Here's my reviews from most of what I read last week.
Avengers: the Initiative #3 (marvel)
After hating this comic for the first two issues straight, somehow the third issue was not bad at all. It may just be because it guest-stars Spidey. Glad to say this book is shaping up.
PRETTY GOOD. (Slott/ Caselli)
Dark Tower: the Gunslinger Born #5 (marvel)
I don't feel like a whole lot happened in this issue. But in the trade, it'll be a nice pacing break. And in the single, it's still worth it for the sheer volume of backup material.
REALLY GOOD. (David adapting King/ Jae Lee & Isanove)
Detective #833 (dc)
Another great Dini issue, and with a sweet twist ending featuring THE Batman villain.
REALLY GOOD. (Dini/ Kramer)
Exterminators #18 (vertigo/ dc)
Wow, has this last story arc sucked. How could a title that started out so strong go so wrong? I guess it was much better than horrible, and I may be overreacting but this is extra disappointing for me personally because of how much I loved this comic for its first year.
MEH. (Oliver/ some artist)
Fear Agent: the Last Goodbye #1 (dark horse)
It's the 12th issue of Fear Agent, and the first one since Dark Horse picked it up. It is a fine starting point for new readers, so if you've been interested in this title you'd be well off to start here, and then if you like it you can go back and read the Image run (There are eleven issues or two volumes in trade paperback).
This mini is an origin story for Heath Huston, starting back when he was a Texan trucker and family man. He is promptly set on the path to becoming the last Fear Agent, with some serious war-of-the-worlds kicking in by the end of this first issue.
I recently recommended this title to another SG member who was "craving" space comics, because this one has it all: upright rocket ships, jetpacks, rayguns, countless space-monsters, time travel (of course), and perfectly spherical glass bubble space helmets.
REALLY GOOD. (Remender/ T.Moore)
Invincible #42 (image)
This issue was specially designed to be a new reader jump-on point, but that doesn't mean it was a waste of an issue for the devotees. The story was a bit short, because this issue included a comprehensive re-cap of the entire series in text. I can't complain about the low page count, though, because this issue was a buck below the regular cover price, and the story did contain a small amount of plot development and was damn fun to read, of course. I scanned my favorite panel.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. (Kirkman/ Ottley)
the Irredeemable Ant-Man #8 (marvel)
He's still a prick. I hope you will love to hate him.
This issue, regular artist Phil Hester returns and does a bang-up job, of course. Dragon Man and a Nintendo Wii each make brief appearances. Also, we get one of the most serious asshole moments so far when our hero furiously dumps his new girlfriend, when he finds out that she has a kid. At least he never told her his real name.
GREAT. (Kirkman/ Hester)
Jack of Fables #11 (vertigo/ dc)
This issue concludes the Jack Frost storyline that Jack promised us he'd return to way back in issue 6. I did not dig the guest art this issue and I didn't get as many laughs as I usually expect from this book, so it was a bit of a luke-warm read this month.
S'OK. (Willingham & Sturges/ guest artist who's name eludes me)
Midnighter #8 (wildstorm/ dc)
Man, I sure love single-issue stories. This one was totally bizarre. It was really about Midnighter getting more in touch with his humanity, but it was done with a mad scientist and a whole lot of crazy cyborg pets. Imaginitive and well-written story, excellent art, a few laughs, and Midnighter kicking ass, of course. I loved it hard.
GREAT. (guest writer C. Gage/ guest artist JP. Leon)
New Warriors #1 (marvel)
I laughed out loud at this comic, but not because it was funny. Alternatively, I might have groaned. I don't think I'd have hated this comic so much if not for it's repeated attempts to be youth-relevant, what with the text messaging and the graffiti and the "its a mutant thing" t-shirt. I guess it wasn't all bad, but I can't see past the 1337speak. Keep the word "L8R" out of comics, please.
PRETTY BAD. (Grevioux you suck/ P. Medina)
Omega Flight #3 (marvel)
I forgot what happened in this comic. probably a bad sign.
I am giving all the new Initiative titles more than a fair shot, and so far I'm finding a whole lot of mediocre shit.
MEH. (Oeming/ Kolins)
Superman #663 (dc)
This title has been sooo excellent lately. Top-notch superhero comics.
Many fans believe that Superman is boring and outdated, or just too powerful to be interesting. That's mostly because many writers just aren't creative enough to use a character with this much amazing potential. If you don't like Supes, please do yourself a favor and read Superman: Camelot Falls... and it would kill me to not mention All-Star Superman also.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. (Busiek/ Pacheco)
This week's picks follow.
I highly recommend these trades, out today:
Fables vol.9: Sons of Empire by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham, plus Steve Leialoha, Mike Allred, and a veritable slew of others, from Vertigo/ DC. This title is in my top twenty.
Gotham Central vol.5: Dead Robin by Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, and Stefano Gaudiano (that's writer, writer, penciller, inker) from DC.
and not pictured, since I have a lot of recommended trades this week,
Fantastic Four Omnibus vol.2 hardcover collecting FF#'s 31-60, by Lee and Kirby, of course. from Marvel.
the Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk hardcover by Greg Pak, Carlo Pagulayan, Aaron Lopresti, and others from Marvel.
Scarlet Traces: the Great Game hardcover by Ian Edginton and D'Israeli from Dark Horse. First, check out their adaptation of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds and thier original sequel to it, Scarlet Traces.
Today I spent a damn lot of money on all this:
BPRD: Garden of Souls #4 of 5 (dark horse)- top twenty.
DMZ #20 (vertigo)
Fables #62 (vertigo/ dc)
Fantastic Four Omnibus vol.2 hardcover (marvel)- this is what I meant by "a damn lot of money".
New Avengers #31 (marvel)- top twenty.
Scarlet Traces: the Great Game hardcover (dark horse)
World War Hulk #1 of 5 (marvel)
P.S., I am posting this after midnight, so "today" means "yesterday".
I agree, Dark Horse is kicking ass this year. They are easily my number one company for the year and the takers of most of money (and I am happy to give it to them).