PULL LIST 04-2008 Mighty Avengers #12 Doktor Sleepless #6 Amazing Spider-man #555-557 Checkmate #25 Young Liars #2 Young Avengers #4 Thor #8 Northlanders #5

Yes, I know it’s been a while since I posted some comics reviews, and for that I’m sorry. Lackluster weeks of comics and lackluster energy from me combined to make writing a bit harder than usual. But then we get a week like this one with a number of really great books, and it got me excited again. So we’ve got a bunch of books from the last three weeks, which if you haven’t read yet, should still be available. Next week looks to have some great books as well, and as we get into the summer there should be lots of books to look forward to. And if you have any suggestions, leave a comment, because lord knows I don’t have enough books to buy.

Mighty Avengers #12
This is kind of an odd issue for the series, as it’s really different in tone, style, subject, and character from the previous issues. This issue shows what everyone’s favorite super-spy Nick Fury has been up to since the end of Brian Bendis mini “Secret War.” It shows how he learns pretty early of the coming Skrull invasion, and what he does about it, feeding information to his successor at S.H.E.I.L.D., recruiting Spider-woman to be his agent again, and pulling a Rip Hunter with a big board of Marvel characters who may or may not be Skrulls. The story moves at a quick pace, and readers who have followed Bendis’ Marvel work for the last few years will find how the events in this issue fit behind the scenes of other issues. The story feels more like it should be an issue of New Avengers, with its darker tone and more realistic art from Alex Maleev. Still it’s a decent issue, and people following the big Secret Invasion storyline will want to check it out. —4 out of 5

Doktor Sleepless #6
I’m conflicted about this series as a whole. I don’t dislike it, it’s got a lot of fun quasi-futuristic ideas that writer Warren Ellis loves to play around with, and the art has been pretty decent. The problem is that while plenty of stuff has happened in the first six issues, it doesn’t feel like much has happened. I don’t know if this book is just a victim of me reading too much and not being able to keep stuff straight, or if it’s just that Ellis has gone to his quasi-futuristic well too many times, and this comes off as just more of the same. It should be exciting and interesting and thought provoking, but it just comes off as boring. Fans of Ellis’ work may be eating this up, but more casual readers like myself may not be as excited by it. That said, I’m going to read the next two issues (since Ellis says issue 8 wraps up the first arc) and then reevaluate whether the book is worth my time and money. Odds are it’s not going to make it. —3 out of 5

Amazing Spider-Man #555-557
Following up my experiment of giving the whole Brand New Day story a shot, we get three issues written by Zeb Wells, with art by Chris Bachalo. It’s kind of a weird arc as it starts with a promised Wolverine team-up, that doesn’t go much past the first issue, then goes into some weird story of an Incan God trying to become manifest, and Spidey fighting in a snowstorm. It’s still a pretty fun story, and Wells has a handle on the snappy banter. Bachalo’s art is what it is, so everyone will have their own opinion. I pretty much enjoyed. I was blown away by a two-page stretch in issue 557, as Spidey is fighting the God, who can control time and space, and Bachalo uses the comic page to great effect, having the God’s actions in a latter panel affecting Spider-Man in an earlier panel. It took me a second read to really appreciate it, but I thought it was really cool. Overall, I enjoyed it, and I think I’m going to keep picking up the series, at least for a while. It is good, fun comics, which I’ll always support. —3 out of 5

Checkmate #25
And so we come to the end of Greg Rucka‘s run on one of the last DC series that I was still buying. And he leaves with a bang, revealing the four Rooks of Checkmate as they’re forced to take out the forces of Kobra, and their evil lizard babies. A) This comic is worth buying if only for the evil lizard babies, who look like they just stepped out of V, B) it’s also worth buying for Rucka’s use of DC continuity but in such a way that it’s fun but not impenetrable. The Rooks need to be able to communicate with each other telepathically, so they juice up they’re bodies with a little DNA from Starro the Conqueror. It’s just a cool little detail that he’s able to do given the universe his story resides in. I can only hope that incoming writer Bruce Jones is able to keep the balance of super-hero fun and high octane spy intrigue. Rucka’s run on this book should go down as a very solid story, with a few exceptions (I’m looking at you, “Check/Out” crossover). I think the book could have found more of an audience if it had a more consistent art team. As it stands, the book is probably on life support, and I expect to see a “Final Issue” solicitation in previews before too long. Congrats to Rucka on his run though, as for this issue, he gets —5 out of 5.

Young Liars #2
I gave the first issue a shot on a lark and found it pleasant enough to check out the second. Talk about your shift in tones. While the first issue was fun and had a very punk energy to it, this issue is all about the emo, as we see how main character Danny first meets the love of his life Sadie, and the whole situation that led him to NYC. The story is pretty dark, and sets up some more mysteries for the story, but we’re in largely set up mode for the series. Still, it’s a fun set up, and I love comics that use music both as part of the plot and as part of the structure of the story in interesting ways, and this issue does it. All the captions in the books are lyrics from a song that is important to the plot, and series creator David Lapham uses the lyrics to get to the emotions of the characters. It’s kept me intrigued enough to check out the next issue, so I guess it’s doing its job. Plus, it looks very good, so check it out if you’re interested. —3 out of 5

Young Avengers #4
This issue makes a serious effort to redeem the mini-series as a whole, focusing on the new Vision and a surprising revelation on his part. It’s the only issue of the series so far that has really moved any plot points forward, and still only in the slightest way possible. The Vision travels to Fort Hammond to see his fellow teammate Stature, who I had forgotten was involved with Iron Lad from the original series, whose memories and appearance were used to create the new Vision (got all that?) Writer Paul Cornell makes good use of the former Visions past, while establishing that the new Vision is a different character. There is a lot of dialogue in the issue, but it’s broken up by an appearance by A.I.M. in their always fun bee-suits. Mark Brooks does a great job with the art on the issue, as he does a lot of the things that make Mark Bagley such a great artist, their styles share a lot in common. He’s so good here; I’d almost say he should be doing the art for Mighty Avengers, as I think it would be a great fit. So, if you’re looking for a Young Avengers fix, this is the issue of the “Presents” mini to pick up. Hopefully the next issue will follow in this ones footsteps. —3 out of 5

Thor #8
The last two issues have been a good exposure for me to the world of Thor, although I can’t say it’s made enough of an impression to get me to keep picking up the series. Same as issue 7, the highlight here is the art by Marko Djurdjevic, who draws great sword and sorcery stuff, and is also given some great drama to draw. If he was drawing the series full time, I’d probably stick around, not that regular artist Oliver Coipel is a bad artist. Thor continues his heart to heart with dear old dad Odin, and the two end up taking on Surter together, as part of a never-ending battle that is Odin’s mission in the afterlife. Meanwhile, in the real world Don Blake (Thor’s human host) makes a trip to an old girlfriend in order to bring Sif back to Asgard. The battle scenes were fine, but the Blake stuff was lost on me, since I’ve never read Thor on a regular basis. Still, the issue looks mighty pretty and is written well enough to recommended curious readers to check this issue and the last out. —3 out of 5

Northlanders #5
Continuing with the Viking theme, we get the next issue from Brian Wood‘s epic. This issue turns back the clock and shows how the main character, Sven, got to the position he’s in. We see how Sven’s childhood was shaped and what led him to Constantinople where we met him at the start of the series, and what leads him to go back to his village. The issue really helps to bring the previous issues into more focus and gives us a good look at Sven’s motivations. He’s still a heartless jerk, but we can see why he’s a heartless jerk. As with the previous issues, it looks great, and Wood has done his homework to make the setting as realistic as possible, while still taking a few licenses with the dialog, but it still works for me, and I’m really enjoying this series so far. It sounds like I should have waited for the trade (8 issues for 10 bucks?), but the singles are worth picking up as well. —4 out of 5