Every week I go to the comic book store (Comics Ink at Overland and Braddock in Culver City, CA, hey Steve and Jason!) and grab a lot of comics. I sort these into two piles -- the "buy" pile (things I intend to spend money on, most often a small pile) and the "read" pile (often huge, including lots of stuff I don't actually like but wanna stay well informed about). In no particular order, here's some thoughts about all that.
NOTE: This week I got my ass handed to me with a cold (like you care, you bastards didn't even notice I was late) that waylaid me, plus I had to go see Rent on Wednesday night ... so when something had to give, it had to be the reviews I do for free. Life's tough in the big city. So I'm remixing things and trying to get it done. Wish me luck. Or not. Who cares?
Fables #18:
Prince Charming wants to be mayor of Fable Town. He has a campaign so slickly manifested, so chock full of wild and exaggerated promises, it can't fail to get him elected, nor could it ever hope to keep him from horrible scandal. Promising "sweeping, immediate" changes to a centuries-old government ... it's almost as if he can see the inevitable crash-and-burn coming, and he just smiles at it as it comes. Charming has -- almost predictably -- emerged as a charismatic bounder in the mold of John Glover's Lionel Luthor on Smallville, and his increased screen time and incessant fast talk make him both endearing and oily at the same time. Bigby Wolf remains the gruff voice of reason, devouring his scenes perfectly as Snow White becomes more and more of a supporting character. Of course, as always, Buckingham and Leialoha's artwork is splendid, and this book remains one of my favorite reads every month.
Also Worth Buying: Star Wars: Empire #14 (JUMP, great Vader story), Wanted #1, Gotham Central #14, Transformers: War Within: The Dark Ages #3, G.I. Joe Frontline #18 (JUMP, funny and quick), Toyfare #78 (JUMP, for a great Schwartzenegger bit so funny I had to own it)
Waste of Money: Nary a clunker.
Then there's the stuff on the "read pile" that I don't bring home ...
Iron Man #75:
In his mad quest to become secretary of defense (leaving his former employees high and dry with nary a word, an interesting plot thread shown briefly), Tony Stark does what only Tony Stark can do -- in the words of Mos Def, he "burns through your argument with action." In a weekend he cobbles up a set of prototypes for non-lethal melee combat gear (defensive and offensive), dominates the attention of the press, and generally uses the modern media's tendency to over-glom on to a story to his own benefit. More like John Wells West Wing than Aaron Sorkin, it's still damned fine entertainment watching Marvel's feds and digiterati get run through their paces by a man of alarming intellect. The last page may be an interesting proposal -- what to do if Tony wins (can you imagine, "In the news today, after meeting with Jordan's leadership, the secretary of defense suited up and saved twenty six commuters from an IRA bombing" ... now I think of it, maybe that's not so farfetched if James Brown can become "secretary of soul") and this book looks like it's got even more interesting possibilities than "Spiral" in Thor (which really let me down, heading into "The Reigning"). As always, let's see how far they're willing to go.
Also Worth Reading: 1602 #5, Thor #72, Negation #25
Pass These Issues By: Mystic #43, JSA #55, Ultimate X-Men #40, Avengers #75, Batman: Death & the Maidens #5, Frankenstein Mobster #1
FINAL ANALYSIS: Not a wasted week at all, despite my reviews being late due to unforeseen surprises. Even the "pass them by" issues had some fun -- great Bendis dialogue moments in UXM and a cute panel or two in Mystic.
