in "Invincible". I spend way too much money on comics as it is and wasn't looking to add another monthly, but when my LCS had the "Director's Cut" of issue #1 and issues #2 and #4, I decided to take the plunge. While I wasn't totally impressed with issue #1, issue #2 started to build on the Wolf-Man's mythos. All of the usual Kirkman goodness is on display here. First and foremost, it is a fun read. Even in the few issues that I read, it had quite a few twists and turns and shocking reveals. The end of issue #4 being the best of the bunch.

The art by Jason Howard is very clean and not over wrought with too much detail. His character designs and page layouts are very good. Howard has a ways to go to be a top tier artist but all the elements are there. Given time, I believe he will grow into a fine artist on the level of those operating at the big companies.

"The Astounding Wolf-Man" starts off with a bit of an "Invincible" retread in issue #1 but veers into new territory in the follow-on issues. The TPB for the first few issues is coming out in January and this may be a good time to jump on board what looks to be another good series from Kirkman.

The Walking Dead #45

After the events of issue #44, I was expecting a little more out of this issue. You could almost title this issue "The One Where Everyone Acted Dumb". Having read all of the back issues, writer Robert Kirkman had planted the seeds for what is happing in this issue. I would just hope that after 6+ months of living together this community would have a bit more "stick together" in them. While Kirkman attempts to keep this book grounded in reality (with the exception of those pesky zombies), Rick's recovery from the bullet wound of last issue is a bit rapid. I'm sure Kirkman is doing this to move the story along, but anyone who has seen the movie "Three Kings" with the detailed description of a gut wound would scoff at Rick's recovery. Charlie Adlard's art continues to improve with each issue. He does a descent job of varying his panel layouts and providing good characterization of each of the players.

With the jail crew left short handed and the Governor's crew massing for the offensive, the situation looks pretty grim. Of course, Kirkman leaves us with another good cliff hanger and I'm anxious to see who makes it to the next issue alive.

Comic Adventurer 2007 Year End Review: The Outstanding

In 2007, DC rolled out two very fun titles “The All-New Booster Gold” and “The Brave and the Bold”. Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz have done a fantastic job with brining back Booster Gold into the DCU. Booster was a star of “52” and DC has capitalized on the good will from that series. From the first issue through this week’s issue #5, “The All-New Booster Gold” has been a fun read. I enjoy sitting down each month and savoring this book. Artist Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund have provided great art to back up Johns and Katz’s action packed and funny stories.

Over in “The Brave and the Bold”, writer Mark Waid really shines with this team-up series. The first six issues set up the device that Waid uses to keep this series moving forward. One of my favorite all time artist, George Perez, is back in top form with this series and delivers every month. He draws the best Supergirl out there. I highly recommend that if you haven’t read the first six issues that you go out and get the hard cover collection that just came out this week. I enjoy this read immensely.

In “The Sinestro Corps Wars” Geoff Johns, Dave Gibbons, and Peter J. Tomasi delivered a galaxy spanning tour de force. I believe DC was caught off guard with how good (and popular) that this story was. From “The Sinestro Corp Wars” #1 right through to the epilogue in “Green Lantern Corps” #19, this story was engrossing, action packed, and, most of all, fun to read.

Finally, one writer has jumped up high in my top ten writers of all time. Robert Kirkman, writer of “Invincible” and “The Walking Dead”, captured my imagination. I didn’t jump onto either book until this year. Well, twelve TPBs later and hitting the monthlies this last month, I have definitely become a true Kirkman fan. If you haven’t tried out either of these Image titles by Kirkman, you should grab the first TPB of each and see what they are like. I highly recommend it.

Invincible #47

As with "The Walking Dead", I finally caught up in TPBs on "Invincible" to go real time and buy the monthly. Both of these fine Kirkman books have been added to my monthly pull list. "Invincible" #47 is a "catching up" issue that bounces all around the Invincible universe catching the reader up on the various plot lines that Kirkman has been threading since the beginning of the book. I'm really interested to see how Allen the Alien and Invicible's dad team up in prison and bust out. Kirkman is excellent at putting little moments in this book that ring true to life. The exchange between Mark and his roommate after he catches his roommate doing something embarrassing is truly hilarious. Ryan Ottley's art continues to be pitch perfect for this series. He does an excellent job of capturing both action and dialogue scenes. The little facial expressions he uses for the characters provides me a good chuckle as well.

Kirkman has created a the best new superhero character (and universe) in a long time. If you haven't checked out "Invincible" I recommend you pick up the the TPB or issue #42. This comic rates high on my must read list every month and Kirkman generally never fails to impress.

The Walking Dead #44

I finally caught up on all of the TPBs for "The Walking Dead" and hit real time with the monthlies this month. Issue #44 kicks off the "No One is Safe" storyline and it does so with quite a bang. Writer Robert Kirkman delivers on this title every month. He has established an interesting world to play in. All of the characters are individuals with their own agendas, backgrounds, and depth. Once again, we see that the zombies aren't the only inhuman beings inhabiting Kirkman's world. With the return of the Governor and his army, Rick's crew at the prison are in a tight spot. Kirkman does an excellent job of setting up the action and letting the scene play out in a realistic manner. Charlie Adlard continues to provide excellent art giving each character a unique look while conveying the action in an interesting manner.

"No One is Safe" is an apt tag line for what looks to be an exciting race to issue #50.