In case you missed it, Oddfellow and I talked extensively about Flashpoint #5 and Justice League #1 in episode 9 of the LBR podcast. Check it out!
For the rest of the comics I read for the week of 8/31/11, see below.
Angel & Faith #1: I never read the IDW Angel: After the Fall series as it was being published monthly, though I did buy some cheaply priced trades of the first eight issues and enjoyed them. Now that Angel is published side by side with Buffy, Season 9 at Dark Horse, I decided to try this series out. It starts out strong enough, with Angel finally not catatonic and trying to amend for his murdering of Giles, with Faith as his helping hand/guide. Things are full circle because we saw Angel do the same for Faith during the television series, much to Buffy’s consternation. It turns out that Giles had been maintaining his Watcher Files and now Angel is reading those files and acting upon them where he needs to. The art is good enough, meaning that the principles look enough like them to appease me. The lack of duplicating to some degree the actors’ faces is one reason I don’t generally buy media tie-in comics, but Rebekah Isaacs pulls it off sufficiently. And I love the Steve Morris cover. I’ll stick around for the first story arc and then I’ll see, but that’s what I said about Buffy, Season 8 and I stuck around for 40 issues. :)
Mighty Thor #5: If I had to pick one word to describe this title, I would have to use BOMBASTIC! Odin headbutts Galactus?! That is some shite right there, let me tell you. I love the somewhat unconventional elements in this storyline that Matt Fraction throws in because anything with Thor and the Asgardians as the focus should be a bit over the top. When Thor rushes to his father’s aid, he tells the old man, “. . . there are times I hate you . . . but I will escort to Hel personally anything that torments you more than I.” That pretty well sums up the relationship between these two, doesn’t it? The two plots of the book–the fight with Galactus and the conflict with the townsfolk–meet at the end of the issue with the Pastor heading toward Galactus saying, “I’ve always wanted to meet God . . .”. I’m looking forward to next issue. A pity I won’t be continuing with this book. (Also discussed in episode 9 was the price per page of content in this comic. Guess how pissed I am when I realize I only get 20 pages for $3.99?)
Sixth Gun #14: The origin story of the mummy we saw at the end of #12 and more in #13. I actually really enjoyed this interlude. It’s the usual disfigured, ostracized boy meets young girl who doesn’t care about his affliction story, but I like those, so this rendition was ok to me. We have a guest artist (Tyler Crook) for this issue, but honestly, except for the painted-looking panels, I didn’t even really notice that much of a difference, which I like. It helps maintain the overall continuity. The story ends with a revelation of a sort: Sinclair “succeeds” in remaking the world with those guns. Of course, this is according to a mummy seer, so who knows how it will all work out?
Longbox Review 