Comics for 06/3/04: Reviews, Reactions and Random Thoughts

[Marc]

This is the place to talk about the books you purchased this week (June 3rd - June 8th). Feel free to talk about anything you got, whether it be a brand new title or old back-issues. It's all fair game. Want to share your thoughts on any current news that's happening in the industry? You can mention it here too. All we ask is that you please use spoiler brackets in the event that your comments get too detailed concerning a particular storyline. This way the book won't be ruined for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

For a list of the new stuff shipping this week, please consult Diamond Comic's Shipping List (http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/shipping_060304.txt).

To find a comic book store near you, check out the Comic Shop Locator Service (http://csls.diamondcomics.com/).

Comic store too far away from where you live? Want to support Toon Zone? We've teamed up with Things From Another World (http://www.tfaw.com) to provide an avenue for you to buy comics. Click here (http://www.qksrv.net/click-1001569-5533438?url=http://www3.tfaw.com/comics/newreleases.html?cart=3183189286606656?qt=cjtoonzone) to see a listing of this week's comics being offered by TFAW.


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Highlights of the Week!



http://comics.toonzone.net/solicitations/2004-06/batman-superman/t-superman-birthright11.jpg (http://comics.toonzone.net/solicitations/2004-06/batman-superman/superman-birthright11.jpg) http://comics.toonzone.net/solicitations/2004-06/dcuniverse/t-firestorm02.jpg (http://comics.toonzone.net/solicitations/2004-06/dcuniverse/firestorm02.jpg) http://comics.toonzone.net/solicitations/2004-06/marvel/t-uncannyxmen445.jpg (http://comics.toonzone.net/solicitations/2004-06/marvel/uncannyxmen445.jpg)




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[Thanos]

This week I picked up:

Detective Comics #795
Firestorm #2
Justice League Adventures #32
Thanos #11
Thor #80
Ultimate Fantastic Four #6

[Nick K.]

I picked up Ultimate Spider-Man #60, Ultimate Fantastic Four #6, Superman #205 & Superman: Birthright #11.

Comments as I read them.

Edit: I've read them..

USM #60 - Good issue. Good to see Connors again and wonder what will happen with Spidey's blood... A-

UFF #60 - Another Good issue and nice closing to the arc... Somehow the Ultimate Universe seems anticlimactic sometimes.. but it is an Origin story, so Doom is next and I can't wait... A-

Superman #205 - Short read and nothing special C

Birthright #11 - I don't know why Superman's Origin has turned into some fake battle against Kryptonians... But it still is good to see LEx and Superman and Lois have a somewhat good story going on together... And the next issue is last... So I don't know how good this recreation of Superman's origin is... Ehhh... I'll give it a B

[Condiment King]

Hmm. No Green Lantern 177 again this week. The two new comics I planned to get - Ultimate Fantastic Four 6 and Superman Birthright 11 were both already gone when I got there. So, I decided to spend my alloted money on TPBs this week.

Fantastic Four Vol. 1 - Imaginauts TPB (60-66)
- This trade looks awesome with the added bonus of FF 56 and the Mark Waid rundown of his plans for the series as the new writer and his thoughts on the series as a whole.

Daredevil Vol. 7 - Hardcore TPB (46-50)

Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 6 - Venom (33-39)
- This picks up right where I dropped the USM series so maybe I'll continue in TPB form.

[Mattashell]

Akira 1 (Manga/TPB): When teen gang members cross paths with a government conspiracy and underground militia, one of them begins developing intense mental powers. Alright. I've just started on this series, so its probably too soon to talk on this subject. I'll come back to it if I change my mind, but I've heard so much about how different the manga is from the movie. Personally, I faund it unusually faithful. There's certainly a lot more in the manga, but that's true of any book (comic or otherwise) adapted into a movie. I really like Otomo's crisp art. I've seen a lot of pretty sloppy manga art, so I'm pleased that the work here is worthy of the epic. It's a solid story easily worth my final score, but I have a major complaint. Akira 1 was such a breezy read, I was through the 360 page tome in under two hours. That's not my complaint, but the $25 dollar price tag is. Sorry, but for such a quick read, that's grossly overpriced. ****

Detective #795: Monsters of Rot Part Two: Knee Deep: Batman, with the help of rookies, Turantula and Orpheus, must stop a South American plague from spreading in Gotham. I don't much care for these (new???) supporting characters. However the noir-mystery writing and especially the dialogue more than make up for it. The colors are fantastic as well. **** The backup is Polished Stone Part One: Batman sends Green Arrow on a mission to a remote monestary. This backup jumps right from the end of the feature story, and presumably will be followed up in the upcoming backups. **** Overall****Pick of the week!

Exotics (GN): This is a collection of presumably early, short works by writer/artist, Moebius. The collection is pretty eclectic and uneven so I'll attempt to break it down by the stories contained in the anthology. Shore Leave on Pharagonesia (****1/2), Blackbeard and the Pirate Brain (***1/2), There is a Prince Charming on Phenixon (****) and The Artifact (***) make up the first section of the book. They're a very imaginative angle on the typical psi-fi formula of the time, with bizzarre, although sometimes predictable plot twists in the final panel. They are often goofy and sometimes corny, and the need to be "surreal" tends to feel forced, but overall, I found them engaging and funny. The second section of the book consists of Split, The Little Space Pioneer (*), You're the Object of This and That (*) and The Invaders (*). All of these were very short and unfulfilling. Each feels like a random few pages taken from a longer work, which I'm guessing is the intended effect. This is particularly apparent in You're the Object of This and That which claims to be the 17382nd episode out of 20,000. I didn't find this amuzing or cute, just anoying. The final and longest story in the book (**) was basically borderline pornography, and even when it wasn't, it was certainly running on a stock-porno plot, with two matriarchies fighting a war for the possession of a single man and his...uh..."talent". I really can't even put the title up here and stay within the Toon Zone "PG" bracket. The forward claims the story was published back in 1968, so I suppose it may have been original, risque and even controversial in its day, if people weren't doing comics like that yet in those days. I wasn't arround so I can't say. However, it feels pretty juvenile today. Overall average**1/2Mature Readers!

[Conekiller]

Ultimate Spiderman TPB 7-8: More nail biting adventures as Spidey deals with his school life, mutants, the X-men, the Kingpin, Jameson, Sexy cat burglars, and the dark side of the US legal system. Very exciting. I actuially felt BAD for Fisk at the end of the Black Cat arc.:eek: A-, A

Ultimate X-men TPB 7: Pretty decent story, liked the way they handled Spidey, and his relationship with Logan, but definitely need more X-men invovled. Ultimate Daredevil didn't seem too different fomr his in-continuity counterpart. B+

Sentinel #8-12: Nice story, but ended jsut as it got interesting. Was Juston's brother really a mutant? How ong will Juston be out looking for his mom, and will she want to return with him and his giant killing machine? so many questions......shame really. B

Thundercats: Enemy's pride #1 of 5: This caught me totally off guard this week, and I'm glad it did (it was the only "new" book for me this week:sad: ) It was very pleasurable to read and to captured the feel of the show perfectly. Snarf was annoyoning, but not stupid (like in the recent hammerhand arc) and the Thunderkittens were mischeivous and funny at the same time. There's enough evidence for the story to go in the direction of "Lion-O went nuts and is a maniac now" but there's also enough leeway to account for "it was just a huge misunderstanding." The art was great and my fave in the series so far (I prefer the edgier cartoony look as opposed to the more comic-y look Return and War-Dogs gave us). Including Bengali Lynxo and Pumyra automatically earned this title an A+ in my book!


wasn't the May Transformers Special supposed to be out by now?:sad:

[randomguy]

Akira 1 (Manga/TPB): When teen gang members cross paths with a government conspiracy and underground militia, one of them begins developing intense mental powers. Alright. I've just started on this series, so its probably too soon to talk on this subject. I'll come back to it if I change my mind, but I've heard so much about how different the manga is from the movie. Personally, I faund it unusually faithful. There's certainly a lot more in the manga, but that's true of any book (comic or otherwise) adapted into a movie. I really like Otomo's crisp art. I've seen a lot of pretty sloppy manga art, so I'm pleased that the work here is worthy of the epic. It's a solid story easily worth my final score, but I have a major complaint. Akira 1 was such a breezy read, I was through the 360 page tome in under two hours. That's not my complaint, but the $25 dollar price tag is. Sorry, but for such a quick read, that's grossly overpriced. ****
Yeah, they was my big qualm with Dark Horse's release of the series. It's black-and-white art, softcover, and binding is no better than Marvel's "Essential" line. The price really is far too high.

That being said, the story is very much worth reading, and the DH release is unfortunately the most cost-effective way to do so. I still prefer Marvel/Epic's release by far (if only because I though the color added a whole lot to the art and atmosphere), but those issues are hard to find and pretty expensive. There was a sweet hardcover release, by Graphitti Designs, in the early 90's, but those are nigh-impossible to find and go for a riduculous amount of cash (around $150 a pop for volume comparable in size to the DH ones).

As for the movie and manga differences... just wait. The differences become much more apparent in later volumes. In fact, once you pass the halfway point of the manga, they're more or less completely different stories.

Anyhow, the only thing I picked up was the Amazing Spider-Man: 500 covers collection. I kinda blew my budget by picking it up, but man, was it worth it. It really is a fascinating, and very well-done, release. The book breaks down the covers by year. Each year has a synopsis of what happened in the Spidey titles that year, plus a more general retrospective of historical events (politics, sports, art, etc.). Sure enough, all 500 covers are included. They come in two varieties: either full-page, or four per page. Ideally, all 500 would have gotten a full page, but the resulting book might have been a little too hefty. At any rate, the format gives each and every cover enough space to shine, and the covers chosen for the full-page treatment are smartly-selected.

Taking in the book as a whole is genuinely interesting. Not only is it awesome to revisit the highs and lows of Spidey's long career, but it's also very intriguing to see the differences in art styles, cover design, logo, price, you name it... variously, all the fluctuations in Marvel's publishing choices over the past 40 years. It's really fascinating to read all the synopses and see just how far Spidey has come. If nothing else, it's the most telling illustration of Spider-Man as a soap opera I've ever seen. The price is high, but the release is nice, with good paper and a high-quality dust jacket. Like most of Marvel's thick hardcovers, the pages are bound too tight and the beginning and end, cutting off some of the art close to the spine. Still, it's a great book, so I urge all hardcore Spidey fans to check it out.