Best Book Nominees for Wednesday, July 4
Hope everyone enjoyed their Independence Day holiday. Plenty of fireworks to be had throughout the Baltimore area. Sorry we had to close early yesterday. The Catonsville Parade was inching down Frederick Road, which closes virtually all access to the store. And as many of you have not had a chance to pick up your comics yet, I’ll try and stay away from spoilers today. We are back to our regular store hours for the rest of the week. Stop on by!
Nominees!
AVENGERS VS X-MEN #7 (OF 12) – Was good once again. Wanda is mucho powerful! Not exactly sure when that happened, but I love it. And they did explain the “going to K’un-L’un” angle in this issue, which I appreciated. I was wondering how Spider-Man just happened to be there in New Avengers #27. And for all you Hawkeye fans out there… don’t fret. Not only will he survive, he’s soon to be starring in a brand new series. Which I have very, very high hopes for. David Aja (he also drew Iron Fist) rules! Also got UNCANNY X-MEN #15 this week. Also good. Yes, the Phoenix Five did attack Mr. Sinister but even more interesting was that Colossus took a trip to the Crimson Cosmos to talk to Cyttorak. Don’t see that very often. Looks like Colossus will remain his avatar. At least for now. Seems heroes cause more destruction than villains!
BATMAN EARTH ONE HC – Finally. Think we first heard about it over two years ago! Geoff Johns. Gary Frank. It is an alternate version of Batman. It is hardcover only. It does start at the beginning. Bruce’s parents die on like page ten. Does show Bruce as a little boy. Does show Bruce beginning his career as Batman. Really liked how the characters were defined. Harvey Bullock was great. Detective Gordon. Barbara. Alfred. Mayor Cobblepot. Well worth reading. Liked it a lot.
BEFORE WATCHMEN OZYMANDIAS #1 (OF 6) – Was awesome! Rarely pay attention to whose doing a new book before I open it. Opened it. Said, excuse me? Whose doing the art? Jae Lee? Jae Lee! Sweet Bubastis! Loved it. Flat out beautiful. And it was an origin story. Which I also love. Opens with Ozymandias being born. Ended with him putting on his uniform as an adult. Great story. Great art. And easily the Best Book of the Week! Thought it was even better than Silk Spectre. Although comparing the two is very difficult because they are so stylistically different. Tomato. To-ma-to. Can’t go wrong with either.
CAPE 1969 #1 (OF 4) – Is a prequel to the first mini-series. Did have the same feel. Although you do not have to have read that to read this. It was a straight up war story. The cover tells you all you need to know. Vietnam. 1969. A helicopter gets shot down. It was very good. Sure we will get a twist at some point. Where’s my cape?
EARTH 2 #3 – Liked it again. The Flash/Hawkgirl “battle” was excellent. Not so sure I liked how Alan Scott became Green Lantern. Definitely could have done without the Rot angle. Getting enough of that in Animal Man and Swamp Thing. Did like the ending. Thought it was a great choice for the villain.
FAIREST #5 – Sorta got stiffed on the Top Twenty of June and the Conversation. Issue #6 will end the first story arc and it’s been great. Nuff said! Oops. Stiffed it again…
FURY MAX #4 – Thought this was a mini-series? Not so sure anymore. But I hope it’s not cause the more I read the more I like! Nick is in Cuba right now. He’s gonna try and assassinate Fidel. Looks like a little thing called the Bay of Pigs might just interfere with his plans.
INVINCIBLE #93 – The schizophrenic nature of Invincible at its finest. On the one hand you have a text laden story that covers 100 years of history in the Flaxan dimension. On the other hand you have a huge fight with double page spreads covering about thirty minutes as the Flaxan’s invade earth again. Loved them both. And, nope, even with rereading, I have no realistic guess as to who that will turn out to be on the last page. Anybody? Or should I just call Cecil?
THIEF OF THIEVES #6 – Really made the overall story much more interesting. What we thought was gonna happen, happened… but not for the reasons we thought it was happening. And I can’t wait to see what happens next.
BTW, it was also a fantastic week for new trade paperbacks. BATMAN & ROBIN HC VOL 01 BORN TO KILL, SUICIDE SQUAD TP VOL 01 KICKED IN THE TEETH, FABLES TP VOL 17 INHERIT THE WIND, INVINCIBLE TP VOL 16 FAMILY TIES, and BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 9 TP FREEFALL all came out. And all are well worth reading.
Plus in ACTION COMICS #11 Clark Kent is dead, a firefighter named Johnny Clark is now Superman, and Lois got hit by a bus! Sorry. Those were spoilers. But it makes you want to read it, doesn’t it?
See ya!
Rusty
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Maybe I missed it, what was your favorite read?
You did miss it! Ahem…
“BEFORE WATCHMEN OZYMANDIAS #1 (OF 6) – Was awesome! Rarely pay attention to whose doing a new book before I open it. Opened it. Said, excuse me? Whose doing the art? Jae Lee? Jae Lee! Sweet Bubastis! Loved it. Flat out beautiful. And it was an origin story. Which I also love. Opens with Ozymandias being born. Ended with him putting on his uniform as an adult. Great story. Great art. ***And easily the Best Book of the Week! ***Thought it was even better than Silk Spectre. Although comparing the two is very difficult because they are so stylistically different. Tomato. To-ma-to. Can’t go wrong with either.”
Ah. It was in the middle of the gushing praise. I see it now. :P