Nowhere Men #1

Nowhere Men #1

W: Eric Stephenson

P: Nate Bellegarde

C: Jordie Bellaire

I love #1 issues. They open up with such promise and possibility. Each opened page could lead to the next book that I will love. Another thing that is great about #1 issues, especially for an unemployed vagrant such as myself, is a lot of them are free if you catch it at the right time on the Comixology show. The comic industry has learned a lot from the narcotics trade. If you are willing to give the consumer that first taste for free, and provide them with a quality product, you will have them hooked and wanting to spend more money on subsequent issues. This is especially true for books like Nowhere Men, which has a relatively unknown creative team (despite Stephenson having worked on many popular image books, and himself is a big wig at the company) and a fresh idea.

Nowhere Men starts out with a flashback set up years in the past. We see four brilliant scientist coming together to present an idea to a global organization. Flashback can be overused in comics. They can drag on for pages and really hinder a story. This is not one of those flashbacks. This last about 4 pages, shows one simple scene, and is just enough to let you know the personalities of the main characters in the book. The other great thing this book does is after a who's who style page right after to truly catch the reader up. 

The story then fast forwards. The Nowhere men are now the head of a corporation. There is a rift and the age old debate on whether scientific advances should be done for profit or simply for the good of man.  Simon, the leader, believes the profit will bring them forward to more advancements, but not everyone on the team agrees. 

We then meet the team being funded by the Nowhere Men. They have issues and seem to all be infected with some horrible pathogen out of every science fiction nightmare. I would think that future issues will jump between stories of the nowhere men that are funding the exploration, and the infected that were being funded. 

I thought this book was extremely well done, and if I had the money I would love to continue reading it. It does seem that this book suffers from a lot of the same things that most image books suffer from, horrible delays. This issue was released in November of last year and the next issue is not supposed to be out until July. I will definitely be looking for a comixology le on this though as I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

I'm baaaaa-aaaaack

Long time no speak. A lot has happened since you last heard from me. I had a podcast, and hope to start that again called the F BombCast. I Had a job and lost that too. Most importantly to this blog, I really slowed down on my comic reading. This is not because I wasn't enjoying it, I still love comics and the medium. This was mainly due to the statement just before. I lost my job. Comic books are expensive, especially reading them on the level that I was. Anyone who says that comic books are a child's hobby, either know some independently wealthy or spoiled kids, or have no clue what they are talking about (I think it is the latter).

Also in this time frame I have gotten an iPad. I love my iPad and I tried reading comics digitally. I never thought I would like this. I've always been a more traditional guy in all aspects of my life, and I thought comics would be no different. Boy was I wrong. Everything is dependent on the app since each have their own different way to read, and I cannot stand some of them. This is why I will never read a Dark Horse comic digitally. The reading experience is horrible in my opinion. The top of the stack is Comixology with their guided view technology. This is perfect for me and luckily for me 90% of publishers are with them. Last is amazon with their hybrid of comixology and its own system. In a pinch I can use this and have, but I still prefer comixology. 

The other great thing about digital comics is the sales and the free comics.  So many of the smaller publishers offer free first issue and discounts to older comics as low as 99 cent issues. The big two have sales as well, with Marvel usually running a sale twice a week, and DC automatically discounting its comics that are over a month old.

Here is the plan, folks, I am poor as dirt right now, but I have accumulated a lot of these free and discounted issues. I am going to try and get back into the space of writing reviews and more importantly reading comics. I plan to do at least one review a week (hopefully more). That being said, since I cannot afford new issues, these will mostly be older stuff. 

Thanks for reading and it feels good to say again Thank God It's Wednesday. 

My Haul

Well This week I actually only had one book at the shop so i decided to be a good boy and wait till next week to pick this up. I know that i have no self control so i would pick up a trade or two and spend way more then i would normally spend if I had a bunch of comics.

My one and only book was the new Green Lantern

Anyway What i will post here is what will be in My DCBS box that is coming this Friday.

DC

Tor #3

Final Crisis Requiem #1

Action Comics #867

Boster Gold #1000000

Reign in Hell #1

Final Crisis Rogues Revenge #1

Ambush bug Year None#1

Green Lantern Corps #26

Justice LEague #23

Marvel

Astonishing X-Men #25

Captain America #40

Invincible Iron Man #3

Thor #10

War is Hell #5

Punisher #59

Criminal Vol 3 Dead and Dying

Indie

Sword #9

totem #6

Echo #4

Zorro #5

Star Wars rebellion #15 (vector part 7)

Liberty Comics (CBLDF One Shot)

Ultra Vol 1 Seven Days

Magazines

Previews

Back Issue #29

Toys

Mantle/Marris two pack from McFarlane Toys

I am really looking forward to the Reign in hell series.  I am hoping that they re introduce Etrigan in a big fucking way. I really see no other reason for them to go crazy and release the omnibus for this character otherwise.  i mean i really think that I am one of six people that have actually asked for it because we are Demon fans.  This character was left a shambles but the cock sucker that is john byrne.  I am also really looking forward to Ambush Bug because there is nothing better then a company that has the ability to poke fun at itself. And lastly, I cannot wait to read the trade Ultra.  This is the first book that the Luna Brothers put out for Image and a lot of people have told me that if you like Sword you will really like ultra.  Well I love the sword so I think i amy need a change of pants after Ultra.

Thats all for now Folks

Talk to y'all later,

TJ

My Haul

Hey all This has been the week from hell:

What i got this week:

Countdown
Batman
Green Lantern
Superpowers
Action comics

Well this week started off with Me being sick on monday Tuesday i found out about Brother Mikes Death, Wednesday was the wake, Thursday the wife threw out her back so i had to go home early to take care of the kid, Today we had an ice storm and i fell at work but not good enough to go home and in the process spilt my starbucks all over myself. Yeah thank god this weeks over.

Oh But the best thing i have ever purchased came yesterday. XBox 360. I want to explain my laziness to all of you. I have been debating to get this system for a while now. I really didn't have the money but i am not responsible so that did not matter to me as long as i could hide the expense from the wife. After talking it over with a bunch of friends who have the system i was still slightly on the fence (but my fat ass was slowly falling towards the side of buying it). Well my birthday came and went i a got enough money to actually buy it and what threw me over the fence was my friend Joe explaining to me that you can turn the console off and on from the controller. Man what a useless fuck i am. It wasn't the great games, The graphics, The sound that sold the system to me but the fact that i didn't have to pick my fat ass off the couch in order to turn the system on. If that is not the epitome of laziness that i don't know what is.

Oh yeah if any of you want to join me on Live my gamertag is mrpalmer420.

Talk to you later

TJ

Amazing Spiderman #546

Todays review is of Amazing Spiderman #546

This is written by Dan Slott and the art is by Steve McNiven.

The art has blown me away. McNiven needs to do more work (as long as he can keep a schedule). He really knows how to draw both peter and Spidey. And i don't know if it is because of the last arc but I am loving the lighter tone to the art. Seriously does Joe Q have stock in a black marker company.

The writing was as amazing as the art. The only other Dan Slott book that i have ever read was Arkham Asylam Living Hell and i felt that was just Meh. (I just realized that an expression like meh should never have a exclamation point. I mean who would scream something like that.) Slott mixes in a perfect amount of comedy, action and drama into this comic.

OK The story. Man was a ready to hate this. I really wanted to despise this comic and run screaming to the internets telling people that jumped off of Spiderman that they made the right choice. I really wanted to be done with this comic after my preorders were done. Well ................................ I loved it (did you expect me to say anything else after that many ellipsis.) Thank god i had this preordered because after the mess that was One more day i surely would have told my retailer to stop putting this piece of shit in my box. What you need to do is go into this with a fresh outlook on Spidey. As long as you can forget the past to any certain degree then you should enjoy the Fuck out of this comic. Peter is back to being a lovable loser. he lives with his aunt with no job because he left (or was fired i don't remember) from the Bugle. Spidey has been out of commission for a while and without peter working there the Bugle is in a lot of trouble of folding. Harry is still alive and they explain his disappearance as him living in Europe and running a company over there. They go out clubbing and Peter is mugged as well as the roommate of Harry's super hot girlfriend. Peter cannot change to spidey fast enough and he ends up chasing the mugger into a soup kitchen the Aunt May is volunteering at. I know i am not doing this book any justice but trust me it was fucking amazing.

What i did is basically forgot the bullshit that was OMD and went into this with a complete fresh mind.

TJ

The Invisibles Vol 1

The next review for my marathon of getting back on track is The Invisibles Vol 1 Say you want a Revolution

This Book is written by Grant Morrison and Pencilled by Steve Yeowell and Jill Thompson

The art is there. You know when you look at a Vertigo book you are expecting a different type of art then you would expect from a DC Proper book (or any superhero book). Well that is what you get with this book. It isn't the greatest but there are some panels that look very good. It is what it is standard Vertigo Art.

The writing.... well where do i start. Grant Morrison has either the greatest drug dealer on the face of the Earth or he makes his own acid in his bathtub. Either way i need to find out why this motherfucker is not sharing. For the things that come out of this mans head to be from a clean a sober gentlemen ... well then the mental institution must have a standing reservation. Wow what a fucking tangent. Back to the writing, It is great. As far out as this thing is i finished it in two days because it was paced that well.

Now the story. Again where do i start. Have you seen the Matrix. Well the Wachowski Brothers (they are still brothers right) should be paying Morrison something because they stole there premise from the beginning of this book. This book follows a Juvenile Delinquent who get put in the a Detention center. This Detention center is something out of Clockwork orange where they are more interested reprogramming then just helping. Now hold on to your seats because here is where it starts getting really fucked up. it seems that the head of this hall is in league with the evil spirits in the world. The Kid gets out and encounters a homeless man which leads him down into a abandoned subway tunnel. he introduces him to smoke a blue mold on the wall where the kid starts to see the true nature of the world (sound Familier) and learns that he is being recruited into a covert organization called the invisibles that is trying to get rid of this evil. He accepts after much questioning and the first mission they go on is to time travel out of a windmill to renaissance France to recruit the Marquis De Sade. I really do not want to go into much more but I will let you know that there are people in gas masks involved that eat human entrails and the decapitated head of John the Baptist (no i am not kidding).

I have already bought the next trade and cannot wait to read all of them

TJ

Action Comics #860

Ok The first review after the baby hiatus is Action Comics #860

This book is written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Gary Frank

Holy shit it has been so long since i did one of these things i forget how to start the fucker.

The art is amazing. Finally someone is given the chance to put his own take on the superman "figure." I have never read anything that was drawn by Gary Frank before but fuck if i am not going to search this guy out now. The lines are so good and the facial expressions are amazing. I truly believe that i would be able to read a wordless story just drawn by Frank because his faces tell that much of the story.

The writing is very good. I am a Johns fan. I am enjoying everything that he is writing. There are some people (Jason in NC) that think that Johns is bringing back the silver age but i believe they are wrong. Johns is bringing back all the old continuity and telling great stories with it. He is not bringing back the campiness but just the old ways the characters act (and in some cases the old characters).

The story is about Kal-El being recruited by the Legion to go into the future where the earth has turning wonky (that is a technical term). The new earth hates everything foreign. The Justice league has spread propaganda that Superman was really Clark Kent and not a Krypton Alien. They have been told that everything the Legion has told them is wrong and they are to hate them because they are "different." Here is also the rub, in the future the yellow sun has been burnt out and has been replaced by a red sun so Superman that has been brought there has no powers. ***************SPOILER*************** The end of this book has Superman going to Brainiac's planet and it looks like all shit is going to go down.

I am not a superman Fan. In fact I avoid most Superman comics as I usually just cannot stand the way the character is written. That being said, I Love this book.

For all you people like me that really do not want to read a boy scout manual every month try this book.

TJ

The Sword #1

For a glorious day of weekend reviews we will start of with The Sword #1

This was written and pencilled by The Luna Brothers

The art was great. I can see why some say that the Luna Brothers art is love or hate but i am definatly in the Like camp (yeah i know that is not love but let a boy get there).

The Writing was very good as well. I have heard that the brothers writing can be very cryptic and sometimes hard to follow and I like cryptic but this book was pretty straight forward. The pacing was very well done. And each character was voiced differently. really what more can you ask for in the writing.

The Story was really good for a number 1. We are basically following the life of an English Professor and his family, especially his daughter who is a handicapped girl in a wheel chair. The whole book is basically a day in the life of this family until we get to the end when two strangers show up at the end and we are left with a Question of Mistaken Identity or Is it? (insert creepy music here)

I would give this book a shot and i am looking to try the girls. if anyone can tell me anything about that series leave me some comments. i love reading them.

TJ

Seven Soldiers of Victory Volume 1

Today is a trade review of Seven Soldiers of Victory Vol 1

This book was written (dreamed of(tripped about)) by Grant Morrison with Various artist.

First let me say that the art is amazing. Every single book holds a different style but each is equally beautiful. I can see this getting the absolute treatment because they tend to do that for this sort of artwork. Simone Bianchi, Frazier Irving, Ryan Sook, JH Williams and more. If you are a fan of any sort of art i would suggest that you pick this book up.

The writing is pretty good. i can't say it is great because i still have no clue what the hell i read after 2 days of thinking about it. It is very loosely put together and sometimes it doesn't feel as strong in some issues as it does on others. Very inconsistent. I am saying this as a fan of Grant Morrison. I like a lot of what he has done. But i also feel that i am judging this a bit too early because it is a four volume series and probably all needs to be read together.

Well now to the story. Volume starts of with the zero issue and focuses on The Vigilante. he is putting together a team of seven too take on a big bad. One of the heroes bows out and they are left with six. Here is a SPOILER******* because they are not seven they fail and die. Wow I am thinking Morrison starts us of with these great heroes and kills them all in a matter of 25 pages. The rest of the story of seven soldiers takes place in seven 4 issue miniseries and they are published in trade form in the order that they are published. This volume has Shining Night, The Guardian, Zantana, and Klarion the Witchboy.

Shining knight is a member of the Arthurian legend that is trying to recover magical items for Arthur and to do so has to battle the big bad that I think is the villain of the book. he get to one but is put through a time warp (its just a jump to the left) and ends up in modern day LA with his winged horse. The police capture him and his horse. Here's the trippy part of this story he speaks in old English so the reader has no idea what he is saying.

The guardian is an ex police officer that has been dismissed because he accidentally shot a boy who he mistook for his partners killer. he is down on his look until he sees an article in a gossip paper for a bodyguard of sorts. when he goes for the interview he is tested and is told that the job is for him to become a superhero. Now here is where the acid kicks in here, his wife and child are kidnapped by subway pirates who travel the NY subway lines with name like all beard and No beard. he spends the rest of his time in this volume on the subway trying to save his family.

The Zantana story is the one i was least looking forward too only because i like being introduced to new characters and I already knew about her. This story starts with Zantana in a paranormal 13 steps program saying that she is a spellaholic. She then goes into her history and her fathers. We come to learn that she has also lost her powers. At the end of the meeting she is approached by a young girl that wants to become her apprentice. The girl is somehow a backwards talker already and knows how to cast spells that way. They go to Z's friends place a business (you guessed it a magic store) where we learn that she is being followed by a phantom. A battle ensues where in the end (here comes the peak of the trip) Z says "GNIRB EM EHT NAM FO YM SMEARD" She is then presented with a snow globe sort of thing that has a man sitting on a sort of mushroom. He gets out and then the Phantom Stranger comes in.

Klarion is a pure acid trip that you all should experience on your own. it involves this Salem like town where they are all witches and it was by far my favorite.

Now here is the thing. All of these stories are supposed to connect somehow and maybe i am just too dense but i cannot see it. I was looking believe me i was really looking for anything but nothing was there for my mind to grasp on to. I will continue to read and let you know if it ever completes it goal IMHO.

Bye all

TJ

Bomb Queen: Woman of Mass Destruction tpb vol 1

Today's review is of Bomb Queen Vol 1 TPB

This book was both written and drawn by Jimmie Robinson.

First off I have to thank Mike Myers for Getting me this book. Mike is the Host of Geek Brunch with Heath Holland and it is a great Podcast. You can find it at http://feeds.feedburner.com/GeekBrunch. If you have any interest in Food, Comics and/ or movies (and lets face it if you are reading this blog you do) You should really check these guys out. It is basically a conversation show about the things we love.

Now to the Book. Where has this been all my life. What a fantastic Title. Great Art, Great Action, Great Writing. I cannot say enough good things about this.

The art is a little cartoony and is most definitely not for children. The main character is a villain that has a costume taht shows her nipples and pants that are probably the most impractical things drawn today. Even though the art is a little cartoony it is not that way in the anime style but much more Saturday morning style. The lines are very clean and not scratchy at all.

The writing is amazing as well. It is the perfect mixture of Raunch, comedy and action. You can tell the Robinson has a political agenda that is very much different then mine but i was able to put that aside and enjoy this book thoroughly. He wrote his characters extremely different from each other and was able to hit you over the head with some very raunchy things while doing it a lot subtler in others. Fantastic. Now you all know what a huge Garth Ennis fan I am. I would put this in league with "The Pro" . It is actually much more then that though because these characters have a lot more depth then that character and you can tell that Robinson is creating his own little universe here at Shadowline.

This story centers in a corrupt little town called new Port City. This city has a local government but they are all basically pawns of the Bomb Queen. We come to learn that she was part of a Four woman team of villains but she is the only one left and she now uses this town for all her vices. She is a tech expert and has wristbands that have bombs on them that she likes to use frequently. It is election time in new Port city and this book basically follows the incumbent who is a pawn for the Queen and the person that is trying to beat him who is most definitely against her. he tries to capture her with a superhero but through twist and turns, a lot of action as well as a few camel toe shots we realize that all these attempts are futile.

I loved this book if you cannot tell. I am really looking forward to reading the next Trade and will be picking up anything like this in the future.

TJ

Booster Gold #2

Todays Review is Booster Gold #2

Well something is wrong with the Fucking Site so i can't up load the pic of the cover. (oh Well just use you imagination; It has Booster on the cover with Sinestro as a Green Lantern)

This Book is Written by Geoff Johns and Drawn by Dan Jurgens.

The Art in this book is great. It perfectly captures the feel of this book. This only makes sense because Jurgens created the character. If the man the created a character can't draw the shit out of him then he might as well go and retire.(well not literally because i really wouldn't want to see a panel of Booster having the shit come out of him. Power girl now that would be a different story but seeing a man shit, c'mon.)(did i just type that)

The writing exceeds the art. Johns has this character down. It is the perfect match of Humor and adventure. He writes him as sort of a sympathetic Loser. This guy is a person who stole for his powers after all and used them for the longest time just for recognition. The fact that a writer can create any sympathy for this guy is amazing but Johns pulls it of fantastically.

The Story so far is that Booster is with Rip Hunter and they are traveling into the past to make sure that there is nothing that has been changed that will affect the future of the DCU. This story deals with My two favorite characters Sinestro and Guy Gardner. You see because Booster has turned down the offer of the JLA the past has been changed and Now instead of Hal Jordan becoming the greatest GL it is Gardner (isn't he the greatest anyway). Sinestro finds this out and comes to earth to meet gardner and stop him before he gets the ring from Abin Sur. Booster shows up to intercept Sinestro and get Gardner out of the area so that when Abin Sur lands it will be Hal Jordan that gets the ring. J0hns does something else that is amazing. in the Bar sequence between Guy and Booster not only is Booster sympathetic but so is Guy. Know anyone that can do this should be appointed to be the greatest writer in comics history. (I'm not saying he is but right now he is very good.)

Think Quantum Leap meets superheros.

If you like Time Travel, if you like humor in your comics, or if you like Fantastically written and drawn comics. Read this book.

TJ

My Haul

Hi everyone here is what i got from the Local Comic shop (LCS for those in the know) this week

My Haul
Countdown
Detective Comics
Welcome to Tranquility
Green lantern Corps
Loveless Vol 1 TPB

Ok I read some of these already but they truly need their own post so i am going to do a write up on Comics Podcasting.

I am relatively new to the game (i only started listening last March) but i find myself no longer listening to music on my MP3 player. If you are unaware of what these things are (although i think the only readers of my blog are from a podcasting forum) you should at least check one out. You can do this through Itunes or a whole bunch of other "podcatchers". What they are is basically radio shows covering a topic that you enjoy for as little as 10 minutes to as long as 3 hours (Raging Bullets I'm looking at you).

I am going to simplify things and put these podcast into three groups

The Group podcast is one where it is basically a round table discussion. There are a Couple of these that I listen to: Around Comics, The Dollar Bin, Comic Geek Speak, iFanboy. My Favorite at the moment is CGS mainly because of the guest that they have on and the community that they have formed.

Next is the Couples podcast (I like to call it the buddy Podcast). This is two people bouncing things of each other (with guest sometimes). I listen to: Geek Brunch, I Read Comics, The Comic Book Page, Q!PAW (sorry guys i cannot spell the P part of the acronym). I f you are looking for a fantastic conversation show you should really check it out at Geek Brunch. Heath and Mike are true friends and it comes across in their podcast where they talk about Comics, Movies, and Food.

Lastly (and probably the most hard to do) is the single Voice Podcast. It is just that and I listen to; Comic Book Savant, Comic Book Noise, Marvel Noise and Wordballoon. Please Check out Comic Book Savant. his voice is original, he is not always covering what just came out this week like a lot of other podcast and I have a segment on his show. James is a great guy and you should really check it out.

Well I Realise that it has been a couple of days since a Review so I will most likely get one up a little later today.

TJ

Scalped Vol 1 Indian Country

Today's review is Scalped TPB vol 1 Indian Country

This book is written by Jason Aaron and pencilled by R.M. Guera

The art in this book is typical Vertigo. I know I have said this before and all you vertigo readers know what I am talking about. It didn't blow me away but it also didn't cause me to need to stop reading. i thought the use of Colors (or lack of) during the flashback was nice but also has felt used before.

The writing is this book was OK. I was expecting to be blown away by it because so many people have said such great things about this book. I may have been underwhelmed because I had such high expectations. this has happened to me many times. I also think that Aaron was trying too hard to be Vaughn. If any of you out there have read a BKV book you know the blot device he uses that basically jumps back in forth in time and he tells you exactly when things are happening. For example on the top of one page is Present, the next page says 25 minutes ago, next page says 4 years ago, then back to present. Wash Rinse Repeat but in the world of comics. I think that BKV does this perfectly in Y: The last Man and Ex Machina, here Aaron is still trying to figure it out.(I believe the first person to do this to perfection was Moore in the Watchmen when he did the Doc Manhattan chapter though)

The Basic Story deals with this Indian tribe the is run like the mafia by a Chief Red Crow. It follows an Indian (sorry Native American nah Fuck it I meant Indian) that left to go to war and is now returning to the fold very Michael Corleone like, named Dashiel Bad horse. We come to learn that Dash is working both sides of the Fence here (not to be confused with both sides of the plate because this man is surely straight) by also being an undercover agent with the FBI. We meet his mother who has history with Red Crow and Red Crow's daughter who is a good old fashion whore.

This Book consist of issues 1-5. The First 3 issues is an introduction to the characters and a little look behind some of there motives. These were the hardest to get through. I found the pacing incredibly slow and the purpose of introducing not done well at all. Issues 4-5 is where we start to see behind the motives of Dash more and also learn more about his family history with this tribe. i thought these were very well written.

I give this a solid B-. I am interested picking up the second trade because maybe it picks up. But if it doesn't i will only be getting those two.

TJ

Flash #232

Today's Review is of Flash #232

This issue was Written by Mark Waid and Penciled by Daniel Acuna

I feel i should start out by saying that I am a huge Flash fan. of all the DC Characters the ones that I have bought the most about are Batman, Flash and Green Lantern. If you feel any bias I am sorry but to tell you the truth i don't fucking care because this is my blog.

To switch things up a little I will tell you about the story first. Waid is known for writing Wally West Flash stories. It was rather exciting to hear about him coming back to the book and writing the flash that he is most known for. I must say he has disappointed so far. These first two issues are centered around his twins. They have been aged much the way Bart was aged and again it sucks. The one can inflate himself and make himself stronger (but after a while he needs a nap, yes you did read that right) while the girl has the ability to vibrate through things. You can almost tell that waid is trying to go back to silver age story telling with this as it centers on Water creatures trying to take over a town and the Kids have to save the day. Mark, Please for the love of god we cheered when you were returning to the book to write the flash. Not to write these water heads of the wonder twins. The concept is ridiculous and the writing is sub par. Please fix it ( i know you can you were one of my favorites)

Now to the art. In my honest opinion Daniel Acuna could quite possibly be the worst artist I have ever seen. As stated above I am a big green lantern fan as well as flash fan. Acuna was a artist on GL and I was so happy to see him off but it was soon announced that he was off because of his run starting on the Flash. Can we keep this guy off my books please? Lets put him on Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, or some other book that i don't care about. now i realise that this is selfish of me to say just because i am not reading these but the way I look at it i am sharing my misery. I put up with this enough now someone else can.

Well that is it for today. See you later,

TJ

Countdown to Mystery #1

Ok My review today is Countdown to Mystery #1

This was Written by Steve Gerber and Matt Sturges and Pencilled by Justiniano, Walden Wong and Stephan Segovia.

OK I normally don't review things this close to the release date so I will try to avoid spoilers as best i can.

Let me start out with I am against these Countdown minis (-), I don't like Justiniano's art (--), it was priced at $3.99 (---) and i am not a fan of books that are two separate stories (----). So by my count this book already has four minuses against it. You may ask "TJ why the hell did you even pick this book up?" OK I'll give you a second to ask that ................................................................................................................................. OK that is enough time. I was asking myself that very same question. IT wasn't even like it was a slow week at the LCS where i was looking for things to buy.

I think I picked this up because i am interest in the Mary Marvel part of countdown but know nothing of eclipso.

Ok to the Art. Surprisingly I loved it. I don't know why because as stated I have not liked anything else that Justiniano has done. This was just very good and I will leave it at that. He does the art for the Doctor Fate Story and the others are on the art for the Eclipso story and it is also very good. A little scratchy there but i think still very good.

Now to the story. If any of you have ever read Howard the Duck, the Dr. Fate story seemed very familiar to this. It may sound weird because Howard was very Humorous and Dr. Fate not so much but bear with me people. Both are about people trapped in a strange world with unique things happening to them. Both deal with them dealing with these situations. THis makes sense becaue the most know Howard writer is Steve Gerber. It also tells you the recent history of the helmet of Fate as well which is good because i didn't read any of these stories. Fantastic writing good art, great Buy.

The Eclipso story is great as well. It deals a lot with the Spectre which we learn is half of what eclipso used to be and the death of a murderer in London. i love the spectre and this is a very well written story. I loved this book.

This just goes to show you that even a book that has so much against it can still be a great read. I have read almost all my books of this week already and I believe that this may be the best book I've read this week.

Buy it.

TJ

My Haul

Ok so today I faced a conundrum. I called into work sick today mainly because I had shit i needed to do for My wife's birthday which I will not be home for because I am going to CGS 300. My problem came when i realised that i didn't want to wait for my comics but the shop is right next to my work. What to do, what to do? well of course I got my comics what do you think i am a casual fan. For Christ sake i spend my free time writing reviews of the comics i read without ever know if anyone is actually reading. This is what i do for fun.

Anyway this is what I got today:
Tales of the Sinestro Core Parallax
Countdown
Countdown to mystery
Flash
Spawn
Criminal Macabre

Another funny story. I was in walmart early this morning because nothing else is open at 8 in the morning. I saw a Printer that I have wanted for a while (Hp 5140). This printer is priced in other stores at 199 and I just haven't had the extra funds to get it (i do have a baby on the way). I had them price check it and they told me 100 so I was skipping (it is ok for a straight man to skip right) up the cashier to buy my new printer. I got it home and it was not the printer I wanted in the box but the exact same printer that I have at home which is a much cheaper HP. Someone scammed Wal Mart and bought the higher priced printer and replaced it with their old crappy printer and returned that for the money back. Normally I would say ingenious but this was happening to me so i was very pissed. I had to drive all the way back to walmart and try to get my money back and convince them that I wasn't the one trying to scam them. I found myself getting more and more pissed off in the car as I fully expected them to say no to a refund. I get up there ready for a fight but the girl calls the manager he gives the OK and I am out of there in less then 20 minutes with my money back. Wow I have never experienced such customer service before in a walmart.

It sucks that I couldn't get my printer at that price but I am very happy to have the money back.

See you later for some reviews

TJ

Strangeland: Seven Sins #1

Yet another Review today (or I have finished all the work that I am going to do today)

Strangeland Seven Sins #1 Written By Jesse Snider, Stephen Mooney & Jason Jensen. I'm sure one of them is the penciller but to tell you the truth I don't care at this point.

Art was OK. That is the extent that I am going to go into this.

Story was Total Shit. The preview of this is and i quote from http://www.outofthecellartoys.com/items/comic-books/jun073544-detail.htm

"A bloodier and even more brutal prequel to the Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) cult classic film, Strangeland: Seven Sins is a "Horror Vengeance" title that tells the terrifying tale of how Carleton Hendricks becomes the merciless Captain Howdy, and the sadistic path of revenge he takes against the seven individuals responsible! FC. 32Pgs. Mature Readers. Estimated to arrive August / September"

Ok Now i have some problems with the way this is written. First by calling the a bloodier more brutal Prequel they are implying that there already is a prequel out there. For my knowledge there is no such thing. I should have known with such a badly written preview I shouldn't have expected a well written comic. I mean if anyone is a Twisted Sister fan (and i count myself in that number) and followed any of the censorship hearings in the senate you know that Dee Snider is pretty articulate and he also knows how to sell. The same cannot be said for his son who is the writer of the piece of shit. I mean Dee Please can you get a fucking book in front of your boy to help him learn how to tell a cohesive story. Just me typing this is giving more story to this piece of crap. It also told nothing of Carleton Hendricks Becoming Captain Howdy because he starts out as such in this "book" and I use that term very loosely.

I keep all of my comics in long boxes organized by title and whether it is an ongoing or a miniseries. i also have a big paper bag of comics i don't care about (either the cover has been ripped or the story was not very good) I felt bad for the paper bag comics after putting this book in there

Save your money on this and spend it on the Boys.

TJ

The Boys #10

Today's Review is The Boys #10


Written By Garth "the best writer in comics" Ennis and Penciled by Darrick Robertson

This is the book that every comic reader should be reading. Please for the love of God put aside any prudish nature that you may have and Pick up this book. Start with the First trade and the introduction of the characters or start with the next issue which will be the beginning of the next arc but do yourself a favor and pick this book up. (whats that Garth, oh too much gushing and the check is in the mail, Thank you very Much).

To be honest I am surprised that this book was allowed to be written at a DC imprint for as long as it did. There are indirect references to DC Characters that only a moron wouldn't see. Tek Knight and Swingnight people, c'mon.

This book is the end of the second arc and it just keeps getting better. There are things in here that will offend but not just to offend. All the content in this book does move the story forward. The resolution between the mystery of the death and Tek Knights character arc are neatly tied up with a cute little rainbow bow on top.

The art in this book is weird. It is always good but sometimes the consistency is not always there. What I mean by this is sometimes the characters are drawn just slightly different that you spend some of the book questioning whether Robertson is doing the art or if they have a fill in. But as i stated the art is always very good.

If you can't tell I give this book an A+ and would give it higher if that was Possible but in the Real world there is no such thing as an A++ and we know that we do have to return to the real world when we are done reading these books (right people).

Buy It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TJ

Punisher #50

Today's Review is Punisher #50



This book was written by Garth Ennis and Pencilled by Howard Chaykin.

The Art was great. Chaykin is either a love it or hate it kind of art. I for one Love it. His faces are a little Blocky but his use of backgrounds are fantastic. He has gotten away from his signature of using Sound effect as the background (and i do miss that) but he still is a fantastic artist in my opinion. So to sum this up I loved it.


The Story follows in a long line of Ennis greatness. Now let me mention that Garth Ennis is my Favorite comic book writer. I am willing to try anything he does at least once. He has almost never steered me wrong. This did not disappoint me at all.


This book was the reintroduction of Barracuda and for a white Irish guy Ennis can sure write ghetto. his use of Dialect in this book was great. It basically follows a meeting of the heads of the mafia families going to a meeting. It is revealed that the meeting was set up by Barracuda but not just so he can kill all the crime lords but because he knows a meeting like this would attract his greatest foe, Frank Castle. Oh man as I am typing this i am recalling all the greatness that I read last night and can't stop wondering were Ennis comes up with all the great dialogue and story ideas. The last page reveal on this was amazing. I want that art to put in my child's room if my wife has a girl. If you read this you can understand why my wife was not to keen on the idea. I guess she is not as much of an Ennis fan as I am.


If you are not buying Punisher, I suggest you pick it up. Fantastic art, Unbelievable story, Great Dialogue. Take the $20 that I saved you on the Bite Club and Pick up a Punisher book. Start with Widowmaker (the trade that was solicited last month) or if you want to start small(cheapskate) start with this issue.


TJ

My Haul

Hi All just posting what I got this week.

Light week at the LCS

Again I am not good with numbers so they are all the Most current.

Countdown
Green lantern
Welcome to Tranquility
Friday the 13th: How I spent my summer vacation

And let me take a moment to talk about how great all the Friday the 13th books have been so far. Somehow this little horror book coming out of Wildstorm are getting some of the best writers DC has right now. The original Series was Jimmy Palmiotti, the Pamela's Tale mini was Marc Andreyko and this new mini is Jason Aaron. I mean why can't the regular titles get the amount of talent that this book is getting. I am not complaining because i love the Horror genre but i am afraid that too many people are missing out on these talents because they are not reading this title. i know you can find them elsewhere but the writing in this series in particular has been fantastic.

TJ