Brave New Worlds

Amazing Spider-Man #637 Joe Kelly (w), Michael lark, Marco Checchetto, Stefano Gaudiano, Matt Southworth (a)

The End Grim Hunt concludes with this issue and it has probably been the best story arc of the Brand New Day era from start to finish. There have been other decent ones, but bringing back a long-dead foe seems to have done the trick.

Triple J J. Jonah Jameson is on tops of things in the issue, which should put everyone’s minds at ease. Of course due to the wackiness created by Kraven’s resurrection the animal and insect world has gone crazy, including of course, spiders. Who do you think is going to get blamed for all of this?

Daddy Not Happy Kraven was not all that impressed that his wife brought him back from the dead, but now that he’s here and the initial shock of returning is gone, he seems to want to make the best of it. That can’t be good for Peter.

Changes Although they always promise things are going to change, there are some actual changes in this issue, maybe they turn out more cosmetic than anything.

Glimpse Into the Looking Glass Parker is pushed to edge in this issue (Kraven always brings the best out of him) and it takes a vision of the future to show what would happen not just to him, but to the world if he stays in his present course. Pretty cool stuff.

Next Up How do you top this story, well by telling the tale of One Moment In Time where Marvel promises answers to the controversial One More Day.

Daytripper #8 Fabio Moon (w), Gabriel Ba (a)

Same Song and Dance Despite the fact the lead character is dead at the conclusion of every issue, Moon and Ba find a different way to tell the tale that draws you in. This week’s edition is no different.

Breaks My Heart This issue more than the others really hit me hard. Not sure why, most likely due to the point of view of the issue, told from others perspective instead of Bras.

Expectations I am not really sure what I am looking for at the end of this series, which concludes with issue 10 in two months, but I have a funny feeling nothing is going to change. I would love to know what the brothers were thinking when doing this.

Superman #701 J. Michael Straczynski (w), Eddy Barrows, J.P. Mayer (a)

The Walkabout to End All Walkabouts That’s right, Superman is going to walk the country for the next year. And he starts right here in Philly. So this has to be good.

Subtle Touches As always, Straczynski has a deliberate story-telling approach with his pacing and dialogue. This issue reminded me a lot of his Thor stuff in that way.

Can He Keep It Going The first issue of this arc was good, and I know its naive to think all the issues will run the same way, but it just makes me wonder if even Straczynski can keep the interest up for an entire year on this walkabout talking about social issues.

And Another Thing Does the book lose some of its luster when dealing with truly real world issues that comic characters can not impact? Just something to think about it.

Quote of the Issue Some typical Philly dude complains to Superman (of course) that maybe he should be using his time to actually be a hero, which Supes replies with a Thoreau quote about being in a box. Awesome stuff.

Avengers Academy #2 Christos Gage (w), Mike McKone (a)

Get To Know the Newest Avengers I liked this issue’s approach, from the point-of-view of one of the new characters. We get to know what they are thinking and where do they go from the revelation that the Avengers are actually worried these are the future super villains.

Finesse Interesting choice for the first solo subject, and a little scary to see how this character thinks. A lot of fun watching her try to manipulate her fellow students as well as Pym and Quicksilver. Who do you think she got to?

Missing the Dark Avengers? Well don’t, because if its possible, I think Avengers Academy might be better. It’s more subtle in its story telling and reminds me a lot of season 5 of Angel, especially the scenes where Angel and Spike would discuss the good ol’ days.

Indy of the Week “I named the dog Indiana.” There were actually a couple of really good independent titles out this week, but the one I really enjoyed was Image Comics Sweets #1. Kody Chamberlain writes and draws this “New Orleans Crime Story” with gritty realism. If you like a good mystery or noir thriller, this one should be on your pick up list this week.

Guilty Pleasures The other two indie titles that I really enjoyed this week were Mystery Society #2 and Frenemy of the State #2. Both issues did an excellent job expanding on their first issues, and left me wanting more. Getting to Know You The first issue of Mystery Society jumped right into the action, issue two puts the pieces together while getting to know the team. Meanwhile Quincy Jones’ daughter Rashida Jones shows us just how easy it is to become a CIA operative in Frenemy of the State.

Oh Maxwell, My Maxwell Turns out Max Lord had a plan (doesn’t he always?) which consisted of reuniting the old JLI. Scratch that one off the list. Judd Winick does a really nice job of updating Booster Gold’s back story and tying it into what has probably been the best book to come out of Brightest Day – Justice League Generation Lost.

This is the End Of Second Coming that is. Second Coming #2 is the final chapter in what has been a fun ride from start to finish. The battle is over, and has been won. Now we get to see the aftermath. The issue was broken into four parts, with a different creative on each. Usually that means disjointed story telling. Not this time. And wait until the last two pages, talk about revelations.