Comic Reviews - January 8th 2009

I’ve got 5 comics to review but not enough time to review all 5 in one day. So we’re going to split this up into 2 parts. 3 reviews today, 2 tomorrow. It will be 2 posts which usually I wouldn’t do but this is much easier. So today we’ve got the other 2 comics of this week as well as my most anticipated comic of December. Let’s get to it!

Haunt #4

Written: Robert Kirkman

Art: Ryan Ottley

Opening Comments: Kirkman really amps up Haunt by giving us some real exciting stuff this issue but also gives us a great character read. Making this the best issue of Haunt yet.

Story Comments: Let’s start with my one big problem with this issue and it’s that we never see anymore discussion between Kurt and Daniel. I was expecting some follow up from last time but really all we got was Daniel saying they’ve made up for now. After such a powerful moment last issue I expected some follow up.

Though this issue was much more jammed with stuff going on to actually have that follow up so for now I am fine. This issue had a great blend of action, character work and lots of solid moments.

I was glad to see Amanda again. Seems she’ll be an important character to the cast and seeing her actually get some use in the story again was nice. I especially loved her interactions with Haunt after he saved her. Though I do think it was rather typical to have her get kidnapped, it worked well still.

Amanda is an interesting character. We see she’s clearly a strong woman (perhaps she secretly knows what Kurt was?) and it was nice to see Kirkman use her for something at least. I’m hopeful she’ll appear soon though and actually stick around more often though because I want to know more about her. She could be an essential side-character and Kirkman hopefully will have her play a more important role later on.

I did like seeing the experiments that the Dr. had been working on and getting some follow up on that. It’s a typical “good science used for evil” type of thing. Still we at least know what he was working on and that’s another piece of the puzzle. Also seeing the mutated boy was rather heartbreaking.

Seeing the mole in the agency walk around right by Daniel is worrying. I’m curious if she’ll be a major villain through the story since right now she’s doing a good job at playing nice guy.

The best part of this issue was of course when we see Haunt in action again. I absolutely loved his interaction with the director and Daniel’s reactions where priceless. Probably my favorite part had to be Daniel shouting if the car can fly (it is a spy car after all) and Daniel mentioning it’s better that the director not knowing how they are getting through traffic so fast when we see they are doing all kinds of crazy  things. It was hilarious.

Kirkman is doing a great job adding his own level of strong writing and influence into the story now. It’s feeling more and more like a Kirkman comic with the strong dialogue and fun moments. Even if it’s still a violent and gritty story Kirkman is really adding that extra layer of personal touch that makes it so much fun to read.

Really this comic is turning into the perfect Robert Kirkman comic. While at first the comic lacked his style in the first issue as time goes on it feels more and more like his personal touch and it really brings Haunt to life like no other writer could making it a really unique and enjoyable experience.

Then there’s Haunts interactions with Amanda. I really like how we see the caring side of Daniel and Kurt in the more quiet moment between these 2. It’s only 2 pages but it’s really effective. We see that clearly they both still care a lot about her so this one moment really is enjoyable for it. I hope Amanda either finds out who Haunt is soon or that she and Daniel interact more real soon.

The action is a really powerful part of Haunt right now. Kirkman can write really cool action and the short fight with Cobra was much better this time then it was in issue #2.  Here Cobra felt like a bit more of a real threat and the way the fight is choreographed is really impressive.

My only real complaint with the action is how they beat Cobra. They slice open his face and he runs away. The way Kurt talks about Cobra you’d think this is the guy who’d keep fighting until he’s nothing but a bodiless head so I felt that was a cheap way to wrap up the fight.

Though still the action was excellent and it was cool seeing someone who is just a normal guy (or so it seems for now) take on Haunt and is a viable threat to him. Also we get a little mention that Cobra has killed “his kind” before. Does that mean that Haunt is indeed in the larger Image universe (Kirkman himself said he’s not sure if it is yet) or maybe there are other Haunts out there? I’m curious to know.

Then there’s the reveal that Haunt’s powers weaken Daniel. I really liked this twist for the character. It means we can’t exactly have him going on a stake out and be like this all night without putting Daniel in serious danger. It’s a really interesting twist for the character and I’m hopeful that Kirkman uses it well in later issues since it is our heroes one major weakness.

On another complaint about the story I was disappointed that the assistant director Beth didn’t really have any lines or do anything in this issue. I was half expecting her to confront Daniel about Kurt or something but not seeing her do anything, just show up ina couple of panels, was rather disappointing.

I have to mention our villain, Mr. Hurg. (who I swear has Atom Eve for an assistant) we see more of him and it seems he’s a bit of a health nut. Scolding the near dead Cobra as he lays in a hospital bed about his dietary choices. It was funny but I’m not sure if this is the characters quirk or Kirkman was just writing him like this for a moment. It seems like a small insight to the character in showing he may be an old man but he’s healthy, meaning he could be a viable threat in battle to Haunt.

Then there’s the cliff-hanger. Damn, that left my jaw on the floor. It was so awesome. So yeah I called it Mirage took the Dr.’s notebook and is now looking to sell it to Hurg. Oh damn. This could give the bad guys a huge advantage and seeing that left me dying for more (bad pun I know) but I am seriously psyched for next month’s issue.

Overall this was an excellent issue of Haunt. It had everything, great action, solid character work and from page to page it was a great read that left me fully satisfied as well as excited for more next time.

Art Comments: Ottley has come a long way in these prior 4 issues. Seems he was just getting his groove and now totally has Haunt down. Every panel contains that greatness he’s always conveyed over in Invincible and even has a new level of awesome thanks to the way he handles the action.

Of course the best part though is the way he draws Haunt. He really cuts loose with Haunt and goes wild with the character and it looks absolutely awesome. I’m loving the art on Haunt.

Final Comments: Haunt is on it’s way to becoming one of the best Image comics out there just as Invincible has become. If you’re looking for fun violent over the top heroics with some excellent action and great characters then Haunt is that book and this issue is the best yet so far.

Story Rating: 5 out of 5

Art Rating: 5 out of 5

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Must Have

Ultimate Comics Spider-man #5

Written: Brain Bendis

Art: David Lafuente

Opening Comments: Ultimate Comics Spider-man closes it’s first arc with a bang (literally) and all the while gives us an exciting run read with Bendis’ usual great use of dialogue and fun character work. Oh, and there’s lots of pretty art too!

Story Comments: the opening spread of Peter narrating all about his life was an interesting idea. I don’t think we see this in many comics but it was a nice way to get out all the Bendis monologue with it getting all over the gorgeous 2 page spread by Lafuente but it is a massive load to read still.

The opening dinner table scene with our cast was a ton of fun to read though. I especially loved how Gwen mad a point that she’s dating Peter so she’s off limits and Aunt May telling Johnny no hanky panky in the house was just hilarious. Really this was an all around hilarious and fun way to help us get used to Peter’s new family situations and it was just tons of fun.

Then there was the hilarious scene of Johnny and Bobby changing their looks so no one would notice them as they go to school. That was just hilarious and I loved Bobby’s reaction, and yes I agree with many people, he now looks like Bobby Hill.

The scene between Aunt May and the principal was very interesting to read. Last time they met he had Aunt May arrested (Ouch, awkward…) so seeing some follow up to that was great and I loved the principal’s new mindset on possibly having Spider-man come to their school. Another solid excellent scene that Bendis handled really well and felt like a real conversation between 2 adults.

Aunt May is such a great character and as I’ve said in the past she must have the heart of a saint. Forget Mother Theresa, Aunt May is the real pure hearted person in the world. She’s just so great and seeing her really go out on a limb, putting herself at a total risk taking these boys in and all is just so amazing and fits her character so perfectly.

I loved how MJ reacted when she saw Jonny and Bobby. She recognized them right away and it was so awesome seeing her have a mini panic attack about it and it was just so great. Also I’m really glad to see MJ get more attention and being integrated back into the cast as I was really worried she’d become a minor character.

Also Johnny hitting on MJ was priceless. Though maybe this could actually go somewhere and if it did that would be hilarious. God knows it would put Peter through a meat grinder of emotions.

I liked seeing Peter’s Spider-sense really build up. It was a really intimidating moment as we saw the tension rise and then  bam it was excellent. A perfect build up to debuting our Spider-slayer who was just awesome to see Ultimized finally as Spider-slayers are classic to Spider-man so seeing this one with the Mysterio touch was awesome.

Bendis really excels with the action here especially with how Spider-man struggles to fight the Spider-slayer while trying to keep it from destroying his school and saving his principal. It was a ton of fun to see this part as bendis really showed what a major threat the Spider-slayer here was.

Then of course the Shroud shows up and the ensuing moment of how she (yes, it is a she, more on the reveal in a moment) just totally desolates the Spider-slayer was hilarious. Also seeing Johnny show up and ruin the evidence and then the little side-joke about the Shroud person moving in with them had me chuckling.

Really this issue was just tons of fun to read. Sure the action was excellent and it got intense for a few moments but overall it was jut a lot of fun to read and I enjoyed every page of it.

Then there’s the reveal of who the Shroud is. Turns out it’s  Kitty as many people speculated. I wasn’t really sure nor did I want to spend too much time speculating on it since I knew Bendis wouldn’t Loeb us (that’s what I call when you are going to reveal a big identity then totally bullshit the audience and never reveal it and just keep stringing them along) and would reveal her.

The reveal was nicely done and I’m excited to see where this goes with Kitty. We can assume she’s hardening herself as a hero and trying to be more tough, possibly like Wolverine, and it’s really exciting to see where Bendis will take the character with her new persona.

Then there’s the excellent ending. For now Mysterio has to go back into hiding but he’s got Spider-man in his sights. I’m really excited to see what Bendis does next with the excellent recreation of this classic villain.

Overall I loved this issue. All the characters where great the action was tons of fun to read and it was just everything I want from an Ultimate Spider-man comic.

Art Comments: Lafuente continues to impress. While last time some of his stuff looked a little rushed here it’s all gorgeous and that is undeniably partially thanks to a strong work from the colorist. Though really this is some excellent art and it fits both the character driven scenes and the action perfectly.

Though I’ll admit one major problem with the art is that it does sort of get lazy with smaller figures. Actually blacking out the bodies of some characters though still showing the clothes is a real lazy way to not draw the faces smaller. So while I loved the art, it wasn’t perfect.

Final Comments: Ultimate Spider-man is back on top as one of the best ongoings each month. With closing his first arc of the Relaunch Bendis has reminded everyone why this is the comic to watch and should be on everyone’s list.

Story Rating: 5 out of 5

Art rating: 4 out of 5

Overall rating: 5 out of 5

Must Have

Angelus #1

Written: Ron Marz

Art: Stjepan Sejic

Opening Comments: My expectations where fairly simple for Angelus #1, I wanted a good setup with lots of strong character work and a good set up for the entire mini-series as a whole and luckily Marz didn’t disappoint on that. He gave exactly what I knew he would and it made for an great read.

Story Comments: As one would figure, Marz opens with a good little explanation of the Angelus to catch up new readers on the characters so they are aware what it is and he does a good job of doing so while also showing the character Sabine who narrates this part is clearly plotting to take down Dani.

Seeing Sabine’s preparations for defeating Dani was interesting as we actually see Hell and Angelus elite warriors taking out Cerberus. It’s a really cool moment and it shows that Sabine is clearly up to something nasty if it involves going to hell for some kind of force to take down Dani.

Also I loved seeing this twisted version of hell. It just looked so awesome and of course I loved the more creative version of Cerberus. Rather then the typical 3 headed dog it’s a 3 headed monster of sorts and it looks absolutely awesome and I loved the creativity put into this scene.

We get caught up with Dani, who she is, her past and everything when we see her moving in and it was a very efficient way of showing new readers who Dani is while also giving us some nice insight to the character that older readers can still enjoy as Marz really excels at making these scenes that normally would be boring explanation into a still interesting and enjoyable read as well as making it seem like a real important part of the characters discussion and that they are saying it for a real reason, not simple to provide exposition.

Another part I’m really interested in with this mini is the Dani/Finch relationship. By now Dani doesn’t know if there really is a relationship whereas Finch seems head over heels for Dani. I can’t help but figure this is going to go down a nasty road with one of these 2 getting their hearts broken by this mini-series’ end.

Though the moment between them shortly before a monster attack was really heartfelt and Marz has been doing an excellent job building up this possible relationship. He’s not making it feel forced or rushing it like so many other writers would and that makes it feel so much more plausible and compelling and a lot more interesting to read then a random love interest for the sake of having a love interest.

Also Finch’s little line about not hurting Dani was a nice throw back to a previous issue of Witchblade. Dani had been contemplating how it seems every relationship she’s ever been in hurt her so see Marz sort of follow up with that little comment was a good moment for the character.

But of course we’ve got to have at least a little action and Marz really does a good job of giving us a fun action scene even if it is a little too short. It was nice getting to see Dani cut loose with her new Angelus powers and it was also excellently well choreographed in the layouts.

It was interesting seeing Sabine and the warriors save Dani. We know that Sabine is up to no good and wants Dani out of the picture but we don’t know if Dani knows that and will be able to outmaneuver her. I’m hopeful she will be we don’t know yet.

Then there’s that cliff-hanger. Absolutely excellent and it did a great job of really showing this mini has big plans of shaking up the Angelus status quo and character leaving me really excited to check out more next time.

Marz does a strong job of making a lot out of enjoyable reading out of not much to read. Really with the first issue he couldn’t really put it all out on the table otherwise he’d be wasting his time for future issues so clearly his main goal was just to set things up and he would have been fine just to do the bare basics and continue from there.

Though Marz doesn’t stick with just the  basics and he really goes that extra mile to make Angelus #1 a worthwhile read that while it doesn’t do much other then set up the story, it’s still tons of fun to read and really well done. Marz has a great talent for making what would be a boring read into an enjoyable read as he gives the characters and their interactions a really unique voice and makes it fun as all hell to read.

Overall this was a strong debut issue though it sadly didn’t’ get to do too much. It did it’s job and a little more by perfectly setting up the story and leaving more to excite me for next time.

Art Comments: Sejic’s art here was absolutely stunning. I’ve always loved his art but I’d go so far to as to say this is the best looking art from Sejic yet. There’s so much incredible detail here and it really adds a powerful layer to the already excellent read as this is some gorgeous work all the way.

Final Comments: Angelus is shaping up to be a really fun read and I’m already excited for more. Fans of the Top Cow universe should absolutely not miss this and anyone interested in checking out the Top Cow comics and their characters should definitely start with Angelus, it’s an excellent beginning.

Story Rating: 4 out of 5

Art Rating: 5 out of 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Must Read

The Week Begins - January 5th 2009

A pretty big week for comics this week. Let’s check it out and hope I can review them all. A note though, my comic reviews will be broken up over the next few days, I have a lot of comics to review.

Haunt #4 *Most Anticipated*

Written: Robert Kirkman

Art: Ryan Ottley

While this is a pretty big week for comics I’m really excited for more Haunt goodness. Last issue was a big step up as far as setting up the emotional resonance with our hero, now it’s time we really get back and have some fun action along with our newly added character developments.

While the character of Cobra was a boring villain in issue #2 I’m hopeful Kirkman can at least make him a credible threat. So far Haunt has been a real badass so getting to see a fair fight with him would be really cool. Overall I’m really excited to pick this issue up.

Siege #1

Written: Brian Bendis

Art: Olivier Coipel

I’d been debating if I would or would not get Siege for a while now, but with the event here and it now in my pull list I guess I’m ready to see what Bendis has in store for us. I’m hopeful for something at least halfway interesting, but at this point I expect Siege to be a fun epic battle and not much else.

Secret Invasion’s biggest problem was that it was far too stretched out. Had Bendis condensed the event, it probably would have been better. Not by a lot, but still. With Siege being only 4 issues it feels like a much safer event investment as it will be done just as soon as it started.

So I’m not really expecting a lot. Maybe a character death here or there, not what I really want but eh. I’m mostly expecting fun super heroes fighting super villains and not much else. You can’t expect much more out of these events these days after all.

Blackest Night #6

Written: Geoff Johns

Art: Ivan Reis

I already know what happens in this chapter of DC’s epic thanks to the magic of the internet but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in actually reading it in my hands. Sadly my LCS delayed it by a week, not sure why, but oh well. Just something else to read tomorrow and even though I know what happens I’m really looking forward to picking it up and reading it in person.

Ultimate Comics Spider-man #6

Written: Brian Bendis

Art: David Lafuente

I’m really psyched to see how Bendis ends the first arc on Ultimate Spider-man as Mysterio tracks down Spidey and attacks his school. I’m hopeful that Bendis can wrap up the Shroud’s identity as well and do a good job of giving us some closure as we move onto the next arc. All around though I’m expecting another great read.

Comics from 2 Weeks Ago Reviewed

Apologies for these 2 reviews being so late (can’t seem to muster up for Ultimate Spider-man so we’re doing an Open Fire!) this is the last week of school before Christmas Break so I’ve been rater tied up with the season and shopping and all that. I got my comics today, hopefully shooting for reviews tomorrow, if not then, Friday. Now onto the 2 reviews!

Haunt #3

Written: Robert Kirkman

Art: Ryan Ottley

Opening Comments: Haunt #3 was a good example of just because a comic doesn’t do a lot doesn’t mean it doesn’t accomplish something and still prove to be a great read. Here we don’t get any major event but the moments within still are important and interesting enough to satisfy even more then some big flashy 10 page fight would have.

Story Comments:

Now the high point of the issue is what Kirkman does with Daniel and how he really flips the perspective of how we view his relationship with Kurt. We finally see that Daniel, for all his bad nasty attitude had someone he cared about once and that was Amanda, Kurt’s widow.

At first I suspected as much that Kurt stole Amanda from Daniel but I didn’t expect the actual reveal of this moment to be so powerful or well done. A random side comment about it alone would have sufficed to let the reader know but Kirkman takes what is a simple moment and really milks it for a really important and interesting moment for Daniel.

Seeing Daniel get so upset really was not what I was expecting. I half figured he’d shrug off that and wouldn’t care about it. He seemed to hate Amanda at this point (and I guess for good reason) so him finding out that Kurt cheated on her didn’t seem like something he’d cared about.

But Kirkman gave Daniel a new emotional layer, showing he’s not so cold hearted and uncaring as we believe. We see that deep down he still cared enough about Amanda to be furious at the mere idea of Kurt cheating on her. And his line about how Kurt could have any woman in the world but he had to take Daniel’s love really hits home and makes us feel his pain as we see him recollect his suffering and it all hits home nicely for us readers.

Kirkman is a talented writer and he’s always done a good job of building up his heroes even if some times he’s just setting them up to fall. Here I really liked that he’s making these characters more developed then their 10 second descriptions of “mean priest and nice CIA killing machine” and he’s showing us they are more interesting then just those 2 ideas and that’s a key element to making any character really.

We’re finally seeing that Daniel isn’t this perverse low life like we thought he was and Kurt isn’t some golden hearted nice guy who’s never done a mean thing in his life. I mean seriously, taking your brother’s girlfriend? That’s pretty low and I can’t really blame Daniel for hating Kurt and Amanda over this.

Kirkman has shown there’s a new depth to Daniel. A reason for his hatred and anger and it was nice to finally see that all come out, even if just for a couple of pages and it leaves a real emotional impact on the reader when you can establish a connection with the hero in some way through his own losses.

Though of course there was more to Haunt then just that one moment.

While we didn’t get much action I did appreciate seeing Haunt be all badass as he smacked around Kurt’s torturer. It was a short bit of action but just about every comic needs a little action at least to satisfy that action craving and this comic did a good job at that.

Of course the big reveal was that Kurt’s murder was an inside job. Honestly I can’t say I really pondered much over Kurt’s murder. I figured he got killed simply because he was tied to that doctor after saving those people, and since he didn’t have answers about the doctor’s notebook (which we saw someone steal in issue #1) so he got killed.I knew there was obviously a bigger mystery but at the same time no use over thinking it when all will be revealed eventually.

Still this was a really good twist and a great lead as to what’s going on for Kurt’s murder. We knew he was tied to that doctor as a reason for his murder but seeing this was really cool and a nice twist to leave us curious as to what will happen next. Also this was the first time this larger mystery actually got my attention really.

As to who our mystery man is and what the doctor was doing with those experiments is of course still up in the air. But at least the pieces are starting to fall into place, like Haunt knowing how the 2 brothers are connected and that’s why they can form Haunt so while things aren’t all revealed we are on our way.

It seems Haunt is getting it’s cast extended more. I’m not sure if Beth will be a reoccurring character or not but she obviously had some intimate connection to Kurt and I really hope to find out more about her and that she could return often to the series, maybe as Haunt’s back up or someone who keeps him in the loop of things.

Haunt doesn’t have a real cast outside of the 2 brothers and Amanda right now so it’s imperative that Kirkman add some extra characters for Haunt to interact with and to build upon fast since we’re already 3 issues in.

We did get some little hints dropped at a possible future character when the scientists here talking about Daniel and that was nice. Kirkman hasn’t been one to shy away from foreshadowing so I honesty was expecting some hints to be dropped by now and I’m sure it will lead somewhere sooner or later.

Haunt is 3 issues in and as I said we don’t have much of a supporting cast. I know this is the debut arc to set everything up and while it seems Beth may be a main character I just can’t help but wish we had more depth to the characters around Daniel and Kurt.

Overall Haunt #3 is the best issue of the young series and it continues to get better and better.

Art Comments: I really am loving Ottley’s work here on Haunt, but what adds to it even more is Capullo’s lay outs. Little details like Haunt reflecting on his would be killer’s knife. Some of the perspectives get really creative and it all looks cool and adds to the already gorgeous artwork.

The art did have a few little moments. Nothing major that ruined it but still it had some weird little moments.

Final Comments: If you dropped Haunt after issue #1 and wrote it off as 90’s Image crap then I highly recommend you check again as this series is easily shaping up to be another winner from Kirkman. Sure it’s had some kinks to work out but as time goes on this is looking to be one of the best new comics out there and I give it a high recommendation to all.

Story Rating: 5 out of 5

Art Rating: 5 out of 5

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Must Have

Now I can’t seem to write up much about Ultimate Comics Spider-man, so we’ll do a quick Open Fire! Review for it.

Ultimate Comics Spider-man #5

Written: Brian Bendis

Art: David Lafuente

A solid and enjoyable read but mostly held back by some of the lack of major character development. I was really disappointed to see Bendis not follow up on his reveal last month that MJ regrets dumping Peter. A really interesting plot point I wanted to see more.

The fight with Mysterio was great, very well handled and very well choreographed by Lafuente. It flowed nicely and it was great seeing the Hooded stranger thrown into the mix.

Lafuente’s art was good but not his best. He had some little issues here and there where I could tell he rushed it a bit but it was still solid stuff.

Overall this was an enjoyable read though it does develop things more I was disappointed at no follow up from past month’s moments and that Mysterio got his ass handed. Hopefully Bendis can end this arc right next month.

Story Rating: 4 out of 5

Art Rating: 4 out of 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Must Read

Week's End - December 6th 2009

A small week but still some great comics to look back on for this week of December. So let’s set the candy canes aside for now and look back at this week.

Spoilers for Haunt #3 and Jonah Hex #50

Comic of the Week: Haunt #3

There where some great reads this week but Haunt wins mostly for a really powerful moment that just really impressed me. More on that moment just down but it really impressed me and made what was a fairly simple issue great.

Kirkman gave us a few answers here, like that Kurt’s murder was an inside job and we also get a view of our big villain who was behind it all. Pretty exciting and cool stuff for the series to move on into with the future and just an excellent read. Also some damn good art on top of it all.

Moments of the Week: Kurt ruined Daniel’s life, Jonah Hex is awesome and Hex baby.

This is that big emotional moment I was telling you all about, where Daniel finds out that Kurt cheated on Amanda and we finally find out that Daniel and Amanda where indeed together but Kurt stole her from him. Ouch. Stealing a friend’s girl is one thing ,but your brother? OUCH. Guess Kurt isn’t the great guy we thought ht was.

This moment was great for it’s emotion and how Kirkman has now flipped the reader’s perception on the characters. We originally weren’t to like Daniel, the bad mouth whore loving priest and we where supposed to like Kurt the CIA killing machine who seemed really nice. Turns out Kurt isn’t as great as he seems.

Kirkman reaches a new emotional level with the story and really makes us feel for this character and puts us in his place and it’s an amazing moment for what it accomplishes and really is probably one of the most emotional character moments Kirkman has ever written.

A friend gave me his copy of Jonah Hex #50 this week, telling me I’d love it since it was Darwyn Cooke and I did love this issue but for more then just the gorgeous artwork. This issue had tons of great moments but this was by far one of the funniest as Jonah is going around killing 50 men in a bounty and this page was great. I especially loved that final page of the guy getting out of the out house, that’s just cold, Jonah.

Jonah’s badass close up after having killed all 50 men. Just a really cool shot by Darwyn Cooke but I really loved it and it reminded me of all those classic badass hero shots after he did the job and saved the day. A really cool scene to close Jonah’s little adventure.

Then there was the heart breaking ending to this issue. It really left an impact on me after I put this issue done and was almost good enough to make this comic of the week. I loved this moment.

To put it into context for anyone who didn’t read the issue, that’s Jonah’s would be daughter in the box. She was kidnapped by a crazy religious lady who killed the baby. Jonah got his revenge and dropped the baby off with her mother in that little coffin. A really powerful moment that was done well even with no words spoken in it. Also a strong way to end the issue.

Cover of the Week: Siege: the Cabal one-shot by David Finch

Not a lot of great covers this week but Finch did a great job of really capturing the spirit of this issue with this covered. Basically the Cabal having a big fight. Nothing too major but things like the detail and striking poses make this a really cool cover. Finch does a great job with both the 2 main forefront characters and the background characters.

Artist of the Week: Darwyn Cooke

There where some great artists this week but I have to give it to one of the best artists out there right now. Cooke is currently working on adapting the Parker novels and while that looks good I hope he does another mini-series for DC sometime soon.

His art here was amazing. While not quite like his usual style it was still some amazing stuff. He excelled both with some superb action scenes and some really powerful emotional moments as well for our characters and sometimes his art tells the story just as well as the actual words. Some truly great art and I hope to see more from him soon in the future.

Character of the Week: Aunt May

This woman is a saint, seriously. Now I’m talking about Ultimate Aunt May from this week’s Ultimate Spider-man. She’s done a lot for Peter and his friends but now she’s taken in not just Johnny Storm but Iceman as well. Someone give this woman a prize or something.

Comic I wish I Got of the Week: Jonah Hex #50

Though I got to read this issue thanks to a friend I really wish I had picked up this issue at the shop. It was an excellent read and while I’ve never read the series I know it’s based around the Clint Eastwood Westerns and I loved those movies. This was an amazing read with amazing art, may pick it up next time I’m in the shop.

The Week Begins - December 1st 2009

It’s a new month, Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all! What better way to get into the season then with some new comics! Now I may not be able to get all my comics this month but I’m sure going to try (got to still get presents though!) but lets take a look at this week’s comics.

Haunt #3 *Most Anticipated*

Written: Robert Kirkman

Art: Ryan Ottley and Greg Capullo

Haunt looks to be slowly improving after a much better issue last month I’m hopeful that Kirkman can really step up this time and make Haunt the Must Have comic it has all the potential to become. All he really has to add is an extra layer of depth and intrigue to the story beyond “there’s some big mystery” and he could sell it.

Supposedly we’ll be getting some answers in this issue even if the entire puzzle won’t be solved. Still I do look forward to seeing what we can and I hope we at least get an explanation as to why Daniel and Kurt can do what they do. Also from the preview it does seem like they may get some answers.

Haunt is easily one of those comics I’m keeping my eye on each month and am anticipating to read each month. I have high hopes that Kirkman can finally take this series to it’s full potential.

Ultimate Comics Spider-man #5

Written: Brian Bendis

Art: David Lafuente

After 4 issues I can once again say it feels good to read Ultimate Spider-man again. Finally Bendis is blending the stellar fun action with great character drama and fun moments. I can’t wait to get my hands on this issue and see what else he has in store as Spider-man goes head to head with Mysterio.

Siege: the Cabal One Shot

Written: Brian Bendis

Art: Michael Lark

I’m really wrestling with if I should get this or not. Siege itself is still up in the air as to if I buy it or not. This seems more like just one domino that starts the rest falling in the main mini-series next year. So while it will be an important story to Siege, at the same time I know I could pick up that mini without this.

Though at the same time I really love Bendis’ Dr. Doom. He’s all powerful, he’s a major badass and seeing a one-shot that’s basically set around him fighting the other members of the Cabal seems really awesome to me. Though I’m not sure who’s on who’s side really.

Also it seems we’ll get a reveal as to who Norman’s “secret weapon” is and while I could just read it on a forum at the same time if it’s some major reveal it’s never quite as awesome as reading it for yourself in the comic.

Though of course there’s the fact that I’m trying to spend as little as I can on things besides Christmas gifts so if I do or do not pick this up all will be determined when I get to the shop later this week.

Still it does look good to say the least. Bendis seems to be starting out this Siege event with a bang and seeing Michael Lark out of his comfort zone after so long on Daredevil and taking on something as big as this one shot does seem great. In the end we’ll see when I reach the comic shop.