QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 02-04-09

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 02-04-09
By John Judy

30 DAYS OF NIGHT: TIL DEATH #3 written and drawn by David Lapham. Will Rufus the vampire finally be forced out of his carefully constructed closet? The best work Lapham’s done in quite a while. Recommended.

ADVENTURE COMICS #0 by Otto Binder and Al Plastino. Wanna read the very first appearance of the Legion of Super-Heroes for only a buck? Yes, you do. Here it is.

AGENTS OF ATLAS #1 by Jeff Parker and Carlo Pagulayan. Jimmy Woo’s heroes of the fifties are fighting Norman Osborn in the present and Wolverine back in the day. Two stories for the price of one! Hoo-hah! A title that keeps on being much better than you’d think. Recommended.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #585 by Marc Guggenheim and John Romita Jr. “Menace, Osborns, Spider-Tracer Killer, blah, blah, blah, wrap it up already!” BTW, do you know the Spidey/Obama issue (#583) is now on its fourth printing and still selling like hotcakes? That’s right, President Obama has made comics the only American industry currently showing a profit! “Yes we can!”

ASTONISHING TALES #1 by Lotsa People. It’s Marvel’s latest anthology book. This month it has two Iron Men, Wolverine, Punisher, and a couple of old New Mutants.

BANG TANGO #1 of 6 by Joe Kelly and Adrian Sibar. An ex-gangster tries to find peace as a tango dancer in this six-issue mini that just cries out for Antonio Banderas to make it into a movie.

BLACK PANTHER 2 #1 by Reginald Hudlin and Ken Lashley. Black Panther’s a girl now. Hubba-hubba.

THE BOYS #27 by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. Things keep getting progressively more uncomfortable for Wee Hughie. And the G-Men aren’t the worst of it. Not for kids.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #22 by Steven S. DeKnight and Georges Jeanty. How can you not love a comic book that opens with two lesbian slayers beating up a monster together? Recommended, teens and up.

FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #3 of 5 by Geoff Johns and George Perez. Two more issues until FC is truly behind us. Could this be the final FINAL CRISIS? Let’s hope so. Actually, this spin-off is Johns/Perez so it’s quite good. No more Big Events though, DC, unless Geoff Johns writes every word. Mean it.

I AM LEGION #1 of 8 by Fabien Nury and John Cassaday. A new American release of a European graphic novel series from 2003. Nazis, vampires and spies all done up in that elegant Cassaday style. Hard to resist a look...

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #22 by Duane Swierczynski and Travel Foreman. Next stop: The Eighth City of Heaven. Please move to the center of the car.

MIGHTY AVENGERS #21 by Dan Slott and Khoi Pham. The latest Avengers team is built around Hank Pym. Tick, tick, tick, tick…

SANDMAN: DREAM HUNTERS #4 of 4 by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell. The final issue in which we learn never to give a fox reason for revenge. Recommended.

SECRET SIX #6 by Gail Simone and Nicola Scott. Y’know, as creepy as the whole Rag Doll mythos has become since James Robinson made him a Manson-like serial killer back in STARMAN, there’s something about it that just works. Kudos to Gail Simone for keeping the sick magic alive.

SECRET WARRIORS #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Stefano Caselli. It’s the newest Nick Fury super-spy book with a twist of Bendis.

ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS HULK #1 by Damon Lindelof and Leinil Francis Yu. This is a new printing of a comic that shipped its most recent issue three years ago. Marvel is hinting they may be ready to publish the remaining four issues this year, but only if you send Nigerian Prince Joe Quesada your PIN number. Too violent for the little ones.

X-MEN: MAGNETO TESTAMENT #5 of 5 by Greg Pak and Carmine DiGiandomenico. The final chapter of how the holocaust turned a young boy into the single-minded mutant revolutionary, Magneto. The best Greg Pak story I’ve ever read. Seriously. Kudos.

X-MEN: NOIR #3 of 4 by Fred Van Lente and Dennis Calero. In a place called Chinatown, Slim Summers stares down the little brute with his fists full of knives. These are your great-grand-daddy’s X-Men. Highly recommended.

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