Penny and I drove up Highway 7 to Perth on Sunday to look at some art in the garden at the Kiwi Nursery. We went to see my dad when we got back to Ottawa but he wasn’t home so we left his Father’s Day card in his room. The sunny hot day wasn’t conducive to making dinner at home so we went out to a take out joint called Hintonburger on Wellington Street. It was our first time there and we thought they made excellent burgers. My burger was so big and juicy that I was glad I brought my own plate, knife and fork. I hate getting my fingers all greasy. I even managed to read a few comic books in the early evening. I got caught up with Ultimate X-Men and still liked how different it is compared to the Marvel U X-Men.
Spider-Men #1 – Welcome to Ultimate Marvel Team-Up. Amazing Spider-Man outsells Ultimate Spider-Man and IMHO it should be the other way around. W-Brian Bendis has been writing Ultimate Spider-Man since it started in 2000 and it has been my number one favourite comic book ever since. I read a lot of comic books so that’s saying something, especially if you take into account that I have been reading Amazing Spider-Man since the late sixties. This 5-issue mini with A-Sara Pichelli transports the Amazing Spider-Man/Peter Parker from the Marvel U to the Ultimate U where Miles Morales is Spider-Man and Peter Parker is dead. I got all tingly when they bump into each other in the last panel. I’m hoping Amazing Spider-Man fans pick this up and get hooked on Ultimate Spider-Man too.
Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre #1 – A-Amanda Conner made this a much more enjoyable reading experience for me than Minutemen. I will definitely finish out this 4-issue mini chronicling the origin of Silk Spectre. Now I have Lesley Gore singing “Sunshine Lollipops and Rainbows” in my head. Please make it stop.
The Massive #1 – It’s the name of a converted factory ship but this story takes place on its sister ship, the Kapital. Here we’ve got a group of environmentalists trying to survive in a post apocalyptic world while looking for the Massive, which was lost at sea. W-Brian Wood and A-Kristian Donaldson introduce the major characters and their situation really well. I watched a National Geographic special on the Kamchatka Peninsula a couple of days ago and this first issue happens to be set just off the Kamchatka coast. The ongoing threat of the pirates will get me to read the next issue.
Untold Tales of the Punisher Max #1 – W-Jason Starr and A-Roland Boschi present a sordid tale of crime and punishment guest starring my favourite vigilante. I say guest starring because most of this one shot focuses on the perp and his sorry state of affairs. Frank just shows up to clean up the mess in his inimitable way.
American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares #1 – This 5-issue mini by W-Scott Snyder and A-Dustin Nguyen takes place in London, England where the most feared vampire of them all has been loosed upon the city. It’s the nineteen fifties so greasers and soccer hooligans are the least of Agents Hobbes and Book’s worries.
Batman #10 – Ooo, a W-Scott Snyder double bill. Just because the sun has come up on “Night of the Owls” doesn’t mean that Batman has escaped the clutches of the Talons. The Dark Knight Detective has a eureka moment that sends him out to confront the ultimate Talon. There may be another death in the family.
KISS #1 – Fans of the rock band KISS should enjoy this. I am not a fan of the rock band KISS.
AVX Versus #3 – Peter Rasputin is the Juggernaut now? Almost makes me want to read the X-Men books to find out how that happened. Black Widow’s skin tight costume can barely hide her buxom, how the heck can she carry two honking huge hand guns in it? The Black Widow versus Magik fight was annoying for the Russian word balloons that weren't translated into English. You could get the translation if you download a digital copy. They should give us cavemen comic book readers a break.
Avengers #27 – Poor naive Noh-Varr, he is now a pariah to both his native planet and Earth. Find out what happened in this tense and sneaky issue.
Amazing Spider-Man #687 – It’s the end of the “Ends of the Earth”. This story was a tribute to that monumental W-Stan Lee and A-Steve Ditko story where Spidey was trapped under tons of wreckage while Doc Ock threatened Aunt May’s life. Here we’ve got Doc Ock wanting to kill over 6 billion people so the stakes are a little higher but it doesn’t make the triumph any greater. Maybe I’m just jaded. Go Spidey go.
Mind the Gap #2 – I love mysteries. One of my favourite books is “The Mystery of Grace” by Charles deLint. Elle’s situation in this comic book is a little like Grace’s. I’m too lazy to suss out the clues that W-Jim McCann and A-Rodin Esquejo put in here to help solve the mysteries so I’ll just keep reading and let them reveal the ahas as they tell their story.
Conan #4 – The second part of “The Argos Deception” has a classic David and Goliath battle. We also get a hint about what Belit is really up to in the city of Messantia. W-Brian Wood did Robert E. Howard proud this issue.
Buffy #10 – Buffy does the old body switcheroo and starts a new chapter in her life.
Scarlet Spider #4 to #6 – He’s supposed to have all of the power but none of the responsibility. Gee, I don’t know, it looks like W-Christ Yost is piling a lot of responsibility on Kaine.
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