Brave New Worlds

Adventure Comics Starring Black Lantern Superboy #7 ships this week and wraps up the Blackest Night tie-in for the title as Black Lantern Superboy appears ready to have some unkind words for Wonder Girl.  Tony Bedard provides the words and Travis Moore the pictures.

If Adventure does not get you into a “super” mood, the second trade paperback collection of Grant Morrison’s and Frank Quietly’s All-Star Superman is also released this week, collecting issues seven through 12 of their award-winning run.

Superman’s end is near, but before he can pass into the great beyond he must first face Bizarro! (naturally) and others.  If you have not picked up this titles yet (and what have you been waiting for), now is the time to stop by Brave New Worlds and get yourself a copy of volume 1 (now in stock) and volume 2.

After falling under an avalanche of titles the last two weeks of January, the month of February opened quietly in the amount of books released.  Luckily that did not translate into lack of quality as the first three books I read this past week – Buffy the Vampire Slayer #32, Siege #2 and Ultimate Comics X #1 – were all outstanding.  As always, spoiler free.

Brad Meltzer was tabbed to deliver the season eight finale in Buffy the Vampire Slayer #32 and part one of “Twilight” did not disappoint.  There was a noticeable improvement in the story telling in Meltzer’s first issue from Jane Espenson’s just-completed “Retreat” story arc, which were the first Buffy issues that left me disappointed.

Back to Meltzer however, despite the online reveal of Twilight, the story did not suffer and left readers wanting more as it ended – always a sign of a great read.  And Georges Jeanty once again supplied his masterful pencil strokes.

There were some real nice moments between Xander and Buffy after her slayerness discovered some new abilities at the end of last issue.  However, as is the case in the Whedonverse, those powers come at a price and the reveal will leave you in shock.

Meanwhile, over in the Marvel Universe, Siege #2 did not disappoint and picked up right where issue number one left off as Ares continues to lead the assault on Asgard.  At the end of last issue, Steve Rogers decided it was time to get in the game as Norman Osborn’s boys were taking out Thor.  Let’s just say holy frak as Ares and the Sentry face off, and Cap begins to mobilize the end of Osborn’s Dark Reign.  After reading Brian Michael Bendis’s first two issues of this mini-series, its hard to imagine how much better issue three can get.  Oliver Copiel’s pencils were amazing as always.

Finally Jeph Loeb appears to have rebounded from his writing struggles and delivers readers a nice new origin tale in Ultimate Comics X #1.  Arthur Adams art is strong, and his inclusion on the book will see this titled released every two months.

The cover shows a kid with claws.  Can’t be Wolverine since he bit it in Ultimatum (along with so many other characters).  So who is it?  Wait until you find out.  This is the Ultimate Universe we have been waiting for.

All three titles stood out above the pack this week for me so stop by Brave New Worlds and grab them if you passed them over, you won’t regret it.

The new releases hitting the shelves at Brave New Worlds on 2.10.10! Read the rest of this entry »

Today in my comic news gathering and reading I was alerted to this fun little Batman Comic Generator. Thanks to comics writer Andy Diggle’s twitter feed I’ve been able to make all sorts of appropriate conversations between Batman and Robin that always end with Bats knocking some sense into his side-kick. check it out: Read the rest of this entry »

For the latest chapter of Random Retro Comic Review, I asked Lane to select an issue from the Brave New Worlds back issue comic vault and out he pulled Flash #205 from April 1971.  Turns out this was a reprint issue that contained four stories, one of which had never been published.

Flash #205 was a Giant-Size issue and for just a quarter readers received an issue that included The Flash, The “Golden Age” Flash, Kid Flash and Johnny Quick.  The Jay Garrick story really stood out above the rest as both the story and art were outstanding.  This was also the only “new” story of the issue, having been written and illustrated in the 1940’s but never before printed.

Visually the issue was stunning with Carmine Infantino supplying the pencils and Bernard Sachs finishing.  In a couple of panels, Garrick looks like he could have jumped off the pages of Will Eisner’s The Spirit, the drawing styles being so similar.

No story credit is given and that is a shame because the story really flowed.  As with all of the features in this issue, the main nemesis was speed itself as a farmer created a way to speed everything up.  It was up to Jay Garrick to slow it all down.  Might not sound that exciting, but the execution was flawless for that time period.

Also included in the issue was Flash #139 from September 1963 when Barry Allen faced the Reverse Flash for the very first time.  It was an interesting time travel story by John Broome with art by Infantino and Joe Giella.  Turns out that Barry ended up inadvertently giving Professor Zoom his costume through a time capsule and history was made.  The original issue was the first appearance and origin story for the Reverse Flash.

It is interesting to see how much Infantino’s style changed from his Golden Age Flash story.  Some artists go through a huge transformation in drawing styles over the years (take a look at John Romita Jr.’s first issues) while others remain basically the same (John Byrne comes to mind).  For my money, I preferred Infantino’s early works.

Also reprinted was Flash #116 from November 1960 when Wally West thwarted a bank robbery attempt while also aiding his Dad in winning a rally car race.  Three issues later would see the very first Flash-Kid Flash team up.  The final installment was reprinted from Adventure Comics #189 from June 1953 and was a Johnny Quick feature.  Issue #189 of Adventure was actually had both Black & White and Color pages, which was different for that time.

The Golden Age Flash story was by far the best one of the bunch, but it was interesting to read the first-ever appearance of Zoom and how he came to become Reverse Flash.  It was a soundly-written origin story.

The issue also featured a ton of editor’s notes, explaining how it was possible for the Flash to run into the future, vibrate through walls and run on water.  Giving the actions a more realistic treatment.

The story telling is a bit dated in the other stories but not a terrible read.  But the issue is definitely worth it for the Jay Garrick story.  Overstreet lists Flash #205 at $75 for a 9.0.  The copy in the store is just about a 6.0 and sells for $18.

Until next time …

Issue Skinny

The Flash #205 (Volume 1)

Cover – Dick Giordano (p), Carmine Infantino (f)

Released: April, 1971

Collected: None

Since I normally write about what I’m excited to read on Wednesday on Tuesday nights and I didn’t get around to it, I have decided to write about 2 comics that are still sitting in my New Comis Pile that i still wanna read. Read the rest of this entry »

Our good friend Box Brown, local comic creator and member of the Philly Comix Jam, will be having a release event for his latest comic project, Everything Dies, at BNW Old City FIRST FRIDAY on March 5, 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t forget about the Evil Art show: We Murdered The Avengers this Friday Feb 5th @ 6pm in Old City! Read the rest of this entry »

Stop in either store on Friday to purchase Worldwake boosters ($3.99), intro decks ($12.29), and fat packs ($34.99).  Buy a booster box of 36 packs for $119.99 and save 16% off the retail price!