Monday, October 16, 2017
It was another fun day Sunday at the Capital Trade Shows for Jee-Riz Comics & Appraisals with my partner Chris. We met a guy who’s girlfriend had all her Love and Rockets comics stolen by an ex. He saw that we had some for sale and bought a bunch to replace them for her. What a sweetie. I just happened to see another guy there whose kid was playing hockey. He came in Saturday looking for the last issue of Dark Knight: Master Race (#9). I couldn’t find it for him while he was in the store but did locate it after he left. When I told him this at the arena he asked that I hold it for him and he would get back to the store next weekend to buy it. I love when things like that happen.
Falcon #1 – Rodney Barnes (writer) Joshua Cassara (art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). Sam Wilson has given up being Captain America and has gone back to being the high flying Falcon ever since Secret Empire ended. Looks like he’s going back to the streets to fight crime with his trusty bird companion Redwing and a new kid sidekick named Patriot. The two heroes try to get rival street gangs to call a truce but the two gang leaders agreeing to meet in public didn’t seem very realistic to me. You just know something bad is going to happen and it does. Everything played out too predictably and not even the surprise villain made me want to continue reading. Sorry Sam, but I’m not boarding this flight.
Ragman #1 – Ray Fawkes (writer) Inaki Miranda (art) Eva De La Cruz (colours) Josh Reed (letters). They’ve made some major changes to this character. The patchwork hooded costume has been replaced by strips of cloth that makes this character look like Venom’s cousin. It all starts when American mercenaries break into a holy temple in Israel intending to loot it and they are attacked by some demonic creatures. Only one guy escapes alive and he is the one chosen to become the new Ragman. The art in this is really nice and the character is so different that he seems new and fresh. This 6-issue story is worth checking out.
Mech Cadet Yu #3 – Greg Pak (writer) Takeshi Miyazawa (art) Triona Farrell (colours) Simon Bowland (letters). Plenty of action this issue as the big bad aliens have started their attack. Our young cadet gets thrust into a close encounter of a dangerous kind. Greg makes these characters come to life. The General’s daughter is a real jerk.
All-New Wolverine #25 – Tom Taylor (writer) Juann Cabal (art) Nolan Woodard (colours) VC’s Cory Petit (letters). This book has been consistently good since it hit the racks and this is a good issue to start with if you are looking for a comic book to add to your sub. Juann’s art is really nice. His work on Elektra impressed me and I hope he draws Laura for a while. I like little sister Gabby in Laura’s life and Tom is adding to her family with this issue.
The Wild Storm: Michael Cray #1 – Bryan Hill (writer) N. Steven Harris (pencils) Dexter Vines (inks) Steve Buccellato (colours) Simon Bowland (letters). Now that was surprisingly interesting. I can’t say that I was enamoured with the art but this new Deathblow story caught my fancy. I am going to assume that this takes place in an alternate universe because the guy that Michael has been assigned to kill isn’t a bad guy in the DCU. Michael Cray has worked solo up until now but his boss wants him to gather a team to go after the bad guy. Between the target and the team, this should be a fun adventure for the assassin.
American Gods #8 – Neil Gaiman (writer) P. Craig Russell (script & layouts) Scott Hampton (art) Rick Parker (letters). There is extreme graphic content in this issue. Reader discretion is advised. I’m glad the creators and Dark Horse Comics didn’t censor this part of the book. I had forgotten the little vignette “Coming to America” but Glenn Fabry and Adam Brown did a fine job of reminding me.
Weapon X #9 – Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers) Marc Borstel & Ibraim Roberson (art) Frank D’Armata (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). In Part 3 of “The Hunt for Weapon H” the team has a team up with the All-New Wolverine and another character that is a big surprise. Greg and Fred’s Laura has more attitude than Tom Taylor’s.
Detective Comics #966 – James Tynion IV (writer) Eddy Barrows (pencils) Eber Ferreira (inks) Adriano Lucas (colours) Sal Cipriano (letters). The Multiverse can be very confusing and this story with Tim Drake teaming up with a future version of himself scrambled my noggin. I’m still going to power through “A Lonely Place of Living” because I find this Elseworld story quite entertaining.
Runaways #2 – Rainbow Rowell (writer) Kris Anka (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). This isn’t your ordinary family reunion. I like how Rainbow is catching us up with these characters. There are some cool little twists this issue and I am looking forward to seeing more.
Dark Nights: Metal #3 – Scott Snyder (writer) Greg Capullo (pencils) Jonathan Glapion (inks) FCO Plascencia (colours) Steve Wands (letters). I find universe hopping stories almost as annoying as time travel. This Dark Nights is doing that and all the different versions of the characters are starting to confuse me. I’m getting close to saying the heck with this because DC’s next big thing “The Doomsday Clock” is coming soon and I don’t want my head to explode.
Amazing Spider-Man #789 – Dan Slott (writer) Stuart Immonen (pencils) Wade von Grawbadger (inks) Marte Gracia (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). I was talking to a guy on Wednesday and he asked me what my favourite comic book was and I said The Amazing Spider-Man. He asked me why and I could have given him this issue as an example of why this character and his stories have always interested me. I am so happy to see Stuart Immonen and Wade von Grawbadger drawing Spider-Man again. I love their art. This is a great issue to start your own love affair with the wallcrawler. Everything you need to know is here. There’s family and friends, the good old Parker luck, pretty women and super heroics keeping civilians safe from a super villain. Peter Parker may be down right now but he’ll get right back up like he always does.
Action Comics #989 – Dan Jurgens (writer & breakdown art) Viktor Bogdanovic (pencils) Viktor Bogdanovic & Trevor Scott (inks) Mike Spicer (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). The big mystery here for me is just who is this “Jor-El” guy? He makes a great argument for Superman to abandon the planet to its hopeless human race and now he’s going to get help from another close family member. Can Superman resist? Sure he can, because he’s still got to sit on Darkseid’s throne in “Superman: Imperius Lex” hitting the racks soon. Can you believe that this title will hit #1000 soon?
Defenders #6 – Brian Michael Bendis (writer) David Marquez (art) Justin Ponsor (colours) VC’s Cory Petit (letters). One character’s appearance is spoiled on the cover but there’s another character’s surprise appearance on the last page that will make you go “oh yeah”. Brian writing Deadpool is going to be so much fun.
