New Comic Books For May 21, 2008

DC COMICS

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #7
BRAVE AND THE BOLD #13
FLASH #240
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #15
SUPERMAN BATMAN #48
TANGENT SUPERMANS REIGN #3

MARVEL COMICS

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #560
CAPTAIN AMERICA #38
FANTASTIC FOUR #557
GHOST RIDER #23
IRON MAN DIRECTOR OF SHIELD #29
MIGHTY AVENGERS #14
ULTIMATE X-MEN #94
WOLVERINE ORIGINS #25
X-FACTOR #31

Even though it is still the Summer of Iron Man, the Month of Hulk begins in a week with the debut of the Hulk movie slated for June 13. With that in mind, Marvel.com has released a second trailer for the new Hulk movie. Now, I don’t expect the Hulk movie to be as good as Iron Man, but I think we are in store for an entertaining romp.

All right, let’s check out the comic books for this week. We have 15 titles headed to the Bunker. This week’s shipment of comic books is still Marvel heavy. And there are a lot more quality titles headed our way from Marvel than what we are getting from DC this week.

Which DC comic book am I most looking forward to reading? Tangent: Superman’s Reign #3 is sure to be another entertaining read. It is shame that I have not been able to post a review for this title because I have really enjoyed this story so far. Of course, I’m a sucker for a story set on one of DC’s multiple Earths.

However, the title that I am most looking forward to reading is Justice Society of America #15. The last issue of the JSA had one incredibly awesome ending. I have been chomping at the bit to read this issue. I cannot wait to see what Johns has in store with us as the JSA continues to brawl with Gog.

Which DC comic book am I least looking forward to reading? Batman and the Outsiders #7 doesn’t get me that excited. This title has been a disappointment up to this point. The roster is in a constant state of flux and there is a lack of chemistry between the team members. I would like to see Dixon concentrate a bit more on character work since all the characters are a bit one-dimensional.

Flash #240 is sure to be another dull read. This title continues to be a huge miss with The Revolution ever since Wally came back. Flash has been a subpar read ever since Johns left this title a couple of years ago. My only hope is that Morrison plans on bringing back Barry Allen on a permanent basis and that Barry takes over this title. I’d much rather read about a single Barry Allen dealing with conquering death than I would a Wally West who is married and with two kids.

Which Marvel comic book am I most looking forward to reading? This is a tough decision to make since there are so many excellent titles headed our way from the House of Ideas. The Iron Man love-fest continues as we get yet another Iron Man title this week. However, I cannot say that I am particularly excited to read Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #557. The reason is simple: the Knaufs aren’t writing this upcoming four issue story arc. Instead, we get back up writer Stuart Moore. Needless to say, I am disappointed.

Mighty Avengers #14 should be another great read. Bendis’ work on his Secret Invasion tie-in issues has far outshined his work on Secret Invasion itself. We are going to get to see Nick Fury’s new Howling Commandos in action in this issue. I was interested in the new Howling Commandos when we met them in the last issue of Mighty Avengers and I look forward to learning more about them.

Fantastic Four #557 is sure to be an entertaining issue. I have completely enjoyed Millar’s run on this title. Millar has whipped up one exciting story that has an excellent mix of drama and action. I am excited to see Reed grab the spotlight in this issue as he attempts to save the world from CAP.

Of course, you can never go wrong with Peter David’s X-Factor. This title is always a good read as David consistently pours his heart into his work. X-Factor #31 should be another excellent read as we see X-Factor struggling to keep Mutant Town from being burned to the ground.

However, the Marvel comic book that I am most looking forward to reading is Captain America #38. Brubaker dropped a huge bomb on the reader as we see a character who appears to be the Grand Director who was the 1950’s Captain America. I cannot wait to see what Brubaker has in store for us with this issue.

Which Marvel comic book am I least looking forward to reading? Amazing Spider-Man #560 fails to get me particularly excited. I continue to have problems getting pulled into this new direction that Marvel has taken this title. I expect that we will get more of the same 1970’s Spider-Man that trends to the juvenile side.

However, the Marvel comic book that I am least looking forward to reading is Wolverine Origins #25. Daniel Way continues to make this title almost completely unreadable. There are two things that I wish for on this title. The first is that this lame son of Wolverine is killed and then retconned out of existence. And the second is that Way is taken off of this title.

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.

4 thoughts on “New Comic Books For May 21, 2008

  1. The only DC title for me this week is JSA #15, so that’s my must read.

    For Marvel, must read is a toss up between the Initiative and Captain America. I’m glad I’m not reading crappy books anymore! lol =)

  2. So.. i was looking at the august solicits for dc/vertigo and i noticed that there is no fables after issue 75, this has me worried.
    -hobosk8er

  3. Wednesday are my second favorite day of the week ( the Sabbath/ Saturday is first because it is the one day I can really enjoy my purchases!), but there are certain Wednesdays that I look forward to more than others. A week when Cap, FF, Ironman, X-Factor, JSA AND JLA all ship together is comic overload. It is such a strong week, it overwhelms any of the bad purchases I keep making ( I am talking to you Wolverine Origins and Flash!)

    Enjoy your books, Rokk and thanks for the great commentary and insight!

  4. I have been thinking about the whole Flash Barry Allen/Wally West thing.

    Way back when, Barry told Wally that Wally would see Barry only 3 more times in his life. That meeting was number one. They took some pains to remind us that Infinite Crisis and the Superboy Prime thing was number 2 in some interviews.

    My best friend, now sadly departed, was a massive fan of the Flash and had a theory that the third time would be Barry donning the mantle of the Black Racer to buy Wally enough time for a “Heroic Save” before doing the racer’s duty.

    Now that it appears that DC’s brough Barry back, what if Barry appears to help Wally make that Heroic save and ease him into that logn goodnight, then pick up from Wally?

    I’d like to think that if DC were going to bring Barry back, they’d let Wally reire into a happily ever after, but with the whole big shocking death coming up as part of this Final Crisis story, I can’t help but cringe at it.

    Much as I love Barry, I dig Wally too, and I frankly don’t trust DC to make his return work the way other recent returns, like Hal or Bucky, have. Not after Countdown.

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