Super Serial: Art Imitates Art

What a big week for comics! DC puts out its final issues of Blackhawks and the Uncharted mini-series, finishes up the over-looked and under-whelming "Rise of the Vampires" cross-over, and sets up its new line wide event "The Culling" with a prelude in Teen Titans #8!

Of course, the big news on everyone's minds this week is over at Marvel, with the final issue of the blockbuster mini-series Battle Scars. In it, they replace the current Nick Fury with a character more in line to the Sam Jackson interpretation. Whether you love or hate the idea of the Marvel Movie-verse influencing the comics, you have to admit that the future spy adventures of Nick Fury Jr. and Phil Coulson sounds like a fun idea.

That's not all that Marvel did this week either! They also wrapped up the amazing street level event "The Omega Effect" and finished several series such as The Twelve and the much under-appreciated Moon Knight. The latest Dark Tower mini-series also came to an end, and fans of that series will keep on enjoying it.



With all those books ending, replacements had to be made, of course. The "Marvel Universe" branding gets a new book based on the abysmal Ultimate Spider-Man television show and the Cap and Bucky book gets a re-title and a new direction in the form of Captain American &; a guest team-up book in the vein of Avenging Spider-Man. The first arc features Cap and Hawkeye fighting dinosaurs. Count me in.

In addition, the famous Jason Aaron run on Wolverine ended last month, with the team of Cullen Bunn & Paul Pelletier taking the reigns for now. It's only one issue in, but it's not exactly living up to expectations so far.

Last but also least, the new mini-series tie-in to the blockbuster event of 2012 kicks off. Avengers vs. X-Men: Versus (yes that's the title) takes fights from the main books and expands them to a book of their own. If you think that sounds wholly unnecessary and thoughtless than you'd be right. That's all I'll say on the matter.

AvX notwithstanding, Marvel actually had a great line-up this week. I had a hard time whittling down a Top 5, with Astonishing X-Men, Moon Knight, Uncanny X-Men, and Secret Avengers all just barely not making the cut. After much deliberation, here are my Top 5 for the week:






#5 - The New Deadwardians #2: Such a refreshing new series. An interesting murder mystery set in the backdrop of a Vampire/Zombie war. In Victorian England. Yes please. Its something that I've truly never seen before, and in this day and age of comics that is certainly a rare treat. Not much else to say, pick it up if you want a vampire or zombie story that isn't a carbon copy of all the others.

#4 - Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates #9: Wow does Hickman know how to tell an epic yarn. The big battle between the Children and the People finally kicks off, and to top that off we have a sub-plot of the American government taking over S.H.I.E.L.D. and launching nukes at Europe. There were at least two pages in this issue where I just stared at the art in awe for a good minute. This book seriously doesn't know the meaning of the word "status quo"; I'm eagerly anticipating where it goes from here.

#3 -  Daredevil #11: The conclusion of "The Omega Effect" is a slight bit of a disappointment compared to the other two issues; mostly due to the ending. The main goal of the arc was not really accomplished, and I wouldn't be surprised if an "Omega Effect 2" event pops up in a few months. Having said that it's still a great issue. Spider-Man is kind of unnecessary here, providing only comic relief, but the three other characters come out of this cross-over with a large amount of development. Punisher and his lady-friend are the best off in this regard, with hints of a new direction for Cole-Alves in the coming issues. If you are fan of any of these characters I'd advise picking up this issue, and the whole event.

#2 - Green Lantern: New Guardians #8: I'll be the first to admit I'm a bit of a fan-boy for the various Lantern Corps factions. This is probably the best Power Rangers comic I'll ever get. And if you are like me, you will love this issue. We are finally done with that Invictus arc (for now) and we get a stand-alone featuring Arkillo and the fate of the Yellow Lantern Corps after the events in the main GL title. I love the attempts to bridge an over-all GL continuity between the four books and this issue more than anything shows how every Corps is in dire straits. It's all building up to the "Third Army" event, and I couldn't be happier to be along for the ride.

#1 - FF #17:There is no question, every person on the planet should buy this issue. The premise is Peter Parker and Johnny Blaze are room-mates. Cue the insanity. That's really all you need to know. Dragotta is not exactly my cup of tea, but the art only slightly brings down the glory of the issue. If you think throwing a wild party with the Universal Inhumans sounds like fun, than you will adore this book. I don't want to give away too much but I'll just say this: Johnny Blaze getting arrested, hitting on a mounted cop, while his friend Midnight Blade hits on the horse. I've lauded the writing skills of Hickman before, but this is sheer brilliance. Go pick it up now.




And that's it! Tune in next time (tomorrow maybe?) where I'll talk about the shows for the week, which is quickly becoming the "praise Young Justice and then mention the other shows that pale in comparison" corner.

Until next time comic fans, stay golden!