I'm just about done making my way through Gail Simone's run on Birds of Prey. The series really isn't that good anymore. Well, at least, the last two trades were just about mediocre. Sure, there were some spots of brilliance in the art and the story (usually the quiet times that show the relationships with the Birds), but for the most part, the series lost its luster after Simone's third arc.

Just finished:


And just started:

Made my usualy stop after work today & had this glorious pile of waiting for me at my funny book store. . .

52 Week #49

All Star Superman #7 - Read this as soon as I got a chance & I just had a nerdy grin on my face from panel to panel. Morrison doing his riff on Bizarro, Quitely making his art even more amazing if possible. I know this book will have it's haters just b.c it's Superman & Morrison, but IMO this is one of the best superhero books I've ever read.

Fables #60

Green Arrow #73 - It's to the point with this book that I just read it to see just how bad one writer can be, it doesn't seem possible for someone to have less talent & originality than Winnick does on each issue, yet he contstantly out does himself.

Green Lantern Corps #11 - Always fun, the GL books are awesome right now.

Loveless #17 - Such a great series.

Stormwatch PHD #6 - Hopefully will be back to greatness after the pretty awful #5.

Teen Titans #45

Wonder Woman #7 - Still haven't had a chance to read a single issue since the re-launch.

Dynamo 5 #2 - The first issue was such a great out-of-the-blue surpsise. I can't recommend this book enough for someone bored with superhero comics.

Fell #8 - Every issue is utter brilliance.

Madman Atomic Comics #1 - You all just don't know the dorky joy I had when I searched through my pile of comics handed to me today to find a new issue of Madman. One of my favorite series EVER & you all know how much I buy. Now if only that F'n hardcover would ship.

Iron Man #16 - This is one of those characters I've been reading since I was first got into comics. The Layton run is among my holy grails of comics, I've always loved the character, but I am so F'n pissed how Stark has been ruined for me from Civil War. I can't stand the direction the character has gone in.

Loners #1 - Worth at least a checking out. I'm pretty down on Runaways, not really diggin' Whedon's first issue, so maybe this will be a nice surprise.

New Avengers #29 - Much like Green Arrow, only more frustrating b.c I seem to be the only one on earth that realized how bad Bendis is, each issue is worste than the last.

New X-Men #37 - Every month a surprisingly excellent pure X-men comic.

newuniversal #5

Nova #1 - Been looking foward to this. The Annihilation train still hasn't lost it's steam. This was a really good first issue, pure cosmic superhero goodness, which is just what I wanted & a great continuation of what was started in Annhiliation.

Thunderbolts #113 - It's really hard to believe this is the same Ellis that put out Fell & newuniversal this week. It must be a ghost writer. I have not been diggin' on this series at all since he took over. A large part is b/c I dont' like a lot of the characters or the general point of this new team.

Uncanny X-Men #485 - Much like the above book, I just don't believe that this is Brubaker. It doesn't read like him, he just doesn't belong on a book like this.

Wolverine Origins #13 - I was really enjoying this series for a while, the closest to what a Wolverine book should be in years. But now the son of Wolverine story is just plain cheezy.

Conan & The Midnight God #3 -There is never a bad Conan comic.

Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic #15

Wasteland #8 - Everyone here, ignore every recommendation I've ever given & just trust me on this one book.

Also picked this up b/c I'm a dork like that. . .



And, it's back, the "don't-buy-anything-else-not-even-groceries-or-diapers-for-your-poo-soaked-screaming-kid-until-you-buy-this PICK OF THE WEEK!!!!



You trade people have no excuse now not to be reading one of the most original works of art being published today. A book that creates an entire new wonderfully realized post-apocalyptic world in just a few issues that will have you dying to read more. This is one of my absolute favorite comics out there & I cannnot recommend it enough.

Sessa, you always say there is a pile waiting for you, but you always have new and different stuff in addition to your normal monthlies. Do they just know you want to check out half of their inventory or do you fill out a purchase list every month from Previews?

Annihilation rocked, plain and simple. While everyone was fawning over Civil War, Annihilation and Planet Hulk were two great stories being told (that didn't require endless delays and buying 100 comics to get the story). I loved how self-contained the story was, and how each issue just had a lot of value. That's rare in comics these days.

I think a lot of the problems from this book stem from the extremely poor execution of a really bad concept. Just seeing some of the villains here - especially the Green Goblin - just seem really tired and unbelievable. Especially in the light of the post-Registration Marvel Universe.

These issues are almost as bad - ALMOST - as Deadly Genesis. It's unbelievable to me that Brubaker would do something as asinine as retcon history. Again. And for some reason, it didn't work this time. The art also leaves much to be desires. I wonder if the X-franchise will ever be any good again. Even during Grant Morrison's New X-men days, the rest of the x-books still sucked big time.

Actually, this book reminds me why I hate Wolverine. On the one hand, you have stories like this - which makes you even wonder when the hell this story is happening - where Wolvie goes around and kills like 100 guys. In DC at least darker characters like Batman are written consistently from their core books to their team books.

Exactly. That and he saw fit to rewrite DC's Silver Age - as if then, the heroes were somehow shielded from pain and suffering. That's simply not true. Take Green Arrow for example - his comic was extremely serious and dark at times. That and he feels like using obscure characters/events makes him a good writer. It doesn't. Grant Morrison digging up the Shaggy Man and turning him into an unstoppable villain - great imagination. Sue Dibney raped - that's just excessive.

Well, the problem with the Drama that Meltzer is using is that a lot of the characters he's using aren't well established as characters. They were part of the JLA in the past, and the reason why the JLA comic failed was because readers just weren't interested in characters like Vixen and Black Lightning. They were boring. Meltzer just doesn't have the talent to turn around bad characters.

Also, i'm getting tired of reading the "JLA Animated series" comic.

I don't know, it just seems that any time anyone goes away from the Marvel Universe (i.e. New York), the storyline improves dramatically.

This is the best Superman book in years. DC really one-upped Marvel with their Ultimate Universe.

I've decided that since I don't read my books all at once, i'll stay a week behind so I can actually comment on the books instead of just listing them.

52 WEEK #48 - Another great week.

AVENGERS INITIATIVE #1 - Not bad. Didn't really see that twist coming..

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #2 - Haven't read this yet, but I really wasn't impressed with issue one.

DANGER GIRL BODY SHOTS #1

DETECTIVE COMICS #831 - So, lemme get this straight...that's why Bruce let Harley get paroled? I really don't get it.

FALLEN SON DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA WOLVERINE - So, lemme get this straight...Captain America is really, really, really dead?

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #19 - Don't have a problem with Nauck's art. I do have a problem with David's writing on this book.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA CVR A, CVR B #7 - Yeah, I got both covers. When's Meltzer's run ending?

MARVEL ZOMBIES ARMY OF DARKNESS #2 - Good book. Liked Ash macking on Dazzler.

MS MARVEL #14

NEW EXCALIBUR #18

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET #7

NIGHTWING #131 - Wolfman really needs to ditch these two fools. However, i'm am intrigued by that shadowy figure at the bar.

OMEGA FLIGHT #1

PAINKILLER JANE #0

SUPERMAN #661 - ehh. Didn't care much for the art.

SUPERMAN BATMAN #33

WOLFSKIN VICIOUS CVR #3 - Amazing this finally came out. LOVE Ryp's art.

I'm happy to see some diversity in the upper echelon in DCU now (Black Lighting, Vixen, Montoya), but I agree with you here. That is why I'm not cool with Meltzer being the one to set up the new JLA team if he's only on for 12 issues. I think Vixen and Black Lighting (like any character in the right hands) can be entertaining and interesting, but who is to say the person that comes on the book next is going to have any affinity for these characters? And unless something drastic changes in the second half of the story, they haven't been redefined enough to go forward as reinvigorated characters.

You certainly have a point there.

Even those anit-morrison have pretty much been giving praise to ASS. I haven't really seen any bad reviews or thoughts on the book yet. Sure they might of thought the monster from the last issue was strange, but people seem to be really enjoying this book across the board. I haven't read mine yet, but I'm starting to believe Quitely is a god of some sort. It is insane that he seems to be getting better. Like...how? Who thought there was room? Though a lot of that credit goes to the colorist. One of the few times I've really took notice of the colorist on a book.

I'm curious as to why you read this or started to? You definitely don't like Bendis, so why even bother with the New Avengers at all? Just a long time Avengers fan keeping tabs on the team?

Well, as a long-time JLA fan, bringing in those dull characters NEVER works. Anytime they start to stray from the "big 7" the storyline just goes downhill. Even the more "comic" JLA by Giffen and DeMatteis only lasted for a few issues before it became dull again. The JLA is a team book, plain and simple, and people read it to see the biggest heroes in the DCU interact with each other. It's always great to add more lower-tier heroes, but that always comes at the expense of the story - even during Morrison's run, the book took a major nosedive when the team expanded to 15. It was just lame seeing heroes like Huntress and Steel taking up all the screen time.

Do you think though, that it's a good idea to break up the big seven runs? I mean if we have it all the time it isn't as special. That's why Grant bringing them back was such a big deal. Trust, I am right there with you on this, but even the last run of JLA got weak towards the end with the big guns still in it.

I'm curious - What is your take on Red Arrow being on the team?

I don't think breaking up the "big seven" runs are bad. In fact, I don't mind adding more characters, just as long as they're interesting. Take Justice for example - it's a HUGE roster for the Justice League but they're still all top-tier characters. Never a dull moment there. I just don't like it when they add filler characters that are just dull and end up being sidelined anyway. Take DC throwing in John Stewart in JLA to tie-in with the comics. He hardly got any lines and just stood there most of the time. It's annoying writing like that which really chafes my hide. Morrison did a really great job of playing up how the JLA interacts - for example, he focused a lot on Wally and Kyle - those two had so much conflict, but there was real friendship there, and rightfully so. That's good writing IMO that takes two relatively new characters, taps into established history, and manages to excite readers. There's none of that in the current JLA.

Then again you can't blame the writer for not being able to access characters that are being man-handled by the editorial staff. As far as Red Arrow goes...well, only time will tell. Arsenal was never a good character and just a cheap Robin knock-off for me.

OK, I understand where you're coming from.

John Stewart was mishandled because the cartoon proved (at least to me) that his character can be dynamic and interesting. I blame that entirely on the writers, because he isn't any less of a "big gun" than any of the other earth GLs but his character is lacking because he doesn't get that much attention. It's almost like he was created and then cast aside.

I do think that Meltzer is missing the most obvious opportunity of having Green Arrow in the JLA because Hal and Dinah there. They are like the B Trinity of DC. Putting Red Arrow in strikes me as being different just because. Or maybe he thinks he can make him matter? Like you said, we'll see.

Have you read that he was denied access to certain characters? If he could rip Black Canary from BoP, I would think he had total access save for a few characters like Aquaman.

This week:

All Star Superman #7: Perfect in every way

Green Lantern: Haven't read yet

Wonder Woman #7: Really excited to read this

I would tend to disagree with your Giffen and DeMatteis comment... I loved that JLA. It was a very different book, though.

I dunno, I'm a sucker for team books, and I like when there's a bigger roster than just the usual big guys (for instance, I loved cartoon JLU, and I love JSA and LOSH). I'm still not sold on the new JLA roster, but if one character or another doesn't work out, I don't see why the next writer can't change up the roster a little.

You say this all the time, but trust me, you are FAR from the only one. He is popular, but Bendis has been a really polarizing writer at least since Disassembled. I liked him in the Alias/early Daredevil days, but his writing style is just painful for me to read now, especially since he's been writing so many core titles; it's hard to avoid him.

I LOVE Thunderbolts. It's become one of my favorite MU titles, along with Cap and X-Factor. I've always enjoyed stories where villains interact and conspire with/against each other, and this has plenty of that. I also like the way Ellis uses characters like Jack Flag and Ollie Osnick, and makes them cool, as opposed to the lame third-stringers that I remember them as. It helps that I do like most of the Thunderbolts members, so all the little subplots in the book are interesting to me.

I so completely agree with this (especially the part about Layton's run), that it feels like it could be my own post. Iron Man/Tony Stark has been one of my favorite characters since 1975. Though I hadn't been reading much Iron Man the last few years (besides Ellis' mini-series - which was okay, but had too much unnecessary "retrofitting"), Civil War completely fucked him over and made him too much of a douche to give a damn about anymore.

I know this sounds crazy since everyone here only gets comics on-line But I still go to a good ol' comic book shop. They have a subscription list, I get a pretty big discount, & then they have a sheat where you just check off all the comics you get, & fill in anything that isn't on their list or anything you add (Dynomo 5 for instance I just added to my pull list). When the comics come in, just like I use to do when I ran a store, the first thing they do, is pull the books for their subscribers. So I never have to worry about anything selling out & when I come in the guy behind the counter always sees me & hands me my at times gigantic pile of comics. Stuff like the Batman Beyond figure & some new series are just impulse buys on my part, part of the fun for me of still going to a store every week.


Glad to finally see you praise something, it seems like all your posts are just pooping on every positive thing someone writes about a comic Also, what made Annihilation so awesome, was unlike Civil War it had a point & a clear idea & focused plan behind it to revamp a dead genre for Marvel & now that its done they still know where to go with it. The first issue of Nova was such a seemless continuation centered around a now very interesting character. Whereas CW was this story built on one shocking idea, that was intergrated throughout the Marvel universe in a half-assed matter forcing writers to awkwardly change their plans with the characters & now it seems like Marvel doesn't know where to go with it.

B/c I haven't missed an issue of Avengers in the 18 years I've been reading comics. I know most here say give up, switch to trades, but I'm a creature of habit. The handful of books I've been getting since I was a kid, I can never give up, no matter how bad they get (or how much room they take up). Much like the agony I endured over the 2 + years of absolutely nothing happening on DD when Bendis was on, I know the day will eventually come where he is gone, & the greatness will return. What sucks the most though about Bendis, especially on NA, is I love the Avengers b.c they were a team of very different charactes, but they felt like team & then character interaction was special, b/c everyone had their own fleshed out personality. Bendis writes every single F'n character the EXACT same way, everyone is witty with snappy, short comebacks, & everyone is deaf, repeating exactly what someone else says, only with a question mark at the end of it.

From my experience I just don't see it, he is the exact opposite of a polarizing writer, I know from doing the orders for a store for years, if Bendis is on a book, I needed to up the order, & trust me, it's like that at every comic book store around the country. Almost everyone I talk to loves the guy, I think he writes like 80% of Marvel books, so clearly people everywhere love him, he is critic proof, the guy never seems to get a bad review from any critic, & he has a message board of devout fans that worship him. All this sure doesn't make me feel like there is a large group of comic book fans that agree with me.

This pretty much sums up what I can't stand about him. And I wouldn't even say that his dialogue is especially witty...it's more like empty, meaningless banter. Bendis actually can write a halfway decent issue every once in a while, but he always manages to pull out something from his usual bag of tricks and annoys the crap out of me.

Check out this thread.

The greatest thing about Annihilation is that it was, just like Planet Hulk, isolated from the stupidity of the Marvel Universe. I honestly don't know what's wrong with their editorial staff. They did fine in the 80's and early 90s when there were a ton of books, but somehow managed to keep it all together. Now it just seems like they don't even care about having a continuous universe.

Annihilation also proved that comics can be fun, mature, well written, and not excessively violent. It was also a great balance between being able to attract new readers, and giving Cosmic Marvel fans something good to read.

CW to me just seemed like a total retread of the Mutant Registration Act, only much, much worse. And nothing that happened made any sense. Okay, so Captain America goes "underground". What does he do besides randomly performing acts of heroism? nothing. His team just sat there and waited to be captured. The only memorable thing they did was break out the Negative Zone prison, and even then, that event was really weak. "Oh, we had a spy in your midst!" "oh i'm sorry Tony, but we had a better spy! bet you didn't see that coming! talk about tales of suspense!"

And I don't hate on everything. There are plenty of comics I love. But when I go off on a comic about how great it is, it seems like everyone just seems to go "of course!". when i criticize a comic, people tend to see it differently afterwards.

You know what I I just read, which makes me really late to the party, after all that JLA talk me and Superboy were having.

Heaven's Ladder. Got damn, was that awesome. It make my head hurt a little with how grand in scope the story was, but it was a really neat way for a comic to tackle theology. Plus Bryan Hitch, slow as he may be, draws an incredible JLA roster. His Aquaman is especially good.

I will say it again, but anyone here like horror movies especially slashers like Friday the 13th you really should be reading the 13th comic being put out by WildStorm. I love me some Walkind Dead, but that book hasn't really been "scary" for a while now. It's more of a drama with Zombies. 13th is just some good old fashioned slasher horror. It's fantastic.

Also, I like Bendis. Not going to defend him as we are all different and have different tastes, but just to offset the Anti-Bendis side. So there it is.

I know how all that works as I have used pull lists in my day. It just seems like you always have something new so I wasn't sure if you just picked them up when you are there or if you put them in for the month or if your guys know your taste well enough to recommend it for you. Impulse buys are cool, but I have to limit them because I can't afford to impulse too much.

Gail Simone on Wonder Woman - possibly the most common sense move in comics history. I'm stocked to see what she does on the book.

Gail Simone being the writer on WW is probably the best step DC could have taken to get this book back on track.

Gail Simone on Wonder Woman. Now that's a great idea. I just hope she gets a good artist. I said earlier that Birds of Prey has floundered recently, but what I'm realizing is that the stories with good art are damn solid, but the ones with mediocre aren't fell flat. It never ceases to amaze me how all the pieces of the comic book puzzle (writing, art, characters, colors, letters) need to come together just right to make the book a successful story. That's what I love most about this medium.


Oh, and just to remind everyone, go out and read Elk's Run.