Weekly Awards For The Comic Books From February 19, 2009

All right, it is time to dish out The Revolution’s weekly awards.

As usual we got plenty of great comments from the Followers of The Revolution. I went ahead and gave the comment of the week to Amalgham in response to the Amazing Spider-Man #587 review:

“When it comes to Spidey I have to always put the disclaimer that I cannot let go of the OMD/BND thing. So long as it is still going on I cannot forget.

That being said, I started picking up ASM again for this particular storyline simply because I had gone a few months into the BND storyline and had invested some time with the Menace character as well as Jackpot. With the Jackpot identity having been revealed and possibly the storyline resolved, only Menace was left and I wanted to see who was behind the “mask”.

I was drawn to this issue by the fact that Spidey was captured and wanted to see how it was handled. I wasn’t expecting Spidey to get unmasked, but I think I hurt myself from the amount of facepalms I did while reading this issue.

I know that heroes aren’t going to be unmasked easily, but seriously, how the hell can someone who is a suspect of being a serial killer not be unmasked right on the spot by the NYC police?!? Oh, and I looked up the law that was cited in connection to the reasoning… hence the facepalm.

I live in NYC and if someone like that were caught, and were a federal fugitive he would have been unmasked right on the spot. But, I think this would probably apply to any state. I tend to think cops want to make sure they can recognize the suspect if they happen to catch him again.

Sometimes I try to suspend my sense of logic when it comes to comics, but this was not a case where I could do so.

Overall, I think I could do without the Spider-Man being caught and more of just the Menace story portion of the comic. It seems that that storyline makes more sense then the rest. Well, until the next facepalm issue, look for me at my nearest emergency room where they try to save me from the multiple concussions I’ll probably give myself.”

Okay, let’s go ahead and check out the nominees for the Che for the best comic book of the week:

Dark Avengers #2
Guardians of the Galaxy #10
Invincible #59
Outsiders #15
X-Factor #40

The Winner: X-Factor #40

The Revolution has already posted reviews for Dark Avengers #2, Invincible #59 and Outsiders #15. We enjoyed all three issues, but they just weren’t quite good enough to win the Che for the best read of the week.

Guardians of the Galaxy #10
Writer: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Pencils: Brad Walker
Inks: Victor Olazaba and Livesay

Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

DnA cranked out another great read with Guardians of the Galaxy #10. This was an action packed issue as the Guardians of the Galaxy rode to the rescue to save Starlord and Jack Flag from Blastaar’s army at 42 in the Negative Zone. Action fans should love this issue since this is a fast paced issue with plenty of action.

This is another well plotted issue as DnA continue to deftly juggle various interesting plotlines at the same time. I like the plot development of Adam Warlock setting out to prove that he is the Messiah and then assuming control over the Universal Church of Truth. The interesting plot twist that the Universal Church has a strange cocoon in their possession piques my interest. Evidently, the Matriarch of the Universal Church feels that the contents of the cocoon houses the true messiah and that Adam Warlock is a fake messiah.

I cannot wait to find out who is inside of the cocoon. This clearly echoes Adam Warlock’s origins. In Fantastic Four #167, Adam was “born” from a cocoon. Adam emerged from the cocoon as the entity known as “Him.” I dig that DnA are showing off good research skills and are looking back to some of that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby goodness as a foundation for this plotline.

We get a good hook ending at the end of this issue. Jack Flag gains the ability to walk again due to the incredible science at Knowhere. And we then learn from Starhawk that the war that ends everything is starting. We should start to see the War of King events running through the pages of Guardians of the Galaxy.

Guardians of the Galaxy #10 is a balance read that offers a unique combination of excellent character work, good dialogue, strong plotting and quality action. DnA have a nice blueprint for this title and continue to move the story along in a pleasant and focused manner. The only aspect of this issue that I was not overly impressed with was the artwork. It is quite ordinary.

X-Factor #40
Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Valentine De Landro
Inks: Pat Davidson and Valentine De Landro

Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of

I had to give The Che for the best comic book of the week to X-Factor #40. This issue was on a different level than all of the other comic books that I read from last Wednesday. David continue to amaze me with his work on this title. With the exception of the average Messiah Complex tie-in issues and the dull Secret Invasion tie-in issues, X-Factor has been Marvel’s best written title. Obviously, what those tie-in issues have taught us is that X-Factor works best when kept separate from the rest of the 616 Universe.

I was worried that the David was losing his focus as the quality of writing truly dipped during the Secret Invasion tie-in issues. However, David has proved my fears unfounded and is back on top of his game with X-Factor #39 and #40.

I will once again honor David’s wishes and not say reveal any of the details about the story to X-Factor #40 other than that this issue deals with Jamie going back to talk with his dupe, John Maddrox, who is a preacher in Vermont. This issue builds off of the story that David gave us back in X-Factor #16. Check out my review to refresh your memory of that issue. X-Factor #16 is my favorite issue of X-Factor so far. It was beautifully written. And David manages to match his effort from X-Factor #16 by crafting an equally wonderful read in X-Factor #40.

That is all I am going to tell you all about what happens in this issue. Suffice it to say, this issue was such a moving, powerful and emotional read. David continues to strike a chord within my heart and continually gets me to empathize and relate with his characters in a fashion that I rarely do with most comic books. David’s handling of Jamie’s character continues to be some of the best character work that you will find in any comic book.

And yes, the ending to X-Factor #40 is another shocker. I cannot wait to see where David goes from here. I strongly urge you to give X-Factor a chance. Get the trades to fill yourself in on the back-story and then go out and purchase X-Factor #40. You won’t be disappointed.

And now the nominees for the Sequential Methadone Award for the worst comic book of the week:

Justice League of America #30

The Winner: Justice League of America #30

The Revolution has already posted a review for Justice League of America #30. Needless to say, the Justice League of America has seen better days. This title has become a shell of a comic book. The JLA is constantly getting overshadowed by outside characters due to story arcs that are designed to shill for characters and stories that are to take place outside of the Justice League of America. It would be nice for the JLA to actually be the center of attention in their own title.

There is a paucity of JLA-centric plotlines on this title. The character work was average and the dialogue rather pedestrian. I have never cared at all about Shadow Cabinet before this story arc. And McDuffie did nothing at all to get me to like these rip-off characters with what he gave us in this story arc. I would only recommend Justice League of America #30 to Shadow Cabinet fans. JLA fans will be sorely disappointed with this issue.

So congratulations to X-Factor #40 for winning the Che for the best comic book of the week. And “congratulations” to Justice League of America #30 for winning the Sequential Methadone Award for the worse comic book of the week.