Criminal #10
If you’re looking for a book to get your non-comic reading friends interested in comics, give them this book. Smart, gritty, exciting, dark, suspenseful. It’s any interesting crime movie you’ve ever seen done in comic form. Brubaker is doing things in this book that you’ve seen a million times before, but he does it with such skill you never even notice. You know exactly what is going to happen, but it’s fun to watch the pieces fall into place. It’s also good because it feels like a full meal of a book, and I never feel like I was paying too much for too little of a book. Sean Phillip‘s art sets the perfect mood and he is a modern master at creating expressive characters. The back matter of the book has covered so many different topics and I’m never sure what to expect. This issue ends the “Lawless” arc in a bit of a surprising way, and I can’t wait to see the next few issues. February is too long to wait. —5 out of 5

PULL LIST 11-07-07 Criminal #10 New Avengers: Illuminati #5 Buffy the Vampire Slayer #8 Maintenance #6 Star Wars Legacy #17 Two Guns #3 The Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born HC

New Avengers: Illuminati #5
So, I guess I should care about this but part of me can’t put forth the effort to really give two shakes about the events of this book. If you didn’t know, this issue kind of officially kicks off next years Marvel Skrullocalypse, with the old green-skinned shape shifters showing off some new tricks and nearly taking out the five members of the Illuminati. Artwork is by Jim Cheung, and he turns in more stellar work, as he has for the whole mini-series. His Skrulls have kind of a new look to them, while staying close to the original model. The fight between the Illuminati and the Skrulls is action packed and also sheds some light on another event that finishes soon. I know Marvel wants me to believe these events are of Earth-shattering importance, but I can’t completely buy into it. Maybe my anticipation will increase once World War Hulk is over. —3 out of 5

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #8
I know that I would really be enjoying this series if it wasn’t for the art. Since issue 1 I have been critical of Georges Jeanty‘s art, mostly his inability to draw faces. That’s not going to stop here. I’m still not a fan, and probably never will be. The models for his faces change from panel to panel and it’s very distracting. It’s not even the original actors that he only has problem with, he can’t handle the new characters any better. The work is just bad, and it takes away from what has been a good story with some nice character work, and is a great treat for fans of the show. We get a fight between Faith and Buffy in this issue, and it goes the way we would expect it to, which means not well at all. I really wish they would find someone else to draw this though. —2 out of 5

Maintenance #6
If you’re looking for a good comedy book that actually delivers the laughs, look no further than Maintenance. This book has provided me with a lot of enjoyment over the last few months and this issue continues the streak. The book follows the adventures of two janitors who work for a company that’s in the super-science racket. In this issue, main characters Doug and Manny chase the coffee stain from hell as it runs amok in the office. Meanwhile, we get a look at the crazy scientists who work in the building as they have an office get together. Both scenes are fun in a different way, but series writer Jim Massey shows that he has a gift for writing hilarious dialog. Robbi Rodriguez‘s art compliments the story well, as his characters are expressive and the action is easy to follow. Definitely a book to read if you’re looking for something with some humor. —4 out of 5

Star Wars Legacy #17
I was really enjoying this book after the first trade came out and I caught up with the regular series, but this last arc has kind of dragged. We’ve had a lot of explanation over the last couple of issues but not much action has occurred. The series still looks pretty good, under the pencils of Jan Duursema. There’s not much to say about what happened in this issue other than Cade Skywalker getting some evil action. Otherwise, it is just more build up for the next few issues as the current arc comes to a close. Hopefully this arc will end well and I’ll be more whole-hearted with my endorsement. —3 out of 5

Two Guns #3
Caught up with this series last night and found it to be a great read. It’s a very interesting take on the old undercover cop story with a surprising twist. The mystery starts to come together in this issue as the main characters reunite after their last run in. The script is a bit wordy for my taste, as there are some pages that writer Steven Grant fills with more dialog than art. The plot is fun and exciting though, and I’m interested to see how this ends. I really enjoyed the art on this though. Mat Santolouco has a great style that fits well with the book. The wide cast of characters are unique and easy to distinguish and the action is easy to follow. This is a great crime story that is worth checking out. —4 out of 5

The Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born HC
I’m sure fans of the Dark Tower series of novels have been looking forward to this for a long time. You can tell that this is a popular franchise, due to the number of copies I saw at my local book store the other day. The store had given it a nice placement at the front of the store and had numerous copies. I’ve never read the books before, and to be honest this left me a little cold. It’s not that anything about it was bad. It had an exciting story set in a well realized world, and was well paced. The art is great, some of Jae Lee‘s best work and he’s done a lot of great work in the past. The colors by Richard Isanove bring a unique texture to the line art. I guess it’s just the characters that bugged me. The book is written in a way that you only really care about the characters if you have followed their adventures before, which is fine for fans of the series, but left me a bit uninterested. Still, it’s worth checking out, if for the art alone. —4 out of 5