What I Got 4.11.07

Hey there, well, it's been a long week, and I have no idea why. Nothing exciting's happened, it's just been long. Irregardless, I'm going to see Iggy & The Stooges on Sunday, so I am a happy man. Now on to the comics:

52: Week 49

The JSA finally gets their shit together and decides to take out Oolong Island, but China's Great 10 have an issue with that, a political issue. This brings the saga of Will Magnus and his fellow mad scientists to a very satisfying close. Will shows why you don't want to take him off of his meds. The art wasn't the greatest and it was a shame that they didn't line up "name" artists for the last four or five issues, but the World War II one-shots next week all have excellent pedigrees, so I won't quibble about that too much. As good as this week was, it's all set up for the blow out next week, so stay tuned!

Fell #8

So Warren Ellis & Ben Templesmith's short-form cop series finally gets another issue out. This isn't such a big deal, since they're all self contained tales, but they're SO DAMN GOOD. Our "hero" gives us a brief tour of the City of Snowton and this seems to be a kick-off for a second "season" of sorts for this title. If you're not reading this, give it a try, hell, it's only $1.99, so you really can't go wrong.

Nova #1

As I said in my pull-list column, I have an unexplainable love for Nova, but this issue makes it worth it. After the Annihilation War (which I didn't read), the Nova Corps (essentially the Green Lantern Corps of the Marvel Universe) has been decimated and all that's left Richard Ryder as the last Nova Centurion. Unfortunately for him, there's a lot of war fall-out to deal with. Since he now contains all of the power of all of the Nova Corps (and the world-mind, which was their database), he's up to the task physically, but maybe not mentally. This issue shows how jumping from extinction-level-event to event can really wear you down. This is a very good set up for a series and the preview of the next issue looks like I'll be happy again next month.

My only real complaint was the art by Sean Chen. There wasn't anything wrong with it, it was just very plain, especially after the amazing Adi Granoz cover, but then again, if Granov was doing this book, I'd be bitching about the schedule, like our next book...

All-Star Superman #7

This series would probably be hailed as the greatest thing EVER, if not for it's lousy schedule. In this issue, we get a Bizarro attack on Metropolis, and it's awesome. I really can't quantify why this is so great, it just is. The last page made me shriek like a little girl, mostly because it's cliff-hanger and we'll be lucky if we get the conclusion before the All-Star Break. Damn you Morrison!

Incidentally, if you are currently not in possession of the first six issues of this series, they're now out in hardcover, go get them, NOW.

Madman Atomic Comics #1

Another decade, another volume of Madman. They always begin with a lot of promise, and they always end with a lot of blown deadlines and a move to another project. Either way, I'll keep reading because Mike Allred's art is so darn beautiful. Sometimes his writing isn't the best, but I'll pay the admission just to look at the pictures. For example, I almost bought The Golden Plates, his adaptation of the Book of Mormon, a religion I'm really not interested in, just to look at his art. That's dedication for you.

Now he's back on his first creation and it's a good first issue, mostly it's a recap of the previous 20 or 30 issues he written and it's very good, but the real test will be the next issue to see where the story's going. I don't really care, there'll still be pretty pictures.