Today was sort of a big haul for me. I picked up a lot of good reads. I'm not feeling like big reviews, so I will just give some general impressions here. I will also start using a (writer/penciller, publisher) format.
Amazing Spider-Man #569 (Slott/Romita Jr., Marvel)
Another decent issue. Anti-Venom finally makes his inevitable appearance at the very end of the book. I never had a great deal of use for Venom. I think previous Spider books were killed for me by Venom and Carnage and clones, etc. The angle that this is coming from is potentially pretty cool. I like that Venom wants to eat Eddie Brock's brains. I like Osborn going after Spidey with the Thunderbolts... good balance, enjoyable issue.
Ambush Bug Year None #2 (Giffen/Fleming, DC)
Plenty of funny in this book. The source wall is vacationing on a beach, the embodiment of the Comics Code Authority 'postage stamp' pops up here and there, I like Giffen's Ambush Bug anyway, but this is pretty goofy and fun even for that.
Justice Society of America #18 (Johns/Eaglesham, DC)
Holy Cats!! I think I may have actually been surprised by this issue, and I guess maybe I shouldn't have been. I have been having a good time reading the whole arc with Kingdom Come Superman and Gog... and now finally(and inevitably) Magog. The Ross covers are pretty, like Ross covers tend to be. The writing is great, and the art is ok. I don't really love the interior art, but it doesn't suck, and it gets the job done. I am not crazy about the Earth 2 Power Girl thing that's going on, but we'll see how it goes.
Madame Xanadu #3 (Wagner/Hadley, Vertigo)
I am in love with Amy Reeder Hadley's art. It really is just beautiful. The interiors are as lovely as the colors, and although I don't usually comment on this... I think the color in this book is just great. The story of our long lived title character has moved to the court of Kublai Kahn. We see her referred to as Madam of Xanadu by the current incarnation of the Phantom Stranger for the first time. We are several hundred years after Camelot now and times have not been easy for her up to this point. Her years with Kublai Kahn have been pretty good to her so far. Marco Polo features in this story as well, and I am genuinely enjoying this title now. It's still early, but this is pretty good stuff. If you haven't jumped on, definitely pick up the inevitable trade, which I assume will have this arc and the previous one in it.
Runaways #1 (Moore/Ramos, Marvel)
Terry Moore's first issue of Runaways is pretty good. I kind of love Humberto Ramos's work. I loved it like crazy on X-books and enjoy it here as well. His range is good enough that he captures the sort of goofy whimsy of a teen cast, but also the drama and emotion and weight when called for. Moore's writing is good, the characters come across in a way that seems perfectly in keeping with what I think of them. The plot so far has some promise, but it will take a few issues for me to have a real opinion on that.
Skaar, Son Of Hulk #3 (Pak/Garney, Marvel)
This to me is sort of like a green skinned Conan title. There is non-stop action, but there is more there than action... I've been enjoying it, but I am not sure how long it will do anything for me. I guess one of the things I like is that it isn't set amidst secret invasiony civil war-y crap, but that could be said of a million other things. It has that warrior king intrigue going for it... which may be it's attraction to me.
Teen Titans: Year One #6 (Wolfram/Kerschl, DC)
One of two mini-series finales for me this week. I wanted to like this series way more than I actually liked it. I sort of felt like this issue was a big waste. It used a lot of space to convey almost nothing. I enjoyed the art throughout, though, and appreciated having teens drawn looking young. Kudos on giving us a young female heroine that looks like a kid and not like a swimsuit model.
Ultimate Iron Man II #5 (Card/Ferry, Marvel)
The other mini-series finishing up this week. I liked this issue a lot, although I guess I could take or leave the series overall. Orson Scott Card is a name that based solely on my love of Ender's Game (etc.) This was well written, but I kind of hate the spin it puts on Iron Man(same as with the first run). I guess the good news is that it makes use of it's 'ultimateness' and does something a bit different with the story, but still, not my favorite.
I also picked up Terry Moore's Echo TPB v1, but that review will get it's own post once I have read it.
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