Friday, June 3, 2011

Comics Roundup for 6/1/11

Good stuff, good stuff, here's what I got:

Hellboy: The Fury #1 (of 3) - Duncan Fegredo, my favorite of the non-Mignola Hellboy artists, is back, and the story starts to focus on the main arc about Hellboy's destiny. This is some good stuff, and it's got all kinds of interesting bits of various mythologies mixed throughout.

Flashpoint #2 (of 6) - This is a pretty solid read even though I don't think that concept is as fresh and original as some of the other more recent crossovers. I suppose I should make some comment on DC's big plans to reboot the entire line after this series ends. Personally, I think it's kind of lame. However, I care more about good comics than I do lame decisions regarding how to number them. I'm looking forward to some of those new series that they've announced - particularly a Grant Morrison Superman book - but I would have been just as excited if he took over the regular title. Anyway, if it results in more people buying comics, then I guess I will be for it. I'm 37 though, and I've got better things to worry about than whether Action and Detective Comics retain their original numbering.

Flashpoint: Batman, Knight of Vengeance - In the "Flashpoint" alternate reality, Batman is not Bruce Wayne, but Thomas Wayne, his father. Thomas witnessed his wife and son being slaughtered. Also, he's a hell of a lot more ruthless than his son, and he runs a casino in Gotham in order to keep tabs on the criminal element of the city. I usually don't buy a lot of the crossover tie-in books, but this one was written by Brian Azarello, and more importantly to me, was drawn by his 100 Bullets collaborator, Eduardo Risso. The first issue is pretty good. I'll check out the next one.

The Amazing Spider-Man #663 - Anti-Venom is back and so is...Jean Dewolff? Other than that, there was nothing too special about this issue, but it was a solid read.

Fear Itself #3 (of 7) - SPOILER ALERT! While I still don't quite get what the big catch is to this crossover, it's entertaining enough for me to stick with it. I'm just not sure what "fear" has to do with anything more so than any other big threat to the Earth's existence. Anyway, looks like Bucky/Captain America bites it here, which they've been hinting at for a while now in both the comics and the online community. It's a testament to Ed Brubaker's work on Captain America over the past several years that I genuinely hope that this is not the last we'll see of this character.

Criminal: The Last of the Innocent #1 - Speaking of Ed Brubaker...how to describe this issue? Imagine that Archie wound up marrying Veronica and she cheats on him years later. Oh, and he decides to kill her. Yeah, that sounds pretty lame when you spell it all out, but trust me, it's not lame. The allusions to the Archie comics aren't so heavy-handed as to take you out of the story. Still, this is the most offbeat issue of Criminal yet (suddenly it's like Stan Lee is writing this blog). Highly recommended.

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