November 2010

Comic Rack

It’s a new week so it must be time to talk about comics! Welcome to the RazorFine Comic Rack boys and girls. Pull up a bean bag and take a seat at feet of the master as we offer you this quick list of all kinds of comic book goodness set to hit comic shops and bookstores this week from all your favorite publishers including DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, BOOM!, Dynamite, Archie, Image Comics, and others.

This week includes Action Comics Annual, Betty, The Boys, Brightest Day, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Daredevil, Generation Hope, I Zombie, Sci-Spy: The Complete Series, Secret Six, Shadowhawk, She-Hulks, Star Wars: The Old Republic, the first issues of Batman: Orphans, Bring the Thunder, Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers, Heroes For Hire, Marineman, Wolverine: The Best There Is, and the final issues of Authority, Bullet to the Head, Captain America: Patriot, Shadowland, Resident Evil, and Taskmaster.

Enjoy issue #107

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Justice League: Generation Lost #14

The latest issue of Justice League: Generation Lost is one of those alternative future tales both DC and Marvel love to dish out from time to time. After Captain Atom becomes lost in the timestream he arrives more than 100 years in the future with a brand new Justice League battling legions of OMACs. He manages to make a small contribution to the ruined world, and learn the event which must be stopped, before he’s returned to his own time.

The new team consists of Batman (Damian Wayne), a Black Canary (a “descendent” of Hawk and Dove), a Plastic Man clone, a sword-weilding Shazam, J’onn J’onzz, the Creeper, a Blue Scarab, a descendent of Dick Grayson, and Power Girl.

Like most of these futuristic snapshots, this one offers little more than a chance to dream-up new characters or design new costumes for current ones (none of which are all that memorable). One thing we do learn is Maxwell Lord will attempt to kill Wonder Woman unless Captain Atom and his League can stop him (guess Max is holding a grudge over that whole ‘broken neck’ thing).

[DC $2.99]

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Thunderstrike #1 (of 5)

Okay, so the Scarlet Spider is still gone but Marvel is bringing back Thunderstrike? Thunderstrike? Really? Sigh.

It what appears to be Marvel Comics’ attempt to write a Shazam! story, the angry young son of the fallen hero is bequethed with the Thunderstrike mace by Steve Rogers. Almost immediately he finds himself in a situation where heroism is called for, and whala, the angry young teen is transformed into the visage of his father with all the power the mace offers.

As hero origins go the story isn’t bad (though hardly original), but the idea of of Steve Rogers handing over a mystical weapon (whatever its current state) into a violent, angry, dangerous young teenager who hates heroes isn’t exactly the best idea Cap’s ever had.

With this issue it appears Marvel is following DC’s lead in over-cluttering their universe with extras heroes, whether their needed or not (and charging an extra buck an issue for their pleasure). Hit-and-Miss.

[Marvel $3.99]

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Astounding Wolf-Man #25

The final issue of Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard’s tale of CEO turned werewolf turned super-hero wraps things up with a bloody battle between Wolf-Man and the Elder, leaving only one standing.

As conclusions go issue #25 does what it needs to do but even with extra-pages feels a bit rushed. The vampire Zecheriah’s final fate is far from satisfying (blink and you’ll miss it), and the amount of exposition jammed into Wolf-Man’s battle with the Elder comes close to ruining the series final big fight. For a comic that’s been centered mainly around character-driven issues we’re given an overabundance of plot.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the issue, I did. The final few pages present several new opportunities should Kirkman and Howard ever decide ever decide to return to the character. And just the thought that they’ve unleashed an army of werewolf covert opps into the Image universe, answerable only to their new leader, does make me smile.

[Image $4.99]

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Tangled

  • Title: Tangled
  • IMDB: link

During it’s heyday, Disney made a name for itself by turning out classic tales about princes and princesses, true love, and triumph over evil (usually with a few songs and cute creatures thrown in). With the studio’s 50th animated film, Disney goes back to the well with Tangled, based on the fairy tale Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm.

To save the life of their unborn daughter, the King and Queen steal a magical flower from the evil witch Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy). As revenge, the witch kidnaps the young baby whose hair had captured the healing powers of the flower which has kept Gothel alive for years. Her hair holds the power as long as it allowed to grow.

As the story opens, Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) who has grown up in a secluded tower her whole life believing the old witch to be her mother, convinces a young thief, Flynn Ryder (Zachary Levi), who breaks into her tower while fleeing the palace guards, to help her sneak out and see the world on her birthday.

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