Final Crisis #7

Final Crisis wrapped up this week, of course. I really loved how it ended. I definitely have to go back and read it from the beginning again to get everything out of it, but overall, this was a fantastic event with really high quality writing and artwork. I don't want to give too much away for those who haven't read it yet, but I want to say a couple of general things.

What I really love about Grant Morrison is his optimism. Final Crisis had a happy ending. Morrison had to pretty much literally take us to Hell and back to give us that happy ending, but in the end what we got was an incredibly beautiful ode to heroes and heroism. Morrison loves superheroes, and it shows on every page. He likes to torture them, but it's always so we can see them overcome and triumph in a way that always makes me want to cry because why can't Superman be real?! WHY?!

Things got as bad as they could possibly get, and not everyone made it out alive, but nothing happened that I would consider pessimistic. And there certainly wasn't anything snarky. This was not a series written by a disgruntled old scribe who was sick of superheroes and just wanted to make them all suffer for their own sick pleasure. We've seen enough of that in plenty of comics. This was a story of hope. And it was delightful.

Plus, y'know, there was a lot of cool-looking stuff.

This Week's Haul: Namor!

Hey everyone!

I got a whole lot of comics this week. Really, too many comics. But my computer is fixed and Photoshop is reinstalled, so I am able to share my thoughts with you once again. Here we go with a small selection of what I read this week.

Uncanny X-Men Annual #2

Namor fans rejoice!

I have been buying Uncanny X-Men every month for the better part of a year now. I have really enjoyed Matt Fraction's writing on the title, and have tried to overlook the artwork in the Greg Land issues.

This issue tells the sexy history between Emma Frost and Namor. And it's frigging beautiful! Both Daniel Acuna and Mitch Breitweiser provide stunning artwork, but you don't have to take my word for it!


Oh Namor. I missed you so.


Superman/Batman Annual #3

Blowing? Tandem? It must be Superman/Batman!

Len Wein steps in to write this year's S/B Annual (typically the only issue of S/B ever worth reading). It's a re-telling of the Composite Superman/Batman story and it is really entertaining. It kind of emphasizes my point that Superman/Batman should be a series of one-shots by a different creative team every month. Even if it was just re-telling of Silver Age stories, it would still be a much better comic than it is right now.

Getting back to this issue: great art, great banter, a couple of unfortunate and somewhat confusing colouring errors, but those are easy to overlook.

Especially when Superman is looking so cute leaning on a wall!

Awwww.

And Batman asks a tough question:

Um, well...now that you mention it...


Dr Doom and the Masters of Evil #1

Hey! A new all-ages comic by Paul Tobin! Sign me up!

I love stories from the villains' point of view, especially funny ones where they are paling around. This book has plenty of that.

Mysterio asking to borrow a car so he can get his computer fixed really cracks me up.

This is going to be yet another really great Marvel all-ages title, as far as I can tell. But, like many all-ages books, it will mostly be enjoyed by aged comic nerds.

Ghost Rider #31

Yet another totally awesome issue of Ghost Rider by Jason Aaron. Much like Captain America, Daredevil, or Jonah Hex, it's so good every month that I really don't have anything interesting to say about it.

Except...HOT Ghost Rider on Ghost Rider Action!!!!



Green Lantern #37

The Red Lanterns have really been grossing me out, I'm not going to lie, so I wasn't too excited about this issue. But it was actually pretty awesome. For one thing, Ivan Reis really threw down some great art. And the Hal Jordan-Sinestro rivalry was entertaining as usual.






Mysterius: The Unfathomable #1

Jeff Parker has a new series! And it's for...Wildstorm?!

Well, I don't usually have much reason to buy Wildstorm comics, but this is a good one. A really good one, as far as I can tell.

A mystic and a plucky young journalist-turned-assistant. That's a solid combination. Parker is one of my favourite writers, so it wasn't a tough decision to pick this up. And the art, by Tom Fowler, is really beautiful.

New original series are exciting!

Batman Died for our Sins

So something totally insane and messed up and horrifying happened to Batman this week.

Check it out:

Horrible.

And if that isn't bad enough, the comic is full of shocking scenes of violence, including this brutal death scene:

I am appalled at the levels DC will sink to just to increase their sales numbers. It can only be described as sensationalist and disgusting.*

Bonus panel:


Aquaman doesn't give a fuck.

* I am kidding. All panels are from Superfriends #11. Also, Final Crisis was awesome.

Update!

I just want to let you guys know what's going on.

I haven't abandoned you, I just have been having computer problems. I had to format my harddrive, but my computer is finally working again. Which means my scanner is finally working again! Unfortunately, I lost important blogging programs like Photoshop. So I have to reinstall that.

ALSO...I am pretty much out of space here on Blogger, so I am moving this blog to livingbetweenwednesdays.com pretty soon. My plan is to bring over all the old posts to the new site so everything will be in one place. I am just working on the design now.

Hopefully that Best of 2008 post was long enough to tide you over a bit. I'll be posting again as soon as I get Photoshop reinstalled. It's been far too long without a Super Hunk rating!