New Comic Day March 30

Sorry for the lack of updates folks: school has been tying me up quite a bit. There are three new posts about the comics I've gotten in the last few weeks.

The following comics/magazines are ones that I purchased today:

Astonishing X-men #9

The first six issues were pure gold, everything you could possibly want in an X-men book. This new arc where the Danger Room comes to life seems a bit too Matrixy to me (ie. people versus machines) and it has shifted gears from character development and interaction to more action based instead of a good mix between the two. We'll see where Whedon takes it.

Ultimate Secret #1

Another bandwagon book, but this one seems to be much better than Ultimate Nightmare and hopefully it won't be a big letdown. I'm an astronomer so some of the more scientific aspects of the book greatly appealed to me.

DC Countdown

This 80-page giant is a big set up book for what's going to happen in the next year or so in the DC universe. It's told from the prospective of the Blue Beetle and after reading this issue, it makes me want to get "Formerly known as the Justice League" to find more about him. It's somewhat of a self-contained mystery story and does its job of interesting you in the various spin-off mini-series leading up to Infinte Crisis in October. It casts a dim light on some of the first string characters because it shows they are kind of snobbish towards the lesser known heroes, even though they're all fighting the good fight. I'm not sure if I'll pick up any of the mini-series, but if I had to choose, it would likely be the OMAC project cause it's all about Batman. Also pick up JLA #115 for the beginnings of Batman vs. The League with regards to his mind wipe.

Marvel Knights Spider-man #12

This finishes Mark Millar and Terry/Rachel Dobson's run on this title. The arc had its ups and downs for me (I stopped getting it after #8 then picked it up again later) but overall no real complaints. It's a hint that Peter's life isn't going to get any easier, because all his villains are beefier now thanks to Osborn, but this doesn't really concern me, because I don't follow regular Marvel Spider-man much anyways. This was also a more weighty take on the web-slinger without the witty banter, which I'm not sure is a wonderful thing (whew, that's alot of "double yous")

Secret War #4

Since this book has been so late, I've kind of lost interest in it. I expected to see the heroes in Latveria performing this secret mission, but instead we get muddled references to it and some techno-villains in New York with Daredevel babbling "What's going on? Why are you doing this?" I think it was a case of Brian Micheal Bendis just hashing something out while he was sitting on the toilet, and so far that's where I'm thinking of sending this piece of malarky: straight down the crapper.

Wizard #163

So after the debacle of putting two issues out last month, Wizard is back on track providing losts of meaty info about the industry. I haven't gotten through it all yet, but there is an interesting Alex Ross article about his favorite pieces as well as a big teaser for Infinte Crisis.

New Comic Day March 23

Well folks I've finally done it. I've officially abandoned the convienience of The Comic Shop and switched to Elfsar Collections Ltd. It's a new shop in town and the main owner Ethan seems to really enjoy what he's doing. They have a good deal, where if you get 5 or more comics a month then you save %20 on your order and get FREE bags and boards. Only drawback, they're on Nelson and Hamilton Street downtown instead of 10 feet from my apartment. Anyways it gives me a good excuse to get excercise and bike there.

The following comic is the one I purhased today:

New Avengers #4

So this is one of the current bandwagons I am on just to see what the ride is like. When a "hot" new series comes out that seems mildly interesting, I'll give it a shot for a year and see where it goes. So far it's been pretty good and it has, in my opinion, the best Spider-man dialogue I've ever seen: very funny and and quick witted. This issue reveals some more info about why the prison was breaked and all I can say is: SAURON?! WTF?!

New Comic Day March 16

The following comics/magazines are ones that I purchased today:

Ultimate X-men #57

This issue wraps up the Mojo-Reality Show-Longshot arc. It had a good twist and reveals some information about which team a certain metal covered Russian plays for. I enjoyed the issue, but might take a hiatus from Ultimate X-men for now to save on some $.

Ultimate Spider-man #74

We see Pater confront Mary-Jane about her relationship with Harry (gotta love the teenage drama), but not much else. Should be interesting to see if it is actually Harry who becomes the Hobgoblin as Wizard has hinted that it may be someone else on the glider. If I had to put money on it, I'd say if it's not Harry, then it will be the guy who told Harry all about Norman. For reasons mentioned above, once this arc is over, methinks I'll take a break from Ultimate Spidey as well.

Teen Titans #22

Dr. Light is a serious bad ass now. Excellent villain and I can't wait for #23: Dr. Light versus EVERYBODY.

Ultimates 2 #4

We basically get the "real" (yet to be determined for sure) origin of Thor and get to meet some other Captains from different countries. This is a really interesting book and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Invincible #21

Buy this book every month and your life will take on new meaning.

Ex Machina #9

This book reads like a TV show. A very good TV show I might add. There's a balance in the book between the political side as well as the more science fictiony aspect which is good. Think of it as an X-files two parter where they investigate some farmer's alien sightings as well as deal with conspiracy bidness.

Unrelated to Comics but Nonetheless...

I apologize in advance to those seeking information about comics, but this issue has me so mad that I feel the need to vent. Some of you may have heard about Jetsgo (a Canadian airline) going out of business. I thought I was doing the right thing by booking months in advance so that both my girlfriend and I could attend her sister's wedding. This thought was confirmed by the nice lady at Travel Cuts, the travel agency I booked my flight with. So in order to set things straight, I discovered three options:

Option the First: Contact my credit card company. I did this and to by utter bewilderment, Mastercard can do nothing until AFTER the flight would have been taken. This wouldn't be so bad, except my flight was booked for August. This, according to Christina from the Toronto Mastercard call centre, does indeed mean that MC won't help me until after August 30th. Even then they do not guarentee getting my money back.

Option the Second: File a claim with my travel agency if I purchased travel insurance. Lucky for me I paid the extra $60 for the travel insurance. However, I can not file a claim until AFTER Jetsgo officially declares that they are bankrupt. Which I think won't be for another month or something. Hopefully they do go completely under and I can get some $$ back before August.

Option the Third: Failing the first two options, I can make a claim through the BC Travel Assurance Fund.

So thank you very much Mr. Leblanc for giving me this hassle to deal with.

New Comic Day March 9

The following comics/magazines are ones that I purchased today:

Fables #35


If this book has one failing, it's the artwork. Maybe it's supposed to look like a fairy tale book or something, but I don't particularly care for it. The story on the other hand is really original and enjoyable. This issue is the second part of "Jack Be Nimble" which details Jack's exploits in Hollywood. He is the ultimate underdog and the way Willingham writes him, you find yourself rooting for him every step of the way. This was a good 2-parter, but some may be annoyed with the ending in some respects.

Superman #214


Once again Jim Lee brings a very refreshing flair to the man of steel. Azzarello on the other hand spins a story so confusing and odd that I really wonder why I bought this run. Maybe if I sit down and read all 12 issues together it will make more sense and at least make me feel somewhat justified in spending $40+. If you want some cool artwork, go for this series. If you want a good Superman story, try Jeff Loeb and Tim Sale's "Superman for All Seasons".

Ultimate Fantastic Four #16


I never really liked the FF, despite it being somewhat more science oriented than most comics. My tune changed when this book came out. It is a very well written series, by all the writers that have worked on it. Issue 16 is part four of the negative zone arc and brings us face to page with Ultimate Annihilus. Every issue makes me hungry for the next: a good indication that the creative teams are doing their job well.

Wizard Movie Issue


I should have put more thought into this purchase. Despite showing Dr. Doom's outfit for the upcoming movie and an interview with Brian Singer (who will be directing the next Superman movie), there was not much substance to this issue. Save yourself $6.95+tax and wait until the movies and the director's commentary on DVD come out.

New Comic Day March 2

The following comics/magazines are ones that I purchased today:



Here's a little review for each (from left to right, top to bottom):

Lex Luthor: Man of Steel #1 (of 5)
This is a story told from the perspective of Lex and shows the readers why he hates Superman so much. Azzarello seems to have captured the essence of Luthor and makes him a character you love or love to hate.. Either way, you'll probably want to read this mini.

Ultimate Iron Man #1
If you've read the Ultimates and been intrigued by the alcohol swilling, womanizing billionaire, then this is the series for you. Written by Orsen Scott Card (of Ender's Game fame), this is an origin story of why Tony Stark is the uber-genius that he is. I enjoyed the science aspect to it and the political games played by his ex-wife and business rival. It's a good story and I look forward to the rest of the series.

Ultimate Spider-man #73
I had stopped reading Ultimate Spider-man for a while, not because I didn't like it, but because of money constraints. When the Comic Shop had their annual sale, I picked up the issues I missed and now I'm back in the game. This issue is part two of the Hobgoblin arc and it looks like it's picking up where Spider-man 2 left off. Meaning that Harry regains his memory and realizes his dad was a maniac and killed a bunch of people as well as discovering a secret location where the weapons and formula are kept (you don't actually see this stuff in this issue, but it's not hard to guess thats what's coming). It would have been nice to see someone else end up being the Hobgoblin other than Harry (I assume this will be the case, but Bendis might surprise me), but otherwise it's a fun comic and well written.