QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 04-16-08

Click for some visual links (covers)

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 04-16-08
By John Judy

AVENGERS INITIATIVE #11 by Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli. “Killed in Action” wraps up here with Camp Hammond giving Camp Crystal Lake a run for its blood money! Recommended.

BRAVE AND BOLD #12 by Mark Waid and George Perez. All twelve issues have led up to this grand finale: A big fight with an evil wizard. Those are always great!

CAPTAIN AMERICA #37 by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting. Cap still “dead.” Red Skull still evil. This comic still awesome anyway. Recommended.

DC WILDSTORM DREAMWAR #1 of 6 by Keith Giffen, Lee Garbett, and Trevor Scott. A cross-over between the big guns of the DCU and all those Wildstorm guys you’re not reading.

DMZ #30 by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli. Intrepid indy journalist Matty Roth gets his story rejected by all major news outlets. That’ll teach him to write about John McCain’s lobbyist girlfriend! Look! Kitty-cats with string!

GHOST RIDER #22 by Jason Aaron and Roland Boschi. The story is called “Deathrace on Ghost Cannibal Highway” and it’s written by the guy who created SCALPED. If you don’t read this you’re crazier than the guys who greenlit the “Ghost Rider” screenplay. Highly recommended for teens on up.

GRENDEL: BEHOLD THE DEVIL #6 of 8 written and drawn by Matt Wagner. If you’re being pursued by a mystical super-predator sometimes it feels really good to take out all your frustrations on the Korean mob. At least that’s what Grandma always said. Recommended.

HELLBLAZER #243 by Andy Diggle and Giuseppe Camuncoli. Bad doings at the Vatican, even worse than usual. So who ya gonna call? The start of a blasphemously fun two-parter. Recommended.

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC by Stan Lee, Don Heck, Gene Colan, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Others. Collecting TALES OF SUSPENSE #39-83 and TALES TO ASTONISH #82, this volume has the earliest IM adventures from the bad old days of the Cold War, plus lots of extras. Great for all ages, highly recommended.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: CAPTAIN MARVEL VOL. 3 HC by Jim Starlin and Others. Okay, if you buy one Captain Mar-Vell book in your life this should probably be it. This one collects issues #22-33 in which Mar-Vell went cosmic and Starlin started channeling Steve Ditko through an LSD filter. This is the stuff that defined the character and made us all kind of happy when Starlin killed him off so nobody else could screw him up. At least not for 20 years or so… Highly Recommended.

NIXON’S PALS GN by Joe Casey and Chris Burnham. The story of an LA parole officer on the super-villain beat. “Elmore Leonard meets Jack Kirby!” Not for kids but otherwise recommended!

PIGEONS FROM HELL #1 by Joe R. Lansdale and Nathan Fox. A modern-day adaptation of a classic Robert E. Howard tale about… well, y’know… pigeons. From Hell. It’s really pretty cool. Take a look.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES VOL.2 SC by Jerry Siegel, Jim Shooter, Curt Swan, Jim Mooney, and Others. Classic tales from the Silver-Age of super sci-fi. Great stuff for all ages. Recommended.

SUPERMAN #675 by Kurt Busiek and Renato Guedes. Busiek’s final issue! Alex Ross cover! Galactic Golem! And Supes fights everybody! This week’s “Gotta-look!”

WAR IS HELL: FIRST FLIGHT OF THE PHANTOM EAGLE #2 of 5 by Garth Ennis and Howard Chaykin. World War I flying ace Karl Kaufman must prove his worth as a fighter before his fellow fliers discover that maybe he ain’t supposed to be there… Ennis/Chaykin level mature themes so this is recommended only for older teens and up. But highly so.

X-FACTOR #30 by Peter David and Valentine DeLandro. It’s the return of Arcade, the villain who builds giant pinball machines to kill superheroes with! How come they never do that in the movies, huh? Classic stuff.

X-MEN: DIVIDED WE STAND #1 of 2 by Lotsa People. This has mutants.

And don’t forget Free Comic Book Day coming up Saturday May 3rd at respectable comic stores everywhere!

www.johnjudy.net