A little behind on the comic blog because we’ve been away. Here’s the wrap up from the last few weeks readings.

Black Panther #28

The new Fantastic Four on an alternate world of skrulls and the Marvel Zombies attacking. What’s not to love? Nice art and a very fun tale

World War Hulk: X-Men #1

Hulk smash. A lot. Here he’s smashing the X-Men because he might be pissed off at Professor X. Nothing really memorable here. The art is nice but truthfully this is an unnecessary tie in to yet another Big Marvel Event.

X-Men #200

The beginning of Endangered Species, the X-Men celebration story for this summer. Written by Mike Carey this is a nice start to the mutant summer event. People switching sides and the X-Men are in the corner. Sounds like same old same old, but it’s a fun read. I’m not shocked or surprised by some of the events here, but I’ve been reading X-Men since the seventies and it takes a lot to surprise me these days. A good story though and fans should enjoy this.

Wonder Woman #10

More with the Amazons Attack story line. While I don’t think the Amazons Attack is anything real special the Wonder Woman end of it offer some nice moments and I think Picoult is doing a nice job here. I also really enjoy the art of Paco Diaz.

She Hulk #19

More weird silly fun in a comic universe that has become too serious. Lots of fun and even a look at the home world of Howard the Duck! The leader on trial lends some nice flashback moments and also gives Jen a chance to reflect. This is a welcome series in light of everything else going on at Marvel.

Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes # 31
DC

With the Dominators story line wrapped up the future teen team is on a quest, searching for the missing Cosmic Boy. The search is headed by the newly elected leader Supergirl, though Brainac is obviously giving pointers. This looks to be a fun tale with multiple angles being worked, the missing Cosmic Boy, trouble with the new leader and wondering what else is going on behind the scenes. This made the fanboy in me smile.

Teen Titans #48
DC

A tie in to the Amazons Attack story this sees Wondergirl and Supergirl doing some curious things. While not necessarily siding with the psycho queen they sure seem to be doing some dumb things. Also Cassie finds out her mother has been secured to a camp for Amazon sympathizers. The titans come to intervene causing all kinds of trouble. The underlying message here is “War is Bad”, and it also makes people do dumb things. Still, all in all a good issue and love the art.

Superman/Batman #37
DC

A new story arc starting and I’m a bit confused. Maybe I was distracted by the not so great art.It seems a little box-y for my taste and truthfully not the work of a pro, a bit too cartoonish. But I do enjoy this title and trust that the story will play out well.

JSA Classified #27
DC

Spotlighting Wildcat is always a good idea in my book. This second part of a two parter sees some background on Ted’s past and his trying to help the Sportsman with a gambling problem. Good story, good art.

COUNTDOWN # 46, 45 and 46
DC

I’m loving this. Little nuggets being dropped in each issue building to bigger and bigger things. A great mystery is unfolding and I’m really enjoying it. Dini and company are writing these like chapters of an epic novel. The monitor is back, Forerunner is introduced and the monitors are of different minds on what to do. Billy Batson as Shazam has a talk with Mary Marvel about her recent change in clothes and power, and the rogues look to be headed for a meltdown. This obviously being done by people who love the DC universe and are having an awful lot of of playing in it. I’m having fun watching them do it.

Justice #12

The wrap up of this 12 issue series was worth the wait. Epic story telling deserves epic art and Ross and Braithwaite deliver. The story reaches a climax that is breathtaking and ends on a optimistic note, as these type of tales should. It also manages to take characters that are 40 years old or more and give them a totally fresh look and feel through both art and story telling. Well done to every one involved.

Madame Mirage #1
Top Cow

Great start to what looks like my new favorite series. Pulpish and noir, mystery and intrigue coupled with great art. A world of heroes goes wrong and the ones with powers and a sense of responsibility stop and turn themselves in, the one who have no honor go underground and continue to do wrong. This is why we see the mysterious Madame Mirage. She’s going to stop the bad guys anyway she can. Who is she? We don’t really know yet. But I can’t wait to find out.
Dini is channeling Lester Dent and Walter Gibson here and I love it.

City Of Heroes # 17, 18 and 19
Top Cow

I’ve come late to this series, but I already have a feel for what’s going on with just these three issues. It’s classic superhero story telling and on a large team scale. The art is great and I love the color. I also love the epic feel of the story telling. I’ll be reading this for a while.

Witchblade # 106
Top Cow

The holder of the witchblade armor is starting to find out it’s not all fun and games. A very moody story with art to match. Zombies Voodoo and the undead in New Orleans. You can’t miss.

The Flash # 13
DC

Well, Spoiler alert for this one.

Bart is dead. I have mixed feelings on this as I like him as the more mature Kid Flash, but not as an aged and new Flash. As we’ve seen in another comic this month, Wally West is back, so I guess Bart had to go. I can live with this is it really does help push the story forward. Bart died a hero and as a worthy Flash. It has an honorable death. Plus it really does make the rogues badass again. I guess I’m not really on the fence, I liked this one.

Brave and The Bold # 4
DC

Mark Waid and George Perez. This alone should say it all.
In case it doesn’t, This is great comic story telling. This issue has Supergirl hanging with the mainman Lobo. I have gained a bit of respect for DC’s latest teenager after the way she handled herself her. And the art is of course top notch. This is a do not miss title.

Justice League of America #10
DC

The end of the Lightening Saga. Wow. That was fun. Some nice red herrings thrown in, a few false clues and some planted ideas and story strings for later. Well done Brad Melzter. I really liked the shots of Barry Allan popping in from the original Crisis. And Wally West is back with his family, nicely done.
I also really liked Bene’ art on this. It was very well suited for an epic tale. I’ve seen some complaints about his cheesecake style, but I think it’s just right for a big team book like this. I got the buzz I got back in the seventies reading the annual JLA and JSA teamups. Thanks DC for giving me that feeling again.