Legen-wait-for it-dary Comic Book Highlights of the Week 5/27/09

Cover of the Week: Amazing Spider-Man #595

This cover by Phil Jimenez gives a nice preview of what is going to happen within the issue and story which is something that many covers do not do and instead are just poster covers that have nothing to do with the issue.

Amazing Spider-Man #595 Highlights

Hitting on a couple of girls is a nice way to spend an afternoon in the park.

Wolverine's comments here definitely deserves a fist pound. Though I am not sure if George Bush thinks that way.

Some nice brotherly bonding between soon-to-be brothers Peter Parker and J. Jonah Jameson Jr.

Nice homage to this Spider-Man cover.

Not a big fan of this ending but it is not what it looks like. Maybe Lily is just retaining water or something.

Green Lantern #41 Highlights

At least the Guardians are finally doing something other than just blaming the Green Lantern Corps members for mistakes that could easily be their fault.

Wonder who John feels safer being/fighting with Fatality or the Orange Corp avatars.

We had to go through a whole issue just to get to this point that honestly could have been a kick butt opening not ending.

Guardians of the Galaxy #14 Highlights

Only if Bug didn't say that last comment he might have convinced Black Bolt and Medusa to hear the Guardians out. Oh well, can't blame him for the comment as it would be hard to resist not saying.

Do not mess with Warlock because he is the Goddamn Warlock.

One of the best things about War of Kings is how DnA have really made the even Crystal's coming out party as she becomes much more open and aggressive with letting her opinions being heard.

The next issue of Guardians of the Galaxy should be one killer brawl especially if the Shi'ar join in since Warlock has the Witch-Mark on him.

Nova #25 Highlight

Finally Richard gets his powers back. Now let see him take on Gladiator. That would be a great fight.

Teen Titans #71 Highlight

The truth hurts doesn't it Cassie.

Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #6 Highlight

This series amounted nothing but talking wish it would have ended with both of them fighting it out instead of talking though this was a probably the best scene of the whole mini-series.

Wolverine #72 Highlights

Love Red Skulls trophy room.

The Ebony blade vs Captain America's shield.

This was just a sick scene. Definitely not the way I thought the fight would end but it was great.

First Cap's shield and then Iron Man's armor. The only thing missing was Wolverine using Spider-Man's web-shooters.

Now it is time to really kick some ass. I don't think the Hulk Gang knows what they got themselves into.

Legacy Shorts: Comic Book Reviews for 5/27/09

Missed out on reviewing last weeks books but the Legacy Short Reviews are back. Just as a quick mention be sure to read my review for Guardians of the Galaxy #14 and reviews for last weeks comic book cartoons (shameless plug:) ) over at the Rokk's Comic Book Revolution. Alright enough talk time to review the rest of the weeks comics.

Green Lantern #41

Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Philip Tan & Eddy Barrows
Inkers: Jonathan Nathan, Ruy Jose' & Julio Ferreira
Colorists: HI-FI & Rod Reis

Story - Agent Orange: Part Three

Review
Over the past few issues I have been enjoying Green Lantern less and less and have made no secret about that I am enjoying Green Lantern Corps much more than this title. This issue of Green Lantern felt like Johns is only stalling for time until Blackest Night starts as the only things that actually happen in this issue is that Fatality appears to save John Stewart, which was only one page, and second Hal gets his hand ripped off by Agent Orange.

Most of this issue was filled with a senseless origin of Agent Orange that doesn't reveal anything to the reader that is very informative and could have easily been told in a back-up like the last issue instead of being part of the main story. Also having Sinestro appear for a page was very random and did not make sense in context to the story especially since he is involved in Emerald Twilight over on Green Lantern Corps. It just seemed that Johns wanted to address him forgetting about Sinestro and it would have been better if Johns just left Sinestro to GLC under Tomasi who is doing a great job handling the character.

Also it did not help Johns cause that the artwork was all over the place with two artists (Tan & Barrows) and three inkers (Nathan, Jose, & Ferreira). While both Tan and Barrows are both talented artist and some of the pages they did looked great their was a lot of inconsistencies page from page as it seemed that they alternated pages. With the inconsistent art it only made Johns thin story to be much more dull than if this issue would have stuck to one artist.

Issue Rating
Story: 5.3/10 - This was probably one of the worst issues of Green Lantern that Johns has produced and does not live up to the high quality this title is known for.
Art: 5/10 - While I like Tan & Barrows artwork separately they just did not mesh and the rushed artwork only makes this issue feel like Johns and DC wanted this issue out that they did not care about keeping consistency with the issue.
Overall: 5.15/10 - Green Lantern #41 was a very disappointing read that only makes it look like Johns is stalling until Blackest Night starts. Hopefully the next issue of Green Lantern wont be as thin of a read as this one and Johns bring back some of the fun this title used to be during Sinestro Corps War.

Nova #25

Creative Team
Writer: Dan Abnnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Kevin Sharpe
Inkers: Jefferey Huet & Nelson Pereira
Colorist: Bruno Hang

Story - Empire of the Mind

Review
Unlike Guardians of the Galaxy, that directly ties into War of Kings, DnA have used the war between the Shi'ar and the Inhumans/Kree as a backdrop to continue the overall story they have been telling on this title since the first issue. And I am fine with this approach since it would not feel right that Nova become all about War of Kings since the hero of this title, Richard Rider, still has/had to regain his powers before fully being emersed in War of Kings.

While it is great to see Richard back as Nova Prime as of this issue my favorite part of this issue was how DnA showed the difference between being a Nova Corps member and being Quasar. The most direct comparison I can make is that with as Nova Richard only used brute force with firing energy beams and using shields, similar to how Hal Jordan uses his Green Lantern ring, while the Quasar powers made Richard have to think outside the box and think more like a artist, similar to Kyle Rayner. It was a nice way to show the difference between the Nova and Quasar powers especially for readers who are just getting into Marvel's cosmic characters.

Now with Richard's return as Nova Prime and a new personality for Worldmind the next few issues of Nova should tie into War of Kings much more directly. Also with the introduction of a much mentioned former Nova Corps member it will be interesting to see some crazy cosmic fighting between the Nova Corps and the Shi'ar Imperial Guard.

Issue Rating
Story: 8.8/10 - DnA continue to have a great handle of Nova. Now that Richard is back to being Nova Prime it is going to be interesting to see how they work the new dynamic between Richard and the new Worldmind personality.
Art: 7.5/10 - Kevin Sharpe provides some solid artwork though it was inconsistent at times. I just wish that Nova would get an artist that could stick around for longer than one or two story arcs.
Overall: 8.15/10 - Nova #25 was another good issue of Nova and now with everything back to "normal" we should see the full affect of War of Kings on this title and maybe even have some Nova Corps members appear in the main event.

Teen Titans #71

Creative Team
Writer: Sean McKeever
Artist: Yildiray Cinar
Colorist: Julio Ferreira & Rod Reis

Story - Homecoming

Review
Wouldn't you know it that the first issue of McKeever's run I find to be a massive improvement over what he has been giving us in the past year on Teen Titans that it is also his last issue as the main writer on the series. While I know McKeever is going to be writing the Ravager back-up for this title it is kind of shame as it feels now that he doesn't have to work off the work of his predecessors or a crossover and now has an actual team in place that he was getting ready to tell his own stories. Oh well!

As for this issue, Teen Titans #71 just reaffirms why Ravager is the best Teen Titan of this new group as she is easily my favorite character on this title. Even though we have the Ravager wanna be in Bombshell this title just is not the same as it is when Ravager is part of the team. I think it would have been interesting to see the dynamic she would share with Miss Martian, Aquagirl, Static, and Blue Beetle but I think I am fine with her striking out on her own.

Another thing this issue reaffirms is that I continue to dislike Wonder Girl more and more each issue. Ever since Tim left it just seems that the bitchy side of Cassie's character is rising up more. I am kind of hoping that even though Connor is back that he does not return to Teen Titans as that may hinder her character even more and she needs some time to be on her own as she has yet to proven to be a good leader though she has potential to be one.

Issue Rating
Story: 7.6/10 - McKeever writing is at its best when he is writing Ravager's dialogue which is probably why this issue was the best one he has writing so far as it was Ravager-centric.
Art: 7.6/10 - Yildiray Cinar provide some solid artwork and it would be a good thing if he was the ongoing artist for this title as his art style fits this title.
Overall: 7.6/10 - Teen Titans #71 was a solid issue and hopefully this is a sign of this title returning to the form it was a few years ago.

Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #6

Creative Team
Writer: Damon Lindelof
Artist: Leinil Francis Yu
Colorist: Dave McCaig

Story - Part 6 of 6

Review
Well we finally reach the end of a story that has literally took 3 years to tell over 6 issues and it was clear that there wasn't enough material to stretch 6 issues, maybe more like 4. I have stated with my previous reviews for this mini-series that Lindelof made the title to self-aware of the delay problems, which I am not sure how it will translate in trade form, so I am not going to get into that more as I've beaten that problem to death even though it continues here.

Maybe my biggest problem now that we have the last issue is that this mini-series lack what I, and many others, expected: some fighting between Wolverine and Hulk. Outside of the first issue there was not really any fighting outside of Wolverine vs a Panda and what may or may not have been a sex scene between Hulk and She-Hulk. It is to bad since Yu's artwork was much better than his previous work and it would have been cool to see him draw a Wolverine vs Hulk fight after the first issue.

Issue Rating
Story: 5/10 - Lindelof did a serviceable job with this story though he did not deliver the Hulk vs Wolverine action that a reader looks forward to when these two characters meet.
Art: 7.8/10 - Yu's artwork has never been better. It is to bad he wasn't given much action to draw during this series.
Overall: 6.4/10 - In the end Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk ended up being a dud of a mini-series. Still if anyone looking for a good Wolverine vs Hulk story I recommended buying the highly entertaining Hulk vs. DVD.

Wolverine #72

Creative Team
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Steve McNiven
Inkers: Dexter Vines & Jay Leisten
Colorists: Morry Hollowell, Nathan Faribairn, & Paul Mounts

Story - Old Man Logan: Part 7

Review
Say what you will about the delays to this story but for me the delays are worth it when we get some excellent artwork from Steve McNiven. McNiven is one of those artist that I am willing to wait to get one of his books as his art is just breathtaking with how much life he gives each page.

As for the story Millar continues to impress me with Old Man Logan how layered he is making this story. Even though a lot of what is happening in this story is predictable Millar is still able to give a lot of wait to the story and make the reader become emotionally invested with what is happening to Logan.

Logan vs. Red Skull while short was just a brutal fight and it was cool to see that instead of using his claws Logan used Captain America's shield that the Red Skull keep in his trophy case to finish of the Red Skull. It provided a nice poetic justice that Red Skull would be killed by his greatest enemies weapon. And by Logan not using his claws during the fight it made the ending were he did pop his claws as he arrives home to see his family murdered by the Hulk Gang even more powerful.

Issue Rating
Story: 8.5/10 - Millar continues to write a vary layered story and understands that Logan is one of those characters that at the end of his life should be alone as that is who he is. And I can't wait to see how Millar ends Old Man Logan.
Art: 10/10 - McNiven's artwork is just spectacular and a lot of his artwork in this issue was breathtaking.
Overall: 9.25/10 - Old Man Logan continues to be an excellent Wolverine story and if you have yet to read this story than I highly recommend buying this story when it comes out in trade paperback as it will probably read even better in trade.

Legen--wait for it---dary Comic Book Highlight for 4/29/09

Cover Of the Week: Dark Avengers #4

I just like the prospect of Norman and Doom fighting as we know that sooner or Doom will be the one to take the opportunity to get back on top of the Marvel Universe whenever Norman falters in his new role.

Green Lantern #40 Highlights

The Guardians finally learned that they can't just have Hal and a few other Green Lanterns to deal with the other Lantern Corps that are rising up.

It will be interesting to see where exactly Hal will find hope from as the "I hope for World Piece" line did not work.

Is it just me or does anyone else feel that John will be the Earth Green Lantern to die during Blackest Night.

From what we were told in Blackest Night #0 I going to guess that once Hal gets a Orange Lantern ring that the Orange Lantern ring will cancel out the Blue Lantern ring just like the Blue ring canceled out the Red ring in the last story arc.

Nova #24 Highlights

Even though Richard has only been Quasar for a few hours he wields his new powers like a pro. And it was fun seeing Wendell playing the same role Worldmind played when he was in Richard's head.

These young Nova rookies just got there first lesson in their young Nova careers: You do not mess with Gladiator and the Shi'ar Emperial Guard.

Even though finding out that Ego is in control of Worldmind and not the other way around felt like it was revealed to quickly but it is better than going on for to long that the reader does not care anymore.

Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk #5 Highlights

I never thought I would see the day that Wolverine would actually fight a panda.

It would have been easier if the reason that Wolverine can survive is because his brain is in tact that his healing factor still works instead of saying that he doesn't having a healing factor but a evolutionary survival factor that keeps him alive.

Legacy Shorts: Comic Book Reviews for 4/29/09

Green Lantern #40

Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Philip Tan
Inker: Jonathan Glapion
Colorist: Nei Ruffino

Story - Agent Orange Part 2

Review
Geoff Johns has taken Green Lantern into an interesting position. Unlike the other cosmic titles going on right now (Green Lantern Corps, Nova, and Guardians of the Galaxy) which even though they are tying into events Green Lantern is much more focused on building up the event than telling a good old fashion cosmic tale that builds towards a big event. This isn't a bad thing but it also isn't a good thing either.

The thing that really hurts Green Lantern right now is that Johns is taking such a methodical approach with this title is that because most of the focus of this title is on Hal I am starting to become annoyed by him. I really would like to see Johns develop other Green Lantern members like John Stewart for example and not just focus on building up Hal and the other Lantern Corps. Don't get me wrong Hal is a great character but he really needs characters like John or Kyle to balance him out because as a character he is a bit dull with his serious militaristic type character.

The one thing I am enjoying is how creative Johns is with creating each Lantern Corps and giving each Corps their own vibe to them. The Orange Corps as one of the scariest and most dangerous of the Corps with Agent Orange Larfleeze being the only member that uses the bodies he kills to be the members of his Corps. And Tan's artwork only helps to give off that creepy vibe of the Orange Lanterns and does a great job playing up the horror movie aspect of this story as Larfleeze has a Freddy Krueger vibe to him.

Issue Rating
Story: 7.2/10 - Though I am digging how Johns is building up all the various Lantern Corps I would like to see him actually try and focus on other Green Lanterns instead of treating this title as a way to make Hal into a messiah.
Art: 8.6/10 - Tan's style perfectly fits this "Agent Orange" story as his artwork makes you feel like you are watching a horror flick.
Overall: 7.9/10 - "Agent Orange" continues to be a great story but the slow methodical pace that Johns is taking to not only build up the Orange Lanterns but all the plotlines for Blackest Night are hurting this title going into that mega-event.

Nova #24

Creative Team
Writer: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Andrea Divito
Colorist: Bruno Hang

Story - This World & The Next

Review
With this issue the Nova Corps are pulled into the Shi'ar and Inhuman war. Though this the Nova Corps had to get involve with the War of Kings event unlike the last issue of Guardians of the Galaxy were the reader was familiar with all the characters in the book in Nova DnA have yet to have enough time to build up the characters that compose the new Nova Corps. And for this reason I could have cared less who the Gladiator took down as I did not know much about any of the characters in the Nova Corps. Also it does not help that I found Divito's artwork felt like it was rushed during the scenes with the Nova Corps and the Shi'ar.

Though the part of Nova I continue to enjoy is of course what is going on with the true star of this title Richard Rider. I loved who even though Richard only recently became the new Quasar he handled all of his new powers like a pro. And unsurprising we find out that Ego has taken over Worldmind and I am looking forward to see Ego vs Richard in the next issue.

Issue Rating
Story: 7/10 - DnA continue to do a great job developing Richard's character and it is to bad they did not have enough time to develop the Nova Corps before they were thrown into War of Kings as the lack of development of those characters hurt DnA's ability to make me care about the Corps members.
Art: 7/10 - Divito provides dependable artwork though his art in this issue felt a bit more rushed than previous issues.
Overall: 7/10 - While this is no where near being the best issue of Nova it was still better than what we get in other titles and I am looking forward to the Richard vs Ego fight in the next issue.

Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk #5

Creative Team
Writer: Damon Lindelof
Artist: Leinil Francis Yu
Colorist: Dave McCaig

Story - As Told in Five Parts

Review
Lindelof continues to do his best Bendis impression with this series, and that is not a good thing. Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk #5 was filled with Bendis speak as there was plenty of unnecessary dialogue. Though I did find the opening of to this issue to be pretty funny with Wolverine fighting a panda. It was a good opening scene and it was to bad that Lindelof could make the rest of the issue as fun as the opening.

Though I have not been a fan of Yu's artwork I have to say that his artwork on this mini-series continues to look much better than his previous work on New Avengers. While Yu continues to overuse shadowing on his artwork I like how he draws Wolverine as actually looking like a Canadian mountain man and the Hulk as the monster they are suppose to look like.

Issue Rating
Story: 5.9/10 - Though Lindelof continues to fill this story with unnecessary dialogue I enjoyed the Wolverine vs the Panda opening.
Art: 6.6/10 - Yu's artwork is much better than in his previous work though I am still not a fan of his style of artwork
Overall: 6.25/10 - Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk continues to be an odd read as each issue does not have the natural flow issue to issue it should have. But what has been really disappointing is that five issues in and we have yet to see much action on this scene, other than the what might or might have not been a sex scene between Hulk and She-Hulk in this issue.

Legen--wait for it---dary Comic Book Highlight for 4/8/09

Cover of the Week: Daredevil Noir #1

Even though we've seen this cover many times over, especially in Daredevil comics, I like the whole black with a little bit of red to the Daredevil Noir version. And the rain affect on the cover is pretty cool.

Battle for the Cowl #2 Highlights

I present to you Jason "The Mass Murder and Child Shooter" Todd. At this point all that potential growth Jason had coming off his return in Under the Hood has been completely wasted as DC has decided that he should be their version of Punisher.

Talk about identity theft. Jane Doe is certainly one chick you do not want to mess with.

Though Gotham City burning is nothing new still Daniel kicks ass in this scene though I would have preferred if it was Two-Face or Penguin behind Gotham burning not Black Mask.

The beast, or in this case the bat, has been awaken as Dick is finally ready to take his rightful place in the Batfamily as the heir to Bruce's mantle and kick Jason Todd's ass.

I still don't understand why Jason just had a crowbar just laying around in his "batcave." Oh wait, that is suppose to be symbolic of his death at the hands of the Joker. That's clever. NOT!

Maybe Tim will eat a senzu bean to heal that huge wound from having a batrang the size of a football in his sternum. Now that would be a twist.

Dark Reign: Hawkeye #1 Highlight

Norman Osborn has to be the number 1 most incompetent leader there has been. Wait, Luke Cage was the leader of the New Avengers not to long ago. My bad I meant to say Norman is the second most incompetent leader with Luke Cage being the first. My bad!

Shouldn't this be the question that is asked by all reporters in the Marvel Universe in every title Norman appeared in for the first few months.

I know some fans want Iron Man or Captain America to be the ones to take Norman down but how sweet would it be if Hawkeye shot him right in his black heart and walked away saying he is done being the "hero?"

See now there is a signiture that she will never forget. Norman isn't going to be to happy about this.

Green Lantern #39 Highlights

And so the Orange Lanterns are born. To bad for the supposed Guardians of the Orange Corps learned first hand that greed is not something to be controlled. (I know, bad pun. Sorry!)

I like this twist of Hal not leading the Blue Lanterns as a Blue Lantern but a Green Lantern as Hal has the power to power-up the whole Blue Lantern Corps. It should be interesting, especially with how the Guardians treated Hal in this issue, if Hal does join the Blue Lantern's and how he will be able to find the hope to power all their rings.

Philip Tan really turned up the creepiness level as he shows that the Orange Lanterns may be the most out of control of all the Lantern Corps.

Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #4 Highlight

See know this is a Rulk that I like. I wish Ultimate Rulk would go to the 616 Marvel Universe and go Ultimate Hank Pym on 616 Rulk's ass.

War of Kings: Ascension #1 Highlights

I love Talon's powered-up armor. Alves did an awesome job with his look of Talon in this issue.

Though I prefer Talon's power-up armor more I like that Marvel has decided to finally upgrade Darkhawks costume as this new power-up form gives Darkhawk a definite power upgrade to go up against someone like Nova.

Wolverine: Weapon X #1 Highlight

See that is what happens kids when you wake a sleeping bear from his nap.