4/24/13

I had my regular 6-book pull-list this week. I was too busy on a trip to read and review them all on Wednesday, so here I am now. A great series, Deadpool Killustrated, wrapped up today. And another less good series, Before Watchmen: Comedian, also came to a conclusion. So, without further ado, my week of comics.

• Deadpool Killustrated #4

This is an incredibly creative book. Even people who don't like comics as much as I could see the creativity and wit practically oozing out of this book. Deadpool is a great character, with all great characters there are excellent stories about them. This comic storyline would fall into the category of great stories. The idea of a psychotic hit-man going into the "Ideaverse" and killing story-book characters is just brilliant. Now, we can say any idea is "brilliant," but execution is all that really matters. The writing is very clever and Deadpool and Sherlocke are both very developed characters by the end of the arc. I don't think that Deadpool has ever had a really bad artist, so I wouldn't say that Matteo Lolli is especially good, but he does provide good art considering the amount of gore required of him to draw. The ending of this arc is not completely satisfying but I will take it over a "let's just erase what just happened" ending. I was excited, however, when I saw an ad for the next Cullen-Bunn-Deadpool-Kill storyline. Deadpool Kills Deadpool looks ridiculous but entertaining. I will definitely be buying it.

• Batman: The Dark Knight #19

I love this series. I really do. I was so enjoying seeing Ethan Van Sciver's beautiful drawings in the world of the Dark Knight. Too bad Sciver is off the book, not for long I hope. On the flipside, however, the book's quality did not flee with the artist. The book is still disturbing while exciting, perfectly captures the life of Bruce Wayne, and keeps you wanting more. While Batman appears very little in the book the whole story revolves around him. His city is under attack, his girlfriend is about to become the main character in a twisted performance, and there are the lives of hundreds, maybe thousands on his hands. The new art is pretty good, especially during the tragic and disturbing flashback of the Hatter's life. The Mad Hatter could quickly become my favorite of all of the rogue's in Batman's gallery. The only thing that would improve this book is giving it the T+ rating it deserves. There is so much killing and other horrifying things I can't imagine why DC is holding back. The last thing we need is some 6-year-old picking up a Batman comic and saying: "Mommy? Why does the man kill people when he takes his medicine?"

• Batman Inc. #9

A lot of people have found the death of Damian Wayne to be poorly handled. I think this issue wraps it up while giving us a sense of what's to come. The only real problem in this book is how the continuity is handled. +Steven Viscido mentioned in one of his articles on his blog that all of the superheroes in comics can't fit in the same universe. I feel like DC is messing with that even more with the, what is it 5? Batman books monthly. Batman is said to be armed and dangerous and the mayor is not allowing him to fight crime, but in all the other Bat-Titles he is trucking right along. This needs to be handled better or dropped all together. If Damian Wayne can die in one title and that effects all of the others than Batman can't fight crime in any title right now. Other than that this issue is solid. After an ominous and mysterious chat between the Al Ghul's we see the rest of the family after the Leviathan attack. Azrael makes a brief appearance in the beginning of the book and we get a little resolution about Jason Todd's situation later on. I still want to see how this storyline plays out because of the evilness of Talia Al Ghul. She is simply brutal in this book and I am so excited to see her brought to justice (the most likely outcome in my mind.)

Now, the art. I love Chris Burnham just as much as the next guy, but three different art changes in one issue is unacceptable. If Burnham is too wimpy to make one book a month he should just not. Don't do a third of it.

• Guardians of the Galaxy #2

I really thought that starting this series with "Omergerd the Earth is going to be destroyed!" was a terrible move. We barely know the team and Brian Michael Bendis is already throwing them into a battle for the fate of our planet. Really? But surprisingly, the story plays out nicely. We flip back between a meeting of all of the intergalactic powerhouses which took place six weeks ago and the Guardians battle for Earth. We also get to meet the team a little more which is good considering I am new to this title. The battle is really fun to watch. Tony Stark zips around like a bee spewing banter enough to keep the book from being all pictures (beautiful ones I might add.) And Rocket Raccoon is very humorous with his "Blam! Murdered you!" Throughout the entire book.

Now, the galactic meeting is where things are really good. Everyone is there, with the king of Spartax leading the meeting of course. They discuss Earth's fate in a way that is natural and entertaining. I really want to see some more action from Groot next book. He looks promising.

• Talon #7

Talon wasn't really the star in his own title this month. Casey and Sebastian played major roles along with guest-appearances from Batman and Bane. This issue shows Talon actually fighting along a Talon, something rare and surprisingly entertaining. We also see Casey out-foxing Sebastian  both of which fights are cool and interesting. After Calvin has escapes the base of the Court of the Owls he runs through the streets of Gotham crazed by an emergency broadcast from his girlfriend. We see our hero get caught by our other hero, Batman! Batman locks Calvin in with Wayne-Tech handcuffs. Of course Calvin escapes. We see Calvin then confront Clark and eventually Bane. Calvin is broken, maybe dead at the end of the issue.