QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 03-26-08

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 03-26-08
By John Judy

ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #10 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. This comic won the 2007 Eisner Award for “Best Continuing Series.” Next issue will win the award for 2009. Technically that counts as “Continuing.” The trick to enjoying Grant Morrison comics is to treat the existence of each issue as an unexpected delight and never expect another one. It works, so help me.

APOCALYPSE NERD SC written and drawn by Peter Bagge. Kim Jong Il has nuked Seattle (just go with it) and now software engineer Perry and his friend Gordo struggle to survive in the aftermath. Dark humor and adventure from the creator of HATE and THE BRADLEYS. Recommended.

ASTERIX OMNIBUS VOL. 1 & 2, HC & SC by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. Have you ever wished you could have three of those skinny ASTERIX books bound into one volume? How about six into two? Well this is your week, my friend. Recommended for all ages. Enjoy!

BLACK PANTHER #34 by Reginald Hudlin and Francis Portela. T’Challa and Storm leave space behind to settle some business at home. Battles Royale ensue.

CLOUDS ABOVE SC written and illustrated by Jordan Crane. A book-length, all-ages adventure of a boy and his cat. Originally a HC release in 2005 this paperback edition contains five pages of new material. Very cool. Recommended.

DAN DARE #5 of 7 by Garth Ennis and Gary Erskine. As the Mekon makes his move Dan takes command of the fleet. Great stuff for fans of space opera, war comics, and Ennis/Erskine.

DAREDEVIL #106 by Ed Brubaker and Paul Azaceta. DD grapples with the finality of his wife's madness. Punks beware! Recommended.

GRAVEL #2 by Warren Ellis Mike Wolfer, and Raulo Caceres. Combat Magician versus stampeding, blood-thirsty ghost horses! Didn’t Casper have one of those? Yeah, “Nightmare the Ghost Horse.” She was sweet….

GREEN LANTERN #29 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. A flashback to the early days of Hal Jordan’s GL career and the beginnings of Sinestro’s obsession with “Darkest Night.”

HELLBLAZER #242 by Andy Diggle and Leonardo Manco. Constantine’s enemies team up to get him! Will they ever learn…?

JACK KIRBY’S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS VOL. 4 HC written and illustrated by The King! The final volume of the Forever People, New Gods, Mister Miracle, and lots of extras!

MIGHTY AVENGERS #11 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley. It’s Bagley’s last issue featuring a diabolical dust-up with Doctor Doom!

NEW AVENGERS #39 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack. KABUKI creator David Mack illustrates Echo versus the Skrulls.

PREVIEWS from Diamond and Marvel Comics. Who knows where we’ll all be in three months? Only Marvel and Diamond Comics.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: BOOSTER GOLD VOL. 1 SC by Dan Jurgens, John Byrne and others. Collecting the first 25 issues. Why not?

SPIDER-MAN: WITH GREAT POWER #3 of 5 by David Lapham and Tony Harris. The early days of Spidey’s wrestling career when Uncle Ben still lived and life sucked anyway. This comic doesn’t. Great art. Great fun.

SPIRIT #15 by Mark Evanier, Sergio Aragones, and Mike Ploog. Featuring action, laughs, and diamond smuggling! Recommended!

TRANSHUMAN #1 of 4 by Jonathan Hickman and Jm Ringuet. A mockumentary-style comic about the creation and marketing of the world’s first superhumans by the creator of NIGHTLY NEWS, PAX ROMANA, and RED MASS FOR MARS. “Spinal Tap” Meets Supers! Yowza!

ULTIMATE HUMAN #3 of 4 by Warren Ellis and Cary Nord. More sock ‘em ups with Ultimate Cannibal Hulk and Ultimate Drunk Iron Man!

WOLVERINE FIRST CLASS #1 by Fred Van Lente and Andrea Di Vito. Could the co-creator of ACTION PHILOSOPHERS possibly be giving us that rarest of creations, a WOLVERINE comic that does not suck? Signs point to “Maybe.” Guest-starring Kitty Pryde and the X-Men.

WORLD WAR HULK: AFTERSMASH: DAMAGE CONTROL #3 of 3 by Dwayne McDuffie and Salva Espin. This has been a funny, clever little mini-series even if the title screams "Marvel Zombies Only!" Worth a read now or in trade.

X-MEN LEGACY #209 by Mike Carey and Scot Eaton. Formerly known as just plain old "X-MEN" this issue features another philosophical tete-a-tete between Magneto and Professor X. There's fights and lasers too.

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