QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 08-20-08

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 08-20-08
By John Judy

AIR #1 by G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker. Something about air travel, terrorism and countries that don’t exist. Okay. Sure looks pretty though. Not for kids.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #568 by Dan Slott and John Romita R with a back-up by Mark Waid and Adi Granov. Ominous doings with the Osborn boys and the man once known as Venom gets reflective. Pretty darn good issue.

BRAVE AND THE BOLD #16 by Mark Waid and Scott Kolins. Superman and Catwoman! They’re just trying to make Batman jealous…

CAPTAIN AMERICA #41 by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting. Cap may be “dead” but his villains have never been more interesting. Sucks to be Sharon Carter though…

FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #1 of 5 by Geoff Johns and George Perez. Time-Trapper, Superboy-Prime, Huge Fights! It’s Perez so you know it’ll look great and Johns so you know it’ll make sense! Recommended!

GHOST RIDER #26 by Jason Aaron and Tan Eng Huat. Danny Ketch is back, no doubt to get his flaming skull handed to him by the real Ghost Rider. From the author of SCALPED! Recommended!

HERBIE ARCHIVES VOL.1 HC by Shane O’Shea (Richard Hughes) and Ogden Whitney. Collecting the earliest adventures of The Fat Fury and his magic lollipops. Hey, it was the sixties and he went after Castro! Did you ever go after Castro? Weird stuff for them that likes it. Go Herbie!

IRON FIST: ORIGIN OF DANNY RAND by Lotsa People including Matt Fraction and Kano. He knows kung-fu!

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #24 by Dwayne McDuffie and Ed Benes. Okay, normally I wouldn’t care who had control of the Tantu Totem but this story has actually maintained my interest. Fun stuff! Tantus all around!

PUNISHER #61 by Greg Hurwitz and Laurence Campbell. The post-Ennis era starts here and it ain’t half-bad. Let’s give these plucky lads their fair shake, eh? Recommended.

SANDMAN PRESENTS: DEAD BOY DETECTIVES SC by Ed Brubaker, Bryan Talbot and Steve Leialoha. Collecting the first bunch of stories from back before everyone knew how awesome Brubaker was. Gotta look!

SCALPED #20 by Jason Aaron and Davide Furno. More revelations from the twisted past of Dash’s crackhead significant other, Carol. Everyone should be reading this series, except for kids. Highly recommended.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: THE ATOM VOL. 2 SC by Gardner Fox, Dennis O’Neil, Gil Kane, Murphy Anderson and Others. Collecting the Silver-Age adventures of the Mighty Mite from ATOM #18-38 and ATOM AND HAWKMAN #39-45. Expensive comics found cheaply here!

UNCANNY X-MEN #501 by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction and Greg Land. I tried reading this but was blinded by the rows of white teeth Greg Land traced from fashion magazines and various soft-core websites. The new drinking game is: Every time you recognize a starlet Land traced for an Emma Frost pose you have to drink. Hide your car keys before playing.

X-FACTOR #34 by Peter David and Larry Stroman. She-Hulk! Long-Shot! Skrulls! Hijinks galore!

X-FACTOR SPECIAL: LAYLA MILLER #1 by Peter David and Valentine DeLandro. A one-shot based upon a character who is clearly one of PAD’s favorites. Really good stuff even though I usually hate dystopian alternate future stories. Worth a read.

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