This weeks trip to the comic store was like all of them are, enjoyable. I don’t pick up everything beause I wait fro the trade editions of some titles. But here’s what I picked up this week.



John Constantie Hellblazer #229
This is a standalone story between creative teams and on writing chores they had Mike Carey on board. It’s a fun little tale and self contained. John is haveing a few pints with friends and is asked for a favor. Before doing the favor he relates a tale of the last favor he did.
A neighbor across the hall needs John to do something, to do this he needs to go to someone else who wants something…. and so on and so on. In the end John vanquishes evil and everyone lives happily ever after, except a Demon…. And it all ends on a laugh.
A very nice tale, and a nice little breather after what Denise Mina put him through.
The art from John Paul Leon is very moody and works well for this title.



The Brave and The Bold #1
Growing up Brave and The Bold was one of my favorite comics. I loved the teamups, and Batman made it a must buy. There’s no way I could resist the new series.
This first story arc has Mark Waide and George Perez, what’s not to love?
Batman and Green Lantern, a strange mix due to the history between the two of them in recent years. But it appears the trust is back. And just in time as a murder in space brings Batman and GL together to do a bit of detective work. 64 corpses all turn up around the world at the same time, all near places that would make them spotted by superheroes. Eventually it leads our dou to Vegas and the new Roulette, though she may not be the bad guy/gal here.
End part one, next up, GL and Supergirl off to the planet Ventura.
So far so good, I’ll be buying more.



Checkmate #11
Greg Rucka is a god like name in my house, for both the novels and his comics work. As such, I buy everything with his name on it.
I enjoy where Rucka has been taking the revamped Checkmate. It’s gritty and realistic and very well paced. In this issue we see more indications that ‘ol Amanda Waller is up to something, and sme people are starting to get an inkling what. An election has been thrown and the 2nd rate bad guy behind it, Colonel Computron wants help getting out of the country of Santa Prisca before he’s found and killed.
I don’t want to give away the ending, but let’s just say the suspense keeps building. Rucka is doing a great job of layering this story and I can’t wait to read more.



52 Week forty two
This pivitol issue resolves the Ralph Dibny story line as we discover who has been controling the mask. And who has been controlling the who, who was controlling the mask. Ralph does himself proud as he finally puts some of his own ghosts to rest. The artwork is similar to the Shawn McManus work on Dr. Fate and it’s a very good looking issue. This totally works for me for a way to end Ralph’s story line.
We also get a pretty dead sure sign who the next Question is as Renee Montoya sits in a cave meditating.
I’m really enjoying this series and look forward to the next one they have in mind. I really enjoy the weekly chapters.


Wonder Woman #4

Who the Hell is Woner Woman!??!!!!
Well, in this issue it’s Crice, at least for a while.
Big battle as Diana tries to get the powers of the Gods away from Circe, with a bit of help from Hercules. Relying on her smarts, not her brawn Diana puts up a good fight.
Of course the last two pages give a hint whats coming, so I sure hope she has some Red Bull on hand, she’s going to need it.
I love Terry Dodson’s artwork here, he does a great job with out making it too “pin-up-y”. I also love all the color. It’s really beautiful to look at.
I’m really intrigued by what’s happening here and I just hope that the issue start coming out a bit more regularly.





ION #11

I haven’t read all of these, so I’m sure I’m missing some nuances of what’s going on, but it’s a fun read with some great art. I love the roup of Monitors watching everything. I enjoyed this well enough, but I’ll wait for the trade collection to really sit down and savor the whole stroy line. Marz doeas great work with our boy Kyle and having Donna Troy on hand make sit more fun.

Fantastic Four The End #5 (of 6)

I’m a sucker for anything with Alan Davis involved, so I had to get this. I also really do like the Fantastic Four, especially in recent years.
This issue sees the FOUR coming back together after various fights draw them towards each other again. Along with everyone they’ve ever known, including the Inhumans, Captain America, the Silver Surfer and many more they are looking at one hell of a climax next issue in the battle for Earth as the Kree and Shi’ar are coming down fast.
Great art, great story, by some one who loves his job

Civil War #7

Well, I read a lot of this, and was really hoping fo rmore with the big finish. Of course the ripples from it will mean ongoing smaller finishes as we go.
The stpry was ok, but I have to be honest, trying to make the Marvel Universe more realistic isn’t working for me. And this did not come close to DC’s big events.
Judging from the previews the aftermath will include some shakeups inthe status quo around Marvel, but I’m not betting on any real long term changes. It looks like it will be fun for a while, but I give a short burst before it all starts drifting back the business as usual.


So that's it for this weeks regular issues for me.
DC is kicking ass, and Marvel is trying to play catch up. Don't get me wrong, Marvel is dong some stuff I really enjoy, just not as much as DC is. I am enjoying Spider-man and Moon Knight and Punisher quite a bit. I still read the X-Men in trades, but while some kick ass, other just drag along.