New Comics

Phil’s Reviews — Stuff I Bought #235

Liberty Annual 2012 — Creators: Various This is the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s annual moneyraising effort; they’re a First Amendment organization whose primary purpose is to defend comic book retailers (and publishers and creators) from legal challenges when some local parent or prosecutor decides that a comic is obscene. To a journalism major like me, that’s a noble goal; they’ve kept a lot of people out of jail (or from losing their stores) just because they sold someone a comic book. As you might expect, a lot of comics creators appreciate their work, too, so these anthologies are always … Continue reading

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #234

Hawkeye #3 — Writer: Matt Fraction;  Art: David Aja;  Color: Matt Hollingsworth;  Letters: Chris Eliopoulos Daredevil #19 — Writer: Mark Waid;  Art: Chris Samnee; Color: Javier Rodriguez These two comics make me happy — they’re both confident, highly polished storytelling efforts, with writers who know how to create subtle, intriguing characters and slambang action plots, and artists who know how to break that action into fast-moving panels with crystal-clear composition and sharp, smooth lines. Special call-outs to the colorists of each book, too, who know just how to highlight, and when to be subdued, and whose palettes enhance the art … Continue reading

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Phil’s Reviews — Stuff I Bought #233

Avengers Vs X-Men #12 (of 12) — Writer: Jason Aaron;  Pencils: Adam Kubert;  Inks: John Dell with Mark Morales and Adam Kubert This may not be the best book of the week, but it’s the best seller, and it’s been surprisingly good — partly because the last few Marvel events, especially Fear Itself, lowered expectations considerably. Aaron is a good choice for writer — he doesn’t have some of the stylistic tics in dialogue of a Bendis or a Fraction, so he doesn’t call attention to his writing, and lets the art and action speak for itself, while Kubert holds … Continue reading

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #232

Journey Into Mystery #644 — Writers: Kieron Gillen and Matt Fraction;  Art: Carmine di Giandomenico I’ve made it no secret how much I like Teen Loki: instead of a stereotypical cackling villain, he’s a kid trying desperately to do the right thing, and he’s willing to cheat, lie and piss off any powerful adult figures to do it. That makes him, simultaneously, a typical Trickster archetype and a typical adolescent, and leads frequently to results like the one on this issue’s cover. In the capable hands of  Gillen and Fraction, we’ve actually come to care about the little hustler; here’s … Continue reading

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Phil’s Reviews #231A: DC’s Zero Issues

No, I’m not doing all of the DC #0s for this week; just the six (well, seven) that caught my eye. Props to DC for including a full-page “Who’s Who”-type entry in each book, by the way — that’s a good move, especially if you figure that each of these origin issues will attract some readers who aren’t that familiar with the main title. Anyway… Team Seven #0 — Writer: Justin Jordan;  Pencils: Jesus Merino;  Inks: Norm Rapmund and Rob Hunter This is the one “new” title of the lot, and it suffers for that — DC had a good … Continue reading

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