Brave New Worlds

Superior #1 Mark Millar (w) Leinil Yu Gerry Alanguilan (a)

Another Superman We have seen this character so many times before, everybody else’s Superman. In Superior, the title-character is Millar’s Superman. However, as the book opens, nothing is as it seems.

Tease The book actually opens with some excitement and hooks (don’t want to give to much away) but I was all sorts of interested with where it was going. And then BAM! Millar pulls the wool over my eyes (and where exactly does that saying come from?).

Politically Correct It’s not too often your main character is handicapped, in this case the lead has MS. Granted, the story sort of takes that out of the equation which will probably upset a lot of people just for the sake of getting upset but story wise I am eager to see where it is all going.

Something Different If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck it must be Yu’s artwork.  I am not sure why, maybe it’s Alanguilan finishes but Yu’s stuff looks really fresh and tighter in this issue.

Why Should You Buy This Issue Well for starters it’s Millar and it’s only $2.99. It’s also got a little bit of everything in it, capes and real-life. If you ever saw The Last Action Hero and loved it, this book is for you. But don’t think you know what the story is about just because of the reference. Pick it up, read it and let me know what you think.

Daken Dark Wolverine #2 Daniel Way, Marjorie Liu (w) Giuseppe Camuncoli, Onofrio Catacchio (a)

Crystal Let me make one thing very clear, I am not a big fan of Daken, and I actually only enjoy Wolverine when he is in the team books. It has to be a really well-written tale to hook me in. Well Way and Liu have teamed up to give readers everything that is awesome about this character.

What I am Looking for In a Daken book is what I am getting in this issue, and I got a taste of it before back during the last run with a very special issue in which Daken sits across from Moonstone the entire issue, talking. Yeah, this one is similar to that story, but this time it’s Mystique.

Hell’s Bells Yeah, Wolverine is in hell and to be honest I am not really sure how he got here. This issue is one big set up to the end which I honestly did not see coming. But like life, the fun and ride is all in the journey getting up to the final page.

Something About The way this book is written and drawn it screams, well seduction. It’s the word I feel best sums it up. Whether Daken is seducing another woman, or you and I the reader, it just sucks us in and not let us go.

… a couple of weeks ago that is. The sadness of my new situation is that I don’t have time to read everything as it is released. Don’t you just feel bad for me? Anyway, now that I am living among you mere mortals I decided to see how “normal” folk live and read.

Superman/Batman #76 Judd Winick (w) Marco Rudy, Oclair Albert, Juilo Ferrera (a)

Final Crisis I am not sure how “touching” this story actually is anymore since Bruce Wayne is returning. Still Winick does a nice job telling a touching story of how Batman’s demise at the hands of Darkseid impacts the relationship between “Superman” and “Batman.”

Different Kind of Hero It’s often overlooked at how much “heart” Superman had and how hard he takes things that happened. It’s nice to see him written in a way that Bruce’s death would have a heavy emotional toll.

Just Like Old Times Clark and Bruce always had that “respect” thing for one another that kept any disagreements at bay. However, that has yet to develop with Dick and Clark, and there is a moment in the issue where the two almost come to blows over how Bruce’s legacy is continuing under the cowl. It was really well written.

Trick of the Eye Not sure if this was on purpose or not, but during Wonder Woman’s few appearances, when you see the character from afar it almost looks like she is in her new uniform but when we cut to a close up she’s back in the original.

Best Moment And this did occur already during Captain America’s funeral, when all the heroes showed up in civvies, but it was still nice to see a DC book do the same in this issue, where everyone showed up in without costumes for Bruce’s service.

Best Quote Occurs right before the best moment when Lois tells Clark he forgot his glasses before leaves for the service, and he replies, “No I didn’t…”

Overall The title has gone through some changes lately with a rotating creative team but this issue was a nice respite from all of that. Not sure what is on the horizon with Bruce’s return, but it’s nice to see this title continue. I have always enjoyed it.

Giving Back In an unprecedented move, DC Comics is changing the price of most of its monthly titles, REDUCING them from $3.99 back to $2.99 an issue. “… we listened to our fans and to our partners in the retail community who told us that a $3.99 price point for 32 pages was too expensive. Fans were becoming increasingly reluctant to sample new titles and long term fans were beginning to abandon titles and characters that they’d collected for years,” Dan DiDio said. Can a Marvel price change be far behind?

Age of X So you are sitting back thinking when is the next X-Men event coming to Brave New Worlds? Well, wonder no more as the Age of X comes this January. The logo is modeled to look similar to that of the Age of Apocalypse, but sadly no information about the even has been released besides the name.

Everybody Loves Zombies IDW comics is doing a license-crossover simply-titled “Infestation” beginning in January and running through books like Star Trek, G.I. Joe, Transformers and Ghostbusters to name a few. “Without giving too much away, I can say that we start in the IDW universe with a zombie outbreak of epic proportions. The threat is contained (or is it?), but not before it infests other realities – the realities of our licensed books,” Tom Waltz said.

Going Corporate That’s right, Bruce Wayne is incorporating his alter ego. Really? Well, we are not sure what to make of the new title Batman, Inc. coming in November, but wouldn’t be cool if Gordon Gecko was in charge of the new operation.

Batman Return of Bruce Wayne #5 (of 6)

Grant Morrison (w) Ryan Sook (a)

He’s getting closer, to the present that is as Bruce Wayne’s latest Quantum Leap takes him to meet Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. Only kidding, he finds himself as a hard-boiled (is there any other) private dick in the streets of Gotham. Maybe someone will hire him to figure out this time jumping thing.

Bruce Wayne The Road Home One-Shots

Batgirl, Batman & Robin, Outsiders, Red Robin

He’s back, even though the Return of Bruce Wayne mini-series has not concluded. But C’MON! It’s not like we all did not know how it would end. Anyhoo, Batman & Robin kicks off the fun. In Batgirl, this could be the end of Stephanie Brown’s reign, meanwhile Mike Barr returns to The Outsiders to show how Bruce’s return impact his former team. And then there was Tim Drake, the sole believer that Bruce was still out there, somewhere.

Knight & Squire #1 (of 6)

Paul Cornell (w), Jimmy Broxton (a)

Gotham has Batman & Robin. Sandwiches have peanut butter and jelly. Comedy had Chris Farley & David Spade. And London has Knight & Squire. Do you really need to be sold anymore on this book?

Star Wars Knight Errant Aflame #1 (of 5)

John Jackson Miller (w) Federico Dallocchio (a)

Set over 1,000 years before Luke Skywalker was born, a dark age grips the galaxy as the Sith is taking over system by system. Luckily since Romulus was destroyed in the Star Trek movie, they can’t get a hold of those pointy-ear bastards!

Untold Tales of Blackest Night #1

Turns out all of the crossovers, Green Lantern books and main title did not tell the entire Blackest Night tale. Can you believe that? So Geoff Johns and a host of others bring you the story of the Book of the Black as the Black rings scavenge (great word!) for more souls.

Thunderbolts HC Cage

Jeff Parker (w) Kev Walker (a)

Just because Norman Osborn is on The Raft does not mean the Thunderbolts program has been abandoned. Steve Rogers puts Luke Cage in charge as Moonstone returns to the team and welcomes a motley band that includes the Juggernaut and more. Collects Thunderbolts #144-147 and material from Enter the Heroic Age one-shot.

HOLY COW there are a lot of Batman related comics out this week! This is gonna be great! Hit the jump to take a peek at this epic week of comics!

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Click here to read strip #1

Ultimate Comics Thor #1 (of 4) Jonathan Hickman (w) Carlos Pacheco, Dexter Vines (a)

Whole Lotta Thor Ultimate Comics Thor #1 makes it five current monthly offerings for the Marvel God of Thunder. Granted three of those titles are mini-series, but still, that is some major shelf representation for a character that a few years ago was dead.

Finally Ever since Ultimate Thor was locked up in Ultimates @ and we were led to believe he was all crazy in the head, this is the story I have been waiting for, and the first issue did not disappoint.

Go To Bad Guys When it happens to be Asgard, the big bad is usually Loki and he yet still maybe revealed as the architect (again) of what is occurring, but right now let’s have some fun with the Nazi’s shall we. How awesome is that?

Kicking It Old School The story takes place with Thor in mental custody when Dr. Donald Blake comes in to “help” him. I am not sure what is going to happen from these sessions, but we flashback to Thor’s days as a younger God of Thunder in Asgard (maybe a Lord of Thunder), with his brothers Balder and Loki. And if this is not proof he’s not crazy, or is he?

Blink,and You’ll Miss It There is a lot going on in this first issue, as Hickman packs a whallop with information. You have to pay attention with time shifts and all. Luckily it seems that Pacheco has brought his “A” game on pencils and Vines is his steady self on the finishes.

The Ninth Chevron When the Earth-bound head Nazi (don’t want to give away who is leading this motley band but you may be able to figure it out) who is attempting to access the rainbow bridge the stones and description of what he is using almost seems like the lost Stargate door. Hmmm?

And For the Record For my money (literally) Thor Mighty Avenger is my favorite of the bunch. So. Much. FUN!

Superman/Batman: Supergirl TP

Jeph Loeb (w), Michael Turner, Peter Steigerwald (a)

The Return And I am not talking about Kara Zor-El’s return, I am talking my return to comics. After years being away for whatever reasons, Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men and Superman/Batman: Supergirl where my first two purchases. What a way to be welcomed back. But I digress …

The Big Three And I am not talking Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels (I wonder how many people reading this actually understood that reference), but actually Supes, Bats and Wonder Woman. That’s right, all three appear in this story, and all three play a major role.

Public Enemies This story has its seeds in the first six issues of Superman/Batman and currently are available in the Superman/Batman Public Enemies trade paperback. Turns  out Loeb was doing a little foreshadowing when he wrote about a meteorite crashing towards Earth. Guess who it was?

She’s Back And this time she was not an ectoplasmic being, or whatever. Kara Zor-El was back as Superman’s legitimate cousin from the doomed planet of Krypton, the way she was always meant to be portrayed before making the ultimate sacrifice in Crisis (the first and really only true one).

R.I.P. Besides an absolutely amazing story, there is Turner, who’s art, coupled with Steigerwald’s colors, just make this tale all the more real. The emotions in Kara’s face when she emerges naked in the real world, when Krypto chases her through the Fortress, when her friend dies and when she becomes possessed by Darkseid just remind us of how soon we lost one of the true talents in the industry.

The Yin and Yang Loeb started off a nice narrative with this title, as a lot of the story takes place in the heads of Bruce and Clark, a great contrast in who they are and why they are friends. It is on fine display in these six issues.

The Originals This collection includes Superman/Batman #8-13 and is worth getting just for the covers.

How’s This for Spoiler Free With the exception of a few references, I hardly wrote about what this book is about, instead I decided to focus on the what I felt make it was Barney Stinson would say is awesome!

Final Thought If this does not do it for you, then nothing will. The story is dedicated to the memory of Christopher Reeve. There is also a message in Kryptonian that Clark translates for Bruce that is ran along with the dedication. Very poignant.

Media Tie-In DC just released its latest animated feature titled Superman/Batman: Apocalypse on the dvd, which is this story. Not sure why they changed the title, but its is almost a perfect adaptation. It is definitely worth catching.

This evening I was rearranging some of the shelves in Old City- moving last weeks trades and hardcovers to their proper places and I stumbled across a book I somehow missed last week. The Broadcast.

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Ultimate X-Men #34

Brian Michael Bendis (w), David Finch, Art Thibert (a)

The ‘Burbs Not only is this the name of an awesome Tom Hanks comedy from the 80s-90s (not sure which), it is also where a lot of this issue takes place. Logan found out his real name might be James. He left. This is the issue he returns. And all of it takes place in the real world, with just two pages of tights, that’s it.

In the Beginning Our story starts with what appears to be a groupie noticing Logan eating lunch in a diner. She of course is not a groupie, and someone has a problem with this. All I could think about while they are trying to kill Wolverine is, that poor diner. I mean, it’s not like it was a dog or something, seriously.

Typical Talk A few weeks ago I spent some time defending Bendis when it came to all the comparisons of Scarlet and Alias. I’m not saying this reminds me of those books, but the issue’s dialogue certainly is classic Bendis. He has a way with the speaking, just like Joss Whedon. It is somewhat comforting.

What Do You Do Hotshot? So a bloody and bullet-holed Logan shows up in your attic to “heal.” What do you do? Especially if you are Peter Parker.

It’s Funny There is really not a lot going on after the initial kill order in the diner. The remainder of the book focuses on Parker trying to hide Logan from his Aunt, and Logan trying to score beer.

Bonding There was a real nice bonding moment between Pete and Logan when Logan admits that Parker stepped up. Logan tells him he “owes him one.” A couple of seconds later when those vans from the beginning of the book appear, Logan amends it to “I might end of owing you more than one.”

Where Can I Get It? Well at Brave New Worlds of course, and lucky for you Marvel has started collecting the entire Ultimate X-Men run in Ultimate Collections. Volume four contains issue 34 and is on sale now.