Comics

Comic Rack

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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, Image Comics, and others.

This week includes Alpha Flight, Amazing Spider-Man, Batman Incorporated, Captain America, Deadpool, Dollhouse: Epitaphs, Fear Itself, Ghost Rider, Mega Man, Morning Glories, New Avengers, PunisherMAX, Red Wing, Transformers, The Unwritten, the first issues of Baltimore: The Curse Bells, The Living Corpse: Exhumed, The Stand: The Night Has Come, and the final issues of Batgirl, Batman and Robin, Birds of Prey, Booster Gold, B.P.R.D.: Hell On Earth – Monsters, Detective Comics, The Iron Age, Red Robin, and The Spirit.

Enjoy issue #140

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The Spirit #16

/ / Comics

the-spirit-16-coverDC Comics may be going through a turbulent period right now but that’s not stopping them from continuing to put out some pretty good work. I’ve been a fan of this latest version of The Spirit by David Hine, but I’ve got to say this issue just blew me away. It’s one of the best comics I’ve read all year.

The first half of the issue is presented entirely from Commissioner Dolan‘s perspective as he prepares to arrest The Spirit for a grizzly series of mob killings all of which lead back to the hero. The second-half of the comic involves The Spirit relating his investigation to bring the real killer to justice. For a comic that’s almost all flashbacks it’s a mighty fine read.

I’m also thrilled with the art by Jean Paul Leon who manages to spice up the pages with great artwork including quite a few panels Will Eisner would be proud of by working the title of the comic, and hero, seamlessly into every single page. Must-read.

[DC, $2.99]

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The Mighty Thor #4

/ / Comics

mighty-thor-4-coverI’ve never been a huge Thor fan. I enjoy the character in certain stories, usually in group titles like the Avengers. Although I’ve warmed to the character a little in recent years his supporting cast (Odin and the Marvel Comics version of the Norse Gods of Asgard) still hold little interest for me.

However, I am a big fan of the Silver Surfer who is probably my favorite Marvel Comics hero (though not character). You don’t see much of the Surfer in current Marvel titles, and I’m okay with that as he is one of the hardest characters to write well.

In this opening story arc of The Mighty Thor writer Matt Fraction tries his hand at the character, with mixed success. The comic, involving the Surfer’s quest to pry away an energy source that could appease Galactus‘ hunger for years from the Asgardians, definitely has had its moments (including some nice throwdown action between Thor and the Surfer). The more metaphysical fight between Galactus and Odin (who Fraction seems to put on the same plane as Galactus power-wise) doesn’t fair so well.

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The Mission #6

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the-mission-6-coverDo you believe in good an evil? What would happen if you were chosen against your will to take part? How far are you willing to go to protect yourself and your family? Paul has been asked to retrieve the box for Gabriel and he knows all too well what failure might bring.

The mini-series featuring a normal family man thrown into a world of spies, killers, and religious artifacts ends with Paul answering those questions for himself. After sitting down for drinks with a member of the other team, and getting a straight answer for once, Paul learns just how far he will go by torturing Luke for the location of the mysterious box.

The series may be over, but the final page twist tells me we having seen the last of Paul or his mission. Plenty of questions will be answered, although far more will be raised, in this final (for now at least) issue of the series. I’m looking forward to see where the title goes from here. Worth a look.

[Image, $2.99]

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DC Retroactive: Green Lantern – The 70’s

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green-lantern-70s-retroactive-coverGiven the fact that I’ve been less than impressed so far with DC’s Retroactive titles maybe I should have been prepared, but this is a 1970’s Green Lantern story told by Dennis O’Neil (although drawn by Mike Grell instead of Neal Adams). After the overall meh-ness of the Batman title (don’t even get me started on the crappy Flash one) my expectations were set pretty damn low for this one. Turns out, I was still expecting too much.

We get two separate stories here. The first has Hal Jordan discovering a relative of Abin Sur in a crashed spaceship in the middle of a war zone. The second involves a kid traumatized by seeing Green Arrow kill which has inexplicably morphed him into a world class archer and killer. Both stories go nowhere and are hastily wrapped up in a single page.

If disappointment has a face it very may well be the cover of this issue, or the entire DC Retroactive experiment. Other than the proposed Justice League International issue I’m done with spending $5 a pop on these poorly executed tales that actually make me like the source material a little less. Pass.

[DC, $4.99]

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