Freak Comics

In this issue Crispus Allen is about to lose it even though he’s dead, and yet another tenant is linked to the murder of the slum lord who died 6 issues ago. This time it’s Nathan Munie. Munie happened upon the landlord who was chained up in the boiler room of the high rise.
At the end of the issue Munie attempts to commit suicide by hoping off the top of the apartment complex. Crispus finally gains mastery over the Spectre by forcing him to bond with Crispus in time to save the plummeting key to this murder mystery.
During this drama something interesting happens: Crispus Allen’s old partner recognizes his face although he is in his Spectre form. No telling how this will play out.

I’ve enjoyed this series from the beginning. I hope DC brings Tales of the Unexpected back, or at least considers a Spectre comic.

Looks like times are a changin’ again for Oliver Queen… again. First the infinite crisis hit which caused Ollie to head to a remote island where he learns assassin-ninja techniques from Natas, then he fights off a veritable army of assassins hired by Natas to kill him. Then it’s back to Star City for the Green Arrow where he becomes the Mayor and starts cleaning up his old digs.

At the very end of Green Arrow #72 we find out that Ollie’s secret funding of the Outsiders has been revealed. Green Arrow #73 focuses on Ollie’s own personal crisis. It turns out he signed a deal with his competitor Nudocerdo, a dirty cop who will surely win the seat of Mayor as Oliver’s approval rating has slipped to next to nothing due to his secrets.

This particular issue was no thriller, rather it was setting up for events to come. It looks like the Green Arrow will be losing his role of Mayor. That’s not really such a huge deal since he’ll be losing his entire comic two issues from now.

While Green Arrow certainly isn’t the best comic on my list, it definitely out ranks others, such as Wonder Woman and even the recent issues of Superman and Action Comics. I’m not sure what DC plans to do with this title. I know it will make a return at some point, but I have no idea when this will happen.

DC announced the end of the Green Arrow a while back at the Wondercon DC Nation Panel.

Today World War 3 has arrived. The long awaited 52 issue #50 will finally be available for purchase later today. It marks the beginning of World War 3, a mini event which spans 4 one shots which are also being made available later today.

I’m very excited about this event. I’ve been following 52 for nearly a year now and it’s never let me down… not for one issue. I plan on writing up a full review on World War III tomorrow, so be sure to check in.

Here are the official titles and descriptions from DC Comics on World War 3:

52 #50

The end is near! As the year races towards its close, we follow our heroes through their final steps in space — and time! From the mean streets of Gotham to the far reaches of deep space, the last weeks tick down to their shattering conclusion. World War III is just the beginning! Plus, more origins of the DC Universe, including the JLA with Ethan Van Sciver and Batman with Andy Kubert! These final issues feature art by Darick Robertson, Eddy Barrows, Joe Bennett, Justiniano and more.

World War III Part 1: A Call to Arms

It is a day of infamy. Chaos has broken out across the globe, and Firestorm and Firehawk are among the many mobilizing to stem the flow of blood and thunder.
32 Pages Written by Keith Champagne, Art by Pat Oliffe & Drew Geraci, Cover by Ethan Van Sciver

World War III Part 2: The Valiant

The war rages on, extending from the far reaches of space, where Supergirl encounters a missing hero, to the darkest depths of the ocean, where the fate of Aquaman is revealed.
32 Pages Written by Keith Champagne, Art by Andy Smith & Ray Snyder, Cover by by Ethan Van Sciver

World War III Part 3: Hell is for Heroes

The horrors of war become grim reality for the Teen Titans, as they suffer the loss of one of their own.
32 pages Written by John Ostrander, Art by Tom Derenick & Norm Rapmund, Cover by by Ethan Van Sciver

World War III Part 4: United We Stand

Through the fog of war, a hero is reborn, and the DC Universe bands together against the wrath of an ancient evil!
32 Pages Written by John Ostrander, Art by Jack Jadson and Rodney Ramos, Cover by by Ethan Van Sciver

Marvel Zombies Dead Days is a prequel to Marvel Comics smash hit, Marvel Zombies. It’s written by Robert Kirkman and will almost assuredly be 48 pages of awesome!
Click the following images for a better view.

This was an awesome issue as usual. I’ve been following this series from the beginning and waiting for it to get bad, but it refuses to slow down. Grant Morrison knows 1950s Superman better than any other writer today. In fact I’d venture to say he knows him better than the original 1950’s authors themselves.

The problem with Superman in the 1950s era was the campy writing. The awesome part was the imagination that was put in to Superman’s life and strange habits, such as his Intergalactic Zoo, the weird characters he encountered, and the sheer absurdity of the world he lived in. Grant Morrison has brought that world back to life minus the campy writing.

In this issue Superman is releasing his Sun Eater back in to the cosmos when he happens to encounter an attack from the underverse. Bizzaro is back and he’s duplicating Earth’s population in an attempt to seem less harmful. At the end of the issue Superman ends up on the square planet Htrea which is Bizzaro’s home planet, where he encounters Zibbaro, an intelligent version of Bizzaro. This is the first in a two part story (the first time All Star Superman has been broken in up in two parts).

Every issue of this comic is well written and beautifully illustrated. There are very few comics that I actually look forward to reading each month, this is one of them. I highly recommend it.

It’s a shame the same can’t be said for All Star Batman. Is that piece of crap even being produced anymore?

I wasn’t all that impressed with this issue. It featured Harley Quinn who is stuck in Arkham Asylum and is up for a hearing. The vote comes down to Bruce Wayne who turns her down.
On the way back to her cell, the guard breaks Harley out of prison. It turns out the guard is a goon named Moose who is working for Sugar, the new ventriloquist. Harley ends up calling the police and going back to Arkham on her own accord. This causes Bruce Wayne to reverse his decision at her next hearing and she’s released back in to society.

I’m getting a little bored with Paul Dini’s run on Detective Comics. His mediocre reintroduction’s to the most overused villains in Gotham City feel like they’re setting up for future story arcs, rather than sustaining any viable interest themselves. The exception to this statement being Detective Comics #826 which I really enjoyed.

It’s not that Dini is a bad writer. I think his dialogue is pretty good and the stories are well paced, and have slightly interesting plots, but overall I find Detective Comics to be boring. It’s been focusing far too long on the villains and not enough on Batman. Each one of Dini’s issues has a similar formula: villains that aren’t quite villains any more. The Penguin is now a nightclub owner, the Riddler is a private detective, and now Harley was released from Arkham on Bruce Wayne’s recommendation because she turned herself in after being busted out of prison.

All things considered Detective Comics smacks of Batman the Animated Series. They aren’t horrible comics, they’re just not spectacular either. I’m ready for a change. I don’t care if it’s a change in writers or a change in formulas. I’m just sick of reading overdone plots.

I am enjoying this series. It’s not at all what I expected. I nearly didn’t buy in to it and wasn’t sure what to expect.

In this issue, Ash is rescued by Spider-Man, teams up briefly with the Punisher, and gets his brains bitten out by Howard the Duck. It was pretty shocking to see the Punisher kill the King Pin, and was really cool to see his self-assured nature be his downfall. I also liked the fact that it ends with the death of Ash and I have absolutely no idea how they’ll pull him out of it… if they plan to at all.

Unfortunately this series does have a few low points.
First off, the dialogue is somewhat annoying. It has it’s decent moments, but for the most part it feels like filler to get you to the next brain splattering panel. Ash is particularly getting on my nerves.
Secondly the art is nowhere near as good as the original Marvel Zombies series (not counting the totally awesome covers of course). That being said, I’ve seen much worse in the way of art and can’t complain too much.

If you enjoy seeing various Marvel characters in different degrees of decay, or are a big zombie (or Army of Darkness) fan, you should not skip this series.

Fear Agent usually concludes each issue with a brief Tales of the Fear Agent story in the back of the book, which usually has a guest artist and writer.
Fear Agent #11 takes this concept to the next level by dedicating a fully issue to a Tales of the Fear Agent story. Although it is still written by Rick Remender, it leaves the main story arc behind and takes place 8 years in the past where Heath is on a mission to exterminate a species of spider called Sepliots. He ends up ducking out on his mission and getting drunk in a bar, all the while he’s consuming what looks like caviar, but turns out to be spider eggs. They hatch inside of him and threaten to destroy him if he can’t find a way to get them out.
This is an excellent issue. If you haven’t picked it up, do so immediately. It’s creepy, gross and funny. It’s also philosophical and extremely well written.
The art (Francesco Francavilla) and color (Michelle Madsen) is awesome as well.

Fear Agent #11 marks the end of the title’s time at Image Comics. Rick Remender has made the decision to move his comic to Dark Horse where things will be done a little differently.

According to the letter left by Rick Remender at the end of issue #11, after the switch to Dark Horse, each story arc will be four issues long and will restart at #1. The first story arc will be drawn by Tony Moore, the second story arc will be by Jerome Opena on art. After that Tony and Jerome will rotate out on each arc.
This is very exciting news. Tony Moore is one of my favorite artists and I’ve been hoping for his return to the Fear Agent title.
Remender also promises more full issue Tales of the Fear Agent comics. I would actually love to see Tales of the Fear Agent broken out in to it’s own series, each issue being a stand alone story, but let’s just take it one step at a time.

I have done nothing but bad mouth Supergirl lately and was all geared up to take down Supergirl #16 when something unexpected happened. It turned out to be a fairly decent issue.

As you may or may not know, Supergirl is constantly haunted by her sordid past with memories of killing people on Krypton at the command of her evil father, Zor-El. She remembers him impaling her on Sunstone Crystals and even commanding her to kill her mother. At the end of days for Krypton, Kara was put in a spaceship and given one last order: kill Superman. Ever since then, she’s been very confused and unable to fit in. Each and every absolute garbage issue of Supergirl has focused on her inability to make friends, get a boyfriend, be a hero or keep a secret identity… this has gone on for a year and a half.

In this issue Kara finally discovers her true origin and why she was sent to kill Superman. It turns out that Jor-El (Superman’s father) brought about the destruction of Krypton by sending criminals to the Phantom Zone. Zor-El, Jor-El’s brother, was never happy with the moral implications of seeing criminals banished to an everlasting life in an “empty, endless place where time stands still”. But soon after this punishment is approved by the Kryptonian Council, peaceful Krypton starts deteriorating.
Soon Zor-El discovers that Jor-El has brought doom upon them by unleashing Phantoms from the Phantom Zone on their world. These Phantoms are the original inhabitants of the Phantom Zone and are unhappy that their world has been overrun with criminal scum. Therefore they vow to destroy the House of El and in particular, the “Jailer” (Jor-El) and his family (Superman).
The Phantoms are able to inhabit the bodies of other sentient beings and turn them evil. This happens to Kara’s mother whom she must “save” by killing her.
Throughout all of this, Zor-El was the only one capable of seeing the Phantoms. Consequently, his brother and the Kryptonian Council refused to believe in the Phantoms and thought of him as a killer. Kara was made fun of and went through hard times, thus leading her to form distorted memories of her father and her past.
Kara finally discovers that her mission to kill her cousin Superman will save the human race, because the Phantoms are headed to Earth to kill Superman. Thus, if she can’t stop them, or kill him, Earth will suffer the same fate of Krypton.

This is a pretty decent story as it turns everything you know about Krypton on it’s ear. We see that both Zor-El and Jor-El were completely obsessed with their work, that Zor-El was the reason for Sunstone, and Jor-El is the reason for a exploding Krypton.

For once an issue of Supergirl did not focus on Kara wandering the skies attempting to be normal, and the dialogue wasn’t too horrible either.
In fact, I’m rather curious to see where this is going being that all of the criminals from the Phantom Zone have just escaped in pages of Superman #846 and are being led by Zod in a war against Earth.
Meanwhile the second part of Camelot Falls will be starting up soon in the main Superman title. This is a story about Superman bringing about the destruction of life on Earth as we know it.

That’s three separate stories involving Superman bringing about Earth’s fall, either directly (in Camelot Falls) or indirectly (in Supergirl and Action Comics).
I sense a crossover, especially being that the main story-lines in Superman and Action Comics have been delayed… perhaps giving each title a chance to get on the same path?

Whatever happens in each of the “Super” titles, one thing is certain. Mark Sable should have been brought in much earlier on this. He is the co-writer on Supergirl #16. According to the comic’s credits, he is responsible for the plot.
Unfortunately his efforts to bring Supergirl back on track might be too late. 16 issues is a really long time to wait for an explanation for Kara’s origin, especially when each issue before it attempted to string us along to this point by giving us boring, unimaginative stories involving the fight of the week.
Although it’s really disappointing that all of this wasn’t revealed much earlier, and it’s possible that the whole thing was a hoax of some sort, or Kara hallucinating (I wouldn’t be surprised if we discover that none of the above never really happened), this comic was much more interesting than it’s predecessors.

I finally gave in to my every growing fixation on the zombie genre and purchased Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness issues 1 and 2 this past Wednesday.

This series takes place before the original Marvel Zombies series and tells the story of how the Marvel characters in this alternate universe became infected.

Marvel Zombies was weird enough on it’s own, but turn it in to a crossover event and it gets even stranger. It is revealed in this issue that the zombie infestation began with an attack by the Sentry, and Ash from Army of Darkness was there to witness the whole thing.

Although this series isn’t as well written as the original Marvel Zombies mini-series, (this series is written by John Layman while Marvel Zombies was written by Zombie King Robert Kirkman) it’s still a fun series to read. I’ve never picked up an Army of Darkness book, but that doesn’t matter as the dialog and story is heavier on the Marvel side. Even though Ash is pretty much the main character, the zombies are the stars.

Overall this series is doing what it’s supposed to: getting me excited for the 48 page Marvel Zombies: Dead Days one shot written by the greatest comic book author ever: Robert Kirkman.

To tell the truth I’m actually looking forward to the 4 issue Black Panther zombie series as well.