TABLE OF CONTENTS
Comics
Action Comics #3
Detective Comics #3
Animal Man #3
Batwing #3
Swamp Thing #3
Uncanny X-Men #1
Spaceman #1
Manga
One Piece ch.645
Naruto ch.562
Bleach ch.471
Kuroko no Basket ch.110
Beelzebub ch.130+131
Volumes
JLA Volume 1
Rating System
MVP = Most Valuable Pages. Best issue or chapter of my week.
STAR = Good comic being good, makes me want to keep reading it.
GLUE = Not outstanding, but not bad. Could be worth reading.
FUNK = Good series has an off week. Haven't lost faith yet.
BENCH = Subpar comic. Doubting its value. Needs to redeem itself.
CUT = Bad comic. Not worth continuing to subscribe.
Action Comics #3I... was a little let down by Action #3. First and foremost, there is a flashback to Krypton and the events leading to Kal-El's escape. This is all well and good, and it's more obvious than ever that Brainiac is the major villain for this first arc of Superman's new origin. Then the boring parts happened - a good 75% of the issue is Clark Kent (again looking like a scruffy 20something Harry Potter) being disrespected. We see a few new names get thrown around, an informant here, a police officer there, but it's unclear how important these characters are until we have a better view of the big picture. I like Lois Lane's look and attitude for this reboot, but I'm a little disappointed that there isn't even a hint of Lois & Clark romance in the works.
One important observation to make about Action Comics is that it's not just about Superman. This is also about Clark Kent's journalism career, and it possesses more than a little of Grant Morrison's activism angle. I don't hate where this is going - I'm nothing short of wowed by the new rebooted Metallo - but this issue was a lot of setup and pretty much zero Superman. Not much good to say about that. FUNK
Detective Comics #3Just when I'm pretty sure I'm going to drop this title, it comes out with a pretty good issue. Batman confirms that Dollmaker's newest subject isn't Gordon, we get some background on Dollmaker's past trauma and his M.O. (both interesting), and it ends with a hook so nuts that it could only happen in comics. This issue raised the stakes of the story, was less repulsively gory as the two previous months, and made us care a little more about the arc's core characters. Looks like I'll be giving Detective Comics at least one more month. GLUE
Animal Man #3Well, I'm not sure how much Animal Man will tie into Swamp Thang, but the two worlds thereof are definitely crossing over and it's hella cool. Animal Man is fighting for his family, the source of his powers, and the world, or something, and it looks like the key is going to be Maxine rather than Buddy. Animal Man #3 starts to unravel the mystery surrounding Maxine's powers, but is interrupted by the arc's terrifying villains The Hunters Three. I'm not sure if these Hunters are agents of The Black or part of some new force in DC's shared universe, but they are some fucked-up business. Now that they've had a chance to run wild, The Hunters Three give me chills with every new page. Surprisingly, their pursuit of Buddy's wife and son might be the most compelling part of the book. Bottom line - Jeff Lemire's Animal Man has yet to disappoint. STAR
Swamp Thing #3I'm not familiar enough with Swamp Thing's prior runs to know who Abigail Arcane is, but she seems like a pretty cool girl. As a destined (?) agent of The Black working for our hero, she could be a valuable asset or a betrayal waiting to happen. Listening to her urge Alec Holland to accept his role as the champion of The Green was pretty cool on its own, but it's the Swamp Thing #3's other story that steals the show. Abigail's brother William Arcane is a sick boy living in a hospice facility due to his debilitating allergy to chlorophyll (!?). He seems innocent enough to start out, but when he's contacted by the twisted beast of The Black and escapes the building in astounding fashion the story takes a wicked turn. William Arcane is to The Black as Alec Holland and Maxine Baker are to The Green and The Red respectively. We're in for a ride, folks. STAR
Batwing #3I thought I liked David Zavimbe and that The Kingdom was a cool secret organization with a lot of intrigue surrounding it. Not only was I right, I was underestimating them both. Batwing #3 gives us a few pages of flashbacks to the childhood of David Zavimbe and his brother Isaac (who is a too-obvious candidate to be the secret identity of this arc's villain); shows off solid action when Batwing and Thunder Fall, both critically injured, team up against Massacre; and drops a serious hook at the end, with the dying Thunder Fall confessing to crimes against humanity committed by The Kingdom. I was interested before, but I might be unable to resist now. Batwing is starting to look like a top tier Bat-companion to Batman and Batwoman in the new DC universe. Move over, Storm and Black Panther. Africa has a new superhero in town. MVP
Uncanny X-Men #1Uncanny X-Men's relaunch is a companion piece to Wolverine & The X-men; together, the two titles represent the new X-Men series known as Regenesis. Wolverine's on the east coast in Xavier's wealthy corner of New York while Cyclops leads a new, more militant group of X-Men on the west coast in Utopia, an island off the coast of San Francisco. Wolverine believes in Xavier's teachings and keeping the youngest mutants out of danger, while Cyclops believes in carrying a big stick. In Uncanny #1, Cyclops releases a manifesto (!?) warning humans about what might happen if any more mutants are killed.
I didn't like Uncanny X-Men #1 as much as Wolverine & The X-Men #1. Uncanny is a ton of exposition through briefings and narration while Wolverine successfully mixes introductions into the narrative. Sure, Uncanny has a few favorite X-Men of mine (mostly Colossus and Psylocke), but it also has a few developments that I was at best unaware of and at worst turned-off by. Namor is an X-Man, and Emma is cheating on Cyclops with him? Magneto is reformed? Colossus has demon powers that turn him into Juggernaut!? Sure, the Mr. Sinister fight was pretty intense and the story looks to be setting up some pretty serious business, but I definitely didn't enjoy this book as much as Regenesis's other half. I'll try out issue #2, but this is a gamble on potential and not a major hype moment. BENCH
Spaceman #1I have to say, Vertigo is some pretty cool shit. A comics imprint with a serious pedigree behind it, and doing its own thing outside of DC's relaunch (except for the relaunch's appropriation of Swamp Thang and Animal Man). But best of all - whenever they debut a new normal-size monthly comic, they release the first issue at $1 to try and draw in new readers. There are zero bad things about this. Dat price, along with the name Brian Azzarello, had me buying #1 with no regrets.
The comic itself is certainly interesting, but I have no idea where it's going or what it's even trying to accomplish. Our hero, Orson, is a genetically-engineered former astronaut that's fallen on hard times in a version of New York that almost looks post-apocalyptic. He banters with a few of his neighbors in a peculiar dialect (dunno whatta brainvit, yessee) and stumbles upon a kidnapping victim. This series, which is oddly haunting and depressing in its themes and art, could be going to some very interesting places. It was seriously lacking in some exposition, however, and included no real action. I don't think it's my flavor, as it doesn't really qualify as superheroes or fantasy, but it gets a passing grade. GLUE
One Piece ch.645This is what I'm talking about. Trash talk, some new attacks, and a final-panel hook. Sure, not a whole lot *happened* in this chapter, but it's pretty much what I was hoping for - a preview chapter that will give way to full-chapter 1v1 fights. We haven't had a good one of those since... Chopper vs. Hogback. Wow. That's awhile. Good setup before the real show. GLUE
Naruto ch.562Eerily similar to One Piece in that it's a whole lotta setup, but compelling setup. We see the five Kages convene with Naruto to take on Madara, some crazy jutsu shenanigans, and a rare sighting of that random Swordsman of Mist that wears glasses (could he be facing off against someone on his own? I'd read that). Very much looking forward to next week. GLUE
Bleach ch.471Better chapter than I was expecting. Instead of progressing the current arc's fights (which haven't been favorites of mine) we get a quartet of tragic pasts of Xcution members. Tite Kubo's good at writing these, dating back from Bleach's earliest chapters where it seemed like a remake of YuYu Hakusho with Dia De Los Muertos costumes, samurai robes, and fashion models. Rukia vs. Riruka will probably wrap next week (also good) but this was a fair reason to take a break from the action. Still dunno WTF is up with that one eyepatch guy's time powers. Also, sorry for four identical ratings in a row; not on purpose, I promise. GLUE
Kuroko no Basket ch.110
The trash talk, boob humor, and open challenge in this chapter was adequate. The big reveal at the end - Seirin and Touou play each other in the first round of the cup - was a disappointment. The author isn't building up to the match well enough at all. At this rate, Touou, who I had pegged as the semifinal game of the series, will be the fourth-to-last game. Not what I wanted. This is a good manga, but it's rushing forward too quickly in both its action pacing and its plot development. I'm worried this is the result of it having to end sooner than the writer originally planned. FUNK
Beelzebub ch.130+131
Last week's chapter was late, or this week's is early, or something. Whatever, it's two chapters. 130 is a healthy mix of Oga setup and Hilda torture, with Oga looking ****ing terrifying. I look forward to him tearing into some of these Pillar fellows I've heard so much about. 131 is an action-packed fiasco. Oga downs 75 demons in one chapter, and he's only just started. Separately these chapters might have been lacking, but together they were exactly the right combination of dialog, exposition, and ass-kicking. Also the stakes are high, which I always think is important. Well done, Beelzebub, STAR
JLA Volume 1I picked this up online because, well, I heard it was one of the best things the DC universe ever produced. Grant Morrison's late 90s run on JLA is legendary, inspiring (among other things) the Justice League animated series and most if not all of the major events in the DC Universe in the past ten years. Following Grant Morrison were stints by Mark Waid, Geoff Johns, and a few others that are almost as beloved. Bottom line - everyone seems to like this comic, and it has a hell of a pedigree. I should probably read it. Why not?
After finishing the first volume, I'll have a sip of that JLA Kool-Aid. This shit was really good. The first few arcs all represent Grant Morrison's favorite pastime - reviving obscure characters from decades past and making them relevant and interesting, plus inventing new mythology to back it up. The first arcs in JLA deal with the Hyperclan, Dr. Morrow, Zauriel, The Key, and Starro the Conqueror (avoiding some spoilers here). Those guys hadn't been up to much in recent times before Grant Morrison unearthed them. The character dynamic between the core seven (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Kyle Rayner, Wally West, and J'onn J'onzz), the recruitment drive occurring throughout the story, and the extreme action of the series all hit the right notes. It's a little weird seeing the 1990s "energy Superman" phase in action for the book's second half, but it grew on me and there was even a short story at the end helping to explain it. Really, the whole cast is solid, and the only one that ever got on my nerves was... none of them. I will be picking up Volume 2 of this before the new year. STAR
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Weekly Shounen Sunday is off this week (I think) so that's why there's no Ippo, Kenichi, or KnIM. Ah well, back to Uncharted 3!
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