New Comics

Strange Tales #1 (of 3) — Creators: Paul Pope, Nick Bertozzi, John Leavitt, Molly Crabapple, Junko Mizuno, Dash Shaw, James Kochalka, Johnny Ryan, M. Kupperman, Peter Bagge, Nicholas Gurewitch and Jason Pope does an Inhumans/Lockjaw story (plus the cover); Bagge and Kochalka each contribute Hulk tales; Ryan does the Punisher (plus a rundown of “Marvel’s Most Embarrassing Moments”);  Shaw does Doctor Strange; Kupperman offers a Namor story;  Bertozzi does Modok;  Mizuno and Jason contribute Spider-Man bits. For $5, you couldn’t possibly have this much fun anywhere else; some of it’s just weird, but much of it is laugh-out-loud funny, and … Continue reading →

Mystic Comics #1 (of 1) — (Vision story/22 pgs.) — Writer/Artist: David Lapham …Plus two seven-page Vision stories from the Golden Age, from Marvel Mystery Comics #14 and 16 (the Dr. Fate-y mystic-avenging Vision, of course, not the Silver Age robot).  These retro issues, celebrating Marvel’s 1940s titles, have been rising or falling on the strength of their art, and here Lapham delivers a tight, attractive-looking retelling of the Vision’s origin. The reprints, with their bright colors and bold, young-Jack-Kirby energy (from 1941!), manage to convey some of the excitement of what it was like to be a kid reading … Continue reading →

Flash: Rebirth #4 (of 6) — Writer: Geoff Johns; Art: Ethan Van Sciver Green Lantern #45 — Writer: Geoff Johns; Pencils: Doug Mahnke; Inks: Christian Alamy, Doug Mahnke and Tom Nguyen Two by Johns this week, both characters that he has a history with (almost five years now with GL, and better than ten with the Flashes). This is the first issue of Rebirth that’s really popped; adding the old-school Professor Zoom to the mix raises the stakes, and both the story and Van Sciver’s art seem more confident, hitting many of the right fannish buttons with assurance and dramatic … Continue reading →

Hulk #14 — Writer: Jeph Loeb; Penciler: Ian Churchill; Inks: Mark Farmer Now just about the Red Hulk (with Greg Pak scripting the green one over in the revived Incredible Hulk #601), and it’s becoming increasingly obvious who he must be — a certain pencil-mustached minor player, although, with Loeb, it’s not like logic or linear sense ever figures into the plots, so it could just as easily end up as Betty Ross, or a reanimated Jim Wilson or some damn thing…). Loud, soulless and grating, with characters running everywhere and no one to root for; everyone’s either mean, stupid, … Continue reading →

Daredevil #500 — (Lead story/40 pgs.) — Writer: Ed Brubaker;  Artists: Michael Lark and Stafano Gaudiano with Klaus Janson, Chris Samnee and Paul Azaceta;  (Dark Reign: The List preview/8 pgs.) — Writer: Andy Diggle;  Art: Billy Tan;  (3rd story/14 pgs.) — Writer: Ann Nocenti;  Art: David Aja …plus a pin-up gallery, one of those all-500-covers-in-a-row deals, and a reprint of the Frank Miller-written-and-pencilled Daredevil #191 (the “Play Russian Roulette with Bullseye in a Hospital” story).  Another of the stuffed-full anniversary issues Marvel’s been putting out lately, and a good one — the main story finishes the current storyline, shakes up … Continue reading →