This Week in Comics: June 6th, 2007 

By Christopher Hoerdemann
www.pipelinernd.com

How Many: 11 Books

How Much: $34

Books: Sub-Mariner #1, Nightwing #133, Omega Flight #3, New Warriors #1, Iron Man #18, Buffy Season 8 #4, Countdown #47, Battlin' Jack Murdock #1, Detective Comics #833, Uncanny X-Men #487, Fallen Son #4.

   

Pre Reading Thoughts: The week without a standout book has come! There's no Superman, Spider-Man, or Batman to be found in my stack of new comics. I've been saddled with 2nd rate team books like Omega Flight and New Warriors, and second string books like Iron Man (all the real interesting stories seem to take place outside of his solo title for some reason). Going into this, I wasn't looking forward to much. I had read Avengers: Initiative #3 last week, so the lone A-list, top of the line book was already done with!

First Book Out of the Stack: Which book was I looking forward to enough to read first? Battlin' Jack Murdock! You had better believe it! Carmine Di Giandomenico's (say that five times fast) cover combined the best elements of Scot Kolins's art with Richard Isanove's awesome digital paints, and caught my attention right off the bat. So did this book live up to its selection as the first out of the stack? It sure did. Good art, and a story that takes a character that hasn't been examined very much and makes him interesting makes this first issue a very good start to this four issue mini series.

   

The Middle Books: With a week with very few must read books, I didn't really have a definitive book I wanted to read 2nd. I ended up reading Iron Man, which was just okay. With all the changes that have been made in the Marvel Universe recently (with Shell Head right in the middle of them), you'd think this book would be more “earth shattering.” I know, I rant about how I don't always like “earth shattering,” but I am getting the feeling that Marvel isn't really letting the Knauf's stretch their creative muscles on this book. The art (provided by Roberto De La Torre) is solid though. Next came Omega Flight. The fact that this isn't an ongoing series is dumbfounding! Mike Oeming writes a story that takes a relative Flight newbie (me), and gets me hooked. The only gripe is that Scot Kolins's art is being colored in a strange fashion. I liked his regular style, and this new coloring scheme just seems a bit off. Then, I moved onto Nightwing. This is probably one of the more consistent books I read. Since I began reading at the start of Marv Wolfman's second arc, I've enjoyed a nice down to earth, action packed book. Nothing too crazy is going on, just Nightwing solving a mystery and fighting some bad guys. Jamal Igle's art continues to be top notch, and Keith Champagne's inks complement Igle's pencils very well. Then, I begrudgingly picked up the newest issue of Countdown. I haven't been very happy with this book to this point, so I was scared to read this issue. Well, so much for being scared! This was easily the best issue of the series so far. The Mary Marvel storyline continues to be the most enjoyable, and the first big steps towards the pudding hitting the fan occurs here. This series finally seems to be moving in the right direction. Next came Buffy, which was just confusing. This is not any fault of Joss Whedon's. I've seen the first three seasons of the show, so there's a good four seasons of material that I'm missing. Once I've gotten caught up with the show, this issue might make a little more sense. Georges Jeanty's art seemed a bit rough in spots as well. From there, I read Detective Comics, which had one heck of an ending. Dini lulled me into a false sense of security, then hit me with and awesome cliffhanger. Surprisingly, Uncanny X-Men was pretty awesome. Salvador Larocca's art was ten times better than his work on the Spider-Man annual, and Brubaker did his usual good job. Second to last I read New Warriors. It was okay. This was a last minute pickup that I made as I was walking out of my LCS. I kind of wish I'd held off on this one to see what the general consensus was before buying it. Basically, it was disappointing.

The Last Book AKA The Book Of Shame: The book of shame is the last book out of the pile that I read. I picked up an advanced copy of Sub-Mariner #1 on accident. I wasn't planning on bringing this one home, but I accidentally paid for it, and it landed in my bag. Although the dialogue was a little off in spots, and the art was pretty mediocre, this was a good read. It looks like it will actually have some repercussions on the Marvel U, and we are left with a final page that gives me an inkling that the Hulk might not be the only guy leaving a path of destruction in his wake.

   

Bonus Advanced Review: I had the chance to read a preview copy (which happened to be misprinted, but more on that later) of Fallen Son #4. This mini series has had some ups and downs. The first issue was okay, the second was less than stellar, and the third was pretty good. This issue deals with Spider-Man, and Jeph Loeb does a very good job of connecting the deaths of people close to Peter to Cap's death. David Finch's art is some of his best work as well. Overall, this issue was the best of the series to date. Loeb avoids most cliches, and Finch's art pops off the pages! The misprint I spoke of was kind of strange. The copy I read was one with the John Romita Jr. cover from the last issue on it. The cover said it was issue three, and the contents on the inside were most definitely from issue four.

Final Thoughts: For a week with no real star studded comics, I was quite happy with what I read. This is a great feeling though; being happy, and not letdown by the quality of my weekly comics!

Book of the Week: Countdown, but Battlin' Jack Murdock deserves an honorable mention!

Stinker of the Week: New Warriors. It just didn't really hook me like a first issue is supposed to.

Grade for the Week: B+