It was cloudy and calm early Sunday morning and I should have been out on the lake hauling in fish but my fishing buddy cancelled at the last minute so I didn’t go. I had only gotten 3 hours of sleep when I got the cancellation call and did not want to drive with the possibility of my dozing off at the wheel. That freed up time Sunday afternoon to visit a sick friend and drive over to Quebec to buy a Quebec fishing license at the Canuck Tire near the Lac Leamy Casino. Now I can legally fish on both sides of the Ottawa River or at friends’ cottages in La Belle Province.
I must apologise to Simones Bianchi and Peruzzi for calling them the Simone Sisters last week when they are in fact both males. Thanks to Rusty and Heather for straightening me out. I’ve heard of a boy named Sue but I have never heard of men named Simone. Sorry about that guys. I should not have made the gender assumption based on my limited knowledge of other cultures. I haven’t felt this embarrassed since I thought Terry “Strangers in Paradise” Moore was a woman.
Space Punisher #1 – W-Frank Tieri and A-Mark Texeira present Sci-Fi Frank cleaning up intergalactic space of organised crime. There are Sci-Fi versions of Deadpool and Sabretooth for Frank to kill too. I’m sure the rest of this 4-issue mini will have other popular Marvel characters to exploit for those Punisher fans that collect all things Punisher but I’m not one of them. I regret reading this.
American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares #2 – Thank Thor for really good comic books to help clean the palette of my mind after reading a not so good comic book. This here is a rip roaring story about the evil that is Dracula. The vampire’s power is growing as does the threat to the human race. W-Scott Snyder and A-Dustin Nguyen will creep you out.
Bloodshot #1 – I don’t remember the last iteration of this character being that good but W-Duane Sweirczynski and As-Manuel Garcia, Arturo Lozzi and Stefano Gaudiano really impressed me with this new debut. Bloodshot is a soldier loaded with nanotechnology which basically makes him Deadpool without his tongue in cheek. I liked this enough to want to read the next issue.
Punk Rock Jesus #1 – Wow, I’ve gone from schlocky Sci-Fi to nanites to cloning Jesus Christ in one sitting and this book rocked. W&A-Sean Murphy starts this issue off with a bang and ends it with a truly despicable shocker. I can’t wait to see where this 6-issue mini goes.
Ultimate Spider-Man #12 – Y’know, if it wasn’t for making myself read the new number ones every week for review (and it’s stunning to me that there are always new number ones every single week) this would be the first comic book that I read the week that it comes out. I somehow lost this issue in my stack and forgot to read this last week and want to thank Rusty for reminding me that it came out when I read his review column. W-Brian Bendis gives us a hint to a possible romantic interest for Miles before the blow out fight between Miles and his uncle. A-David Marquez is a terrific fill in for A-Sara Pichelli.
Revival #1 – As much as I enjoyed W-Tim Seeley’s “Hack Slash” I had to stop reading it because it just wasn’t wowing me anymore. Well he wowed me with this one. Here we have a small Wisconsin farming town whose citizens can’t die. There are religious fanatics believing that this is a sign of the second coming and scientists trying to figure out what’s going on with these revivalists. The story focuses on Officer Dana Cypress and what happened at the end made me go wow. A-Mike Norton does an excellent job depicting this rural setting and its inhabitants.
Sunset – I don’t know how much the graphic novel is going to cost when it hits the racks ($19.99 US) but if the rest of the story is as good as this $1.00 “first look” it will be money well spent. W-Christos Gage and A-Jorge Lucas introduce retired marine Nick Bellamy who has been running from the mob. The bad guys finally catch up to him but they should have left well enough alone. Now Nick’s pissed. Think Garth Ennis Punisher with gritty black and white art and you’ll get why the graphic novel should be good.
Spider-Men #3 – W-Brian Bendis and A-Sara Pichelli made me cry (again) with the last panel. I thought the funeral of the UU Peter Parker was bad, but seeing the Marvel U Peter Parker meeting the UU Aunt May was like a kick to the heart.
Takio #2 – Where there’s super heroes there are going to be super villains. The bad guys start popping up like zits in this issue.
Jennifer Blood #14 – Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and boy, did Jen ever get scorned.
Conan #6 – W-Brian Wood and A-James Harren really capture the visceral passion that Conan feels for Belit in this issue. That famous berserker rage fairly leaps off the page in the battle scenes.
The Massive #2 – I hope there’s a point to the Honk Kong flashback. Meanwhile, the Kapital’s problems get worse and Mary is still missing at sea.
Lone Ranger: Snake of Iron #1 – The Ranger and Tonto are working on the railroad all the live long day, but it’s the bad guys that will be passing away. W-Chuck Dixon and A-Esteve Polls chronicle the conflict between the white man and the Native Americans. The prejudice is raw.
Before Watchmen: Minutemen #2 – This is a vast improvement over the first issue as the team coalesces and sordid secrets are revealed. W&A-Darwyn Cooke delivers on his potential to tell a great story.
Avenging Spider-Man #9 – If W-Kelly Sue DeConnick is on the new Captain Marvel comic book then it will be a fun read based on how much fun this issue was. Spidey and Carol fly to Boston and run into some major super hero misunderstandings. As-Terry and Rachel Dodson make Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel look sexy and powerful. I like the no mask look.
Batman #11 – It’s the epic finale of “The Court of Owls” story. W-Scott Snyder and A-Greg Capullo leave the truth about the identity of Thomas Wayne Jr. unrevealed and the fate of Lincoln March a mystery. I’m sure we’ll see that villain return when we least expect it.
The Strain #6 – I love how people in authority always screw things up. The good guys may be thwarted by morons in power.
AVX Versus #4 – The Daredevil vs. Psylocke bout had beautiful art by Brendon Peterson. W&A- Kaare Andrews puts the Mighty Thor in his place with an Emma Frost amped up on Phoenix Force. These one on one battles continue to surprise me.
New Avengers #28 – The X-Men use psychological warfare on Spider-Woman, Hawkeye and Luke Cage. It’s very demoralizing.
The Shade #10 – Boy, these bad guys are right twits to be conned by the Shade so easily. Even I saw what he was up to. I wonder how merciful the space gods will be.
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