There were a lot of great comics out last week, but this won out as my favourite because it had so much humour and heart in it. Logan and Hope talk about Jean and what she meant to Logan. "Those aren't holes... that's just where the Kung-Fu Power comes in." Broo makes friends with Tony Stark. Iceman proposes he and Kitty go to a strip club for their first date. Professor X endorses Quentin Quire for class president. Kubark has to say goodbye even though he doesn't want to. And that's just a handful of the great things that happened in this one issue.
Other highlights from this week -
Aquaman #12 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis - First off, I love the Robot Chicken variant cover. Beyond that, I enjoyed the rest of the issue too. The opening with Mera claiming she's faster than Arthur, through that big fight scene against Black Manta, to the third last story page; a beautiful splash of friends watching one of their own dying. I really enjoyed it all, only to be disappointed to find the dramatic ending won't pay off for two months, because next month they interrupt our regularly scheduled programming with issue #0. I'm fine with the #0 concept, but it would have been better if they weren't interrupting ongoing stories to do it.
Captain Marvel #3 by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Dexter Soy (with others) - Dexter Soy's art is getting more beautiful with each issue, and the colours have gotten a lot brighter since the first issue, which is working a lot better for me. Kelly Sue's writing is great too, and I loved Carol issuing her challenge to the enemy soldier. Totally bad-ass.
FF #21 by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta - Having recently read Hickman's entire F4/FF run again, I have to say that I'm enjoying these one-off wrap-up issues more than I enjoyed the big, reaching arc that ended in "Forever". This issue was the runner-up for my favourite this week. Hickman and Dragotta's interpretation of Black Bolt makes him scarier than I've ever thought him to be before. Dragotta's Susan is cute and doe-eyed and just looks great. The Spider-Man "big butt" moment was priceless. The resolution of Crystal and Ronan's relationship was sad. But my favourite moment of the issue was when Reed suggested to Sue that they call the Inhumans and tell them they're running late. It was a beautiful moment between husband and wife that felt absolutely human and true to life. You don't see that a lot.
The Flash Annual #1 by Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato, Marcus To, Scott Kolins, Diogenes Neves, and Marcio Takara - I hope nobody who's reading the Flash missed this Annual, because it is absolutely essential to the story (I personally would rather they wrap the story in regular issues than an Annual). Manapul handled all the breakdowns for this whole issue, and the other artists handled pencils & inks beyond that, and it worked really well. The book flows consistently from start to finish, and consistent with the monthly series that Manapul draws regularly. How the Rogues got powers is explained, supporting character stories are continued, and a new story is launched in a cliffhanger ending. Artistically, "New 52" Flash is shaping up to be my favourite run on the character. Story-wise, it's good, but Mark Waid's Wally West stuff still wins for me there.
Green Lantern Annual #1 by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver and Pete Woods - I hate myself a little for liking this. On principle, I disagree with the New 52 reboot not affecting Green Lantern. Everything Johns has done with the character since Rebirth has been kept in continuity. Superman is getting a complete rewrite. Wonder Woman too. And Flash. But GL? Picks up right where it left off. And that bugs me. But, on the flip side, everything Johns has done with the character has been fairly good, and this issue has me excited for what's still coming. Especially Black Hand, who can raise the dead, being locked up with a dead Guardian. That should lead somewhere good.
Justice League #12 by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee - The dysfunction within the League is fun to see, and it was really cool to see Green Lantern volunteer to play scapegoat and Batman try to stop him. That's completely different behaviour than we would have seen pre-New 52. Superman and Wonder Woman kissing was nice art, and may be a good story as it develops, but I was way more intrigued by some of the other upcoming stories they teased, especially that 2-page splash of a different League which included the Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Hawkman, the new Green Lantern Baz, and what clearly looks-to-be Stargirl, among others.
The Sixth Gun #24 by Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt, and Bill Crabtree - This was my first issue of The Sixth Gun. I've been enjoying Bunn's work on Captain America, Venom, and other stuff for Marvel, and he talks about this series on his Twitter, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I really enjoyed it, and will be looking for trades of previous runs. It's a great idea - like a mix of medieval fantasy and western genres - and I could imagine it being adapted into a pretty good TV series or video game.
Hardcovers & Graphic Novels -
The Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns vol 3 - I'm an Omnibus guy. Love 'em. Want more of 'em. So this one's a no-brainer. Johns had a great run on the Flash, and did some amazing work with the classic Rogues gallery. After Waid's run on the character, and throughout this run, Wally West became the better character, the one, true Flash, as far as I was concerned. Still wish they hasn't brought Barry back, and I hope to see Wally show up in grand fashion someday in the New 52. Maybe in a big event with Linda and the kids, and he remembers how everything was before Flashpoint. Seems like it would be the right role for him.
Guarding the Globe vol 1 by Kirkman, Cereno, Getty, & Anka - This series was a fun read as an Invincible fan, and I really liked a lot of the characters in it, both heroes and villains. I'll get it just for something fresh to read that's not one of the big 2.
That's all for last week. There wasn't any news I felt was absolutely necessary to comment on, and I've decided to save my pitches and ideas for separate posts. See you in a day or two for this week's post.
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