Hello! Hopefully, you’ve seen and read our “Best-Of” column. If not, here’s a link. I’d like to point out that, in that article, all of our wonderful recommendations from this fantastic year in comics now have links so that you can buy the stuff we’re talking about – sometimes digitally, sometimes from Amazon, sometimes a bit of each. If you haven’t heard yet (from me) that I’m very close to shameless, well, now you have! Please enjoy your Black Friday shopping! Ach – BLACK FRIDAY! Black is the color of death. Black is also the color of a hole – an absence. You know what else is a hole? DEBT. The day’s name is THE closest that the collective United States of America comes to brutal self-awareness. Gotta give it props for THAT, anyway. Oh, but I do ramble on. Happy shopping, really.
You're preaching to the choir, buddy. Supergod #5. Writer: Warren Ellis, Illustrator: Garrie Gastonay, Inks: Rhoald Marcellius, Color: Digikore Studios
Perceptive readers will note that 2011 isn’t over yet. Hence, our list is NOT “The Best Comics of 2011” – look at the long, odd title I gave the thing. Elsewhere, I have said that our site “stakes its claim as the Golden Globes of the [comic book reviewing] field” by announcing our awards-like stuff first. I’ve also called our timing “a deliberate, calculated Dick Move that I orchestrated just so we’d be first.” While there’s a germ of truth in each of these statements, I’m writing THIS present article to tell you that I’m mostly joking when I say those things.
Bulletproof Coffin #6 - Story & Words: David Hine, Story & Art: Shaky Kane
The Golden Globe Awards, if you don’t know, are movie awards whose televised ceremonies generally are the third-most watched awards shows every year. (The first two are at the link, okay?) This is kind of nuts, because they are decided upon by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which has (per that Wikipedia article!) 93 members at present. Their decisions upon winners are available for purchase, it seems, but at least they’ve abandoned their original practice of figuring out winners based upon whether the winner was willing to attend their televised award ceremony. The biggest reason for their ratings success, though, is that they both announce their nominations and then show the winners before the AMPAS does so with the Oscars.
Here at the Comics Vault, our decisions are not for sale – yet! – and we are infinitely more qualified than the HFPA to announce What Is Truth in our art criticism. Why? Because they are all paid for their opinions, as professional jounalists. We, on the other hand, perform our task pro bono. We do it for love!
The Return of Bruce Wayne #6. Writer: Grant Morrison, Penciler: Lee Garbett, Inker: Alejandro Sicat, Colorist: Guy Major, Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
As for the timing, one may very well ask, “Why now?” Or perhaps, “Are you really saying that your period of review is gonna be from the third Wednesday of November through the second one in November the next year every year? Are you nuts? Is that your deal? You’re nuts?” Well, we arereally saying that, yes. And no I am not crazy, that’s not my deal, not really.
Oh, behave! Knight and Squire #2. Writer: Paul Cornell, Artist: Jimmy Broxton, Colorist: Guy Major
As for “Why now?” The reason is because, why NOT now? We are free, you know. ALL of us, all human beings, in SOME sense are truly free, insofar as where no rules exist, we may make our own. That is what we here at The Comics Vault have done. We reject the idea that we must obey the arbitrarily chosen first day of the Julian and Gregorian Calendars. We are no more bound to start and end at that date than we are to spend it observing The Feast of the Circumcision. We are art critics! Capital-A Art is fearless; it doesn’t bolster rules, it bends rules to its whim. We would be UNFIT to render judgment upon the pieces of this medium were we to aspire to any less.
Oh, just plop down like you own the joint! GOD! From a story in DC Universe Legacies #8. Writer: Len Wein, Artist: Frank Quitely, Colorist: Peter Doherty, Letterer: Rob Leigh
Now, to be frank, none of the writers here knew in MAY of this year – let alone November of 2010 – that we would be blogging about comics right now. So, yeah, there’s a good likelihood that we missed some awesome thing that shipped in December of 2010 – in fact, this whole article is illustrated with some of my favorite stuff from the last two months of 2010. Well, next year, we’ll do better. And if we want to, we will reject the sun itself and start observing 26-hour days. Because we are free, and that, my friend, is how we roll. Thank you for visiting us here, and as Tony Stark would say, keep coming back!
Matt Fraction’s Mighty Thor run has been a hard nut to crack thus far. Fraction has definitely introduced some huge ideas into this book. Introducing a new Herald for Galactus and removing the Silver Surfer of the Power Cosmic , also killing off Thor, and finally creating a New God of Thunder Tanarus.
The beginning of issue 8 starts off with Asgard being rebuilt yet again. Heimdell welcomes the All Mother’s to New Asgard and brings them up to speed as to why all the other citizens from the Nine Realms are in Asgard as well. Fraction then introduces us too Tanarus who is the new God of Thunder. Fraction goes so far as to explain to the reader that the people of Asgard know Tanarus as the one and only God of Thunder. It was Tanarus who founded the Avengers , and Tanarus who befell the Serpent . Fraction introduces these story threads but never explains them out right , creating alot of confusion for the reader.
Enter Loki who is the only person that recognizes something is off . I like the idea of Loki becoming more of a sympathetic character in his own book Journey into Mystery . While I’ve read and love the hell out of that book , other readers who haven’t been following it may look at Loki as merely a whining kid. Loki immediately seeks an audience with the three witches and upon seeing him they hit him with a bolt of lighting that causes him to remember his brother’s Name Thor. We get a small glimpse into the life of Norrin Radd that is quite funny and shows us Fraction’s planning on having the former Silver Surfer in this book for the foreseeable future.
Pasqual Ferry’s art is a welcome addition back to the series and creates a nice sense of whimsy to each page. His art is clean and fluid and he manages to create a great sense of scale in Asgard while taking the time to let characters breathe in quieter moments. Ferry’s art is reminiscent of Don Bluth animation. I especially like the way he draws giant Beasts , monsters , and after this issue trolls.The last page of art to this issue was gorgeous.
This issue starts slow but with the reveal towards the end of the issue as to who Tanarus really is as well as the last two pages that shed some light as to where Thor has ended up after his apparent death. I’m definitely very excited to see where the next issue goes. Fraction continues to build on The God of Thunders mythos and while this issue lacks some clear answers as to whats happening , the art and end of the book make up for the short comings at the beginning of the book. I’m curious to see how Fraction approaches telling this story and hope that he doesn’t play things so close to the chest next issue.
(WARNING: There are all kinds of swears in here, up, down, and sideways. In today’s America, a typical 10-year-old has heard the “F” word about a thousand jillion times. BUT! If you object to such stuff, YOU WON’T LIKE IT HERE! Perhaps you would enjoy BleedingCool.Com better? SCRAM, WUSS!)
Some of the authors thought this issue was good, and that Marcos Martin might be a good artist.
The mighty Comics Vault bullpen of hotheads, sociopaths, schizos, holograms, and women from France got together to throw down about the past 13-ish months’ worth of excellence in the field of comic book art. We were on the scene to record that momentous conversation, and will again be on the scene in five weeks to testify at the ensuing litigation! Let’s jump in at the beginning, SHALL WE?
Here are the categories that the Comic Vault staff judged: Best letterer
Best colorer
Best one-shot
Best floppy re-issue (Walking Dead Weekly, DC Presents, etc)
Best canceled series
Best series that we’re not sure if it’s canceled or what
Best Limited Series
Best Original Graphic Novel
Best ongoing series that doesn’t come out real often (RASL, Infinite Vacation – basically, any Indie, pretty much.)
Best single page
Best sequence of panels
Best-written single issue
Best-drawn single issue
Best anthology series
Best story arc
Best publishing company
Best writer/artist
Best writer
Best artist
Best overall single issue
Best series
Best comic thing of the year of any sort
With out further ado, let the fairy tale, award show, train wreck begin……
(JOHN paces nervously in Comics Vault Tower, a one-story brownstone mounted high up near the heart of downtown Chicago, on top of the biggest antenna on Sears Tower. It looks like some kinda crazy cubic stone Dennis Miller sitting on top of John Holmes’s skyscraper building antenna from that one time that he co-owned a skyscraper with, oh, let’s say Jean-Paul Sartre.)
JOHN VELOUSIS: (To himself, like a crazy person) Come ON. Being on time means being ten minutes early or something. They’re probably together. Talking about me. Plotting against me. Calling me a “crazy person” in a pejorative way. I hate them so much! Why don’t they like me more?
ROGER RIDDELL III: Where is everybody?
JV: I’m right, here, Riddell.
RR: Where is everybody?
JV: I really do NOT want to start this, dude.
RR: Guys, I’m here!
JV: Roger, come on, we’ve had our dif-
RR: I’M RIGHT HERE! HELLOOOOOOO!
(JV sits and seethes. He and Roger pointedly don’t make eye contact. The 7:30 start-time comes and passes without any word from anyone else. 7:40 does this as well. Roger begins loudly playing that knife thing Lance Henriksen does in [amazon_link id=”B00012FXAE” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Aliens[/amazon_link]. At 7:45, John abruptly grabs the CB Radio microphone and yells into the speak-into-here part of it)
JV: This is just like Sunday all over again, fuck you all I hate you roundtable is canceled I hate you!
(NICK SANDILANDS enters through the hatch in the floor, carrying a box the size and shape of the one that had Gwyneth’s head in it in [amazon_link id=”B00464AVXW” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Seven[/amazon_link].)
NICK: Hey guys, I made food! Oh. Are you two, uhhhhh… I made food.
RR: Where is everybody?
JV: I will stab y-
(MIKE DEVIVO crashes through the window, swinging on a rope from something somehow.)
MIKE: YEAHHHHHHH!!!!!
JV: Why would you do that!? AGAIN!? The fricking oxygiiihhhggsha
(72 HOURS LATER)
RR: [amazon_link id=”B0024FAR5M” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Sons of Anarchy[/amazon_link] is fantastic. (JV Glares. Mike uses a pencil to itch under some of his bandage wrappings. Nick looks nervous.)
RR: As opposed to the snoozefest that the [amazon_link id=”B0049P1VHS” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Walking Dead[/amazon_link] has been.
JV: Never actually seen Sons of Anarchy, got S1 D1 in my Netflix kway-way.
RR: It’s addictive, Johnny.
JV: So’s meth. (long pause) I hear.
RR: First season starts out a little slow just because there’s a lot of exposition in the first couple of episodes, but it stays pretty consistently paced once it gets going.
MEGHAN WHITE: I’m here!
NICK: (Jumping) AAIEAHH!!!
MEG: Most of this stuff I just don’t really feel that strongly about, sooooo yeah.
(MATT SARDO taps on the window from the outside. He’s standing on the ledge.)
MATT: (Faintly, though he’s shouting.) I’m going to stay out here so Mike can’t destroy my oxygen again.
NICK: … Wh… ?
MEG: I flew here from France.
(John and Roger stare at each other in confusion. Roger mouths the words “Kill you.”)
MIKE: I’ll turn Ryan on! (He flips a switch on the Ryan device. A hologram of RYAN W DUELFER appears.)
RYAN: I’m making La-SAG-na! Oh wow, Meg’s here!
MATT: You have to start now! I’m your boss!
JV: BEST LETTERER!
(Long pause)
JV: I have no nominee.
RR: I DO.
MIKE: Neither do I. Come with it, Rog.
RR: ME!
JV: (Doing his totally sweet Asgard voice.) ROGER I COMMAND THEE TO SPEAKETH.
RR: I rewrite all the dialogue in my books. That’s why they all have great reviews.
NICK: If you notice the lettering you are a better man than I.
MATT: If I don’t notice your letters you’re doing a great job.
JV: Nobody has a letterer? Fuck em.
NICK: Aheh, I was wondering why Jason Aaron, Rick Remender, Fraction, and Slott all sounded the same!
RR: JOE CARAMAGNA IS BEST LETTERER
JV: Roger wins. FOR LATEST ANSWER.
RR: At least I had an answer.
JV: Okay, I’ll say Chris Eliopolous, just because Joe Caramagna is in the Vietcong. BEAT YA TWICE OVER!
RR: (Under his breath) I’ll beat you twice. Period.
Oh, big deal, so Dave Stewart used a lot of reds.
JV: BEST COLORER!
(Nobody says anything.)
JV: COLORER, BEST!
JV: Dave Stewart. His work in [amazon_link id=”1595828273″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Hellboy: The Fury[/amazon_link] took my breath away. And I hate my breath.
RR: Edgar Delgado.
MIKE: Gabe Eltaeb and Randy Mayor Green Lantern. Anybody who has to put that many different colors in a book and not have it look cluttered wins.
NICK: Colorer, meh. I couldn’t even name one
RR: ME – SECOND GRADE
JV: You don’t have to yell, we’re all right here in the same room. Except for Matt. And Ryan, kind of.
RYAN: Bettie Breitweiser, from [amazon_link id=”0785151230″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Captain America and Bucky[/amazon_link]. (Ryan then makes this “grrrrrr” rolling-tongue sound that the others pretend not to hear.)
The Duncan Fegredo Art doesn't totally suck either.
NICK: Can we be real for a second, does anyone really think anybody cares about Colorer, Letterer, Inker, etc?
JV: I cannot be real for a second. You completely miss the point of this exercise, and I don’t like your coat.
NICK: Shmobviously.
JV: BEST ONE-SHOT! GO!
NICK: Okay, okay, “pretend-real” then.
RYAN: [amazon_link id=”B0060GAOA4″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Fear itself 7.1[/amazon_link]. Does that… count as a one-shot?
JV: Sure, why not? Do what thou wilt, that shall be the whole of the law.
JV: Wait, no way is Spencer Marvel exclusive, ’cause he’s still doing Morning Glories. And Infinite Vacation, though the next issue probably won’t come out until his contract expires.
NICK: Creator owned!
JV: Mmmmmm. OH, also my Jimmy Olsen vote – uh, are these votes? – is tied with the [amazon_link id=”B0048GXMIE” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Hellboy/Beasts of Burden[/amazon_link] one-shot, which was quite awesome too.
RR: Oh shit…Did I read any one-shots this year? I know I did, but I don’t remember them.
MIKE: I did – Cyclops, and it was god-awful. It kept me away from every other one-shot after it that came out.
RR: Where Robbie Robertson’s kid beat up the Hobgoblin.
NICK: Bing-anigans
RR: And Norah Winters looked even dumber.
NICK: Ask Jeeves-anigans
RR: JEEVES IS DEAD
JV: Well, that’s what Nietzsche says.
NICK: Speaking of Jeeves, does anyone else think Alfred is a Hologram in the New 52?
RYAN: Are you being catty at me?
NICK: Or- no, I… or a robot? Alfred?
MIKE: Nope. (He pulls out a Bat-a-rang-looking thing and readies to toss it, probably at somebody’s face, but John wrestles him to the ground.)
NICK: Or Ultron?
RR: Alfred is Marvel Movieverse Jarvis. Bruce Wayne stole him while traveling through time.
NICK: Bwah!
RR: On the same trip where he bedded Mary Jane on the night of the Spider Wedding.
JV: BEST FLOPPY RE-ISSUE
MIKE: I liked DC’s reissues of classic 90’s and 80’s stories
JV: I yam caught between [amazon_link id=”0785148639″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Casanova: Gula[/amazon_link] or [amazon_link id=”B0055J9STK” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Batman: Irresistible[/amazon_link].
NICK: Oooh I forgot about those Mike! Screw Walking Dead Weekly, I change my answer!
JV: Any of you read the latter? It got no love at all anywhere, super-awesome Tony Harris art with a Tom Peyer script that somehow makes Batman hilarious while still being an utter badass.
Batman: Irresistible - letters by Kurt Hathaway, colors by JD Mettler.
MATT: Who buys re-issues?
JV: People who skipped a decade when good work was being published. And who like standing INSIDE buildings. Aren’t you cold?
MEG: [amazon_link id=”1607060760″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Walking Dead Weekly[/amazon_link], I guess. In France, the tables have machines that hold comics and turn the pages for you.
RR: Does the trade of [amazon_link id=”1592911315″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Neonomicon[/amazon_link] count as a reissue?
JV: NO.
MIKE: That is a firm response to that.
JV: That’s why I put the word “Floppy” in the category title.
RR: It’s been like a year since that series ended, so it can’t be best graphic novel. Although, it was pretty good, what with all the Chthulu rape scenes and whatnot.
JV: There is NO category for best Graphic Novel Re-issue of Stuff Previously Collected In Periodical Form. Deal with it!
RR: I don’t read any other reissues. I only buy first prints of back issues, or I’ll pick up trades if that’s too expensive.
JV: Then poo on your own hand like that guy did in the “[amazon_link id=”B00000FBH2″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]OZ[/amazon_link]” TV show.
RR: NO.
JV: (After pondering) Okay, I’ll respect your wish re: poo. Mike, do you have any specific DC Presents thing?
MIKE: I enjoyed the hell out of [amazon_link id=”B000WOVVC0″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Superman: Secret Identity[/amazon_link].
MIKE: I really enjoyed Red Robin. I liked what they did with Tim.
NICK: Tim was really headed down the paranoid insane Batman path.
MIKE: Which I enjoyed.
NICK: The Ra’s al Ghul plot was great.
MIKE: I liked that they were setting up Ras as his ultimate villain. No one is showing my pick Nova any love, huh?
JV: WE HATE NOVA HE IS STINKY AND LOOKS LIKE [a] FART [would look if one could see farts].
RR: o.O
MATT: I miss Nova. And [amazon_link id=”0785138196″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Immortal Iron Fist[/amazon_link] [which was canceled mid-2009] and [amazon_link id=”0785133380″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Guardians of the Galaxy[/amazon_link] [which ended in mid-2010, but I figured I’d bring them up just to be a pain in the balls for whoever is transcribing this shit]!
NICK: Never got a chance to check out Nova. Heard he is going to be involved [in some comics story-line in some way] in 2012 though. Unless I made that up.
RR: I never got a chance to check out Nova, either. Didn’t they kill him in [amazon_link id=”0785146008″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Secret Avengers[/amazon_link]?
NICK: Yeah he dead…
JV: No, he just kinda left Secret Avengers. Like Brubaker did. And every single plot that Brubaker had planned.
RR: He was a member until they went to Mars and he put [the knock-off Serpent Crown] on.
MIKE: Yep.
JV: He didn’t die in Secret Avengers, I mean
MIKE: He IS dead at this point.
JV: Right, okay.
MIKE: Or at least trapped in the cosmic cube with Thanos and Starlord.
RR: I was enjoying that book. I had to put no thought into it at all. And then it stopped mid-storyline and Image claims it’s just delayed. For the past year.
JV: The Baron Von Shock thing is real? Was he the guy from [amazon_link id=”0785125167″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Avengers: The Initiative[/amazon_link]?
RR: No. Baron Von Shock was an Image book written by Rob Zombie. It was weird and campy and terrible, but I enjoyed it because of that.
MATT: Did [amazon_link id=”B005HKL89K” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk[/amazon_link] finish?
JV: My answer is T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. I think. [Editorial note, 2 days later, John saw in an ad in some DC publication that the annoying-to-type T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was going to be wrapped up as a six-issue mini-series.] Batman, Incorporated WOULD be my answer, but [some DC insider that John thinks he’s BFFs with or something] says it ain’t canceled. BUT [the guy I know] may be fooling himself. I think DC is gonna totally fuck Grant Morrison and [B.I.’s talented but obscure artist] [amazon_link id=”1607064774″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Chris Burnham[/amazon_link]. In the bad way.
NICK: (Massively sarcastic) Even with the sweet new Jim Lee Darkseid redesign? Supposedly Batman, Incorporated is going to be renamed as Batman Leviathan and finished early 2012.
JV: NO WAY will it be finished early 2012. As of about a month ago, DC didn’t even have any scripts.
RR: But if that happens, Burnham can just write Captain America, Incorporated.
NICK: He has Body Armor!!!!
JV: PWAFFF
NICK: Captain America, Inc. Shh, you’re gonna give Marvel ideas!
RR: It’s not like they didn’t have a bunch of dudes trying to get that shield.
NICK: Will Captain America have Body Armor when Jim Lee redesigns him…
RYAN: [amazon_link id=”B005H0FO1I” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]X-Men: Schism[/amazon_link]. Me too!
MATT: Third vote here for [amazon_link id=”B005BTA500″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]X-Men Schism[/amazon_link], that or [amazon_link id=”0785151958″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Ultimate Captain America[/amazon_link].
MIKE: [amazon_link id=”0785149023″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Thanos Imperative[/amazon_link]. That book was written and drawn in Amazing Sauce.
NICK: Knight of Vengeance! The only good Flashpoint series. Azzarello and Risso! Martha Wayne as the Joker! Whaaaaaa!!!!!
RR: Schism or [amazon_link id=”0785158049″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Fear Itself: Spider-Man[/amazon_link]. That was the only Fear Itself book that I enjoyed.
JV: [amazon_link id=”0785151559″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Incognito: Bad Influences[/amazon_link] or [amazon_link id=”B005PHU0TE” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]BPRD: Monsters[/amazon_link] or [amazon_link id=”1595828257″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth[/amazon_link]. I like things with colons.
NICK: Didn’t read any of those, haven’t ever been a big X fan, but you know I am interested in reading even more so now that you guys like it so much.
JV: (In a way hot-assed Scottish accent) I dinnae read any of your answers either.
RR: [amazon_link id=”1592911099″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Crossed 3D[/amazon_link] was an interesting one-shot. I like turtles.
JV: Actually, now that [Martha Joker]’s been mentioned, I DID read issue 1 of [Knight of Vengeance], but not the rest. We all like turtles, I think it goes without saying.
RR: And I take back what I said about Fear Itself: Spider-Man being the only Fear Itself book I enjoyed. [amazon_link id=”0785158073″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Fear Itself: Deadpool [/amazon_link]was fun.
JV: Fear Itself: Deadpool TOTALLY rocked! Give it! (He and Roger high-five, then Roger uses the other hand to sucker-punch JV in the jaw.] AOOUW YOU COCK!
NICK: I didn’t read any of the Fear Itself tie-ins besides .1 and .2.
JV: BEST ORIGINAL GRAPHIC BONG AND / OR NOVEL
(Mike looks dead.)
JV: Is Mike dead? FUCK!
RR: The GN I’ve been thinking about writing is the best one.
MIKE: (Lying) Nope.
RR: HE’S GOT MACARONI COMA. (Earlier, Mike had eaten a LOT of macaroni and cheese. Like, a bowl the size of the box that Gwyneth Paltrow’s head was in at the end of [amazon_link id=”B001BPQT8A” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Seven[/amazon_link]. Which is really too much mac & cheese to eat in one sitting.)
NICK: Mac and Cheese coma shmobvs.
JV: DAMMIT!
NICK: Ahhhh!!!
MIKE: This is true.
RR: MACOMARONI.
NICK: Great minds Roger! (Roger punches Nick in the ear.) YACCH! WHAT THE FUCK!
MIKE: Shameless plug for [amazon_link id=”B0032Z4MJK” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Velveeta shells and cheese[/amazon_link]. (Stares at feet.) I made three boxes.
JV: I wanted to cook & eat your dead tattoo, Mike. (Long Pause) Is that weird?
NICK: Graphic Novel, if I don’t get laughed off the panel for it being too girly, [amazon_link id=”1401232914″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]New York Five[/amazon_link].
RYAN: My god, you are such a pussy.
JV: BEST ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL!!!!!!!
MIKE: I had a tough time with this one
RR: Does [amazon_link id=”1592911242″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Crossed 3D[/amazon_link] count?
JV: How would we know?
RR: It was a graphic novel.
MEG: Does [amazon_link id=”1934964379″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Stumptown[/amazon_link] count?
JV: NO! Listen, BEST. ORIGINAL. Right there, if it’s a collected series that was previously A SERIES, THEN IT’S NOT ORIGINAL!
MEG: Uh-HUH. (Steadily gives JV the stink-eye.)
MIKE: I want to just say Hickman’s [amazon_link id=”0785144226″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]S.H.I.E.L.D.[/amazon_link] because it reads much better that way.
JV: (Shouting… really starting to lose it.) I WANT PEOPLE TO OBSERVE PARAMETERS BUT I GUESS NOBODY [is] GONNA GET [the precise] THING [they’re seeking in this instance, you lousy] FUCKERS!
(Mike and Nick are laughing hard enough that their sides are clearly hurting. Matt has put his ear to the window to hear the rest better. It seems stuck.)
(2 HOURS LATER)
JV: [amazon_link id=”1934964441″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Petrograd[/amazon_link] is my answer. (He’s holding a blood-soaked t-shirt to his neck.)
JV: That wasn’t original, it was stolen from the Samuel Beckett play of the same name.
RR: I couldn’t believe DC released a cheap cash-in graphic novel adaptation of [amazon_link id=”1401219268″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Watchmen[/amazon_link].
JV: BEST ONGOING SERIES THAT DOESN”T COME OUT REAL OFTEN! (BASICALLY MOST ANY INDIE BOOK)
MEG: [amazon_link id=”0785152512″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Scarlet[/amazon_link].
MATT: Stuff of Legend is my favorite indie book! (He’s still in the same spot he was 2 hours ago, his ear is DEFINITELY stuck to the window.)
NICK: Scarlet by Bendis and Maleev, with Infinite Vacation a close, close, close second.
MIKE: Nick Spencer is on all kinds of crazy for [Infinite Vacation].
RR: [amazon_link id=”0785151036″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Amazing Spider-Man[/amazon_link], because it only comes out twice a month and that is not enough.
NICK: The art in that is crazy as well Mike.
MIKE: I agree, it’s pretty amazing.
JV: I really do enjoy Infinite Vacation, gotta say, but Godland is off-the-hook awesome.
MIKE: Water colors be damned.
JV: Is THAT how colors grow? (Long pause) You water them? (Long pause) Water colors? (Long pause) Hello?
MIKE: [amazon_link id=”B001QIGZX6″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Cape[/amazon_link] should get a mention as well. It has nothing to do with that cancelled NBC show.
NICK: Which was the worst thing ever, how did I watch 10 episodes of that?
MIKE: Has anyone checked out Cape? The comic has nothing to do with the [amazon_link id=”B004XM38CS” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]show[/amazon_link].
JV: Nossir. Uh, I wanna mention [amazon_link id=”B005OHT7DK” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Powers[/amazon_link] also. And RASL.
NICK: Powers… also soon to be a crappy TV show… Negative, but I love Joe Hill.
JV: I love Joe Mama. I really hope POWERS isn’t horrible.
NICK: Locke & Key has been a pretty great read. Sad that it’s going to be wrapped up soon.
JV: THAT series does intrigue me, gotta check it out.
NICK: I definitely highly recommend Locke & Key.
JV: None of us reads ANYTHING. We’re gonna look like complete assholes.
RR: Powers is going to be on FX, right?
NICK: Yeah, Powers on FX. What makes us great is that we all read different things! So when we come together we are like Voltron! (John is confused, he never read the thing with Voltron in it.)
JV: I get the impression more that when we come together we’re like bukkake.
JV: BEST SINGLE PAGE OR SPLASH PAGE OR 2-PAGE SPLASH, I’M FEELING LIBERAL NOW
RR: I used to think any original series FX aired would be fantastic, and then they aired that [amazon_link id=”B0065FFMR0″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]American Horror Story[/amazon_link] shit.
NICK: Matt’s nomination of Carl’s hole in his head was probably my favorite moment of The Walking Dead ever. To be honest, I had been pretty bored and contemplating dropping Walking Dead until that point.
RR: ASM 655 had the best splash page.
MIKE: Yeah that was brutal.
RR: With the cathedral. What’s the Walking Dead book like compared to the show?
MIKE: Different, which is a good thing.
RR: The show is pretty boring, and I’ve held off on getting into the book because of that.
MIKE: It keeps it interesting.
NICK: Definitely.
JV: I shall go with the Uncle Ben page [from ASM 655], but only the version with the captions removed. Or the cathedral. Or the Escher thing from [amazon_link id=”B005XZEBP2″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Secret Avengers 18[/amazon_link].
MIKE: I think people are giving the show too much flack.
JV: Rog, the Walking Dead book is 10,000,000% better. In every way that the show is cliched and predictable, the book is clever and inventive and original. They’re like opposites.
MIKE: Yep.
NICK: I haven’t watched the last two episodes, but the first two of this season were meh.
RR: They are terrible at doing flashbacks on the show.
RR: Sequence? The Shang-Chi fight from Secret Avengers 18.
NICK: Shang Chi!
David Aja with Raul Allen. Warren Ellis wrote it. I'll be your thug any time, Commander!
JV: That two-page six-panel fight thing was a total salute to Winsor McKay, but with bone-crunching violence added. But, like, the figure posing and the line-work was straight out of [amazon_link id=”1449576974″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Little Nemo in Slumberland[/amazon_link].
RYAN: From[amazon_link id=”0785156623″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ] Fear Itself #7[/amazon_link], Steve Rogers – Captain America – receives Mjolnir!
MATT: Walking Dead #83 again, when Rick hacks off his girlfriend’s hand to save him and Carl.
NICK: The death of Johnny Storm.
MATT: Yeah, the [amazon_link id=”0785151435″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Fantastic Four[/amazon_link] where the Human Torch dies is pretty good.
JV: I am going to go with the series of splash pages beginning Fables [amazon_link id=”B0056H0CTQ” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]#106[/amazon_link], first 9 pages. Amazing shit, as momentous and enormous as the dire threat that itself was jarringly and amazingly squelched by the sacrifice of Bigby’s father. Man, amazing issue.
EXACTLY. Mark Buckingham pencils, Steve Leialoha inks, Lee Loughridge colors, Todd Klein letters, Bill Willingham writes.
MIKE: Honestly best sequence for me was Green Lantern #67. Sinestro protecting Hal and then getting a GL ring out of nowhere was pretty cool.
NICK: GL 67 was pretty great, very unexpected.
MIKE: Yes. It was definitely a fitting end to that arc.
NICK: Excited to see how this resolves itself. I don’t buy the ending to GL#3.
MIKE: Me neither.
JV: BEST SURPRISE ENDING OR TWIST, I HAVE NO ANSWER BTW
RYAN: The ending of [amazon_link id=”B0064GH5KW” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Magneto: Not A Hero #1[/amazon_link] – The return of Joseph =]!!
JV: Yeah, uh, I read that and have no idea, who the eff is Joseph? I missed that era of super-history. Also, what the hell did you just do with your head?
RYAN: Joseph was a clone of Magneto created in the mid-90’s. Everyone believed him to be Magneto, amnesic from the fall of Avalon and Xavier wiping his mind clean. He sacrificed himself during “the [amazon_link id=”B002Q6ULKK” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Magneto War[/amazon_link]” years later. And I smiled broadly, sideways.
MIKE: Batman #1 with Joker getting his face ripped off and nailed to the wall was a “Holyshit!” moment if I ever saw one.
NICK: Joker face-off is pretty good.
FAVORITE CHARACTER
RR: Spider-Man. Although, I feel more like a Wolverine guy these days.
NICK: Batman.
JV: Character. Huh. I dunno. I’m gonna go with the tilde. No, wait, I’m going to go with a dark horse here – Finesse from Avengers Academy. Her actions and words rock nearly every issue, from her Sherlock Holmes act in the “point one” issue to her heroism in the Fear Itself storyline conclusion. Also, her haircut is really the right one for her head, I think.
(Nobody says anything for a really long time.)
RYAN: James Buchanan Barnes.
(Nobody says anything for a REALLY long time.)
JV: BEST-WRITTEN SINGLE ISSUE
MIKE: Nick Spencer’s creation of the first issue of [amazon_link id=”B004IAF1A2″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Infinite Vacation[/amazon_link]. Seriously huge ideas happening in that book.
JV: Is that the only comic you read last year? (JV’s deliberately standing out of Matt’s view because he knows Matt can’t move his head.)
NICK: Best Single Issue [amazon_link id=”B0054YSXRY” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Amazing Spider-Man #655[/amazon_link].
RR: ASM 655.
JV: You’re all not wrong here. But I say it’s issue [amazon_link id=”B005BSX0RQ” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]#2 of Hellboy: The Fury[/amazon_link]. It’s unusual for the MIDDLE issue of a miniseries to be the best one, but THAT one was a game-changer. Mike Mignola pulled out all the stops, with callbacks a-plenty, amazing and dramatic mood changes, and a stunning narrative device that worked to perfection: Hellboy is fighting the Dragon, who is telling Hellboy of its invincibility – the Dragon’s INEVITABILITY.
JV: Suddenly, the word balloons become caption boxes, and the result blows away these words’ poor power to add to or detract from its impact.
(Everybody pretty much ignores JV and talks while he’s rambling – muttering, really.)
NICK: But haven’t you seen [amazon_link id=”B00005V1WW” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The One[/amazon_link], Mike? Not the One Mike, but The One, Mike. Similar idea…
MIKE: The terrible Jet Li film?
NICK: Turrible, turrible.
JV: BEST-DRAWN SINGLE ISSUE
RR: Amazing Spider-Man #655
JV: Tie between ASM 655 & Secret Avengers 18
NICK: Secret Avengers 18! Or ASM 655! BASTARDS! At least we all know great art.
JV: Mike luvs [amazon_link id=”B005LJITS0″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Green Lantern[/amazon_link]. Hey Mike, marry Green Lantern.
MIKE: Seriously, Mahnke delivered in that book.
JV: More like WANKY!
MIKE: It felt huge in scope. I enjoy a well-drawn book. Which GL #67 is.
JV: Seriously, if we go to C3P2D2, let’s start a fist fight.
RR: If CBR decides to pay me to cover C2E2 again, I might be torn
JV: New asshole for you will be torn by me in fist fight.
JV: BEST ANTHOLOGY SERIES
JV: [amazon_link id=”B005NJ0K2G” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Dark Horse Presents[/amazon_link]. Very welcome in its return to the world.
MIKE: I don’t have a horse in the anthology race.
NICK: I’m with Mike, no answers.
JV: Okay, fuck dat. I just, uh, wanted to give DHP some love without actually, y’know, reviewing it.
RR: If we go to C2E2, I call dibs on cosplaying as Kraven.
RR: NOBODY cosplays as Kraven.
JV: MOST PROMISING NEW SERIES (“NEW 52” DIVISION)
MIKE: Animal Man. Really, a tie between that and Swamp Thing. Just because they are both contributing to a larger story.
JV: Is there a list of these somewhere?
NICK: Here’s a link. (Hands JV a sausage link.) I’ll also say Animal Man.
RR: I don’t read DC except for Batman graphic novels. I have too much on my pull list to add the Batman books.
MIKE: I can’t wait ’til they release it in trade. I just want to mow through it again.
NICK: [amazon_link id=”B00559VS6G” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Uncanny X-Force[/amazon_link], the [amazon_link id=”B005EBZNDY” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Dark Angel Saga[/amazon_link] so far!
RYAN: Ditto on the [amazon_link id=”B0050VGIMS” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Dark Angel Saga[/amazon_link]!
Esad Ribic's covers for Uncanny X-Force are all neat-o keen-o.
RR: I need to re-read [amazon_link id=”B005JF4GAG” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Dark Angel Saga[/amazon_link].
MIKE: So far that’s been amazing too.
RR: I keep getting lost during the month-long breaks.
NICK: I’m excited to see it wrapped up.
MIKE: Me too, it’s got one issue left.
RR: I hate that it’s wrapping after they already announced the new X-teams, now everyone knows who dies, if it wasn’t already obvious.
NICK: Yeah, I was reading a Rick Remender interview today, it talks about Psylocke and Wolverine being on opposite sides, and having it explained in #19.
JV: BEST PUBLISHING COMPANY
RR: Marvel
JV: Who gives a fuck? Why did I make THIS a category?
MATT: I like DC for their rolling back of prices.
MIKE: DC for actually pulling of the New 52 successfully, and the price rollback.
RYAN: DC (price cuts!)
MEG: DC wins this year.
NICK: DC – Drawing the line at $2.99! Next year, whoever drops $1 off their digital comics from store cost.
JV: BEST COMBO WRITER / ARTIST
MEG: J.H Williams III.
MIKE: J.H Williams III. Batwoman is insanely good. Like, I’m impressed he’s been able to keep the quality of the art up.
NICK: J.H. Williams III is a solid choice.
Art? J.H. Williams III - colors by Dave motherfuckin' Stewart!
JV: Eric Powell ([amazon_link id=”1595823468″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Goon[/amazon_link]) or Jeff Smith ([amazon_link id=”1888963204″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]RASL[/amazon_link])
RR: I like Slott, Remender and Aaron. Can’t decide for sure. Slott’s ASM has been phenomenal.
JV: HUH? LISTEN TO THE FUCKING CATEGORY!
MIKE: This is for a writer who is also the artist.
NICK: Jagass.
RR: Oh.
JV: I GONNA SUE YOU!
RR: I’m not paying attention…[amazon_link id=”B003L77GK6″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Sons of Anarchy[/amazon_link] is about to come on [my face.]
MIKE: (Who has been huffing furniture polish for the last 5 pages, BTW) Which logically means make you agree with me and say [amazon_link id=”B005I63N5A” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Batwoman[/amazon_link].
NICK: I like that Batwoman is going to be one of the Hardcover releases.
MIKE: Me too. Uh, anybody want some furniture polish? I forgot I was hogging.
JV: BEST WRITER
RR: SLOTT!
MEG: Scott Snyder.
NICK: Rick Remender!
RYAN: Jason Aaron (X-Men Schism, Wolverine and the X-Men, [amazon_link id=”0785147853″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Wolverine[/amazon_link].)
MATT: Jason Aaron.
MIKE: Scott Snyder.
RR: OR REMENDER OR AARON!
MIKE: Remender is a close second.
NICK: [amazon_link id=”0785158111″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Venom[/amazon_link], [amazon_link id=”B005TLUJXS” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]X-Force[/amazon_link], [and now that Mike is sharing his polish, I’ll pretend Remender’s also written] [amazon_link id=”0785152555″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Secret Avengers[/amazon_link].
JV: JEFF PARKER! And / or the Mignola-Arcudi team.
NICK: Slott would be my close second, Bendis would be third.
MIKE: Batman, Detective, American Vampire, Swamp Thing. Snyder has been a beast this year.
JV: Nick Spencer would run away with it if not for his Marvel crap.
RR: Slott has done the best ASM since Michelinie.
NICK: Fraction would be here, if he didn’t unleash a stinkbomb called [amazon_link id=”B0060GWOGG” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Fear Itself[/amazon_link].
JV: Right.
NICK: Snyder has been awesome.
MIKE: Agreed. I agree with my own vote.
NICK: And higher. [??]
RR: Bendis gets on my nerves a lot.
NICK: He is too talky, but he does great dialogue.
JV: I like BMB.
RR: [amazon_link id=”B0063U5RS6″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]New Avengers 18[/amazon_link] didn’t need an entire issue of the same character set-ups over and over and over.
JV: Yeah, he DOES waste a lot of time.
MIKE: [amazon_link id=”0785148728″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]New Avengers[/amazon_link] has become Real World: Avengers Mansion.
NICK: [amazon_link id=”0785151699″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Moon Knight[/amazon_link] is a book everyone should be reading!
JV: BEST ARTIST
RR: Marcos Martin.
MEG: Shit, this could go to Jock, Francavilla, Nicola Scott for existing, JFC I can’t decide!
MIKE: Artist would be Travel Foreman right now.
JV: It would be if Marcos Martin died right now. Travel the fuck outta here with that damn shit!
Same art team as the Cathedral, with letters by VC's Joe Caramagna. But art by THE BEST ARTIST OF 2011, from THE BEST COMIC OF 2011, probably.
MIKE: Or, I love [amazon_link id=”B005XFYPBW” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Thunderbolts[/amazon_link] when Kev Walker’s on it.
NICK: Cliff Chiang is the best artist right now.
NICK: Shame he isn’t working on more stuff.
MIKE: He gets an honorable mention. And hey, Travel Foreman does some pretty cool stuff.
RR: I’m starting to dig Humberto Ramos, although some of his art is still way too anime-ish for me to dig on a 616 (the “main” shared Marvel Universe) book.
NICK: Yeah, I dig Ramos too. His Spider-Island stuff was good.
RR: Yeah. (Suddenly punches Nick in the kidney.) He’s developed a nice balance between that anime style and more cartoonish realism.
MIKE: It’s still funny and odd in all the right ways.
JV: Likewise, Vertigo and Wildstorm are DC Comics.
MIKE: CHEW, guys? [Here, the transcriber has deleted Mike’s Ben Stein shtick from some [amazon_link id=”B000BNX4MC” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]shit[/amazon_link] John Hughes movie.]
MIKE: I want that to be a showtime series, with John Goodman as Savoy.
NICK: I only read it by trade, but it is a great read. It’s one of those books that I tell my wife to read, and she usually hates everything I suggest comic-wise, and she read the first trade and was like, “When can I read the next trade?” It passes the wife test!
MIKE: Cool.
JV: Invincible or Atomic Robo or Mignolaverse stuff ([amazon_link id=”1595827579″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Hellboy[/amazon_link] and [amazon_link id=”1595827560″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]BPRD[/amazon_link] and [amazon_link id=”1595829253″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Abe Sapien[/amazon_link] miniseries.)
JV: [amazon_link id=”0785155783″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]HULK[/amazon_link]. Or [amazon_link id=”0785152210″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Thunderbolts[/amazon_link]. Jeff Parker has not sucked yet, not even once.
RR: ASM or [amazon_link id=”0785158871″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]X-Force[/amazon_link].
MIKE: I would say [amazon_link id=”0785157980″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Thunderbolts[/amazon_link], but Kev’s art is half of it and he was never consistently there.
RR: [amazon_link id=”0785151389″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Deadpool[/amazon_link] is still fun, though.
NICK: Best Vertigo – [amazon_link id=”1401233333″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]American Vampire[/amazon_link]. Best Icon -[amazon_link id=”0785152512″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ] Scarlet[/amazon_link].
MIKE: Scott Snyder continues to roll on.
JV: BEST COMIC THING OF ANY SORT OF THE YEAR
MIKE: Archie comics putting out a [amazon_link id=”1897376162″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Megaman[/amazon_link] comic book counts for me. Being serious here. I’m a Capcom fanboy.
MATT: I love my new[amazon_link id=”B004ZHDI80″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ] Thor hammer key chain[/amazon_link]! It is really heavy and hurts if I hit you with it.
JV: President Axe Cop’s prayer to God at the end of [amazon_link id=”1595828257″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Bad Guy Earth #3[/amazon_link]. No, wait – I change my vote to Sammy Braddy!
MIKE: Our collective talents being brought together by Matt to form this.
MATT: Thanks! OW!
JV: Mike wins! OKAY NOW LEAVE, A-HOLES!
(No Comics Vault writer was ever seen alive again – OR WERE THEY?)
UPDATE: (4:18 PM CST Nov. 22, 2011) Cosmic Book News has taken down the image.
Matt McGloin the editor and publisher of Cosmic Book News posted the last page of Fantastic Four #600 which spoils the end of the story. Is this a problem?
The picture also has the Cosmic Book News logo on it so that no one can use the image. The problem with the post is there is no review to go with the image, just the generic description of the issue put out by Marvel Comics. Do you consider this journalism? Should the industry implement rules for releasing images? Retailers have new books on Tuesday but can’t sell them till Wednesday morning.
No one at Marvel Comics would go on record to comment on the situation. The best I could get is a “Bummer,” from Ryan Penagos the editorial director of Marvel.com.
Comicvine.com is trying to avoid spoilers till they read the issue. John Siuntres of Wordballoon.com wasn’t excited to here the news. Jonathan Hickman replied to the Comic Vault through twitter with this to say.
Jonathan Hickman
@comicvault – I don’t care. It was going to get out there. Besides it’s not the reveal that matters…
Jonathan Hickman
@comicvault – plus I haven’t read that article, so I’m not sure ‘which’ spoiler is being spoiled
2 minutes ago
Did you read that?! ‘Which’ spoiler? Hickman is a crafty man.
Venom #9
Writer: Rick Remender
Art: Stefano Caselli and Frank Martin, Jr.
Venom #9 picks up during the aftermath of “Spider-Island.” New Yorkers are running through the streets, frightened. After all, the city just found itself waking up naked after being turned into giant spider creatures.
Flash Thompson, meanwhile, is still trying to absorb his father’s death two issues ago, let alone the citywide catastrophe he just helped solve. Oh, and that he’s playing host to the Venom symbiote, which has its own ideas of justice and has a habit of turning people into monsters.
It really doesn’t make matters any better that a guy calling himself “the Hijacker” is driving an “impenetrable” tank through the city to rob banks, running over anyone and anything in his way, while the cops literally have their pants down. Especially not when Flash witnesses him run over an innocent security guard.
But it gets worse. A lot worse.
This issue has a really dark moment that pushes Flash over the edge, and for a while, he’s totally consumed by the Venom symbiote. Interestingly enough, he’s drawn closer to the Eddie Brock incarnation of Venom than the Mac Gargan one that has been around for most of the last decade. The eyes-in-the-middle-of-eyes on the Gargan Venom always kind of bothered me, so this is a welcome change.
Come to think of it, I can’t remember which Venom design they used the last time the symbiote took complete control…
Remender delivers another excellent issue of Venom, making symbiotes more interesting than they’ve been since the early ’90s. He isn’t afraid to go too dark with the tone of the story, and it really helps that he doesn’t do it just for the sake of seeing how far he can go. All of this serves a purpose of playing on Flash’s inner turmoil — his sans-symbiote problems as well as the problems he has as a result of the struggle with the alien creature.
Stefano Casseli and Frank Martin, Jr. deliver some of the most beautiful art on this book yet, which is really saying a lot if you’ve seen the previous eight issues. It pops when it needs to, and the facial expressions and body language deliver exactly what they need to.
It will be interesting to see where this book goes, especially now that Venom has been announced as a member of the Secret Avengers once Remender takes that book over in a few months.
Story: 9/10
Art: 9.5/10
[amazon_link id=”B0068OPQ9M” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]BUY Venom #9 on Amazon[/amazon_link]
Scott Snyder continues to show that he’s not done adding layers to both Gotham City and Bruce Wayne’s troubled family tree. It’s as if he’s been plotting Batman stories since he was five years old . Snyder takes us to Gotham City circa 1922 where we are introduced to Alan Wayne who has become delirious and is muttering about Owl’s and how they are nesting in his home. Unfortunately for Alan his crazed state causes him to misstep an open man-hole cover and fall to his death.
Snyder has an amazing talent of using history and bits of dialogue to tie into his story beats happening in the present. Batman has decided that the only way The Owl from last issue could have infiltrated his building was through the train tunnel lines . Which leads to a brush with the Whisper Gang . Snyder spends most of the fight explaining why the Whisper Gang are a very serious threat to Batman. Mean while Capullo’s pencils continue to prove that he has an amazing grasp on what makes Batman so imposing . The fight is kinetic and fast paced . Capullo draws Batman like a force of nature . He fights with reckless abandon , and Snyder’s always coming up with creative toys for Batman to use. Each issue thus far has had a holy s#!t moment , this issues moment involves a passing train and a well placed magnet. I don’t want to spoil it for you but I was smiling from ear to ear .
Bruce realizes that the tunnel’s are a dead-end in his investigation and heads back to the Bat Cave. In the cave Alfred informs Bruce of his Ancestor Alan and his obsession with Owl’s in his last years. Snyder tells us that Alan was a superstitious man , in fact he was one of the first men to decide to cut the 13th floor from each building he built. However being the superstitious man that he was he made sure to leave one small floor in its place in each building. This bit of information along with Batman telling us the readers about the territorial habits of Owl’s makes for one hell of a twist ending to this issue. It appears that the Court of Owls have set up shop in the vacant 13th floor of every Building built or funded by Alan Wayne since the early 1920’s
You get a sense that Batman is in over his head , and Capullo draws the last scenes of the book with great attention to detail. Seeing Bruce slowly realize that he’s in over his head is a great way to end this issue . Snyder and Capullo continue to tell a very entertaining and satisfying story. Whats more incredible is that the two compliment each other extremely well. This book is fun , creative and is worth every penny of its $2.99 selling price. Highly Recommended!
Deadpool #46
Writer: Daniel Way
Art: Salva Espin and Guru eFX
At the end of the last issue, Deadpool was standing on a bridge talking to a man who was thinking about jumping killing himself. The man didn’t have the nerve to kill himself, so he had just asked Deadpool to do it for him.
If you’ve kept up, Deadpool’s healing factor (and the “curse of immortality” placed on him by Thanos) keeps him from dying. [And people totally always want the one thing they can’t have, amiright?]
Anyways, an “Evil” Deadpool [with a freakin’ sweet backwards left arm] had formed from dismembered body parts in the meantime, and Evilpool hijacked a jet and crashed it into a bridge.
The same bridge Deadpool and the jumper had stood on.
After surviving the explosion AND the fall, the would-be jumper decides he doesn’t want to die anymore and swims to shore, leaving Deadpool to finish his trip to New Jersey for his favorite chimichangas. This, of course, further establishes Deadpool’s insanity, as nobody in their right mind should ever willingly want to go to New Jersey — especially just for a chimichanga.
[Hey! We agree on something for a change!]
[Shut up and stop crashing my Deadpool reviews, inner monologue!]
[No! I am you and me and you are we! You cannot escape!]
[$#!@*&%&#*$@!*&*@^%@&#*]
Unfortunately, Evilpool, who parachuted from the aforementioned bridge-bound plane, got to those chimichangas first. And he blew the place up.
Poor Deadpool.
Through his disappointment, however, he realizes that there’s only one person who would do something like this…HIM! Naturally, he turns around and Evilpool is standing across the street.
This leads into some great Tom & Jerry-esque panels where two characters who think one step ahead of each other [They are, you know, technically the same guy] find new ways to maim one another. Of course, when you’re using heavy artillery in the middle of Jersey, federal authorities are bound to be brought in [because Jersey needs to be protected, too…for some reason] because the powers that be want the next issue to have a guest star.
Daniel Way’s writing on this title continues to be fun and well-paced. Deadpool isn’t supposed to be too serious, and Way is well aware of that. The cartoonish slapstick elements of this issue bring to mind the Deadpool vs. Bullseye storyline from a few years ago, and that’s always a good thing — even though that magic would be hard to recreate. Of course, Salva Espin and Guru eFX really compliment that slapstick with the book’s animated-but-realistic-enough art.
Deadpool remains a solid choice for anyone who wants a fun ride with little-to-no thought required.
Story: 8.5/10
Art: 9/10
[amazon_link id=”B0066UR3L2″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]BUY Deadpool #46 on Amazon[/amazon_link]
Amazing Spider-Man #674
Writer: Dan Slott
Art: Giuseppe Camuncoli, Klaus Janson and Frank D’Armata
In the wake of Spider-Island, a rash of apparent teen suicides has broken out across New York City. The cops assume these suicides are the result of kids who had a taste of spider powers during the “spider virus” incident trying to jump and/or swing from buildings. New York’s Finest are also none too happy that they turned into giant spiders and had webs coming out of their butts.
Naturally, this means the NYPD doesn’t care too much for Spidey. Again.
On the first page of the book, we see one of these “jumpers” going splat near the arch in Brooklyn. Longtime Spidey fans will notice, however, that this goth kid plummeting to his death has some rather familiar wing-like tech. I wonder how the cops missed that bit.
If you’re not entirely new to this, then you already knew from the shadow on the book’s cover that the Vulture was back. When and how Adrian Toomes escaped from the Raft at Ryker’s Island is still a mystery, but that’s where he was at the last time we saw him nearly 100 issues ago. Speaking of which, what happened to the newer Vulture that debuted in that same storyline? One can imagine that the younger, acid-spitting, Predator-jawed, all-around more monstrous Vulture isn’t going to like sharing the skies with Toomes and these newer, gothier Vulturions (They haven’t been called that…yet. But I’m old enough to remember those guys.)
Anyhow, this issue also touches on Spider-Man’s spider sense being back and what a crucial part of his power set it really is. Of course, this is set up for the developments on the following pages with the Kingpin, Hobgoblin and their inside man at Horizon Labs. It didn’t take Slott long at all to start weaving in new subplot threads after the biggest event of his career. There’s a reason he’s the best Amazing Spider-Man writer since Michelinie, and this is it. Let’s just hope his run with the book is as long and influential.
On the art front, Giuseppe Camuncoli delivers big time. Along with Klaus Janson’s inks and Frank D’Armata’s color job, this is right up my alley stylistically. I’ve been a sucker for realism since I was a kid, and this definitely works for the gritty, creepy direction they’re taking Vulture in.
My only complaint here involves the lightsaber scythe things that the Vulturions carry. I can suspend disbelief for a lot of things (including that ridiculous fire sword that Hobgoblin carries now), but lightsaber scythes are kind of beyond my threshold. Can’t criminals, you know, just carry knives or something?
Overall, though, Slott continues his stellar run on the book.
Story: 9/10 (Those lightsaber scythe things drop it down a notch.)
Art: 10/10
Monster Dudes is a self published comic book written by Dave Scheidt with art by Matt Fagan, two local Chicago creators.
Monster Dudes #1 is wacked-out tales of your favorite monsters living the everyday life. The teen wolf always has to get a hair-cut and Sasquatch has more than a few crappy jobs. This book is great to just relax and read a few stories. It reminds me of all the great cartoons in Mad Magazine. Monster Squad is one of my favorite movies, Monster Dudes keeps the memories alive.
“Most of the inspiration though comes from every day life and just me and Matt being huge weirdos and making stories that make us both laugh,” Dave Scheidt describes his thinking process.
In 2012, Scheidt and Fagan hope to have a very successful convention schedule.
Monster Dudes #1 is available in these stores in Chicago.
Alternate Reality Comics
3149 West 111th Street
Chicago, Il, 60655, IL 60655-2205
(773) 881-4376
Brainstorm Comics
1648 W. North Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 384-8721
Challengers Comics + Conversation
1845 N Western Ave # 2R
Chicago, IL 60647-6646
(773) 278-0155
Chicago Comics
3244 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 528-1983
Evil Squirrel Comics
6928 N Glenwood Ave
Chicago, IL 60626
(773) 338-0899
Alleycat Comics
5304 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 907-3404
Quimby’s Books
1854 West North Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 342-0910
Graham Crackers
77 E Madison St
Chicago, IL 60602
(312) 629-1810
Gmart Comics
2641 N Kedzie Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 531-4847
Issue four picks up immediately where issue three left off, with the kids finding out about Spidey being shot. Miles feeling a bit of Spider responsibility takes off and ends up witnessing the *SPOILERS* Death of Peter Parker, from the last Ultimate series. Pichelli’s art is particularly great here, especially conveying the satisfaction on Peter’s face as that even though he’s dying he saved Aunt May, and Aunt May’s silent tears as Peter passes.
Miles and Ganke end up having a discussion about responsibility as he comes to grips with the fact that he was given these powers for a reason, and he should have been there to help. Ganke interjects that maybe he is supposed to take Peter’s place (shades of Madame Web anyone? Web of Spiders? Funny how that is tying into the discussion at the end of ASM #673 (SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT: Read Roger’s review here! Do it! Now! Then come back!)
Miles continues down the slippery slope of realizing the great power comes great responsibility and attends Peter’s funeral. He ends up having a conversation with Gwen Stacey, who actually finally (briefly!) has the great power, great responsibility speech with him, and finds out why Peter wore a mask. (Because it looked cool, duh. And maybe he didn’t want anyone to know who he was.)
Than finally, almost three four full issues into the series, we get the money shot. Miles in his friend’s Spider-Man Halloween costume, which lands him some action that we only get to read about in a mock Daily Bugle cover, which rips into him, as a Spidey impostor who is impersonating in bad taste. The issue ends with him getting familiar with his Spidey sense (like how he refers to it as “head buzzing”) and getting asked just “Who the @#$@ do you think you are???” by Spider-Girl.
I’m pleased that we finally get to see Miles in costume, and we managed to get the character development across as well. Bendis seems to be hopefully turning into a faster pace, and maybe by issue six we may get to see him in his real costume, fighting super-villians instead of just reading about reports of him fighting super-villains.
Pichelli’s art continues to be amazing, the little details in the difference between the real Spider-Man costume and the Halloween costume are great, and again she does a fantastic job with the facial emotions.
