ComicNerd

Storyline: Blood and Sand conclusion; Sunset
Date: October 2007
Price: $2.99 US / $3.75 CAN
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Ariel Olivetti

Synopsis: The Punisher’s one-man crusade to stop the white-power border war kicked off by the Hate-Monger comes to a head in this, the bloody conclusion to BLOOD AND SAND. Everybody’s trying to kill everybody else. Frank Castle’s been beaten within an inch of his life. Hate Monger’s terrible machines broadcast wave after wave of unbridled rage into the desert, making it even harder for Clarke and Bridge to trust one another. By the end of the night, it’ll be all our heroes can do to aim straight… and not at each other.   This Cannot End Well.

Opinion:  This series has been one of the most enjoyable of all of the recent re-visitations by Marvel to older titles.  It has given relevant and insightful information to the “Punisher factor” of the entire Civil War situation,  including interesting revelations about Captain America during the Vietnam era and the prior experience Frank Castle had with Cap that made Punisher look up to him. This particular issue wraps up the Punisher’s run in with the white supremacy group that’s been terrorizing the Mexican border; which is actually a pretty good statement of the times.  Off topic a bit, I fully appreciate how the story portrays Frank Castle as a hero in the civil sense,  essentially standing up to the hard-headed American sentiments against the current immigration issue.  Albeit extreme, and unlikely – it’s still in tune with the Comic Book  forte of old where real world issues were faced in the stories and the characters interacted with it (think Nazis and Cap back in the day).

The Punisher’s progression has been about the only good thing coming out of Captain America’s death back in issue #25 in my opinion – and at the end of this issue is a preview of what’s to come; which appears to be a showdown between Winter Soldier (formerly known as Bucky) and Punisher over taking the assumed role of Captain America.

Finally, I want to comment that the art on this title thus far has been exquisite.   And the constant interaction between G.W. Bridge is not only interesting but enjoyable as well.

I don’t want to spoil anything for you, but there is a giant seed planted in this issue that might wink out of existence or come back in a big way – you never really know with Marvel.  Still interesting nonetheless.

Storyline: None Specified
Date: July 2007
Price: $14.95 US
Writer: Matt Billman/Christopher Herndon
Artist: Matt Billman/Christopher Herndon
 

Synopsis: “Poop Dogs, Hitler Chickens and Monster Trucks or How I Stopped Wearing Pants and Learned to Love the Zombie.” The collected first seven issues of this webcomic series! (www.livingwithzombies.net). The story of two friends as their greatest wish comes true: The Zombie Apocalypse has arrived, but does that mean they’re the only humans left? This look at zombie/survival stories holds a refreshing twist of humor on every page as Chris’ and Matt’s greatest dreams come true from page to page.

Opinion: As a fan of zombie survival, I absolutely love the grim, dirty, disgusting world that generally is a post-apocalyptic, corpse filled planet. My only general complaint during these stories is that the characters become so horribly cliched from tale to tale that for the most part I thought I had seen every story that could ever be written with zombies as the central push. Living with Zombies changed my opinion. It presents a more humorous view of the zombie survival artform. Written by and starring Matt Billman and Chris Herndon, these two have been awaiting the apocalypse for quite a while, and it shows as from page one to one ninety two the madcap adventure doesn’t cease. It also presents an interesting view of the higher powers during the resultant escapades, as the Devil himself becomes interested in how Billman can commit murder without committing any actual sins.

If you’re growing tired of the word zombie and anything to do with it, or conversely absolutely love (and are waiting for like I am) the idea of an impending zombie apocalypse; then you should definitely pick up this book. At roughly fifteen dollars, the value far exceeds the cost of the book. The only downside? Since they self-publish, you can only snag the book from their site now, so head over there if you want to pick one up.

 
Storyline: Lovers & Madmen (part 1)
Date: July, 2007
Price: $2.99 US / $3.65 CAN
Writer: Michael Green
Artist: Denys Cowan

Synopsis: “What kind of person becomes a Joker? Writer Michael Green (Heroes writer/producer) and classic Batman artist Denys Cowan shed light on who the Joker was before he became the Joker…and how he and Batman crossed paths even before the day he was created.”

Opinion: This was a great read. I’ve held Mixed feelings toward the Batman Confidential series, the first arc between Lex Luthor/Batman had a bigger than life feel to it, which was significantly different from the dark/jaded Dark Knight Detective that we’ve grown accustomed with. That said, this Rookie Batman has begun to get his grip, and with each page I’ve grown closer to him. This issue was the first that I couldn’t put down, each page drawing me further into the grim and dirty world of a Gotham besieged by a sadistic (pre?) Joker. Green did wonders to show a Batman/Bruce Wayne who is truly trying to find a balance between the two egos, as well as showing an excellent take on the Joker pre-clown days. The Confidential series is a great way to get into Batman without having to worry about years worth in backstory, while still getting a great story delivered with excellent art style.

Storyline: “Our War (1 of 5)”
Date: August, 2007
Price:$3.99 US / $4.75 CAN
Writer: Daniel Way
Artist: Steve Dillon
 

Synopsis: Wolverine’s history with Captain America revealed! In the early days of WWII, before America’s “official” involvement in the war, Captain America, still wet behind the ears, embarked on a clandestine mission to the island nation of Madripoor. Guess who he met there? And guess what? It wasn’t a coincidence. Plus Logan & Cap’s first WWII meeting from Uncanny X-men #268.

Opinion: I first picked up Wolverine Origins back at issue 1 with one thought in mind. Yay, more from wolvie’s past, helping to diagram just how truly screwed up this guy is. What was actually delivered felt more like a Soap-Opera-Wolverine story. Though being disappointed by the first arc, I opted to continue grabbing the series. Thankfully it seems that my patience may pay off yet. I found issue sixteen to be quite enjoyable, both for the introspection in the main story, as well as the addition of the second story (re-print of Uncanny #268) afterward showing the original arc this was based from. It ignited a sense of nostalgia in me that comics haven’t been able to rekindle in a very long time. While it may not be the greatest starting point for anyone who isn’t familiar with Wolverine (although if you read any Marvel titles and don’t know Wolverine I think perhaps your powers of observation may need to be checked), I think that if you’re wanting a new wolverine dedicated title, this is a decent starting point. Although, if I had to choose between this and the current running “Wolverine” series, I would go for the latter. However, if you’re like me and have followed the 5′3″ Canucklehead since you can remember, then this is definitely a pick-up.

So, in closing this: Wolvie + Cap + Black Widow + Madripoor + kicking Nazi tail = win.

Storyline: Revelations, Part 1 (of 6)
Date: October, 2007
Price:$2.99 US / $3.75 CAN
Writer: Daniel Way
Artist: Javier Saltares

Synopsis:  The final confrontation between Ghost Rider and Lucifer begins here! Ghost Rider, now back in control after Johnny has (once again) proven himself to be…not so good at it, has begun his brutal final march toward Lucifer’s ultimate destruction. But should the fate of the mortal world—and possibly the immortal world—be entrusted to a vengeful spirit bonded to the soul of an ex-carnival performer? Heaven doesn’t think so.

Opinion: Sigh.  This is one of those books where you find yourself about midway through checking the cover to see how much you exactly spent on such a piece of junk.  Look, I understand that the publishers need to drag things out, they need content for issues to keep the series’ numbers going up and to make their ad profit for each and every issue.  I really do understand – but what happened to quality?  Doesn’t anyone at any point ever stop and ask ‘what the hell are we selling?’.

The fact of the matter is, Ghost Rider is an icon – he is by far one of the coolest characters in comics, only in theory – in practice he just seems to always become a novelty.  A flaming skull and leather and a motorcycle, how much more novel does it get?  The problem is,  those of us who want some substance from our characters, well, we constantly feel let down.

Number 14 is the first part of a story arch, but barely anything progresses, and everything that does happen doesn’t make any sense.  To me, this makes a comic worthless, and the last I saw, there weren’t any ads for Milk or Honda or whatever else is paying Marvel inside Trade Paperbacks.   So yeah – let’s push readers to stop buying the titles monthly and only read trades because our issues do not deliver on story quality.  Then what happens?

I’ll tell you – the guy who’s getting issues in his pull file of your monthly title and doesn’t question the $3 on a classic character’s series finally gets fed up and stops buying your title.   Then the title gets cancelled, then you don’t have a place to sell ads.

This one goes on the toilet paper o-meter  for sure – I think I will stop buying this title after issue 15.  I’m not invested in the storyline at this point and so part 2 of ‘Revelations’ better do the trick, or this one’s out the door.  Besides, outside of Garth Ennis’s take on the Ghost Rider revival, Ghost Rider Volume 3 has been lackluster at best.