Check out what I checked out this week.
Whether the comics are inspiring or disappointing, I read them all.
Welcome to The Pull List.
And, as always…Spoilers ahead!
Batman #2 (Pick of the Week)
Writer: Scott Snyder
Art: Greg Capullo & Jonathan Glapion
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99
We start off from issue #1 where Batman discovered a dead body with a fiery threat for Bruce Wayne. DNA evidence targets Dick Grayson as the prime suspect.
Batman and Gordon examine the body and discover a clue that points to a mysterious killer whose existence is considered a myth. Later on, Bruce Wayne meets up with Lincoln March and just as the conversation turns into a warning, an assassin in an owl skull mask bursts in to murder Bruce. The fight between Bruce and the assassin was well written as Bruce is trying to hide any display of superior fighting skills. The masked killer is good at his day job so Bruce has to turn the volume up which doesn’t pay off as well as he would like.
This issue is what the Dark Knight is all about. Scott Snyder’s work in this series is engaging, insightful and clever. Gotham City is just as important a character as Batman himself. The artwork is presented with painstaking detail. Readers should expect this series to get better and better with each issue.
Grade: A+
***
Wolverine #17
Writer: Jason Aaron
Art: Ron Garney
Colors: Jason Keith
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $3.99
Jason Aaron pens Wolverine’s first post-Schism adventure where saying goodbye is harder than it seems.
Logan is in the process of leaving San Francisco for Westchester and is not sure how this will leave things with his girlfriend.
Most guys try to pretend that a break up doesn’t bother them and Logan is no exception. The Black Dragon reappears in Logan’s life and he agrees to fulfill one last obligation with a “let’s get this over with” attitude that turns into a “I’m gonna kill EVERYONE” attitude when a local drug war cost him all of the money he saved to rebuild the Xavier Institute. No problems with the art work or color and the story was all around entertaining.
Bottom line, buy it.
Grade : B+
***
Justice League #2
Writer: Geoff Johns
Art: Jim Lee & Scott Williams
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Remember when you and your friends would spend countless hours arguing who would win in a fight between Superman and Batman?
We get some insight as to who would prevail in this encounter as the revamped Man of Steel’s shoot first and ask questions later approach is kind of scary.
It’s weird seeing Batman run out of ideas when facing off against someone and it’s a dynamic that the writing and artworks captures beautifully. Barry Allen enters the fold as he and Hal Jordan have a pre-existing friendship that is in its beginning stages which is hard to grasp since they were closer than most brothers before the reboot. Barry is told by his boss at the crime lab to put everything else on hold to discover who the Flash really is. Barry is more concerned about murder cases going cold than his cover being blown. This makes him a very likable character while Johns is teetering on making Green Lantern a blundering idiot.
However, the superhero thing is new to these guys so perception may not be reality.
The fate of a young Victor Stone is revealed as an explosion at Star Labs will undoubtedly change his life forever. I sense Johns will take the Miles Morales route with Victor’s character. Like Miles, Victor didn’t ask for any of this, he simply wanted to know why is father didn’t come to his big game after he promised he would be there.
The writing did not play it safe this time as it secures the readers attention while digging deeper into the heroes character arc. Jim Lee’s work is fantastic as usual and Alex Sinclair’s coloring of Green Lantern’s ring constructs are vibrant with outstanding detail.
The ending of this book makes you want to check out issue three because Darkseid’s influence will force Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and Flash to work together which should be interesting since they can’t get through a conversation without throwing some verbal jabs at each other. There’s a four page interview in the back of the book between Amanda Waller and Steve Trevor that sets up Wonder Woman’s appearance and some design sketches of Superman and Batman.
They listed Superman’s first appearance as Justice League #1 which may be an indicator that there are no plans to go back to the old universe.
Grade: B+
***
Supergirl #2
Writer: Michael Green & Michael Johnson
Art: Mahmud Asrar and Dan Green
Color: Dave McGaig
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99
Supergirl and Superman throw down in a encounter that the Octagon couldn’t even hold. Kara is still confused about how she ended up on Earth when it was only a short while ago that she was holding baby Kal-El in her arms.
I found it intriguing when Superman’s Kryptonian dialect sent a red flag to Kara because it didn’t have a native distinction. Not too many comic books go down that avenue and I thought it was brilliant because it made it more difficult for Superman to prove his heritage. I had no problem with the colors but I thought the art lacked detail in every panel that didn’t include a fight scene.
The story ends with this universe’s first appearance of Kryptonite which should prove interesting because it might not have the same effects as before. DC has previously dropped the ball with Supergirl on a consistent basis, but Green and Johnson’s approach to the character has the potential to rise above the rank and file of the DC Universe.
Grade: B
***
Fear Itself: The Fearless #1
Writer: Cullen Bunn, Chris Yost and Matt Fraction
Art: Mark Bagley and Paul Pelletier
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $2.99
The carnage left in the wake of Fear Itself brings about a search for mystical hammers that are spread out across the globe.
Captain America has ordered that the hammers are to be locked down by the Avengers while Valkryie will do whatever it takes to bring them to Asgard.
Valkryie tries her hand at diplomacy but Cap is steadfast in his decision. There are two schools of thought on this. Rogers feels they can’t be trusted in Asgard because Odin kept them a secret and was willing to sacrifice the planet in order to keep it that way.
My thought is why keep the hammers on Earth? They’re under a higher level of protection in Asgard.
Oh well, it’s not like there are any bad guys attempting to find the hammers.
It’s a fun read but I don’t think it has the legs to remain interesting for the rest of its run.
Grade: C+
***
Fear Itself #7 (Shelf listed: Disappointment of the Week)
Writer: Matt Fraction
Art: Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger and Dexter Vines
Colors: Laura Martin, Justin Ponsor and Matt Millia
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $4.99
What started out as Marvel’s biggest event of the year turned into a dud as the conclusion of Fear Itself leaves you with more sizzle than steak.
Iron Man finally returns from Asgard with some magical weapons to turn the tide against Sin while Thor battles the Serpent.
The heroes were able to turn the tide of the war but you never see how their new found weaponry helps besides some random costume changes. We experience another superhero death (yawn) and humanity unites after being on the brink of destruction. This was supposed to be the event where even the heroes feared the end was near.
It seemed Fraction forgot that through the series either Hawkeye or Spider-Man would randomly echo this sentiment as if they were reading a line for an audition.
I believe books need to pack a little more punch at $3.99.
I expect even more at $4.99 and was disappointed to see the last 17 pages were ads and previews.
Grade: F
