Comic Capsule Review 5/27/2009

Before I start..Kudos to DC for use of the Red Circle heroes. Nice placements. Who's ever idea that was. Gold star.


Trinity #52: A nice send off to an enjoyable story. I think Busiek and Nicieza tied up all the loose ends nicely and left a plentiful toy box of threads for creators to use in the future. bravo. I liked much of the dialogue between the characters. Particularly the discussion between Carter, Alan Scott and Jay Garrick. And I loved The trinity (Batman, Supes and Wonder Woman) discussing how they felt as gods to those closest to them and of course them doing what they do best running off to save the day in a big splash leading DC's heroes to the next challenge. The one thing I found odd was Enigma and Sphere(Steph(his daughter), They want to give Earth-3 (the opposite DC Earth and home of the Crime Syndicate) Hope...not looking like that. They need some serious new duds...they look like villains. I am not sure what's next for Krona, but he has always been an interesting character, hopefully he will show up again someday. The art was very nice, not the greatest. Bagley is great and his pages are always dynamic, but as throughout the series the companion artists haven't been consistent. And you can see it on these pages as well. Again wonderful colors by Pantazis. have fun on your well deserved vacation Kurt. Can't wait for Wednesday Comics. 8.5 out of 10


Amazing Spiderman #595: That was a great Spiderman issue. No two ways about it. Joe Kelly really did a great job with every character in the book. Especially portraying Peter's rising frustration with Osborne and wanting to protect his best friend Harry (to no avail) from Norman. Great roof top conversation by Spidey and Wolverine, just a really excellent scene. Great use of a cameo. And the After the dinner that didn't happen at Gracie Mansion, we are presented with a powerful, dramatic beat down of Osborne by Spidey...that is really to no avail again. Much to Spidey's frustration Norman Osborne always wins. In the end he gets the call from his son. Norman uses any one and any thing to get what he wants. tense powerful superhero drama. I love Norman's threat to Spidey. More then just the word it's illustrated beautifully by Phil Jimenez. And every page is beautiful. unique and expressive characters, wonderful backgrounds, detail off the scale, and intense action. the beat down scene of Spidey man-handling Norman was intense and powerful. This issue rocked. BND nay-sayers better get on board. Your missing some great stuff. 9.5 out of 10

Wonder Woman #32: Certainly the best issue since the Queen of Fables two-parter. A great massive superfight. And I must admit a pretty damn well done one to boot. Visceral, powerful, big. What the issues should have felt like all along since Genocide showed up. Nice touches, like throwing buses and missiles. Great. I even liked some of the narration by Diana. The one element of the big fight I did not like was Wonder Woman using her tiara as a melee weapon, dumb is the only thing I can say about that. Other then that, the entire fight, including ripping the lasso out of Genocide's body was amazing. What I didn't like was that although the narration was good you get no emotional resonance from the dialogue or character interaction. The reveal about Wonder Woman's feeling about Nemesis was...well...*lame* and Zeus (still in his space suit) talking at Achilles was weak at best. he needs to tell Achilles, legendary warrior of warriors and leader of the Myrmidons about intensity...I think if any one knows a thing or too about that it's the greatest mythic warrior ever. That being said I am curious about the next chapter and what Ares is up to. The art was excellent. Really nice powerful super hero slug fest pages by Lopresti. Intense. And the colors in this book are great too. A solid read and hopefully a sign of things to come from this book. 7.5 out of 10

New Avengers #53: Bendis brings it big time with this issue. Of course it's filled with great banter. Its fun in that regard. But what really is working is the use of characters, the interactions, and best of all a well executed story. I love the bit with Cap finding it odd no will take a gun. And I really love Damien Hellstorm. Wow. I have always loved him, way back to the bare chested and a cape days. But here, he comes of as an interesting character. I love his parts in the issue and his confrontation with the Hood. I love him asking matter of factly, "who is the demon possessing you?". This Search for the next Sorcerer Supreme has been fun, the Action and story has been great, and as much as I though I would hate having Wolvie and Spidey on the same team...I am thinking they should stay Avengers forever. I am not the biggest fan of Tan. he tends to be a little messy for my tastes but I have to admit he does a fantastic job with the camera and moving it around. and although sometimes the characters are oddly skinny or posed. The action and expression is dynamic. He does a hell of a super fight in the streets of New Orleans. I mean explosive. I cannot wait to see how this ends. The whole scene in Damien's apartment between him and Hood are beautifully handled. This issue was bananas. Can the Hood be saved? If Dormammu makes it to the Earth plane..the NEW Avengers are gonna need some back up. And I am curious who will be the New Sorcerer Supreme? , I was kinda hoping for Wiccan. 9 out of 10


Supergirl #41: It is sad when a great story, especially one that has ran several issues with the original art team is ruined by a fill in artist. Not that Dagnino is horrible. He is homage artist. Heavily influenced by the Davis/Hitch/Reis style. Unfortunately it comes off a ta amateurish. Some of the anatomy is too awkward and the weird panel shapes are distracting. again not horrible. But really not on a level with what Igle has been bringing since he joined the book. And worse the coloring also contributed to muting the art. Page after page instead of enhancing the art the colors are either dark, or have a burnt effect which I believe is supposed to be shading. The action is handled well overall, and there are some good dramatic scenes, like the last page. But I really wish Igle could have finished this off. I love his art. After all the complaining about the art the story ends great. We get a dramatic climactic battle and really I love hating Reactron. He has become an awesome villain. You really get impact and emotion from the script especially in the final pages of the issue. Theres a real sense of loss here. And I am sure general Lane is gonna be out for blood, Great job Gates, i really would love to see yo on the Teen Titans. I recommend this series highly. I was just let down by the issues art, Big time. 6 out of 10


Superman #688: A mixed bag. While good, and definitely sets up some more great plot. The book has been moving slow. But what was here was good. I like the dialogue a lot. And am glad Mon-el has no become a duplicate of Superman. I love Harper. I would love a series with him. Robinson does much to pull us in, but doesn't really give us anything explosive. The Sci-police freeing Tellus from general lane, with a pointless fire fight between guards and the science police as Guardian and Mon do the break out without any resistance of any type although there is a great silent confrontation with Code Name: Assassin in the night sky. So I have high hopes for what is to come. Things I did not like were. Mon-El's hair. That is not his hairstyle and never will be. Please pay attention to detail like that. Mon-el has history with a huge group of fans, Legion nuts like myself. So get it right. Next. Can some one tell Guedes Dr. Like is Japanese. And her costume is horrible. A pointless and badly conceived cosmetic change for no reason. If you are gonna do it..go all in. And lastly...What does' Mon-el know about Hemingway or what would be considered a classic quality of human women in Paris? that was odd. The art was good. I can't complain about Guedes too much. nice backgrounds and great expression. The coloring is a little washed for my taste. So over all. The book is plodding along..something important needs to happen soon. 6 out of 10

Justice Society of America #27: The past it seems comes back to haunt certain members of the Society. I think this arc by Ordway will be a nice fill in as we wait fir Willminghamn to come on board. Forgot how well Ordway knows these characters, he was drawing them way back in All-Star Squadren days. Its a solid read, but not big on action. Basically Obsidian locks out certain members from the JSA Brownstone as he has a feeling certain members are in danger. To the other he requests that they stop whatever is going to happen from getting in. Well they don't bickering in and out leads to the Ghost getting in and kidnapping Green Lantern, Flash, Wildcat, Liberty Belle and Hourman back to Hiroshima, and the heroes are powerless to stop the Atomic blast. meanwhile the issue ends with Spectre appearing before the other members essentially saying, come with me if you want to save your friends. The art by Ordway and Wiacek is perfect for these characters, I always say that when Ordway draws the book. But I can't help it, there is something about his style that captures a certain quality that works especially well on them. Not to mention he is an incredible storyteller. Simple straight forward panel arrangements, he doesn't mess around with busy scenes and hyerstylization or flash. 7.5 out of 10


Hercules #129: More fun of mythic proportions by Pak and Van Lente. This book continues to be one of my favorite monthly reads. And what has been best is how the writers in a witty way have inserted the last two major events into the title. The God Squad was fun and the last arc with the Dark Avengers was great as well..Herc being one of my favorite characters tossing around Sentry will always put a smile on my face. This issue continues Herc's mission against the evil God's plans on Earth, Athena sends Herc and Cho in to Hades to save Zeus. Unfortunately it's by way of an Atlantic City Casino. Silly? Sure. But well executed and fun. Nice little cameos of characters like Wasp and Jack-of-hearts, amusing scenes with the boatman Charon, and a great cliffhanger of Zeus in chains at Hades feet. The art is also really nice by Stegman. Clean, great character and expression and gesture. Good storytelling and he really handles the brief moments of excitement and action like a pro. Some really nice splash pages. I like the coloring, but it tends to be a little dark in places. Overall a good read, but definitely a slower pace to get to the big action that seems to be waiting n the next issue. This is a book I always recommend people pick up. You will be pleasantly surprised. 8 out of 10

Wolverine: Old Man Logan #72: If this isn't the best Wolverine story in the last 10-15 years you really have to prove it to me. This is high octane, Mad Max comics with superheroes with the added bonus of two of the best creators in the business right now, Millar writing and McNiven drawing doing everything perfectly. I don't care if it's in continuity or not, I don't care about anything other then it's a fun visceral ride executed by the best in the biz. And really i can't imagine this arc done by any one else. It will stand the test of time mark my words. The writing and pace is excellent, Millar has you on the edge of your seat from the moment you get a history lesson from the Red-Skull. It all comes together. The background and character quirks make this wonderful if a somewhat fast read. But it doesn't matter, because you get a great fight between Logan and Skrull. Sure the ending is somewhat predictable, but you know that's how it has to be. Logan returns home after his personal Pilgrim's Progress to find his family is killed. The Hulk Clan are in for it big time. Vengeance. And I am sure it will be just as fun and visceral as the rest of the series. From an art perspective it is perfect. McNiven's tone and style, use of detail is amazing. All the elements come together to tell a great story. It's almost like it isn't a Marvel comic. Like Marvel characters are on loan to Heavy Metal. The violence is strangely appropriate to the title. And the expression is perfect, page after page there great facial expressions...the last few of Logan are amazing...and McNiven may do the best Red Skull ever. The book is full of memorable scenes. Especially obviously the last page of Wolverine claws extended. Brilliant. But my personal favorite image is the homage to the Zeck Captain America Cap Vs Wolverine cover with roles reversed. Nice touch. I wonder who's idea that was. This book is great. There is no excuse in the world not to buy this. 10 out of 10

Green Lantern #41: Another book that is great but suffers some due to fill in art. The story is great don't get me wrong. I love Agent Orange actually, although I don't like that his Corps are orange energy constructs he creates. I understand the power is his. And he shouldn't have to generate what essentially amount to slaves to do his bidding. He is Greed incarnate everything is his and done for his pleasure. Johns adds another layer of tapestry to the Lantern mythology with Agent Oranges origin. Very nice interesting stuff. My only quip is whats going on with Hal and the Green and Blue rings. I am kinda glad he gets his arm lopped off so agent Orange can claim it. And it was interesting how Hope is tied to Greed in the story. Where the art fails is in Tan's art. he isn't bad, but it certainly needs to be reigned in and tightened up his pages are chaotic, and at times lack focus. I am not sure having a strong inker would help. It seems to be his style. That being said he does well with alien design and landscapes. The origin of Agent Orange and the history lesson is drawn by some one I think has big things in store for him. Eddy Barrows, the guy is amazing. But for some reason he falls victim to the chaos as well. But I think it is far superior storytelling to Tan's pages. The coloring tends to be dark. And maybe it works with the story, I think with all the ambient light from the rings especially when Lanterns of different colors or the Guardians are unleashing their power it should be deliberately brighter. 8 out of 10


Hey did Animal Man come out this week? I missed it. Need to get that. Gerry Conway and Chris Batista..gotta have it.

Retro-review: Silver Surfer Annual #1 (1988)

Before doing this review I would have sworn this comic came out in the 90's. I guess after having read so many books over the years many series and periods seem to mesh together for me.

But it was the late 80's(1988). I was loving this Silver Surfer relaunch.
Englehart, the late great Marshall Rogers and Rubenstein had really done an amazing job revitalizing and weaving a great tale in the first 12 issues. Essentially using the Elders to great effect in a ploy to use the Infinity Gem to restart the universe as the only survivors each become a Galactus. It doesn't work obviously, but it is executed perfectly by the creative team, who go on to continue the tale and expand into a war between the Kree and the Skrulls.

That being said the annual came out and was part of Marvel's Evolutionary War event that ran through all the Marvel annuals.

The gist of the story is the High Evolutionary wants to perfect humanity and requires some essential DNA information from Surfer to do so. So he pops up in Olympia and appeals to the Eternals to collect it for him. Since they benefitted from similar genetic tampering millenia ago at the hands of the Celestials they think it's a good idea to force Surfer to volunteer his DNA for humanities greater good. Science spawned gods they are...ethics can be ignored.

In the mean time, Sufer is returning to Earth and witnesses the reconstruction of the Super-skrull who had been scattered into the atmosphere as radiation. They fight, and Surfer wonders if he should tell Super-skrull that is race is again at war with the Kree..and have lost their natural shape-shifting abilities.. The fight is interrupted and the unlikely allies are captured by Ikaris and the other Eternals. Brought to Olympia for testing, the Surfer finally has enough and he and Super-skrull escape and battle anew with the Eternals.

Eventually Super-Skrull ties to escape, and as the Eternals go to chase, Surfer prevents them and tells Super-skrull to go and that he will hold off the Eternals, his people need him, as his genetic code may hold the key to revitalizing the Skrull race. The Skrull thanks him and the Eternals finally have a change of heart as forcing a living being to do something like succumb to unwanted testing isn't right. Nice tidy ending no fuss no muss.

It may sound silly, but even upon re-reading all these years later Steve Englehart's plot and scripting makes for great classic comics. the best of intentions lead to confrontation and realization that I was the wrong thing to do.

The execution is great. Englehart's script is to the point, and enjoyable. The characters are handled well and play their parts in the big scheme of things. Its also nice how Englehart seeds plots for the future that will last 25 issues or so and end up making Super-skrull one of my favorite characters while still making the story relevant to the larger event Marvel's Evolutionary War.

The art chores are handled well by Joe Staton. Its very cartoony as always, manages to work well for superheroes. He does a great job on the story-telling and action. There is nice action and great expression. Rubenstein inks and like always really adds nice finishing touches to the pencils. I don't think Staton's work is as dynamic as Marshall's or Lim's(who tales over Surfer soon after), but it is certainly strong enough to carry this story.

The great thing about the annuals of this time was additional content, and in this particular annual its all good. A great story drawn by Lim, and I think this was the first time I saw his art, that provided a prelude of sort to the next chapter of the story with the Eternals, and widened to eventually include a great war between the In-betweener and Galactus. And another story with the rebirth of Mantis, who also becomes an important secondary character in the book.

Finally you have some awesome pin-ups by Ron Lim and Joe Rubenstein.

All in all a great read, I really recommend every one who love cosmic comic book super heroes to pick this issue up, and to also check of the series. Englehart, Rogers, Staton, Lim, Rubenstein..they really did an amazing re-envisioning of Surfer and really told some fun, epic stories.

Grade: 9 out of 10

Comic Capsule Reviews 4/29/2009

Trinity #48: The Trinity take it to Krona, and Batman puts a plan together to defeat him. Nice action and drama. Even if I feel a little lost, I really enjoy the grandeur of it and how everything has come together. And more then that I'm wondering how this series is going to leave all the characters? What's to become of Warhound? Of Despero? Have we seen the last of Ro? Is Krona beat? What of John Stewart? Busiek and Bagley are really doing an excellent job. I also liked the secondary story and the focus on the GodBat plan and the three integral parts. Nice. 7.5 out of 10.
The Cabal #1: I was really hoping for the magic of the Illuminati in this one shot. Unfortunately it was a waste of money. The character vignettes were a mixed bag. I enjoyed the Doom exploration in the first one(he isn't a nice man), the Namor story which was beautifully illustrated and the Loki/Doom short. The other didn't move me. What bothered me about this wasn't the quality, although to be honest it seems like a hastily thrown together anthology for a few extra Dark Reign bucks...what bothered me was that it was completely unessential to Dark Reign. There are no essential insights to the characters that we didn't already know about them or seemed immediately part of the Dark Reign story. 5 out of 10.


Wonder Woman #31: by far the best issue so far. Ares? No surprise there..but bearing gifts for an Amazon? And the Manazons take over the UN. Not sure I could ever see Achilles riding elephants..not very Greek. And I was hoping he would be more then an annoyance to Wonder Woman, she defeated him rather easily. Not being from this time shouldn't really matter in hand to hand combat. But we got some kick ass Wonder Woman moments. And a great revelation about Genocide..although that character has yet to live up to any promise. The art is great..to be honest I think Bernard Chang is better for the book then Lopresti. Chang somehow manages to capture something intangible that works on Wonder Woman stylistically while Lopresti seems to lack impact and dynamism. Chang does some nice big action, and some great dramatic scenes. I love his storytelling, and action..the scene with the missile was perfection. Certainly a better Wonder Woman then the previous issues. 7.5 out of 10.


Justice Society of America #26: Eaglesham is REEEEEAAALLLY going to be missed on this title. Beautiful art throughout. The opening splash of Courtney(Stargirl) getting off the school bus is beautifully rendered, as is the rest of the issue. Its almost mind boggling how Eaglesham crams so many characters in and manages to highlight the appropriate members, tell a great story and keep everything easy to read. Great expression, and character. Johns gives us a great send off, Courtney's birthday at home, with wonderful character insights, and drilling in that this book has not just been about heroes, but family. An ever growing family of characters, growing and contributing to the whole. Fantastic resonance and characterization. I'm sorry to see this team go, its been one of my fave books since the relaunch, but I'm curious to see what's next. 9 out of 10.


Superman #687: A solid read by Robinson, but largely a another set up issue. And unfortunately this is the weakest of the super-titles. It needs to move a little quicker because I am genuinely interested in all the elements. Zatara, Parasite wandering around, Guardian and the Sci-police, Tellus, Project 7734, Mon-el, Atlas and Irons...lots of meat, except its getting cold. Guedes is a wonderful, yet quirky artists. Nice expression and action. And I really love his back grounds..especially the sewers of Metropolis. But he is a victim of washed out colors..Mon-el's red isn't red enough. All in all not as good as I hoped. 7 of 10.


Green Lantern #40: Unfortunately this chapter in the race towards Blackest Night suffers from fill in art. Tan is an interesting study..alternately brilliant stylistically and inappropriately chaotic and unpolished.The art work looks unfinished and rushed which doesn't help Tan. And the storytelling is weak and unfocused. The inking is way too loose and page upon page looks tragically messy for a story so vitally important to the ongoing event. That being said there are flashes of brilliance like the last page image. The story is great, savage and brutal, but really more of the same as we are introduced to more Orange Lanterns and I am trying to figure out which one is "Agent Orange". Still its a solid read..and adds to the architecture of the Lantern mythos, which is always very cool. I did love the story and art in the Tales of Orange Lanterns, Albuquerque is amazing. That guy should be placed on Teen Titans pronto.7.5 out of 10.


Legion of Three Worlds #4: An event...that looks and feels like an event. I love it. But I have to get this out of the way. Conner and Bart are cool characters, nice to have them back, but they really are nothing but annoyances to Prime. I'm not sure why they are given primacy over other powerhouses on 3 teams of Legionaries? Ok, got that out. This an amazing action packed emotional roller coaster. The Legion loses Kinetix and Elementlad..but Sunboy is back. And the Timetrapper enters the fray personally as the Legion bring back Conner to add another emotionally relevant layer to the war with Prime. Great dialogue by Johns as he brings a host of great character moments, like the three Legion Founders and Supes talking to Time Trapper and Wildfire and Dawny. The "Substitute Legionnaire" taking a stand against Prime. And a great, unexpected reveal at the end. The art is amazing, I can't say it enough Perez is the master of these types of event comics. Dazzling amounts of characters in jaw dropping action. All brought in an amazingly well constructed, dramatic and coherent fashion. Guns blazing or standing around talking Perez nails every scene. 9 out of 10.

Comics Capsule Reviews 4/15/2009

Teen Titans #69: was in the store, checked it out, looked like a new start type issue and I decided to give it a shot. unfortunately I won't be back next month. It really isn't even the writing or the art. I just do not care about the characters. Not one bit. There is plenty of dialogue and interaction but some how it was pretty hollow...and the humor was...well not really funny or clever. With all the great things DC seems to be doing I think it's time to start cleaning up the Titansverse. i am not beating up the creative team, it's just plain not interesting. The stuff with the FACE was just plain terrible, as was how they exited candidates from the issue and finally walked away with the new line up. i think there should have been more action..less silliness. the art is good, with pretty utilitarian storytelling. but fell victim to digital coloring. This book needed to be brighter and more vibrant. i would not say it was bad, just nothing that grabbed me enough to pick up the next issue or be interested in following these characters. 5 out of 10.

Amazing Spiderman #591: much more satisfying then I thought. Clever storytelling by Slott to move plot points into position and explanation of the time distortion of the Macroverse. I really enjoyed the discussion and revelation Peter and the FF have. And I found myself enjoying Slott's Thing and definitely the last few pages were a surprise, gonna be very interesting in NYC for Spidey now for certain. The art was very nice, a different cleaner style from Kitson. Which I really liked. And Eaglesham did a terrific job on his portion. I love his Harry Osborne. all in all an Enjoyable story. 7 out of 10.

Trinity #46: another solid piece by Busiek who move the good guy side of the board together in this control for the metaphysical soul of the Earth. I loved the one page sequence in the Batcave, nice touch Busiek. Bagley's art seems a little rushed and raw but still brimming with great storytelling. I also liked pulling together the events on Earth-3 and Dreambound collecting Warhound from frozen wastes. good stuff. 7.5 out of 10.

Secret Six #8: a very nice character driven interlude. Simone is magic all day on this book. I love the exploration of the burgeoning relationships. "wonderfully wicked and hilariously twisted" is an understatement. and the added bonus of Ragdoll's dream from the locked trunk of Deadshot's ride was a nice little addition. Wonderful. I love me some Jeanette. Her toe to toe with Wonder Woman? i think I saw that in Origins and omens...can't wait. The art by Jose Rodrguez is a nice fill in for Nicola Scott. His style is similar yet less refined and nuanced. He does a very nice job conveying the script with gesture and facial expression and even handles the bits of violence very nicely. Kudos for another a plus installment of the Secret six. 8 out of 10.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #3: Bedard is awesome. Vril is pulling his group together and its a joy to read. love the characterization of Vril and finding Strata and Bounder. Great characterization, fun dialogue and developments. Nice moments of acction and explanations and finally a revelation...as the Omega men come face to face with Starro? well it looks like Starro is in the body of a female Lobo..which means some dead Omega men!! The art is beautiful, clean crisp easy to follow, nice unique designs. Tremendous work by Clarke through out. The coloring also very nice and clean and makes the entire book shine. This is a great new addition to my monthly read list, I highly recommend it. 8 out of 10.

Captain America #49: Wow. What a wonderful exploration of Sharon...what is she dreaming about? I know this isn't a casual fill in...the images in her dream will be revealed. Nice touch with Falcon looking for the 50's era Cap...and where "Steve" winds up. Where is this going? The art is very nice. Luke Ross is an excellent fill in here, and with the color it continues seamlessly fro Epting's established work on the series. And here we are...next up issue #50...can't wait. 7.5 out of 10.

Action Comics #876: Barrow's comes out of nowhere and blows the doors off action in the latest installment of Action comics. intense is an understatement really. I am literally at a loss for words here. Ever panel of this bursting with intensity the fight seen in the Fortress of Solitude is illustrated with intense dynamic power. You get a feeling crisp clear in every panel of whats at stake and power levels here. not to mention it's well rendered, easy to follow and wonderfully illustrated. the emotions are there..gesture..perfect comic art. A definite stylistic melody of the best of Reis and Pacheco. DC do what ever you can to keep this kid. He draws it, I'll buy it. Rucka does just as powerful a job with the narration and dialogue. Emotive and powerful. We hardly know these characters, but the intensity of the interaction and language brings it all together wonderfully. I love what they have done with Christopher, which is crazy, because i hated the idea of the character. Now I love him. Great job, nice ending. The Superman family of books are very strong. Your really missing a good thing if you aren't picking this book up. 9 out of 10.

Green Lantern Corps #35: Month after month Tomasi and Gleason deliver the most visceral, nuanced, character driven stories around. The Jail break on Oa, with Guy LEADING the GL's to stop all hell from breaking loose. and Yat and Arisa descending on Daxam and taking out some sinestro's and trying to inspire and educate the Xenophobic fundamentalists!!! I love Arkillo. and Finally..Sinestro on Korugar...to have a chat with his Daughter. Man this comic has it all. Action, adventure, surprise, fun....and outstanding art by Patrick Gleason. It's just beautiful stuff. Nice thick lines and organic figure work. Varied and interesting aliens. balls out action and raw displays of gore and violence. I love this comic. Another book by DC everyone should be reading. 9 out of 10

The preview of Conway and Batista's Last Days of Animal man in the back of this weeks DC titles look very good. I am definately going to give it a shot.

Aris Reviews Tales of the TMNT #56

I was fortunate enough to read a great comic today.

To be honest I do not normally read Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. For the most part I am a capes guy. By “capes” I mean superheroes. And by “superheroes” I mean the classic Marvel and DC line ups of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, JLA, Spidey, Captain America, Fantastic Four, Avengers, etc…but every so often along my 30+ years of reading and collecting I have ventured across comic genres.

In the case of Tales of the TMNT #56 I am glad I did.

First of all the cover is great. A powerful graphic image that manages to encapsulate what goes on in this comic. And then we get a forward introduction by Dan Berger and history lesson of the character Hun who makes his debut in the TMNT comic universe from the outstanding 4kids Entertainment animated series. It’s a great lead in to a wonderfully dramatic story.


“Hun” (title of the story) starts out with flashback and establishes very well the history between Hun and Casey Jones. In a few pages Tristan Jones (writer) gives you all you need to know about Hun. He is a vicious brute and bully. And leaves Casey near death.

Flash forward. Hun is released from prison into the hands of Scarface. And gets back to business taking the streets back and exacting brutal (there goes that word again, but that’s what it is!) vengeance on those that wrong him. Hun is written very well. Sadistic, he takes pleasure in the violence he commits. He knows he’s the alpha dog and lets every one else know it too.


At the same time we see Casey and April’s relationship as she uncovers the events in Casey’s past with Hun. This leads to some nice dramatic elements as Casey realizes he is heading into a confrontation with Hun. So he decides to confront him.

It doesn’t turn out too well. Casey is beaten. Hun is a hulkish unstoppable powerhouse. Hardcore is an understatement. Casey manages to escape. Unfortunately he leaves a trail of breadcrumbs for Hun to track him down to his family.

Which he does. It’s powerful stuff. You get some really nice dialogue and pacing. You get pulled in by the richness of it. I haven’t read TMNT since it first came out all those years ago, but I instantly knew these characters and their relationships. Casey and April are having conversations that reflect the reality of the world they live in and the problems a street vigilante may face. Casey Jones wants to keep his family safe.

Unfortunately Hun comes calling. Fortunately the Turtles are there to help out and you see how tough Hun actually is. But not before Casey gets brutalized again by Hun.

They escape, Casey Jones is hospitalized and April is at his side. A very nice ending.
Hun is still out there. And you know a dramatic confrontation is coming. A big one.

I never heard of Tristan Jones before but he really did impress me here.

The art was also powerful. I’ll get it out of the way, it’s black and white. But don’t let that distract you from the fact that Paul Harmon is a powerful story-teller. It’s raw and gritty. But fluid and dramatic. He does amazing work with expression and characters. Pulling the camera around, and although he uses many panels on some pages makes the layouts very easy to follow. When he gives you the action, it’s very dramatic and brutal…but not vulgar. Harmon establishes Hun as a visceral bestial force of nature, bigger and broader then every one else…unstoppable. But at the same time draw April and the child and other elements believably human. He also does a very nice job adding shades of grey in washes; it is used to great effect throughout the issue.

All in all this is a tremendous comic. Full of great characterization, drama and brutal action.

Highly recommended. You see it on the racks you should give it a shot.

9 out of 10