Free Comic Book Day 2012 comic books
Here's what I thought of this year's
offerings.
Voltron
Force: Shelter From The Storm (Viz Media)
Writer:
Brian Smith
Artist:
Jacob Chabot
While
this is clearly aimed at children who watch the animated series, I
enjoyed this quite a bit. Not enough for me to buy it, but I would
not hesitate to get this for my son if he knew who the heck Voltron
was.
Avengers:
Age of Ultron 0.1 (Marvel)
Writer:
Brian Michael Bendis
Artist:
Bryan Hitch (pencils) and Paul Neary (inks)
Wow,
this is actually pretty damn good for Bendis. I only winced once at
his dialogue. This is a huge set-up issue for the Age of Ultron
arc, and it looks great. Hitch's artwork is tremendous. I am looking
forward to reading a Bendis book, believe it or not. I have several
in my backlog to get through first, so maybe I should get cracking.
Now don't go thinking that I have gone all soft on Bendis or
anything. The vast majority of his stuff that I've read has sucked.
It's just that I feel that if I am quick to condemn his shoddy work,
then I must be equally quick to praise his successes. Credit where
credit is due and stuff.
DC:
The New 52 #1 (DC)
Writer:
Geoff Johns
Artists:
Jim Lee and others.
This
is a sampler of the various genres of the New 52, and aside from the
first 3-4 page story, I am uninterested in any of it. What can I say?
I'm more of a Marvel guy.
Spider-Man:
Season One (Marvel)
Writer:
Cullen Bunn
Artist:
Neil Edwards
So
Ultimate Spider-Man isn't good enough for the Millennials? How
many reboots and re-tellings of Spider-Man's origin do we need? This
is okay for what it is, but I'll stick with Stan Lee and Steve
Ditko's origin story, thank you very much.
Mouse
Guard, Labrynth, And Other Stories (Archaia)
Writers:
David Petersen and others.
Artists:
David Petersen and others.
In
what is clearly the most elaborate Free Comic Book Day item ever,
Petersen and Archaia give us this digest sized hardcover with a
sampling of the various titles in the line. This must have cost them
a fortune, as it even has sewn binding. I enjoyed The Mouse Guard
story but have been reluctant to buy it for fear of being sucked into
still another title.
The
Hypernaturals (Boom)
Writers:
Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Artists:
Brad Walker, Tom Derenick, and Mark Irwin
The
future, where heroes are everywhere riff recycled so many times that
it's almost fresh. Almost.
Worlds
of Aspen 2012 #1 (Aspen)
Nothing
here makes me want to buy anything by this company. Not my cup of
tea.
Image
20 (Image)
Revival
by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton has piqued my interest. I'll be in for
the eventual collected edition. Near Death seems okay, but I
can already tell that if I buy it that I will only read it once and
then dump it on eBay in one of my purgings, so I will save myself
time and money and just borrow it from a friend or the library.
Valiant
2012 (Valiant)
This
is very polished stuff. I can appreciate fine craftsmanship, even if
the stories are not what I am looking for. I wasn't around for their
first pass 20 years ago, so I have no nostalgic longing to see these
concepts reworked for the 21st century.
Transformers
Regeneration One #80.5 (IDW)
Writer:
Simon Furman
Artists:
Andrew Wildman (pencils) and Stephen Baskerville (inker)
Much
like what IDW has done by bringing back Larry Hama on G.I. Joe,
IDW has brought back the creative team for the back half of the
Marvel run, continuing the Marvel continuity and numbering from the
'80/90s. I enjoyed this quite a bit, and will try to resist the urge
to buy this. Try to.
The
Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Vertigo/DC)
Adaptation
of Stieg Larsson's novel by Denise Mina
Artists:
Leonardo Manco and Andrea Mutti
This
seems interesting. This genre isn't really my cup of tea, but Manco's
artwork makes this more appealing to me. I passed this on to my wife,
who is a huge fan of the books. I might check this out or, better
yet, buy it for her and read her copy.
Also
picked up Dinosaurs Vs. Aliens (Liquid;
not pictured above) for a friend, and read it. While it is written by
Grant Morrison and lushly illustrated, I will be passing on it. It's
lame.
Follow
my blog on Facebook.
DC
has made strides in fixing the problem of their books not laying
flat. Join the cause page if you want make sure that DC keeps up the
recent good work on their hardcovers. Don't do it for me, do it for
the children. Won't somebody please think of the children??
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