It’s the Alka-Seltzer of New Comic Book Days!

• Justice League United #1 (DC): #0 didn’t grab me in any way, but I’m going to give it another shot anyway. Jeff Lemire’s earned that–though not so much with his hero books. While Animal Man started off well enough–and we said as much by making it one of our top books of 2012–it kind of lost its way during and after the “Rotworld” crossover with Swamp Thing and never lived up to its promise. His run on Justice League Dark wasn’t spectacular; and I couldn’t get past the second issue of his current–and surprisingly well-regarded–run on Green Arrow. Trillium was mostly a success, highlighted by some terrific visual storytelling. The story itself–well, not so much: I really wanted to connect to the characters and their plight but, alas, found that I could not.  Come to think of it, we did celebrate his Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.–and rightfully so; it was pretty terrific. We’ll see what happens here. Expectations aren’t very high.
• Royals: Masters of War #4 (DC/Vertigo): Has been OK.  #3 was definitely better than an impatiently paced #2, that’s for sure. Feels like the overly coddled child of Montynero and Michael Dowling’s Death Sentence and Kieron Gillen and Canaan White’s Uber. Doesn’t quite live up to either.
• Shutter #2 (Image): Leaning toward passing mainly because there wasn’t much about #1 that I liked. In fact, I hated the ending.  I’ll flip through this one just to be fair.
• Starlight #3 (Image): The series has been very good.  #1 was great.  #2 was a decent follow-up.  The most remarkable quality of the series thus far?  It’s been on time!  Hey, is this really a Mark Millar book? Love, love, love Goran Parlov’s art, which transports me back–not too far back, mind you–to the fabulous Fury: My War Gone By, which was one of our top books of 2013 and has been nominated for the 2014 Innie for Best Limited Series. So, perhaps I’m predisposed to liking this series for that reason. Could also be that I’m predisposed to liking well-written stories that deliver sentimentality with a tender hand. Millar has certainly done that with Starlight–so far, anyway.

• Stray Bullets: Killers #3 (Image): A transcendent #1 was followed by a mediocre #2.  Here’s hoping that this one returns to form–the form we’ve come to expect from David Lapham.

• All-New X-Men #27 (Marvel): The scene that brought together Jean and present-day Cyclops was an effective one–one of the best of the series.  It’s those little flashes of Bendis brilliance that keep me coming back for more.
• Secret Avengers #3 (Marvel): Quirky stuff from Ales Kot and Michael Walsh that owes a lot to Fraction and Aja’s Hawkeye.  Just quirky enough to keep me around.
• Afterlife With Archie #5 (Archie): We celebrated #4 as one of our favorite books of March.  Definitely looking forward to this one from undisputed undead master Roberto Aguirre Sacasa and Innie-nominated artist Franceso Francavilla.

• Quantum and Woody #10 (Valiant): Continues to be a lot of fun.  How’s this for a comparison: it’s the Rat Queens of the Valiant Universe, just, you know, done up a tad more tastefully–if that’s even possible.
• Uber #13 (Avatar): Finally read #11.  (A pull list problem, if you must know.)  It was the best single issue of the series and has reignited my excitement in what Gillen’s doing with his twist on WWII.

 

What are you looking forward to this week?

Turning pages,

Scott