Comics

Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life

Each medium has its weaknesses. Music, however sublime the piece, can only be experienced through one of five senses. Each subsection of a medium, also has different weaknesses, sometimes due to the constrictions of the format, sometimes due to the definition of how the text is consumed. TV comedies, for all of their brilliant highs, still are remarkably formulaic, and no matter how spectacular the results, the status quo must be kept relatively in tact. Comic books and graphic novels, no matter how mature they have become, regardless of the expansion of what a “comic book” can be about these days, will still be a medium that is catered to the fantasies of young boys and girls (I’m being inclusive here, even though the breakdown is close to 85% boys).

X-Force #26 – Second Coming Chapter 5

In this issue an X-Man dies and it is nearly impossible to tell you about the story without spoiling it for you as well. If you have not seen Marvel’s marketing for the issue then you will go in with some degree of innocence. If you did peak at the ad, then from the recap of this issue you will know who died. I will say who died at the end of the review so consider yourself warned!

Chapter five of X-Men Second Coming invades the pages of X-Force. Cable and Hope have become separated on their journey to find the X-Men, although in Hope’s case, they found her. While divisions of the X-Men are fighting all over the country with Bastion’s evil posse

Ultimate Avengers 2 – #1

Welcome to Ultimate Comics Avengers 2 #1, the sole owner of the most uninspiring five pages in comic book history. The man responsible for those five pages… None other than comic book fans favorite Mark Millar (Wanted, Kick Ass). Not only are the first five page devoid of all entertainment value, they’re just flat out embarrassing.

The issue begins with the Punisher “getting busy”  with his guns that go “Choomf” (Millar’s words not mine). Castle has been spending the last two months working his way through an Eastern European crime family all in the hunt for their local boss, Joseph Petrenko, a.k.a. Russia’s Red Hammer. Petrenko runs one of the largest human trafficking outfits in the country. Castle’s opportunity finally arrives to take Petrenko out. He learns the hard way that S.H.E.I.L.D has caught up with him using the ol’ bait and switch. No Red Hammer, just a red face courtesy of Captain America. Once in custody, Nick Fury and Black Widow make Castle an offer he can’t refuse: A stint on death row or working with them in S.H.E.I.L.D’s new black ops program. He should have gone with death row! They do the jobs that Captain America and his friends would balk at…hence the reason they’re looking for a Captain America of their own.

The Magdalena #1 – Review

The Magdalena is yet another weapon wielding generational based heroine in the Top Cow Universe. When Christ died on the cross Mary Magdalene was baring his child. Hence forth the bloodline of Christ has remained unbroken and each generation selects one girl as, you guessed it, the Magdalena. She serves the hidden order of the church as their weapon of justice and vengeance. They yield the Spear of Destiny as their weapon in their battles against demons and hell.

The emphasis of the issue is that there can only be one Magdalena per a generation, the problem is that the current Magdalena (Patience) has decided to no longer serve the church. Kristof is sent by the church to either bring her back to the flock or take her out of the picture for good. It’s apparent in his dialog that he has feeling for Patience and wants to keep her as the Magdalena. Kristof feels that she’s the only one to deal with the current threat… The anti-Christ! The church gives him a chance with Patience or they will start training the un-named blonde waiting to replace her.

DV8: Gods and Monsters 1 of 8

The story begins with Copycat locked in a room. A voice comes on overhead asking her to remember everything that happened to her. She cooperates with the voice on the condition of being allowed to “see it”, which “it” turns out to be shattered planet earth. Copycat recaps falling to earth in the middle of a battle between groups of “Bronze Age” men. Frostbite, another member of super powered DV8, runs through the battle to grab her up. Copycat is then debriefed by Frostbite who explains what’s happened to the team.

The rest of DV8 arrived to the planet much earlier than Copycat. The team arrives in the middle of nowhere and they begin fighting amongst themselves almost instantly. The team pushes forward and makes camp for the night. Soon each member begin to disappear. They sometimes disappear in the middle of the night, others after talking with the natives. This continues until only Frostbite is left.

Green Lantern #53

The Blackest Night has ended, evil has been vanquished and now the Brightest Day begins. With every question that Geoff Johns (Blackest Night, Flash) has answered with the Blackest Night series there won’t be any other mysteries left for Green Lantern or the DC universe. Fear not, there’s actually a bigger mystery in the works now.

We begin with Hector Hammond, a man who looks a little like Sinestro, if Sinestro was a bobble head. He’s speaking with someone telepathically on the Planet Ryut in the lost section of the universe. Our mystery person looks a lot like a Guardian but their face and body are hidden from the reader. They do however have their ankles bound with a green chain. The mystery person reveals they protected the universe for the Guardians before the Green Lantern Corps and even before the Manhunters, We are left with an image of pillars representing the seven Corps and Parallax chained to the Fear pillar.

PSA – Free Comic Book Day This Saturday

Whether you’re new or old to comic books, this Saturday is a chance to get FREE comics. Seriously who doesn’t like free stuff? If you want to see if your comic book store is participating, head over to FreeComicBookDay.com and type your zip code into the handy locator to find a participating retailer near you.

Some highlights of free issues include: Doctor Solar/Magnus, War of the Supermen, Iron Man/Thor, Toy Story, Irredeemable, DC Kids,The Tick, Green Hornet, Artifacts: First Look and several others.