New Comic Books for September 30, 2009

DC COMICS

BATMAN WIDENING GYRE #2
BLACKEST NIGHT TITANS #2
FABLES DELUXE EDITION HC VOL 01
GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #4
GREEN LANTERN #46
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 80 PAGE GIANT #1
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #31
LAST DAYS OF ANIMAL MAN #5
SUPERMAN #692

MARVEL COMICS

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #607
AVENGERS INVADERS HC
SECRET WARRIORS #8
WOLVERINE WEAPON X #5
X-FACTOR #49

We have a healthy total of 14 titles headed to the Bunker today. This week is definitely DC heavy.

Which DC comic book am I most looking forward to reading?

I am excited to read Blackest Night: Titans #2. The debut issue on this mini-series was a solid read that offered some nice drama along with plenty of quality action scenes. Yeah, the Best Boy/Terra plotline is extremely well worn ground. Hopefully, we will get a different twist on that plotline with this issue. If nothing else, we should be in store for plenty of great action.

I expect Gotham City Sirens #4 to be a solid read. Paul Dini comes back to this young title and will hopefully get things moving. This title has had trouble getting going in a clear direction since Dini had to have a fill-in writer so early in on this title. Dini cannot afford to waste time in getting this title moving with a purpose. New titles that wander around in a meandering fashion tend to shed readers by the truckload.

Green Lantern #46 is another Blackest Night tie-in issue. It appears that this issue deals with the fallen Sinestro Corps members coming back as Black Lanterns and looking to attack their former leader Sinestro. Hopefully, this issue will move at a lively pace and deliver plenty of enjoyable action scenes. I am much more interested in the cosmic aspect of Blackest Night than I am the Earth-based side of Blackest Night.

Justice League of America 80 Page Giant #1 should be a fun read. I like all the guest stars that will be appearing in this issue. These guest stars include Shining Knight, Cinnamon, Bride of Frankenstein, Crimson Avenger and Samurai. I dig that we are going to see a comic book variation of the Samurai character from the old Super Friends cartoon.

I remain hopeful that Justice Society of America #31 will be a good read. I have serious reservations about the decision to split the JSA into two different teams. The schism of a super team along philosophical differences is hardly an original or novel idea. Hopefully, Sturges and Willingham can present the reader with a different spin on this well worn approach.

I expect Last Days of Animal Man #5 to be another solid read. This mini-series has surprised me. This has been a much better read than I was expecting. I am enjoying this look into Buddy’s rather depressing future. Hopefully, things will end positively for Buddy, but it certainly does not look like that will happen at this point in the story.

In the end, the DC comic book that I am most looking forward to read is the Fables Deluxe Edition Hardcover Volume 1. Yeah, I know that this is not a monthly floppy so this choice might be a bit of a cheat. But, the fact is that this is what I am most looking forward to reading this week. So many people, whose opinions concerning comic books I truly respect, have urged me to give Fables a try. I have been reticent to do so since there are so many trades already out for this title.

Then I heard about the Deluxe Edition Hardcover that was slated to come out. I am not a huge fan of trades and much prefer to purchase hardcovers. So, I decided to wait for Fables Deluxe Edition Hardcover Volume 1 to come out so I can finally hop aboard this train. Hopefully, Fables is as good as everyone has been saying.

Which DC comic book am I least looking forward to reading?

I do not have high hopes for Batman: Widening Gyre #2. The first issue of this title was a miss for me. In general, I dig Kevin Smith’s work. However, the debut issue on this title lacked any real direction and failed to hook me into wanting to come back for more. Smith failed to come up with any characters or plotlines that grabbed my interest in the debut issue.

However, the DC comic book that I am least looking forward to reading is Superman #692. I keep waiting for this title to hook my interest, but it just has not happened. Maybe it is just me but reading Superman without Superman actually in the title is pretty unexciting.

Which Marvel comic book am I most looking forward to reading?

I am looking forward to getting my hands on the Avengers/Invaders Hardcover. I enjoyed this mini-series. Jim Krueger did a fine job with the story and the artwork by Steve Sadowski was excellent. I love Golden Age characters so this story was tailor made for a reader like me. My only complaint with Avengers/Invaders was that the pacing was a bit slow and that the story was stretched to cover twelve issues. I imagine that this story will read much better in a collected format.

I fully expect Wolverine: Weapon X #5 to be another exciting full throttle read. Aaron has done an excellent job on this title by delivering a story that has a wonderful old school Wolverine feel to it. Aaron is not getting bogged down in Wolverine’s laughably convoluted and ridiculous continuity.

Instead, Aaron focuses on what makes Wolverine cool and that is massive amounts of action. Thanks to Aaron’s Wolverine: Weapon X, I was able to drop Wolverine and Wolverine: Origins. Of all the Wolverine titles, Aaron’s Wolverine: Weapon X is by far and away the best read.

I expect X-Factor #49 to be another solid read. To be sure, X-Factor is nowhere near as good as it used to be prior to the Messiah Complex mega event. Unfortunately, Messiah Complex appeared to throw David off his game and he has been struggling to regain his prior form on this title. Having said that, the dialogue and character work continue to be top notch on X-Factor. If David can just tighten up the pacing and plotting a bit I do believe that X-Factor can return to its previous glory.

The Marvel comic book that I am most looking forward to reading is Secret Warriors #8. Hickman has done a fantastic job with this title. I am interested in this current story arc dealing with Ares and Phobos. I like that Hickman is going to have the Secret Warriors fighting two different enemy factions as we are going to see our heroes clash with Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers and Thunderbolts as well as still having to deal with Hydra and their mysterious plans.

Secret Warriors always offers some solid action as well as excellent character work and dialogue. The plotting is always a strength with this title as Hickman is crafting quite a textured and layered story. Unfortunately, Stefano Caselli will not be handling the art duties for this issue. Alessandro Viti is the artist for Secret Warriors #8.

Which Marvel comic book am I least looking forward to reading?

That would be Amazing Spider-Man #607. I do not expect this to be a horrible read. This issue is simply the weakest issue of the selection of titles that I am getting from Marvel this week. The last issue failed to interest me and Casey will have to do much more than give me a cheesy 1980’s sitcom story in order to hook my interest. Hopefully, Amazing Spider-Man #607 will have more originality and substance than the previous issue.
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Rokk