I had nearly four hours to kill between Christmas parties, so I took the opportunity to buy a boatload of comics. In short, there’s plenty of material this week.

I’d like to start with the one comic most on my mind - Angel: After the Fall. A supposedly canonical addition to the season five cliffhanger (didn’t they already do that?), After the Fall boosts Joss Whedon’s name in the top slot on the cover, but a closer examination reveals he’s only plotting, with the bulk of the writing going to Brian Lynch. Which makes a big difference, because this is one jarring first issue. All of Los Angeles is transported to Hell, with Angel marginalized by the Senior Partners while Connor and several others protect the humans. Wesley (!!!) is a ghostly liaison to Wolfram & Hart. Gunn rescues women, then drains their blood as a murderous vampire. (!!!!!) What the furry blue heck is going on here?!?!

Whedon’s involvement does calm me down a bit, but since Buffy: Season Eight and Angel: After the Fall are produced by different companies (Dark Horse and IDW Press, respectively), it seems as though these companies are determined to drive their respective titles in drastically, perhaps mutually exclusive, worlds. It’s hard to believe the events of Angel - where L.A. has vanished into Hell - could exist in Buffy: Season Eight, undermining and maybe severing the connection between the brother and sister series which distinguished them.

I’m not saying this is it for Angel: After the Fall - I’m definitely picking up the second issue. These character seem so fundamentally different from when we last saw them, it’s hard to believe Angel ever be the same again. And that’s real crucial thing here - Buffy: Season Eight read like the TV show we all knew and love opened up in a comic. Angel: After the Fall, on the other hand, does not - leading me to wonder just where this desperately different outing is going. It’s a great way to hook the readers, but not without plenty of back-fire hazards standing in your way.

Onto other things - Amazing Spider-Girl’s 10th anniversary in issue #15 was wonderful. The issue was little more than a cameo-laced introspective on where May Parker has been, who she’s fought, and who she’s become - but every one of these pages is filled with more pathos than just about every other book of the in-continuity Spidey (Ultimate Spider-Man notwithstanding). These ten years should yell and scream at Marvel what it’s missing in it’s own book - in 10 quiet years, May Parker - as Devin noted last time, a novelty character at best - has warmed a place of her own in readers’ hearts and forged a place next to the eponymous -Girl characters most fans thought they’d seen the end of. Meanwhile, May’s in-continuity father has been subject to relaunch, revamp and now sits on the verge of reinvention, all the more missing out on what really matters to comic books fan - stories. Just simple good stories. There’s 10 years of them in Spider-Girl in the last decade. I really wish Spider-Man could say the same.

Though just barely touching upon the events of Annihilation and (thankfully) leaving any Marvel Zombies X-over to our imagination, Nova is still one heckuva read. Whoever thought fighting space zombies alongside a super-intelligent Russian golden retriever/labrador mix would be so much fun?

I’m also happy to report Wonder Woman is back on track with Gail Simone. The first issue really shows Wonder Woman at her best when she takes in troop of armored, super-intelligent apes without batting an eye. Simone’s trademark humor is intact, as just as she adjusts to life with several 4-ton gorilla roommates, her secret agent partner Nemesis walks in. Definitely a top-notch book once again - and I hope it stays this way this time.

I’m still one issue behind (two by this Wednesday), but as long as I get to read the next Messiah Complex, I really don’t care.  The Sentinel battle Uncanny X-Men raises some questions as to just whose side Cable is on. Seeing Wolverine as the leader of a new X-Force also brought a smile to my face, and its about time Logan lead a team of his own.

If there’s any movie I liked growing up, its anyone with Ray Harryhausen’s name in the credits. The stop motion animator now has a line of comics celebrating his signature works. The preview book I got was a mixed bag though. Wrath of the Titans, a sequel to Clash, looks great and contains many of the same characters and settings with a more faithful view of mythology. Sinbad: Rogue of Mars looks great, but unfortunately its preview is also the shortest in here. Needless to say, this is the book I’m most excited about. There’s an oddly-placed Tortoise and Hare comic after that - I really don’t know what it’s doing here, because subsequent comics - like the WWI action Elementals - definitely aren’t kid-friendly!  “It Came From Beneath the Sea . . . Again!” just goes through the motions. With poorly rendered art, man loses friend during sea monster attack, man becomes down on his luck adventurer, man agrees to search for monster again. Though I’m 100% sold on the art, Flying Saucers Vs. The Earth looks to be a good, classy sci-fi homage, and Jason and the Argonauts looks okay but doesn’t really wow me in the way Wraith of the Titans or Sinbad: Rogue of Mars did.

Annihilation Conquest does extremely well introducing a new Adam Warlock. Also, the new Star-lord and his band of misfits looks to be great fun, all while the A-listers of Annihilation -  Superskrull, Wraith and Ronan the Accuser - make an interesting offer to the Annihilation Wave - the titular enemies of the previous book. And if all that weren’t enough, the casualties of started to mount as one more superheroine - Moondragon - just might have bit it fighting Ultron.

Deadpool Team-Up, which crosses out Cable’s name and inserts a different hero each month, is the hands-down funniest book Marvel has put out. This issue Deadpool and Bob the Hydra Agent are paired with Dr. Strange. There’s not enough interaction between the Sorcerer Supreme and the Merc with the Mouth for my taste, but Deadpool is still one hilarious character nonetheless. I’m really curious where his character will go after Cable gets his solo book back this January, because Marvel desperately needs humor in its line-up.

Grevioux’s New Warriors continues to rope me. In their sixth issue, they’ve finally introduced their line-up, which includes Jubilee (now Wondra). Chamber (now Decibel), Angel Salvadore, Stacy X (now Ripcord) , Sofia Barrett and several others.  Night Thrashers still mum on who he really is, and the issue also addresses the surprising possibility the renegade team’s financier could be none other than Tony Stark.

Though the Cosmic Treadmill isn’t used near enough for my taste, Justice Society of America #11 still does pretty well especially with the Kingdom Come Superman. Starman’s fourth wall break - as well as Dr. Midnite and John Stewart’s hilarious reaction - all make this one a pretty interesting story. The results are even more heartfelt when we see Power Girl looking into the coffins of Earth-2’s Superman and Lois Lane and feeling utterly isolated. I first questioned the addition of a Superman to the ranks of the JSA, but now I think both Geoff Johns - and yes - Alex Ross, have things under control. Abandon all ye who just read that, I’ve complimented Alex Ross.

And lastly, the Gargoyles are back, so I picked up the mini-series “Bad Guys” by Greg Wiseman. This Dirty Dozen-style escapade patches together several anti-heroes from the Gargoyles animated series and brings them under the command of a mysterious fem fatale. The art is perfectly suited to the animated series and many of the characters are exactly where we left them, but the I just wish it wasn’t in black and white. Still, this looks to be a great series for fans of the animated series.

Yet another new writer - Sean McKreever - takes over Birds of Prey this week. Can he fill Gail Simone’s substantial shoes on this one? I really hope so - this is the one book I haven’t been reading since Simone left.

The only other comic I’m really looking forward to this week is Marvel Holiday Special #2007. At the first very least, its good to see Marvel hasn’t lost this tradition. No idea whose illustrating, whose writing - I just know I’m going to read it.

And that concludes a very length Comic Rundown - enjoy it, because I’m not sure when I’m going to update in lieu of Christmas next week! Have a happy holiday!

If you liked that, try...

1. Comic Rundown: Nova Still Rocks and Captain Marvel’s a Skrull
2. Comic Rundown: Green Christmas
3. Comic Rundown: Sweet Salvation
4. Comic Book Rundown: Warlock, Winter and Winick
5. Comic Rundown: Grant Morrison Writes Everything

4 Comments »

1. 
   Shawn M.
   December 18, 2007 at 8:30 pm

   I’m really happy to see Deadpool’s getting his own book, and it’s a “Marvel Team-Up” style too. I always felt his humor worked best when he’s playing off of another character, and this should (hopefully) work. Personally, I’m hoping for some upcoming stories with Squirrel Girl and Big Bertha — their interactions with him in the various GLA books were golden.

   [Reply]

   Devin de Gruyl Reply:
   December 20th, 2007 at 12:09 pm

   Deadpool and Squirrel Girl… such fun comedy characters. I haven’t seen any of their past team-ups, but I’m sure they’re classics among those of us who prefer a dash of inspired lunacy in our comics from time to time.

   In fact, I’d really like to see Marvel go totally balls-to-the-wall and get the Impossible Man, Forbush-Man, Howard the Duck, and H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot (dear God, remember that churchfart?) together for a silly team-up in the grand tradition of What The?! and Not Brand Ecch! Maybe pit any or all of them against the Living Eraser and/or Stilt-Man! At least it’d be more fun than the dreary place 616 has become under Joey Q’s tenure…

   (Does it show that I miss the fun that used to be had in comics?)

   [Reply]

2. 
   Richard
   December 19, 2007 at 1:20 pm

   I hear ya - I also liked to see Deadpool kicking butt and taking names with Marvel’s Who’s Who - seeing DP go toe-to-toe with the Hulk, Sabertooth and even Sunfire and Gambit reminds you he’s not just some babbling loony.

   [Reply]

3. 
   Richard
   December 20, 2007 at 12:54 pm

   I’m about to post an early Comic Rundown, and one of the reviewed comics is Marvel Holiday Special. I think you’ll find everything you just said ties right into the problems with this book, Devin! It’ll be posted in a just a couple of minutes.

   [Reply]

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