Sensational Spider-man # 41 Review

“One More Day” part 3
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Artist: Joe Quesada, Danny Miki, Richard Isanove

One more day continues to drag along in both shipping time and story wise. This issue took a long time to hit comic stores and the issue itself is boring and predictable. I love Spider-Man and I’m really upset that Straczynski’s last arc is so slow, we have known for about a year that Aunt May is dying and Peter will do whatever he can to save her.

This issue opens with a young red-headed girl meeting Peter in an alley. The two talk while Peter walks around with his mask half off and the little girl tells Peter he is an idiot. Peter continues to walk and passes by a larger version of himself from an alternate timeline. This Peter is a video game loving loner who is really sad and pathetic. Then he meets up with another version of himself who is rich and successful but also alone. This version of Peter likes to drink and brood despite his money and power. Peter finally meets the Lady in Red who is revealed as Mephisto. Mephisto wants to make a deal with Peter in order to save May’s life. Peter realizes he needs to talk this over with MJ and we find out Mephisto has already approached her with the offer. MJ wants to hear the terms of the deal and guess what? He wants to end the marriage. Big surprise there, huh everyone?

Mephisto wants their love so they will always be miserable and sad deep down. He tells them they have one more day to think it over and then either their marriage or May will be gone for good.

Thoughts/Comments:

Good lord this sucks. Joe Quesada might be a good artist but he really is Mephisto in this storyline.
Everything Mephisto said about getting joy out of ending the marriage is the same thing Quesada has fought for during the past year or so. Peter and MJ would never be foolish enough to deal with the devil himself, but they do. This is really out of character for the two; May is old and has lived a long life. If someone was to tell me to pick between my favorite girl Julia and my grandma, I’d have to tell granny it’s been fun. What’s more, if Mephisto has the power to save May shouldn’t Dr. Strange as well? I guess Strange must really be a Skrull or something cause this just isn’t making any sense.

Also, the back up feature in the comic is a reprinting of a Silver Surfer comic featuring Mephisto. Guess what, I don’t care! This isn’t worth charging an extra dollar for this book. This is a pathetic ploy by Marvel to get more cash.

This whole story is a joke and just a big fuck you to the fans of the Spider-Marriage. Quesada has the power to get his way no matter what and that is the entire point of this story. For the first time in history gang, I give this book an F . This storyline is just Quesada’s way of getting what he wants and to hell with all the other fans of the marriage. If this keeps up I might have to change my name to Bat-Ben.

Futurama: Bender’s Big Score DVD Review

Written by: Ken Keeler
Story by: Ken Keeler and David X. Cohen
Director: Dwayne Carey Hill
Voices: Billy West, Katey Sagal, John Dimaggio, Lauren Tom, Phil Lamarr, Maurice LaMarche, Frank Welker, Al Gore, Coolio, Tom Kenney, Mark Hamill, etc.

The past few years are proof that there is indeed a God. First, Family Guy returned from cancellation with new seasons and a new CD. Next, Jason David Frank returned to Power Rangers for a year. Now, Futurama is finally back in four DVD movies. I have to admit I really enjoyed this movie much more than the Family Guy Stewie Griffin DVD movie a few years back. This actually feels like it should have been a theatrical release and it doesn’t feel like a bunch of episodes thrown together, this has the feel and scope of a animated movie. Hell, even the opening credits are new and jazzed up featuring the main characters getting the credit they deserve. Kudos to Matt Groening and crew getting the writers and voice actors back together, this really feels like a continuation of the old television show.

The movie has a lot of plot with tons of things going on over the course of 90 minutes. The basic premise is
this: evil naked aliens led by Nudar want to access time travel via a tattoo of Bender placed upon Fry’s butt. The professor is conned into giving his business and earnings to the aliens and then the aliens program Bender to go back in time and steal treasures from various eras of time. Meanwhile, a new character Lars is winning Leela’s heart, Hermes loses his head and is then placed upon a new version of his body, albeit backwards, Fry decides to do a lot of time traveling and eventually return to his life in the 2000’s, and old friends and foes drop by for some fantastic cameo appearances.

I don’t want to spoil everything about this movie in this review, so I won’t. I will say that if you hate the fact that Lars and Leela hook up rather quickly, don’t feel bad. I was pissed about this until the end.
Let’s just say the writers haven’t forgotten about Fry and Leela’s relationship from the TV show, and things work out in the end. The continuity found within this movie is sensational. There are nods to Seymour the dog and how he became fossilized, nods to the episode “Luck of the Fryish”, appearances by the evil Santa Robot and Leela’s mutant parents and much more for die-hard Futurama fans. Hell, even Barbados Slim (Hermes limbo rival) plays a big role in this film. Al Gore returns once more and continues to try and save the environment. Even Tinny Timm and Elzar make brief roles in the film. While all this is going on, Dr.Zoidberg is still his crazy self and the Professor remains confused as ever.

The voice acting in the movie is spot on, the characters all act and sound just like they did years ago before the show was cancelled. The writing is spot on and there are some great jabs at the Fox network for canceling Futurama in the first place. The opening credits are incredible; watch them and you will see why this could work as a theatrical release. Everything just felt perfect and the characters are all the same as they were when we left them years ago. I do have a few complaints but most of them are minor.

I really wish that Zapp Branigan and Kiff had a larger role in the film. They do play a part, but not until the final battle in the film. Zapp is one of my favorite Futurama characters and I really hope he has a larger role in the next DVD film. Also, Mom and her bumbling sons do not show up in the film. Mom is one of the great villains of the Futurama universe; hopefully she will be the villain in one of the remaining three films. Plus, where I was super pissed about Lars and Leela hooking up it all works itself out. I was thinking that the writers obviously forgot about Leela and Fry getting closer on the final TV episode “The Devils Hands are Idle Playthings” but all is worked out before the credits roll at the end of the film.

The DVD features are alright. I haven’t listened to the commentary yet but there are some great deleted animatics, a quick and hilarious message from Bender and Al Gore, and there is long featurette on the math of Futurama. I have to tell you I didn’t care for this feature cause I hate math and it really felt like a math class with a real math teacher measuring things and talking about equations. The best part was when Matt Groening drew Bender on the board. That was about the only part of the math feature I liked. So what is the best DVD extra? Twenty-two minutes of the hit episode “Everybody Loves Hypno-Toad!” It is exactly what it sounds like and worth a look.

All in all, go buy this film. Show your support for Futurama and buy multiple copies, I did. They will make great x-mas gifts and any Futurama fan will love you for it. The movie gets a solid A, I can’t wait for the next DVD movie. To quote Bender, “We’re back baby!”

Power Rangers no more?!!

The Power Rangers need your help!
Fellow Ranger Fans,

A regular member over at www.rangerboard.com, Poweranimals, has informed all ranger fans that Disney is going to end the live action Power Ranger series at the end of next year's series, Jungle Fury. The plan is then to animate Power Rangers and do away with the live action series.

Power Rangers is special and unique for it being live action. I'm not saying an animated series would be bad, just have it run alongside the live action series.

If you want to help keep PR live action, please send letters (not e-mails) to the following address:

The Walt Disney Company
500 South Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521

Remember to keep the letters respectful, there is no point in insulting Disney and that won't help save the series. Just point out that PR is special for being live action and we as the fans don't want the live action series to be done for.

Thank you and let the power protect you all.

Spider-Ben

The Goon: Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker HC Review

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer/Artist/Creator: Eric Powell

Eric Powell’s The Goon: Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker is the perfect straight to hardcover example of how to hit the nail on the head. This book is the best example I have found in the last few years to both please long time diehard fans and at the same time entice potential readers into giving the Goon it’s much deserved shot.

Powell started the Goon back in 1999 as both the writer and artist on the bi-monthly book. And in that time the rough around the edges muscle known only as Goon has sprung on the Eisner awards with three wins “Best Single Issue,” “Best Continuing Story,” and “Best Humor Publication.” Through five volumes of trade paperbacks readers have followed Goon, his best pal and right hand man Franky, and a slew of oddball characters as they thwart evil in all its alien-squid-goblin-werewolf-vampire-hag-zombie forms. Along the way readers have been treated to the truth about the Goon’s childhood and how he came to work for the crime boss Labrazio.

Shadows and barflies at Norton’s pub, the local watering hole in the Goon’s “berg,” first whispered the word “Chinatown” to explain away the reason for the Goon’s bad attitude. But none of the events that took place in Chinatown were revealed. Slowly images started to haunt the Goon, and Powell gradually introduced the woman known only as “Bella” into the fold. Bella through the bi-monthly comic appeared to be the Goon’s one long lost love, but her connection to Chinatown, and the way in which the Goon got his disfigured face remained unexplained…

Until Powell announced that all would be revealed in the straight to hardcover edition of the last remaining origins of the Goon. To reveal all the details of the Goon’s past would be as shameful as revealing the Nameless Priest’s name, or the true boss of the Labrazio name, suffice it to say this book delivers everything a fan could hope for. Powell has numerous art styles that he usually intertwines on a regular bases in his bi-monthly series, but for this book he uses colored wash for almost everything. The book is actually made up of two stories, one taking place in the present “The Mystery of Mr. Wicker,” and the other taking place in the past “Chinatown.” The single colored washes for the Chinatown story give the reader a perfect sense of the Casablanca/Maltese Falcon time period of cinema with the blurred/drugged scenes in black and white. The subtle colored scenes of the present story offer a simple change without being too contrasting.

The artwork might strike some as simplistic but I read this book in one sitting only because it was so light on dialogue I got to sit back and gaze at the panels that told the story without the need of a narrator. The panels are timed and flow so well that there may only be 3 to 5 to a page but they describe an entire chain of events. When I look closely at the page I don’t see black and white I easily see 50 different shades of gray and done with such clarity it can only be natural instinctive talent on Powell’s part.

Powell’s writing is superb in this book, and I really think he has a shot at another award with this book. The relationships focused on between the Goon and Bella or the Goon and Mirna are undeniably true to real life, which is a step in a new direction for the Goon, but the first page does warn, “This ain’t funny,” and all too often fans respond negatively when they read something out of their realm of the norm but I can’t see how this book could be chastised for what it attempts, and surely succeeds at. As fans finally get to see the Goon and Bella’s relationship we know it ends badly by the Goon’s current state, but you really have no idea until you read Chinatown and understand how bad it can really be, I mean it is really really bad, really, and Powell delivers it without missing a beat. I really wish that when a girl just up and walked out on me for no damn reason I could go down to the street and bash a street peddlers head in, guys and girls, we’ve all felt like that before. The other key relationship is between the Goon and Franky which we get to see tested in both the past and present story lines and yet Franky never fails to be there for the Goon when he needs him like only a true best friend can, and when Bella leaves the Goon, we all know who will be there for his pal saying “Dames come and go, but pals stick!” Or later when Mr. Wicker seems to have taken everything the Goon once had who is there to say “Knife to the eye!”

Needless to say The Goon takes one hell of a stomping in this story, and its to be expected since the only scar he seems to have on his body is the one on his face that is of course physical but is only a scratch compared to the emotional scar. As each page for me was awesome after awesome, the best scene is probably the end, because it proves my point that this is an award worthy piece of work. At the end of the present line story the Goon goes to the bar, in the background is a ton of locals, who also seem like ghosts on the wallpaper. And the Goon just sits down with his beer and stares at the two people he misses the most in life, with Franky by his side. The last page shows how timeless these stories are. The mystery of Mr. Wicker doesn’t disrupt continuity or change the Goon’s life forever, and Chinatown fills in a gap. The last page explains exactly why this story came out separate from the bi-monthly series, it doesn’t have a single place in the Goon’s timeline it exists outside of it. Chinatown is a story that weighs on the Goon’s mind throughout every issue of the series so far. This book isn’t just a must-read, to not have read this book is a disservice to yourself, as you’ll be missing one of the best stories to come out this year.

About Heroes Episode 80

Because of the holidays and resulting difficulties in getting schedules synced and books read, we've got a shorter podcast this week, in which we talk about four books: Detective Comics 838, New X-Men 44, Invincible 46 and The Walking Dead 44. Oh, wait, there was one other reason for the shorter podcast this week - Omar finally got an XBox 360 and Halo 3, so we spent a bit of time playing, and we devote the second half of this podcast to our first impressions of the game.

About Heroes, Episode 80

Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer ; Red Robin and Night of the Bat Reviews

This review was submited by Ray Hoey

I must confess that I came into this series late, since I've been re-introducing myself to so many monthly titles. The first thing that grabbed me about these two issues was that the covers used imagery from two of my favorite "Batman: Elseworlds " stories: "Batman & Dracula-Red Rain" and "Gotham by Gaslight". After plunking down my greenbacks, I realized several clever things in these issues as I began reading:

1. What had previously been principally Elseworlds stories, were now being established as
one of the 52 earths for the Challengers team to visit. A very cool idea!

2. On each book, they got at least one key member of the original team that worked on the
previous graphic novel: Kelley Jones, the artist of "Red Rain" also pencilled "Red Robin"
and Brian Augustyn, who wrote "Gotham by Gaslight", now penned "Night of the Bat".

(Trivia: If you still have a copy of the "Gotham by Gaslight" trade, look closely at the cover, and then at the "Gotham by Gaslight" portion of the Countdown cover, and you'll see a little
in-joke!)

On to the books!

"Red Robin"

Writer: Peter Johnson
Artists: Kelley Jones, Eric Battle, Angel Unzueta

A shocking tragedy! That about sums it up for me. Though I knew this was a different earth, not "our" earth, it was still shocking to see Dick Grayson stake Barbara Gordon, even if she was a vampire! It was the unthinkable acts like these, and in the previous stories in the "Batman/Dracula" trilogy that kept me rivetted to this story, right to the ending. Seeing Dicks' ultimate fate must have been especially hard for Donna, and to a degree Jason, but they had to keep going with their search for Palmer.

The truth is, the story was a fairly simple one that moved in a pretty predictable fashion, so the bickering between Kyle and Jason did give the plot a little more dimension. And something does happen to Kyle that sets up a key plot point in the next issue...The art was great, what with its shadowy depths and the sewer portions of the story reminded me of "Batman: The Cult" , which of course Jason was a part of.

Question: Is this story meant to be a different world with a vampire Batman, than the original "Red Rain"? The reason I ask is because in the first sequel to "Red Rain", "Bloodlust", Batman has himself staked at the end, and at the end of the second sequel "Crimson Mist", he walks into the sunlight. Yet through it all, there is no mention of Dick Grayson/Robin, or Barbara Gordon, from what I recall...(?)

Overall, a great little trip down memory lane...A-

"Night of the Bat"

Writer: Brian Augustyn
Artist: Greg Tocchini

A Victorian Blue Beetle! What a concept and a nice surprise! And it works, in my opinion. Plus, having Kyle become a major vampire big bad...awesome! It was nice to see his vulnerability from something that happened last issue. The look exchanged between Jason and this era's Batman was a great dramatic point, since Jason is no longer as impulsive as he used to be, facing a Batman who would never know the difference. That doesn't mean he's letting up on jabbing Kyle Rayner every chance he gets: "I came back from the dead, Kyle. Y'know, like Hal Jordan...the real Green Lantern--?!" He sure loves to hit below the
belt.

Tocchini's artwork was great, though I kinda wish Mike Mignola could've penned this one.
On the other hand, Tocchini really appreciates one of the finest points of Victorian era art:
the heaving bosoms! LOL! So, for that, and the story overall, I give this one an A.

Monday Manga Reviews: From chicks with guns to talking frogs!

Aventura Volume 1
Art & Story: Shin Midorikawa
Translation & Adaptation: Elina Ishikawa
Publisher: Del Rey

When I looked at the title I really thought that Del Rey was starting to publish their manga in Spanish. Just from looking at the cover it looks like something I used to watch when I was a child in Peru. So yeah, I have a soft spot for kids that team up with carnivorous animals. To my surprise it turned out to be more than just a bond between human and mammal. It was more of a cross between Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Prydain Chronicles. Randit is an orphan who isn’t the most popular kid and has zero magic ability. He questions why he was ever accepted to the Gaius School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Of course like any other adolescent he eventually makes friends with Chris (an elf) and Soela and starts to see that his small magic could be something much more. The story while simple, works on many levels. You don’t have to be a magician to understand the problems of not being able to fit in or not having any friends. It really is a fantastic mix of fantasy adventure and magic, hell it’s an RPG that you won’t have to spend 70 hours leveling up your characters. The art is absolutely gorgeous; with lavish details and gorgeous character designs, Midorikawa’s art style stands above the rest. A

Kikaider 02 Volume 1
Story: Shotaro Ishinomori
Art: Meimu
Publisher: CMX

I always find it difficult to recommend manga titles to my friends that are into “American” comics. There are very few that are anything like X-men, JLA, Batman, or Spider-man. However, I believe there is a manga out there for everyone. Whether you are reading about talking cats, teenage love triangles, Demon hunters, or a boy that turns into a girl when splashed with cold water; something is out there waiting for you. To me Kikaider Code: Zero Two is one of those rare manga that really doesn’t feel like you are reading something from Japan. It really does feel like you are reading an American made comic. Jiro is a normal teenage boy who goes through normal teenage life with a secret. His secret is that he is really Kikaider, a super-powered android who has a device in his brain to help simulate human attributes. This book has every element of those classic superhero stories: evil scientist, teenage angst, and robots. You won’t find any cute little sidekicks or gigantic sweat drops in the artwork. The only negative thing I can say about the book is the lack of character development. Yes, it’s an introduction to all these characters, but by the end of the book I’m expecting to be attached to at least the protagonist of the story. B-

Kurohime Volume 1
Story & Art: Masanori Ookamigumi Katakura
Adaptation: Lance Caselman
Translation: Joe Yamazaki
Publisher: Viz

How can you not love that cover? A voluptuous woman holding two gigantic guns!!! What else do you need to get you to buy a book? Kurohime is a master of Witch Bullets who gets turned into a little girl named Himeko, this came as a curse for challenging the gods. The only way to reverse the curse and get her original body back is to experience love. However we learn as she crosses paths with Zero, a master gunman who is searching the land for Kurohime, the legendary gunslinger witch that saved him as a young boy. The art is phenomenal at times; it reminds me of the great Masami Obari. But sadly these are nothing more but T&A drawings of Kurohime that stand out, because everything else is just bland, with the exception of those super-deformed scenes (which I’m a sucker for). It’s a great start to what will be an episodic adventure that blends the Wild West with fantasy. I’m really curious to see where the next volume will take us. B-

Sgt. Frog Volumes 1-3 Omnibus Edition
Story & Art: Mine Yoshizaki
Adaptation: Carol Fox
Publisher: Tokyopop

About three years ago I was introduced to this great title. Pretty much the story is about young Fujuki and his sister Natsumi who are dealing with an uninvited alien living in their house. This alien is Sgt. Korero, who is one of many invaders from another planet stranded on earth. He also happens to look like a little green frog with a silly hat. It’s overloaded with Japanese pop culture and ridiculous hi-jinks that reminds me of the underappreciated Invader Zim series. This volume collects all three of the original volumes in one oversized compilation. It comes with all the color covers and the first 24 pages are in a beautiful glossy paper that makes the art stand out. I can’t say enough about this spectacular series, I just can’t seem to get enough of it. While you think the creator might run out of ideas, a new “frog” is introduced to show you the endless possibilities of the over abundance of aliens that are passing off as frogs in our planet. But seriously it’s not just that one dimensional of a story because many of the installments have sensitive undercurrents: unrequited love, the clash between friendship and duty, jealousy, emotional insecurity, family dynamics, and other moving lessons. For $13 bucks I highly recommend everyone to give this wonderful series a shot. A+

Testarotho Volume 1
Story & Art: Sanbei Kei
Translation: Akira Tsubasa
Publisher: CMX

I finally figured out what it is about Kei’s women that make them irresistible and that is their full lips he puts on all of them. It’s rare to see that in a manga art form, a woman with a full set of lips, but anyway there I go rambling. Testarotho is a story about Rotho Capria, who has just graduated from her cloistered life in the Nunnery and is about to join the Elysia Unification Council. Behind the gates that protected her lies a divided land, one with differing cultures and religions who are all vying for a position of power. The common people are suffering, oppressed on all sides, especially by Arsenal's Inquisitors, who they refer to as Testarotho. Capria teams up with Father Garrincha, Leonedus, and Socrates. By the end of the book they are all questioning if what they are doing is right. It seems like the book is a cautionary tale about the misuse of organize religion and the effects it has on the people. Instead of working out the differences we just kill each other to work things out. This is definitely a mature subject, but one that was highly enjoyable. It was a fun read and the art, like I previously stated is right down dazzling. A

Zombie Powder Volume 2
Story & Art: Tite Kubo
Translation: Akira Watanabe
Publisher: Viz

I see now why this manga reminds me so much of Trigun. It’s not just because it has that Wild West feel to it, but Gamm Akutabi has the same facial expressions that Vash the Stampede wears. Granted, their attitudes are almost complete opposites. By the end of the first volume Gamma is joined is quest for the rings of the dead by his partner, the gun-toting Mr. Smith, and the young boy Elwood. After defeating a group of bandits, Gamma has acquired the one of the twelve rings. In this volume we are introduced to the very well-endowed Wolfina. She ends up joining the trio in search of the remaining rings. Unfortunately just as I was ready for more action, they cut the story to make room for Kubo’s first 40 page comic strip. While it was nice to see the early stages of his art take place, I would have rather them include the story at the end of the last volume. It kind of put a damper on the pace of the story. It seems like this story has a definite ending at some point and I can’t wait to see how everything turns out for our characters. B

About Heroes Episode 79

What a week! With so many great books on the shelves, it's tough to pick only a few to talk about. This episode touches on World War Hulk 5, New Avengers 36, X-Factor 25, Captain Marvel 1, Nova 8, Wolverine 59, Atomic Robo 1-2, Hellboy - Darkness Calls 6, Lobster Johnson 3, BPRD - Killing Ground 4, All-Star Superman 9, Countdown 24, Teen Titans East 1, Nightwing 138, Batman and the Outsiders 1, Green Arrow - Black Canary 2, Booster Gold 4 and Salvation Run 1. Yikes, that's a huge list!

About Heroes, Episode 79

And here's a quick request: if you're so inclined, visit the About Heroes page on iTunes and leave us a review! The two reviews there are both extremely old and extremely short, and it'd be great to replace those with some new (and positive, we hope) reviews.

Monday Manga Reviews: We got horror, magical girls, psychics, and pumpkins!

E’s Volumes 3 & 4
Story & Art: Satol Yuiga
Translation: Satsuki Yamashita
Publisher: Broccoli Books

Boy do I feel like an idiot. And it really doesn’t take much, but that’s beside the point. Last week I reviewed E’s volumes 1 and 2, well on my review I referred to Satol Yuiga as him. After a little research I owe Ms. Satol Yuiga an apology. I was a little lost when I read volumes 3 and 4 and I just read the previous volumes just last week. The art is still impressive if not better that the introductory chapters. She still manages to capture amazing fight scenes and gorgeous character designs. I really think what brings these two volumes down is the growing cast of characters. There is just way too many and more and more keep appearing in each volume. The book is not based on a videogame so why try to cram as many characters in one book? The other thing is I only feel emotionally attached to Kai, Shen Long, and Asuka. Everyone else seems just to show up for the sake of igniting another battle with the main characters. Sadly, I can’t say more than that about these volumes, even the prequel that comes in volume 3, is nothing more than a big brawl. I hope these books pick up, because the first two were so promising. C

Portus
Story & Art: Jun Abe
English Adaptation: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Publisher: Viz

This past weekend I had a day to myself so I decided to have a Masters of Horror marathon and it wasn’t enough to satisfy my horror hunger. I decided to read some horror manga as well. Portus happened to be first on my pile of books to read. It really peeked my interest because it was about an urban legend of a videogame that could kill you! If you discovered the hidden level within the game a little boy would appear and shortly thereafter you would die. I was hooked with the book from the beginning following Asami, Keigo, and Mayumi try to solve the mystery behind the deaths that revolve around the game and its dead creator. I’m not really sure when I started losing interest though, I think too much was revealed and everything is explained by the very end. I think part of the reason I love the horror genre is that I love that fear of the unknown feeling some movies and books give you. When everything is explained, it just doesn’t have the same effect on you. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still an okay story that is superior to most of the garbage that passes as horror now, but the selling point of the series is really the art. Abe draws some amazing visuals and really sets the mood for the book. I love the extreme facial close-ups he gives some panels and the amount of detail that he puts in the environments. C+

Presents Volume 1
Story & Art: Kanako Inuki
Translation & Adaptation: Sheldon Drzka
Publisher: CMX

Looking at the cover of Presents it reminded me of Junko Mizuno’s artwork. So going into the book I really thought it was going to be cute pictures with a really dark twist to them. Damn, I really didn’t think it was going to be this creepy. Kurumi is a girl that never got a present on her birthday, she was always overlooked or purposely forgotten and by some weird twist of fate this made her into the spirit of presents. Since she never gets a present on her birthday she never really ages, so I’m not sure how old she really is supposed to be or how long she’s been around. The book is made up of unrelated short stories that focus on the presents theme. From a selfish little girl that has to have every present to a story of jealousy over beauty. Even Santa Claus appears in one story, so nothing is really safe when it concerns presents. By the end of the volume I have come to the conclusion that Kurumi is evil and some of the people she interacts with are just innocent by standards that have done nothing wrong. This really is a twist on the old if you have sex or are a bad person bad things will happen to you. Even if you are good and a virgin you are obviously not safe from Kurumi. I was really surprised to find out the stories were originally published in the 90’s, because judging by the art style I would have guess the 70’s. But he makes it work with each story. The only down side is that the stories already seem repetitive and I hope the second volume really takes us in a different direction. B

Pumpkin Scissors Volume 1
Story & Art: Ryotaro Iwanaga
Translation & Adaptation: Ikoi Hiroe
Publisher: Del Rey

In the tradition of strange names like Pineapple Army, Fruits Basket, I My Me Strawberry Eggs; comes Pumpkin Scissors. If I had to compare it to any other of the three titles, I guess it really is more like Pineapple Army than anything. The Royal Empire and the Republic of Frost are torn by war. Some of these soldiers have turned to bandits and are terrorizing the country. Even though the war is over it is up to the Pumpkin Scissors to help the war effort and take down these bandits who fight against the Royal Empire. The story focuses on Randal Oland and Lt. Alice Malvin who both have different ideas on the empire. PS has a great mix of action, humor, and a good heartwarming message about good vs. evil. There are really some great action scenes that seem realistic and violent at times. The only thing I really found annoying was Alice; she’s annoying as hell and makes the beginning a little hard to get into, not to mention the fact that she is constantly putting her squad in danger. While the art is really action paced and violent, it really needs some polishing up. Sometimes the characters look too stiff and some characters look too cartoony for no apparent reason. I look forward to the next volume and hope everyone makes it out okay. B+

Shugo Chara! Volumes 1 & 2
Story & Art: Peach Pit
Translation: Satsuki Yamashita
English Adaptation: Nunzio DeFillipis & Christina Weir
Publisher: Del Rey

There are two things I would like to mention before we get on with the review. One, Peach-Pit is not the 90210 hang out spot. It is the nick name that Banri Sedo and Shibuku Ebara use when doing professional work such as Dears and Rozen Maiden. The other thing I would like to mention is that I really loved seeing DeFillipis and Weir’s names on the opening pages, I was a huge fan of their work on New Mutants and New X-men and it’s really good to see them both still doing work in comics. Amu is a little girl that wants nothing more than to be a cute girl at school and be able to speak her mind, but that is so out of character for her. Well, everything changes when she makes a wish and her three Guardian Characters are born from three magical eggs. They grant her character changing powers whenever she needs them. Of course these character changes are anything from admitting her love for a boy to flying to get out of a situation. It seems she is not the only one with these eggs either. It is a really cute manga with lots of moments that remind me of Card Captor Sakura or Saint Tail. I guess I have to borrow Melanie’s use of kawaii to describe the art, because there are some pictures that are right down adorable. Ahh, those big eyes to bring out certain feelings in the brain. A-

Uzumaki Volume 1
Story & Art: Junji Ito
Translation & Adaptation: Yuji Oniki
Publisher: Viz

To call Ito a master of the horror genre would be such an understatement. This book is so inventive and so right down creepy that I really thought the steam would have died down by the end of the volume. Uzumaki is a series of stories told through the eyes of Kirie Goshima and her small town of Korozucho. It seems that some kind of evil lurks in the pond behind her house and it’s causing the entire town’s villagers go mad and have bizarre deaths. The only thing in common with the deaths is the mad obsession over spirals. Each story is about 20 to 30 pages long and is linked to the previous stories by the two main characters. While that might seem silly to some people, that artwork just puts the fear of God in you. The artwork is completely beautiful and saying that about a disturbing story is really hard to say. Ito takes some outlandish concepts and makes them into abundantly disturbing images rather than looking just plain silly. His work is distinctive and compelling with his punctilious use of heavy lines and shading that enhances the pace of the story. Even the main character isn’t safe from the spirals so I wonder how this will work out for her in the end. If you are any kind of fan of horror you really must buy this book. A+

The Best of the Harveyville Fun Times

This Review was submitted by Dennis Feeback

By Mark Arnold and Various

The Scoop: A sampling of the best material from the long-running "Harveyville Fun Times!" fanzine featuring articles about various Harvey Comics characters such as Casper, Richie Rich, Hot Stuff and Sad Sack.

The Package: What we have is a nice thick BIG book. The front and back covers are nice especially the back cover by Ernie Colon. Like the fanzines it reprints the typeface is literally all over the place, but this was a conscious decision by the editor to faithfully reprint the magazines in their original form.
Also of note, this was book was printed by Lulu.com and I must say they do fine work.

Final Thoughts: After reviewing the Harvey Comics Classics volumes from Dark Horse, I was definitely in a Harvey frame of mind. I happened upon Mark's site, http://thft.home.att.net/ , and was overwhelmed with all the info on Harvey Comics. Mark was kind enough to send me a copy of this fine book.
And I am so glad he did.

This is such a wonderful resource for Harvey characters and history. As this is a reprint volumes of various issues of marks magazine, there is a lot of material between these covers, and all of it is informative and entertaining. I learned all kinds of facts I never know about the company that shaped my childhood. There are issue guides, character profiles, company history, and MUCH more. If you sre any kind of Harvey fan, you NEED this book. My HIGHEST possible recommendation.

Final Rating: A+, Invaluable if you're a Harvey fan. Interesting if you're just interested in comics history. Impressive.

EC Archives: Vault of Horror vol. 1

This Review was submitted by Dennis Feeback

By Various

The Scoop: Legendary publisher Bill Gaines provided the forum and creators like Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig, Wally Wood, Harry Harrison, Jack Kamen, Harvey Kurtzman, Graham Ingels, and Jack Davis provided the mayhem. Six full issues and 24 complete stories are collected in this full-color, deluxe volume. Foreword by perennial N.Y. Times best-selling author R.L. Stine.

The Package: The book is a solid oversized hardcover. It comes with a nice dust jacket, the same artwork is on the books cover as well. A nice touch! The new coloring, which looks great, manages to make to book look modern while still keeping the creepy feel to the originals. Paper stock is nice with thick glossy pages. An all-around great looking book!

Final Thoughts: Man I LOVE the EC stuff! These books are always great fun, and just a damn joy to read. That being said, the high price tag ($49.99) kept me away from these. However, now that I've read one I'm hooked! These fantastic editions are worth every penny! It is so nice to have these collections in a complete format. I'm a fan for life and will be collecting them all!

As for this volume, this is early in the EC days, so the artists were really just building up to the greatness they would eventually become. The art (Really the best reason to check out these books) isn't quite us to the polish of the later years, but you can definitely see flashes of greatness, and the true beginning of the EC "style". The writing also shows that the winning formula was found early on, as these stories are among some of the best of the line.

My only gripe? R.L. Stein's foreword was really kinda worthless.

Final Rating: A+, Kids, it doesn't get any better than this!

Avenging You From a Crappy Book

New Avengers #36 Review
W: Bendis
A: Yu
C: McCaig

I finished the book and put it on the stack of “done reading” pile on my dresser. I walked back to my computer and sat down. Five minutes passed. I turned back and looked at the pile, “what the hell happened in that book?”

The question was rhetorical, because nothing, nothing happened in this book. No don’t get confused here, a lot of things seem like they are happening, but let’s run through them. My biggest complaint started out as a complaint, then I accepted it, then I realized nothing happened and it’s back to a complaint. The Venom Virus fight, it was almost a fight. I’ve really liked this book since Yu jumped on. I don’t know what Bendis changed to make me like the writing so much more, but whatever it was I was on with it. Ten there was the airplane issue, and now this one. The fight looks adrenaline pumped and a high-octane ride, but no, it suddenly…ends. Bam. Done, and Luke Cage makes a snappy wink to Might Avengers, “oh it was probably a big fucking deal for that other team, but to us it was cake.” Lame, just lame. It wasn’t even that cool of a fight, there was no tactic, no symbiote smashing, just crazy venoms being scary and attacking everyone, the heroes weren’t doing shit.

Then we have Cage and Jessica Jones talking in bed, where nothing “happens” by the way, yes their baby is sleeping on Cage’s chest but have they never heard of a crib. Cage still doesn’t truest anyone…that’s pretty much it. Then, like the cover suggests, Wolverine interrogates Spider-Woman, and gets no new information, surprise! Oh, oh the gang locates the Hood, does nothing, then between the pages goes and gets a FUCK LOAD of superheroes to deal with them. By a LOAD I’m talking about the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Iron Man (which doesn’t really make any sense still) and Howard the Duck, which is perfect because this book is a joke. D+

Batman and the Outsiders # 1 Review

Author: Chuck Dixon
Penciler: Julian Lopez
Inker: Bit
Colors: Marta Martinez

Do you remember the original solicitations for this book? Tony Bedard was to be the writer and Koi Turnbull was the artist attach to the book. Hell, even the ads in previews for issue 3 had both of them as the creative team behind the book. At the last minute for some creator difference DC replaced the team with Chuck Dixon and Julian Lopez. And when I say last minute, I mean this book is a couple of weeks late because both Dixon and Lopez were rushed to get this out on time. Is it a smooth transition from Bedard's cliffhanger to Dixon's opening story? Not really, but it is still a fun comic.

The team is introduced one by one through Batman's monitors. Showcasing their special abilities and what they add to the team. Thunder is the only team member who stays behind with Batman and just watches through his monitors. He seems to think that she is useless and has no place on the Outsiders. Of course she is going to prove him wrong! Even if it kills her. Turns out that Jardine was hiding an Omac in one of his headquarters.

Lopez artwork is very slick and clean and in the end helps enhance the story to make it more enjoyable. At times his art can be a bit repetitive and when you have a story like this it seems to dull it a bit. It was an okay start; enough to get me excited about the possible future of this title. The only big problem I had with the book was the confrontation with Batman and Thunder. Why the hell couldn't the world's best detective not be able to tell the difference between good friends and lovers? Come on Bats, I'm sure you've had your share of lesbians at those crazy Wayne manor parties. Not a great start, but I'll hang in there and see what happens. B-

Teen Titans East Special Review

Author: Judd Winick
Penciler: Ian Churchill
Inkers: Norm Rapmund, Andy Lanning, & Jon Sibal
Colors: Edgar Delgado

When I read the interview with Judd Winick about the cast of Teen Titans East it was supposed to take be original New Teen Titans team. The one shot is supposed to lead into the ongoing series. As soon as I saw the cover of the one shot, I thought to myself these tools are dead. The only one I remotely reading about was Lagoon Boy, but anyone else on that cover is expendable to me and Judd Winick I guess.

There is an unnecessary flashback that last 16 pages and serves as nothing more than more nostalgia for the fans of the Wolfman and Perez days. I think we get the point that the Titans really loved each other like a family. You could have done that with one page, hell one panel should suffice how much love you have for one another. Which leads us to the present where Cyborg is calling on the original Titans for help because he is starting a new team and he needs their experience to lead this team. I have no idea how he was able to find Donna and Starfire, hell I thought one was going through the multiverses and the other at the end of the galaxy. Everyone rejects his offer, but he does have a little odd moment with Nightwing. Titans Together, man that's love.

I guess if you are going to kill off some characters just to bring in the original characters to give you that sense of revenge, you might as well pick some lame asses. Cyborg’s new team consists of Power Boy, Hawk, Dove, Anima, Little Barda, Lagoon Boy, and Son of Vulcan. If Cyborg knows about the run in Power Boy had with Supergirl then he also knows about the stalking and the attempted rape. Forgive and forget right Cyborg? You dick! It ends with the biggest cliché of bringing a team together; with the death of the previous team. At this point we don't know who or what killed all the TT East, but damn it was quick and pointless much like the way this whole book read.

If a death is going to matter to the Titans it, why couldn't Cyborg have chosen a better cast like Arrowette, Flamebird, Zatara, or hell even Bumblebee? Ian Churchill's art doesn't help the grading of this book either, if anything he takes it down a notch. I have never been a fan of his over-muscular and stiff bodies. His portrayal of the original Titans makes them look like adults and not kids. There is just something wrong with his Robin, damn that hair on that boys legs. Shave son! Shave! Save your money and cross your fingers that the ongoing series will be better. D Horrible.

Open discussion for comics from November 14

HUGE list of comics coming out this week - check out the Diamond Comics website for the complete list.

There are two big books for me this week, and both are because of new writers for my favorite characters. Fabian Nicieza's run on Nightwing starts with issue 138 this week, and Gail Simone's Wonder Woman run starts this week as well with issue 14.

What are you reading?

Marvel launches Digital Comics Unlimited archive

At Marvel.com, you can now read comics online! From the AP story:

Marvel is putting some of its older comics online Tuesday, hoping to reintroduce young people to the X-Men and Fantastic Four by showcasing the original issues in which such characters appeared.

It's a tentative move onto the Internet: Comics can only be viewed in a Web browser, not downloaded, and new issues will only go online at least six months after they first appear in print.

Still, it represents perhaps the comics industry's most aggressive Web push yet. Even as their creations -- from Iron Man to Wonder Woman -- become increasingly visible in pop culture through new movies and video games, old-school comics publishers rely primarily on specialized, out-of-the-way comic shops for distribution of their bread-and-butter product.

I'd love to weigh in on the service, but it seems like Marvel failed to anticipate the traffic this would generate, as their site is either timing out or throwing random SQL errors. I can tell that it's a subscription service, however, not a free one. It looks like you get a certain number of free samples, but membership is $9.99 per month or $59.88 annually. I certainly hope they beef up their server capabilities before too many people buy in.

If you'd like to try to check it out, visit Marvel Comics Unlimited. Let us know what you think!

Monday Manga Reviews: Yeah, we know it's Tuesday, but we got more reviews!

BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo Volume 1
Story & Art: Yoshio Sawai
English Adaptation: Drew Williams
Publisher: Viz

How do I explain this book without using the word insane? I probably couldn’t. With a title like that what else would you expect from this book? For some reason Viz decided to only publish one of the 20+ volumes of Bobobo in America. What’s really strange is that it’s not even volume 1 of the series, but volume eight or nine. So we jump right into the story with a paragraphs worth of catching up. Does that work? Hell yes! You really don’t have to know much about the background of this series to appreciate the level of insanity. In the year 300X an evil dictator has mandated the hunting of all hair in the Maruhage Empire. Of course if you’ve seen any pictures of Bobobo you know he will not stand for this. Along with his sidekicks, who are used more like shields and punching bags, leads a rebellion against the evil empire. This book has everything from slapstick humor, ridiculous parodies, pop culture references, and just adult humor. Think of Excel Saga on crack. I’m pretty sure that the reason Viz didn’t translate the rest of the volumes was to see if there was a market for insanity like this in the U.S. To be honest, I enjoyed it, but towards the end of the book I wanted a little more to the story other than every panel focusing on someone screaming, insanely bleeding, or getting severely beaten. If they ever release other volumes though, I will be happy to check them out. C

Dirty Pair: The Great Adventure
Story: Haruka Takachiho
Illustrations: Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Publisher: Dark Horse

Back in the early 90s I was introduced to Streamline Pictures. It was one of the earliest anime publishers in America. They released three Dirty Pair movies and I that’s when I fell in love with those two half naked angels. I always wondered if the anime, like most anime, was based on a manga. However, just like Vampire Hunter D, the anime was inspired by this novel. Kei and Yuri are two WWWA (Worlds Welfare Work Association) Agents. Pretty much they investigate crimes across the universe. Although their codenames are the Lovely Angels, they are better known as the Dirty Pair, because of the path of destruction they make on the way to catch the bad guys. The novel is told through the words of Kei and she is pretty descriptive when talking about herself and Yuri. She pretty much gives the readers the measurements of the two. Damn, even in the 70’s Takachiho knew who his target audience was. The narration is funny and descriptive when it has to be. It reminds me so much of books that I was forced to read when I was in middle school, but I’m glad I did, now that I am an adult. The story is very plain the Dirty Pair are hired to investigate a mysterious explosion on the planet Dangle. Along with Thunder, Lucha, and their giant cat-like creature Mugi try to solve the mystery of this explosion. Needless to say that the 20 something pictures by Yasuhiko add a certain 70’s element to this nostalgic story. I hope the next volume the narration is done by Yuri, just want to know what she is thinking. B

E’s Volumes 1-2
Story & Art: Satol Yuiga
Translation: Satsuki Yamashita
Publisher: Broccoli Books

After reading Astonishing X-men and Messiah CompleX I sat down and chose a manga to read. Funny enough I picked the one manga that reminded me of X-men. Well to be fair, more like X-men meets Scryed and they got together had a baby and that baby got together with X 1999. I think you know where I’m getting at. However, while it does borrow elements from those books it’s really more than just that. A post apocalyptic world where psychic teenagers are recruited by Ashurum ( A semi-government organization) that’s sole goal is to return order to the world and recruit all psychics. Kai is one of these psychics, however his ideal world is one without violence. He is also motivated by the love of his sick little sister, Asuka. There are some very disturbing death scenes that Yuiga portrays magnificently, I know it sounds a bit demented, but when dealing with a story of this caliber, I like my artist with a more realistic feel to their style. Needless to say that the action is top notch and it’s all over the place. I really love the way Broccoli puts so much detail into their published books. With those beautiful semi-glossy covers to the heavy white pages that flatters the gorgeous artwork. While the story is not unique it does keep me interested to keep reading the rest of the series. If anything to find out what happens to the bad-ass of the book Shen-Long. B

Free Collars Kingdom Volumes 1-3
Story & Art: Takuja Fujima
Translation & Adaptation: William Flanagan
Publisher: Del Rey

I had no idea what to expect when I was looking at the covers to this series. I really thought it was going to be about a boy and his robot/cat girl…umm Cat Girl Nuku Nuku. But, I wasn’t really close. Turns out that Cyan is a Abyssinian (if you didn’t know it was a kind of cat, don’t feel bad I didn’t either) kitty who is owned by Kokoro. Kokoro gets sick one day and for some reason his mother leaves Cyan in the basement of their old apartment building. It is there that he meets a group of stray cats that call themselves the Free Collars. It is with them that he learns that cats have to battle other groups for possession of territory. The building is called the Nyan Man, which is the legendary Wild Cat’s stomping ground. The Free Collars are made up of Char, Coon, Rat, Amesho, Scottie, and eventually Minky. Unfortunately the story is very formulatic and by volume 3 you can see what Cyan is going to do. Choose to go back with his old master when reunited or stay with his new found friends. However, the art is completely gorgeous. It reminds me of Kosuke Fujishima, one of my favorite artist and Fujima’s beautiful up there are almost a rival to Fujishima. I love all the extra features that Del Rey puts in all their manga. I had no idea that a cat said Nya instead of meow in Japanese. I always feel like I am learning something new with each Del Rey book I read. It was a very repetitive story with some gorgeous artwork, but that’s pretty much all I can say about it. C+

Project D.O. A. Volume 1
Story: Jeffrey Nodelman
Art: Wagner Fukuhara
Cover Art: Christopher Schons
Publisher: Tokyopop

When looking at the cover of this title, I could have sworn it was Pat Lee. I’m so glad I was wrong. The Dylan Oliver Adventures are about a scientist by the name….drum roll….Dylan Oliver. During one of his crazy inventions/experiments his assistant Lilly gets killed. The premise of the book lies on trying to bring her back to life. With the help of his three assistants he embarks on a quest that will take him all over the world to obtain the ingredients (I use the term lightly) to bring the dead back. I was really hooked with the story from the beginning. From the accidental death of Lilly to the experimental rat destroying the cat, I just couldn’t put the book down. I can’t say much for the art, but it does get the point across. It really borrows so much from manga and a little bit of Mike Wieringo’s facial expressions. I think this is the first time that for a manga, the art would have benefited from a colorist. But, like I said it does get the point of the story across and it’s easy to follow. Count me in for volume 2, I want to see me some mermaids! B

Rurouni Kenshin Volume 28
Story & Art: Nobuhiro Watsuki
Adaptation: Pancha Diaz
Publisher: Viz

This is it! The final volume of Kenshin! Will Enishi avenge his dead sister? Will Kenshin be forced to go back to his old ways and kill Enishi? This is where everything is wrapped up. After watching the depressing ending of Samurai X, I was expecting to have a box of tissues by the time this book was over. This was not so. This was a great way to conclude such a long running series. Everything is wrapped up and it ends in such a beautiful, peaceful, and happy way. Where most writers fall apart towards the end of a long series, Watsuki just shines with stories of hope and never giving up. The finale showed the main characters moving on with their lives and they even have a bit of a reunion of sorts. His art style is amazing. It reminds me if the 90’s American comic artist got together and developed one solid style and drew about feudal Japan. It’s a perfect mix of cross hatching and simplicity all bundled up into one dramatic stroke of the pencil. I am sometimes left in awe by the art. About 50 pages of the book is left for a short story called Meteor Strike and a preview of Watsuki’s new series: Buso Renkin. I hope that one day Viz releases the side story featuring an adult Yahiko. A

Sword of the Dark Ones Volume 1
Story & Art: Kotobuki Tsukasa
Original Story: Yasui Kentaro
Publisher: CMX

I love love this cover. It really says so much about the main character with his emotionless expression and his gigantic sword. In the land of Barnard monsters known as Dark Ones roam the land and love nothing more than devouring on human flesh. The townsfolk build giant walls to keep the monsters out, but this doesn’t help them at all. To protect the people in terror several guilds have surfaced. Mercenaries and Assassins make up these guilds and are hired by the people. Leroy Schawrtzer aka Black Lightning is one of these Mercenaries. He is a S ranked mercenary, which is the highest ranking you can get. Along with his sentient sword, Ragnarok he goes from village to village helping people for money and I’m sure he has his own hidden agenda. He is hired by an old friend to find her sister in a bordello that is run by a Dark One. We come to find out that blood of the Dark Ones run in his veins too. I really can’t help but compare this to Vampire Hunter D. Although, Leon has more character interaction with his sword than D does with his talking hand. The story is simple and straight forward, but for some reason I found it very addictive. While I do love the artwork and character designs, I have to say that Kotobuki’s sequential art during action scenes leave me a little wanting. The panels are sometimes confusing when he leaves out certain elements that would help his art construe the story. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the next volume though. B-

Tekkonkinkreet: Black & White All in One Volume
Story & Art: Taiyo Matsumoto
Translation: Lillian Olsen
Publisher: Viz

There was a magazine back in the mid to late 90s that Viz released called Pulp. Pulp contained manga stories that were focused on adult themes. So yeah, the reason why I got the magazine was to see the every now and then nipple they would slip in. There was one story in the magazine that I just got hooked on though. Black & White, the art style was so raw and so different than any other manga I had seen, I would compare it to the first time I saw Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns, or Mike Mignola’s Hellboy. This collects all three volumes of the manga along with an interview with the director of the movie Michael Arias and additional sketches in the back. We even get the color pages that were published in the original Japanese release, the only bad thing that this collection got wrong was the flipped the comic using the mirror technique so it reads like your standard American comic book. The story while simple has a deeper meaning each time I return to this world. Black & White are orphans that live in the streets of Treasure Town. They spend their time beating up on the mafia, crooks, and rival gangs that try to take their city. It is the art that really carries the story though, with its surreal take on a big city. We have moons with faces on them that change their mood according to the characters. Depending on the situations sometimes the characters themselves are portrayed by cats, rats, or birds. It is truly an amazing book and please don’t overlook it because of the art. That is what makes the book so unique! A-

About Heroes Episode 78

A lot of books were released last week, but there were a few that stood above the others. In this episode, we hit Uncanny X-Men 492, Astonishing X-Men 23, Robin 168, Supergirl 23, Buffy 8, Umbrella Academy 2, New Avengers Illuminati 5, and Annihilation Conquest 1. There's a wonderful few e-mails in the middle there, too.

UPDATE: Sorry for the iTunes delay, I'm a dummy and forgot to correctly categorize this entry. It should be there now.

About Heroes, Episode 78

Astonishing X-men # 23 Review

Author: Joss Whedon
Artist: John Cassiday
Colors: Laura Martin
Cover: John Cassiday

I'm just going to let you know that I really don't feel like putting up any spoiler tags on this review so be warned. It's the penultimate issue to Unstoppable and the penultimate issue to Whedon and Cassidy leaving the book. I'm going to miss this entire team of creators, because to me they have reminded me once again why I read not just X-men, but comic books. Sure the delays are horrible, but my God this book had me saying: Messiah what?

I have been looking forward to this issue for months now. Cyclops left up in space and the rest of the X-men with their luck about to run out. There are plenty of Whedon's trademarks in this issue with all the twists and turns. Whether it was the prophecy being nothing more than a plan or Cyclops scheming everything from the X-men being scattered to him being captured; this issue was full of twists. And of course the moment that made the whole fucking book " to me my X-men"! Motherfuck, I have never been a Cyclops fan, but damn it I really wanted to be after seeing him fire off that bitch of an optic blast. The fantastic dialogue of Emma being her own best friend and the X-men cutting loose on some bad guys really is a testament of how much Whedon loves these characters . I can't think of any flaws within this issue.

We can't forget who brings this all to paper either. The talented John Cassidy really shines with this issue and is easily becoming one of my favorite artists. The wonderful choreographed fight scenes and the sense of innocence on Armor's face shows how much of a range a true artist should be able to do. Everything you have read since issue 1 of Astonishing really plays a vital role with the revelations in this issue. It's really rare to see this kind of conscientious plotting in comics these days. Go back and read those issues and enjoy this representation of what a perfect comic should be. A+

Robin # 168 Review

Author: Peter Milligan
Artist: Freddie E. Williams II
Colors: Guy Major

The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul part 1...yeah right! I think Batman # 670 is essential reading before jumping on to Robin 168. So Peter Milligan introduced us to the idea of a possible resurrection for Ra's in this year’s Batman annual 26 and now he is the ongoing writer on Robin. So how was his first issue?

Damian is actually scared that his body is going to be taken by his grandfather as some kind of vessel. I haven't seen this side of Damian before, showing his fear and looking for his father. I love the little fight that Damian and Robin have in the bat cave and the role that Alfred plays. Milligan reminds us that even though Tim Drake is a mature character deep down inside you can tell he does not like the idea of Batman having another son figure. There is a powerful and well written scene between Talia and Batman where Talia regards Batman's decision to take down Ra's instead of putting his family and friends first. Sure he calls Nightwing to help take out the ninjas, but it's his determination to go after Ra's first that concerns her.

Ra's body is still deteriorating and I wonder who his new body will be, because I'm sure Morrison won't let his new creation be used as a vessel. I'll be sad to see Williams leave and take on Flash, because his art really belongs with this title. His artwork on Robin shows that he can really capture the fluidity and motion of characters moving extremely fast and with agility and yet do dialogue carried scenes with such grace. While I know that Tim is jealous, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't throw a tantrum like he did in this issue. I really can't wait till Nightwing swings in and helps these two brats out. B+

Manga Reviews: From Crystals to Stinky Sea Creatures

Jim Henson’s Legends of The Dark Crystal: The Garthim Wars Volume 1
Barbara Randall Kesel, Heidi Arnhold, and Max Kim
TokyoPop

The artists did a wonderful job of creating a Jim Henson/Brian Froud world in this prequel to the awesome movie, The Dark Crystal. Fans of this cult classic will definitely appreciate the attention to detail - from the way the Gelfling’s three fingered hands are kind of blocky to the way their upper lips and noses protrude from their faces. But as far as story goes…, it’s pretty slow at the beginning. Lahr’s village is destroyed by the Garthim, creatures that kidnap the Gelfling race for the Skeksis, who in turn drain them of their essence in order to live longer. Pretty gruesome. Lahr meets up with Neffi, whose village has been destroyed as well. They end up helping a neighboring village plan and fight off a horde of Garthim so they will survive, but have they just won the battle and not the war? The story is pretty formulatic (yes, that is a word), so if you enjoy graphic novels such as Fables or Sandman, you probably won’t be interested in this. If you are a fan of the movie, I can also see you not enjoying this. The only character from the movie that makes an appearance is SkekSil, the Skeksis that always goes, “Hmmmmmm,” and I don’t care about Lahr and Neffi. But it’s pretty cool how the author is slowly building up the relationship between the two. Maybe less mature readers will really enjoying this. It just doesn’t move me. C+

Gyo: The Death-Stench Creeps Volume 1
Junji Ito
Viz Media

“Explicit Content” = Whoot! I’ve never read a creepy manga before, and this one definitely sets the bar. I didn’t think it would be at first, but the more I read, the better it got. It’s not a scary manga because it makes me fear for my life or anything, but it’s psychologically creepy, which is how most Japanese horror stories work. Imagine a dead fish chasing after you on mechanical, insect-like legs that keep it going no matter what. The idea of something dead and therefore almost non-existent chasing me is really disturbing, but it’s coupled with a force that has no face or way of communicating - a pair of legs. The art will aide you in this endeavor if this is hard to imagine. Finally, the characters are always complaining about the smell that precedes these creatures. How unique to have a smell be eerie! It’s not a sense that is used very often in comics, or writing period. Definitely looking forward to the second volume. A

Hands Off: Don’t Call Us Angels Volume 1
Kasane Katsumoto
TokyoPop

I’m disappointed that this installment isn’t as interesting as its predecessor, Hands Off. The premise is the same, but now there are different characters. Kiba has the ability to see into a person’s future when he touches him or her, and when he brushes by Udou in basketball, he sees blood. Udou is a criminal with no respect for other humans, and has some kind of hypnotizing power with his eyes. My biggest complaint is that it’s serious all the time. Hands Off had lots of humor in it even though it had a grim story, but the two main characters in Hands Off: Don’t Call Us Angels are both douche-bags! And their heads are too small for their bodies. The only joke in the book is Haruhi’s infatuation with another girl named Yari. She just met this girl and she is dying to help her meet Udou, and every time she talks about her, she goes into full worship-mode. But it becomes almost annoying since it’s so repetitive and the only joke in the book. C

Kitchen Princess Volumes 2 - 4
Manga by Natsumi Ando
Story by Miyuki Kobayashi
Publisher Del Rey

I finally realized why I love girly, cheesy manga titles! Most of the time the main character is someone who I look up to! Najika is gentle, loving, forgiving, and courageous. She wants to make others feel good with her cooking, and she pursues her dream of finding her prince with vigor (the boy who saved her from drowning when she was young). Akane is jealous of her and the relationship she has with Daichi, but even after she treats Najika poorly, Najika is always willing to forgive and help out Akane. For example, when Akane is starving herself to become thinner for modeling shoots, Najika works hard to come up with something nutritious that will keep Akane healthy. And she had just tired to ruin Najika’s dreams! As a side note, each chapter revolves around a different food, but it’s never forced, and it’s actually exciting to see what Najika can come up with next.

In short, I want to be like Najika - giving of myself and being happy when others are happy. That is my true goal in life, and reading Kitchen Princess is helping me to accomplish it. I had complained about how they’re not enough role models in comics…, but I’ve found them in manga. A

Parasyte Vol. 2
Hitoshi Iwaaki
Del Rey

In this volume, which is twice as big as the ones released in Japan, Hitoshi Iwaaki doesn’t focus on the relationship between Izumi and the parasite Migi that lives in his right hand, much to my dismay. It’s what drew me to the book initially. But instead, the author focuses on developing the character of Izumi and the changes he goes through due to his mom getting taken over by a parasite alien, having his heart replaced by Migi, and meeting someone else