2oo9 in a Shortbox!! Best of the Year

My marathon reading and re-reading of the comics of last year is finally over!! And as last night was Oscar night, here's my Personal Best Comics of 2oo9 List.

Quick important notes: To qualify, a work must be comics and must have been published in its entirety, in English, and for the first time either in print or on the web, between 1/1/o9 and 12/31/o9. The selections are presented by category, but not in any ascending or descending order.

BEST MINIS
"Luke Cage Noir" #1, #2, #3, #4
written by Adam Glass and Mike Benson; drawn by Shawn Martinbrough
One that flew under most people's radar as far as I can tell. Racism is just one of the many themes among class, crime, betrayal, legends, hearsay, and hope at play in this mini-series.
Collected edition has also become available in 2o1o.

"The Life and Times of Savior 28" #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 and the collection.
written by J.M. DeMatteis; drawn by Mike Cavallaro
Possibly the most important work done in the superhero genre in a decade, this mini-series challenges one of the long-standing, most-odious elements of the genre: violence.

BEST GRAPHIC NOVELS
"Asterios Polyp"
written and drawn by David Mazzucchelli
A torturously beautiful narrative of love and loss and realizing how much love it was you really did lose. Mazzucchelli broke the mold on utilizing style in visual narrative here. Brilliant. Although it is, in this writer's opinion, almost made a mess by a sudden and inappropriate shock ending. Making it the polar opposite of the following work...

"365 Samurai and a Few Bowls of Rice"
written and drawn by J. P. Kalonji
379 pages of splash-pages drawn by a Swiss man actually make this surprising graphic novel like a steady rhythm of blood pounding in your ears slowly building toward a fittingly beautiful surprise ending. The end result is a beautiful work of art about life, love, and enlightenment.

BEST GRAPHIC NOVELLA
"The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen" Vol. 3 "Century: 1910"
An amazing continuation of Alan Moore's crazy work of historical/fictional fantasy. Characters narrate their own story in period songs they sing as they go about their work. The background items in the League's headquarters get even more outrageous. Horrifying and beautiful.

BEST STORY-ARC IN AN ONGOING SERIES
"Red-Headed Stranger" Prelude in "Amazing Spider-Man" #601, Parts 1 through 3 in #602, #603, #604, and (epilogue) #605
written by Mark Waid, Fred Van Lente, and Brian Reed; drawn by Mario Alberti, Barry Kitson, Robert Atkins, Javier Pulido, Luke Ross, and Yanick Paquette
Issue #601 by Mark Waid and Mario Alberti gets special mention for being funny, action-packed, romantic, working as a stand-alone story, and being gorgeously drawn by Alberti to boot! The prelude and epilogue material by Mark Waid, Fred Van Lante, and Brian Reed is excellent humorous/romantic stuff that connects thematically to Van Lente's main drama/action story in the three issues between them. Mary Jane returns from a long hiatus from Peter's life and Spider-Man's first supervillain, The Chameleon, gets a fantastically creepy overhaul that allowed Van Lente to examine the role of fear in how we shape our identity.

BEST INDIVIDUAL ISSUES
"Counting Up From Zero" from "Invincible Iron Man" #20 and "Digging In The Dirt" from "Invincible Iron Man" #21
ongoing series issues written by Matt Fraction; drawn by Salvador Larroca
My god. If you told me six years ago that "Iron Man" would be one of the best series Marvel was doing, that it would be the MUST HAVE, the book that had you most excited about comics... I would have laughed in your face. Along came Fraction and Salva (although a great debt is owed to the work done a few years ago by Warren Ellis and Adi Granov, too) and completely blew my socks off with these issues. Following on the heels of some great issues in the "World's Most Wanted" story-arc.

"Sandman: The Dream Hunters" #3, #4 and the collection.
mini-series issues written and drawn by P. Craig Russell; adapted from a short story by Neil Gaimen
This mini was mind-blowing, most-especially for someone, such as myself, who has never been fully immersed in the world of Neil Gaimen's "Sandman". I gave the collection to Clare for Christmas and it turned out to be the best Christmas gift I ever gave US.

"Blackest Night" #1
mini-series issue written by Geoff Johns; drawn by Ivan Reis
Strange, I know, to include the first issue of a mini-series and none of those that followed. Never before in a superhero comic-book had I seen so many characters in such a quick succession of pages be re-introduced, re-invigorated, and made respectably realistic. Johns is a master storyteller on an epic scale.

"Ring Out The Old" Conclusion from "Ex Machina" #44
ongoing series issue written by Brian K. Vaughan; drawn by Tony Harris
On a equally epic scale, if with a smaller number of characters, Brian K. Vaughan continues to bring new dimensions to the story of his ex-superhero mayor of New York City. This issue blew my mind with its kooky SF creations mixed with religious terminology.

"The Great Silence" from "Jonah Hex" #50
ongoing series issue written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti; drawn by Darwyn Cooke
A smart, fast, heart-breaking story by Gray and Palmiotti breathtakingly realized by Darwyn Cooke, the sequential art master of our times. One of the only western genre titles out there today, and a damn good one.

"A Battle Within" from "Batman" #687
ongoing series issue written by Judd Winick; drawn by Ed Benes
Batman stories narrated even partially by Alfred have ended up being my very favorite Batman stories. When asked if he's okay after Bruce Wayne's death, he replies: I'm not okay. My son is dead.

"Saviour" from "Atomika" #8
mini-series issue written by Andrew Dabb; drawn by Sal Abbinanti
After four years of publishing, we finally see Atomika turn that moral corner, realize he is a monster and become a mature... god. It is at this point he embarks on the road to heroism that we will see him complete when the last, twelfth issue comes out.

"That Which Does Not Kill Us" from "The Infinite Horizon" #4 of 6
mini-series issue written by Gerry Duggan; drawn by Phil Noto
Excellent adaptation of "The Odyssey" recounting a soldier's moments of weakness. Circe's magic is replaced by a morphine addiction. Tough choices are made, as the road back home can only continue if the Captain breaks his own leg so that the previous unsuccessful bone setting can be re-done. Holy jesus.

"Planetary" #27
ooooooongoing series' final issue written by Warren Ellis; drawn by John Cassaday
The major work in the superhero genre in the past fifteen years come to a close. The final hurrah was worth the wait. Science fiction at the intersection of hope and history.

"32" from "Daytripper" #1
mini-series issue written and drawn by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Bá
This extremely talented team of twin brothers present their first mini-series. And it is a very auspicious start. We are introduced to their main character, Bras, at 32 years old.

"Comic Book Comics" #3
mini-series issue written by Fred Van Lente; drawn by Ryan Dunlavey
The men behind this comic are the unsung heroes of the comic-book medium right now, because they are attempting to create a history of the comics medium in the comics medium and they're having fun doing it! Honestly, they deserve props for the concept of the comics industry's self-infantilization (which they label the "Logan's Run Effect") alone.

BEST SHORTS
"Photograph"
mini-comic written and drawn by Nicholas Breutzman
A simple story in simple xeroxed pages without so much as a staple between them. A boy and a girl wake up in bed next to each other and through narration from the fella's point-of-view we slowly get a picture of who these people are and how they ended up in so intimate a position.

"...And Call My Lover MODOK!" from "Strange Tales" #1
short graphic anthology story written and drawn by Nick Bertozzi
Awkward, ridiculous, yet moving portrayal of a supervillain and his... concubine? Done in FOUR PAGES. Amazing.

"The Black Widow" from "Strange Tales" #2
short graphic anthology story written and drawn by Matt Kindt
A great, quick spy story set against the Marvel universe. Apparently, superheroes get in the way of your job when your job is being a secret agent for S.H.I.E.L.D. Great use of text, great characterization, all in so few pages!

"Martha" from "MySpace Dark Horse Presents" online Issue 19
webcomic written and drawn by Dave Chisholm
A remarkable little tale of highway violence and familial re-connection. The surprise ending makes this the best thing I read on the web last year.

Here's hoping 2o1o is as good a year! Or better!

[2oo9: The best to the right, the rest to the left! Not quite a shortbox, is it?]

and finally...
The Comics I Would Probably Have Put On The List Had I Bought Them and Read All Of Them
"Stiches" graphic novel written and drawn by David Small
"3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man" graphic novel written and drawn by Matt Kindt
"I Kill Giants" #7 of 7 mini-series final issue written by Joe Kelly; drawn by J. M. Ken Niimura

Welcome Back, Barry!

So, like many people, I have been a little uneasy with Barry Allen's resurrection. Barry's death was important. He was a hero. This is the man who even Superman looks to as an example for what a hero is. Also, his death lasted over 20 years! Big deal.

However, in Blackest Night I just full-heartedly adore him. He is such an interesting character, and he is extremely inspiring. In Blackest Night #4 he says to The Atom and Mera (Aquaman's widow): "We need to run in, take charge and kick ass like we were born to. And Ray? Mera? We were born to."

That's on my list of "What it Means to Be a Hero" quotes.

Now, DC's Blog The Source has solicited a new Flash ongoing, staring Barry Allen, written by Geoff Johns. Oh but it gets better, Johns is joined by the fantastic Francis Manapul! If you were reading Adventure Comics then you know just how amazing this combination can be. Let's take a look shall we?

Wow. Just wow. All I can say is that I can't wait for April 14th to come around! I know that I'll be picking up Flash #1 that day!

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 1/27/2o1o!

Okay, I'm going to follow Josh's lead on these posts because something has to change for them to still have a point, don't they?

If Josh and I are both wrong and you really enjoy these posts as just simple lists let us know! Post a comment and let us know how wrong we are! But from here on in, I am going to name one book, the big book, the one book that I am most excited about and am most likely to buy (similar to what Josh is doing) and then I am going to write an update to the post in which I show you a picture of all the things I bought for the week, whether they're this week's books or not.

So my big book for this week is: "the Amazing Spider-Man" #619

I am finally catching up on this series and I'm getting a lot of great surprises along the way. I'm only three issues behind! This idea of throwing all of Spidey's old major villains from Kaine to Electro at him in a short period of time and calling it "The Gauntlet" is just spine-tingly good. Check back to see what I pick up!

UPDATE: 1/29/2o1o
So, still being short on cash (fingers crossed on a few job prospects), I'm limiting my purchasing again big time.

So I just got the aforementioned "Amazing Spider-Man" #619 and "New Avengers" #61, which I feel the need to point out looks to have almost nothing to do with "Siege". I seriously, seriously WANTED to pick up "Green Lantern" #50 because it looks like another big turning point in the "Blackest Night" event storyline. Sigh.

Back to "Siege", both "New Avengers" and "Dark Avengers" aren't so much tying into "Siege" as they are wrapping up their respective stories (I'd be surprised if the "Mighty" tie-in issues don't do the same). Which figures as all the Avengers titles are about to be canceled and we will finally have one single story in a comic titled "Avengers" which Josh posted about earlier this month and upon which there will be more to come soon.

However, if you really want to see a fleshing-out of the story in "Siege" #1, I'd recommend reading "Dark Wolverine" #82 and "Avengers: The Initiative" #32. So far, those two titles have actually showed us some more of the events leading up to the siege of Asgard. (And Josh and my respective thoughts about the current ongoing "Iron Man" story and the just completed "Thor" story being lead-ins to "Siege" turned out to be pretty much right on the button.)

We shall see what time and the Marvel executives have in store for the characters.

Already Tired of Tuesday...Cap is Back!

Hey guys! Big week this week, so let's jump right into it, shall we?

So....

You can tell why I'm excited, right? With issue #602, CAPTAIN AMERICA IS BACK- and I don't mean Steve Rogers- I mean his comic book. Reborn has come and gone (ok, not really, but it's supposed to be over), so we get to go back to reading the adventures of Captain America. I was pretty happy with the end result of Who Will Wield The Shield?, so seeing Ed Brubaker get back to telling the sort of relatively down to earth Cap stories that I've become so fond of is, well, kind of like a really cool Independence Day present (or something). Anyway, the tale looks to be the best sort of Captain America tale; the kind that's about what it means to wear the Flag, what it means to represent America. This is exactly the kind of story I'm a sucker for- and I'm ready for them to be back.

I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to pony up for Dark Avengers #13. I want to get the full picture of Siege and, while I'm not made of money, buying the books that Bendis is writing (along with those titles I would buy anyway, like Thor) will probably give me the best idea of what he thinks I need to see- it is his story, after all.

With that said, Incredible Hercules #140, Uncanny X-Men #520, Starman #81, Joe the Barbarian #1 and Fables #92 are all definite pick ups. A couple of notes on the last three: 1) I haven't been reading Blackest Night, but it's hard for me to pass up on an issue of Starman, even if I'm not sure it really counts, 2) Grant Morrison is writing Joe the Barbarian, which makes it automatic pick-up (this puts the Scottish Scribe in some very exclusive company) and 3) a Fables story about baseball and murder? What could be bad?

"Siege"? I'm feeling 'event burnout' dude. Wait? Spider-Man! Wait! A new way to do events?

So this "Siege" thing looks cool! Spider-Man is involved, I guess. Now I can care...

I'm terrible. Time to be a bit more academic about this, Jon.

Joe Quesada has written about "Siege" and Marvel's 2010 crossover 'events' at his Cup O'Joe blog. Apparently, they are attempting a new model this year:

"Joe Quesada: It will be a different feel from what has been going on these last few years, let's just leave it at that."

Since 2oo8's "Secret Invasion" was the end-point of Brian Michael Bendis' crazy-huge Marvel Universe-wide meta-story 'event' series that he had been building since 2oo4's "Avengers: Dissasembled" they are going to follow it with several smaller scale "family" events. Whether this is set in stone, I couldn't tell ya, but:

"Siege"
Considered the Avengers event for 2010, (which essentially makes it the next Earth-wide Marvel U event) will tell the story of Norman Osborn's attempt at taking out the last item on "The List": the removal of Asgard from its spot floating above American soil. Yeah, good luck with that Normie...

"DoomWar"
The Fantastic Four event, will tell the story of an attempt on the parts of the FF, the Black Panther, and the X-Men to finally depose Dr. Doom from his perch as ruler of the small Eastern European country of Latveria.

"Fall of the Hulks" and/or "World War Hulks"
The Hulk event, will be... all those damn Hulk clones and sons and whatever wailing on each other for a long time... or something.

"Second Coming"
The X-Men event. There's always an X-Men event. Ever since, like, 1986 there's almost always an annual X-Men event. This one will tell of the return from the future of the young girl named Hope, so named because she was the first mutant born since the "House of M" event storyline in the present.

I think this new model is pretty exciting because, if nothing else, we're finally going to get a change from the status quo.

Superhero comic-book publishing history lesson: Big publishing companies produce big-scale stories they call 'events' that affect wide swaths of their characters simultaneously. And they've been doing this since the Eighties.

But before 2oo3 things were way more organic, although things started out strictly annual...

First, DC published many stories that specifically dealt with their Golden Age 1930s characters in the Justice SOCIETY of America interacting with their Silver Age 1960s characters in the Justice LEAGUE of America. The first was told in two parts: "Crisis on Earth-One!" and "Crisis on Earth-Two!" in Justice League of America v1 #21-22. This went on annually from 1963 till 1971 then a bit less regularly from 1973 until 1984.

In 1985 DC shook things up in a big way with "Crisis on Infinite Earths", the third story to be referred to as an 'event'. The sequel "Zero Hour: Crisis in Time", which came out in 1994, put a lot of the chaos of the original "Crisis" back in its place. Then there was "The Final Night"in 1996, "Day of Judgment" in 1999 and "Our Worlds at War" in 2oo1.
(All Universe-wide stories.)

So what exactly is an 'event' story-line, you may be wondering? What makes the difference between a normal everyday story and a crossover 'event'? WELL... that's hard to answer. Wikipedia.org is as helpful as ever. The page for "Crisis on Infinite Earths" defines a "summer crossover" as a:

"series designed to tie many of their [any given publisher's] comic book titles together under a single storyline (and thus sell more comic books)"

In 1982, Marvel picked up on the idea of a story with all the major characters interacting and produced the first 'event' limited series: "Marvel Super-Hero Contest of Champions" in 1982. Then a toy line tie-in prompted the creation of "Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars" in 1984, followed by "Secret Wars II" in 1986, "The Evolutionary War" in 1988, "Acts of Vengeance" and "Atlantis Attacks" in 1989, "Infinity Gauntlet" in 1991, followed by "Infinity War" in 1992, and "Infinity Crusade" in 1993, "Onslaught" in 1996, the sequel to which was "Heroes Reborn" in 1997, "Maximum Security" in 2ooo, and finally "Infinity Abyss" in 2oo2.
(That's just Earth-wide stuff. Not the bajillion X-Men events that came out in the meantime...)

Then Marvel Comics hired Brian Michael Bendis and things changed. The pattern of about one Earth-wide story occurring like clockwork every calendar year has been happening for about six years now (usually in the Summer):

"Avengers: Disassembled" - 2oo4
"Secret War" - 2oo4
"House of M" - 2oo5
"Civil War" - 2oo6
"World War Hulk" - 2oo7
"Secret Invasion" - 2oo8

Most of these stories were either written or orchestrated by the quite brilliant Mr. Bendis.

To counter this DC produced more regularly as well, eventually creating a 'Summer blockbuster'-type competition between the two companies:

"Identity Crisis" - 2oo4
"Infinite Crisis" - 2oo5
"52" - 2oo6
"Countdown" - 2oo7
"Final Crisis" - 2oo8
and currently
"Blackest Night" - 2oo9

Marvel's stories invariably end up named "______ War" and DC's stories are always "______ Crisis". Other than the names the stories can vary widely as they more or less are always written by different people, drawn by different people, and produced under different corporate administrations. Generally, in the past six years Marvel has been working on making their events more interconnected and character-driven, while DC has been making strides in adapting the format of the event itself.

See: "52".

"52" was a weekly comic-book published, #1 to #52 from May 2oo6 to May 2oo7, but it encompassed so much of the DC Universe that it worked on the scope of an 'event' and was indeed a limited series. Limited to 52 issues, but still limited. It was immediately followed by "Countdown" another year-long weekly series this time published starting from #52 down to #1. All major threads of the DC Universe were involved. It was definitely a crossover event.

How this new wrinkle of mini-family-events will affect the crossover event format in the future is difficult to see. I'm guessing this new format will be more profitable for Marvel as they will have by the end of the year put even more comics featuring multiple characters on the racks without alienating as many readers who feel 'forced' to buy the 'event' books to continue following their favorite character. However, if readers still buy all the series anyway (which they might, comic-book readers do tend to be strange. duh.) then they may complain even more of suffering from quote-unquote 'event burnout'. At any rate, Marvel's gunna make more money this way for sure. If successful, why wouldn't they do it this way for a few years?

I think this will end up feeling a bit more organic from a storytelling point of view. And that is only good. My only question is: Where's the Spider-Man event!?

Meanwhile, at the Pull List of Clare!- 11/04/09

Hey all. So I'll actually be getting my books this weekend so expect a review from me in the next week! Maybe it'll be Batman, maybe it won't be. Maybe it'll be Superman! (It'll probably be Superman Origins #2).

This week's damage isn't that bad. An even split between the two big companies- three each, totaling six comics.

From Marvel this week we've got The Amazing Spider-Man #610. I've been enjoying the Ben Reilly story-arch so I'm expecting to like this one. Then we have Deadpool Team-Up #899. I really loved all the various Deadpool Team-ups in the last few issues of Cable/Deadpool, and this is written by Van Lente so I'm expecting a good time. Finally, wrapping up Marvel is Captain America: Reborn #4. Hopefully the art will be better this issue but I'm not holding my breath. Still, I love Brubaker so I've got to stick with it.

All the three DC books I'm getting this week I'm really looking forward to. First is Batman: Widening Gyre #3. I have been LOVING this mini-series. It's been fun and it's really great to see a Bruce Wayne Batman story. So, I'm excited to read this! Next is Superman: World of New Krypton #9. I've liked the New Krypton idea from the beginning and this has been my favorite book out of all the Supes books. Finally there is Doom Patrol #4. Now normally I'm not a Doom Patrol monthly girl. I've been thinking of picking up the series in trade. However, this is a Blackest Night tie-in which I'm looking forward to. Plus, this issue comes with a Sinestro Corps ring! Exciting!

Till next time, my darlings!

Meanwhile, at the Pull List of Clare!- 10/28/09

Why? Why the week when I have money saved up? Why why why? Oh well, at least I'll be working a few shifts next month which means more money to feed my addiction. Oh the shame! THE SHAME! I still stand by my theory that weeks like this are plots designed specifically to separate me from my money.

On the Gotham Front, I'll be picking up Batman #692, Gotham City Sirens #5, and Detective Comics #858. I'm not terribly thrilled about Tony Daniel being back on Batman. DC-- I love you guys, really I do, but Battle for the Cowl blew. I was happy with the Winick/Bagley team. However, I am a sucker and I can't pass up most Batman comics. I'm really looking forward to reading Sirens as it is a continuation of a Joker/Harley Quinn story, and Paul Dini is the master of those stories. He invented them after all. Batwoman: Detective Comics has actually really grown on me. At first the story was only so-so but it's a lot more interesting now. Plus the art and panel layout is not just eye candy, it's a rich, decadent eye desert.

There are also three Blackest Night books coming out that I'm really looking forward to! First is Blackest Night: Titans #3. This hasn't been the best out of the Blackest Night mini-series but it holds a special place in my heart because it's the Titans. Also, it is good! Next is Green Lantern #47. After some awesome Sinestro stuff (a.k.a kicking Mongul's sorry ass!) we're moving back to the war between the Blue Lanterns and Agent Orange. This means more Saint Walker, and he's my favorite. And finally, the best-- Blackest Night #4. Still loving this, and if the book is half as good as that cover it will be money well spent.

Other DC books that will be making their way into my shortbox are Teen Titans #76. Even with McKeever gone, this book isn't picking it up. In all honesty, I should give this up but I can't give up hope that one day it will be good. And then there will be some Supes in my life in the forms of Superman Secret Origin #2 and Superman #693. Robinson's run on Supes has been great from the beginning and I love the Mon-El/Guardian stuff. However, what I'm really looking forward to is Superman Secret Origin. Johns and Frank (with Sibal's inks of course) team up to do a beautiful retelling. Look for a review of this within the coming weeks!

On the Marvel side there are only a few books. I'm making it a point to read all of "The List" so I'll be grabbing Dark Reign: The List- Punisher and Dark Reign: The List- Wolverine. I'm really interested in seeing how the all fit together when it's all done. It's a series of one-shots that ultimately are a mini-series. Plus, it's a nice way to see what's going on in parts of the Marvel Universe that I don't follow. I'm also getting Dark Reign: Young Avengers #5 and New Avengers #58.

Stuff that I can't afford this week (or for awhile) but would really like to own-- The Sandman Dream Hunters HC and the Old Man Logan HC. Sigh. So many nice hardcovers coming out lately. I still really want that new 1602 HC as well. A girl can dream, right?

Gorga's Looking Forward... (9/16/2oo9)

Hey a little celebration for me because I opened the boxes from Diamond at the store today and didn't fuck anything major up for the first time. YAY for me!

Among the many things I opened and laid out in a complicated process required for my job were the things I plan on buying:

The requisite Spider-Man:
"the Amazing Spider-Man" #605
Well... I am so damn behind on this title I don't know what to say anymore. I've got reading to do children...

"Ex Machina" #45
Issue #44 was so damn cool that I can't wait to read this!


Now I'm very curious about:

Amazing Spider-Man Presents: "Anti-Venom: New Ways To Live" #1
We'll see if Spidey makes an appearance or if it's any good.

"Blackest Night" #3
I'm still interested. I enjoyed both issues out so far of "Blackest Night: Batman".

"Captain America: Reborn" #3
Will Spider-Man pop up? Will this series finally get a reason for existing?

"M.O.D.O.K.: Reign Delay"
M.O.D.O.K. in another comedy. If you read my comments on "Strange Tales" #1, you know what I thought about M.O.D.O.K. in a comedy. Gotta check this out.

How Black is the Night?

Answer: Black. So very, very black. 

I was particularly thrilled this week because there were not one, not two, but three Blackest Night titles: Blackest Night #2, Blackest Night: Batman #1, and Green Lantern Corps #39. So, after leaving work last night I eagerly sat down on the train with Blackest Night #2. 

Oh. Man. 

This book picks up right where #1 left off, in St. Roch with Hawkman and Hawkgirl freshly dead-- murdered by Black Lantern Sue and Ralph Dibny. Ray Palmer, the Atom,  (who's been a friend to Hawkman since the two were teamed up in a book back in the Silver Age) calls to talk about ex-wife Jean Loring, and how he can't get her out of his head despite the fact that she is the convicted murderer of Sue Dibny. Close up on Hawkman's salivating jaw, already decayed and gray from his new Black Lantern ring. It's a smile, a malicious smile. "Come on over, Ray... Let's talk."  

Now cut to Gotham City and watch Hal Jordan fall on, and shatter, the bat signal. 

That energy, imagery, and fantastic mix of horror and wonder is what makes Blackest Night so damn good. Geoff Johns just delivers one "oh shit, oh my god!" moment right after the other. There were moments in this book that literally made my mouth hang open- like Black Lantern Aquaman. Yeah, were you one of those people who said that Aquaman was pathetic and not at all a bad-ass? Well, Black Lantern Arthur Curry is coming for you, and he's coming with an army of sharks, squids, and other sea creatures that will RIP YOU APART INTO A BLOODY MESS. But the Aquaman scenes are not just awesome because of the crazy fight scenes, but also because the dialogue really brings it to a whole new level. This is something that's true for the entire book.

Johns really plays with the idea that all of these revived people have had their grudges, unfinished business, and emotions blown way out of control, and that is their motivation to destroy everything. They exploit emotions in order to snuff them out. If there's no emotion then they can have "peace," eternal nothingness. So, ultimately it's the way that the Black Lanterns speak that is really unnerving and make them a formidable threat (ya' know, that and they can't die). These are powerful superheroes that the Black Lanterns are going up against and, while a corpse is pretty disconcerting, the DCU has dealt with enough that it wouldn't be enough to throw the characters off their game. So, you can't just rely on epic fight scenes to make this a powerful story. There needs to be emotional conflict and it's just so strong in this book. You can feel the words of the Black Lanterns biting into the living heroes. Aquaman taunting his ex-wife Mera- "Do you still miss him? Do you miss our son?" That was a moment when I just had to flinch. Honestly, if the art was terrible I think the writing in this book would still make it amazing. But, oh wait! The art is amazing too! 

You thought you saw awesome Ivan Reis art in the regular Green Lantern title? Oh baby, you ain't seen nothing yet if you haven't seen Blackest Night. The pencils are tight, detailed, and totally gorgeous. Everything is so dynamic and so terrifying. The Black Lanterns themselves look like they will give you nightmares. They are just so damn detailed and scary! For Reis, it's all about texture and the little details that really bring the book to life and then balancing them with the big dynamic moments. For example, when Hal Jordan is slammed into the bat signal you really feel him falling and slamming into the light. The shattered glass is so realistic and the speed lines really help with the feeling of a harsh impact, not to mention the look on Hal's face. However, Reis doesn't focus on the detail to the point where the motion is lost, which is a pretty easy trap to find yourself in when you're detail oriented. It's a perfect balance. Also, kudos to Oclair Albert and Julio Ferreira (the inkers) as well as Alex Sinclair (the colorist): both the inks and the colors add a serious "oomph!" to the art. 

The other cool thing is that the books fit together perfectly, and that the order of when the books were released create the continuity timeline of the event. For example, Blackest Night #1 leads straight into Green Lantern #44 and Green Lantern #44 leads right into Blackest Night #2. Not to mention Blackest Night: Batman #1 and Green Lantern Corps #39 fit in as well. There is a slight problem with this, which is that if you're only getting the Blackest Night title you may feel like you're missing parts of the story. This is the curse of event books: the tie-ins always matter but you don't always want to sink the money on them. For the most part, Blackest Night can be read on it's own but you're really missing a whole other chunk of the awesomeness. My advice? Put your money on the counter, it's worth it. 

This event is shaping up to be epic, organized, and a real thrill ride. Even if you're not really a DC fan you should pick it up. Johns tries to keep the characters accessible to people who may not know them as well as others and if there's anything you really don't get, then you always have Wikipedia. 

So why are you still sitting here reading this? You should be running to read Blackest Night! 

That's all from me, True Believers. See you tomorrow with a review of a non-major DC title.

Comics Love Clare, but Her Wallet Doesn't.

I'm pretty convinced that somewhere it the offices of Marvel and DC there is a group of men who sit around a round table, smoking cigars, in a dark shady room. In this room they deviously plot just what week of the month will be the one to empty out my wallet. Oh and you can be damn well sure that they're wearing black suits and sun glasses despite the lack of light. At least my one consolation is that while they're plotting my monetary downfall that they're all ruining their eyesight. HA! Take that group of evil men! How will you be able to make me poor when you can't read?

Damn, I just realized that they probably have lackies that will read things to them. Oh well, I'll get them someday.

But really, am I the only one who has this problem? Many of the books I'm getting are books that everyone and their mother will be getting (Blackest Night, Marvels Project, Adventure Comics) but also books like Booster Gold and Green Arrow/Black Canary are coming out, books that should have a much stronger following then they already do. Sheesh! It's like the week was custom made for me. Screw money, I wants me some:

Action Comics #880:

Both Rucka and Robinson really know how to write a Superman story even without Superman! Nightwing and Flamebird have been fascinating characters. It's also really refreshing to see that the introduction of Chris into the DC Universe has made a lasting impact.

Adventure Comics #1:

Geoff Johns writes Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes, both things he is a master of. I was so glad that Superbody came back and now he gets his own book? Yeah! He's been sorely missed in the DCU.

Amazing Spider-Man #602:

I'm thrilled to see MJ back in the Spidey books as she was always my favorite Spider-Man character. Also, Van Lente is great.

Batman #689:

I've been shocked by how good Winick's Batman has been. He's really handled Dick and Alfred's grief fantastically, which is something Morrison has honestly skipped over. Plus, Bagley pencils? Uh. Yes please.

Blackest Night #2:

Blackest Night #1 was the best book of the summer. I've got high, high expectations for this one. Johns is the king of the DCU. I'm really expecting this book to wow me. Look for a review of this.

Blackest Night: Batman #1:

Peter J. Tomasi does not nearly enough credit for how good he is. His Nightwing run was fantastic, his Green Lantern Corps run has been astounding, and now he's dealing with the Black Lantern Flying Graysons. I am really excited for this book.

Booster Gold #23:

Another under-appreciated book. Jurgens has picked up well from where Johns left off and I think this title will be more important than everyone thinks. I'm still expecting Booster to go back in time and save Bats.

Deadpool #13:

I love Deadpool. 'Nuff said.

Green Arrow/Black Canary #23:

Black Canary is my favorite character and at first I thought Kreisberg was handling the character terribly. Also, I was frustrated when this book was announced as a "Second Feature" title because I thought Canary was just going to be second string. However, the first "SF" book had Canary as the major story and was good, so it looks like this book is going to switch between focusing on Green Arrow and Black Canary. So, this is a GA book which is cool. Also? Bill Sienkiewicz art!

Green Lantern Corps #39:

Love, love love this book. Love, love, love Blackest Night.

The Marvels Project #1:

They had me at Brubaker/Epting. Also, I've already flipped through this book... Marvel shipped it last week even though we can't sell it till Tuesday. It looks great!

Red Robin #3:

I'm still not sure how I feel about this book yet. It seems good so far so I'll stick with it for at least another issue.

Titans #16:

New author and a focus on Starfire, who has always been one of my favorite Titans! Aw yeah Titans! (oh wait, wrong book.)

Uncanny X-Men #514:

I've been loving Fraction's Utopia storyline. Plus, what a dream team! Fraction and The Dodsons!

and to wrap it all up?

Wednesday Comics #6.

Ahhh, it's going to be a good, good week. See you on Wednesday, guys! I'll be talking about Blackest Night and Adventure Comics for sure as well as a book not all of you may be reading.

Now, transport me off this rock.

This Tuesday's Lookin' Forward!

For Wednesday, Jon's a-lookin' forward to

(From my regular pull-list...)

"the Amazing Spider-Man" #602
The second part of the return of Mary Jane to the world of Spider-Man! I'm two (soon to be three) issues behind on this title because #600 is 104-freakin' pages long!

(...and the take-a-peek selection.)

"Atomika" #10
This series is still coming out!? Sweet. Gods of Russian mythology clashing with a deified manifestation of the state during the Cold War. Sweet. A year in between issues? Not so sweet.

"Blackest Night" #2
I read Clare's copy of #1 and was very, very blown away until the last three pages or so. They left me with that particular sour taste of "Huh? Where did the character work go?" We shall see if Geoff Johns can tempt me back to his cosmic-superhero-horror epic.

"Blackest Night: Batman" #1
Well... seeing the "Flying Graysons" back from the dead is NOT something I want to see, but Tomasi is a pretty fantastic writer. Another maybe.

"Captain America: Theater of War: To Soldier On"
The first one of this series looked very cool and Paul Jenkins is an excellent writer. And Josh put it on his pull-list, so I'm curious.

"The Marvels Project" #1
I don't think I'll be able to stop myself from reading this one. Really. Can anybody?

"The Unwritten" #4
I have been trying to get a hold of #1, because this story sounds amazing! Will I break and buy #4 without reading #1-3? You'll have to read in a few days to find out!

"Red Herring" #1 of 6
Intriguing, no?

That's a wrap! 'Til tomorrow that is!