Still on the Shelf

The Forty Dollar Pull List – New Comics June 20th, 2012

Craig Reade — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 07:35:14 +0000

Originally posted at cxPulp.com on June 25th, 2012. Click here to comment.

Welcome back to the $40 Pull List!

Four new issues came out this week, and it turned out to be the best week of the month so far. We’ll start things off with Blue Beetle #10 – (somewhat decent, however still the weakest issue this week), and then wrap up with a trio of outstanding issues in Nightwing #10, Daredevil #14, and Journey Into Mystery #640.

On to the comics!

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NEW COMICS – JUNE 20th, 2012

Blue Beetle #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012 ON TIME
Written by Tony Bedard, Pencils by IG Guara, Color by Pete Pantazis, Ink by J.P. Mayer

Blue Beetle has been captured by a federal agency headed by Mr. Bones, who has decided to find out everything he can about the Blue Beetle – by force if necessary. An unnecessary flashback follows, and we see how Jaime ended up in Mr. Bones’s hands. Back in El Paso, Jaime’s parents call his grandmother in New York to see if she can find him. Bones continues to interrogate Jaime until he has enough and breaks free. Back at the offices of Superfail, Booster Gold arrives – perhaps objecting to their coverage of the Blue Beetle?

More Really Unnecessary Nonlinear Storytelling! This is another great example of how it can be damaging to the story as well. Instead of experiencing the sequence of events the way Jaime did, you instead knew he was walking into a trap. It would have been so much better to be able to assume that Jaime was going to get help from the government agency – the “illegal alien” revealing that he was a Reach Soldier would have had way more punch if we didn’t know something was coming.

I still haven’t completely figured out why this is so common in comics. It is a decision by the writers, or the editors? Putting this story in the correct order would have resulted in a strong comic experience, but putting the twist at the very beginning deflated the rest of the issue. The only thing I can think of in a case like this is that they put the explosive bit at the very beginning with the idea that it would encourage sales. Ideally, most people reading the issue have already paid for it, so I am at a loss for a real reason.

The RUNS has dominated my commentary on the issue – it is unfortunate, but I believe it had that big of an impact on the issue’s quality as a whole. This issue taken by itself would have been way stronger if they didn’t play games with pointless flashbacks. Granted the art was still strong, and I am still enjoying Jaime’s journey. His retreat from his world is showing signs that it is about to come to and end, and the help he is looking for may well have arrived in the form of Booster Gold. It’s all solid, interesting story, and despite my annoyance with the story structure, there is an interesting tale here. I look forward to the inevitable team-up next issue.

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Nightwing #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012 ON TIME
Written by Kyle Higgins, Pencils by Eddy Barrows & Geraldo Borges, Color by Rod Reis, Ink by Eber Ferreira & Ruy José

Nightwing investigates the murder of the Strayhorn brothers – but his work is interrupted by the Gotham PD looking to take him down (he is the suspect in the murder). While he escapes, he takes a call from Lucius Fox – who has some advice about a business proposal Dick put together. Lucius puts him in touch with Sonia Zucco – the daughter of the man that murdered the Flying Graysons – who happens to be the only bank representative interested in even talking about the idea. Sonia likes the idea of restoring Amusement Mile with Haly’s Circus as the centerpiece – and agrees to present it to the bank. Later, Nightwing pays a visit to a tattoo parlor that is connected to the Strayhorns. He questions Zeke, the artist, but their conversation is interrupted by an attack from soldiers bearing the same symbol that was branded into the bodies of the Strayhorns. Nightwing finds the weak link among the defeated attackers, and is lead to the leader of the Republic of Tomorrow: Paragon.

See, when I complain about books that have far too much padding, it’s partly because books like this exist that give you so much bang for your buck. So much happened in this issue – yet nothing was rushed, nothing neglected. When I hear padding justified as “good pacing” I have to laugh, and point to an issue like this one as an example of how pacing is supposed to be done.

Higgins continues to impress on Nightwing. He has managed to start fresh and make it through a premature “major event crossover” while maintaining a quality story and a tone that reminds me of some of Nightwing’s best runs from the past. Nightwing is always at his best when he is getting hit from all sides, but still manages to stand strong on his own without running to Bruce for help. In this issue, he has a weird cult-like organization gunning for him, the police on his trail because they think he is a murderer, and a business on rocky ground because of recent drama – and while all that is happening, he can take a meeting with the daughter of his parents’ killer in an effort to do something to revitalize the city and make it a better place. Is there any other character in the entire DC Universe with that kind of attitude?

I know Batman has been receiving rave reviews since issue 1. And while there is some good there, I just don’t see it. Reading Batman is like a job – there is a lot of good there, but you have to wade through a bunch of fluff to get to it. Nightwing, to me, has been quality from top to bottom, and is a model I wish all of the Bat-books would emulate. Nightwing is one of the best DC books on the market right now, and this month we have another in a long run of quality issues making that case. If you aren’t reading it, you are really missing out.

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Daredevil #14, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012 ON TIME
Written by Mark Waid, Art by Chris Samnee, Color by Javier Rodriguez

Daredevil finds himself in a metal box, with only the sound of a cuckoo clock marking the hours. He deduces his location, and soon is confronted by Beltane, the Minister of the Bank of Latveria. They are upset because Matt’s war against Megacrime has eliminated a significant revenue stream for the country, and in response they proclaim Daredevil to be an economic terrorist. They gas him, but mysteriously let him go free when they are done. Daredevil flees, but soon finds that his other senses are vanishing – victims of nanites that have been introduced into his body. He makes it to the border, and makes a leap of faith towards a passing train – just as the last of his senses goes dark. He thinks he was successful – but lacking any senses, he has no way of knowing that he fell just short.

Talk about a punishment. I am still not sure how they managed to pick Daredevil out of the Avengers Mansion hundreds of miles away and teleport him to Latveria. You would think that if Doom had that kind of technology, the Fantastic Four would be easy prey. That minor bit of plot weirdness aside, I like what is going on here. Doom’s (or rather, Beltane’s) motivations make sense and the situation Matt is in now seems completely inescapable. Waid also spends just enough time with Matt’s supporting cast to keep that storyline going while Matt is across the Atlantic.

I have absolutely no idea where Waid is planning to take this – and as interested and invested as I am in the story, that is absolutely outstanding. Both the story and the art have been extremely consistent (which is great) – to the point where I am having a hard time finding things to praise about this issue that I haven’t already hyped month after month. I will say the look of glee on Matt’s face as he was being hauled away was absolutely perfect.

Just another in a long line of outstanding issues.

—

Journey Into Mystery #640, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012 ON TIME
Written by Kieron Gillen, Art by Richard Elson, Color by Ifansyah Noor

Loki and Leah meet up with Damian Hellstrom, and hire him to scout out the Manchester Gods’ connection to Otherworld. Loki uses that information to make a targeted strike on one of their places of power on Earth, and the move forces them to retreat. Loki then decides to play the double agent, and offers to inform the Manchester Gods of a pending attack in order to get close enough to free the Red King. He meets with Master Wilson, and all goes according to plan. That is, until Loki begins to think that perhaps he is working for the wrong side.

A little less humor in this issue, which I found to be just perfect. Last issue hammed it up a little too much, and as a result it hurt the story a bit. This issue struck just the right balance.

Loki’s evolution has been a wonder to behold. He is at the same time trying to work around the impression everyone has of him, while what he is experiencing is bringing out those very qualities the is trying to avoid. As a result, Gillen is painting Loki in a more sympathetic light. Loki’s conclusion at the end of this issue makes total sense, but to have him take up with the Manchester Gods now is only going to look like a betrayal, something everyone already expects from him. It makes you call into question the way we looked at Loki before. The fact that Gillen can make Loki sympathetic by creating a character with the same personality and motivations is really something he should be proud of.

After two issues, I have to admit I am happy I added this one to the list. It feels a lot like Van Lente and Pak’s run on Incredible Hercules – which is another big mark in it’s favor. Good stuff here.

—

RELEASED SO FAR

Dial H #2, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/06/2012 ON TIME
Earth 2 #2, $3.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/06/2012 ON TIME
Journey Into Mystery #639, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/06/2012 ON TIME
Batgirl #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 06/13/2012 ON TIME
The Sixth Gun #23, $3.99, Oni Press. Due Out 06/13/2012 ON TIME
Deadpool #56, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/13/2012 ON TIME
Blue Beetle #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012 ON TIME
Nightwing #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012 ON TIME
Daredevil #14, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012 ON TIME
Journey Into Mystery #640, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012 ON TIME

STILL TO COME

CASHING IN THE TRADE BANK: Daytripper TP, $19.99, DC Comics. Released 02/01/2012
John Carter: Gods of Mars #4 (of 5), $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 06/27/2012

—

FREE COMICS

I still have a bunch of Free Comics to give away. This week’s passkey is Foggy!

Be sure to come back next week where I will wrap the month up with John Carter: Gods of Mars #4, cash in the Trade Bank, and set the list for July!

Support cxPulp and order Daytripper on Amazon.com!

The Forty Dollar Pull List – New Comics June 13th, 2012

Craig Reade — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 07:11:24 +0000

Originally published at cxPulp on June 20th, 2012. Click here to comment.

Welcome back to the $40 Pull List!

We have three books to cover this month. First we have Batgirl #10, and a look at the political aspects of that issue. Next I take a crack at another “aside” issue from The Sixth Gun, and then round things off with another look at an old friend – Deadpool.

On to the comics!

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NEW COMICS – JUNE 13th, 2012

Batgirl #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/13/2012 ON TIME
Written by Gail Simone, Pencils by Alitha Martinez, Colors by Ulises Arreola, Ink by Vicente Cifuentes

Batgirl busts some carjackers in an affluent area of Gotham, but starts to question whether or not she is just bullying the poor. Her suspicions turn out to be correct when it is revealed that the rich women who owned the property she protected have a hidden agenda. Batgirl goes back to the scene to check up on the hood that was caught in the bear trap, and she is met by a group of vigilantes known as the Disgraced – who either want Batgirl to join them, or be destroyed.

Issues like this make me groan. Politics in comics is such a touchy thing, and there are far more ways to do it wrong than to do it properly. If handled correctly, a little politics in a story can be thought provoking. However in order to accomplish that, the writer has to remain objective and has to allow the reader to experience a new point of view, without damning the old one.

I have read far worse issues in terms of being politically heavy-handed, but this one was just on the wrong side of that fine line. Instead of just having the antagonists happen to be in a wealthy circle, Simone goes out of her way to invoke the theme that all rich people are evil. Batgirl’s roomate’s participation (and arrest) in an Occupy Gotham rally, and Batgirl’s own thoughts about how wrong it was for rich people to try and revitalize a neighborhood, or her willingness to excuse grand larceny because the criminals are just the “desperate poor,” are just a few examples. I give Simone credit for at least pointing out that Bruce Wayne is using his money to do the same thing by putting Barbara in the position of having to defend him, but that felt more like glaring contradiction that Simone just couldn’t ignore rather than a real attempt at balance.

I know Gail Simone is a liberal – she is open and unapologetic about it. There is nothing wrong with that – I fundamentally disagree with her politics, but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t write comics (or even put some of her philosophy in what she writes)! But a Batgirl comic is not the place to wield the political broad brush.

Alysia (Barbara’s roommate) could be used better toward that end. Having an Occupy supporting character is reasonable, and a fantastic way for Simone to introduce those ideas to the story. Having a single character express Simone’s political beliefs while leaving the protagonist neutral would allow the story to take center stage, and not a divisive and highly debatable political opinion. Batgirl is not Green Arrow or Hawkman, or any other character with strong political motivations, and this isn’t the way to turn her into one.

The trouble here is that she doesn’t weave that character into a diverse fabric. The issue starts with Batgirl locked in an internal struggle over the fact that she may just be “beating up on the poor” and protecting the evil rich people. Grand larceny is not the same as stealing food or small amounts of money to feed yourself and family – and Simone portraying the car thieves as victims stretched believability. Instead of Batgirl’s usual self-doubt about the job she is doing, she instead is locked finds herself debating whether or not she should be helping the evil rich people!

Quickly, her suspicions are validated when the women do indeed turn out to be the evil rich, who make a very real victim out of one of the thieves. Batgirl makes a mistake in this issue by not waiting with the thief for medical help – not because the rich are evil and the thieves are all victims (as Simone seemingly indicated), but because the “Disgraced” in their finery posing as “security” were suspicious, and the entire scene screamed that something was wrong.

Simone once (respectfully and civilly, to her credit) challenged Dave Sim about whether or not his work was accessible to all, or just those of a particular political/sociological bent. With this issue, I think she forgot to ask herself that question. There is a good story beneath all of this, but it was just overwhelmed by the heavy-handed political grandstanding.

—

The Sixth Gun #23, $3.99, Oni Press. Due Out 06/13/2012 ON TIME
Written by Cullen Bunn, Art by Tyler Crook, Color by Bill Crabtree

Kirby Hale returns! After a quick tryst with a woman at a bar, Kirby makes his way to an appointment with a group who were going to auction the five guns Hale failed to steal. He arrives late – and instead finds his clients dead. Their killers – Missy Hume and her hirelings – want to hire him to steal the guns for her. Kirby agrees, and sets out to find the Gallows Tree – so it can tell him where to find the pistols.

I really enjoy this kind of issue from the Sixth Gun. Many comics will just throw a new (or returning) character into the mix right away, but Bunn actually takes a step back and brings the reader up to speed about the new element about to come into the story. When Hale finally does cross paths with Drake and Becky again, we will all know exactly where he came from, why he is there, and how he found them. And we are all reminded about who he is, and why Becky is likely to shoot him on site.

Tyler Crook fills in for Brian Hurtt in this issue, and he does a fantastic job. Crabtree continuing to handle the colors helps a lot (the color is such a huge part of this book’s visual appeal), but Crook does a fantastic job subbing in. He also worked on issue #14 – so I guess he was well received after that work if he is back again here.

—

Deadpool #56, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/13/2012 ON TIME
Written by Daniel Way, Art by Shawn Crystal, Color by John Rauch

Deadpool, reeling after his defeat at the hands of the Trapster, seeks out the Taskmaster to train him. Taskmaster agrees – but on the condition that Deadpool help him rob a SHIELD facility as payment. Intelligentcia, having hacked the security feed, sees that Deadpool has resurfaced. Trapster notices that his hand still hasn’t healed, so he rushes to the facility in the hopes of adding another victory to his record.

Ug, Way is still doing the multi-colored narration boxes? It wasn’t the only reason I stopped reading this book before, but it did contribute to my general dislike over the way the character was being handled. It doesn’t seem to be quite as over-the-top as it was before, which is a good thing, but it still isn’t everything I once liked about Deadpool.

There is some good here – Taskmaster’s reaction and plan for Deadpool and Trapster’s triumph over his victory were all outstanding – just enough good to make the title interesting, despite the obnoxious narration. The issue was good enough to make me curious about what comes next, so I think we will be keeping this one around for a while. It was wacky and fun – and with Reed Gunther’s departure from the list, that is something we have been lacking. Hopefully Way is up to the task in the long term.

—

RELEASED SO FAR

STILL TO COME

CASHING IN THE TRADE BANK: Daytripper TP, $19.99, DC Comics. Released 02/01/2012
Blue Beetle #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012
Nightwing #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012
Daredevil #14, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012
Journey Into Mystery #640, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012
John Carter: Gods of Mars #4 (of 5), $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 06/27/2012

—

FREE COMICS

I still have a bunch of Free Comics to give away. This week’s passkey is ThomCruz!

Thanks again for reading. We will have 4 more books next week to cover, and then we will round off the month with John Carter and the Trade Bank.

See you next week!

Support cxPulp and order Daytripper on Amazon.com!

The Forty Dollar Pull List – New Comics June 6th, 2012

Craig Reade — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 07:37:26 +0000

Originally published at cxPulp.com on June 13th, 2012. To comment, click here!

I’ve got a trio of issues to cover this week. First a pair of issues from DC Comics: Dial H #2 and Earth 2 #2. The first new title of the month hit the stands as well last week: Journey Into Mystery #639.

Little time for preamble this week, so I will just jump right into it. Be sure to check out the end of the column if you are interested in checking out the updated list of issues I am giving away this week!

—

NEW COMICS – JUNE 6th, 2012

Dial H #2, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/06/2012 ON TIME
Written by China Mieville, Art by Mateus Santolouco, Color by Tanya & Richard Horie

Nelson experiments a bit with the HERO-dialer before going to visit his friend Daren in the hospital. He learns that Darren was wrapped up in a gang that was breaking into the homes of coma victims, but they keep getting broken up by a superhero. Nelson uses the dialer and becomes Control-Alt-Delete and goes to investigate the home his friend was supposed to rob. He is attacked by a woman in the home, and barely survives the encounter. He doesn’t have much time to ponder what to do next – Darren is killed by an unknown enemy, and Nelson leaps into action as the Iron Snail to try and rescue him. He fares well in the battle, but his powers start to wear off, forcing him to retreat. He makes is way back to the dial, and finds a possible ally.

The story is good here, but the overall execution could be better. I love the big picture, but there were a few confusing pages in the middle there. Part of that I must blame on the art – while the art team has done a great job of bringing Nelson’s various identities to life, the scenes with the strange antagonists have been very, very confusing. The color especially is difficult in those scenes. Overall things look pretty good throughout the issue, but those few pages were just tough to look at.

Mieville is doing a good job with the concept, and I am enjoying the random heroes he has come up with. Of course I wanted to see more of these characters, but that is a sign of a writer who has a good grasp on the Dial H concept. If I want to see more, he’s doing it right.

I still can’t tell if this title is going to last, or if it will suddenly come to an end like so many of the previous attempts. This isn’t the best Dial H I have ever read, which may not bode well, but time will tell. It is still an enjoyable title, so I will continue to look forward to reading this one.

—

Earth 2 #2, $3.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/06/2012 ON TIME
Written by James Robinson, Pencils by Nicola Scott, Color by Alex Sinclair and Pete Pantazis, Ink by Trevor Scott

The DCnU’s Mister Terrific finds himself on Earth 2, face to face with Terry Sloan – the smartest man on Earth. Meanwhile in Michigan, Mercury falls to Earth after escaping from an unnamed captor. He is found by Jay Garrick, to whom he explains that he is dying, and that a new age of heroes must begin to protect humanity. His last act is to grant Jay “The Speed of a God.” Garrick gives his new abilities a trial run, and he ends up saving a couple from a mischief of apokorats. As he gets more comfortable, he pushes his speed farther and farther, until he finds himself in Poland where he is met by Hawkgirl. Meanwhile, Alan Scott proposes to his boyfriend – moments before the train they are riding on explodes.

The media made a huge deal about this issue, because it revealed for the first time that this version of Alan Scott is gay. I feel it is important to treat that revelation with the importance that it deserves. So instead of talking about it, I am actually going to move on to the things that matter in the plot.

I really enjoyed the way that The Flash was introduced. The costume update is really slick, and Jay’s attitude about his own heroism was very humble. If you didn’t know what was going to happen the first time Jay’s name was mentioned last issue, you had to see it the moment Mercury first appeared on panel. His new origin has a very Hal Jordan flavor, mixed with the attitude of Peter Parker. I like it.

I also love that they are using Terry Sloane as something of a villain – at least, that is the way it seems so far. I am looking forward to seeing that plot line develop as well. Still not a lot on the Alan Scott front – his story is progressing very slowly, and his brief appearance in this issue was only a tease for what I assume will be his ultimate origin in the next issue.

In a way, Earth 2 is being handled the way I wish the entire DCnU was – a fresh start. They have eliminated the Trinity, as those characters are just too iconic to mess around with, and found a way to start over with some very old characters. I can understand why they were unable to go all the way with a Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman reboot, but reading Earth 2 has made me wish that this new universe was the dominant one in the current DC landscape, with the continuing story of the Trinity being isolated to their own universe.

—

Journey Into Mystery #639, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/06/2012 ON TIME
Written by Kieron Gillen, Art by Richard Elson, Color by Ifansyah Noor

Otherworld is assaulted by the rise of cities, and the Celtic gods beg Asgard for help. They decline, citing the noninterference pact between the pantheons, but Loki and Leah are sent to Earth as “private citizens” to see if there is anything they can do. They travel to London, and then to Otherworld via Stonehenge. Loki witnesses a great battle against the Manchester gods, and tries to come up with a better way to bring the conflict to an end.

This wasn’t a bad issue to jump into at all – I had no problem following what was going on. Off the bat, I have to comment about the art. This is a fantastic looking comic – Elson and Noor have a lot to be proud of here.

The tone of the story is a little strange to me. It has the right feel – but I think the humor is laid on a little too thick. Sometimes it works and sometimes it is a distraction – but only a small one.

Loki as a Kid is definitely interesting. I don’t think I can examine the character any better than those who have already done so. You know what he was, but that is now only his potential. I don’t know if “evil me” has popped up before elsewhere, but there is a lot of potential there for an evil conscious of sorts, and I like it.

We’ve got another issue this month of Journey Into Mystery – I don’t think I’ll have to wait long to learn more about this Loki.

—

RELEASED SO FAR

STILL TO COME

CASHING IN THE TRADE BANK: Daytripper TP, $19.99, DC Comics. Released 02/01/2012
Batgirl #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 06/13/2012
The Sixth Gun #23, $3.99, Oni Press. Due Out 06/13/2012
Deadpool #56, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/13/2012
Blue Beetle #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012
Nightwing #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012
Daredevil #14, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012
Journey Into Mystery #640, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012
John Carter: Gods of Mars #4 (of 5), $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 06/27/2012

—
FREE COMICS

I still have a bunch of Free Comics to give away. This week’s passkey is KidLoki!

I am starting to get a few more requests for comics, and I am happy to continue to give them away without any restrictions for the time being. However, do remember that this is first-come, first serve. For now! If you have enjoyed any of the issues, why not say thank you by making a donation to cxPulp? You can send any amount to payments@cxpulp.com via Paypal, or contact me for other donation options.

Thanks again for reading, and I will see you next week!

Support cxPulp and order Daytripper on Amazon.com!

The Forty Dollar Pull List – June 2012 List and Nonplayer Discussion

Craig Reade — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 07:01:33 +0000

Originally published at cxPulp.com on June 7th, 2012. To comment, click here!

I’ve just got a brief $40 Pull List for you think week, wrapping up the last month and setting the Pull List for June. The month essentially wrapped up a few weeks ago, but I was holding off on the summation on the hope that Reed Gunther #10 would, in fact, come out. Sadly, that was not the case – and there is even more bad news on that front. But more on that shortly.

To help extend the column a bit, I will do another ever-popular Nonplayer update! Not just any update either, but a full recap with some strong criticism directed mostly at the comic audience. Are you excited? Read on!

—

LATE AND UNRELEASED TITLES

Reed Gunther #10, $2.99, Image Comics, Due out 04/18/2012 DELAYED – Due Out 06/20/2012

Now this is a sad one – Image is now saying that Reed Gunther #10 has been pushed back yet another week to June 20th. Unfortunately that means that it must be automatically dropped from the list for being more than 60 days late. It is sad, because Reed Gunther was really starting to become a solid series.

You might wonder why a title has to be automatically dropped from the list after being 60 days late – especially a good title like this one. It all comes down to budgeting. With such a small amount of money to spend each and every month on comics, every single dollar counts. When a title is released late – you have money wasted that you could have spent on another issue that month. Not only do we want quality comics, but we also want books that are going to come out on a regular basis. If a creative team demonstrates that they can’t put a title out on time each month, it is a good bet that this will never change. In this case – if the Houghtons are successful in their work outside of comics, this kind of thing is understandably going to continue.

You don’t see many books from Marvel or DC have this problem anymore, but with Image it is chronic. The Houghton’s absolutely have a valid reason why the book has been delayed. Frankly, I find it much more impressive that they are too busy to finish their comic issue on time because they are too busy with a far more lucrative television jobs than the usual excuse: artist is too busy smoking pot and playing World of Warcraft to finish drawing.

So with a bit of sadness that we bid adieu to Reed Gunther, to make room for something new.

DROPPED: Reed Gunther, Image Comics

—

THE CHOPPING BLOCK AND NEW TITLES

I am really torn about Batman. I haven’t been enjoying the Night of Owls very much, and Batman itself just hasn’t been doing much for me ever since they started dipping their toes into the introduction of the Court of Owls. The price hike to $3.99 is another sticking point – granted, they are providing a back-up story, but thus far the story isn’t making me enjoy this title anymore. It’s a tough decision, since this is a pretty major event and something interesting may happen – but weighted against those other factors, I think it is best to move on.

DROPPED: Batman

As far as new titles go this month – we have a lot of room. It makes sense to go ahead and cash-in the Trade Bank, and officially add Daytripper to the list.

ADDED: Daytripper TP, $19.99, DC Comics. Due Out 02/01/2012

Looking at the list – we are very light on Marvel books. Adding Marvel titles has proven to be tough of late – either their issues are $3.99 (far too expensive for a 32 page book), regularly come out more than once a month, or a combination of the two. While I am a major advocate of publishers putting out their titles on a regular basis, I think Marvel is seriously overdoing it. It is great that they can maintain this kind of schedule, but their pricing and scheduling strategy wreaks havoc on those with a limited monthly budget for comics.

Still, we need to give something a try, and Journey Into Mystery has been getting decent reviews. That seems like a good place to start.

ADDED: Journey Into Mystery #639, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/06/2012
ADDED: Journey Into Mystery #640, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012

Finally, I think it is time to give an old friend a chance once again. Popularity helped kill the appeal of the Merc-With-A-Mouth, especially with the changes in the character that came about after Cable & Deadpool came to an end. Are things better now? It’s time to find out.

ADDED: Deadpool #56, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/13/2012

—

THE MATH

CASHING IN THE TRADE BANK: Daytripper TP, $19.99, DC Comics. Released 02/01/2012
Dial H #2, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/06/2012
Earth 2 #2, $3.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/06/2012
Journey Into Mystery #639, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/06/2012
Batgirl #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 06/13/2012
The Sixth Gun #23, $3.99, Oni Press. Due Out 06/13/2012
Deadpool #56, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/13/2012
Blue Beetle #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012
Nightwing #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012
Daredevil #14, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012
Journey Into Mystery #640, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 06/20/2012
John Carter: Gods of Mars #4 (of 5), $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 06/27/2012

TRADE BANK - $0.00

$.78 (Bank from May) + $40.00 (June Budget) + $3.22 (Reed Gunther #10 Delayed) + $14.00 (Trade Bank) = $58.00
$58.00 – $53.88 (May Issues) – $4.18 (tax) = -$0.06 Banked for July

Yes,the list as is puts us $.06 over budget. I figure I will just find that in the couch cushion this month, rather than holding off yet another month on Daytripper over a few pennies.

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NONPLAYER UPDATE!

In April of last year, we added Nonplayer #1 to the list. Its initial solicitation came with a promise – that the book would be complete before the issues were solicited.

Unfortunately, Brandon and I misread this “promise.” Simpson meant that each issue would only be solicited as they were completed. This discovery in May had Brandon and I sharply at odds. Brandon wanted to keep the title on the list and simply wait for issue #2, I wanted to drop it immediately. In retrospect – dropping it was the right decision, since this would have been the 13th month that we carried a nonexistent book. I occasionally like to mention Nonplayer, not as an “I told you so” to Brandon, but more as an illustration of the failure in work ethic that I see from too many independent creators as well as my own confusion at comic readers who continue to support and advocate for said deficit.

Looking at the storied history of this nonexistent story, Nonplayer #1 was initially completed back in February 2011. While I have no idea how long Nate Simpson worked on that issue, if we take the no-solicit promise seriously, we know when the issue was finished. The issue was released in May of 2011, and I have to admit it was good. The story was overall decent and imaginative (if a little amateur), but the art was fantastic.

After that, Simpson was showered in acclaim. He won the 2011 Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award at Comic-Con in July of 2011, despite only having produced a single comic issue, with no sign when the second would be coming. I found the selection to be strange in the extreme – Simpson is quite obviously a talented artist, but that doesn’t make him a good comic artist. A good comic artist does more than make beautiful looking art, they also understand the time pressure involved in creating a regular comic book, and have the work ethic to produce when against a deadline. They also have an understanding of artistic storytelling – and Nonplayer #1, for as good as it looked, really didn’t demonstrate any more promise in that department than what I have seen in other comics.

In August it was announced that Warner Brothers had purchased the film rights to Nonplayer. Much ado was made of this – ignoring the fact that studios most often do nothing with those rights, and frequently pay as little as a couple hundred dollars for the story. More money comes if the film is actually made, of course, but so far – there has been no further news on that front.

In September, Simpson crashed his bicycle and broke his collarbone. A serious injury for an artist to be sure – but he announced a mere 6 weeks later that he was drawing again, and at the beginning of December he reported that the comic was half-way finished.

Since then, updates have been sparse. Nate Simpson’s own blog and twitter more often talk about other artists he likes – or he spends a moment talking about how he is making “progress” on Nonplayer #2, how something has happened to help or hurt his progress, and generally making a lot of excuses for why the comic isn’t done yet after sixteen months of work. Simpson claims to be working hard, and says that he works 30 hours a week on the comic – or at least tries to. Taking that number, and calculating the number of hours he has “worked” on Nonplayer #2 since he began (subtracting injury time), that is 1,740 hours of work. If Nonplayer #2 is 32 pages of story, that works out to a staggering 54.375 hours PER PAGE. I can’t really say what he was paid for Nonplayer #1, but the first issue sold 8,869, plus a little more of the reprint. It was commonly reported that a creator would make $1 per issue at image, so assuming 10,000 total issues sold, that means Simpson made about $10,000 for the issue. His public quest for a day job definitely indicates he didn’t strike it rich based on that issue.

Assuming his current pace of work also applied to issue #1, and assuming issue #2 is only 2/3 complete (a fair assumption), he worked for around $3.83 an hour on issue #1.

So why am I making such a big deal about this? It definitely isn’t to stick it to Brandon, or to bash Nate Simpson specifically. I think Nate Simpson is very young in terms of being a comic professional, and while he clearly has spent a lot of time honing his artistic skills, he hasn’t taken the same care to improve his skills as a comic creator outside of what he figured out on his own. It is kind of like kayak fishing – many who enjoy that hobby are excellent fishermen, but only have a basic, passing knowledge of kayaking. Simpson knows how to put ink to paper, but he clearly doesn’t understand what it takes to put that art together in the form of a comic story that comes out on a regular basis. Unfortunately the hands-off approach of Image and the acclaim of the readers isn’t giving him the constructive criticism he needs to improve that aspect of his craft or encouraging him to seek out someone who can teach him how to be better.

If you go back to the original promise of Image – it was to be a place where creators would finally get “what they deserve” for their creations. The idea of the creator-owned work is a nice one, in theory. But when you look back through the history of Image, how many people really hit it big with an original, creator-owned work published by Image? You probably rattle off “Robert Kirkman,” but who else? A lot of Image’s biggest names originally became known for their work at Marvel and DC. Many who first became known while at Image have gone on to bigger and better things, but their big paychecks came when they moved on to the big two.

The thing is, while Marvel and DC retain the rights of the characters and stories created – the creators who work for them seem to be more prolific, get paid more for their work, and are given greater opportunity to make a name for themselves than those at Image or other small-press publishers. Run more like a business interested in making money, Marvel and DC demand that their creators meet deadlines, meet minimum quality standards, and work with editors to improve their own work. Outside of the rare few with the intuition and the work ethic to figure out all of this on their own, a new creator working at Marvel or DC comes out of the experience with a greater understanding of how the industry works and with greater name recognition – which makes their work more marketable.

So many comic fans rebel against this system, decry “corporate” mainstream comics, and end up being cheerleaders for the independents. Don’t get me wrong – good work should be applauded, but good, consistent, and evolving work should be put on a pedestal. Nate Simpson has no business being put on a pedestal yet, and if he realizes that he has taken his first step towards actually getting to that point.

Simpson’s Manning Award is a great illustration. Granted, the award criteria really only focuses on a sample submission and doesn’t consider the artist’s work-ethic or a demonstration of improvement, but shouldn’t it? To me, a promising comic artist is someone not only with raw talent, but also someone with a drive to produce and demonstrate improvement over their short careers. To me, “promising” means there is something there that can become great with enough work and improvement. Along with that comes a willingness on the art of an artist to become better in those categories.

So in the case of Nate Simpson, has the current culture of comic readers helped? The Image Promise certainly didn’t. Yes, it exposed his skill to the market, but it did nothing to press him to produce. “We’ll solicit it when it is finished” only allowed him to take as much time as he wanted without pressure. He doesn’t have someone taking him by the hand and teaching him about what needs to be done to be a successful comic creator (meaning, someone who can live off their work). He isn’t learning when you can sacrifice a tiny bit of quality for the sake of meeting a deadline, and still have your work praised. He definitely isn’t being taught about better ways to approach a comic project to prevent an artist/writer from having to toss a bunch of finished pages because you realized they were boring, after the fact (as he admits to doing with issue #2).

And the fans and awards? Is that teaching him that anything less than the “perfection” he is creating now won’t be acceptable, even if it means being able to produce a regular comic? Is shouting down the few critics like me who suggest that taking 16 months to produce a comic is neither promising nor desirable doing anything to help him become better and actually produce something you want to see?

This is why I approach the list the way I do – and stress the importance of timeliness so much. I love fantastic work, but I would rather read a slightly sub-par comic than have no comic at all. For all of the merits of the creator-owned argument, Image’s approach went too far in the other direction. In the meantime, the changes at Marvel and DC that lead to more credit being given to the creators has placed the big two closer to the industry ideal than any of their competition. Image may give the full rights that people tout as ideal, but at the big 2 books are selling, and creative teams – rather than being afterthoughts in the credits – are actively promoted and advertised.

Sadly, I don’t think we will ever see Nonplayer #3. We will probably see Nonplayer #2 eventually, but until Simpson learns to work within a reasonable, profitable schedule he will never be a success in comics. Meanwhile I suspect that we will have many, many more months of celebration for something that doesn’t exist.

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FREE COMICS

I still have a bunch of Free Comics to give away – as usual, you can check out the list here. This week, the passkey is Nonplayer!

The Forty Dollar Pull List – New Comics May 9th and 16th, 2012

Craig Reade — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:57:00 +0000

Originally Posted on cxPulp on May 22nd, 2012. Click here to comment.

Apologies for missing out last week – sometimes life gets in the way! So today we are going to cover the issues that came out over the last two weeks. This will wrap up everything for the month with the exception of Reed Gunther #10, which was once again delayed. More on that later.

Suffice to say this won’t be the final column of the month – should Reed Gunther be delayed once again, the next column will wrap things up and include next month’s list.

There are seven issues to cover, so I will jump right into it!

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NEW ISSUES: MAY 9th, 2012

Batgirl #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 05/09/2012 ON TIME
Written by Gail Simone, Pencils by Ardian Syaf, Colors by Ulises Arreola, Ink by Vicente Sifuentes

Back in 1944 Japan, young Ayumi is one of many young children who help to make the fire balloons meant to attack the United States. There was one successful strike during that campaign – six who were killed when one of the bombs detonated in Southern Oregon. Mary was a survivor of that attack – her family killed – and she found herself traveling with Haly’s Circus shortly after. Her talents attracted the attention of the Court of Owls, who recruit her as one of their Talons. Fast forward to the Night of Owls, and Batgirl finds herself facing a Talon (presumably Mary) who mysteriously attempts to bond with her during their confrontation.

This issue was a little confusing to say the least. I liked the introduction of the fire balloons as a tool that the Court would use, but I don’t totally understand why so much time was spent on Ayumi. It makes some sense to provide some historical background on the balloon attacks, and I suppose creating a character to help introduce that concept to the reader makes sense. But eventually citing Nagasaki as Ayumi’s home city was a little much. Is Simone trying to imply that Ayumi was killed in the eventual nuclear explosion there? Maybe I am looking too much into it, but invoking Nagasaki is always loaded. The story itself is kind of messy – I think Mary needed some internal dialogue to help the reader understand why she suddenly became so fascinated with Batgirl beyond the fact that the “both have masks.”

Perhaps I am being overcritical – but in simple terms, I think the story in this issue was very choppy. I prefer not simply say I didn’t enjoy it, and think it is far more constructive to at least attempt to explain why. When it comes down to it – I think this was far too soon for a crossover of this nature. It works in those titles that did include some build-up to the event like Nightwing, but in Batgirl – it feels like it is included only because the editors felt that all bat-family books had to take part. This title doesn’t have a strong enough foundation yet to shift gears so suddenly like this.

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Batman #9, $3.99, DC Comics. Due out 05/09/2012 ON TIME
Written by Scott Snyder, Pencils by Greg Capullo, Color by Plascencia, Ink by Jonathan Glapion.

The Talons have invaded the Batcave, and Batman struggles to defend his home turf. The battle is brutal, but Bruce eventually wins the day. Battered, he ventures out into the city to help his allies protect those the Court of Owls has targeted. He races to the office of Lincoln March, but he is too late – the Owls have already gotten to him. Bruce vows to avenge their attack, and prepares to take the battle to the lair of the Court of Owls.

I think I enjoyed this issue a bit more than Batgirl – but I still wasn’t overly thrilled with the way it turned out. It mostly seemed like nothing was really accomplished. Snyder spent a lot of time resolving Bruce’s defense of the cave – something that was completely set up in the previous issue and was essentially a foregone conclusion. After spending more than half of the issue watching the inevitable unfold at a painfully slow pace, Bruce spends several pages rushing to save someone that was already dead.

I don’t know what would have made this issue better. The more parts of the Night of Owls I read, the more I am convinced that the story itself just doesn’t have the meat to divide up between so many issues in so many different titles. The war in the Batcave could have been handled in a single issue, and dragging out the inevitable victory for Batman in the cave when the entire previous issue was dedicated almost entirely to the fight just made this issue fall flat.

The Fall of the House of Wayne finally does start up this issue. It follows Alfred’s father Jarvis (I guess his pre-Crisis dad is back in continuity?), who believes that the Manor is cursed, and is warning his son about something horrible that is happening. The story ends with Jarvis encountering a Talon. The whole thing looks like it is a step in the direction of some continuity shifts bringing Thomas and Martha in line with the versions of the characters we saw in the films. I have to admit it was a little jarring at first, but we were all warned that the DCnU wasn’t the same as the old New Earth – and those changes are just going to pop up without explanation. The story isn’t bad – it hasn’t hooked me yet, but there is some potential there for some interesting new history.

Though if they change Batman’s origin so that the Court of Owls is really responsible for Thomas and Martha’s death… oiy.

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NEW ISSUES: MAY 16th, 2012

Blue Beetle #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012 ON TIME
Written by Tony Bedard, Art by Marcio Takara, Color by Pete Pantazis

Jaime finds himself face to face with the New Guardians – Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, Orange Lantern Glomulus, and Red Lantern Bleez. His scarab goes into overdrive, deploying every available countermeasure to defend itself. This, of course, leads to a short confrontation that is broken up by an attempt on Kyle Rayner’s life by a hitman hired by the Guardians. Rayner’s ring is drained and Glomulus is knocked out of action. While Bleez fights the hitman, Jaime recovers Kyle’s battery so he can recharge. After things settle down, Kyle has a talk with Jaime and scans his suit with his ring – learning about the Reach and discovering that they are currently attacking the homeworld of the Blue Lantern Corps.

I really enjoyed this issue. It felt like progress was made for Jaime – something that has been extremely slow up to this point. Jaime stumbling through learning to use and control the Scarab was fine, but it is high time he started to take control of his own destiny. This was a step in that direction. It was also a great introduction to the Lantern titles if you haven’t been reading them… and the pitch for those other books was handled very well.

Throughout the issue there were updates on what is happening back in El Paso, specifically the search for Jaime by his family, and what is happening with Brenda now that La Dama is gone. Bedard is making it clear that these characters do matter, and I suspect it is only a matter of time before Jaime makes his way back home. I think he’s still got some growing to do before he heads back, and it looks like his friends are going to have to go get him eventually. I am enjoying the journey to that point.

Moving past this issue, I wonder what happened to Glomulus?

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Nightwing #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012 ON TIME
Written by Kyle Higgins, Pencils by Eddy Barrows and Andres Guinaldo, Color by Rod Reis and Peter Pantazis, Ink by Eber Ferreira, Ruy José, and Mark Irwin.

Dick goes toe-to-toe with his great-grandfather, William Cobb (also a Talon), and it looks like a fight that Dick can’t win. The fight is only window dressing for the real story – Cobb’s back story, and how he came to be a part of the Court of Owls and how the Grayson name came to be.

This was a sparse recap, but it was really something best read, than read about. I’ve been down on the Court of Owls tie in issues so far, but Nightwing is very much an exception to that negativity.

The concept of the Court of Owls really is a good one. I like the idea of this odd “Lawful Neutral” faction in the depths of Gotham, trying to preserve what they believe Gotham to be. Admittedly this perspective is a bit biased by my attachment to this title, but the best part of the Court of Owls has nothing to do with Batman. I have no idea if the idea of the Court originated with Nightwing, or if Higgins just crafted a great story to link Nightwing to the idea – but it just seems to fit here. In all of the other tie ins, it seems like the extent of the stories have been “Oh no, there’s some Talons! Let’s fight!” Nightwing has a personal stake in this, and this issue was an outstanding culmination of many months of solid storytelling.

I still think a crossover event, even a limited one, was a very bad idea at this very early stage of the DCnU. A crossover appearance like we saw in Blue Beetle? That is just fine. On the other hand, major event that disrupts the evolution of very young titles just isn’t a great idea. It works in Nightwing, because so much of the concept evolved there. To me, this title showed the ways the Court of Owls could work in a story – as opposed to Batgirl, where I think it was little more than wasted time.

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John Carter: Gods of Mars #3 (of 5), $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 05/16/2012 ON TIME
Written by Sam Humphries, Art by Ramon Perez, Color by Jordie Bellaire

During their escape, Xodar, Cathorsis, and John Carter find themselves under attack by airships from Helium – who believe them to be pirates. John falls from their ship – but is saved by an act of daring from his son. Their ship crashes, and the trio are taken captive. Only among their jailors is Kantos Kan who recognizes John Carter. They are free for a moment, but when John accidentally reveals that they escaped from the Valley of Dor – Kantos Kan is forced to arrest them for that crime. They are taken back to Helium, and John learns that in his absence Zat Arras has taken over the city. The trio are put on trial for their sin, but the will of the people turns against Zat Arras. Sola Tarkas then arrives with a message – she traveled into the Valley Dor with Dejah Thoris in search of John Carter, and learned the truth of his words. Unfortunately Dejah has been taken captive, and John Carter finds himself once again imprisoned.

I am such a fan of this series – and not only because I am a John Carter fan. It is also such a well crafted comic. So much happens in each issue that you really get your money’s worth. There isn’t any excessive padding, the story just moves along. The pace is perfect for John Carter as the novellas didn’t waste much time either – John was always bouncing from one dire situation to the next. And the art is just outstanding, a great fit for the story.

As an adaptation, this hits all of the high points. Yes, the dialogue is changed to make it a bit more “hip,” but that only makes the story more accessible to the modern reader. As a plain old comic book it gives me exactly what I want – great art and tons of story, without dragging things out longer than they need to be to sell more issues with less overall content. Marvel has something to be proud of with this series, and as long as they maintain this level of quality, I will be buying these John Carter books.

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The Sixth Gun #22, $3.99, Oni Press. Due Out 05/16/2012 ON TIME
Written by Cullen Bunn, Illustrated by Brian Hurtt, Colored by Bill Crabtree

Drake Sinclair has escaped with Becky Montcrief, but he isn’t quite ready to flee yet. He wants revenge. He lays a trap for the men tracking them and strikes out at the Knights of Solomon. He takes a small measure of revenge, and goes on to reveal to Becky that the Knights of Solomon believe that the pistols can be used to tear down and rebuild the world – and that they also believe that Drake Sinclair has done it once before.

Last month I was pretty down on the silent issue, and time really hasn’t changed my mind much. I found I had a bad taste in my mouth from it, and when things returned to normal I realized just how much I disliked issue #21. Silent issues can be great or they can be disasters… I really think issue #21 fit in the latter category, not because of a lack of skill, but because of the horrible timing of the attempt. Reading through #22 made me wonder if the silent issue would have worked better here.

Moving past #21, issue #22 gives us another look at who Drake Sinclair might be. There have been plenty of hints that Drake is far from ordinary throughout this series, but now we know that he may well be responsible for the current state of all of Creation. I am not sure who the lizard-men were at the end of the issue (maybe they showed up during the brief span I wasn’t reading this title), but I have little doubt that they are going to figure into the story somewhere in the near future.

Issue #21 was a stumble, but a slight one. This title appears to be right back on track – the story continues to be outstanding.

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Daredevil #13, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012 ON TIME
Written by Mark Waid, Pencils by Khoi Pham, Color by Javier Rodriguez, Ink by Tom Palmer

Foggy fears for Matt’s sanity, and his absence is stressing him out even more. Foggy tries to cover for him with a client, but he finds something in Matt’s office that terrifies him. Flashing back 16 hours, Matt drops Kirsten off after their date, and rushes into action as Daredevil to follow up on Black Spectre’s threat. The remaining four Megacrime Organizations choose that moment to finally come together and coordinate an attack against Matt. They eventually bring him down, and just when things look their worst – Black Spectre arrives. Matt is saved, but the rogue organization claims the Omegadrive and escapes. Only everything isn’t as it seems – the “New Black Spectre” is really the Avengers in disguise. The day is saved, but all is not right for Daredevil, who suddenly finds himself teleported to a castle in Latveria.

Another outstanding issue. Matt’s date with Kirsten was the perfect transition from the crossover to this high-action issue, and Waid really delivered with a solid twist that didn’t make Daredevil appear to be bumbling through this confrontation. I love the fact that the Megacrime thugs aren’t pushovers, and that Daredevil really did need to use his wits to overcome them.

I also loved Foggy confronting Matt about “whiny angsty Daredevil,” and Matt replying that he “hated that guy.” I did too Foggy – it produced some good stories, but I am glad he is gone. Hopefully that was just Mark Waid talking to the reader, and not a warning that version of Matt will be coming back.

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LATE AND UNRELEASED TITLES

Reed Gunther #10, $2.99, Image Comics, Due out 04/18/2012 DELAYED – Due Out 06/13/2012

When I first sat down to write this column, I found notice that this issue had been delayed until May 30th. By the time I got here, the date changed once again to June 13th. That is 5 days shy of the auto-cancellation point, so fingers crossed that this is the final delay! Reed Gunther is an outstanding book, but for the purposes of this column especially – if you are going to solicit a monthly comic, you should be able to produce one. I understand that the Houghton’s have a busy non-comic schedule, but that shouldn’t have been a surprise to them going into soliciting this issue.

With luck, this issue will finally come out on June 13th, making all of this speculation academic.

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RELEASED SO FAR

Daredevil #12, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012 ON TIME
Dial H #1, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012 ON TIME
Earth 2 #1, $3.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012 ON TIME
Batgirl #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 05/09/2012 ON TIME
Batman #9, $3.99, DC Comics. Due out 05/09/2012 ON TIME
Blue Beetle #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012 ON TIME
Nightwing #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012 ON TIME
John Carter: Gods of Mars #3 (of 5), $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 05/16/2012 ON TIME
The Sixth Gun #22, $3.99, Oni Press. Due Out 05/16/2012 ON TIME
Daredevil #13, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012 ON TIME

STILL TO COME

Reed Gunther #10, $2.99, Image Comics, Due out 04/18/2012 DELAYED – Due Out 06/13/2012

TRADE BANK - $10.00
Daytripper TP, $19.99, DC Comics. Due Out 02/01/2012

$.23 (Bank from April) + $40.00 (May Budget) + $3.22 (Reed Gunther #10 Delayed) = $43.45
$43.45 – $35.89 (May Issues) – $2.78 (tax) – $4.00 (Trade Bank Deposit) = $0.78 Banked for June

—

FREE COMICS

Still plenty of issues to give away – if you are interested, drop me a line by following this link! Passkey is “Free!”

And if you have requested issues, please come on back and let me know what you thought of them!

There will be one more installment of the $40 Pull List this month, where we will at least wrap the month up and set the list for June. See you in a couple weeks!

Support cxPulp and order Daytripper on Amazon.com!

Prototype 2

Craig Reade — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:42:32 +0000

Originally Posted on cxPulp on May 11th, 2012. Click here to comment.

Reviewer: Craig Reade
Quick Rating: Massive viral destruction, this time with a hero.
Rating: M

Official Site

Platform: X-Box 360, Playstation 3, Windows PC (in July)
Developer: Radical Entertainment
Publisher: Activision Publishing
Genre: Action-Adventure Sandbox
# of Players: 1
US Release Date: April 24th, 2012
MSRP: $59.99

About three years ago, the first Prototype was released – and proved to be a pretty popular game. The announcement of the sequel gave me some mixed feelings thought. On the one hand, I enjoyed the first game, but on the other – I wasn’t sure how a sequel could manage to be anything other than a carbon copy of the first game. I wasn’t wrong on either count – but the result as a whole was extremely positive.

In Prototype 2, you take on the role of Sgt. James Heller – a US Marine. At the start of the game you experience several phone calls between a deployed Heller and his wife, who is telling him about the outbreak of of the Blacklight virus in Manhattan. The authorities there advise her to remain calm and stay home. Heller agrees she should stay put, reassuring her that he will “be home tomorrow.” By the time he gets there the virus has spread throughout the city, and his family is dead.

Heller blames Alex Mercer (the protagonist in the first game) for the death of his family after being told that Mercer was the cause of the first outbreak. When the “Mercer Virus” resurfaces, Heller volunteers to be sent to the Red Zone in the hopes that he will be able to find and kill Mercer. He gets his wish when his transport is attacked and Mercer appears to inspect the wreckage. Heller seizes his opportunity for vengeance, but he is outclassed by Mercer. Mercer – impressed by Heller’s fearlessness and skill – decides to infect him, expose Gentech and Blackwatch’s role in the creation of the virus, and we learn that he wants to use Heller as an “ally” in his war against the organizations.

The basics of Prototype 2‘s gameplay are pretty much identical to the original. As Heller, you are stronger and faster than regular people, can scale the sides of tall buildings and even glide across the city. You are still able to shapeshift into the form of the last person you consumed, and move undetected amongst the military if you have the right form. You can still pick up weapons from military bases or from soldiers, and can still hijack the various military vehicles that are sent after you.

While the elementary system is still the same, many of the details have changed. Some for the better.

The upgrade system is a massive improvement. They have ditched the Evolution Point system, and instead simply divided upgrades into several categories. As you accomplish certain missions or side-quests, you are given the opportunity to select your upgrade from one of the categories. This system is much more elegant and removed an unnecessary bit of complexity from the original game.

You also have a new “hunter” ability, that allows you to ping the city and locate certain key targets via echo-location. This has replaced the Thermal and Infected Vision from the previous game, and it is a change for the better. The Sonar Sense fits seamlessly into the game in those occasions when it is actually useful, whereas I preferred to find a way around using the Thermal Vision whenever I could.

The various offensive mutations are more balanced than they were in the previous game. In the first Prototype, it was far simpler to stick with the Whipfist as the primary weapon. In this game, that weapon isn’t quite as powerful, and the various enemies you encounter often prove to be strong against certain attacks, and weak against others. Combat is less about just dealing massive damage, and more about confronting specific opponents with carefully selected attacks. This is both a plus and minus – it makes individual combat a great deal more fun, but it reduces the joy of wanton destruction.

You have a few new abilities as well – Heller has a Tendril mutation that is used in place of Mercer’s Musclemass – a much more diverse offensive component that takes on some of the properties of the old Whipfist mutation, with a shorter range and some additional properties. He also gains the ability to summon up to four Hunters to do his bidding – something that is occasionally quite useful in large fights or when you need a distraction.

Defensively, Heller doesn’t have access to the Armor power that Mercer had, but his shield is significantly upgraded. Heller’s shield manifests on both arms, and can redirect projectiles back at an attacker. It appears to be unbreakable now and Heller can even use it offensively in certain situations. Heller doesn’t really heal quite like Mercer did – they both could heal quickly by consuming NPCs, but I seem to remember that Mercer could heal on his own much more quickly. Maybe that is time clouding the memory, but you definitely have to consume people to recharge your health in this game.

Character wise, Heller is a massive improvement. In the first game, Mercer seemed like little more than an angsty sociopath that the story was desperately trying to make sympathetic. That contradicted the character you became during gameplay – bent on destruction with a wanton disregard for the innocent. Heller actually is sympathetic. He is angry and vengeful, but he has the sense of honor and moral compass that Mercer lacked. He can still consume civilians to restore his health, but it is extremely easy to avoid doing so if you are really interested in playing a pure hero. There are plenty of military and infected around at all times that you can stealthily consume, and often times it is harder to go out of your way to find a civilian. Heller is also depicted in the story actively working to help the civilian population, and some of his missions reflect that. Not only is Heller a more likable character, but he is also more developed. Mercer is portrayed as the villain in this game, and his development in the first game was so generic that even though he was painted the hero, the switch here doesn’t seem forced or unnatural.

While I liked almost all of the changes for the sequel, there were some things I missed. The Web of Intrigue was one of them. Admittedly it would have been a good idea to scale back its importance, but the Web really gave you a solid reason to explore the city and look for upgrades. There are still targets scattered across the city that will provide a weapons upgrade or some bit of intel, but you have no way of finding them other than just roaming around. And the reward for doing so just isn’t worth the effort.

In fact, you have almost no incentive to roam around at all. Some of the side missions in the first game, though repetitive, gave you a real reason to explore the city and just play. That is completely gone this time around, in favor of a much less complex series of side missions that are more directed. While there was nothing wrong with these side missions, they eliminate any real reason you have to explore. In the first game, finding an infected hive or military base to go out and destroy was one of its real joys. Sure, the missions lacked variety, but there just isn’t the same opportunity in the new game to go out and have a pure destructive brawl.

So there are some negatives to Prototype 2, there aren’t many. Overall I have to conclude that the game is an improvement from the first one. The story is better by leaps and bounds, Heller blows Mercer away in terms of character quality, and the better balance in combat makes for more consistently fun gameplay. This one is worth picking up.

Rating

Screenshots

Support cxPulp and order Prototype 2 on Amazon.com!

The Forty Dollar Pull List – New Comics May 2nd, 2012

Craig Reade — Tue, 08 May 2012 18:36:21 +0000

Originally Posted on cxPulp on May 7th, 2012. Click here to comment.

Happy belated Free Comic Book Day! As usual, it was a big weekend for comic fans – it was the one time of year Saturday is more important than Wednesday, and as FCBD usually is timed for a major comic movie release, we got the launch of The Avengers this weekend as well. My days of seeing midnight screenings are behind me, so I am waiting until next weekend to finally see it. Yeah, maybe that makes me old, but for some reason the appeal of standing in line and fighting for a seat to see a movie has waned. From what I hear, it will be worth the wait to see it in a little more comfort!

To kick off the month of May, we have three issues this week to cover on the $40 Pull List to cover – two titles from the DCnU “Second Wave:” Dial H #1 and Earth 2 #1, along with Daredevil #12.

Plus, I still have plenty of issues to give away if you want to try out one of these titles – as usual, read on to find out more!

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NEW ISSUES: MAY 2nd, 2012

Daredevil #12, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012 ON TIME
Written by Mark Waid, Art by Chris Samnee, Color by Javier Rodriguez

Matt Murdock has his first date with the new Assistant District Attorney Kirsten McDuffie. He gets Spider-Man to watch over them during their outing, assuming that they will be too tempting a target out in public. Matt spends the time talking about how he met Foggy in law school, and how he saved him from expulsion. The date goes well, but Black Spectre makes its return – delivering a warning to Matt.

Coming out of the Omega Effect, Waid gives us an issue to take a breath and refocus on Matt’s story. The law school story is pretty interesting by itself – background stories can add a lot to an ongoing story. I have no idea if this story is going to come up again in the future, but the professor Matt went up against could have some real motivation to go after him and turn to the dark side.

This title is back on an enjoyable track – not that the crossover wasn’t exciting, but I’d prefer this book to be a little more inwardly focused for a while. Having a story that isn’t dependent on something that happened in another book is just what the doctor ordered. I have no doubt that we will be getting a lot more of the new Black Spectre in two weeks. Meanwhile – another absolutely outstanding issue.

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Dial H #1, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012 ON TIME
Written by China Miéville, Art by Mateus Santolouco, Color by Tanya and Richard Horie

Darren has to help his very overweight friend Nelse up to his apartment – and spends a couple of minutes berating him for his poor health before leaving. Nelse feels guilty, and decides to chase after Darren to apologize, but finds him being beaten by a group of thugs. Nelse tries to help, but is swatted aside. He reaches for a payphone to call the police, but finds himself transformed into “Boy Chimney” – and he levels the thugs and takes his severely wounded friend to the hospital. He wakes on a rooftop the next morning, confused and lost. Nelse makes his way back to the alley after visiting Darren, and tries to dial a few numbers on the phone, and randomly hits on the right combination – “IFSO” – which also spells “HERO” on the dial. This time be becomes Captain Lachrymose – with the power of invoking extreme sorrow, and gains strength from it. He pays a visit to Darren’s boss and issues an ultimatum… but he may not be ready to play at that level.

Dial H for Hero is a title that I always enjoy every time it comes around – sadly it never seems to stick around for long. Hopefully this one fares a little better. It is off to a good start – this is a little darker and grimier than previous outings have been, but I can see how that will work to enhance the eventual power addiction that so many of the HERO-dialer owners have developed, as seen in the 2003-2004 H.E.R.O. series.

There is a big change to the dialer itself… previously it was a portable device, now it is a physical phone rooted to the alley in which Nelson found it. This could be an interesting shift. The allusion to Superman’s old changing room is kind of a neat homage, but the need to travel to a specific destination to use the dialer is a fundamental shift in the concept. I don’t think it is a bad thing. It could turn out either way, but it is an idea worth trying.

I enjoyed this issue, and am very curious to see where Miéville plans to take this. The last series was a fantastic read – so Miéville has some big shoes to fill. I’m more than willing to give him a chance.

—

Earth 2 #1, $3.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012 ON TIME
Written by James Robinson, Pencils by Nicola Scott, Color by Alex Sinclair, Inks by Trevor Scott.

Meanwhile, on Earth 2, Steppenwolf and his army of parademons start the Apokolips War by invading Earth. After a long stalemate, Batman develops a plan to end the war, and Wonder Woman and Superman buy him the time he needs to implement it. The battle is fierce – the gods are dying, Superman falls, Wonder Woman is killed trying to save him, and the parademons bear down on the humans carrying out their back-up strategy. Batman makes it into one of their towers and plants the virus, but it self destructs, taking Batman with it. The plan is a success – but not without casualties. Robin and Supergirl are drawn into the explosion and transported elsewhere (see Worlds’ Finest), and the rest of the heroes are dead. But one god still lives, and Earth still needs heroes.

It’s quite a first issue when Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are all killed in the first half of the book! Reading through this, I kind of think this issue would have been better suited as a special one-off issue that leads into both Worlds’ Finest and Earth 2. Those picking up Worlds’ Finest are probably reading this one as well, so I suppose it works well enough. Still – you won’t often hear me arguing for an event, but this could easily have been an awesome 4 issue event series that lead to the two new titles. This would help give Supergirl and Robin a bit more of a background before sending them on their way in Worlds’ Finest, and make the losses from this story all the more impactful as it spun into Earth 2. I think this was a missed opportunity.

The issue was explosive, but it is tough to judge how the series will pan out in the long run. So far, Alan Scott and Jay Garrick are the only characters that have been introduced. Next issue will feel almost like the first issue, since outside the trigger event that separates this universe from the current mainstream DCU, we didn’t see a lot in this issue. Will have to wait until next month to see if this title is going to be appealing in the long run.

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STILL TO COME

Batgirl #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 05/09/2012
Reed Gunther #10, $2.99, Image Comics, Due out 04/18/2012 DELAYED – Due Out 05/09/2012
Batman #9, $3.99, DC Comics. Due out 05/09/2012
Blue Beetle #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012
Nightwing #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012
John Carter: Gods of Mars #3 (of 5), $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 05/16/2012
The Sixth Gun #22, $3.99, Oni Press. Due Out 05/16/2012
Daredevil #13, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012

TRADE BANK - $10.00
Daytripper TP, $19.99, DC Comics. Due Out 02/01/2012

$.23 (Bank from April) + $40.00 (May Budget) + $3.22 (Reed Gunther #10 Delayed) = $43.45
$43.45 – $35.89 (May Issues) – $2.78 (tax) – $4.00 (Trade Bank Deposit) = $0.78 Banked for June

—

FREE COMICS

I still have several books to give away that have been covered on the list. If you are interested: drop me a line by following this link! Passkey is “Free!”

We have three more issues on tap for next week, so hurry back!

Support cxPulp and order Daytripper on Amazon.com!

The Forty Dollar Pull List – New Comics For April 25th

Craig Reade — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:28:27 +0000

Originally Posted on cxPulp on April 30th, 2012. Click here to comment.

This week on the $40 Pull List, I have a pair of titles to cover – part three of The Omega Effect in Daredevil #11, and Cullen Bunn’s Wolverine debut in issue #305. It looks like Reed Gunther #10 is still on track for a May 9th release – it turns out both Houghtons were caught up doing their day jobs in the TV world, resulting in the delay. They are promising extra pages at the same cover price to help make up for the delay, so that’s something!

It is also the last $40 Pull List for April, so I will be going over next month’s titles and deciding what to drop and what to add!

Last but not least, I still have issues available from this month, so if you want to get a free taste of any of these titles – read on to find out how!

—

NEW ISSUES: APRIL 25th, 2012

Daredevil #11, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 04/25/2012 ON TIME
Written by Mark Waid, Art by Marco Checchetto, Colors by Matt Hollingsworth

Daredevil, Spider-Man, and Punisher have come together to take down the Megacrime organizations Hydra, AIM, Agencé Byzantine, and the Secret Empire. Previously they set a trap for the four groups using the drive as bait, only something has gone wrong. Daredevil is shot in the back by Punisher’s “ally” Cole, who stole the Omega Drive for herself and beat a hasty retreat. Even worse – the device Spider-Man built to destroy the drive was ruined in the process. With Punisher covering their escape, Spider-Man and Daredevil split up and go off in search of Cole. Matt manages to talk her into surrendering the Drive, and the trio beat back one last press by Hydra. The Drive recovered, the three part ways.

I was very worried that by not following the other two Omega Effect issues that I would be hopelessly lost reading this issue. Thankfully, that wasn’t a problem. Waid did an excellent job giving the readers all of the information they needed to follow this story without getting too lost. I admit I haven’t followed Punisher for a very long time, but assuming that this Cole character is a major player in Punisher’s universe, this issue is something I don’t think Punisher readers can afford to miss. Missing the first two parts does kind of deflate the impact of the issue – it ends up being a pretty decent action issue, but beyond the understanding that the heroes are trying to get Megacrime off Daredevil’s back you really aren’t emotionally invested in the climax you are reading. I’m not sure this could be handled any better given the nature of crossover stories, so I have to give Waid credit for making this issue as accessible as possible to those readers unable to pick up all three parts of the crossover.

Hopefully this is it for crossovers involving Daredevil for a while. If you don’t count #10.1, 2 of the 11 issues of this comic have been involved in some crossover. Considering how long comic arcs usually are, that is a lot of interruptions on a title so young. Time to focus inward Marvel! This is an outstanding title, let’s let the story breathe a bit before linking it up with something again… please?

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Wolverine #305, $3.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 04/25/2012 ON TIME
Written by Collen Bunn, Pencils by Paul Pelletier, Colors by Rain Beredo, Inks by David Meikis

The authorities are investigating a killing spree – an unknown assailant is brutally killing people throughout the country and taking the victim’s brains. There is a witness in New York – a young boy who draws a picture of the murderer: Wolverine. On the other side of the country, Logan struggles with missing time – blackouts that end with him waking up in a strange place covered with blood and gore. Logan investigates Dunwich Sanitorium, and reflects on his time under the thrall of Dr. Rot. He realizes he is still under Rot’s control, and he needs to hunt Rot down, all while staying under the radar.

I was pretty excited about Bunn starting up on Wolverine – but I have to admit I am a little let down. Sure – it isn’t a bad story, but I was expecting something a bit bigger to start things off with. The story here was slow, but filled with missed opportunities. Granted, it was pretty obvious from page one that Dr. Rot was going to be involved – but for the slow pace of this story, there was a lot we could have seen but didn’t. Why not show Wolverine waking up from one of his black-outs, and freaking out? Why not have the FBI hot on his tail while he tries to figure out what happened to him? Instead we get Wolverine instantly deducing what is happening, and them moving on to hunt Dr. Rot with a striking lack of concern about the people he has killed. Oh, he mentions he feels bad, but that’s about the extent of it.

Bunn is good at a long-term, ongoing story, and for all the faults I found with the issue, he has already managed to get several pieces in position, so the overall story still could turn out well. I enjoyed this issue enough to keep it on the list on the basis of it’s story potential – though the twice-a-month shipping at $3.99 might be a killer. I will address that in the next section.

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THE CHOPPING BLOCK AND NEW TITLES

We have a couple of drops this month – the budget is extremely tight, made all the worse by Daredevil double shipping this month, paired with Wolverine at $3.99 shipping twice a month regularly.

The decision is pretty easy here. I have a very real problem with 32 page books from Marvel or DC priced at $3.99. I am willing to pay a little more from a smaller publisher, since their costs are higher per issue, but take Wolverine #305 – a full third of that issue was ads! Marvel is free to price their products at any level they like, but when you are on a budget (and hopefully when you have a little more to spend), you really shouldn’t be spending more on anything than it is worth. And Wolverine definitely isn’t worth $3.99. For that matter, neither is The Defenders.

DROPPED: Wolverine
DROPPED: The Defenders

Batman is not getting dropped here because unlike Wolverine and The Defenders, it is giving you extra content for your $3.99, so while I am not thrilled with the price, you are getting your money’s worth. Batman is still on the fence based on the content though – and once Night of the Owls is over, I will be taking a hard look at that title. I will say that the $4.99 Annual coming out this month will not be on the list, despite the Night of Owls tie-in.

As far as new titles go – we are dipping a little heavily on the DC side this month. Fair is fair – the list was Marvel dominated for the first few months after the DCnU relaunched, so a little reversal isn’t so bad for a couple of months. I am pretty intrigued by some of the new books launching this month at DC, and there was no way a couple of them weren’t going to make it on the list. It was a hard choice, but I did manage to narrow it down to just two.

ADDED: Dial H #1, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012
ADDED: Earth 2 #1, $3.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012
ADDED: $4 to the TRADE BANK

—

THE MATH

Daredevil #12, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012
Dial H #1, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012
Earth 2 #1, $3.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012
Batgirl #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 05/09/2012
Reed Gunther #10, $2.99, Image Comics, Due out 04/18/2012 DELAYED – Due Out 05/09/2012
Batman #9, $3.99, DC Comics. Due out 05/09/2012
Blue Beetle #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012
Nightwing #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012
John Carter: Gods of Mars #3 (of 5), $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 05/16/2012
The Sixth Gun #22, $3.99, Oni Press. Due Out 05/16/2012
Daredevil #13, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012

TRADE BANK - $10.00
Daytripper TP, $19.99, DC Comics. Due Out 02/01/2012

$.23 (Bank from April) + $40.00 (May Budget) + $3.22 (Reed Gunther #10 Delayed) = $43.45
$43.45 – $35.89 (May Issues) – $2.78 (tax) – $4.00 (Trade Bank Deposit) = $0.78 Banked for June

—

FREE COMICS

I’ve set up a page for the free comics I have available. As I mentioned last week, I am giving away all of the issues I pick up for the $40 Pull List, so if something catches your eye, drop me a line by following this link! Passkey is “Free!”

I will cover three new issues next week, so see you again in 7 days!

Support cxPulp and order Daytripper on Amazon.com!

Read the $40 Pull List and Get Free Comics!

Craig Reade — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:24:49 +0000

So you can get a taste of some of the titles I cover in the $40 Pull List, I will be giving away the issues I purchased to cover in the column each week.

The list of available issues can be found below. There is only one copy of each issue available, so it will be first come, first serve. I will cover the shipping costs for all domestic requests, but I will ship internationally if you are willing to pitch in for postage.

I make no guarantees about the condition of each of these issues. They are well cared for when in my possession, but I do not shop for NM copies at the shop. These aren’t meant to be collectors issues, these are meant for you to read and get a taste of a title you may not have otherwise checked out.

Fill out the following form, and be sure to include your mailing address, the passkey from this week’s column (find the latest on cxPulp.com!) and what issue you are requesting.

[contact-form-7]

Available Issues

Batgirl #9, #10
Batman #8, #9
Blue Beetle #8, #9, #10
Daredevil #14
Deadpool #56
The Defenders #5
Dial H #2
Earth 2 #1, 2
John Carter: Gods of Mars #2, #3, #4
Journey Into Mystery #639, #640
Nightwing #8, #9, #10
The Sixth Gun #21, #22, #23

The Forty Dollar Pull List – New Comics For April 18th, 2012

Craig Reade — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:48:46 +0000

Originally Posted on cxPulp on April 22nd, 2012. Click here to comment.

Welcome back to another week of the $40 Pull List! Overall this was a pretty solid week. Batman appears to have redeemed itself for the time being with the start of the Night of Owls, The Sixth Gun gets a little artsy, we have a string of outstanding issues with Nightwing, John Carter: Gods of Mars, and Blue Beetle; and The Defenders? Well, that one is first up, so you can jump right into that.

I am also starting a new ongoing promotion this week – read on to find out more.

We have six new issues this week to cover, so let’s jump right in!

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NEW ISSUES: APRIL 18th, 2012

The Defenders #5, $3.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 04/18/2012 ON TIME
Written by Matt Fraction, Art by Mitch Breitweiser, Color Art by Mitch and Bettie Breitweiser

In the deep, Namor, Strange, Silver Surfer, and Red She-Hulk investigate what appears to be a tomb, marked by a symbol resembling the Concordance Engine. Inside they find some mysterious beings, and a ship lodged in the heart of a giant. The beings turn out to be the “99 Daughters of Pontus – a violent and ancient enemy that rejects Namor’s rule almost immediately, and the ship appears to be the Nautilus – the very ship from Jules Verne’s story that has some tie to Namor’s past. Danny Rand helps bring the ship to the surface, and everyone associated with the Concordance Engine seems to have a hard time talking about it – almost as if they are being magically prevented from doing so.

I’ve got mixed feelings about this issue. On the one hand – the tone was fantastic. From the first page this felt like a Namor story. Fraction (and almost to a larger extent Breitweiser) did a wonderful job of establishing a classic sci-fi tone. On the other hand – that is all this story was – tone. Sure, there were one or two hints at character development for Namor, but hints was all we got. As far as story goes, everything was pretty well dull. The most interesting parts were the flashbacks revolving around Namor and his mother, but Fraction played pretty much everything else so close to the vest that it was hard to care about what we didn’t know.

The ending with Iron Fist and Misty Knight was also a bit confusing – it was out of left field and seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with what was going on during the rest of the story. It looks like we will be seeing more of Misty Knight next issue – which is fine – but we just spent an entire issue building up a story around Namor. Why wasn’t the tense cliff-hanger centered on that? The only connection between the two was the ship that Rand salvaged, and the connection between that ship and what happened at the end is too muddy for me to see.

Speaking of muddy – dear lord, the coloring. I think Breitweiser manages the “muted” palette as well as anyone, but there was entirely too much of it in this issue. It felt like that early issue of Secret Avengers on Mars – everything was far too dark. It didn’t help that every underwater scene was dominated by air bubbles and water currents completely cluttering each and every panel. Overall, the art was a real turn-off for me in this issue, and while it set a good tone at the outset, it ended up staying dark and muddy throughout, even on the surface.

My interest is really waning with The Defenders… I’ll give it credit for lasting as long as it has, because I didn’t think this one would last this long on the list. Still – my interest is to a point I don’t think it can come back from. There just hasn’t been enough meat in this series to really keep my interest.

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Batman #8, $3.99, DC Comics. Due out 04/18/2012 ON TIME
Written by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV, Art by Rafael Albuquerque, Color by Nathan Fairbairn

The Court of Owls attacks.

A sparse recap, but it really says it all. This issue is action from start to finish, as all of the “Talons” hit Gotham in force. Most of them attack Wayne Manor and the Batcave, but many are sent out into Gotham itself to attack the city’s leaders.

I’ve been very down on this title for the last few issues, but none of my ongoing gripes made an appearance in this issue. Unnecessary artsy-ness was nowhere to be found – thank heavens. Bruce seemed to shake off his angst when pressed, and that was a welcome development. As I said, the issue was all action, which left little room for story development, leaving little to comment on. Still, fights in the Batcave are always entertaining, and I was happy to see an appearance by the giant penny in the brawl.

This is the beginning of the Night of Owls crossover event. Usually crossover events are difficult to cover in the pull list, but since we are also getting Bargirl and Nightwing, we are already reading the bulk of the books this story will cross into. Thankfully, Batman didn’t continue to deteriorate, and I am interested enough in what is happening here to keep it on the list another month. Great stories always have a way of rekindling interest, and this issue gave Batman a stay of execution.

A curious note – the Editor’s column makes mention of a back-up story – “The Fall of the Wayne Family,” which was supposed to begin with this issue. This story was nowhere to be seen. The issue did come with a $3.99 cover price, and there were 40 pages… so maybe they decided to hold off on the back-up for a month. I was pleased to see how few ads were in this issue as well. I am not a fan of $4 comics, but we seemed to get our money’s worth here.

Overall, a thumbs up across the board for this issue.

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Blue Beetle #8, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 04/18/2012 ON TIME
Written by Tony Bedard, Art by Marcio Takara, Color by Pete Pantazis

Jaime’s hunt for Stopwatch leads him to a shelter for runaway boys – where Stopwatch himself happens to be hiding out. We learn of Stopwatch’s origin, and find he is struggling to complete his time machine so that he can go back and undo all of the deaths he has caused. Blue Beetle tries to stop him, but let’s him escape. Jaime is frustrated, and decides that he needs to publicly defeat a villain to help restore his damaged reputation, and sets his sights on the other hostile reading his scarab has picked up. To his surprise, Jaime is met by Kyle Rayner and a couple of allies, who are tracking the same target.

The issue seemed to go by very fast, but a lot happened. I love Stopwatch as a villain for Jaime, and his escape leaves the door wide open for a future appearance. Stopwatch has a unique origin, and his character is made more interesting by the fact that he doesn’t want to be a villain, and doesn’t believe himself to be one. In his mind, once he finishes his time travel machine and undoes the accident that started him down this path, all of the death he has caused will be undone. Like Jaime, he is new to this as well, and makes mistakes. If handled properly, Stopwatch may well grow along with Jaime, becoming more competent as time goes on. I am looking forward to seeing him again.

We do get a flash of Paco and Brenda in this issue – the fact that they haven’t been left behind seems to indicate that Jaime will be returning to El Paso at some point. That is good news – this little trip will be good for Jaime, but I’d hate to see it be a permanent change.

—

Nightwing #8, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 04/18/2012 ON TIME
Written by Kyle Higgins, Pencils by Eddy Barrows, Colors by Rod Reis, Inks by Ruy Jose and Eber Ferreira

Nightwing puts his investigation on hold as he receives an ominous transmission from Alfred in the Batcave (See Batman #8). He springs into action and makes his way to the mayor, but he is too late – one of the Talons has already made several kills, and the mayor is in his cross-hairs. Nightiwng is ultimately successful in fending off that threat, but there is another Talon to pick up where the first left off. This one is named William Cobb – who has his sights set on Nightwing over a more personal grudge.

We had a few calls back to Gates of Gotham which was nice – Higgins did a great job sliding into that style of story, and he effectively used the William Cobb flashbacks to add flavor to this story. This was exactly the kind of story I was hoping for when Batman first started dealing with the Court of Owls – unfortunately those early stories were less about weaving historical tidbits into the overall story tapestry, and more about being artsy for the sake of art. We see none of that here.

The ending of this story is a bit of a shocker, but I don’t think anything is final – that would certainly be a surprise so early in the title’s run. I am very interested in learning more about some of the things Cobb alluded to at the end of this story – there is an obvious conclusion you could draw, but I am not ready to totally buy into that yet. What we see in this issue does shed some light on why Dick’s name is in that book, and exactly what involvement Haly’s Circus had with the Court of Owls, even if it addresses it indirectly.

Once again Nightwing features a meticulously constructed story with some solid art – this is quickly becoming one of my favorite reads each month.

—

John Carter: Gods of Mars #2 (of 5), $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 04/18/2012 ON TIME
Written by Sam Humphries, Art by Ramon Perez, Color by Jordie Bellaire

John Carter and Phaidor, Princess of the Therns have been captured by the Black Pirates, who are taking them deep within Barsoom to the “Goddess” Issus for tribute. John is without fear, and lunges for the Goddess – dooming himself and his captor Xodar to the fighting pits. While imprisoned there, the pair meet a Red Martian named Cathorsis, and the trio escape from their cell and steal a flying ship. When Xodar thanks John Carter for his part in their escape, Cathorsis is offended. He calls John Carter a charlatan who is insulting his father’s memory by using his name.

Just like the last series, Gods of Mars is turning into a fantastic adaptation. John Carter really is a straightforward character to write, yet so often we see adapters (like what we saw in the film) screw with that very simple formula and hurt what makes these titles so enjoyable. John Carter is virtually without fear – at least, he may experience the emotion but he absolutely never lets it stop him from acting. As it was put in this issue, John Carter thinks by acting, and finds it best to rush forward into a fight and figure things out while he goes. He is chivalry embodied – as we see here, he even defends Phaidor without hesitation despite the fact that she really isn’t all that good a person. There are so few heroes with honor in modern literature, and it is so refreshing to revisit a character that embodies honor by default.

The art is solid – these stories are bound to be high action, and Perez and Bellaire handle both the calm and the action quite well. The books is wonderful to look at, and the art really helps the story along. I complained earlier at the way darkness was handled in The Defenders – it is a common complaint, but I really like to highlight when artists do it right as well. This is one of those times. Instead of using artificial brightness, Bellaire instead gets creative with color, and uses contrasting colors to help you see what is going on. I appreciate artists who find ways to show you what is going on, while making you understand that it is supposed to be dark. Kudos to the art team on this one.

Next issue can’t come soon enough for me. These stories are just as much fun as they ever were. And on a closing note – what a gorgeous cover.

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The Sixth Gun #21, $3.99, Oni Press. Due Out 04/18/2012 ON TIME
Written by Cullen Bunn, Art by Brian Hurtt, Color by Bill Crabtree

In the aftermath of last issue’s explosive cliffhanger, Becky is left deaf. She presses on – and delves deep within the sanctuary of the Knights of Solomon to find Drake Sinclair. Eventually she fights her way to him – and after freeing him and returning his guns, the pair try to make their escape. Their fight causes the cavern to fall in on itself, destroying buildings and walkways alike. Trapped on a platform, they decide to jump into the water below – and find a mysterious stone on the bottom of the cavern deep under water.

I have mixed feelings about the whole “silent” issue approach – at least there was a reason to do it, but I have never seen one of these books that were better without the dialogue. At least there was a reason to go without this time around (unlike that “‘Nuff Said” gimmick month Marvel did a few years back), but this story still suffered as a result. It is a credit to Hurtt that the reader could glean a story out of this without words, but to do something like this for such an important issue was a risk they probably shouldn’t have taken. The lack of dialogue and narration was a weakness that this title doesn’t normally have, and while the story itself was strong enough to carry the issue without words – it still muted what should have been a spectacular climax. They have been building to Drake’s rescue for so long… and so much was missing from the issue.

Of course Hurtt did an artful job with what he was given, and I can see many other reviewers raving about this. At this point, it should go without saying that I am not a fan of artsy for the sake of it. As I mentioned before, my annoyance at this decision is muted by the fact that there was a concrete story reason to do it – but it doesn’t change the fact that it was a poor choice of issues to do it in. Yes, Becky missed out on a lot, but it isn’t always the best decision to force the reader to miss out on something, especially when you have been selling that very thing for so many issues.

I am possibly being unecessarily harsh on this issue, but when a title achieves a certain level of consistent quality, the mistakes are easy to point out. Bunn and Hurtt took a risk here, and while I don’t think it panned out, they are definitely not going to suffer for it. I can’t deny that a lot of indy comic fans eat this stuff up. I can only assume that next month the words will be back, and this title will go back to being an A+ title month after month. One minor dip isn’t going to kill this book – even on such an important issue.

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LATE AND UNRELEASED TITLES

Reed Gunther #10, $2.99, Image Comics, Due out 04/18/2012 DELAYED – Due Out 05/09/2012

Not sure what is behind the delay here – but the shipping schedule is now showing that this issue won’t be out until May 9th. I haven’t seen an explanation given, but I don’t think we will see it pushed back any farther. At least I hope not!

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RELEASED SO FAR

Daredevil #10.1, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 04/04/2012 ON TIME
Batgirl #8, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 04/11/2012 ON TIME
The Defenders #5, $3.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 04/18/2012 ON TIME
Batman #8, $3.99, DC Comics. Due out 04/18/2012 ON TIME
Blue Beetle #8, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 04/18/2012 ON TIME
Nightwing #8, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 04/18/2012 ON TIME
John Carter: Gods of Mars #2 (of 5), $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 04/18/2012 ON TIME
The Sixth Gun #21, $3.99, Oni Press. Due Out 04/18/2012 ON TIME

STILL TO COME

Daredevil #11, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 04/25/2012
Wolverine #305, $3.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 04/25/2012
Reed Gunther #10, $2.99, Image Comics, Due out 04/18/2012 DELAYED – Due Out 05/09/2012

TRADE BANK – $6.00
Daytripper TP, $19.99, DC Comics. Due out 02/01/2012

$1.98 (Bank from March) + $40.00 (April Budget) = $41.98
$41.98 – $36.89 (April Issues) – $2.86 (tax) – $2.00 (Trade Bank Deposit) = $0.23 Banked for May
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FREE COMICS

Over the last couple months I have been trying several new things with the $40 Pull List – it is now time for another one! Starting this month, I am going to give away the issues I have reviewed in the Pull List. So, if you want any of the issues I have covered this month, send me a message and it is yours! Of course, I only have one copy of each issue to give away, so it will be first come, first serve. In future months there will be some hoops to jump through (trivia questions and the like), but this month, all I need is a message! I will cover the shipping cost on domestic orders, so if you are outside of the country we will have to work something out. If you are international and want to get an issue, let me know and I will tell you what is involved.

That will wrap things up this week – check back next Monday when we will have two final issues for the month – Daredevil #11 and Wolverine #305!

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