Indie and Mainstream: Mini Reviews

The Bloodline Chronicles: Nice Crime-Family Noir, some great art and tight writing.

Planetary Brigade: Another fun alternative-superhero book from Boom, written by Keith Giffen, has a sarcastic, spoofy vibe all through, reminiscent of Kirkman’s Invincible universe. 

Cover Girl: A nice pulpy mash-up in the B-movie/action genre, pokes fun at itself, and cleverly written and drawn book from Boom.

Deathblow: And Then You Live! was a nice action-packed read, not Azzarello at his best but still good in places and some great art too..

Death Valley: A fun campus-zombie comic, falls pretty short to make an impact. The book has few more small stories in line with the genre.

Newuniversal: Had never heard of this title before but saw Ellis' name and picked it, turned out great sci-fi with a political backdrop...

X- Men Endangered Species: Starts off nice with Beast going on a quest, and poses some interesting questions to existence of mutants, but pretty weak in the second half, couldn't understand why Dr. Strange had to jump in with all his magic vs. science shenanigans....Not sure if I should pick up Messiah Complex now.


20th Century Boys: Enjoyed this manga a lot. I like the fact that the pace doesn't gone down even with the barrage of characters and time/decade-jumping of events. Nice sci-fi elements mixed with action and some monster love make this one a must read book.

DC New 52: Part II

I am getting to enjoy the new 52 now, more or less. Some surprises, and some sureshot hits(thanks to all the reviews). I guess few patterns will be emerging soon in terms of a Top 5 or a Top 10 around the characters and arcs I like but for now, second list of the titles from the first release..

Batman & Robin #1

Good, pumped up tone. Robin looks like he’s just read some Frank Miller!

Green Lantern #1

Now I have always enjoyed the world of Green Lanterns, Guardians, sectors, Ferris Corp., Sinestro, and this comic only reassures me and reaffirms my faith in the oath.

Grifter #1

Nice little surprise, this one. Airplane heist, back and forth narrative, con games…quite a nice adventurous ride. Pretty action packed. I liked it.

Mr. Terrific #1

Packs in way too much than it can handle(sci-fi concepts, gazettes and gizmos), certainly not a Green Lantern this.

Red Lanterns #1

“How can my rage be less pure, when there is still so much pain in the universe..”

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Brutal, graphic, but electrifying pace and some great lines and art.

Resurrection Man #1

Great fun! Has a cool Deadman vibe set in a noire-ish plane ride.

Captain Atom #1(J.T. Krull, Freddy Williams II)

Quite a nice little comic, some great art and concepts, gets a little too sci-f- verbose, and the character does look like an offshoot of Doc. Manhattan but what the hell, bring it on!

DC Universe presents #1: Deadman(Paul Jenkins)

Great writing, not really easy reading but some great depth, Jenkins makes Deadman a cold, distant cousin, always elusive.

Wonder Woman #1

Azzarello(100 Bullets)’s Wonder Woman is fierce, dark, violent, but too unsatisfactory for a small issue.

All Star Western #1

Gotham of late 19th century, Jonah Hex, Amadeus Arkham, a ‘From Hell’like panic struck dark city, and some classic touches makes this one, well, an instant classic. Bring some more!

Aquaman #1(Geoff Johns)

Pretty short to trigger any excitement or response, but I do like the self-reference ‘less popular superhero’digs.

Batman The Dark Knight #1

Feels too early nineties for a reboot. Certainly pales in comparison to the other titles in the line, by a long shadow.

The Flash #1

Not a big fan of The Flash, this comic doesn’t help either. Some good art and innovative paneling, though.

Superman #1(George Perez)

A reboot? This issue feels like a replay of a Superman comic you wished you’d never read!