BEST SHOTS: PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL; CONNOR HAWKE #1; ACTION #845

[MattBrady]

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Punisher War Journal #1
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Ariel Olivetti
Review by J. Caleb Mozzocco

With the exception of Dave Lapham’s Daredevil Vs. Punisher limited series, it’s been quite a while since Frank Castle had much to do with the Marvel Universe proper. And even then Frank’s interaction with the masks and tights crowd was under the off-kilter direction of his current Max scribe Garth Ennis and the looser editorial confines of the Marvel Knights imprint.

With last week’s Punisher War Journal and the previous week’s Civil War, we welcomed Frank back to the MU, but I have a feeling this Frank isn’t exactly the one many of us were expecting.

Ennis took the inherent silliness of a guy with a skull t-shirt slaughtering scores of mafiosos and drug dealers and accentuated it, so that the Punisher wasn’t so much a deadly vigilante as a scary serial killer, an unstoppable, grim-witted slasher movie antihero, only instead of nubile teens with loose morals, he made criminals his victims. Fraction’s Punisher is also somewhat silly, but his world is every bit as silly as he is, and he seems more like a typical Marvel hero, Wolverine with guns for claws.

Fraction’s Punisher is chatty, narrating the issue to himself (It is called War Journal), and pop culture savvy. He calls Stilt-Man an “asshat,” refers to The X-Files and, in the weirdest bit, makes such a strange allusion to Gilligan’s Island that Fraction realizes no one will get it, and builds a gag around it (Frank calls the Tinkerer “the Russell Johnson of the Underworld,” and then, a few paragraphs later explains, “Russell Johnson played the Professor on <>Gilligan’s Island. Nobody gets me. Maybe it’s the big skull on my chest.”).

Accenting the silliness is Olivetti and colorist Dean White’s art. It’s as wonderfully textured as Olivetti’s last few projects, and his Punisher possesses muscles that look like they’re full of helium, so that he’s popping out of his various black uniforms. His main SHEILD opponent looks like a Macy’s parade balloon too, a visual metaphor that these are two big men who are larger than life, or at least larger than all the other characters.

I wasn’t quite ready for this Punisher, but I quickly learned to love him (certainly by the point he was swarmed by cute little Iron Man dolls). As a Civil War tie in, it’s fairly strong, showing the second half of Civil War #5 from Frank’s point of view (if you skipped Civil War #5, you could probably just read this issue and last week’s Amazing Spider-Man and be totally up to speed). There are a lot of little differences between the two, from how badly hurt Spider-Man is to where the Jester gets shot and with what, but you get some back story into what Punisher was doing down there in the first place and how he located the Anti-Reg bases (Thankfully, there’s no hint of Ski Mask Man).


Connor Hawke: Dragon’s Blood #1
Written by Chuck Dixon
Art by Derec Donovan
Review by J. Caleb Mozzocco

I always liked Oliver Queen as a character. I liked his stupid little beard, his cranky, never-ending mid-life crisis, his loud-mouthed willingness to give Batman and Hawkman crap and the fact that he made it among the Justice League with no power other than the ability to shoot a medieval weapon very accurately.

And yet I wasn’t all that sad to see him replaced by Connor Hawke in the mid-90s, in part because Connor was just as individual a character. He was soft-spoken, somewhat shy, a vegetarian and a virgin (unless you count that one time with the ghost; he does, but friend Eddie Fyers doesn’t). He also fit in well with the other modern age legacy heroes of the time, like Kyle Rayner and Wally West.

When Ollie came back from the dead, I was glad they kept Connor around—if you can have at least two Flashes and thousands of Green Lanterns, why not two archers who answer the same codename?

I’m even more glad that DC’s giving Connor his chance in the spotlight (Or should that be limelight, given the color scheme?) with his own miniseries, and letting writer Chuck Dixon tell the tale. Dixon has written just about every single one of DC’s street-level, power-less masked vigilantes, and is an absolute ace when it comes to telling action-packed tales that feel like little paper action movies. The plots usually tend to be a little interchangeable—a Robin story could just have easily been a Nightwing or Catwoman story, for example—but Connor is one of the characters that always seemed to bring out the best in Dixon.

The story has shades of Enter the Dragon, with just a touch of Norse mythology. A mysterious, rich Chinese man who believes an ancient myth about a dragon being felled by an archer is commemorating the ancient event by gathering the world’s greatest archer’s to compete in an archery contest. On the list are Connor Hawke and Lady Shado, show-offy trickshooter Tony Crowfoot, a redheaded big game hunter (Hey, those are endangered, lady!), and a villain Dixon readers will recognize. (Not on the list are everyone else you’d expect, like Roy Harper, Oliver Queen, Merlyn or one of the Spyders, but perhaps Dixon will get to the parameters for invites in one of the next five issues).

The art comes courtesy of Derec Donovan, a solid draftsman and storyteller, whose style has just enough of Dixon’s old Green Arrow collaborators and Phil Hester to it to make the book stylistically similar to past Connor Hawke stories while still seeming fresh.

I have only one complaint about the book at this point, and that’s the title—why not just call it Green Arrow: Dragon’s Blood or just Dragon’s Blood? “Connor Hawke” isn’t exactly a name that screams “Buy Me!” from the stands, and comic books don’t have to always be named after their stars.

Caleb realizes that Caleb Mozzocco: Dragon’s Blood is an even worse name for a comic book.

Action Comics #845
From: DC Comics
Writers: Geoff Johns & Richard Donner
Artists: Adam Kubert & Dave Stewart
Reviewed by: Kevin Huxford

When I read this issue, I initially wanted to give it a fairly poor review. I didn’t think it was particularly well done. The super kid concept is a hard one to pull off and the writers aren’t doing themselves any favors by traveling down that road.

I’ve, also, come to realize that, in my adulthood, Bizarro is a really difficult character to use effectively outside of the Silver Age. I believe that, in his origins, he was made to be a goofy, backward guy who wasn’t really much of a villain but more of force of nature that bumbled and stumbled into trouble that required Superman’s intervention. Much like Mr. M (I am not trying to spell that name here), he was a non-traditional opponent who could call his lack of predictability his most challenging aspect. Some writers have come along and tried to make him nastier, but haven’t necessarily lost his imperfect/bumbling nature. Others have tried to make him a hard luck story; versions that have him starting out as an almost perfect clone who thinks he is Superman and then slowly degrading.

Why do I bring this up? Well, it is because, as the cover suggests, we’re seeing the latest incarnation/appearance of Bizarro. This go around, he seems to be Luthor’s lapdog that is sent to fetch things for him. He doesn’t seem to really understand the consequences of his actions, other than how they can help him find what Luthor’s sent him hunting for. On my first read through, I wasn’t too impressed with it. Giving it a second look, I’m much more satisfied with how they pulled this off. He’s an imperfect villain that is an imperfect character at its heart and they make it work alright. It is probably the best anyone could do with using this character and, in my opinion, stays closer to the roots of the character than the Frankenstein’s Monster take in JUSTICE. I think that the crew did a decent job with a difficult character.

All that cleared away, I’m not sold on how they’ve handled all of the super-orphan stuff. It is all a bit bad…a bit like it is following a formula, rather than feeling natural. It isn’t something I can put a strong finger on, though the sweet, well-meant naming of the kid does more to cement that negative feeling (albeit with the addition of my having pangs of guilt over it) than deflect it. I don’t think there is much of the book that really sucks you into it, with the possible exception of some of the dynamic action scenes involving Bizarro. It would appear that the story shifts significantly next issue, so the presentation might improve without the writers ever proving they can tackle the idea of the super-orphan with more success. The shift in the tale doesn’t seem like it is necessarily easier though, which is why I’m not ready to assume that we will definitely see that improvement.

On the art chores, Adam and Dave are still finding their footing. Or maybe it is just Adam who is still getting his bearings? I can’t say for certain, but while I can pin an inconsistent S symbol as being very likely Adam’s goof (the press conference version is glaringly different than Superman’s two page splash earlier in the book), I can’t nail down whether other problems are simply Adam’s pencils or Dave trying to find the best way to go straight to colors from those pencils. Dave’s selection of palette is killer and really adds to my enjoyment of the book. Adam’s pencils, more often than not, do a great job of balancing Superman’s awesome power with his great humanity, both as Clark and Superman (unlike the Morrison/Quitely version). They just work together to fine-tune things.

I give this issue six and a half Baldies out of ten.

Don’t worry; Kevin really gives a much harsher review in the pellets section.

Pellet Reviews!

Daredevil #91 Marvel (review by Koben Kelly): Every month, I fall more in love with this book. Matt knows most of the truth about Lily, and her charms won’t fool him again. Not even if she does smell like the late Karen Page. He may continue his investigation, but this time he’ll do it by his rules. Too bad Lily’s co-conspirators are willing to draw blood… too bad for her, that is. The tables are turned, and the line between pretending to be in danger and actually being in danger is blurred. Brubaker and Lark have solidly made this comic their own, and I can’t remember enjoying it this much in years. Lark’s work adds a gritty reality to a story about murder and double-crosses that puts you directly into the action. I have developed a much deeper appreciation for Tombstone as a heel due to this arc, and I would love to see him used as a recurring opponent for Matt. On the other hand, someone needs to bitchslap the Matador right out of the 616. While the whole fish-out-of-water Devil Takes a Ride vibe is fantastic, I am eager to see Matt’s reaction to the actual state of Foggy’s life. Will he be relieved and overjoyed, or will be resentful and hold it against his best friend? Whatever the case may be, I’m sure Bru will deliver the goods. Of special note is colorist Matt Hollingsworth’s yellowed sepia-like portrayal of the opening flashback sequence. A wonderful touch, adding needed depth to previously-covered territory.

Impaler #2 Image (review by Koben): This title is an original view of a genre that been being covered for decades. Vampires have been set loose on the streets of New York, consuming whoever crosses their paths. These are not gothic-romanticists, nor are they attractive by any means. They are decrepit, shadowy predators who employ living darkness to travel from meal to meal. An almost-retired detective, Vic, has had his escape to Florida negated by the disappearance of over three-hundred NY citizens overnight. The police have gathered forces to investigate this mystery, as no clues or bodies can be found. My favorite bit is an interview with the last remaining tenant of an apartment building who arrived home during the first daylight hours. Upon investigation of all the apartments, after noticing that doors were left opened, it seems that no one is home. What could have happened? The art by Nick Postic has deep Jae Lee influence, but the layout of the panels bears a keen eye for storytelling similar to Tony Harris. I believe this is writer William Harms’ first foray into the world of sequential storytelling, but he’s attacking it like a pro, already. Hopefully, he has more stories in his head beside this one, as his characterization, development of plot, and dialog are all written quite well. Apparently, Vlad Tepes will be making an appearance of sorts in coming issues.

52 #29 DC (Review by Koben): After last week’s decent but fairly lackluster issue, I was relieved to read this one. It seems that Luthor’s wonder treatment that grants the recipient superpowers has made the Justice Society an impotent factor in saving the day. While the team elders are shutting down the headquarters, Obsidian makes a welcome appearance. Too bad the Thanksgiving Day parade featuring the all-new Infinity, Inc. is passing by. And, on that front, can I just state for the record that this offends even me? These so-called heroes running or flying around, smiling for the public and the cameras, with all the field experience of a toddler. They’ve taken on the names and even the costumes of former, and even deceased, members of a team I hold in the highest of regards. It’s in extremely bad taste to me. I’ll be honest… I loved Jade, and this new girl wearing her costume makes me sick. Apparently, Obsidian feels the same way, and takes mattes into his own hands. Also prominently featured this issue is The Island of Misfit Mad Scientists. I love this stuff. Especially the way Sivana carves a turkey. Just nuts. We also get an inside look at why Magnus’ current attempts aren’t yielding success in the way his fellow inventors desire. Batista does a decent job at interpreting Giffen’s break-downs for this issue. Curiously enough, no back-up. I wonder if this is a permanent change?

The Creeper #4 DC (review by Koben): This is a fun series, and I like what Steve Niles is doing with the character. But (and you knew there was a but)… The Creeper without Justiniano’s artwork… just ain’t creepy. This time around it’s more of a straight-forward superhero book. There’s a moment when he’s passed out, where Jack Ryder and the Creeper are both occupying mind-space face-to-face, and the dark, moody background I imagine Justiniano creating is replaced with simple blackness. Booooooring. I still enjoyed reading it, but it’s simply not the same book. Sorry, guys.

Planetary Brigade Origins #1 (Boom! Studios; by Caleb) Giffen and DeMatteis bring back the Bwa-Ha-Ha with this three-issue miniseries about Hero Squared’s hero Captain Valor’s old super-team. It leans heavily on the Avengers’ origin, and each of the heroes is a (not particularly strong) Marvel or DC analogue, but it’s executed just as ably as Giffen and DeMatteis’ last few visits to the sitcom-style superheroics they’re known for. Fans of the JLI reunion miniseries-es and their recent Defenders mini (um, like me) should definitely dig it. Others should probably stay away, as this is just more of the same.

Amazing Spider-Man #536 (Marvel; by Caleb) This is a strange tie-in. The first five pages fill in the space between when Spider-Man gets shot out the window in Civil War #5 and when he heads into the sewers, with Iron Man following him out to continue the fight (So he did build a failsafe into the Iron Spidey suit after all!). Then, it jumps ahead to sometime after Civil War #6 (out next month), during which the Parkers are on the lam. It’s well written and well drawn, J. Michael Straczynski’s Spidey seems more like the Spider-Man you know and love than Mark Millar’s glummer version, and the conflict between Iron Man and Spider-Man is much more dramatic in this series than elsewhere, as we’ve seen their relationship build for so long. Oddly enough, though, as I pointed out above, if you read this issue and Punisher War Journal #1, you don’t really need to read Civil War #5 at all, since this is another case of the tie-ins exceeding the main series in relevance.

Wonder Woman #3 (DC; by Caleb) Hercules fights Wonder Woman’s rogues, who capture Donna Troy and Wonder Girl; Diana recaps Hercules’ origin to Nemesis; Circe attacks Diana. The end. This issue, like the last two, are gorgeously designed and illustrated by Terry and Rachel Dodson (Costume-wise, none of these characters have ever looked better…well, I like Dr. Psycho with hair, but otherwise, none have ever looked better). But it’s just Superheroics 101, and hardly very interesting, particularly since the last three covers (and the last four issues of Justice League of America) have already answered the “Who is Wonder Woman?” question that gives this storyline it’s title. I have no idea why this title is always so late; as great as the art is, it’s not so hyper-detailed that it looks like the Dodsons took more than 4-6 weeks on it, and the story is so basic that writer Allan Heinberg could have thought it up in the shower one day. Maybe he’s just an exceptionally slow typist?

Sam Noir: Samurai Detective #3 (Image Comics; by Caleb) Manny Trembley and Eric A. Anderson’s Asian pop culture/Western detective story mash-up comes to it’s conclusion much too soon with this issue, but we can always hope for a sequel. Sam enters his enemy’s lobby to kill guys in black suits, makes it to the rooftop for a showdown in a snowy garden, and then on to the big boss himself—er, herself. The creative team references The Matrix and Kill Bill, or, just as likely, the same sources those films referenced, and Sam gets off some more quotable narration, like, “There are a lot of misconceptions about what it’s like when two trained samurai duel…but really, it’s a lot more like two ships passing in the night. Only faster. And then one of those ships die.” It’s that voice and sense of humor that make the book so much fun—although, the glowing black and white art certainly doesn’t hurt any—and it hardly even matters what Sam is up to exactly, just so long as he’s telling us about it.

Superman Returns: The Video Game (Electronic Arts for the PS2; by Kevin)
Wow…what can really be said about this mistake of a game? The graphics are subpar, the controls are horrid, and the gameplay redefines the word “repetitive”. This was a game that was supposed to be out when the movie hit the theaters, but Electronic Arts had indicated that, rather than rush it out, they were going to take the hit financially and hold it back until it was finished. Well…it appears that they were only brave enough to wait until the DVD release…and forgot to let the programmers know that they were supposed to continue working on it. I really wanted to like this game and greatly anticipated its release. But it turned out to be a tremendous letdown. I hear decent things about the part where you get to play as Bizarro, but who can suffer through scene after scene of robot-bashing in order to get there? Especially when you keep having to dropping injured civilians back on to the pavement because you’re stuck in another onslaught of mayhem-making robots. Save yourself the frustration; the Atari 2600 Superman game was more rewarding. If you can’t find that, go play Justice League: Heroes

Amazing Spider-Man #536 (Marvel Comics; by Kevin): This issue is the first time I have felt sorry for JMS in this Civil War tie-in period. It is ironic that, when things look darkest for our hero, JMS is able to give the humor back to Peter and the book. Peter gets a few steps closer to going back to his roots, which is a good thing. Civil War seems to be relaxing its grip on the book, but the writer is still going to be saddled with Garney’s pencils. It isn’t that Ron isn’t a good artist, but his work seems poorly suited to the tone of the book under JMS. Garney is best suited for a book that does action, early and often. Not going to happen often enough with JMS for Garney to shine.

Blue Beetle #9 (DC Comics; by Kevin): The art is pretty inconsistent in this issue. It seems, at times, that Duncan goes minimalist with his pencils in expectation that the inker or colorist will save him, with the end result being really pedestrian looking panels (worst example would be the panels where Jaime’s father faces down Peacemaker). The story has some good bits (like establishing that this Peacemaker appears to be the original Charlton version, not some new creation), but, like so many previous issues, winds up having the best part be its tease of what is to be seen in the coming issues.

Double-Shot Pellet: 52 Week #29 (DC Comics; by Kevin): I’m enjoying 52. I believe in this story. Might call me one of its biggest fans. But the last several issues have largely been treading water. They keep setting things up, but haven’t followed through yet. I guess I could be happy that this issue had no major flaws in logic (you know, like Ralph not being able to suffer through a few seconds of his wife dying so that she could…errrr…not be dead?), but that’s not enough. I have a feeling that part of the plan was to stick some of the least stand-alone-satisfying issues in this general area of the print run so they can really have things crackling with heat steadily, starting in the next few issues and carrying through to the end.


Troy Brownfield founded ShotgunReviews.com and serves as the Editor-in-Chief. He’s a professor of English, journalism and communication and freelances for a number of print and online sources. Anyone wishing to submit their titles for review can contact Troy at psikotyk@aol.com. If you’re interested in taking a class with Troy via the miracle of Distance Learning, check out the program here http://www.smwc.edu , and specifically mention him or his areas (Journalism, Professional Writing, New Media) when you call.

[buzz1976]

Do I actually have first post?

I do!!

Anyway, I agree with 52. This issue gave us some juicy tid bits of info.

And the Superman The Videogame review says it all!!

Buzz

[NatePetrelli]

Agree about the Kubert art in action.Way too rough,sketchy and unfinished.You wanna see Stewart's colors truly shine,check out his Supes with Busiek and Pacheco.Now that is a Superman book worth the hype.

[HG_studios]

Great reviews, as usual.

I tend to agree about the feeling of being let down with Action 845...
but for different reasons. I absolutely love the artwork in this title...perhaps there are inconsistencies as mentioned above, but I did not notice them at all.

The super-kid storyline does seem a little hokey and a little too soon considering we're getting son of Superman in the theatres (something that took me a bit to warm up to), but I'm actually beginning to be more accepting of the premise and the story seems to be flowing well enough. Until the last page...this ruined the entire book for me, and makes me groan in anticipation of future issues.

SPOILER AHEAD: Now, I could be wrong, as I am fairly new to the DC universe (I've only been reading DC titles for about 3 years, now), but Ursa and Non have never appeared in the DC U proper before, have they? I have read Zod (in For Tomorrow), but never have I heard mention of his Superman II sidekicks appearing in the comics. If I am incorrect in this assumption, then I apologize, but If I'm correct, I am highly dissappointed and actually hurt by the sudden inclusion of Donner's creations. I suppose I am in the minority when I say that I would prefer my Comic Book continuity and my Movie/Film continuity to be seperate from one another...they are completely different mediums, and traditionally what happens in one does not affect the other (excluding the ridiculous marketing schemes...I'm looking at YOU Marvel, with your "Back in Black" bullsh*t). I would prefer it to stay that way. I would hope that Mr. Donner could come up with something more original and at least a story that utilizes ESTABLISHED characters (not that there is a shortage of those running around the DCU) before thrusting HIS characters upon us. It simply feels that he does not have respect for what has come before, and by that rationale, does not respect us, the readers. This may sound like overreacting, but I'm simply tired of all the blatant continuity errors in favor of catering to established writers of other media (also, looking at Marvel for the recent Wolverine healing factor issues).

Enough bitching, thanks again for the reviews...I look forward to seeing them up here every Monday!

Kevin

[Darthphere]

Originally Posted by HG_studios

I suppose I am in the minority when I say that I would prefer my Comic Book continuity and my Movie/Film continuity to be seperate from one another...they are completely different mediums, and traditionally what happens in one does not affect the other (excluding the ridiculous marketing schemes...I'm looking at YOU Marvel, with your "Back in Black" bullsh*t).

Trust me, youre not alone.

[BAMJoe]

I know that the Wonder Woman story arc is called "Who is Wonder Woman?", but I think that they are asking this in the philosophical sense and not the physical sense.

[ponyboy81]

I'm truly enjoying the Brubaker run on Daredevil but the ad count was insane this month. 25 pages??? Just way too distracting to really enjoy the story...I felt like I had an issue of Esquire or something...

[supes0]

.You wanna see Stewart's colors truly shine,check out his Supes with Busiek and Pacheco.Now that is a Superman book worth the hype.

I agree. Busiek and Pacheco are doing a fantastic job. It might not be getting the hype of Action Comics , but mho, it's the better of the two.

[kingofcities]

Punisher War Journal was a headscratcher to me. I have not enjoyed Civil War and it has more or less turned me off buying any 616 books in the last few months. Never mind the fact that I haven't enjoyed a Punisher book in around five years now. However,seeing Fractions name here made me curious to see the first issue. And I'll be damned if I didn't enjoy the hell out of it. The hook of this book relying on the CW premise so much SHOULD have made me pull my hair out but strangely made this issue work. I have to say that I disagree with the use of the word "silly" in the above review. What Ennis did was silly. He made Frank silly, basically one big self-parody book. Frank having a sense of humor as Fraction writes him is not the same thing though. That was my take anyways. Still can't believe I liked this...

Action Comics was terrific as well. The "superboy" issue is under so much scrutiny. I don't even get it. In fact the Kubert art that was critqued a bit negatively above garnered the opposite reaction from me. There was SO much emotion in the tiniest nuance of a panel. They didn't have to spell everything out with extra dialogue. It was easy to see why Clark likes the kid and why Lois had her "change of heart". The ending just made it that much sweeter because it's all about to hit the fan. Thumbs up to Geoff, Richard and Adam. Very well done.

[EvilErnie13]

So what happened to 52 #29? It was originally solicited like this from the DC 52 site:

WEEK 29: "Th-th-they're going to kill me. S-S-Supergirl's going to kill me." "That's — the BLACK MARVEL FAMILY?" Plus, The Origin of The Joker by Waid and Brian Bolland.

Well? Anyone?

[ADC]

Originally Posted by kingofcities

Punisher War Journal was a headscratcher to me. I have not enjoyed Civil War and it has more or less turned me off buying any 616 books in the last few months. Never mind the fact that I haven't enjoyed a Punisher book in around five years now. However,seeing Fractions name here made me curious to see the first issue. And I'll be damned if I didn't enjoy the hell out of it. The hook of this book relying on the CW premise so much SHOULD have made me pull my hair out but strangely made this issue work. I have to say that I disagree with the use of the word "silly" in the above review. What Ennis did was silly. He made Frank silly, basically one big self-parody book. Frank having a sense of humor as Fraction writes him is not the same thing though. That was my take anyways. Still can't believe I liked this...

Action Comics was terrific as well. The "superboy" issue is under so much scrutiny. I don't even get it. In fact the Kubert art that was critqued a bit negatively above garnered the opposite reaction from me. There was SO much emotion in the tiniest nuance of a panel. They didn't have to spell everything out with extra dialogue. It was easy to see why Clark likes the kid and why Lois had her "change of heart". The ending just made it that much sweeter because it's all about to hit the fan. Thumbs up to Geoff, Richard and Adam. Very well done.

Agreed on everything you said.

Kubert is excelent in Action. His rough pencils have a 30´s look that is excelent for the title.

[Ace_ETP]

Originally Posted by HG_studios

Great reviews, as usual.

SPOILER AHEAD: Now, I could be wrong, as I am fairly new to the DC universe (I've only been reading DC titles for about 3 years, now), but Ursa and Non have never appeared in the DC U proper before, have they?

The names "Ursa" and "Non" were created for Superman II. The characters, however, were not. There have been 6 different General Zods: a Golden Age conceptual predecessor named "Q-Ban", the classic Silver Age Phantom Zone Zod, the John Byrne Pocket Universe version, the Jeph Loeb virtual reality Krypton version, the Eastern European version, and the "For Tomorrow" Phantom Zone guy. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd versions all had a woman and a silent tall guy for henchmen. However, much in the same way Zod's name went from being "Q-Ban" to "Zod" to "Dru-Zod", the names of the henchmen changed everytime new versions of them were introduced.

It was probably smart to give these current incarnations (which seem to be the classic Silver Age guys) the names from Superman II, which are more well known to the general public than "Mala" and "Jax-Ur", for example.

[Steve J.]

Creeper #4 was solicited with Justiniano listed as artist. Hopefully he just needed an issue off to catch up and finish #5 and #6. I probably wouldn't be buying The Creeper were it not for Justiniano's artwork. Hopefully he'll be back next issue.

[Revo214]

never mind, I'm kind of besides the point.

[khuxford]

Originally Posted by kingofcities

Action Comics was terrific as well. The "superboy" issue is under so much scrutiny. I don't even get it. In fact the Kubert art that was critqued a bit negatively above garnered the opposite reaction from me. There was SO much emotion in the tiniest nuance of a panel. They didn't have to spell everything out with extra dialogue. It was easy to see why Clark likes the kid and why Lois had her "change of heart". The ending just made it that much sweeter because it's all about to hit the fan. Thumbs up to Geoff, Richard and Adam. Very well done.

I just want to make one thing clear: I'm not trying to be overly critical of Kubert. The panels are great...just inconsistent. For the most part, each panel taken on its own can be seen as beautiful...but I think Adam and Dave need to even things out a bit. Then, of course, there is the matter of the postage-stamp-sized S in that one panel.

[Tater Salad]

Was the Zod in (I think it was called) "War of the Worlds" story line the virtual reality Krypton version?

[jeircho]

Yeah, Johns, Donner and Kubert have done nothing short of a miracle:

THEY MADE ME CARE ABOUT A SUPERMAN TITLE!

Last time I was even remotely interested was back in the REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN hayday. This is, by far, the best direction they're taking the man of steel. Everything is running on all cylinders and I can't help but love this title. Here's hoping they're on for at least 24 issues.

[Darthphere]

Originally Posted by jeircho

Yeah, Johns, Donner and Kubert have done nothing short of a miracle:

THEY MADE ME CARE ABOUT A SUPERMAN TITLE!

Last time I was even remotely interested was back in the REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN hayday. This is, by far, the best direction they're taking the man of steel. Everything is running on all cylinders and I can't help but love this title. Here's hoping they're on for at least 24 issues.

Oh God no.

[s*p rules]

Thanks for the heads-up on the Superman game. I hated the movie with a passion, but thought the recent commercials for the game made it look pretty cool - especially with bizzarro and mxyzptlk included as characters. I was on the fence, and now I'm off.

Didn't really like action comics at all; it's as if the editors of the book said "screw dcu continuity and let's give donner and johns free reign and a bj to do their own book". DC should have saved this story for an ASS sequel (which should be ready to follow the current ASS sometime in 2010). Meanwhile, Busiek and Pacheco is doing the best written and drawn Superman in years (especially on the art side).

Though not reviewed here, I thought that Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters was the best book of the week. Great art, dialogue that isn't painful to read (looking at you, Punisher War Journal), and a very interesting plot/story that really moves. Just a fantastic book.

[Troy Brownfield]

Originally Posted by s*p rules

Though not reviewed here, I thought that Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters was the best book of the week. Great art, dialogue that isn't painful to read (looking at you, Punisher War Journal), and a very interesting plot/story that really moves. Just a fantastic book.

That's one that I'll be talking about, and I agree. US&FF should definitely be an ongoing.

[Kal_Jordan]

No mention of X-Factor, one of the best comics around and not a single mention...Well it doesn't have Richard Donner, So I guess its great to give the books that sell well more attention because they really need it.

Im sorry Action Comics is just sad right now...

[idkidd]

I like this weekly feature a lot -- is there any chance of the cover of each issue that's being reviewed appear next to the actual review. Maybe a diamond order code too for any non-Marvel/DC?

[ArcticMonkey]

As usual - thanks for these reviews guys!

I agree that i would've liked to have seen an X-Factor review (though thats coz i didn't pick it up, and the hype about it bein a homage issue has me regrettin that now).

Wish i would've picked up Punisher too - though Frank as always seemed a character in the periphery of the Marvel Universe, and even though he stormed into Civil War in the most dramatic of styles, i still couldn't be tempted to part with my hard earned cash for this.

I anticpiate a visit from three ghosts on christmas eve in response to said scroogeness!

[Troy Brownfield]

Originally Posted by Kal_Jordan

No mention of X-Factor, one of the best comics around and not a single mention...Well it doesn't have Richard Donner, So I guess its great to give the books that sell well more attention because they really need it.

I'm not a real big fan of this kind of comment. For one thing, our reviewers have covered X-Factor repeatedly since the title's inception. For another, the Action review wasn't entirely positive, so it's not like we chose to give lip-service to one title at the expense of another. I don't really appreciate the implication.

If you'll notice, due to holiday and other considerartions, there are really only a couple of our total crew of nearly a dozen that accounted for ALL of this week's reviews. I'd say that those fellows did a sterling job of covering a wide variety of titles in strong fashion. I truly wish that we could represent every title every week, but that's just not feasible.

Thanks to all the readers who had nice things to say about the team. They, and I, appreciate it, and we're happy that you enjoy the column.

As to the question of cover images, we typically offer images of the books from the "feature-size" reviews; since the pellets are of varying size and occasionally number into the dozen or more, it's really an editorial/design call for those to run without images. Thanks for asking!

[kilroy]

I have to say I think the review on Action Comics was so off. Im enjoying this story so much more then the Superman Busiek story. And think Adams art is better then andy's on Batman. The ending of action I didnt see coming. I agree that wonder woman is 101 but it is quality 101. A great beginning in a simple way to re establish. Its sad they will only do one arc but I want my wonder woman monthly so bye bye guys