Post-Crisis Comic Book Previews for 05/20/09

Welcome to another round of the Post-Crisis Previews, which simply highlights the various comics I'll be picking up this Wednesday with my general thoughts or expectations for each issue. If you have any thoughts or suggestions for titles you think I should take a look at, feel free to drop a comment below.

This is actually a pretty light week for me with only a handful of comics on my list. I decided to drop Supergirl after a rather disappointing reveal for Superwoman's identity and weak issue overall last month. Going to give Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance a shot in its place. I suppose Captain America or Wolverine: Weapon X have the best chance at being the top book for the week, but I'm sure something else from the list will end up surprising me.

In trade releases, the only noteworthy thing I saw was Superman: New Krypton Vol 1. The opening issues to that crossover were the strongest in my opinion, so if you're looking for a followup to the excellent Brainiac trade, this one is the one to get.

BATMAN: BATTLE FOR THE COWL #3 (OF 3)
Written by Tony Daniel
Art by Tony Daniel and Sandu Florea

With the destruction of Arkham Asylum, the return of the Black Mask, and dozens of Gotham City's most lethal villains rioting through the streets, Nightwing, Robin and their allies seem to have their hands full. But when you add a deadly Jason Todd masquerading as a gun-toting Batman to the mix, things have definitely spiraled out of control!

This is the issue everyone's been waiting for – find out who wins the Battle for the Cowl! Who earns the right to take on the mantle of the Bat? Will it be Robin? Jason Todd? Nightwing? Azrael? Catwoman? Two-Face? Damian Wayne? Batwoman? Or someone completely unexpected? This 3-issue series continues to shock and surprise as the battle comes to a startling finale for the ages!

Kirk: I actually haven't really enjoyed this series all that much. I'm pretty sure DC realized the quality wasn't going to be up to snuff and made it a three part series just to suck people, like myself, into the event with a very small investment at only three books required for the entire story. It made it an easy sell for me to jump in and I find it hard not to complete the story since it's only three issues. If it had been a six parter, I'd have dropped this as of last issue.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #50
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Luke Ross

Bucky Barnes, another man out of time, is the new Captain America now...but today he's trapped in the past, because today is Bucky Barnes' birthday. See Bucky's favorite and least favorite birthdays - from the cold winters of the Depression on military bases, to the front lines of WW2 fighting alongside the Invaders, to his new mission as Cap. Oh yeah, and someone's trying to kill him. By Ed Brubaker and Luke Ross.

Kirk: Not that I don't enjoy Luke Ross's artwork, but I thought that, even with the Marvels Project on his plate for this summer, Steve Epting would have made time to do the big issue fifty for the series. The issue sounds like it'll be mostly a self-reflection type of deal, so hard to judge how it'll turn out. With Ed Brubaker at the helm, can't help but think it'll be great though.


DARK REIGN: FANTASTIC FOUR #3
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Sean Chen

Forced to fight their way through time, Sue, Ben and Johnny have to defend the Holy Land in the Crusades, Conquer the Wild West and beat back the Nazis while Franklin and Val are busy back in the Baxter Building preparing for the arrival of Norman Osborn.
All that, and the return of the Illuminati!

Kirk: Was there a delay in this issue? Seems like a while since the last part came out. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this also the first time the Illuminati will be written by someone other than Brian Bendis?




FANTASTIC FOUR #566
Written by Mark Millar
Art by Bryan Hitch

THE MASTERS OF DOOM Part one of four. It begins here! The final storyline of the Millar/Hitch run on FANTASTIC FOUR,
culminating all of the plot threads they’ve set up so far! From across the universe they come, returning to the Earth after a twenty year journey of genocide and sadism. They’re the men who tutored Doctor Doom in the ways of villainy—and their
re-emergence signals the greatest conflict the Fantastic Four have ever been party to!

Kirk: I was originally quite enthralled with the Millar/Hitch take on the Fantastic Four, but it quickly faded, especially with the most recent arc. However, I've been looking forward to seeing how they try to shoehorn in these long lost magic tutors to Dr Doom's origin. Either way, Hitch draws a great Dr Doom, so I shouldn't be too disappointed.


FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH: DANCE #1 (OF 6)
Written by Joe Casey
Art by ChrisCross

Japan's Super Young Team wants nothing more than to be seen as heroes in the eyes of their adoring public. Unfortunately, their adventures during FINAL CRISIS have gone unnoticed, and they've been reduced to performing at public appearances and on various TV shows literally dancing for their livelihood. But the appearance of a new American teammate and a deadly threat complicates the motives of the team as they try and find what truly makes somebody not just a hero, but a sensational hero. Discover the path to greatness in this exciting 6-issue miniseries!

Kirk: Man, I always confuse Joe Casey and Joe Kelly mixed up when trying to think of who wrote what book I liked, but, thankfully, both are good writers, so I'm not often disappointed with picking up something either wrote. Not too thrilled with how DC handled the whole Final Crisis aftermath (it's like FC didn't even happen), but I think Casey might be able to do something interesting with Grant Morrison's pet characters from that event.


WOLVERINE: WEAPON X #2
Written by Jason Aaron
Art by Ron Garney

“THE ADAMANTIUM MEN”
Wolverine travels to Colombia to track down leads on Blackguard, the private military contractor who's recently come into possession of the old files from Weapon X. But instead of the hunter, Logan becomes the hunted when he learns the hard way that Blackguard has already put those Weapon X files to use, giving birth to Strikeforce X, the most fearsome team of super soldiers that Logan has ever encountered.

Kirk: Jason Aaron's and Ron Garney's first issue on the newest Wolverine ongoing (technically, it's replacing the old Wolverine, which is now Daken's Dark Wolverine title) was a solid debut that felt more like a chapter in an ongoing that had been on the stands for a few years. It lacked the punch or impetus that most new books have for starting up, but was still a very good read. Personally, I've never much been a regular follower of any Wolverine comics, but Aaron and Garney have me sold on this one. With the main plot of this opening arc set up, I imagine things will ramp up from this issue on out.

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