Well, It's Been Awhile...

Happy #followfriday everybody!

Whatever. So, I've been kind of lazy in my comic reviewing duties the last couple of weeks (between a weekend in DC and a wedding, who could blame me?). That means I have a fat stack (around 30 comics) that haven't been scrutinized yet!

Rather than bore you to tears with the ravings of a mad man, I'll just stick to the ones that hit me the most over the past two weeks. Deal? Other notables include things like Noir Comics, Blackest Night tie-ins, Ender's Game, and Batman, all of which were enjoyable, but not worth me just explaining what's going on.

DC Comics
Blackest Night #4 - 8/10
Green Lantern #47 - 9/10
Booster Gold #25 - 9/10

Marvel Comics
Invincible Iron Man #19 - 9/10
Mighty Avengers #30 - 5/10
Ultimate Avengers #3 - 7/10
X-Factor #50 - 10/10

Image Comics
Invincible Presents: Atom Eve and Rex Splode - 9/10

Old Trades/Scholastic
Union Jack - 9/10
Amulet: Vol. 1 - 9/10
Amulet: Vol. 2 - 9/10
Five Fists of Science - 9/10

So that's a pretty big list... I'll try to keep my rants short.

The latest Blackest Night issue was great, because we're only halfway in and we now know who the bad guy is. The only question is who is Nekron? Scary. My only complaints are the lines where Barry says to Atom and Mera "you are Superman and Wonder Woman." No, they're not, Barry. They're Atom and Mera. You don't have to draw parallels that don't exist.

Now Green Lantern was amazing. I love the different traits of the Lantern Corps. Larfleeze was the coolest, now we learn that Atrocitus and the Red Lanterns are immune to Black Lantern attacks? What's more, the War of Light is simmering to a halt when Sinestro declares all Green Lanterns allies of the Sinestro Corps. Awesome. Nice work Mr. Johns.

Booster Gold is one of those consistently good titles, and we owe it to creative team; Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund. Not only is there a hilarious two-page recap of all the insane stuff that has happened to Booster since Bruce Wayne died, but then, just when everything is going back to normal, disaster strikes again. The issue has a touching ending in which Booster and Dick Grayson become friends, which I love (Booster and Grayson are two of my favorite DC characters). This book reminds of what we should all fight for, what's worth fighting for, and the importance of having someone to confide in. Object of note: Rip Hunter's chalkboard is full of cryptic spoilers for what's coming after Blackest Night. Doomsday has a son...

The end of the World's Most Wanted storyline for Iron Man had a sad, but well conceived ending. Iron Man is ultimately beaten by Norman Osborn, but not before rallying the public against the former Green Goblin. Tony Stark lies in a bed in a persistent vegetative state and the only man with the authority to pull the plug is Thor. Odd how Stark would list Donald Blake with power of attorney in the event of his brain death. I trust Matt Fraction to keep things interesting for us. I doubt we've seen the last of the Golden Avenger.

Mighty Avengers? This sack of crap is probably coming off my pull list. I usually enjoy Dan Slott's work, but I was shaky when he introduced the idea of this "Unspoken" king of the Inhumans (don't go retconning without good reason), but then this?! Scientist Supreme? Are you f---ing kidding me? Dr. Strange, first of all, was not given the Sorcerer Supreme title from Eternity, so I don't know where Slott is getting his info. Secondly, Hank Pym?! Most people would assume I'd say "Tony Stark should have that title!" but no, what about High Evolutionary? What about real scientists like Doom, Tinkerer, Fixer... anyone but Hank "Beat-My-Wife" Pym! The worst part is that I like Hank Pym! Scientist Supreme... that's stupid. What does he protect? The "gossamer veil that divides the Science World and the Anti-science Realm?" Stupid.

Another example of pointless retcons. I love Mark Millar. I love the Ultimates, Wanted, his run on Authority, Civil War, all of it. This story is good too. So far I'm enjoying Ultimate Avengers, but yet again, writers with ego issues disregard other people's work. Well, I'm not sure if this counts as retconning or not. I may be using the word wrong I guess. But what offends me is that both he and Warren Ellis disregard Orson Scott Card's Ultimate Iron Man. They don't mind using all the stupid shit Jeph Loeb did to the Ultimate imprint, but they ignore an origin story written by arguably one of the best science fiction writers of all time? Egotistical jerkwads. Ultimate Tony Stark can't have a brother, his mother died in childbirth because of his rare condition of his body being composed completely of neural cells, and his father was last seen in prison, falsely accused of murdering Zebediah Stane. Writers, do your fucking homework.

X-Factor had quite possibly one of the saddest and best twists on the ending of a story arc of all time. I always said I was impressed by the way Peter David took a throw-away plot device invented by Brian Michael Bendis and turned her into one of the most beloved Marvel characters around. Layla Miller. Her relationship with Madrox has been endlessly entertaining. Thematically speaking, the whole "persecuted mutants" thing takes a backseat to the importance of self-control and the mystery of free will. I won't spoil the ending, just know that is was that. damn. good.

I was sad to hear that Rex Splode had been killed off, but when I saw that Benito Cereno and Bellegarde (the creative team behind Hector Plasm, another GREAT Image comic) were writing Atom Eve and Rex Splode in their early days, I had to get it. I was pleased.

Union Jack. The latest incarnation of the WWII hero versus Nazi vampires in London. Need I say more? Oh, and is was co-written and illustrated by John Cassaday, of Planetary and Astonishing X-Men fame.

Amulet was one of the recommended reads at Velocity Comics so I though I'd give it a shot. It looks like one of those neat animes that we all love so much. Go Miyazaki! Supposedly it's "kid-friendly" because it's put out by Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic Books. I don't care. You don't need sex, drugs, and curse words to tell a good story. I am firm in my beliefs there. This story is fantastic (in both senses of the word) and the art is terrific. Robots, Elf-Kings, magic, a HOUSE THAT TURNS INTO A ROBOT?! What more do you want? It also tackles big themes, such as the corrupting effect of too much power and the importance of family bonds.

Mark Twain sells the world on the idea of Mutually Assured Peace when Nikola Tesla build a steam-punk robot. Thomas Edison and J.P. Morgan summon a demonic entity to sabatoge Twain's efforts. The Five Fists of Science is one wild ride, with nice art that kind of reminds me of Fiona Staples. Matt Fraction is the writer, which means you know it'll be entertaining.

Whew... That's all for now. Have a happy Halloween!

-Steve