New Comic Books For April 16, 2008

DC COMICS

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #6
BRAVE AND THE BOLD #12
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #2
FLASH #239
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES IN THE 31ST CENTURY #13
SALVATION RUN #6
SUPERMAN #675
TANGENT SUPERMANS REIGN #2

MARVEL COMICS

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #557
CAPTAIN AMERICA #37
CAPTAIN MARVEL #5
GHOST RIDER #22
IRON MAN: DIRECTOR OF SHIELD #28
LEGACY OF DOOM #1
WOLVERINE ORIGINS #24
X-FACTOR #30

No Top 10 this week. I have to admit that I have been feeling incredibly homesick this week. For the majority of the time I don’t miss Miami all that much. Then I go through these periods where I want to go back to Miami so badly. Yeah, there are plenty of negative aspects about the 305. The crime is insane. The traffic is horrendous. Many of the people are rude, materialistic, image conscious, trend obsessed and somewhat superficial.

But, there is so much to love. I miss the warm heavy air that hangs on you like a fur coat. I miss the wonderful food. I miss South Beach and the beautiful white sandy beach and crystal clear aquamarine colored ocean. I miss all the great Cuban, Dominican, Argentinean, Peruvian and Brazilian cuisine. I also miss all the hot Latinas and even the little dumb chongas that run around my old hood.

All right, let’s check out the comic books for this week. We have a huge week with a monstrous 16 titles headed to the Bunker. This week’s shipment of comic books is nicely balanced between DC and Marvel titles.

Which DC comic book am I most looking forward to reading? To be honest, I’m not really looking forward to the collection of titles that DC is offering up this week. This is a rather weak selection of comic books.

The only title that I’m really interested in reading is Tangent: Superman’s Reign #2. I thoroughly enjoyed the first issue of this title. The Tangent universe is new to me since I never read any of the Tangent titles that came out back in the day. This story is pure Multiverse goodness and has the potential to be a wild ride.

Which DC comic book am I least looking forward to reading? There are plenty of titles to choose from this week. I can’t say that I’m all that interested in Batman and the Outsiders #6. This title has been a bit of a disappointment. It isn’t a terrible title. It is simply resolutely average. And the roster continues to be an issue as we are in a constant state of flux with characters entering and leaving this title.

I’m also not that excited for Countdown to Final Crisis #2. There is just no way that DC is going to end this title in a fashion that is going to impress me. I cringe at the thought of how awful Mary’s character is going to be written in this issue.

Superman #675 is another issue that I’m not all that excited to read. This title has been a lackluster read for quite some time. Normally, I enjoy Kurt Busiek’s work, but this his work on this title has been a miss with me. I’m interested to see if James Robinson can breathe some fresh life into this title when he comes aboard in a couple of issues.

However, the DC comic book that I am least looking forward to reading is Flash #239. It is amazing how far this title has dropped since Johns left it back before Infinite Crisis. The final story arc after Johns left was pathetic. Then it was cancelled. Then Didio made the dumb move of junking Wally West and replacing him with Bart Allen.

Bart’s Flash: Fastest Man Alive title was a disappointment. A creative team switch was made and Guggenheim managed to make this title a good read once DC decided to cancel the title and kill Bart Allen. Wally was then brought back and I was thrilled.

However, the fact is that Wally’s return has been completely bungled and this title has been such a dull and shallow read. It is obvious that Didio simply has acted without a master plan when it comes to the Flash franchise. This has been such atrocious handling of the Flash franchise. I’m not too sure what DC can do to make the Flash interesting as long as DC continues to give us their version of The Incredibles. I just can’t get into a Wally West who is married with two kids. It simply doesn’t make for a compelling read.

Which Marvel comic book am I most looking forward to reading? There is no doubt that Captain America #37 is going to be another phenomenal read. We got a wonderful ending to the last issue and I’m excited to see just what Sharon Carter stumbled across.

X-Factor #30 is also sure to be a fine issue. Arcade is a neat old school X-Men villain and I’ve always enjoyed his bizarre death traps that he constructs.

However, the Marvel comic book that I am most looking forward to reading is Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #28. It was a tough decision as Iron Man, Captain America and X-Factor are all without a doubt my three favorite Marvel comic books. But, I had to give the edge to Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #28 since this is a double sized issue and this story arc involving the Mandarin is reaching its climax.

Also, this summer is the summer of Iron Man. That’s right, baby. It is all about my boy Tony Stark. And for all the writers like Bendis and JMS that hate his character, they have two choices: they can either like it or love it. Obviously, I’m starting to get pumped up for the Iron Man movie that comes out in a little more than two weeks from today. And in honor of this being the summer of Iron Man I figured I’d post this sweet little Audi Iron Man ad. This TV spot sports the sweet Iron Man armor along with the bad-assed Audi R8.

Which Marvel comic book am I least looking forward to reading? I’m not that excited to read Amazing Spider-Man #557. This title continues to be nothing more than an average read. This Brand New Day story is still a miss with me.

I’m not all that excited to read Captain Marvel #5. My enjoyment of this mini-series hinges on whether or not Mar-Vell is a Skrull or not. If he is revealed to be a Skrull then I will feel cheated and toyed with by Marvel.

However, the Marvel comic book that I am least looking forward to reading has to be Wolverine: Origins #24. This title is so unimpressive. In a perfect world, Marvel would reveal that Wolverine is a Skrull and wipe out everything from just before Wolverine got all his memories back. That would restore Logan as a feral man with amnesia and would junk the stupid Lupine aspect of his character and eliminate the crap we have gotten on Wolverine: Origins. Of course, such a move would entail cancelling Wolverine: Origins which Marvel will never do since this title garners respectable sales numbers.

As always, I’ll try my best to start posting reviews as soon as possible. I hope everyone enjoys their new comic books for this week.