10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8

It’s enjoyable. It’s not necessarily deep in the way I think of other comics I enjoy, but a lot of that comes from it being adaptation material, and for whatever reason I have a lot of trouble thinking of these books as comics as such so much as they are simply vehicles to continue a story from a different medium. It doesn’t really affect my enjoyment of the series (to my knowledge), but it basically creates a bit of a mental block that stops it from transcending a certain sense of mediocrity of vision.

9. Captain Britain and MI:13

It’s at number nine because we’ve only got four issues and it’s been a Secret Invasion book first and foremost, so we’re going to have to see what this series is capable of when it’s put out on its own and not piggybacking off a big event. I love it so far, and I haven’t had a single complaint, and I’m hoping the quality continues when the book strikes out on its own.

8. Avengers: The Initiative

This would be The Order. Hell, this should be The Order. They should have let Fraction keep going and then he would have been forced to drop Punisher to make room for Invincible Iron Man and everything would have been groovy. Avengers: Initiative isn’t as good or interesting or risky as The Order was, but it’s still an excellent book, and it’s the only place you can really get that sense of the post Civil War status quo (and I LOVE the post Civil War status quo). It’s still good stuff and it’s still got some interesting new characters, and it’s an important piece of the Marvel Universe.

7. Terry Moore’s Echo

I’ve never read Strangers in Paradise, so I started reading Echo more off the name recognition of Terry Moore than actually knowing or liking his work. Good decision for me. It’s a very good book, and we’ve got a ton of different angles from which to approach it. It’s a government conspiracy book. It’s a science fiction book. It’s a relationship book. It’s a fugitive chase scene book. It’s all of these things rolled into one. And it’s very good.

6. Green Lantern Corps

Since I started reading the GL books, I’ve enjoyed Green Lantern Corps demonstrably more than its single minded ongoing brother. I love the Green Lantern Corps as a concept, which is part of the reason why the solo title can wear a little thin on me from time to time. I’m not really interested in the one man so much as the sea of thousands.

5. The Immortal Iron Fist

I’ve only gotten one issue of the post Brubaker Fraction run, and it’s still good, so the title is still up here on the list of things I look forward to every month. It’s got a solid cast of characters and a good foundation of the Iron Fist mythology to use, and the writers have done an excellent job of making Danny Rand someone to care about. It’s good chop socky fun, but there’s a lot more to it than that.

4. New Avengers

Marvel’s flagship. With Bendis all in the mix of the big events since Secret War, everything of importance has a tendency to be seen through the lens of the New Avengers. That’s obviously quite the case now with Secret Invasion, but this has been an excellent book for pretty much the entirety of its run.

3. Thor

Straczynski’s book is huge and sprawling and yet focused and insular at the same time. I just reviewed issue ten, and I put most of my thoughts for the series as a whole into that review, so you can just go read that to see just why I love this book as much as I do.

2. The Incredible Hercules

So this is certainly the little book that could. Remember the cynicism and incredulity that came with the announcement that Hercules was replacing Hulk in this title? The assumptions that Hercules can’t sustain an ongoing and it would be cancelled in three months or revert back to a Hulk book faster than the blink of an eye. But it persists. And the reason it persists (other than getting the sales bump from tying into Secret Invasion and launching in the aftermath of World War Hulk) is that it’s REALLY DAMNED GOOD. This is the type of book that could legitimately hold on to the readers it gains from the event bumps because it’s so charming and well written and FUNNY and light and breezy goodness. Hercules and Amadeus Cho working your standard odd couple angle may not sound like the stuff of kings, but it is.

1. Nova/Guardians of the Galaxy

Is it a cheat? Probably. Don’t care. You know the implicit trust everyone has in Geoff Johns and all of his books? That’s how I feel about Abnett and Lanning. These guys have been working with Marvel cosmic since its grand rebirth during Annihilation (they wrote the Nova lead in mini) and through the Nova ongoing, Conquest and Guardians of the Galaxy, they have steered the ship of the new look Marvel cosmic. And it’s awesome. And they’re obviously doing well enough that they’ve been rewarded with exclusive contracts and the next World War Hulk sized event with War of Kings. My favorite writers taking on Black Bolt and the Inhumans? And possibly finding a way to make Vulcan interesting? Awesome. But let’s leave that on the side for now. Since I started collecting monthlies, I have not gotten more enjoyment out of any single series than Nova. And Guardians of the Galaxy is certainly no slouch either. So I’m combining number one to basically cover the DnAverse.

Each and every time I start lamenting in my head about how boring the knitting of this is, or how this sweater is going to go on forever, and how I should really cast on something small to add some interest into my day, I immediately stop the line of thinking, or internal whining as the case may be and think instead on how lovely it is to have a project to work on that shows my amazing man how much I love him.  That each stitch is important and makes up one by one the sweater that will keep Thor warm.  By taking the time to put the love in the stitches instead of just wishing to be onto the next set of instructions for the pattern, I'm enjoying the process of repeating the same stitch over and over instead of loathing it. 

Clearly, I'm working on being more 'in the moment' and not wishing away the small stuff.  How lucky for me to have the exact long term project to help me practice!

Pictures to come tomorrow.  They've been taken, but the cord I need is at work with Thor!

#10 – X-FORCE by Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost & Clayton Crain

“FUN! FUN! FUN!” That is exactly what this book is to me. It’s old school X-Men (to me, “old school” means late 80’s/early 90’s) with a modern edge. I don’t remember my X-Men having so much blood and gore, but I like it! Now, I have to be honest, when I first heard mention of this series, I was not at all impressed. The “bloody” variants reminded me painfully of that X-Force clone from the mid-nineties “Bloodstrike” (by Rob Liefeld and Dan Fraga)… or maybe it was “Bloodstryke” with a “y”? Anyway, by issue 2, I was all in, baby! As I said, the book is just fun, and with every issue the plot gets more and more interesting. Surprise, Bastion! Nimrod! Archangel! Every X-Villain Ever! Purifier Civil War! It’s a throwback without being regressive. Sure the old villains are back, but they’re fricking techno-organic zombies! Yes, Archangel is back, but it’s not because we or the writers missed him, it fits the story. It SERVES the story and not the fanboys. And that, I guess, makes all the difference. Maybe…

You can check out a review of this book here…

#9 – ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN by Brian Micheal Bendis & Stuart Immonen

This has been in my mental Top Ten since it first came out, and it’ll probably stay there for as long as Bendis remains on the book… which could easily be for another hundred issues. There’s not much to say as to why I love this book so much, it’s just a solid, thoroughly enjoyable read every month. It’s Spider-Man at his purest, unencumbered by 50 years of continuity (although, at the rate at which Bendis is reintroducing 616 ideas, we’re getting there). I like that when someone asks me about super hero comics I can grab a copy of the first volume of this series, hand it to them, and let Bendis’ Spider-Man seduce them into out world. More than any other title in the Marvel catalogue, this book is completely new reader friendly. And, it’s infinitely relatable. It’s got drama (High School!!!) and it’s got action (best Spidey action in comics thanks to Bagley and Immonen), and it’s got heart. I love Ultimate Peter Parker and I love Ultimate Mary Jane. In fact, I love the entire “Bendis” Ultimate universe! I kind of wish Ultimate Spider-Man could be its own separate thing, like if the editors could somehow cut it away from the rest of the Ultimate books that would be amazing! Maybe that’s what the Ultimatum event is all about? Or, if we just replaced the 616 title with the Ultimate one? Wait, hold that thought—

#8 – THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN by “The Spidey Brain Trust”

It took me a while to warm up to it, but eventually, I got there. This book is good. Damn good. So good, it may finally live up to its hype as THE Marvel flagship title. So, the book survived One More Day. Actually, it not only survived it, it’s downright thriving. Why? How can this be despite all the haters? Because it’s damn good comic book writing, that’s why. I’m tired of the whining. I’m tired of the complaints. OMD is over, dudes. Move on. I did, so can you. If you’re not reading BND because of OMD, then you’re only hurting yourself, brother. The party train has left the station and all you OMD whiners can suck it!

You can check out a review of this book here…

#7 –DETECTIVE COMICS by Paul Dini & Dustin Nguyen

Yes, Paul Dini’s underrated run on Detective is in my Top Ten. Surprised? If you’ve been reading my Round-Ups, you shouldn’t be. I don’t think I’ve ever given this book less than three stars. I love it! It’s fun, damnit! It feels like the old Batman cartoon! Yay for fun! It’s filled with crazy shit like: “Celebrity Detective” Riddler, Zatanna/Catwoman/Batman love triangles and wacky adventure after wacky adventure! And last year’s Joker/Robin story was one of the best Joker/Robin tales I’ve ever read, and Dini did it all in one fricking issue! I know Countdown sucked… BOO HOO! But this book is INSANE NUTS AWESOME!! While what Morrison is doing over on “Batman” may turn out to be the greatest run of all-time, I’m content to read Dini’s one and two issue arcs ‘til the end of time.

You can check out a review of this book here…

#6 – THOR by J. Michael Straczynski & Oliver Copiel

Recently, Desiato articulated all the reasons he loves Thor in this post. I totally agree with him. Go read that post.

#5 – JACK OF FABLES by Bill Willingham & Matthew Sturges

Fables can suck my hairy sack… Jack is where it’s at, man! It’s just funnier. I pick up a Jack comic and I know I’m going to laugh. I pick up a Fables comic and I know there’s an outside chance I may lose consciousness. I still like Fables, but it’s been on the “phoning it in” train for well over a year, while Jack just keeps getting better. I’ve been saying that a lot, but I guess that’s what all these books have in common. They’re well-plotted. But the thing about Jack is you never know quite what to expect from the title character or where the story is headed. Jack is the ultimate suspenseful character. He’s just as likely to befriend or betray someone. I also love that the writers aren’t telling his story in chronological order. Every few arcs, we jump back into his fabled past and we get to see one of his many adventures re-imagined in such a way that almost always makes Jack look like a total asshole. And we love it. We love to hate this moron.

You can check out a review of this book here…

#4 – YOUNG LIARS by David Lapham

Young Liars would describe my life if an angry midget cut my dick off and threw it in the ocean. I know these characters. I’ve met them. They are real. I pre-ordered the first issue not really knowing what to expect, only knowing that I really liked David Lapham’s stuff, he of “Stray Bullets” fame. Once I finally got my hands on it, and read it, I couldn’t believe how fucking good it was. And then I read issue 2 and I got that same feeling, but more. And then issue 3. Again, same feeling, but more. And now, whenever I read it, I’m always left with the question, “How can this book keep on this way? It’s too good!” I don’t really know how well this book is doing, if it’s breaking even, selling gangbusters or close to cancellation. If I had to guess, I’d say the latter, and that’s a shame. We need to get the word out on this book… don’t wait for the trade! The series could be gone by then, and that would be a damn shame.

You can check out a review of this book here…

#3 – THE INCREDIBLE HERCULES by Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente & Khoi Pham

One of those rare books that gets better with age. I’m constantly surprised at how exciting and well-written this comic is each and every month. Its brilliant mix of mythology and modern day hijinks is what keeps me coming back every month. Hmm, it’s kind of like Jack of Fables in that way. Actually, I’d never drawn that parallel before, but The Incredible Hercules and Jack of Fables are exactly the same book! Cool. The odd couple of Hercules (super strong) and Amadeus Cho (super smart) is what really makes this engine hum. Their interplay is brilliant and hilarious.

You can check out a review of this book here…

#2 – ACTION COMICS by Geoff Johns & Gary Frank

I wasn’t “all in” ‘til Gary Frank joined the book. Johns had been rubbing me the wrong way for years, and with the lateness that plagued the start of his run I almost considered dropping the title. Boy am I glad I didn’t! The Legion arc was satisfyingly epic and the currently running Brainiac arc promises to outdo it. The art is phenomenal in its simplicity. Frank’s expressive faces and realistic style combine with Johns’ nostalgic flair to give us a decidedly modern take on Superman that isn’t afraid to indulge in sentimentality once in a while. I know we’ve been talking about the annoyingly regressive nature of this current generation of “fan-boy writers”, but here… in THIS book… it kind of works for me. Action Comics is the exception to the rule.

You can check out a review of this book here…

#1 – CAPTAIN AMERICA (OBV!) by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting & Luke Ross

It’s the only monthly I buy from my local comic shop because I can’t wait the two weeks for DCBS to deliver it to my door. That’s how ####ing excited I get the day this comic comes out. I make a special trip just to buy it! And then I go home and scan the hell out of it and toss up a spoiler-riddled review on the blog. Not because anyone really cares anymore, no, because after reading it I become insane from JOY! Oh, how I love you Captain America… don’t ever change, guy.

You can check out reviews of this book here…

So, that’s my list. Disagree much? Let me know. Let’s fight!! WOOOOOO!!!

Now that we took care of that, I want to quickly list off the runner-ups in alphabetical order:

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer: I want to love this book, I want to love it every month, but it too often lets me down. We had two great arcs in a row (Vaughn and Goddard) and then Whedon returns to fuck it all up with fan-favorite Fray in tow. Ugh. Close, but not close enough.

Captain Britain and MI13: Although I loved all the Secret Invasion issues, this book hasn’t been out long enough to earn its place in the Top 10… and, I’m not sure what the drop off in quality is going to be after SI concludes. For now, it gets to hover around the 11th place spot.

DMZ: I’m sure that if I wasn’t reading this in trade, I’d be on the list… and very near the top.

Green Lantern: Action Comics is just an order of magnitude better than this book. Period. I love GL, I love the new direction, but I can’t in good conscience put two Geoff Johns titles in my Top Ten. Sorry.

Invincible Iron Man: It’s too soon to tell, and as much shit as I give Fraction, he was born to write this book. As I related in my review of issue #4, Fraction’s take on the character is thrilling! Now, if Fraction would only stop writing anything other than Iron Man, Thor and Casanova I’d be a happy man.

Justice Society of America: What I said about Green Lantern goes double for JSA.

The Punisher: This book fell out of the Top Ten this month. Sad times. :(

The Ultimates Super-human vol. 1 cover

In 2000, Marvel comics launched their Ultimate Marvel imprint. Basically, the Ultimate version of Marvel's lead characters attempts to make them more accessible to new readers by creating new origins for the characters, freeing them from decades of long, elaborate, and often illogical histories (this is known in the comics industry as a reboot).

In 2001, Mark Millar - a Scottish comics writer fresh from his big break writing The Authority (a series created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch in the WildStorm universe) and several years of working for DC - joined the imprint. He first wrote Ultimate X-Men, which was a huge success, and in 2002 moved on to The Ultimates, a rebooting of The Avengers, which was an even bigger success.
Since then, Millar has become quite the phenomenon - working on several Marvel series and crossovers (the Civil Warevent), he still found time for no less than four new, creator-owned, series. His Wanted has already been adapted into a movie directed by Timur Bekmambetov and starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy. He is, no doubt, immensely successful.
He is also, and too much to my taste, solidly in the mainstream.

The Ultimates begins in 1945. Captain America, a super-soldier alter-ego of Steve Rogers, leads a team of soldiers bent on stopping Nazi Germany from launching a nuclear attack on the United States. As is his habit, Captain America succeeds. Contrary to his manner, though, he seemingly fails to survive the mission.
Forty-seven years later, meet Nick Fury, new manager of S.H.I.E.L.D., a security agency in charge world security (no less). Fury has just decided to boost the profile and the funding of the Super-Soldier program - the original serum disappearing along with Captain America.

One by one, Fury recruits scientists to help him discover the super-soldier serum. All of them have first hand experience with super-heroics: Bruce Banner, the depressed and insecure alter ego of the Hulk; Janet Pym, nee van Dyne, a.k.a. the Wasp and her husband, Hank, which grows into the costume of Giant-Man; and billionaire industrialist Tony Stark, who dons the Iron Man armor. Their work on the serum is unsuccessful, but then they discover that Captain America is not quite as dead as everybody thought. In an attempt to further bolster their forces, they attempt to recruit the super-powered new age guru Thor, initially failing at that as well.
Soon, though, The Ultimates encounter their first big threat, and have to demonstrate their powers both as a group and as individuals, as well as their ability to overcome personal tensions between various group members.

The Ultimates was, as mentioned, a huge success. This is not reason enough to review it here, as many successful mainstream comics are just not my cup of tea. However, the series was also critically acclaimed, and I was personally assured by several acquaintances that it is an excellent read.
Well, I disagree.

Bryan Hitch and Andre Currie supply impressive, dynamic drawings, that do justice to the sweeping action sequences (I wager that New York inhabitants are fed up with their city monuments getting demolished in popular media by now) and bring to life every explosion and all bulging muscles. The action, in short, is excellent.

But what of the story? The Ultimates has no pretension of literary quality. That, by itself, is not a problem - but the story failed to engage me. It is, perhaps surprisingly, a character driven story, less concerned with outlining the imaginary world, or describing technological/alien threats and innovations. And the characters are just not that interesting. Why does Captain America believe in his mission? How come Hank and Jan Pym love each other so much but also get along so badly? We're never told, we just have to take it for granter - and with the action taking so much of the time, developments in character relationships seem sudden, sharp and irrational.
If the story was interesting by itself, flat characters wouldn't be such of a problem - but nothing important seems to happen, and the climax is an action sequence rather than any kind of plot forwarding resolution. On top of this, Millar's dialogue is too clean and well-rehearsed, and everyone is pithy and heroic while also being lighthearted and amusing. This makes all of the characters sound identical and fake.

I can see why The Ultimates was such a big success - the rebooted origins of The Avengers is plausible, the action spectacular, and nothing is dumbed down. After decades of implausible plot twists and often mediocre story and art, this must have seen like a breath of fresh air for Marvel fans. But I'm not a Marvel fan, and without previous interest in the characters and their respective stories, The Ultimates: Super-human vol. 1 was not much fun to read on the first go, and I have no intention of returning to it - or to further collections of the series - in the future.

So far, the Secret Invasion tie-ins have been fairly entertaining, but none of them come close to rivaling what is occurring in the main title. If this first issue is any indication, Secret Invasion: Thor may be the best non-core series to come out yet. It begins with the return of Beta Ray Bill. The Skrulls capture and study him, and then send him to Asgard as a harbinger of their imminent attack. As Thor prepares his people for war, Loki, even in this desperate time, is already spreading her seeds of discord. Soon, even the Asgardians are asking “who do you trust?” Now, this could actually be because Loki is a Skrull (after all, she has changed much since the rebirth), but I highly doubt that J. Michael Straczynski is planning to work it in to his Thor ongoing, so it is more likely that she is being her usual master of deceit.

Of course, what I am looking forward to most, is the upcoming Skrull-Asgard battle that opens in the closing panel of this issue. Is it just me, or is it going to be insanely awesome watching Norse gods armed with magical weapons taking on green-skinned aliens armed with blasters and powers of their own? If his Invincible Iron Man hasn’t convinced you yet, than Secret Invasion: Thor will serve as further proof that Matt Fraction is a master story teller. He deals with the Secret Invasion’s theme of mistrust, as well as the happenings of Asgard extremely well. While other Secret Invasion tie-ins such as Fantastic Four and X-Men aren’t nearly as enjoyable as their main titles, the story in Secret Invasion: Thor #1 stands level with any other issue in the Thor series. I absolutely love JMS’ current tale, and will probably cry the day he leaves the title, but Matt Fraction will be a more than adequate replacement when that day comes, and he gets my vote to take the helm.

As for the art, the Doug Braithwaite’s penciling is fairly well done; at least there is certainly nothing to complain about. No, the art complaints in this issue come from the inks and colors. The complaint about inks is simple: there are none. Granted, Braithwaite does some great work, he is in severe need of inks - almost everything looks way too sketchy. Likewise, most of Paul Mounts’ colors are way too muted. The colors don’t necessarily need to be eye-poppingly vibrant (indeed, that may have harmed the issue), but they needn’t be so dull either. So while this may have a great story, the art could use a bit of improvement. Nonetheless, I definitely think this deserves a buy, especially if you are reading Secret Invasion or Thor. (Grade: A-)

-M. Staples

Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1 (****)

This book should have come out a lot sooner. That's really the only complaint I have about this. The two main things that a tie-in has to be concerned about is one: have something to do with the event it ties into and two: spend at least a little time introducing the characters because you want to bring new readers into your story. I know little about the Inhumans. I don't think I've ever read any of their books before so all I know is their names and a little about their powers. Not only did this issue tell me who the Inhumans are, it did so in a very creative way through stain glass windows. This gave Tom Raney the opportunity to show his prowess as an artist. His Kirby-esque rendering in those windows is an artistic treat. The characters are written wonderfully and we get to know all of them quickly. But this is still a tie-in, and when the Skrulls do show up they kick some ass in cinematic fashion. Due to the great work from the creative team, SI Inhumans is worth the price of admission.

Secret Invasion: Thor #1 (****1/2)

If you haven't been reading Thor Ages of Thunder from Matt Fraction, you really need to do yourself a favor and pick up those two issues. I have a friend who has been reading Thor for almost 30 years and he feels that Fraction has written the best Thor since Walt Simonson's legendary run. So I was both excited and a bit nervous reading this because his other two issues of Thor were so good. But thankfully, this doesn't disappoint. I'll give a quick shout out to Doug Braithwaite who does the art on this fine issue. He brings us breathtaking images and genuinely godlike portrayals that leave you breathless. We get to see some cool things we rarely see like Donald Blake's duties as a Doctor and of course the return of Beta Ray Bill which shows Fraction's obvious affection towards the aforementioned Simonson run. The action was absent in this issue, but there was plenty of material to keep you entertained and the last page leaves you wanting more.

Secret Invasion: X-Men #1 (****)

This was a hell of a first issue. I'll first mention what drew me to this issue was Nord's art. I'm a big Conan fan and since he's off that book I have to get his pretty art anyway I can. So when I saw this I thought: X-Men, Skrulls, Nord art, and a pretty Dodson cover, I'm there! In addition to the glorious Nord art, I had quite a lot of fun with this issue. So the Skrulls invade San Francisco because remember, California was near defenseless until recently. The Skrulls land and start slaughtering until the X-Men arrive!  A lot of action ensues. So this is fun and has stunning art. What was interesting though is how serious the Skrulls were. They acted like they came right out of some bloody war. They had Skrully priests blessing the troops with the commander saying "These soldiers are saints already". Who is this Skrull commander? He's a pretty crazy character. He even refers to the Skrull invasion as a crusade. Oh and he executes another Skrull for messing up. The only thing that keeps this issue from being the best out of these tie-ins is the absence of an aforementioned tie-in ingredient. This isn't a book for new readers at all. But if you like the X-Men, gorgeous art, and some extremely intriguing Skrulls, pick this up!

In this spin-off three issue series by Matt Fraction (future writer of Uncanny X-Men) and Doug Braithwaite, the mighty Thor is joined by former comrade Beta Ray Bill in a no-holds barred battle with the scrunchy-chinned aliens. The story is split between the plight of Asgard and that of the local Oklahomans as the war reaches a fever pitch and a woman attempts to give birth with Doctor Donald Blake's help. It's a great idea to mix up the drama and something that has been missing from the Thor comic itself for decades.

Braithwaite's art is just stunning. An artist who got his start at the ripe age of 15 at Marvel UK, Doug Braithwaite has blessed the page with work on Doom Patrol, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and many others but it was his stellar art on Universe X/Paradise X that first caught my attention. A gifted artist that has a unique skill at character, movement and page layout, Braithwaite is like a missing artist of the Marvel Comics pantheon.

Recently, the pair of creators talked about their mini-series with comicbookresources.com:

Known for his grandiose, illustrative style, Doug Braithwaite is particularly excited about “Secret Invasion: Thor.” “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that [Matt Fraction] is one of the hottest writers out there, so I’m thrilled to have the chance to work with him on my first project back at Marvel,” said the artist.

Sweetening the deal is Braithwaite’s lifelong affection for Thor. “I love Thor -- I always have done since I first read those Kirby stories as a kid, so yes I’m literally buzzing that I’m doing this,” he said. “I’m a great fan of the new series and have a hard act to follow in the renditions of Thor that Olivier Coipel and Marko Djurdjevic have put out there, but I don’t think anyone is going to be disappointed with my take on Thor.”

Braithwaite’s style has evolved since his days on Marvel’s “Universe X” and “Punisher,” and “Secret Invasion: Thor” will be approached in a fashion completely dissimilar to those projects. "'Universe X' and 'Punisher' seem like a lifetime ago!" said the artist. "My drawing style has developed a bit since those days, so it will look different in the first instance, “The colors are being applied directly to my pencils, so there is no inker involved. The idea in this new approach is to bring my pencil work to the fore, and I hope fans will see my pencil work in a new way.”

Whilst writing the miniseries, Fraction listened ceaselessly to Led Zeppelin’s “Led Zeppelin III” album, hoping to channel the spirit of the music into his tale of the thunder god. "My Thor is very much a 'Led Zeppelin III’ kind of Thor,” Fraction told CBR News. “It’s very power metal; lots of power chords, huge riffs and epic colossal guitar noises. So it’s grim, but it’s only grim as all things awesome have to get a little grim before they get awesome."

“I love Matt’s work, and as a massive Led Zep fan myself, I get where he’s coming from,” Braithwaite laughed. “I think in my cover art that is being released this weekend, you’ll see that I get the whole ‘Led Zeppelin III’ reference. I can tell you that visually, it’s one of the most exciting books I’ve ever done.”

With all of the comics on the shelf competing for attention this week, Secret Invasion: Thor has to be the most enjoyable. Make sure to check it out!

I have also added live bullion prices which are there just for interest http://www.ajhjewellery.com/silvergoldbullionprices.htm

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Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I am the God Thor,
I am the War God,
I am the Thunderer!
Here in my Northland,
My fastness and fortress,
Reign I forever!
Here amid icebergs
Rule I the nations;
This is my hammer,
Miölner the mighty;
Giants and sorcerers
Cannot withstand it!

These are the gauntlets
Wherewith I wield it,
And hurl it afar off;
This is my girdle;
Whenever I brace it,
Strength is redoubled!

The light thou beholdest
Stream through the heavens,
In flashes of crimson,
Is but my red beard
Blown by the night-wind,
Affrighting the nations!
Jove is my brother;
Mine eyes are the lightning;
The wheels of my chariot
Roll in the thunder,
The blows of my hammer
Ring in the earthquake!

Force rules the world still,
Has ruled it, shall rule it;
Meekness is weakness,
Strength is triumphant,
Over the whole earth
Still is it Thor's Day!

Thou art a God too,
O Galilean!
And thus singled-handed
Unto the combat,
Gauntlet or Gospel,
Here I defy thee!

First on our list is Marvel’s first issue of Secret Invasion: Thor, a mini that ties Thor into the Marvel Universe’s current Skrull crisis. It starts off with something crashing towards the Earth as Dr. Blake (Thor’s human alter ego) makes a house call to a pregnant woman. An explosion catches the two off guard and sends the woman labor. Blake knows that something has happened to Asgard (his floating castle of a home) and leaves the woman in the care of a nurse to investigate. This leads to the return of Beta Ray Bill, Thor’s longtime friend and brother in arms, who Thor puts in charge of the impending assault against the Skrull so he can go back to the pregnant woman and deliver the baby. We also have the now sexy Loki getting into people’s minds and making them wonder if their aren’t enemies amongst them even as they make their plans. Oh, and the Skrull have Beta Ray Bill’s hammer, which is just as powerful as Thor’s.

Matt Fraction is scripting the series and the writing is alright. It’s not too deep, but not stupid either. Doug Braithewaite provides the artwork, most of which feels like sketches, good sketches, but sketches none the less. The colors are done by Paul Mounts and they go well with the style of art provided.

The writing in this issue could have been a better, especially since I am loving his Ages of Thunder Thor mini. The art is a bit skeletal to me. After all, I am a diehard Thor fan and am used to the majesty of the current ongoing being drawn by Coipel, so this is a bit of a downgrade for me. Overall, the issue was an okay read, earning itself 3 out of 5 stars.

Simon Dark #11

is our DC title this week. Simon, a Frankenstein monster-styled hero, who has found himself in a battle with magically mutated monsters. This issue starts off with Simon soothing the monsters and we get a flashback tale of how they were made. At the end of it, he garners their help in his attempt to save Gotham City from an impended evil. After a less than spectacular fight scene through a mob of hooded cultists, he finds himself at a door that “only a master” can go through. Once inside the room, Simon find himself face to face with the ghost of Dall Moss, a former mayor of Gotham City. What ensues then is half an issue of back story about Simon as told by Mr. Moss and the end of any and all action.

Written by Steve Niles, the genius behind 30 Days of Night, I was expecting more from this series (especially after reading the first two issue when they first came out). The title is drawn by Scott Hampton with artwork that is very minimalist. Most of the panels have little more than white backgrounds and when there are backgrounds they are usually super simple. Daniel Vozzo colors this issue and the colors are very minimalist as well. There is a bleakness in them that boarders on bland.

Having read the first two issues, I have to say that I like Simon Dark more as street level character fighting and decapitating cultists rather than traveling into the realm of the supernatural. The art is way too simple for my tastes, even for a gothic-styled superhero title. Granted, I did drop the title for about eight issue to make room for others in my pull list, so I’m a little behind on the story’s continuity. Still, I feel obligated to rate this issue 2 out of 5 stars.

Our final title tonight is Welcome to Hoxford #1, from IDW. We are introduced to Raymond Delgado through a series of traumatizing events in his life which leads him to become a walking encyclopedia of psychosis and a cannibal. After killing yet another cellmate, he and a few other less desirables are transferred to Hoxford, an institute for the criminally insane. This place is being kept pretty top secret too. They won’t even let a young psychiatrist in to see her patients. The guards and the warden also seem to have a taste for raw meat. Once checked in, Raymond takes a chunk out of another inmate and gets everyone sent back to their cells… except for the poor sap bleeding all over the place. The guards take him on down to the meat locker where he makes a gory discovery before meeting a delicious end.

Written, drawn, and colored by Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night and Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse), this guy is a comic book triple threat. The writing is good, moving along at a steady pace that doesn’t feel rushed. The artwork is an acquired taste, but if you liked 30 Days of Night, you’ll like this too. The same goes with the colors. While monotonous and bleak, they still somehow seem to add to the story.

This is the first time I’ve read anything written by Templesmith and I was not disappointed. The book seems like a demented version of Oz. Again, the artwork is an acquired taste, but right up my ally for the type of story being told. In the end, I give this issue a 4 out of 5 stars.

Wave 3 for Marvel Mighty Muggs just came out this month. I finally got Thor to complete my collection. The signature on Iron Man's head is from Stan Lee and the one on Wolverine's head is by Jim Lee (a famous comic book artist who drew X-Men back when I was a kid. He is still famous but is now an artist for DC Comics). I hope to get Todd Mcfarlane (creator of Spawn but also drew Spider-Man when I was a kid) to sign my Spider-Man Mighty Mugg and Greg Pak (writer for the comic book series, Planet Hulk. Awesome storyline!) to sign my Hulk Mighty Mugg. As for Captain America and Thor, I still need to research artists and writers for them.

BRING BACK THE COMICS!!!!

When I was young my neighbors and I used to collect books, everything from X-Men to Spider-Man.  I bought the comic books mostly because of the art.  As I grew older, my interest in comic books slowly faded away.  However, with the increased popularity of Marvel through movies, my interest in comic books have come back. I started reading again and man, the stories now are much better!  The best part is that they come in paperbacks so you can read the story from start to finish.  If you're a Marvel fan and are interested in getting into comics, here are some recommended reads:

Marvel Civil War- You'll notice that there are a bunch of side stories. So if that's too much for you, then just focus on the main Civil War series.

Planet Hulk - I would definitely recommend that you read this one. This comic book was written by Greg Pak. Awesome writer!!!! I became a Hulk fan after reading this paperback!

New Avengers: Illuminati - Each of these series are interconnected, but this particular story sets the stage for a new story/series that's "secretly" going on in the Marvel Universe.  After reading this continue on reading New Avengers vol. 5 to vol. 7 (I'm currently on New Avengers vol. 6 - Trust).

The order of the stories might be a little confusing so if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment on this post and I will respond back to you. Oh and don't buy the paperbacks.  Why spend all that money when you can just go to Barnes & Noble and read them there?  Good luck!

...are now available in stores! People are selling them on Ebay but I would definitely look for them in stores like Target to avoid the shipping fee.

I made the mistake of buying my Wolverine Mighty Mugg on Ebay because I eventually saw all of them at Target. So be patient; these aren't exclusives.  I need to add Thor to my Mighty Muggs Avengers collection!

As I said, the overall plots are predictable, but it's the subplots where the genius rests. Each character has their own story, and it's those personal stories and interactions that prove captivating. However, when it's time for the big action of the overall plot's climax, strap yourself in. That's where Bryan Hitch saves the day with his art and Mark Millar makes it fun with his dialogue.

If you want to experience super hero comics at their <ahem!> ultimate in terms of action and art, the Ultimates is what you're looking for.

We’ve reached double digits for J Michael Straczynski’s Thor, and it’s taken a little more than a year to get there, so I found this to be a good time to sit down and really parse things out for what this series has been and where it’s going from the perspective of its tenth issue. Haven’t done a full review in a little while, so bear with me.

For a book starring a guy who’s almost always had a shoot first, possibly forget to ask questions later mentality (that is, if by “shoot,” you mean “cave someone’s head in with a large hammer and electrocute his body”), there certainly isn’t a whole lot of action in this series. You’ve got a couple of action pieces, like Thor’s smacking Tony upside the head for all of that Clor business, or Odin and Thor tag teaming against Surtur in Valhalla, but it is quite plainly not the real focus of the series in this first series of stories. For the first time, Thor is legitimately the lord of Asgard. He’s in complete control. And the first couple arcs have been about the rebuilding of Asgard post Ragnarok. Thor begins by finding and waking up all the Asgardians sleeping in the bodies of normal humans, and follows with Thor confronting Odin in Valhalla, who basically gives Thor his blessing (as it were), so he can truly begin his rule of Asgard. And when he does…nothing really happens. But not in that bad way that everyone keeps throwing at Secret Invasion (FUCKERS! I mean…um…nice people that like this blog…erm…let’s just ignore that one). I mean, what would happen here? This is all taking place prior to Secret Invasion, so there are no Skrulls to fight (although it would seem pretty damned easy for the Skrulls to infiltrate Asgard, what with their ability to transform into both humans and Asgardians, but Matt Fraction’s going to have to let us know what’s going on with all that). They’re in the middle of Oklahma surrounded by bemused small town folks that only really bother them when a town meeting is afoot. But of course, there’s more to this than meets the eye. Because Loki’s around. And she’s got breasts.

There are a lot of reasons I could go into about the reasoning behind bringing Loki back as a female. I think it’s a stroke of genius not only from the original reveal (Thor is expecting to find Lady Sif standing in front of him…ah, fuck) but as a way of influencing the way the character works and the way others view her. Maternal figures are often innately trustworthy. It’s an instinctual mother/child thing. So why wouldn’t the ultimate deceiver disguise himself as a figure of ultimate trust? And this current arc is all about Loki’s slow infection of Asgard. This is the second issue of Loki’s assault on Asgard, and much like the past issue, she is using Balder as her proxy. You get these wonderful panels (good work, Mr. Coipel) of Loki skulking in the shadows above Balder’s shoulder whispering things into his ear (“Nah, you should totally do that. It would be awesome! Trust me on this one, nobody’ll notice” Not an actual quote, I just have that kind of voice in my head for Loki), manipulating his movements in classic Loki fashion. But what’s so great about this is the way that Loki doesn’t lie to Balder. He doesn’t need to. Because Balder legitimately is a son of Odin and prince of Asgard. And Thor and Odin didn’t tell him. And Loki knows this. Sure, there’s a reason why Balder wasn’t told he was the son of Odin (it has to do with Ragnarok and Balder’s heralding its beginning with his death). But it’s still kind of a dickish thing to do, especially after Thor brought everyone back, and disrupting Ragnarok was no longer a concern, and yet he still didn’t tell Balder of his true nature.

So we get the scene where Balder confronts Thor. And Thor can’t do anything other than tell him the truth, considering Loki is standing right behind him with that look in her eye. So Thor gives him the news and tries to get out of planning a coronation, and of course Loki demands that it happen as soon as possible, because this is a thing to celebrate! And all through this, you can see the look of anger and annoyance and disdain etched on Thor’s face. And none of it is directed at Balder. It’s all about Loki. And even during the coronation itself, where Balder comes out resplendent in fancy new duds and everyone is quite happy, Thor is still brooding in the shadows, because he knows that nothing good will come from this.

It’s a quiet series, and everything unfolds slowly and deliberately in a way that I don’t think anyone was expecting from this series. I mean, it’s Thor, so you can expect a lot of “thee”s and “thou”s and various people and creatures being hit in the face with a hammer. You don’t expect monarchical intrigue. But it works. There is this strange balance between the minutiae of back country folks dealing with a city of gods floating ten feet above their land (Asgard has a mail box. And it’s probably chock full of credit card applications. Which just got a story idea in my head of the Warriors Three getting their hands on a credit card…) and the sort of arch character moments that come from Thor trying to get used to ruling over Asgard for the first time with Loki skulking in the shadows, and being unable to find Lady Sif, and making the conscious decision to not look for Odin and the character questions that arise from that. It’s heavy storytelling, and it’s complex and deep and refuses to conform to the lowest common denominator of superhero books (YOU HEAR ME, JEPH LOEB?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?). And Coipel’s art (along with a couple fill ins by Marko Djurdjevik earlier in the series) has been up to the task from issue one, making sure that JMS doesn’t have to weigh down the dialogue with emotional exposition, because everything each character would ever think about is blatantly drawn out in the art. This is comics with a Shakespearian scope, and I'm eating up every second of it. I mean, between this and what Fraction's done on the two one shots (and what I assume he'll be doing with the Secret Invasion mini), it's a good time to be a Thor fan (unless he's written by Jeph Loeb. Seriously. Fuck that guy).

I was really looking forward to this fight between Thor and (Red) Hulk and it just turns out to be "okay". Personally, I think Jeff Loeb should keep the fighting between monsters. It's just more spectacular that way. Sure, Thor's a heavy hitter - even a god - but once you take away Mjolnir, he's pretty much dead in the water.

And that happens way too quickly here.

Even weirder is the how the fight ascends into space. Now, I can see Hulk defying some universal laws of physics, but come on, he holds his breath all the way to the moon and back?! This is just a little too over the top - even for me. But I'll admit, the kicking of Thor's helmet is hilarious and one that will be long remembered.

I don't know about you guys, but when I read the conversation between Green Hulk and Abomination it reminded me of the Dinobots talking in Transformers. Anyone else get that vibe? (Grade: C)

- J. Montes

Let me give you some background on the festival we go to each year. It is a gathering of up to 1000 people, each of a Pagan or Mystic religious background, ie; wiccan, druid, celtic, shamanic, etc. We all converge on a small lake area in the mountains of Colorado, and camp together for 5 days. The first day we are there, a huge opening ritual is performed to invite the gods and elements to join us in our festivities. This year, the Elders (ie: board of directors) decided to evoke Thor.... You know, god of thunder and lighting and rain?? That lover of strong storms and even stronger emotions?? Yes, that Thor (eyes rolling) Not the smartest thing to do when you have to camp outside for 5 days...

Needless to say, it rained, and rained and then it ... rained some more. Colorado is infamous for our beautiful afternoon rains. But this year it has been hot, and dry and I've missed the cleansing sprinkles every afternoon at 3pm (yes, you can set your watch by them!) I guess you could say we were WELL blessed. 

Every year the festival consists of numerous workshops, rituals and generally an all around sense of being home and comfortable within ones skin, not being eyed strangley for wearing a cloak and carrying a staff. Knowing that friendly feet are approaching behind you as you hear the tinkle of small bells tied to dirty ankles. Passing others of like mind as each walks from place to place, not so hurried and a smile for all who pass. It is my favorite time of the year, the thing I look forward too... and the thing I dread as well.

You see, regardless of what we pagans call oursleves, be it witch's or god/dess or celt, the truth of the matter is we still live within the mundane world, in a country strongly influenced by christian religion, even for those who are not self proclaimed as any religion. Our ideals, our very central beliefs are heavily laden with concepts of the church.  We feel guilt at things that are "bad" because culturally, we are just as indoctrinated as any other american. We are monogomous and heterosexual because it is traditionally that way in our culture as a whole. We are fed the same media as everyone else. Yes, our tastes may be different but at it's core, we are american and that in itself carries a cult-like set of morals to be regidly followed regardless of what we tell ourselves we believe to be true. 

And I dread this time of year because it makes me question the very way I live my life. It forces me to seek deep within myself, to look at who I am and what I want my world to look like. At the festival, I see those around me, I see the way we interact with each other and I want that so much as the world I live in on a daily basis, not just for 5 days of the year. It satisfies in me a need so buried and yet creates a yearning so tangible that I can't keep it from stealing my breathe and holding my mind captive in a whirl pool of feelings.

Sigh, let me pull myself back so that I can more plainly describe things for you...

Each person over 16 years old must volunteer for a 2 hours work shift. The entire event is run by volunteer staff, no one is paid and the attendance fee covers all workshops, 4 breakfast meals, 1 Dinner meal and the cost of your campsite. We pay $65.00 per person for a 5 day retreat... I would happily pay twice that.

This year Joshua and I decided to do our workshift early on. There are so many jobs to choose from and we chose Safety. This job consists of walking around the festival, checking for unattended fires or children (both very dangerous!), answering general questions, helping direct traffic, and generally making sure that there is someone always around if someone needs help.  In most cases, this is a very, VERY boring job. It is amazing how well behaved a group of supposedly undisiplined, eccentric, freedom-loving neo-hippies conduct themselves when left to their own devises. This year was no different, we walked, talked to some people and at times were teased... "Can you check if this is safe?" a bottle of tequila or some other substance pushed our direction, a smile of welcome and humor on the face of those who offer to share. My response "No, that's definitely not safe, I'll have to confiscate that!" and few laughs and a wink or two and an invite to come back after our workshift is over to relax and visit. Then we are on our way with a sense of joy in our hearts.

That night, the first, was wet and a nasty storm came over and drenched everything and everybody. But it was a good start to the week, seeing some old friends, our work shift out of the way, our camp set up, even if it was pretty wet.  

I want everyone to be able to read about this in small bits. There is a lot that happens in such a compressed time. I plan on writing about the additional four days in the next few days. Keep me to it if you see me slacking.

Terra Plays in Dirt

Now on to the rest of the week's crap. I've fallen behind in my blogging lately thanks to work and a five month old who likes to bounce. Now that he's asleep I can share a few items and thoughts for the week. Let's continue with where I started... comics:

• Marvel's Secret Invasion continues and LOTR King reviews the latest Avengers installment.
• He also reviews Thor #10. This title has been slowly getting stronger and stronger and has become one of the more interesting Marvel titles.
• The AVClub has published its comics panel.  Not a whole lot that I'd read, but it's still worth browsing.

Moving on to television, a few interesting things...

• The AVClub reviews one of the most underrated televisions shows of all time... TV Funhouse
• Electricity & Lust reviews Generation Kill. I've been really enjoying this HBO mini-series. Also, check out his new movie blog here.

In technology/Web 2.0 stuff, I found a new website I want to try, Fluther. Apparently the collective will answer your questions. I just wonder how you know if they're right or not?

In words and the such, more good stuff from One-Story.

Finally, I'm also starting a new project for myself. As I find myself in airports from time to time, I thought I'd start a blog that covers travel. You can find it here, but I haven't really posted anything yet.

Since my last day last Friday, I've moved most of my stuff to Rolla already. Then, I hung out with Thor and Becca from Saturday night to Tuesday morning. We had a great time, although Thor was sick (which actually was kinda cool bc it meant he stayed home from work on Monday). They introduced me to Dr. Horrible's Sing-along-blog: http://www.hulu.com/watch/28343/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog  and watched it several times, until we had the whole thing just about memorized :) Thor and I played computer games, Becca got me started on a new book called "Monstrous Regiment" by Terry Pratchett. I took the GMAT Monday morning, and unfortuntely, my brain died after the quantitative section and therefore bombed the verbal section, so i ended up with a 620....not horrible, but not that great at all, I was hoping for over a 650. The scoring's out of 800, and a 620 is in the 77th percentile, if that helps...

Tuesday morning I left for Miamisburg to see Garrett. He's been working all week, and we've tried to do stuff in the evenings. I watched Pride and Prejudice so many times I've decided to read the book, so i'm about 3/4ths done with that now, which has occupied my day a little bit. In the evenings, we've watched movies, including the Dark Knight, which was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time, mostly due to the plot and character development. The Joker was one of the most well-played villians I've seen in a very long time, and this Batman was definitely someone to be looked up to in most any way. We went to LaserQuest yesterday and got pwned by a bunch of 8-year-olds! Today we went to a boat derby in the Miami River. It varied from hilarious (like a guy who made an Elvis-themed one where he sat on a toilet while floating) to really really cool (like a guy who made a hamster-wheel type where a person in the middle steered and two people on wheels on either side are in wheels that they walkon to move the water-craft and the wheels have over 100 of those balls you can get at the dollar store or walmart or whatever for flotation). We also have been on several walks, gone to the park, and I got sunburnt. lol. Oh and the cats are sooo glad to see each other. They've been napping together, wrestling together, bathing each other, and sometimes a combination of all three :) It's good to see them getting along after not seeing each other for a while!

Tomorrow I'll be heading back to Lexington to spend some time at home, get some necessary stuff done like haircut, eye appt., etc and spend some time with my parents. I think I'll be there til Friday night or Saturday morning. Then, I think Garrett and I are going to New York City for vacation since neither of us have ever ever been and it seems like a fun time, and it's only 10.5 hrs away driving!

Gnut kills Thor's parents. Thor must seek revenge. To do so he must fight cannibals, men with sticks, women with baskets on their heads and eat lots of meat. There is also a lot of fur involved. For connoisseurs of Italian barbarian films only.

If you can watch this without once hitting the fast-forward button you are brave indeed.

Is it possible for Johan Hegg, and his metal brethren to surpass With Oden on our Side?  That, kiddies, is for The Fates to decide.

Sursa:

www.getthebigpicture.net