Yes I’ve been away for a while, so it’s time to catch up on some fairly big weeks with a lot of great books. Won’t you join us?

Mighty Avengers #10
I don’t know if other people are enjoying this arc or not, but all I know is I’m enjoying it. Brian Bendis seems to have found his footing with the plotting of the series and I can now get in on the fun action spirit he’s going for. It doesn’t hurt that Mark Bagley is doing some great work with the pencils. I really enjoyed the production on this issue though, which you don’t get to say to often. In this issue, we see Tony Stark, Dr. Doom, and The Sentry as they spend some time back in time. The coloring makes the issue look like any standard issue from the 70’s and 80’s, complete with ads along the bottom of the page for other Marvel books. Bendis makes good use of The Sentry, who goes a bit crazy in his first bit of time travel. The back and forth between Dr. Doom and Iron Man is enjoyable, although Doom doesn’t quite sound like himself (perhaps, he’s a skrull?) I’m enjoying this series now, so hopefully Bendis can keep up the momentum. Plus, they changed the coloring on the Iron Man captions, so I can read them now without getting a headache, so thumbs up! —4 out of 5

PULL LIST 03-05 & 3-12-08 Mighty Avengers #10 Marvel Comics Presents #7 DMZ #29 Green Lantern #28 Green Lantern Corps #22 Powers #28 Buffy the Vampire Slayer #12 Young Liars #1 Justice League: The New Frontier Special

Marvel Comics Presents #7
I get the impression that not many people are reading this book anymore, which is kind of a shame, but I can see why. To be honest, I don’t know if I really enjoy it, or if I just want to see it succeed. I think it would definitely be better if Marvel put some higher profile creators on it, at least one high profile creator to balance the three lesser known sets of creators. That’s just a nit pick. I am enjoying some of the stories. Vanguard is still interesting, but its story may be hampered by its short length. The story needs at least twice its length in pages each month to get any momentum. The end of the three part Savage Land story was pretty fun, The Alpha Flight story took an interesting turn this issue, but I won’t miss it once it’s done, and there was a decent, if unimportant, Namor story with some nice art. Really, Marvel just needs to put a bigger push behind the series and get its Bendis’, Millar’s, Romita’s and McNiven’s working on stories if they want it to last. —2 out of 5

DMZ #29
I’m kind of glad that this series has started a new story arc, as the series of one shot stories were hit or miss with me. This one gets off to a good start, as the various sides in the war come together to create a new government for New York City, until a populist dark horse comes riding up. As with the rest of the series, this story looks to be very timely and topical, what with the United States being in the heart of election season. I’m glad to see the series get back to the main story and to see regular artist Riccardo Burchielli on art duties full time. I’ve always said this is one of the best series on the markets, and that opinion continues here. —5 out of 5

Green Lantern #28
And now we come to the Green Lantern corner, first talking about the main series. In this issue we see the first of the Red Lanterns, fueled by rage. You can see who it’s going to be from the last few issues, but the way Geoff Johns comes to this plot is still well done. Johns has really made the series about the entire Green Lantern Corps, not just Hal Jordan. Of course, he’s also built up the coolest villain in the DCU in Sinestro, who gets another good scene this issue. Of course, the book looks great with Mike McKone‘s art, and he should just be named the regular artist of the series. His work is great here and hopefully DC can find a way to just have him and Ivan Reis hand off art duties for each story. I’m not a long time GL fan, but the series has made me a believer. —4 out of 5

Green Lantern Corps #22
Then there’s Green Lantern Corps which I still kind of enjoy, but I’m glad the Alpha Lantern story arc has come to a close. The Alpha Lanterns are an interesting concept but I think they’ll work better in the long term as side characters. I know they’re important to the larger GL story, but I just want to see them used a bit more sparingly. My opinion of the issue isn’t helped by the fact that I wasn’t thrilled with the art of Nelson (I’m going to resist the urge to sing “After the Rain”). It’s just kind of ordinary, and he doesn’t bring much spark to the characters in the issue. Hopefully the next arc will bring a bit more excitement to the series. —2 out of 5

Powers #28
Wow, just another great issue, with a very powerful ending. Bendis and [Michael Avon] Oeming continue to bring their A game to this series. Detective Walker gets some unexpected help on his hunt for the power virus killer, and then has a run in with Deena that leaves a big impression. I have now idea where the story is going next, but I can’t wait to see. The extra pages give the story a bit more room to breathe and are totally worth the extra price. Plus, they’re basically back to a regular schedule, which also makes me happy. If you’ve given up on the series, now is a great time to come back. —4 out of 5

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #12
Okay, I’m a longtime Buffy fan, and I have to say that I wasn’t too thrilled with the events of this issue. And it isn’t that I have a problem with the story, it’s just that as a fan, I’ve seen this before and I don’t see where they’ll take it as a story. It’s been a while since it came out so I’ll just say what happened; Buffy has the old booty call with another slayer. The action was pretty good, and the last page reveal was kind of interesting, but the whole issue was dominated by the big event, which I feel was just a crazy stunt. I’ll see where the story goes, but I’m really not loving this series as much as I would want to. Hopefully it goes past my expectations and finds a way to make the story interesting. —1 out of 5

Young Liars #1
This is a new series from Vertigo, written and drawn by David Lapham. I’ve never really read any of his work before, but this was fairly interesting. It follows the lives of a bunch of hip New York kids, including one that has a bullet in her head that makes her act very impulsively. I can see a lot of people getting turned off by the subject, and I have to say that it’s going to take a few issues for me to decide if it’s any good, but Lapham’s art style appealed to me, and the set up didn’t make me run for the hills. This one may get a trade recommendation in a few months, but for now I have to say that if you’re a fan of indie books, or Lapham’s art you’ll want to check it out, but other wise you might want to wait and see. —3 out of 5

Justice League: The New Frontier Special
I may be a bit late to the game with the Darwyn Cooke love, but geez is that guy good. Here’s another showcase for the book that really made him a huge name. We’ve got three stories here, all written by Cooke, one with art by him, one with art by David Bullock, and the last with art by J. Bone. The Cooke story is the best of the bunch, showing a deleted scene as it were from the New Frontier series, as Superman and Batman have their first fight. The art is Cooke perfection, and the story really packs a punch. The other two are still decent; the middle story has a meeting between Robin and Kid Flash with some nice art from Bullock, who does a nice version of Cooke’s style in a fun team up story. The final story left me a bit cold, as it was supposed to be more of a humor story, but I didn’t find it very humorous. Still, it’s a great book and any fan of the New Frontier has already picked this up. —5 out of 5