Month's End - May 2009

Similar to Week’s End yesterday, Month’s End has me going through all the great comics, moments, characters, etc. of this month. Also, at the end, I look ahead into the next month and mention the one comic I’m most excited to check out. Also a note, these are my views on these picks and they don't represent the whole Revolution's opinion on the past month.

Comic of the Month: Witchblade #127

After reading this issue, a loud “OH DAMN!” echoed through my house at the shock of the last page. Now our main character (Oh uh, spoiler alert?) gets stabbed through the chest by one of (there are many villains in this storyline) and she falls to the ground, eyes wide and bleeding out. Now I’ve only been reading Witchblade on a constant basis since early last year with #116 but I’ve quickly grown to love it and it’s been one of the best comics on the shelves each month for me.

We’re currently in the big event arc "War of the Witchblades" and this issue is the one that really kicked it all off and got things fired up. Now I know what you’re thinking “Andrenn, people get killed all the times in comics or get stabbed or shot at the end of an issue and are magically just fine, why are you worried about this character?” Answer: Because it’s Ron Marz.

I’ve been reading this title for 11 issues and I can fully comprehend that Ron Marz does not bullshit the readers and when he does something he means it. So while I’m hopeful that Sara (the girl on that cover) is alive, I’ve given up all hope…oh and the worst part is #128 has been delayed to July…damn.

Moment of the Month: A new Batman *Battle for the Cowl #3*

We all saw this coming, I know, but now it’s official: Dick Grayson is Batman. Some people think this is a horrible idea, that no one can fill Bruce’s cowl and I agree.  But at the same time, I can’t say I’m not happy to see Dick down the cowl above all the other contenders. Dick is a great character and will hopefully make a great Batman and it was nice to see his transformation into Batman.

Cover of the Month: Wolverine: Weapon X #2 variant by Marko Djurdjevic

This month had tons of awesome covers so this was a really tough choice. Though, like usual, Mark Djurdjevic delivers an incredible cover. I like most the use of red against Logan’s very dark costume, it stands out very nice and the overall pose and the skulls around him just adds to it making for a very badass and cool image.

Artists of the Month: Adam Kubert and Tommy Lee Edwards

Wolverine #73 was divided by these two very talented artists and while the stories didn’t impress me too much the artwork was great. Kubert himself did have some problems with scrunch faced Wolverine but outside that he turned in incredible work as did Edwards who brought the second story to life beautifully.

Character of the Month: Melter

Dark Reign: Young Avengers #1 really impressed me, and we got some great new characters from it that where all interesting in their own way. Though none of them could compete with the troubled leader Melter who struggles with his desire to be a super hero and be loved by the public, and his dangerous teammates. He is divided by so much; his love for the thieving Enchantress, his trust is the racist Big Zero and his forced excuses for the murderous Executioner.

It’s all really interesting and cool stuff, Cornell makes you feel for the guy without making you senselessly pity him. Though I sense he will go down a dark path by this series’ end.

Most Anticipated for the Upcoming Month: Batman and Robin #1

This was a really tough decision, June is going to have some really incredible comics that I’m highly anticipating so just picking one was really tough. We’re getting 2 issues of Spawn, more Dark Reign goodness, a bunch of great looking new Bat-titles, though I have to pick one and this one steals it. Ever since they opened “The Source” DC has been getting much better about their marketing and hyping their products, getting me really excited for this awesome new era of Batman.

Though a lot of the books look great, it’s Grant Morrison’s return to the Dark Knight alongside with Frank Quietly that has me most excited. I like a lot of things from the sounds of them, the short 3 part arcs, the characters, the action, it all looks really great and I’m hyped for it as it looks like it will be a great read.

Double Shot Anime Reviews: Bleach 120 & 121

Ep. 120 - "Hitsugaya scatters! The Broken Hyōrinmaru"

Review
Coming back to the action we are treated to another quality episode of Bleach. It is interesting that unlike Ikkaku fight with Edorad were it had a whole episode focused on it this episode focused on Hitsugaya, Renji, and Matsumoto's fights with there Arrancar. Still this did not take away from the episode and actually added some nice suspense as they were getting their assess handed to them while having to wait for approval to release their limiters.

One of the things that I continue to enjoy about this new arc is the music playing during the fights. They have a nice Spanish feel to them and adds to the suspense of the fights. Also it makes the releases of each Arrancar even better and the animation crew have done a very good job capturing all of the Arrancar's releases.

The only complaint I have with this episode is that I remember Ururu's fight with Illfort to have been much more violent in manga than it was here. Though it was cool seeing Ururu enter her Anti-Soul Reaper mode it felt that they were holding back with the violence as her fight with Illfort could have had some potential to be more violent than it was.

Still that is a minor complaint and it was fun seeing how Hitsugaya, Renji, and Matsumoto struggled in their fights. For Hitsugaya, Renji, and Matsumoto there fights seem to humbled as they were barely able to survive long enough to get there releases to fight at full power approved. Especially for Hitsugaya who is suppose to be a mid-tier Captain in the Soul Society his struggle with Shawlong shows that even the Captain's in the Soul Society need to do some trainning if they are to beat the Espadas who are on a whole nother level than the Arrancars he struggled to survive against.

While not on the same level as the Ikkaku vs Edorad fight this was still an entertaining episode. And the ending with Ichigo, Hitsugaya, Renji, and Matsumoto going full power was a great way to end the episode and I can't wait to see the next action-packed episode.

Episode Rating - 8.4/10

Ep. 121 - "Clash! The Protector vs. The Bearer"

Review
Huh, that's interesting in the last episode of the first Shinigami vs. Arrancar fight is when we get a new intro song. While I was expecting a new intro I didn't think we were going to get one until after these fights were over. Still the new intro does a nice job building excitement for the episode and a preview to some characters we are going to see a lot more off down the line.

Starting from were the previous episode left off Hitsugaya, Renji, and Matsumoto release their limiters and fight at 100% of their power. It was a nice way to turn the tide of the fight and it was cool seeing Renji's finisher for his bankai being used for the first time it was definitely powerful and gives his bankai some much needed power as it has only been used for defense and physical attacks up to now. Also this battle with the Arrancars was probably the most humbling for Hitsugaya with even being in bankai he was still severely injured by his opponent. It makes me wonder that how far apart are the Captains in the Soul Society and the Espadas are in terms of power.

One thing I was surprised about was how violent the animators were able to make Ichigo's beating at the hands of Grimmjow look. After what seemed like a tamer version of Ururu's fight in the last episode I wasn't expecting this part of the episode to be as violent. Still it made the moment were Ichigo launched his Getsuga Tensho even more effective and seeing how little it actually hurt Grimmjow gives us an example of the power discrepancy between him and Grimmjow. And this serves as the final step in Ichigo having to go to Shinji and his group of Vizards as he is unable hold his inner hollow back.

Overall this was a good episode and sets of for Ichigo, his friends, and all of the Soul Reapers to have to go through some intensive training in order to fight the Espadas that they are sure to face in the near future. Even the comedy with Keigo's sister was well done and gave this episode a light moment in between all the dark stuff going on in this episode. Hopefully all of the action we got in these past few episode does not mean that the following episodes will be slow episodes which is something the anime has done a lot of after heavy action oriented episodes.

Episode Rating - 9/10

Week's End - May 30th 2009

Yet another thing I’m bringing over from New Age Comics with Andrenn is Week’s End (also Month’s End which I’ll post sometime tomorrow night) and I feel I should explain.

Basically Week’s End is where I look at the comics of the week, I pick my favorite comic, my favorite moment (every once in a blue moon I pick more than one), favorite cover, favorite artist, favorite character, the comic I wish I could pick up that week, collection book of that week and if a moment calls for it then I pick an “ugh” of the week which is basically something that pissed me off during that week in comics. So now that the introduction is out of the way, let’s get to Week’s End.

Comic of the Week: Wolverine #72

I’m going to be honest, I was tempted not to even add Comic of the Week this week as I was very much bugged by the cheap death of Logan’s family. I didn’t so much mind them dying, as much as I did how easy and phoned in it was. Millar has done some really crazy cool stuff with this storyline and I figured if he was going to kill the family it would be some big exciting moment. Though I can look past that one problem as I still did enjoy this issue, Red Skull was incredibly great and the art by McNiven was well worth it. This storyline hit a snag with this issue, but even with that snag I can’t deny that I continue to enjoy it.

Moment of the Week: Red Skull’s Decapitation

OUCH! McNiven really was born to draw this storyline as the gore has been top notch, we’ve seen people getting their heads smacked off and people getting shot up but nothing compares to this. Logan’s fight with Red Skull was an awesome one.  Definitely worth the wait for the issue and this was a badass way to end it.  Skull’s obsession with keeping all these trophies lead to his death really. Personally if I was him I would have use Cap’s shield as a soup bowl.

Cover of the Week: Batman in Barcelona: Dragon’s Knight One-Shot by Jim Lee

There’s always something about Jim Lee’s Batman that appeals to me above many other artists. Really he’s got to be one of the best artists out there who draws the Dark Knight. I sure wish DC would put him on an ongoing series with Batman. Maybe have Frank Miller write it, that would be cool. Alas it seems that Lee has given up drawing for the DCU MMO, which actually does look pretty good. Still he graces us with awesome covers every so often and this is just one of them, his work for Trinity has also been nice, but this is one of his better recent covers.

Artist of the Week: Steve McNiven

I know his delays are frustrating, believe me I know, I wanted Giant Sized Old Man Logan Finale to come out already as much as the next guy, but damn if it isn’t always worth the wait. I don’t let many artists get away with frustrating delays because they are either not worth it or the delay has killed all enjoyable aspects of the comic for me. With McNiven that isn’t really a problem as he really makes every day I have to wait worth it.

Comic I wish I got: Aliens #1

I’m not really big on Science Fiction, though one of the few franchises I’ve always enjoyed is the Aliens franchise. I decided to skip this issue after being severely disappointed with the Free Comic Book Day comic. Though Dark Horse really is the king of adaptations.  I’ve purchased the two Aliens vs. Predator Omnibuses and loved them and I look forwards to checking out the separate franchise Omnibuses. They’ve done some really incredible stuff with these properties in the past and I can only hope they continue so today. While I’m trade waiting this mini as well as the Predator one, no way I’m missing out on the AvP series later this year.

Character of the Week: President Skull

Though he only got one issue in the Old Man Logan storyline I already can say I loved Millar’s portrayal of the classic Nazi villain. What’s more terrifying than a Nazi as president? Though what really made it work was just how sadistic and crazy he was like how he kept all these souvenirs like Vision’s head, The Thing’s arm, and Iron Man’s armor.  It is crazy and at the same time so awesome. It’s almost a shame that Logan had to decapitate him. Almost.

Collection of the Week: Magneto Testament HC

Sadly I haven’t been able to get my hands on this yet, and I probably won’t for another few weeks depending on the cash flow but man this is looking great. I love how Marvel added in some teaching notes that Pak used to get his information to this collection, I doubt I’ll need them but still that was really smart of them.

Saturday Morning Cartoon Reviews for 5/30/09

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Ep. 19 - "Legend of the Dark Mite"

Review
While I enjoyed all the different references for this episode, by the end of "Legend of the Dark Mite" I felt that it was a bit over done. What I have been enjoy about this new DC cartoon is how the creators have been able to make references to a lot the old DCU stuff that helps give this show a lighter tone than previous Batman cartoons and the current movies. But here the viewer was not given much time between references in order for the viewer to know where each reference is from.

Still this was an enjoyable episode that featured the first appearance of Bat-Mite in a Batman cartoon. My favorite part of the episode were the comments Bat-Mite made when he was trying to give Batman a new look by using previous incarnations from Batman's history. The animators did a good job capturing the various costume nicely as they made the vampire Batman look creepy and the Dark Knight Returns version have that super bulky look Frank Miller gave him. It was just too bad that they were not given a chance to animate some good action sequences as there was not much in terms of fighting in this episode.

I did enjoy the parodies to Batman: The Animated Series and the old Daffy Duck cartoon. It was funny seeing Bat-Mite's small head on Batman's body as he made his big entrance to try and be Batman with the red sky and lighting in the background. And as a big Looney Tunes fan it was fun to see how they incorporated that old Daffy Duck parody into this episode by having Bat-Mite surrounded by all of Batman's rogues gallery. Though the chase sequence afterward felt a little to drawn out.

Again the creative team behind this cartoon seems to be enjoying themselves with all the references they make in the show.  Even a Batman fan convention was referenced with all the Batman fans arguing the portrayal of Batman.  However, this episode just overdid it with all of these references that they weren't as enjoyable as they should have been by the end.

Episode Rating - 8/10

Iron Man: Armored Adventures

Ep. 8 - "Field Trip"

Review
In an attempt to pull of their best Ocean's Eleven impression, this episode properly titled "Field Trip" focuses on the worst aspect of this show: the teen drama. As I've said before this Iron Man cartoon is at its best, at least animation wise, when it specifically focuses on the action between Iron Man and his armored adversaries. But, other than Tony shooting down a couple small robots, there wasn't much in terms of action.

While the set-up for this episode of Tony using his new invincible armor upgrade to his Iron Man armor will convince the 6 year-olds watching this show that it is a good set-up; it was all too convenient and made Tony really look dumb. As it was shown, the invincible armor upgrade was still in the testing phase.  However, instead of showing Tony testing it out in other locations; Tony goes to the fortress that is Stark International as a way to test it. It is just a lack of common sense and something that a genius like Tony should never do as it only makes him and those around him not to seem very smart.

Even though we have not seen Gene (aka Mandarin) in a while, this episode just reminded me how the creative team continues to ruin great characters by turning them into teens. Even though we are supposed to believe this teenager is the big bad guy, it is hard to take a teen seriously as a threat with how cliche everything in this series is.  I would much rather see Gene in his Madarin armor for the rest of the series instead of as a teen going to the same school as Tony and being best friends. It just has bad soap opera written all over it.

The one thing I wonder is that what does giving Obidiah a teenage daughter do to the story and add to the character?  It will at least be semi-interesting if the girl is used in the future. Though it still bothers me that Obidiah looks like a bony version of Lex Luthor. Oh well, again this was another below average episode and I just hope that we get a lot more action in the next episode as that is the bread and butter of this below average series.

Episode Rating - 3.2/10

Wolverine and the X-Men

Ep. 10 - "Greetings from Genosha"

Review
One of the cool things that this new X-Men series has done is not make it seem like it is the first time that the viewers are seeing all the various X-Men characters. With the X-Men films and X-Men: Evolution from a couple years ago most people that watch this show are already familiar with these characters.  There is no point to wasting time trying to introduce one character at a time in each episode.

Outside of Scarlet Witch, Dust, and Mystique, none of the characters introduced in this episode were actually mentioned by name which makes it fun figuring out who were the X-Men characters in this episode. Just from first look I noticed Dazzler (the most obvious), someone who looks like Holocaust, Mercury, and a prisoner that looks like Sauron.

Even though Magneto is the ultimate X-Men villain I thought that the writers did a nice job making Magneto into someone that is over his villainous actions from the past and may actually be considered a protector now. It made the scene at the midway point of the episode were Nightcrawler discovered the actual prison were those mutants don't follow Magneto's law are being held. Also with him being the one who sent Mystique to invade the X-Mansion and retrieve Xavier's body, it will be interesting to see what Magneto's actual plans are since we know that in this new series he already has a long past of attempting world domination.

Also speaking of Mystique, it was interesting to note that in this X-Men series that this was the first time the X-Men have faced her. It is odd considering that she has always started almost every X-Men universe as Magneto's right-hand.  But since this is Mystique's first meeting with the X-Men I wonder what she was doing before teaming with Magneto. From the looks of it, this version of Mystique shares a relationship with Wolverine and the Weapon X Program as she knew about Wolverine even though he did not recognize her.

Just like in the previous Nightcrawler centric episode, I really enjoyed this episode. I liked how the animators were able to capture Nightcrawler's teleportation powers and show how powerful he really is when he uses his powers at full strength. It was cool seeing him take down the character that look liked Holocaust by constantly teleporting and punching him until he went down. Nightcrawler using his powers to escape Genosha once he discovers what Magneto actually does and being able to make it to the Mansion was impressive. And I'm guessing that his relationship with Scarlet Witch will lead to some interesting conflicts in Genosha once she discovers that her father is holding Nightcrawler captive.

Overall this was a very good episode that mostly centered around Nightcrawler and introduced even more characters from the X-Men's vast character list.

Episode Rating - 8.5/10

Thank You Mistress, May I Have Another (Twitter Follower)?

So I've got this blog called Groovy Superhero, in addition to being a contributor here at the Revolution. There's a super-cool project in the works so that soon that distinction will mean very little, but in any case that is the spot where I hang my virtual hat on a daily basis.

Through the magic of twitterfeed, the first 140 characters of each post from Groovy Superhero are posted to to my Twitter account, along with a link back to the full article. What I do at Groovy Superhero Central is essentially the same stuff that I do here at the Revolution; talk, joke, comment, review etc. - comics, and stuff related to comics.

The idea behind using TwitFeed is a simple one; people search for comics, find my profile, and abracadabra just like that I have a new Twitbuddy. and, to a certain extent, that works; after some 300+ comics related tweets, I have made several friends. On average, I'd say that for every 10 tweets I pick up a new follower. That's how it works with the comics crowd anyway.

Strangely, however, I get an enormous number of follows from Twitter's seedy underbelly. I'm talking the S&M/fetish crowd, those folks who dress in leather and enjoy a little excruciating pain - either dishing out or receiving, it varies - with their sexual encounters.

I'm talking usernames like (very slightly modified to protect their privacy) spanksalot, painslave, punishme, playswithmatches, and FEEEEEETTTTTT.

Like so much else in life, the blame for this bizarre phenomenon lies with the Marvel family. As I'm sure you noticed, Mary Marvel's descent into darkness was accompanied by a radical change in fashion - Evil Mary dressed just like those super-scary dominatrixes that you see in the stranger corners of the Internet. Not that I've ever seen them, mind you. But I've heard that they're out there.

And for a second there, Billy Batson himself went dark, and at the same exact instant his costume morphed into creepy fetishwear, too. There's something especially creepy about injecting violent sexual concepts to the Marvels, given their long-standing history as the "holy moley!"super-innocent super-family.

The whole thing creeped me out, and I said as much in a blog post. Within 24 hours, I had about 30 new Twitter followers from the virtual leather dungeon. The math is weird, and it must mean something. I get that many Twitter followers for my comics related posts after, say, every 45 posts. I can only extrapolate from this that fetish sex people are much more eager to connect with others in their community than comics people. That's very weird.

And this wasn't a one-time affair; when Joe Shuster's fetish art was discovered and became the subject of a book, once again I wrote a post that - duh, obviously - mentioned weird and freaky sex stuff. Sure enough, a few hours later, dozens of Twitter users like gaggedandbound and sexpain were following me.

I'm not judging; in the words of Funkadelic "I got a thang, you got a thang, everybody's got a thang". Wow, I just realized that that song has exactly 10 words and lasts for like 90 minutes. They were sooooo high when they recorded that. But really, we all have our things that we like and for some of us our idea of a sexy good time is not that dissimilar from an interrogation session at Guantánamo Bay.

What I find weird is fact that the fetish community is more proactive on Twitter than comics fans by a HUGE margin. What's up with that guys? I thought we'd overcome the stereotype of the antisocial comics fan. Why am I seeing so much more interactivity from a group that includes many people who are handcuffed or chained to the ceiling or something - and for that matter, how the hell are those people tweeting? (There's a punchline to a bad joke that would be appropriate here, but I'm going to leave it be.)

I say it's time for comics fans to step up and start interacting with each other more, not just with the friends we already have but the billions of potential new friends as well. Less scary friends. I want more followers with names like batmanrules, as opposed to names like whips'n'chains.

Comic Book Review: Wolverine #72

The Revolution has been thoroughly entertained by Millar's "Old Man Logan." I fully expect Wolverine #72 to be another strong read. It is going to be tough for Millar to deliver the payoff to this story with all the buildup we have been getting to the moment that Logan finally pops his claws. Let's go ahead and do this review for Wolverine #72.

Creative Team
Writer: Mark Millar
Pencils: Steve McNiven
Inks: Dexter Vines and Jay Leisten

Story Rating: 10 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 10 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 10 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with Washington, DC in ruins. Red Skull is standing next to a defeated Captain America whose legs are pinned under some cement blocks. They are in front of a burnt down Capital Building. Red Skull gloats about how the villains have defeated all of the heroes. Red Skull says that he always knew that the heroes could not beat the villains if the Red Skull could organize the villains.

Red Skull states that he is dividing up America upon his Lieutenants. That Abomination gets California, Magneto gets Las Vegas and Doctor Doom gets the Bible belt. The Red Skull then says "Guess who gets the White House?"

We see the bloody Captain America crying. Red Skull says "Shh. Don't get upset. It'll all be over soon." The Red Skull then pushes his fingers through Captain America's eyes and kills Captain America.

We zip to the present in New Babylon where the White House has been restyled with Nazi styled decorations. Red Skull is in his trophy room where he keeps the various weapons, helmets and masks of the heroes that the villains defeated. The most prominently displayed trophies are Captain America's shield and Iron Man's armor.

We see that Red Skull is wearing Captain America's old and bloody costume. Red Skull gloats how even know as an old man he would beat Captain America. Red Skull mentions how the ancients wore the skins of their fallen foes. Red Skull feels he should be allowed his eccentricities. Red Skull's aide enters and informs him that Tobias and the SHIELD men are here.

Tobias and his team enter and drop Hawkeye's corpse at Red Skull's feet. They also drop another body bag with Logan's body in it onto the floor. Tobias hands the case with the super solider serum in it. Red Skull decides to add Hawkeye's body to his trophy room even though Red Skull never viewed Hawkeye as an important or top tier hero.

Red Skull wonders how many other would-be super heroes there are out there hiding in their basements. Tobias replies that it is nothing that SHIELD cannot handle. Red Skull rewards Tobias for his work by giving him a nice sum of money. Suddenly, one of the SHIELD agents notices Logan moving around in the body bag.

Logan then takes out the agent. Logan then stands up. Logan then brutally takes out Tobias and the other SHIELD agents. Red Skull is amused that Logan is before him. Red Skull thought that Wolverine was walking the path of the righteous nowadays. Logan charges Red Skull. Red Skull lays a beating on Logan.

Red Skull mocks Logan for not even popping his claws. Red Skull then activates the automatic locks on the doors to the trophy room so that the two men can finish their duel in peace. Logan picks up Captain America's shield. Red Skull grabs a sword. (Is that the Black Knight's ebony blade?) The two men then engage in battle. Logan gets the upper hand.

Logan beats the Red Skull to the ground. The Red Skull mocks Logan and says "Don't make me laugh. You haven't got the guts." Logan then uses Captain America's shield to decapitate the Red Skull. (Damn!! That was sick!)

Logan says over and over "Can't let the kids down." Logan grabs the suitcase full of money. Logan then puts on the Iron Man armor. Red Skull's soldiers break through the doors to the trophy room. Logan then uses the Iron Man armor's repulsor rays to blast the Red Skull's soldiers. Logan then blasts off through the roof.

Logan flies at full speed toward California. 500 miles before Logan arrives at home, the armor warns Logan that it is running out of power. Logan yells "Just keep going, computer! I will not let my family down! You understand?" The armor then runs out of power. Logan crashes to the ground.

Two men see Logan crash to the ground. The men descend on Logan with desires to scavenge the armor to sell for money. Logan pops up and takes down the two men. Logan then runs toward his house.

We shift to 36 hours later. Logan arrives at his house. Logan sees Donovan standing outside of Logan's house with his hat in his hand. Logan exclaims that he has the money to pay the Hulk Gang. Donovan replies that the Hulk gang has already been here. Logan is shocked and stammers that he had two more weeks to pay the Hulk Gang. Donovan replies "They said they got bored."

Logan enters his house and sees his wife and children dead. Logan just stares at the corpses of his family with no emotion on his face. Donovan urges Logan to not do something stupid. Donovan says that the Hulk Gang will just take it out on the rest of the people in their community. Donovan says that Logan is not the man he used to be.

Donovan says Logan can honor his family by grieving and giving them good Christian burials. Donovan says that he and the rest of the community are here for Logan. Donovan says that Logan has to promise to not go looking for revenge against the Hulk Gang. Logan continues to stare at his family's corpses with no emotion on his face. Donovan calls out "Logan?" Logan gets an angry look on his face.

Logan responds "The name isn't Logan, Bub." We then get a two page splash shot of the word "SNIKT!" We then see Wolverine with his claws popped. Wolverine says "It's Wolverine." End of issue.

Commentary
The Good: Wolverine #72 was an excellent read. This issue furthers my impression that "Old Man Logan" is basically just Unforgiven on a much larger scale and involving super heroes instead of cowboys. And you know what? That is absolutely fine with me. Because it is a formula that works and provides for an entertaining story.

Not every comic book has to be a byzantine read where the reader needs a Rosetta stone to try and decipher what the writer is trying to tell them. Not every story has to be one mystery after another where the reader has no idea what is doing to happen next.

Most of "Old Man Logan" is relatively predictable. And that is perfectly fine with me. The magic in this story is not where Logan is going, but the journey to get there. The appeal of "Old Man Logan" is the excellent character work and the elaborate and enthralling setting that Millar has constructed for this story.

Millar crafts some impressive dialogue in Wolverine #72. Once again, Millar makes a concerted effort not to overwhelm the reader with extraneous and pointless dialogue. There are no moments dominated by rambling exposition.

Instead, Millar carefully constructs his dialogue so that each word has weight and a purpose. Each character has their own defined external voice. The Red Skull's dialogue is spot on. This is exactly how I like to see the Red Skull written. And Logan's dialogue continues to be properly short and blunt.

Millar also pulls off plenty of enjoyable character work. I loved the opening scene with Red Skull and Captain America. It was interesting to note that Captain America has brown eyes and is wearing Bucky's Captain America costume.  So, it appears that this is Bucky and not Steve.  Millar crafts an excellent victory speech by Red Skull. I liked that it has more of an air of satisfaction over the success rather than mere diabolical gloating.

Of course, Millar certainly has the Red Skull tweak Captain America in this moment of victory; but Millar does it in a restrained fashion. I enjoyed how Red Skull kills Captain America with such a quiet fury. It was not an act of ranting rage. It was more of the Red Skull savoring the moment as he closes the book on a life-time of feuding with his arch nemesis.

I enjoyed Red Skull's trophy room. Millar having the Red Skull wearing Captain America's costume was weird and completely fitting and consistent with Red Skull's character. And it made for nice imagery as Red Skull battled Logan in the trophy room. Millar did a fantastic job with the fight scene in the trophy room. It was a gripping scene. The use of the ebony blade and Captain America's shield was well done.

The fight scene had nice psychology and Logan and Red Skull went back and forth. The fact that Logan still refused to pop his claws in this epic battle with Red Skull was a nice swerve. Most readers, myself included, probably expected the claws to come out during this battle. However, the use of Captain America's shield to kill the Red Skull made for much more powerful symbolism than Logan using his claws.

Also, Logan not using his claws in his battle with the Red Skull made the moment that Wolverine finally popped them at the end of the issue that much more exciting after having been teased with the prospect of the claws coming out during the trophy room battle. The moment that Logan decapitates Red Skull with Cap's shield was jaw dropping. I just did not see that coming at all.

I loved all of the symbolism in the trophy room scene. More and more, Marvel has pushed Iron Man and Captain America as the two big icons of the Marvel Universe. And Millar plays with that theme that we saw so much of during Civil War.

It was a nice touch to have Logan use the weapons from both Captain America and Iron Man during the trophy room scene. Captain America's shield is used to cut down Red Skull and Iron Man's armor is used to mow down the Skull's troops and to allow Logan to make his escape and return to his home in short order.

The final scene with Logan at his house was fantastic. Yes, the reader knew that Logan's family was probably going to get killed near the end of the story. Just like we knew that Hawkeye was going to buy it at some point. But, that does not matter. The point is that the death of Logan's family played perfectly into the moment that Millar has been promising the reader: The Snikt.

The reader has been waiting for the payoff since the very first issue of "Old Man Logan." And Millar has really built this moment up and teased the reader with scenes where we thought we were going to finally see the claws like when Hawkeye's daughter was going to kill Hawkeye, when Tobias kills Hawkeye or when Logan battled Red Skull.

Because of the massive build up to this moment, I was concerned if Millar would be able to properly deliver an effective and satisfying enough payoff. My fears were completely unfounded. Wolverine is reborn and this moment was totally worth the wait. I am not sure how Millar could have delivered this payoff any better than he did with the final scene in this issue.

Logan's emotionless and wordless response to his family's death was perfect. Logan simply stares in disbelief as he tries to soak in his family's death. Then we get the one panel of anger finally creeping across Logan's face as Logan dies and Wolverine is reborn. And then we get the money shot. A two page splash shot of the word "Snikt." That was absolutely brilliant.

One and two page splash shots of Wolverine popping his claws have been done to death. And the final page of this issue is an example of that. Is it cool looking? Sure, but we have seen that pose millions of times before.

However, a two page splash shot of the word Snikt? Nope. I cannot remember that. And that is exactly what the reader has been waiting for. We have been waiting for the "snikt." And that is what should be focused on. That two page splash shot made a huge grin break out across my face.

Millar succeeds in getting the reader incredibly pumped up by the end of this issue. The reader is at their edge of their seat and practically cheering for Wolverine to bring the pain to the Hulk Gang. And we also have the fact that Millar is going to end Wolverine's story where it started. Wolverine was born and began his career by going after the Hulk. Now, Wolverine is reborn and will end his career by going after the Hulk Gang. This adds nice symmetry to Logan's story.

McNiven and Vines combine to deliver a beautiful issue. The amount of detail in McNiven's artwork is mind blowing. McNiven brings such richness and depth to Millar's story. McNiven's art is able to convey the proper sense of age to the setting of "Old Man Logan." What is particularly enjoyable is how much power and intensity McNiven is able to inject into the various scenes in this issue.

The image of the blown up Capital, the victorious Red Skull and the beaten Captain America in the beginning of this issue was striking. The moment when Logan kills Red Skull hits the reader like a punch to the chest. And the scene with a stunned Logan staring at his dead family evokes such feelings of loss. Millar and McNiven truly make a fine pair and are able to deliver quite an emotional read.

The Bad: I have no complaints with this issue.

Overall: Wolverine #72 was an incredibly entertaining read. Millar and McNiven deserve plenty of praise for their work on "Old Man Logan." Wolverine #72 offers a delightful mix of action, drama, good character work and well crafted dialogue. There is something for everyone in this issue. Wolverine #72 is definitely worth the cover price. I definitely recommend getting this issue.

New Comic Books For May 28, 2009

DC COMICS

GREEN LANTERN #41
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #27
LAST DAYS OF ANIMAL MAN #1
SUPERMAN #688
TRINITY #52

IMAGE

ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #16

MARVEL COMICS

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #595
AVENGERS INVADERS #11
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #14
INCREDIBLE HERCULES #129
MOON KNIGHT #30
NEW AVENGERS #53
NOVA #25
WOLVERINE #72
X-MEN LEGACY #224

This is a standard sized week for The Revolution. We are getting 15 titles headed to the Bunker today. Once again, we are getting a fairly small and collection of comics from DC this week. Marvel is cranking out plenty of titles this week and several of them should be fantastic reads.

Which DC comic book am I most looking forward to reading? I am intrigued by Last Days of Animal Man #1. This title is being written by comic book legend Gerry Conway. I love Animal Man, but I really only seem to be impressed with his character when Morrison is writing him. Hopefully, Conway can do a good job with Buddy.

However, Green Lantern #41 is the DC comic I am most looking forward to reading. I am anxiously awaiting Blackest Night and I have been enjoying this Agent Orange prelude. I am sure that Johns has plenty of action in store for us with this issue.

Which DC comic book am I least looking forward to reading? That would be Trinity #52. The only positive is that this title has mercifully come to an end as of today. Let's hope that DC's next weekly endeavor is an improvement over Trinity.

Which Marvel comic book am I looking forward to reading? There are plenty of choices this week as we are getting some quality reads from the House of Ideas today. Of course, I am looking forward to Incredible Hercules #129. This title is such a blast to read. No, this is not a pseudo-intellectual story nor is it dark and ultra-violent. It is just straight forward good comic book fun.

We are getting two titles that are War of Kings tie-in issues with Guardians of the Galaxy #14 and Nova #25. I am confident that both issues will be good reads. DnA have been incredibly consistent with both titles and War of Kings has been an entertaining event so far. We should get plenty of good action in both issues.

However, the Marvel comic book I am most looking forward to reading is Wolverine #72. I have loved Millar's Old Man Logan story. And I am anxiously awaiting the inevitable moment that Logan finally pops his claws and becomes Wolverine once again.

Which Marvel comic book am I least looking forward to reading? That would be New Avengers #53. More than likely we will get another meandering read that moves at a snail's pace and is crammed full of idle chatter. Maybe Bendis will prove me wrong and deliver an entertaining read.

Comic Book Review: Fantastic Four #566

I am part of the group of readers who don't mind the concept of Doom having a master. So, obviously, I am looking forward to Fantastic Four #566 as Millar is going to finally unveil Doom's master. Hopefully, this issue is just as entertaining as the previous issues that Millar has given us on this title. Let's go ahead and hit this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Mark Millar
Pencils: Bryan Hitch
Inks: Bryan Hitch, Cam Smith and Andrew Currie

Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with Reed Richards and a team of police on a beach in Thailand. We see Uatu the Watcher's body on the beach. Uatu has been disemboweled and is dead. We see that it is snowing out. One of the agents comments on the strange weather patterns and now this death of an immortal. The agent wonders what is going on. The agent asks Reed if he knows who could have killed the Watcher. Reed responds that the agent does not want to know.

We cut to Latveria where Doom is standing in front of his adoring people. They are having a huge celebration to mark the return of Doom. Doom is soaking in all the clapping and cheering from the crowd. Doom tells his assistant that he wants the clapping to continue for one more hour and for the first person who stops clapping to be taken out and shot.

Doom comments about the strange weather pattern. Doom says that it is just the Earth's eco-system in flux. That the Earth senses the approach of Doom's master and the strange weather is just planetary anxiety. Doom says that his master will be here in four hours. Doom then walks over to a bunch of children who are throwing flowers at Doom's feet.

Doom says that he is feeling generous and that the children can ask him any question they would like. One child asks Doom what his master taught him. Doom responds "Everything."

We cut to Jason, Debbie's ex-fiancé, on a television talk show called NY TV. Jason talks about how Debbie doesn't love the Thing and that she is just infatuated with the super hero lifestyle. That Debbie wanted to date any super hero. Suddenly, the Thing busts into the set and yells for Jason to stop talking bad about Deb. The Thing grabs Jason and threatens to punch him.

We see Deb in the studio audience. Deb stands up and tells Ben to stop. Deb says that she does not like what Jason is doing, either, but that Ben is acting like a child. Deb says that Jason is just a normal person and not one of the super villains that Ben fights.

Deb says that Ben is scaring the hell out of Jason and that Ben is also scaring the hell out of Deb. Deb tells Ben to go home and act like a normal person. The Thing is embarrassed and slinks off. We see that the entire episode was caught by the television cameras and broadcast live.

We slide over to the Baxter Building where Reed is performing an autopsy on the Watcher. Reed tells Sue that this is not the Uatu from their reality. That this is a Uatu from another dimension. Reed says that Uatu was killed by an off the scale power surge and the residue inside is extra-terrestrial.

Reed says that they know so little about the man who trained Doom. Reed wonders if Doom's master could be capable of killing Uatu. Reed wonders why the Watcher would have been killed and how he ties into everything else. Sue responds that maybe the Watcher saw something that he shouldn't have.

We zip back over to Latveria. Doom cannot believe that his master is almost here after all of these years. Doom's assistant asks if Doom is nervous. Doom replies that he is not nervous. That he is exhilarated. Suddenly, the wind howls and lightning crashes down. Doom then kneels and welcomes the Marquis of Death and his new apprentice to his humble dimension.

Doom's master tells Doom that he may rise. Doom's master then says that Doom may now ask his question. Doom is confused and asks what question his master is referring to. The Marquis responds "Am I happy with your progress? Does it please me that your name reverberates around this world as the greatest villain who ever lived?" Doom responds "And does it?"

The Marquis answers "No." The Marquis then destroys part of the ornate arch that is outside of Doom's castle. Doom's master says that all he sees is wealth and happiness. That he sees the enemies who have beaten Doom time and time again. The Marquis says that he smells defeat on Doom's flesh. That Doom's promise has amounted to nothing. That Doom's failure disgusts him.

Doom indignantly says how dare anyone talk that way to him. Doom's master continues that Doom rules a tiny kingdom that he has never heard of. The Marquis says "After twenty years, your foes deserve a new menace, Victor." Doom's master then sets Doom afire. End of issue.

Commentary
The Good: Fantastic Four #566 was not up to the standard that I expect from Millar on this title. Still, this issue was a better than average read. And Millar pulled off several neat plot tricks with this issue. I loved the plotline involving the dead Uatu from another dimension. First, Millar kills Galactus and now he kills the Watcher. Millar has certainly made an effort to blow the reader's mind with plenty of over the top moments during his run.


Millar smartly smacks the reader in the face with an attention getting scene with Uatu's corpse. Millar then follows it up with the reveal that it is a Uatu from an alternate dimension. This plotline was an excellent way to build up Doom's master as a truly monster villain.

By having Doom's master powerful enough to kill the Watcher, Millar is able to impress upon the reader the scale of power that the Marquis of Death possesses. This plotline also sets the tone for the story and creates plenty of excitement and tension in the reader prior to the Marquis of Death's arrival.

While I was largely unimpressed with the Marquis of Death, I did like the fact that Doom's master is summarily unimpressed with what Doom has accomplished. And the fact is that the Marquis of Death he is pretty much correct in his assessment of Doom's accomplishments. Despite being one of Marvel's biggest villains ever, Doom is pretty much a failure.

Millar uses the final scene to harshly and quickly deconstruct the reader's image of Doom as one of the most imposing villains in the Marvel Universe. The fact is that Doom always gets beaten by the heroes that populate the 616 Universe. And all Doom has really accomplished is to rule a tiny and irrelevant kingdom. Despite all the bluster and ego, Doom's accomplishments in the 616 universe are surprisingly small.

I dig that Millar went this route. It is important to build up the Marquis of Death and to show the wide gap in between what the Marquis has accomplished and what Doom has managed to achieve during his lifetime. For the reader to buy into the concept of Doom having a master it is incumbent that Millar show that Doom's master is truly superior. And it is also important to do that in a manner that does not totally diminish Doom's character to the point where he looks like a joke.

Fantastic Four #566 boasts plenty of fantastic artwork from Bryan Hitch. I love Hitch's cinematic style of art. We get treated to plenty one and two page splash scenes. While I may have issue with the pacing, the fact remains that Hitch gives Fantastic Four #566 an impressive look. Hitch sets Millar's story on a grand scale. The reader gets the impression that this story is a big deal due to Hitch's artwork.

The Bad: Fantastic Four #566 was a slow issue. Not much happens in this issue. Millar performs nothing but set-up in this issue and does so with absolutely no sense of urgency. All in all, Fantastic Four #566 was a thin read and does not require or warrant a second reading. The lack of substance to this issue leaves the reader with a slightly unsatisfied after they have finished the issue.

The scenes in Latveria were incredibly decompressed. Millar wastes entire pages on Doom simply striking a pose or walking into his castle. The thirteen pages that we spend in Latveria could have easily been condensed into just six or seven pages. And that would have made the scenes in Latveria much more interesting and effective.

I have enjoyed how Millar has handled Doom's character in the previous issues. However, Millar writes Doom in this issue too over the top. The hammy lines, like Doom ordering the first person who stops clapping to be taken out and shot, added nothing to the story. Those types of lines made Doom come across too cheesy and more of a punch line than a truly frightening villain. It also took the reader out of the story. I half expected Doom to remove his faceplate and twirl a giant handlebar moustache.

Even though I liked the idea of Doom having a master, I was not that impressed with the Marquis of Death. The name itself was uninspiring. It is a generic name that fails to pique the reader's interest. And Doom's master also has a common "death" look to his character. Both the name and the look of this character signaled a lack of creativity or effort on Millar's part. The reader comes away with the feeling that the Marquis of Death is just a standard issue villain that we have seen numerous times before.

The "big" reveal of Doom's master also had little impact since the reader has no idea who this character is. I was hoping that Doom's master was going to be a character that we have seen before. At this point, I have no interest in this character. Millar is going to have to get more creative with the next issue in order to get me to care about the Marquis of Death.

The scene with Jason, Ben and Deb bored me. Millar could have easily taken this scene out of this issue completely or reduced it by a page or two. I am not too sure where Millar is going with this plotline. However, what I do know is that at this moment Millar has failed to get me to be even remotely interested in this plotline. Maybe Millar has something wildly interesting in store for us with this plotline because I am just not seeing it at the moment.

Overall: Fantastic Four #566 was way too slow and simply did not have enough substance to it. That combination made this issue just an average read for me. Still, Millar has done such a good job during his run on this title that he has earned my patience and trust while he gets this new story arc in place. So, I still remain positive that the next issue will be a much better read.

Legen-wait-for it-dary Comic Book Highlights of the Week 5/21/09

While I was able to review Battle for the Cowl #3, Bleach, and Code Geass here at the Legacy and post reviews for the Comic Book Cartoons and Superman/Batman #60 over at the Rokk's Comic Book Revolution I wasn't able to find time the past few days to post reviews here for the other comics I got this past week. I've been busy working on this redevelopment project the past few days so I haven't found the time to do much blogging after Memorial Day. Still I thought I would post the weekly comic book highlights of the week though I should be able to post reviews next week and I'm thinking of reviewing the first part of "American Son" from Amazing Spider-Man. Also before going into the highlights for the week I thought I share a cool thing I saw yesterday while driving home: Optimus Prime on the Luxor Casino.

I was a bit surprising seeing Optimus their promoting the upcoming movie as it was the first time I saw it and I just wondering how long its been up their for. Anyways here are the comic book highlights for this week:

Cover of the Week: Superman/Batman #60

I really like Francis Manapul work and I thought he did a great job with this cover and I like the little touch of Batman's cape having Gothropolis on it.

Amazing Spider-Man #594 Highlights

Spider-Man pulls of his best Daredevil impersonation as he allows his Spider-Sense let him know were the new Vulture will attack from.

I guess this is the marriage that is being advertised in the future issues of Amazing Spider-Man. I wonder since Aunt May has always been like a mother to Peter doesn't this marriage make Peter and J. Jonah Jameson Jr. brothers now? I hope the marriage does happen just to see how Peter and JJJ Jr. interact as brothers.

I am really excited for "American Son" and can't wait to see Spider-Man finally tackle his number one villain now in control of all of the security for the United States.

Battle for the Cowl #3 Highlights

Hm, so with so many heavy hitters they still can't fight off a gang war that is against mostly villains and gangs with no superpowers.

This dialogue was probably the best dialogue Tony Daniel provided in the whole mini-series.

I still don't get why it wasn't Two-Face or Penguin who blew up Gotham City as Black Mask didn't appear much for supposedly being the villain of the series, or at least second villain.

Even though I still question the move to make Daniel the writer of the series I love all of his artwork for this series and that is one of the things I would not question is the man art abilities.

So I guess this is were the Robin mantle switches hands right.

Here it is three issues to get to the outcome most, if not all, Batman fans predicted: Dick Grayson as the new Batman and Damien Wayne as the new Robin.

Captain America #50 Highlights

What better way to spend your birthday than being chased by guys on rocket packs while shooting rockets at you.....

how about being attacked by Nazis on your 18th birthday.

Even though this was mostly a filler issue it was nice to see Bucky get a nice moment with his new family.

Just an example of the phenomenal work by Marcos Martin. Marvel needs to put Martin on the Avengers or another Spider-Man story.

Superman/Batman #60

Interesting combinations to create the Justice Titans.

Well at least we learn their names, to bad other than Night Lantern the Justice Titans weren't given much dialogue in this issue.

It was obvious we would see an amalgam of Lex Luthor and Joker but Manapul does great work with the character design.

Wolverine: Weapon X #2 Highlights

Even in the Marvel Universe Wolverine is the most overexposed superhero. That's saying something.

Ron Garney did a great job illustrating this fight sequence between Wolverine and the Adamantium men. It should be one of the fights of the year.

While this is an overused splash page I can't wait to see how Wolverine is able to take each one down in the next issue.