Mixed Plate Comics- Week of 11.16.2011

Damn that Heroclix, really is no joke.  Along with hitting up various gaming spots around the Bay, picking up bricks and hunting down dope pieces to round out my arsenal...well I have been caught up.  So how about those books that I have been neglecting?   Nightwing #3 / Star Wars: Invasion- Revelations #5 / Severed #4 / Captain America #4 / Batman #3 / Catwoman #3 / Conan: Road of Kings #10 / Justice League #3 / Mass Effect: Invasion #2 / Green Lantern Corps #3 / Wonder Woman #3 / Birds of Prey #3.  As for the phenom five of the reads...
5    Star Wars: Invasion- Revelations #5   Tom Taylor & Colin Wilson

Of the many SW brand of books from Dark Horse I have been mainly jocking the titles, one-shots and issues that center around the Sith Lord, Darth Vader.  The cover treatment alone of this ish got me hyped with some props to the 501st Legion.   

The arc takes place 25 years after the Battle of Yavin, so we get to enjoy many of the same tech that we loved from the original Star Wars trilogy.  AT-ATs, Star Destroyers, Tie-Fighter and of course the classic Stormtrooper battalion-- seriously I am so over the tribal-paint Clonetrooper look so popular these days with the kids. 

As you can expect the Stormtroopers show up and amount to mere cannon-fodder but its great to see them do their benevolent duty.  This climactic issue of Revelations captures the grand essence of  SW with intense ground battles, one-on-one Jedi standoffs and the epic space warfare we all love.  

Yes, hella corny that the Jedi descendant of Luke looks just like him minus the Catwomn outfit, along with having a robot as his bestie but you gotta appreciate the Sith Lord- Dray who not only has a black-ass name (Dre) but the ninja is copping a mean cherry-curl mullet.

Sith + Soul Glo = WIN.

I am effing serious yo.  You gotta be a bad ass muthaeffer to pull that shit off!!  Decent art, nice use of source material and I will indeed go back to read the rest of this fantastic series.

Imperial fools!

4    Wonder Woman  #3   Brian Azzarello & Cliff Chiang
Wonder Woman fans rejoice!  We all finally have a story and well-articulated depiction of Wonder Woman, Hippolyta, the Amazons, Olympians and how they all intersect and fit in our world.  Zeus is a manwhore.  Hippolyta is a blonde-bombshell, Wonder Woman is a no-nonsense warrior.  YES!!  This is the kinda storytelling this urban nerd can get behind.  FYI- Immortals sucked ass.  If you wanna get the skinny on some modernized Greek mythos done right, check in here with Azz and Chiang-- they got you covered yo.  Diana 

made from clay was always a lame origin.  Sorry Marston.  

Strife shows the power of words and deceit over physical attack as Diana struggles with the truth that she is a love-child and not a mythical, aberration of a creation.
 
Chiang steps it up yet again in one of the more complete 20 pages of sequential artistry that he has blessed-- from how well he mixes up the paneling to the high quality emotion that is felt from Diana.

Definitely a Top 7 title of the New 52 and with three books in I really can't see the momentum being lost.  How Diana sheds her name and proclaims a self-exile from Paradise Island is truly emotional, riveting and like that we have Wonder Woman.  Great backdrop into making WW a somewhat, lost-soul with a big chip on her shoulder.  


3   Batman #3  Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo

Batman goes to the streets searching for answers into how the owl assassin was let into Wayne Towers.  He gets some leads from local thugs that makes him think about looking closer into the supposed urban legend of the Court of Owls.  Bruce's muse, Alfred, drops some knowledge on a Wayne ancestor that had a maniacal fear of owls.  Great opening on all of that 1920's madness in the first 2 pages.  Props Snyder!

Despite getting tired of all the over-exaggerated big chins and lack of atmospheric backdrops in Capullo's art steez I do admire his growth in camera angles and differing POV techniques to bring us deeper into the story. 

Bats eventually finds that the Court of Owls do exist dating back as far as the 1800s in Gotham.  And just as owls take over other birds nests in nature, they have settled in abandoned spaces in buildings and in floors not listed in buildings that have kept them under the radar.

Some real creepy shit to have numerous "nests" within the homes/offices throughout the "his"city.  We all know how powerful of a hold Bruce Wayne/Batman have on Gotham-- now we find that their is a group of powerful Gothamites backed by an Owlman-- that could very well surpass his influence.  Snyder's dynamic wordsmith more than makes up for some of my lacking interest in Capullo's visuals.  

2    Justice League #3    Geoff Johns & Jim Lee
The making of the Justice League continues with Wonder Woman entering the conflict against them scary ass, Lee-enhanced Parademons.  Silly shit to see her come in and have a first tasting of ice-cream prior to kicking some demon-ass with the rest of the crew though.

The news coverage angling the invasion of demons as Judgement Day is intriguing but its kinda lame when they say that the heroes are the cause of it, whatevas.

We see more of how Supes, Flash, GL and Bats interact and vibe off one another as they slaughter the monstrous minions of Darkseid.  Hilarious when Hal calls dibs on WW when she splashpages her fine Amazonian ass at the center of multiple unfriendlies.  Bats takes the lead and impresses his tactical warfare on the supercrew in hopes to regroup and go beyond their individualistic one-on-one approach of fighting the baddies.

Through the fighting we get linked in to the creation of Cyborg by Dr. Morrow (cool yo!) and Vic's father.  Nice weaving via Johns/Lee of giving us the first look of Cyborg and Darkseid in the same page.  And like the previous books we get the final page intro of the next JL member- Aquaman.  That's one tough mutha with his chained up trident.  Impressive bling Arthur!   


1    Catwoman  #3  Judd Winick & Guillem March

Winick, March and Morey make every issue of Catwoman the fastest, most entertaining and satisfying spectacle in DC's New 52, not titled Animal-Man, Batwoman or Swamp Thing.  The killer thug Bone and his thugs get theirs and then some.  Selina goes beyond unhinged and is redeemed by her only believer/friend/ lover- the Batman.

Sexually driven, smartly written and we are seeing a massively talented artistic duo of March and Morey that rocks my world every damn month to the core.

The Bay Area's own Winick has solidified himself as the masterful scribe in some of my fave books of the last few years- JL: Generation Lost, Power Girl and now Catwoman.

The three Batbooks you gotta be reading right now along with this is Detective Comics and Batwoman.  Next ish we see what happens to Gothams finest at the crazed claws of Selina.  Get it, get it!!

Thank you all for your continued readership and a Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!  Peace!

This post was written by:
big O