This week is going to rock. We've got an All-Star Superman issue shipping, new Blue Beetle, Green Lantern, Ultimate Spider-Man and Daredevil, to name a few, and a bunch of Secret Invasion stuff, which could go either way in terms of quality. If you pay attention to the release lists, you'll notice I trimmed the fat, in terms of regular books I pick up, this week. Teen Titans, most of the Ultimate line and a few others not coming out this week have been axed from the pull list in favour of some, hopefully, more enjoyable titles. Legion of Super Heroes is one such new book that I started picking up recently and should stick around for the meanwhile.
If there's any suggestions out there, I've got room for a couple more books on the list. Some characters or titles just don't interest me and many Vertigo books I pick up in trades, but I'm willing to give most anything a shot if you've got anything you think I might enjoy that I don't regularly review. Just drop a comment with any suggestions and maybe a decent jumping on point.
For instance, Catwoman is a book I enjoy, but I wouldn't recommend anyone start on this forced Salvation tie-in the last three or four issues have been. With the Legion book I mentioned above, Shooter took over a few issues ago, so that would be a great jumping on point if someone was going to recommend it.
Anyways, hit the jump for this week's previews and enjoy!
ALL STAR SUPERMAN #10Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Frank Quitely and Jamie Grant
Nothing can stand against the Man of Steel! The 2007 Eisner Award Winner for "Best Continuing Series" keeps getting better when the new issue of ALL STAR SUPERMAN explodes!
Kirk Says: It's All-Star Superman. Not much else to say other than I'm buying it, you should be buying it and if you don't, you're the reason we can't have nice things.
BLUE BEETLE #25Written by John Rogers
Art and Cover by Rafael Albuquerque
The stunning conclusion of "Endgame"! Light-years from home, Beetle fights for control of the Scarab in a spectacular last stand against the Reach — and the World's Greatest Heroes have his back!
Kirk Says: Goddamn, if Blue Beetle was a rock band, it would be turned up to eleven right now. This showdown with the Reach over the last couple issues has been the most exciting thing I've read since the Sinestro Corps War ended and the conclusion this issue should put a cap on Rogers' incredible run.
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #5Story by Paul Dini
Story consulting by Keith Giffen
Script by Adam Beechen
Art by Scott Kolins
The Countdown ticks down as storylines converge and collide — a Great Disaster is clearly proving to be unavoidable!
Kirk Says: The only Great Disaster from this book is the book itself. Countdown has thrown away all the goodwill it built up after the great strides it took at the half way point. Only five more issues and I can wash my hands of this.
DAREDEVIL #106Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Paul Azaceta
MATT MURDOCK FACES A LONG NIGHT OF THE SOUL!
Reeling from the events of last issue, Matt Murdock struggles to come to grips with all the things we can't tell you about because they would spoil the ending of the previous arc. Drifting into anger and depression, Daredevil stalks the streets of Hell's Kitchen, looking for bad guys to take it out on…but is he really just taking it out on himself? By Harvey and Eisner-Winning Best Writer Ed Brubaker and special guest artist Mike Perkins (CAPTAIN AMERICA)!
Kirk Says: Solicit says Perkins is guest penciller, but the solicit also lists Azaceta as the artist, so who knows who's drawing this issue. Daredevil's book has fallen into the trap of constantly tearing Matt's life apart, watching him wallow in self pity / taking it out on other people and then building him back up again. I always hate the self pity section of this cycle and it looks like, now that his wife is institutionalized and Matt's been put through the ringer, Brubaker is going to put us through the emo stage of this cycle. I'm sure it'll be good, but I'm pretty sure, without having read this, that I'll be happier once we move on from this to bigger and better things.
GREEN LANTERN #29Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert
Kicking off the "Secret Origin" story arc! Witness the beginnings of one of the bravest Green Lanterns who's ever lived as the "secret origin" of Hal Jordan is revealed in a whole new light! While Hal begins his career another Lantern, the greatest of all time, uncovers the mystery of Abin Sur's death and his obsession with the prophecy of "the Blackest Night."
Kirk Says: I read Hal Jordan's origin 10-20 years ago with Emerald Dawn. It's been retold several times since then and revamped and retconned and added onto over and over again. Johns better have something better planned than just Amon Sur spouting some prophecy mumbo jumbo and some cameo's by a fear bug or this is going to be a real piss off of a story.
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #40Written by Jim Shooter
Art and Cover by Francis Manapul and John Livesay
Part 1 of the story arc "Enemy Rising" — the begining of the One Evil Saga! To save her world, Shadow Lass battles alone against a Life-eradicator. The mystery of their origin deepens as important evidence emerges. Meanwhile, conflict between Timber Wolf and Saturn Girl explodes! Action, angst, amour, amperage and accuracy to the max!
Kirk Says: Did they just use, "...to the max!", in the solicit? That's approaching, "Now, in her own EMO series!", level of cheesiness. I won't hold the book responsible for horrible marketing and PR guys, as this is the first time I've actually found myself liking / interested in the Legion or even reading one of their books. It's only been about three issues since Shooter took over with the soft reboot (ie. no new #1, think Thunderbolts), but the book is really growing on me and should fill the gaps some of the books I dropped recently have left.
MIGHTY AVENGERS #11Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Mark Bagley
Get ready to see an Avengers/Doctor Doom knock-down drag-out! And we promise an ending you've never seen in the history of Doom! All this and the Secret Invasion is upon us! Marvel Comics says sayonara to longtime penciler Mark Bagley with this bombastic storyline!
Kirk Says: It's so bizarre writing about Mighty Avengers and still remembering when the last issue came out or what it was even about, but that's the glory of having Bagley finish his entire run before Cho could do a single issue. I hope Bendis can tie this storyline together for a fitting conclusion. It's been all over the place, from symbiotes to Latveria and then back in time and now Doom calling on the legion of the damned or some such back in the present. They can't just run away now and there's no way Doom loses and goes into custody, so do the Skrulls show up and everyone just leaves?
MS. MARVEL #25Written by Brian Reed
Art by Adriana Melo
The record-setting 25th issue is here, and it's super-sized! Is Ms. Marvel on the front lines of the Secret Invasion... or is she part of the invasion?! Brian Reed (CAPTAIN MARVEL) welcomes new series artist Adriana Melo onboard as Ms. Marvel begins her third year of action and adventure!
Kirk Says: Record-setting? For what? Longest running Ms Marvel title? I don't think bragging about that is exactly something to be proud of. 2099 titles and random Namor series have had longer runs than that and that's sad. Despite attempts to hype this as Ms. Marvel being outed as a Skrull, previews show Tony saying they saw a Carol Danvers imposter while she was off fighting with Machine Man and friends. So, Ms Marvel isn't a Skrull. Or, at least, the one we know isn't a Skrull.
NEW AVENGERS #39Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by David Mack
The Secret Invasion is here! Award-winning artist David Mack brings his amazing talent to NEW AVENGERS to illustrate a major story in the life of Echo! Have the Skrulls infiltrated the Avengers? Is Maya Lopez the only one with proof? Will she live to tell the tale? All this and a major Avengers hook up!
Kirk Says: Such a nice cover marred by the need to sell comic books and have Wolverine plastered on every freaking book's cover that he appears in. While I don't hate Yu's artwork, I'm glad to see someone else on the book for a change.
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #120Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Stuart Immonen
Guest starring the X-Men! Now that one of Peter Parker’s fellow students has been outted as a mutant, the struggle for their heart and mind is on! Magneto, Master of Magnetism, claims the new mutant as his own, but the X-Men aren’t about to let that stand! It’s a battle royale that rages across the city with the web-slinger caught in the middle! The dream tag-team of Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen deliver the finale to “Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends!”
Kirk Says: Finale of the Amazing Friends? I hope that's just this storyarc and we'll be seeing more of Liz, Human Torch and Iceman, along with the rest of the supporting cast.
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