ArtisticallyChill

An extremely light pick up after the holiday weekend, this week’s pull features more DC titles with BRIGHTEST DAY being my pick of the week. RED ROBIN’s newest story arc begins to unfold and manages to keep my interest high. JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA’s alternate future storyline which reminds me of DAYS OF THE FUTURE PAST reaches a critical point. And Batman (Bruce Wayne) looks like he’ll need a hand dealing with more than just undead things in the bayou in BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL. Finally, the WEDNESDAY COMICS hardcover I pre-ordered with Amazon came in. Normally, I’d help out my LCS by buying all my trades there but 35% off, no tax, and free shipping, is a much better offering than the usual 10% club discount.

• BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL # 45
• BRIGHTEST DAY # 3
• JSA ALL-STARS # 7
• JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA # 39
• RED ROBIN # 13
• SKY DOLL SPACE SHIP # 1
• THE MICE TEMPLAR Vol. II DESTINY # 9
• WEDNESDAY COMICS

PICK OF THE WEEK: BRIGHTEST DAY # 3

Written by GEOFF JOHNS & PETER J. TOMASI • Art by IVAN REIS, PAT GLEASON, ARDIAN SYAF, SCOTT CLARK & JOE PRADO • Covers by DAVID FINCH 1:25 variant covers by IVAN REIS & OCLAIR ALBERT

If this is the BRIGHTEST DAY then what is Black Lantern Firestorm doing on our cover?!

Not much of a summary. I guess you’ll just have to pick it up and read if for yourselves.

HARDCOVER GRAPHIC NOVEL PICK OF THE WEEK: WEDNESDAY COMICS

Various Writers and Artists

This is it! The oversized, hardcover collection of DC’s 2009 weekly comics sensation that USA Today called “cool, classic-looking.” Featuring composite cover art, the WEDNESDAY COMICS HC includes:

• ADAM STRANGE written and illustrated by Paul Pope
• BATMAN written by Brian Azzarello with art by Eduardo Risso including additional panel art on each page!
• METAMORPHO written by Neil Gaiman with art by Michael Allred
• DEADMAN written by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck with art by Dave Bullock
• THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN written by Walter Simonson with art by Brian Stelfreeze
• THE FLASH written by Karl Kerschl and Brenden Fletcher with art by Karl Kerschl
• GREEN LANTERN written by Kurt Busiek with art by Joe Quinones
• HAWKMAN written and illustrated by Kyle Baker
• KAMANDI written by Dave Gibbons with art by Ryan Sook
• THE METAL MEN written by Dan DiDio with art by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Kevin Nowlan
• SGT. ROCK written by Adam Kubert with art by Joe Kubert
• SUPERGIRL written by Jimmy Palmiotti with art by Amanda Conner
• SUPERMAN written by John Arcudi with art by Lee Bermejo
• TEEN TITANS written by Eddie Berganza with art by Sean Galloway
• WONDER WOMAN written and illustrated by Ben Caldwell

This hardcover is massive! Over-sized and printed on high quality paper, it is a fine addition to any hardcover library but it won’t fit upright on a regular shelf. Just be careful when turning the pages.

SERENA’S PICK OF THE WEEK: SKY DOLL SPACE SHIP # 1

Exceptional beings exist who possess the ability to take on any identity. Among them is Noa, the most famous last generation synthetic doll. Sky Doll Spaceship lifts the veil on some of her often very extravagant past experiences: call girl in the middle of the desert, sexy comic book heroin, limo driver, and finally, the normal (ironic, funny, sometimes melancholic) life of a doll on planet Papathea… Discover through new exciting tales of Sky Doll by Canepa & Barbucci featuring art by European superstars Matteo De Longis, Claudio Acciari and Pierre-Mony Chan

HAPPY READING!

~ LoneWolf

Yet two more Marvel titles gets dropped from our pull list. I was hoping that the X-titles would be going into new directions after UTOPIA failed to really impress me. But when I flipped through this month’s UNCANNY X-MEN (# 515) and saw that it was transitioning into yet another encounter with Magneto, I let out a sigh and put the book back on the shelf. The OLD MAN LOGAN storyline finally concludes after the previous issues going into second printings and then taking a break because of the Wolverine movie and to give the creative team more time to finish it. This left the regular series the story was originally in crapping out two minor issues before focusing on Daken. But instead of jumping back into the regular series, the conclusion of OLD MAN LOGAN comes to us in a giant-sized (over-priced) issue. I don’t even care anymore about this story. I can understand that maybe the creative team was pressed for time to get this done but having such a huge gap of time pass by kind of killed the excitement of the whole thing. Besides I kinda figured out how it was going to end. Old Man Logan becomes Old Man Wolverine and Hulk family body parts start flying all over the place. The only thing I didn’t predict was the story ending with the ‘Lonewolf and Cub’ motif with him riding into the sunset with an in-bred Hulk baby on his back. Overall, OLD MAN LOGAN was ok. It started off pretty exciting and interesting but by the end you’ll feel like it didn’t live up to they hype Marvel put out.

However, this week’s pull still has a lot more superior titles for me to get excited about:

• BLACKEST NIGHT: SUPERMAN # 2
• DETECTIVE COMICS # 857
• HALO: HELLJUMPER # 3
• JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 37
• POWER GIRL # 5
• PROJECT SUPERPOWERS CHAPTER 2 # 3
• WEDNESDAY COMICS # 12
• WOLVERINE: OLD MAN LOGAN GIANT-SIZE # 1
• WOLVERINE: ORIGINS # 40

PICK OF THE WEEK: WEDNESDAY COMICS # 12

Various Writers and Artists.
WEDNESDAY COMICS, DC’s new, 12-issue weekly series, reaches its incredible conclusion in September. Here are just some of the highlights of this third and final month:

• In BATMAN, WEDNESDAY COMICS’ weekly cover feature, Bruce Wayne digs further into a steamy murder mystery. It’s a classic noir tale by the Eisner Award-winning 100 BULLETS team of writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso.

• METAMORPHO dives into a fever-dream of an adventure, written by New York Times best-selling writer Neil Gaiman with art by Eisner Award-winner Michael Allred (Madman).

• THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN make a deadly detour after Selina Kyle attempts to rob Jason Blood’s collection of antiquities, taking her into unexpected territory. Written by Walter Simonson (Thor, MANHUNTER) with art by famed DC cover artist Brian Stelfreeze.

• DEADMAN is warned off of pursuing a serial killer by the only being who could do so: Rama Kushna. It’s a tale of mystery and mystics written by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck, art by Dave Bullock.

• KAMANDI explores the living nightmare that is the world after the Great Disaster in a sprawling tale written by Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN, GREEN LANTERN CORPS) with art by Ryan Sook (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, ARKHAM ASYLUM: LIVING HELL).

• The feathers fly as HAWKMAN heads into slam-bang action, as written and illustrated by Kyle Baker (PLASTIC MAN, Special Forces).

• SGT. ROCK is captured by German forces — but will the Rock break? Find out in a gritty wartime epic written by Adam Kubert (SUPERMAN: LAST SON) and ilustrated by legendary comics artist Joe Kubert.

And don’t miss these continuing features:

• THE METAL MEN, written by Dan DiDio with art by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.

• THE FLASH, written by Karl Kerschl (TEEN TITANS YEAR ONE, THE FLASH: THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE) and Brenden Fletcher with art by Karl Kerschl.

• SUPERGIRL, written by Jimmy Palmiotti (JONAH HEX) with art by Amanda Conner (POWER GIRL).

• GREEN LANTERN, written by Kurt Busiek (TRINITY, ASTRO CITY) with art by Joe Quiñones (TEEN TITANS GO!).

• SUPERMAN, written by John Arcudi (The Mask) with art by Lee Bermejo (JOKER).

• ADAM STRANGE, written and illustrated by Paul Pope (BATMAN: YEAR 100).

• WONDER WOMAN, written and illustrated by Ben Caldwell (Dare Detectives).

• THE TEEN TITANS, written by Eddie Berganza with art by Sean Galloway.

The greatest thing to happen to comics since digital coloring comes to an awesome conclusion! The stories and art were beyond my expectations. But what really sold this run to me was the format. Like I said earlier, the large print newspaper feel that’s twice folded brings back childhood memories of reading the Sunday comics while my parents went through the sale papers. I hope DC Comics does more of these in the future but not on a regular basis. The 12 issue weekly run once a year is fine by me!

~ LoneWolf

This week’s pick up was really light with only 4 titles in my box. Thankfully, they are all great comic books!

• ANGEL AFTERMATH # 24
• BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL # 32
• BUFFY SEASON 8 # 27
• WEDNESDAY COMICS # 5

PICK OF THE WEEK: WEDNESDAY COMICS # 5

Various Writers and artists.
WEDNESDAY COMICS, DC’s spectacular 12-issue weekly series, continues to offer a comics experience unlike any other this August. In its second month, don’t miss the action in these continuing features:

WEDNESDAY COMICS, DC’s spectacular 12-issue weekly series, continues to offer a comics experience unlike any other this August. In its second month, don’t miss the action in these continuing features:

• THE METAL MEN encounter a deadly guest-villain in a story written by Dan DiDio with art by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.

• THE FLASH battles Gorilla Grodd and tries to date Iris West in a story written by Karl Kerschl (TEEN TITANS YEAR ONE, THE FLASH: THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE) and Brenden Fletcher with art by Karl Kerschl.

• SUPERGIRL attempts to deal with Streaky and Krypto gone bad in a story written by Jimmy Palmiotti (JONAH HEX) with art by Amanda Conner (POWER GIRL).

• GREEN LANTERN must help a fellow test pilot whose space mission has transformed him into a monster in a story written by Kurt Busiek (TRINITY, ASTRO CITY) with art by Joe Quiñones (TEEN TITANS GO!).

• SUPERMAN questions his heroic mission while on a trip to Smallville in a story written by John Arcudi (The Mask) with art by Lee Bermejo (JOKER).

• ADAM STRANGE takes a truly twisted journey into space in a story by writer/artist Paul Pope (BATMAN: YEAR 100).

• WONDER WOMAN is lost in a dream world in search of her lost tiara, bracelets and magic lasso in a story written and illustrated by Ben Caldwell (Dare Detectives).

• THE TEEN TITANS are attacked by Trident in a story written by Eddie Berganza with art by Sean Galloway.

Plus:
• BATMAN, WEDNESDAY COMICS’ weekly cover feature, by the Eisner Award-winning 100 BULLETS team of writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso.

• METAMORPHO, written by New York Times best-selling writer Neil Gaiman with art by Eisner Award-winner Michael Allred (Madman).

• THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN, written by Walter Simonson (Thor, MANHUNTER) with art by famed DC cover artist Brian Stelfreeze.
• DEADMAN, written by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck, art by Dave Bullock.

• KAMANDI, written by Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN, GREEN LANTERN CORPS) with art by Ryan Sook (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, ARKHAM ASYLUM: LIVING HELL).

• HAWKMAN, written and illustrated by Kyle Baker (PLASTIC MAN, Special Forces).

• SGT. ROCK, written by Adam Kubert (SUPERMAN: LAST SON), ilustrated by legendary comics artist Joe Kubert.

~ LoneWolf