Table of Contents
Comics
Wolverine & the X-Men #2
Aquaman #3
All-Star Western #3
The Flash #3
Manga
One Piece ch.647
Naruto ch.564
Bleach ch.474
Beelzebub ch.133
Kuroko no Basket ch.113
Kimi no Iru Machi ch.159
Volumes
The Unwritten Volume 4: Leviathan
Irredeemable Volume 2
Power Girl Volume 1: A New Beginning
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.
Wolverine & the X-Men #2Bobby "Iceman" Drake seizes a starring role in the #2 issue of my only Marvel subscription. Why the hell not? He's always been a good dude, so now let's let his powers run wild, shall we? In WatXM #2 the new Hellfire Club shows off some of their resources, Bobby kicks some ass with ice clones fighting against Frankenstein monsters and kisses Kitty Pryde when he's done (!?), and a bunch of the young mutants do some strange shit (Broo? Idie? Quentin? Who are these people?). The issue's "final boss" is a doozy, too, throwing back to ancient X-Men storylines of the 1970s. Overall, lots of action, some surprise character development, and an unusual lack of Wolverine that I was okay with. Looking forward to how the team deals with this new and ridiculous threat. Now I want to track down and read more X-Men. Best of the week. MVP
Aquaman #3Mostly exposition, but smartly done and very important (I'm guessing) in the long run. Action scenes at the start are excellent, but brief, and Aquaman's talks with Steven Shin, while time-consuming, really stuck out in a good way. This Shin guy is going to be a big deal in the future of this comic. Calling it right now. Shin's analysis of the Trench was a great way to provide details about the villains, and the next few issues might literally go into the foreboding belly of the beast. Excellent overall; this series has made me into a born-again Aquaman fan. STAR
All-Star Western #3Is that it? The dramatic finish to the arc is Dr. Arkham shooting a dude and then Jonah Hex getting all coarse and shit? Well, this is one series that has not lived up to its first issue. I was more impressed with the El Diablo short at the end, to be perfectly honest. This first storyline doesn't have much of a satisfying conclusion, but I'm sure that this Religion of Crime business will tie into other pieces of the DCnU, particularly Batwoman. Whatever, I won't drop it yet, but All-Star Western is on notice. BENCH
The Flash #3Not bad, but not stunning like Flash #2. We get a better idea of how Mob Rule works by getting dialog between different clones (they can disagree with each other?) and the comic drops a few more hints of Mob Rule's origin. We also get teased Captain Cold, see a few of The Flash's more ludicrous powers in action, and see a "shocker" of a final page whose resolution is way too easy to predict given the powers-intro in the first scene. Really, this comic is very good and has a lot going for it, but #2 is the best of the first three issues. GLUE
One Piece ch.647Solid end chapter. I'm not 100% sure that Hodi is done for yet, but this was a good way to wrap things up barring a counterattack from the shark-man. Luffy manages to save the day with a little help from Shirahoshi and without killing himself either. The talking seakings at the end were a surprise for sure, and make me wonder what this means for Shirahoshi and the crew. I'm on team Shirahoshi-for-Strawhat AND team Jinbei-for-Strawhat, so I hope at least one of those happens in the next few weeks. Verdict: One Piece is still the best. STAR
Naruto ch.564Look, I will 100% enjoy manga battles more if I know who's fighting on both sides. In Naruto's recent chapters, most of the fights have been expertly executed, introducing enemies, explaining their powers, then following up with intense, imaginative combat - that's why I loved the Gin/Kin brothers fight (and use that manga cover for these posts) and why the recent Madara fights have been entertaining. With this chapter, it's Naruto and Bee vs. seven totally unknown Jinchuuriki. Not as good. The action was still great, though, so I won't hate. GLUE
Bleach ch.474Nothing but a single, big ol' plot reveal in this chapter followed by some glares and discussion. When Ginjou tells Kurosaki the truth about his Soul Society badge, Kurosaki reacts by going into Bankai and attacking. I'm not sure how he'll react in the long run - there's a possibility that he might go rogue as Ginjou once did or act extra dense and let this one slide on account of them doing it out of safety. Still, I have to say that this chapter didn't have much impact and needed some combat or humor to balance it out - Kubo still doesn't know how to pace his panels. FUNK
Beelzebub ch.133
Exactly the chapter I wanted. Toujou and Oga have some totally nonsense dialog, then Toujou is a badass for a few pages. I would like to hear an explanation as to why he's so strong despite lacking demon powers, but for now I'll just take these entertaining chapters when I can get them. GLUE
Kuroko no Basket ch.113
This was a filler / exposition chapter that succeeded overall. We finally meet Akashi, who has Final Boss written all over him. If the other four legendary Teikou starters are winning-obsessed and quirky, then Akashi is winning-obsessed and psychotic. I was a little surprised that he acknowledges Kagami as an opponent worthy enough not to stab in the face (not exaggerating here...) and I can't wait to see him play basketball. Kuroko gets a pass this week. GLUE
Kimi no Iru Machi ch.159
Funny chapter. I *thought* that Haruto's neighbor was going to seduce him or something after the confrontation with Yuzuki's dad, but she just ended up forcing Haruto to take her out to dinner and giving him a confidence boost. I like this neighbor girl character, especially if she keeps getting randomly drunk. GLUE
The Unwritten Volume 4: Leviathan (paperback)My favorite volume of The Unwritten yet, probably because it loses none of its momentum and doesn't skimp on the literary references while coming to a really satisfying resolution. Now we have a better understanding of where Tom's powers come from, why his father raised him the way he did, and what the future holds for Tom's companions. The new villain introduced in this volume certainly adds to the tension of the story, but now that Tom knows the extent of his powers after visiting Moby Dick, he might be ready for her. At the end we're treated to a second appearance by the evil mobster trapped in children's literature. I'm sad that I'm now officially caught up and need to wait another 6 months for Volume 5.... STAR
Irredeemable Volume 2 (paperback)Volume 2 seemed to go a little faster than Volume 1, but I think that's because A) it has very large panels with gorgeous art; B) the first volume was loaded with dense expository dialog and introductions; and C) I was reading it at lightning speed because I needed to see how it ended. Volume 2 gives us more insight into The Plutonian's psyche (turns out he was already kinda fucked up before he snapped), more scenes showcasing the difficulty in trying to stay sane while possessing such otherwordly powers, and the stressor that must have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. The book ends with his former team coming up with a way to actually put The Plutonian on the defensive (avoiding spoilers here). I need Volume 3. Now. I'll have it sent to me along with some Christmas shit. STAR
Power Girl Volume 1: A New Beginning (paperback)I should probably explain why I bought this. You see, I was looking for a DC Comics volume that fulfilled a few specific criteria: must be well-reviewed; must be from a writing team of The New 52 or recent DC Comics; must be the beginning of a story or the start of a popular run; must not be something I've already seen an animated version of; and must be centered on a DC superhero, but not Batman, because I have plenty of Batman shit already. I couldn't find a reasonably priced paperback of any of Greg Rucka's Wonder Woman run, and when I stumbled upon Power Girl I realized it fit each of my rules to a T. And why not? I needed one more book in my order to get the free shipping.
Power Girl ran for about 2 years in the late 2000s, by the same writing team as the DCnU's All-Star Western and drawn by Amanda Conner (whose art is colorful, appealing, and strong overall). Really, I hate to say this, but Power Girl is kind of a joke. Her backstory is confusing - she's an older version of Supergirl from an alternate dimension and was left stranded on Earth following Infinite Crisis, the events of which I don't fully understand - and she's mostly used as a token busty blonde bomshell. Yup, Power Girl is DC's premier cleavage character despite existing in the same universe as Wonder Woman. This comic approaches this popular view of Power Girl in a humorous manner, with Power Girl being fully aware of her reputation and taking it in sarcastic stride. Oh, and she kicks ass, too. Lots of it. Especially in the first couple of issues/chapters. Superman powers will do that for you.
In this first volume Power Girl battles Ultra-Humanite, alien party girls with future technology, and difficulties in her not-totally-believable alter ego as a CEO of a biotech firm. Her sidekick is a rebooted version of Terra that's a naïve alien instead of a ward of Deathstroke (new Terra actually seems pretty cool), but their girls nights out just create more cheesecake situations. This is a comic that makes an effort to be fun, amusing, and maybe a little sexy, but really it ends up being hard to take seriously and a little lacking in drama and class. This isn't a bad comic, but it doesn't get me attached to its characters, unfortunately. Awesome book for fans of Power Girl or the JSA, but not worth it for others. I won't be buying volume 2. GLUE
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