New Comics

Green Arrow and Black Canary #5 — Writer: Judd Winick;  Art: Andre Coelho Ollie sits around angsting about the fact that he’s been a lousy father and his kid has no brain. He swears to give up being Green Arrow. Cue the shocking twist ending, after which he says, grimly, “Get me my damn bow.” Presumably, next issue something will actually happen. For now, I’ve just saved you all $3 and five minutes of your lives. Dead of Night #1 (of 4) — Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa;  Art: Kano (framing sequences by Nick Percival) Man-Thing’s origin retold. Unfortunately, everything just seems … Continue reading →

Omega the Unknown #5 (of 10) — Writer: Jonathan Lethem; Artist: Farel Dalrymple Now at the halfway point, this has evolved from its ’70s origins into a completely new book (although some kind of title-page credits to Gerber, Skrenes and Mooney would still be nice). Its anything-goes, deadpan surreality and indy-flavored storytelling make it seem like a project from the Bill Jemas era, with that experimental, almost-desperate pizzazz from almost… geez, a decade ago? Now I feel older…. True Story, Swear to God #10 — Writer/Artist: Tom Beland The main character of this autobiographical book is a Californian comic artist … Continue reading →

Justice Society of America #12 — Writer: Geoff Johns;  Penciller: Dale Eaglesham;  Inker: Ruy Jose Continuing the “get aspects of Kingdom Come into the mainstream DCU” story. Not a bad read, but the cast of ongoing characters in this book has become huge (there are 18 little character boxes on the splash page, and they add another three or four to the cast this issue), so it’s at the point where I see, say, Damage in his new costume, and spend five minutes thinking, “Now, who the hell is that?”  Add a large “who cares about Kingdom Come?” quotient, and … Continue reading →

Fantastic Four #553 — Writer: Dwayne McDuffie; Penciler: Paul Pelletier; Inker: Rick Magyar McDuffie’s been delivering the best sustained FF since Mark Waid: check out the three-part time-travel tale that concludes here and see, as everyone acts smart and in-character, and the core concepts of the book are attended to with affection and care. Wave goodbye as he makes way for Millar and Hitch (who should hope to do as well), and wish him a long and well-received run on JLA. Death of the New Gods # 5 ( of 8 ) — Writer/Penciller: Jim Starlin; Inks: Matt Banning and … Continue reading →

Y: The Last Man #60 (of 60) — Writer: Brian K. Vaughan; Penciller: Pia Guerra; Inker: Marzan, Jr. By rights, this should be on the “buy” list, but I stopped following this title closely sometime around issue 20; I knew it was good, but just lost interest (a lot of these self-contained Vertigo series sag in the middle — even Preacher was kind of tough sledding for a while there), and so haven’t actually bought it for a few years. I’ve still been flipping through it, though, and can acknowledge that Vaughan and company have kept up the quality, and … Continue reading →