Mixed Plate Comics- Week of 12.01.10

A rather light week usually means I get to fill holes and find gems in the backissues or just get de-railed by jumping on new books.  Gotta say the willpower was stronger than the avarice this week...at least for books (can't say the same for toys!! Yay?!)  The handful +1 of reads I picked up were Action Comics annual #13 / Secret Six #28 / Brightest Day #15 / Adventure Comics #521 / Shadowland #5 / Daredevil #512 and with such few books, just da choice 3:

3   Shadowland #5   Andy Diggle & Billy Tan  

They gone and did it again.  First, Cap now DD and soon Spidey...death to bring more life into a character that is struggling to meet those sales targets.  Okay enough of my rant.  I have always loved the acrobatic Daredevil and gritty underworld noir of Hells Kitchen and to see how Diggle/Tan handled the due of bringing the devil to rest...I can't hate on em.  I appreciated how Iron Fist was a part of the "healing" process of the possessed DD and seeing Elektra, at the most vulnerable since her rebirth to assist Murdock with the seppuku was on point.

Yet still I feel a bit of emptiness in how it all went down, sure DD has been a baddie for nearly a year and how much longer could this be drawn out..yeah not much.

And for Murdock to still be walking around as a drifter not even a few months after his death.  Meh.  Daredevil deserved more than this Quesada!  Still made the top 3 but more on nostalgia and loyalty to the DD creators that kept me captivated the last 4 years-- especially Brubaker, Lark, Aja and Diggle.



2   Secret Six #28   Gail Simone & Jim Califiore  

What would a throwback fantasy tale be without the terrifying, fire-breathing dragon?!  Done and done.  Simone and Califiore bring their Skataris fieldtrip of the Six to a glorious close with bloody, gruesome, barbaric warfare and of course some fun opportunities for all of those hardcore toyheads to craft their own custom figs of tight concepts like tribal Ragdoll or Catman in Warlord gear.

Simone keeps a lot of heart in the story with the reunion of Scandal and Bane, Black Alice's analogy of them being a cancer and of course, Giganta getting her vengeance for the death of the Atom.

Interesting new direction with Waller calling the shots and bridging some props to Ostrander's Suicide Squad, but with more than just Six now (yeah, it kinda always has been 7 or 8 on the team)...how will that work?  Hmm..



1   Action Comics Annual #13 Paul Cornell & Marco Rudy / Ed Benes

Mozambique artist on the rise--Marco Rudy, elevates his immersive, ill-paneling technique to fuse with the other-level writing Cornell brings into this, dare I say book of the year candidate!

Yes, I said it and you probably thought the same or soon will once you get to dive into this must-read young Luthor story. 

From the hypnotic bar scene, to the creative retcon connects of Luthor to Perry White and the graphic-heavy, Steranko-esque visit to Apocalypse-- this book demands a triple-take from page to page.

Cornell-- you gotta reconsider just keeping Lex on Action Comics-- I mean does Superman really need this book too??

Mesmerizing.

Though not as stunning, the second feature story of Ra's and Luthor was solid.  I felt as if this story took place sometime after the legendary Batman: Son of the Demon tale as it seemed that Ra's ever looking for his male heir, was so hoping it would be Lex. 

Ah Lex, for all his genius-- he just couldn't let his curiosity of Ra's motherbox simply be huh? 

Fantastic brushstrokes that Cornell has mixed into the rich history of Lex Luthor by pitting him at equal footing to Darkseid and Ra's.

Especially amused by the inclusion of his sensitivity to his long hair (was this just a figment of Lex's imagination that he had it?) and how Luthor had to be a self-made man (well, kinda- those billion dollar patents wouldn't of come without the Apocalypse tech yeah).

Major props on this book.  Get it!





This post was written by:
big O