QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 06-11-08

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 06-11-08
By John Judy

ABSOLUTE SANDMAN VOL. 3 HC by Neil Gaiman and Various Artists. For all of us who don’t already have every trade collection in soft and hardcover first prints.

ACTION COMICS #866 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. Time to duke it out with Brainiac. Again.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #562 by Bob Gale and Mike McKone. Featuring a fake Spidey, compulsive gambling, and a last page gag that frustrated Marvel fans should appreciate.

ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #8 by Joss Whedon, Brian Lynch and a Host of Others. Wrapping up the first night in Hell stories in which things got problematic.

BOOSTER GOLD #10 by Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz and Dan Jurgens. Booster learns someone’s gotta die. It was really cool having “someone” back for a while….

BPRD: WAR ON FROGS #1 by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and Herb Trimpe. “Down to the family crypt. Two of the frogs, formerly Cavendish brothers, were there too. They seemed to be taking their mother’s corpse into the crypt for burial – under the waters of the flooded chamber.” Good times! Recommended!

COMPLETE LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE VOL. 1 HC by Harold Gray. Collecting over 1000 of the original daily strips from 1924 – 1927. Featuring Sandy the dog, Daddy Warbucks and no pupils! Ever! “Leapin’ lizards!” Recommended.

DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #7 by Warren Ellis and Ivan Rodriguez. Remember “Desolation Jones?” Me neither. This one features a naughty nurse, so that’s good.

ETERNALS #1 by Charles & Daniel Knauf and Daniel Acuna. Continuing where Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr. left off. Best appreciated by hardcore Marvel Zombies.

GOON #25 written and illustrated by Eric Powell. “What the hell is that?” “I dunno, we found it in a ditch and slung a rope round its neck. It goes flyin’ into a fit when you throw firecrackers at it. Watch.” Highly recommended.

NEWUNIVERSAL SHOCKFRONT #2 of 6 by Warren Ellis and Steve Kurth. Someone gets killed playing football so right there you have your entertainment value. Recommended.

SECRET INVASION: WHO DO YOU TRUST? by Lotsa People. Five stories! Only $3.99! Skrulls!

SKYSCRAPERS OF THE MIDWEST HC written and illustrated by Joshua Cotter. Observations of childhood isolation and existence in the American Midwest. With giant robots. Eisner Award- nominated. Recommended.

TRINITY #2 by Kurt Busiek and a Huge Support Staff. It’s Supes, Bats, and WW! Every week! Hopefully this will wash the taste of “Countdown” out of your brain!

THE TWELVE #6 of 12 by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston. Lotsa action and the Origin of Rockman, Underground Secret Agent! Highly recommended!

WONDER WOMAN #21 by Gail Simone and Aaron Lopresti. WW teams up with Beowulf and Stalker, even though Stalker was a bad guy last time I read “JSA All-Stars.” Oh well, it’s Gail Simone. She’ll make it work.

X-FORCE AIN’T NO DOG by Charlie Huston and Jefte Palo AND Jason Aaron and Werther Dell’Edera. Featuring two stand-alone stories. The first is a vicious “Frank Miller’s Sin City” type of thing starring evil sociopath Wolverine. The second is a more nuanced short focusing on James Proudstar and his moral concerns at being groomed as an assassin by evil sociopath “heroes” with Xs on their costumes. It’s by Jason Aaron who writes “Scalped” so it’s a level above most X-Force material. Summing up, this X-Force is a dog but at least it knows a few tricks.

YOUNG LIARS #4 written and drawn by David Lapham. Until the next issue of “Stray Bullets” comes out we have this.

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