Pariah

June 30 Comic Books

Powerless #1 (Marvel)--I think this mini-series has some promise, although the first issue left me scratching my head a bit. The premise is this: what if Peter Parker, Matt Murdock and Logan didn’t have super-powers, would they still be heroes? The story is told from the POV of a psychiatrist who’s just woken up from a mysterious coma. Parker is a new patient, Murdock is a defense lawyer asking him to testify on the behalf of one of his clients and Logan makes a menacing appearance in the last panel. Like I said, interesting premise, so I’ll stick with it a bit longer; but the first issue wasn’t what I was expecting.

Doom Patrol #1 (DC)—This is a superhero group that has seen a few incarnations over the last few decades. The writer and penciler, John Byrne, is famous (infamous, in some circles) for revamping (or screwing around with) established mythos. Byrne also happens to almost single-handedly responsible for my interest (unhealthy obsession?) with comics—he was the artist on the X-Men, Hulk, FF and other big-name titles in the 80’s. Anyway, Doom Patrol was pretty good, if you’re looking for a comic you can pick up and not be too lost, this is a pretty good one.

Justice League of America #100 (DC)—Artist: crap. Writing: eh. Why will I buy the next issue? I’m riding out the storm because I have all of the previous issues 1-99.

Punisher #8 (Marvel)—This isn’t your father’s comic book. Punisher is being published under Marvel’s MAX line, which means anything goes, and anything and everything usually does. Expletives abound, and violent content that would make Quinten Tarrintino flinch is found on ever other page. Great writing from Garth Ennis, too; it’s not just about shock value. I HIGHLY recommend this title, the current story arc (The IRA is bombing NY) started in issue #7 —go out and get issues 1-6, too.


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A note about the next two “Ultimate” titles: If you hang around a comic book store for more than five minutes you’ll hear fanboy geeks (like me) talking about “continuity.” Keeping straight what happened in every prior comic book becomes a real bear for writers and intimidating for new/younger customers. Marvel’s answer? They started a “new universe” of old characters called the Ultimate Universe. Each title starts from scratch with continuity but generally follow the established mythos for each character (i.e.—Spider-Man is a slightly geeky teenager who lives with his Aunt May and faces off against Doc Ock, Green Goblin, The Lizard, etc..) with updating/slight changes. Most all of the ultimate lines would be easy to pick up for a newbie, and most all of the past “ultimate” story arcs have been collected in trade paperback formats and should be easy to find at cover price.
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Ultimate Fantastic Four #8 (Marvel)—I’m enjoying the writing and pencils, but I’m a little dismayed at the age of the characters. They’ve made the FF pretty young, and that idea has bled over to some of the initial development of the FF movie from what I hear. Bummer. But, the comic is pretty good so far.

Ultimate X-Men #48 (Marvel)—Damn good writing going on in this title since the beginning. It really draws out the idea that these kids (and, yes, they are kids) are outcasts. Good stuff, Maynard.


Batman #629 (DC)--Remember Judd from "The Real World SF?" He was the uptight guy who hated Puck, loved Rachel and cried for Pedro. Judd Winnick is his name and now he writes Batman. And, he does it surprisingly damned good. He's following a tough act; a couple of issues ago ended the "Hush" storyline with Jim Lee and Jeff Loeb which was critically and fan acclaimed--It took "Batman" from the middle of the charts to the top every month.

Haven’t read yet, but picked up:
Green Lantern #178 (DC)
Iron Man #430 (Marvel)

I’ll edit the post after I’ve read the last two.

EDIT: Read Batman.

__________________
America cannot have an empire abroad and a Republic at home.

Hordispack

Punisher #8 (Marvel)—This isn’t your father’s comic book. Punisher is being published under Marvel’s MAX line, which means anything goes, and anything and everything usually does. Expletives abound, and violent content that would make Quinten Tarrintino flinch is found on ever other page. Great writing from Garth Ennis, too; it’s not just about shock value. I HIGHLY recommend this title, the current story arc (The IRA is bombing NY) started in issue #7 —go out and get issues 1-6, too.


They are "comic" books? Why do they need a MAX line. My son loves Punisher. I hope he doesn't get his hands on a MAX line one by mistake. Must everything have adult content?.

Pariah

Msot of marvel doesn't have adult content, or at least not graphic adult content (although some of the mainstream Marvel titles do get into some PG-13 stuff, IMO). They also have a line of "comics for kids," which seems redundant. Most comics should be for kids, IMO.

But yeah, depending on how old your kid is, you might want to take a look at his stack and see if there's anything with the word "MAX" in the upper left corner. (and then takle it and read it when you're in the can.)

__________________
America cannot have an empire abroad and a Republic at home.

Pariah

Now you've all gone and done it. There will be no more weekly comic book thread. It's been cancelled by the higher-ups (hey, that's me! cool!).

__________________
America cannot have an empire abroad and a Republic at home.