Comics

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #22

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #22The battle for control of The Deeper Well and the life of Dawn has begun as Buffy and her rag tag band take on the demon defenders determined not to let the Slayer anywhere near the last refuge of magical energy remaining on the planet. In the midst of the battle Buffy will learn of Xander‘s betrayal as one of Buffy’s oldest friends helps Severin and Simone sneak in the well in hopes that the Siphon can gather enough magical energy to reset the past.

As Buffy and her friends fight for Dawn, and after Xander’s betrayal the fate of the world, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #22 also offers a back-up story involving Spike trying to slow Dawn’s dissapearance by reminding Buffy’s little sister of her life (something which becomes hard to do once Spike realizes he’s starting to forget Dawn, too). It comes a little out of the blue, but their conversation reminds fans of the pair’s odd friendship that begin even before Spike got his soul back.

Although the battle for The Deeper Well is only begun, the issue ends with all the cards on the table and the fate of Dawn growing more desperate by the minute. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $2.99]

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Fairest #16

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Fairest #16Besotted with Nalayani, the new maharajah (who we discovered last month is actually Prince Charming) agrees to lend a force and accompany the warrior woman home to save her village from the wild dhole. However, on their way back to the village the travelers’ camp is attacked by a group of the wild demon dogs who both injure and manage to separate Nalayani and Prince Charming from the rest of the group.

There are plenty of questions the latest issue of Fairest raises but doesn’t try to answer. Why is Charming in India? How did he become maharajah? And where exactly did he get a .45 automatic hand gun? Who is the mystery man responsible for unleashing the dhole into the camp?

The issue ends with Nalayani’s life in serious danger as the pair track down and kill some of the remaining dhole that attacked their camp. Although I don’t think Fairest #16 is quite as strong as the opening issue of the arc there’s certainly enough here for me to continue with these characters, and this arc, for at least a few more issues. For fans.

[Vertigo, $2.99]

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Ame-Comi Girls #4

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Ame-Comi Girls #4Influenced by the Star Sapphire bequeathed to her by a dying alien on the moon, astronaut Carol Ferris returns to Earth and picks a very public fight with Power Girl over the heart of Jimmy Olsen. Unprepared for the situation, Power Girl is saved by Earth’s new Green Lantern, Jade (the young blind Chinese woman who was introduced in last month’s issue).

The second-half of the issue deals with the introduction of a new villain to the Ame-Comi Girls Universe. This means we get Sinestra, a female version of Sinestro who was banished to the Anti-Matter Universe after nearly destroying her own, as well as the introduction of the yellow power ring and the Black Lantern Corps (which the character led before her exile).

Personally, I’d have preferred the comic to stay away from the various rainbow corps other than Sinestra (especially the Black Lanterns), but the introduction of the backstory of the character is certainly no more ridiculous than Geoff Johns‘ original concept. Worth a look.

[DC, $3.99]

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Daredevil – Dark Nights #1

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Daredevil - Dark Nights #1The eight-issue anthology series Daredevil: Dark Knights begins here with a three-issue arc from writer/artist Lee Weeks featuring a befuddled Daredevil mugged in a snowstorm who wakes up in the hospital with no memory of who he is or explanation for his enhanced senses.

The amnesiac aspect of the story is its weakest point, although it allows for a couple of humorous moments including a doctor and nurse opening their mystery man’s briefcase to learn they have an Avenger in their midst. Even without his full faculties Daredevil dons his costume and goes back into the blizzard to find a crashed helicopter with the heart needed to save a young girl’s life.

The triple-obstacles of Matt Murdock’s injury, the blizzard, and his amnesia (which also effects his acrobatic stunts) is a little much. I prefer Weeks art to the story, but there are enough nice touches here to not let me dismiss it out-of-hand. The first issue doesn’t do enough to sell me on the new limited series, but it doesn’t turn me off either. Depending on what else hits newsstands that week, I would consider picking up issue #2. Hit-and-Miss.

[Marvel, $2.99]

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Astro City #1

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Astro City #1It’s been three years since co-creators Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson have given us a new issue of Astro City, the series that (much like Planetary) focused on re-imagining of several comic characters while examining how normal people coexist and react to them. With the folding of DC’s WildStorm print, the many character from Busiek and Anderson’s universe find themselves a new home at Vertigo with the start of a new series that includes faces both old as new, and Astro City’s first contact with an alien presence who appears through a rather large door hovering over the city.

Although I wasn’t quite sold on the opening pages of Astro City #1 featuring the character of The Broken Man who narrates the new story, the comic quickly takes off with the introduction of the ridiculously cool American Chibi and the alien ambassador Telseth who comes through the door only after the various heroes and military resources have stopped trying to destroy it. Part Galactus, part Celestial, and with a definite Jack Kirby inspired design, Telseth, much like everything in Astro City is not what you would first expect.

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