Comics for August 9

[dvandom]

                    Dave's Unspoilt Capsules and Awards
         The Week's Picks and Pans, plus Awards of Dubious Merit

Standard Disclaimers: Please set appropriate followups.  Recommendation does
not factor in price.  Not all books will have arrived in your area this week.
It got to 109F here today, wheeeeee.  Rants, Capsules can be found on my 
             homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants 


First Looks:
     My comics shop subscribes to the First Looks program, in which a
selection of titles from DC, Marvel and Image for the next week are shipped a
week early for preview purposes.  I usually have time to read some of them
while the comics are sorted, although they don't always arrive on time.

August 16:

     None this week.


Capsules:
     Short, relatively spoiler-free reviews of books I actually bring home
(as opposed to reading in preview form in the shop or online).  If I get a
book late due to distributor foulups or whatever, I'll put it in the Missing
section.

     Five Fists of Science GN: Image - Fairly fun steampunk/mythos sort of
story.  A little meandering in places, and the art wasn't always as clear as
it could have been, but a good read in general.  And very quotable.
Recommended.  $12.99
     Ninja High School #140: Antarctic Press - Oops, jumped past the climax
promised last issue, with only bits and pieces of it seen in flashback.
Instead, the focus shifts to filling in the background of one of the
supporting characters, and bringing in even more new characters.  It's okay,
but kinda jarring in the pacing.  Mildly recommended.  $2.99/$4.05Cn
     Transformers Stormbringer #2 (of 4): IDW - Sometimes part two of four
slows down the action to explain what's going on.  Sometimes it just throws
out a big pile of partial information and red herrings.  This is definitely
the latter case.  A little bit of everything is revealed, but not quite
enough of anything, making it a "written for the trade" sort of story.  Lots
of nice Figueroa redesigns, though, including what I think is a canonical
appearance of one of his old Macromaster designs.  Mildly recommended.
$2.99. 
     52 #14 (of 52): DC - Some of the plots are starting to dovetail, can't
say if that's good or bad in this case yet.  The mad science thread is
looking good, though.  Mildly recommended.  $2.50/$3.50Cn
     Superman #655: DC - Busiek's Arion is amusing, at least in small doses.
And I like the semi-retro cover design.  The main story is a big expositiony,
but held my interest.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.00Cn
     Green Arrow #65: DC - I really enjoyed this issue, McDaniels's iffy art
not taking away from Winick's writing.  Snappy patter, an extension of the
typical superhero power fantasy into other domains, villains being smarter
than they're given credit for.  Fun stuff.  Strongly recommended.
$2.99/$4.00Cn 
     Secret Six #3 (of 6): DC - A bit of a slowdown, but solid writing from
Simone and acceptable art from Walker.  I suppose I should note that "a
slowdown" is a relative thing, given the amount of action and bodily harm.
Recommended.  $2.99/$4.00Cn
     Annihilation: Nova Corps Files: Marvel - This is not simply a collection
of the Nova Corps files seen as backups in the Annihilation minis, as I had
thought it might be.  It uses more or less the same format and much of the
same art, but the text is rewritten, including updates to make this current
as of the start of the Annihilation capstone series this week.  Along the
bottom of each page are four small images of the character from various
appearances (at least, for those characters who HAVE multiple appearances).
A good way to get caught up on Annihilation and the current status of
Marvel's cosmic contingent.  Recommended.  $3.99/$4.75Cn
     Squadron Supreme #6: Marvel - Barranco's got a tough act to follow in
the penciling department...he's good, but his sketchy style stands out like a
sore thumb after Frank's ultra-crisp pencils.  The story has some good
points, and Burbank steals every scene he's in, as usual.  Recommended.
$2.99/$3.75Cn 
     Ms. Marvel #6: Marvel - Civil War tie-in, in which it's made abundantly
clear that the title character is on the side of evil.  "Neither side is
right" my left buttock.  Decent writing within the limitations of the crappy
uberplot, very good art.  Very mildly recommended.  $2.99/$3.75Cn
     She-Hulk v2 #10: Marvel - A printing error made several pages look like
they're trying to be 3-D, although Rick Burchett's retro style at least
minimizes the headache this would cause.  Slott does better than most with
the Civil Bore stuff.  Recommended.  $2.99/$3.75Cn
     Beyond #2 (of 6): Marvel - A running fight/conflict scene, for the most
part.  Has some fun bits, but feels a little too scattered in places.
Recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Penny Arcade v2: Epic Legends of the Magic Sword Kings: Dark Horse -
Another collection of the early webcomics, and the style is a lot closer to
the current one by the end.  But wait, there's more!  In addition to the
annotations and sketchbook pages seen in the first volume, there's also more
newsposts, a gallery of art for the PA card game, and a number of other
projects that Holkins and Krahulik have worked on.  Definitely enough added
material to make this worth getting despite the fact that the strip archives
themselves are free.  Recommended.  $12.95

Gone Missing:
     Stuff that came out some places this week and that I wanted to buy, but
couldn't find for whatever reason, so people don't have to email me asking
"Why didn't you review X?"  (If it's neither here nor in the section above,
though, feel free to ask, I might have forgotten about it!)

     Current list as of 8/9:

     Still missing Keif Llama V2.1, Stinz Tribals (which Diamond's system
says "will come in" June 14, and nothing else), Gold Digger Perfect Memory
v5, Anthem #3, Gold Digger Tangent #2, Gold Digger Throne of Shadows #3,
Devil's Panties #3.  Add Elric #4 and the Transformers Beast Wars poster.


Awards:

Best Book: Green Arrow #65

"I Thought Science Would Be Bigger" Award to The Five Fists of Science

"Bruce Aware of Vacuity" Award to NHS #140

"Has Anyone Seen My Chin?" Award to Transformers Stormbringer #2 (of 4)

"Armoring The Barn Door After The Horses Have Been Mutated" Award to 
     52 #14 (of 52)

"Abandoned Soviet Labs Never Just Have Dusty Files, Do They?" Award to 
     Superman #655

"Unrealpolitik" Award to Green Arrow #65

"Care For A Sandwich?" Award to Secret Six #3 (of 6)

"Given How Many Of These Losers Have Come Back From The Dead, Certain 
     Cosmic Heroes Had Better Get To Return Too" Award to Annihilation: 
     Nova Corps Files

"I'm Nighthawk, And I Can Breathe In Space" Award to Squadron Supreme #6

"What Constitution?" Award to Ms. Marvel #6

"Shoulda Asked Him To Wiggle His Ears" Award to She-Hulk v2 #10 (or vIV?)

"Carrying A Fetish A Little Too Far" Award to Beyond #2 (of 6)

"Mmmm, Chocolate-Dusted Rats!" Award to Penny Arcade v2

   Dave Van Domelen, "Quickly -- to NEW JERSEY!" - Nikola Tesla, man of action!

Comments

[foomf.livejournal.com]

Green LANTERN #65??!!

[funct.livejournal.com]

Why do you buy the Civil War stuff?

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

I have dropped some titles for the duration of Civil War, but there's the faint glimmer of hope that there will be actual plot unrelated to Civil Bore in the ones I haven't dropped.

[jarodrussell.livejournal.com]

Nick Telsa, man of action. That just sounds...

Wait for it...

ELECTRIC!