Comics for Sept 20

[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.
Getting over a cold on top of allergies.  Rants, Capsules can be found on my 
             homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants 

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.

     Conan #32: Dark Horse - Another "Young Conan" interlude by Busiek and
Ruth.  No longer Conan the boy, he's well on his way to becoming a man in
this issue (in more than one way, so don't read this where any over-the-
shoulder lurkers may get offended by bare breasts).  While previous
installments have had bits and pieces of "Conan-ness" to them, pretty much
every element of a "classic" Conan story is here other than thievery.
Recommended.  $2.99
     eXiles #86: Marvel - The two-part Crisis of Infinite Wolverines story
wraps up, setting the regular team up for another mission, as Bedard's own
mission gets further extended due to Claremont's health issues (if I recall
correctly).  Good Pelletier art and some witty dialogue.  Recommended.
$2.99/$3.75Cn, bub.
     X-Factor #11: Marvel - Well, PAD doesn't leave us hanging on #10's
cliffhanger, for which I am grateful.  He even finesses it into a bit of
retconning and/or explaination of character alteration.  Good story, okay
art, and another cliffhanger at the end (of course, with #12 being next
issue, what else is there gonna be?).  Recommended.  $2.99/$3.75Cn
     Marvel Adventures Avengers #5: Marvel - A good issue, but it didn't
sparkle the way most previous ones have.  It also looks like we're going to
get some arc-based continuity for a while.  Recommended.  $2.99/$3.75Cn
     52 #20 (of 52): DC - A little bit more Supernova hint-dropping, some
Steel vs. Luthor advancing, and then it's all space team.  I have to admit, I
never even thought of the conclusion the writing team came up for regarding
the macguffin in Lobo's possession.  Still, while I liked the main story, the
whole "weekly series" idea is pretty much gone by this point.  It's more a
bunch of monthly miniseries spliced together awkwardly.  Recommended.
$2.50/$3.50Cn 
     Superman #656: DC - Mostly a slugfest issue with a bit of light angst to
spice it up, and the real story starting on the final page.  Fun, if on the
fluff side.  And the giant trilobite is a draw on its own.  Recommended.
$2.99/$4.00Cn 
     Shadowpact #5: DC - Seems to take place well before #4, picking up from
the end of #3 and showing the wrapup.  It's not often you see the cover image
again as a splash page inside, but it happens here.  Enough differences that
it's not just a stat, of course, but they could be sequential in time.
Recommended.  $2.99/$4.00Cn


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 9/20:

     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, Gold Digger Tangent #2, Devil's Panties #3, Elric #4, the Transformers
Beast Wars poster, Fred Perry's S-Guild #1, Flare Adventures #17.  Add the
Amelia Rules TPBs.


Awards:

Best Book: None.

"From The Literal To The Symbolic" Award to Conan #32

"Obey The Pwime Diwective" Award to eXiles #86

"But Does He Have The Starbrand?" Award to X-Factor #11

"If He Can't Found 'Em, He'll Hound 'Em" Award to Marvel Adventures Avengers 
     #5

"Vecna's Big Brother" Award to 52 #20 (of 52)

"Subjekt-Verb Disagreement" Award to Superman #656

"Glutes Of Bronze" Award to Shadowpact #5

   Dave Van Domelen, "Say, how are you still *tawking* with no wungs to push the air out?" "Eh, *zombies*. Go figure." - Elsie and Zomberine, eXiles #86