Why I Love Comics

From Eternals to Giant Killers

Afternoon readers, this week had everything from the Eternals stepping head first into the Marvel Universe to the Young X-Men facing a very dangerous reality to Superman finally coming face to face with the real Brainiac. All this and much more so lets begin!

Eternals #2 has the plot advancing and a guest appearance from Tony Stark himself ala a meeting with ex-Avenger Sersi. It was a very likable take on the current director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Elsewhere the powerhouse known as Ajak is given a new purpose that is basically busy work (though I would like to point out that we now have a continuity gaff as Ajak is currently part of the "god squad" in Hercules). My favorite scene in the issue is actually a tie between Ajak going into the middle of the crowd gathered around the giant sleeping celestial and Sersi's meeting with Stark... both being completely memorable and definitely worth talking about to fans that read the book.

I absolutely love the fact that with just two issues, the book has managed to capture exactly how much fun Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr's mini-series was. Anyone else notice how most of the mini-series that John's been involved with keep getting at least one extra issue? First Eternals and now two for Kick Ass.

Young X-men #4 follows our young team through yet another battle with some big name old new mutants, but here something is very obviously amiss. Mark Guggenheim weaves a big mystery that really feels about two issues too long. (I'm assuming this is a 6 issue arc.) Don't get me wrong, I enjoy all the characters and the writing is solid, but it feels like it's moving too slow to enjoy.

At the end of last issue we found out one of the team is actually working for the big bad, which stinks. He was actually pretty likable. Also, people's biggest guess about a certain leader of this team... turns out you were right. Give yourselves a round of applause. Who's the villain he's revealed to be? I have no idea.

I Kill Giants from Image comics is the latest story from the mind of Joe Kelly and artist Jm Ken Niimura. The title is actually a bunch of fun. We follow a young fifth grade girl who is a self proclaimed giant killer and very quick witted. It turns out she's also a damn good DM for a D&D game.

Her family life seems pretty normal though it's just her, her brother and her sister. The art/story has a similar style and feel to something like the acclaimed anime Fooly Cooly which is amazing. I personally loved that series. Anyway, we'll see how this evolves over the next six issues. I'll definitely come back to it to later on in the series to see if the quality keeps up.

The Amazing Spider-Man #565 has us meeting a new Kraven who is female, cold and calculating as she hunts down and tries to kill Spider-Man. I actually think Phil Jimenez art here is really strong. As for story, the threat of this new Kraven is very real as she destroys everything around Pete in a very fast and calculating way. His new roommate also finds himself in a very bad spot and, much to my delight, is becoming less annoying as a character.

We get a guest appearance from Harry Osborn and Daredevil who reads very awkwardly seeing as he was one of the people closest to Pete that actually knew his secret identity. The dialogue between them is a little forced at moments and it's one of the negative things about Brand New Day. Other heroes apparently can't find out Peter Parker is Spider-Man even though plenty of people know who Matt Murdock is or, formerly, who Steve Rogers was. Just a minor issue. We'll see how the arc progresses.

Army of Darkness/Xena Warrior Princess: Why not? Finished up this week with issue #4 in both a fun and interesting way. The series even hinted that there may be more crossover's on the way for these two properties. The Autolycus/Ash stuff was one of my favorite aspects of the entire series as Ash never got his name right. Here there is plenty of slapstick humor but sadly there were moments were Gabby and Xena were completely off, characterization-wise. It's a minor complaint but when you're handling such a cult favorite property, you have to be careful to appease both sides. The whole series was fun and the art managed to capture each character spot on even when traveling into the weirder aspects of the Xena-verse.

Invincible Iron Man #3 continues the story of Tony Stark's new arch nemesis, Zeke Stane, who destroyed an entire building hoping to take out Tony in the last issue. Tony himself ran in to save Pepper from the debris. Quite honestly, this may have become my favorite Matt Fraction book just behind Casanova, of course. Zeke is a cold and calculating super villain. Here, Tony and Pepper are a mix of their lovable versions from both the comics and the movie. The rest of the supporting cast proves just fun. I love seeing Mariah Hill and Tony go back and forth. It's just an over all enjoyable book.

Nova #15 and the overall Galactus arc helps do what Annihilation set up... make Galactus into a threatening and imposing character with just the smallest of actions. Nova and the Worldmind get into an argument resulting in a very shocking end this month. We also get to see exactly what the murderous creature that Nova was fighting on the planet looks like and the art excels with the unveil. Alves drew a very cool looking creature that was both imposing and just a bit scary.

But to continue, Abnett and Lanning are now the Jim Starlin/Keith Giffen of Marvel. After everything is set up to make Cosmic Marvel amazing again these guys take the bat and hit it out of the park. Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy are two of Marvel's best book right now.

And Speaking of the Guardians of the Galaxy, issue #3 has the team facing down the church in another epic fight. The church takes something from Adam, the mystery that is Vance continues (as he gets jumped by an old friend), everyone's favorite Russian dog gets some screen time and Gamora makes a very big sacrifice. Oh, what about the art you ask? The art is top notch, I love Pelletier. It would get my book of the week honors this week but, well, I honestly think I need to see the plot unfold just a little more.

Green Arrow and Black Canary #10 has a few guest stars who are as awesome as they are elsewhere and continues to make me like Dodger more and more. Dodger needs his own series or he just needs to stay on team arrow for the immediate future. Judd Winnick is writing the heck out of this series. Out of all his work this is his best. Batman, Green Arrow, Plastic man, Dodger, Speedy and Dinah are going head to head with the supposed League of Assassins to find out just where they took Connor. Sadly, that question is not answered in this issue but the last few pages are gold. Mind you, I do say supposed for a reason.

Detective Comics #846 has the return of two fan favorite characters, Hush and Catwoman. Hush is exactly who he was revealed to be the first time which is good as Doctor Elliot is actually proving to be a really interesting character. His past is explored a little more leading to a much more complex version of the character who I actually like a lot. I would absolutely love for him to turn out to be the Black Hand but I doubt it. All I know is this actually is a RIP tie in, the first of them mind you. Paul Dini knows what he's doing as a writer though, admittedly, a lot of his Detective run has been 1 shot issues. Definitely can't wait to see where this is heading.

Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb are finally reunited starting with issue #0 of Captain America White. I fell in love with Tim's artwork thanks to Heroes and I have since hunted down the trades from there previous color books. Jeph on the other hand has been incredibly hit or miss. (Don't even getting me started on the Liefeld/Loeb Heroes Reborn: Onslaught thing that completely fell off the tracks before issue #3 hit the stands.) The story here is a very fun origin for Bucky as he meets Steve for the first time and discovers his secret. It's actually a blast to read and it will definitely bring a smile to any longtime comic fans. This is the Jeph Loeb writing we all fell in love with and Tim's artwork proves as beautiful as ever.

Final Crisis: Requiem has the Martian Manhunters eulogy. This was one of my favorite books of the week and really had several moments that made me smile. Doug Mahnk's artwork here is extremely beautiful and has highlights for every character involved. The best moment of the book, thanks to Pter Tomasi's strong writing, comes from Hal and Ollie talking as they look over Jonn's body

There are some incredibly touching scenes from everyone which is nice and even talk of his favorite snake food which Burce leaves on top of his casket. Definitely worth a read for any fan of the Manhunter and hopefully sometime soon he'll be alive and well again.

Hack/Slash #13 features the second part of the BUMP crossover which, regrettably, all I know is that it was an indie horror series. I need to get my hands on it one of these days and see if its worth a read. Cassie gets some good lines as usual and Vlad is spot on. I felt really bad for the rent-a-cop they had with them though he was actually getting on my nerves toward the end. This may be the only real horror book that I read, but I love it. Tim Seeley is a good guy and writes likable characters that are thrown into such a weird world. The subplots move forward as we get teased knowing that #15 starts the reanimator issues. For once, the killer isn't stopped. Definitely a decent issue but not my favorite of the series.

Book of the week alert! Book of the week! This week features British Marvel characters holding back the skrull armada who have gained most of the magic that Earth has. That's right ladies and gentleman my book of the week goes to Captain Britain and MI:13 #3 which has a very surprising guest star. Peter Wisdom finds out exactly who the voice in his head has been. I'll spoil it only because it' now past time for this weeks books. Master Magician Merlin needed Pete Wisdom's help. Helping break out Merlin meant that a very powerful man was able to rejoin the battle.

Paul Cornell loves these characters and you can tell. He's writing this book just sooo incredibly well. I'm glad I gave it a chance and I'm glad the characters are as likable as they are. Not to mention, the skrull that is John Lennon is probably one of the most relatable characters created in a long time.

The next book on this week's pull is Action Comics #867 and let me just say, Grant Morrison made me love Superman again but Geoff Johns made me care for his world and those in it. Honestly, this is one of Geoff's best books month after month. Brainiac Part 2 has Clark meeting up with his "older" cousin Supergirl to hear about the real Brainiac, the one who he's never had the displeasure of meeting. Everything we've seen from the real brainiac is chilling and definitely creepy with a clean slice of a horror vibe. By the end of the book, Clark gets his wish and finally comes face to face with the creature known as Brainiac.

Gary Frank's art here is unbelievable. I'd put him and Yu on a pedestal that no one else in the business is touching right now. His characters are lifelike and believable all the while still being able to look like they are moving.

Speaking of Yu, our next book is Secret Invasion #4 which just builds up things more and more. Fury and his team take out a skrull army in New York, the Black Widow solves a bit of a of the who's who problem and Wolverine uses the secret word. Oh, also a certain leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. gets on to a very particular skrull ship. Everything is building up very nicely. There are still plenty of surprises and the artwork is spot on. Apparently, Fury has a bit of a secret army now. Honestly though, the main cover bothers me....a lot. There are no Young Avengers in this issue.

Next up, it's the Magog storyline in Justice Society of America #17 which continues to be a strong story. Magog even goes so far as to give certain team members his magical touch. Obviously there is no way these gifts are sticking for most of the team as it destroys the characterization if left the way it is currently. Not to mention, a certain team leader will most certainly not be gone very long. All in all it was a solid issue. There was a lot of setting up and definitely some nice artwork. Yes folks, for those keeping tabs, this is a Geoff Johns book.

That leads us into our final review for this week... another Geoff Johns book. It's Booster Gold #1,000,000. Probably the best issue of the series to date as we are treated to a one million character named Peter Platinum. He's actually dispatched with pretty fast, but before he goes he serves as a messenger to Booster who really needed another smack in the right direction. This book also shared the best Batman appearance in a long time as he discovered a very big secret in Booster's career and offered the single best line of the book. For those wondering about Ted Kord's fate....it might not be as it seems with the prologue. Definitely, a solid issue to finish off such a strong run on the series and hopefully whoever takes over after the Dixon two partner will take what's been hinted with another Geoff Johns upcoming page and run with it.

That's it for this week, join me next week as another Final Crisis tie in comes out and Captain America continues on, without the title character. This has been another edition of Why I Love Comics.

Oh, before I go I should let you know that I am going to a midnight showing of Dark Knight so I should have something written up and sent to sometime Friday... right in time for the actual release of the movie.

Eric Ratcliffe is a young writer/pop culture journalist/interviewer currently working on pitching a project named the Hunter chronicles. When not reading his weekly stack Eric can be found watching dvd's, playing on his 360 (gamertag: Zack Hunter) or just surfing online trying to find a scoop or two. Brand new to the Comic Related family, Eric is a fun new voice.