BATMAN #655

Written by: Grant Morrison
Art and Cover by: Andy Kubert
Variant Cover by: Adam Kubert
Published by: DC Comics

Comic legends Grant Morrison (ALL STAR SUPERMAN, SEVEN SOLDIERS) and Andy Kubert (Ultimate X-Men, 1602) come together for Part 1 of "Batman and Son." After a harrowing battle with the Joker high atop Police Headquarters, Batman decides to let Bruce Wayne step into the light. But just who is watching billionaire Bruce Wayne? And what does their plan have to do with Man-Bat?

So I’m walking down the Gas Lamp district during last weeks SDCC (awesome!) enjoying a cigarette, Kamel Ztingers (awesome!) talking shop with the rest of the guys I’m hanging with, when someone bumps me on the sidewalk, and this was no slight bump, but a hard bump, a shove so to speak. So I look back to see who it was and it was some baldheaded, leather jacket wearing, shiny vinyl pant wearing, Goth master walking in the opposite direction. He turned to look at me, and our eyes met and I gave him a look, the classic “Wass Up Holmes?” look, and he shot me back a mid-British, down the nose glare. So I’m thinking it’s on like Donkey Kong, I just beat up a “Hired Bum” a night before after he tried to mug me, so I’m gonna tap dance on this metrosexual’s baldheaded melon. But my friend stops me and says…”hey, that’s Grant Morrison!” with thoughts of Beau Smith’s “How to Punch a Comic Book Writer in the Face” article, I diverge my eyes and turn away as we begin our trek to the nearest pub to drink a Guinness and relax, when I finally realized, “Hey, that was fucking Grant Morrison!”

Far be it from me to beat one of the men in comics who I most respect, and that is how I decided to open up this week’s review. Morrison is writing BATMAN, and it’s going to get good. I remember the way he would write BATMAN in the pages of JLA, making him such a bad ass (I just wish he could have done that with WOLVERINE, gay leather wearing biker jacket aside) and of course his most infamous foray into the Bat-universe with his classic ARKHAM ASYLUM. Man that graphic put shudders up my spine as he delved into the psychology of what makes a man, lose his marbles and dress up like a bat and beat up on bad people. I think Morrison’s run on BATMAN is going to differ from that, from what I’ve seen, he’s taking a more retro approach to the book, telling stories about the weird side of BATMAN, and making the DARK KNIGHT fun again. Not only that, but expect the powerful artwork of Andy Kubert to jostle your minds eye with eye candy-rific images of the Bats. I’ve been looking forward to the Kubert’s debut ever since they jumped ship from Marvel and decided to throw in with the DC lot.

So this week’s pick in BATMAN. But I wonder who would win in a fight? Grant Morrison or Beau Smith?

SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON 2006!!!

I dunno how many of you hell-cowpokes out there have ever been…the question arises…so you do comics? Have you ever been…to the San Diego Comic-Con?!!!

And your answer?

Well I have been fortunate to have attended a few times and had a blast each time…for those of you not in the know, the SDCC is THE biggest comic book/pop culture convention that takes place each year. Anyone who is anyone goes to the SDCC, others refer to the Wizard World Con as the con to be at, but like Coke and Pepsi, one is always a little better than the other, not to knock the WWC, but I feel the SDCC is way better, more spectacular, more publicity, more gusto!

So this year, me and a couple of guys who fancy themselves artists and writers, have decided to throw in and attend the con, not only that, but we are going to have a table to sell our wares and promote our artistic endeavors…

First off we have my offering that I’ve been working on entitled, THE LEGEND OF EL VALIENTE and for our bilingual bloggers, LA LEYENDA DE EL VALIENTE! I have been working on this concept for the past few years, to integrate a wrestling concept into a superhero cliche that can kick some ass, even SUPERMAN! (Don’t believe me? I found a way! heh) Valiente is all about the cool aspects of comics, the myth, the madmen, the monsters, and the damsel in distress, and of course, the larger than life hero that risks his life against all odds to save the day. It’s fun, it’s pulp, it has elements of EC comics horror, along with action and adventure in the vein of old time comics from the 50’s through 70’s! If you’re curious please come visit us at the Project IV Publishing table at the con, located in the Small Press area “S3” ask about El Valiente and we’ll hook you up with the SDCC EL VALIENTE edition for only 150 centavos…that’s $1.50 for all you monolingual amigos…and if you can’t get to the con but are interested in a copy of the mini, please feel free to email me at herosvalor@gmail.com and I’ll get back to you with all the details to get you a copy of the book!

Next up we have HIRED GUN 2: THE HEAD HUNTERS the follow up to last years SDCC offering by Carmona and crew about the adventures of everyone’s down on his luck hitman Sticks. Carmona delivers a bigger tale to last years story, with a 32 page book at the same price of $3 bucks! I haven’t received my copy to review yet, but I promise I won’t pull any punches when it comes to the review and what I thought of the story…Usually Carmona is good about what he writes, meticulous about the details, and of course Sirac is a perfectionist when it comes to the art chores, so be sure to check me out in a week when I’ve returned from SDCC for a complete review!


And finally, I’m happy to announce that the INFESTACION will also be in effect or rather, it will infect the SDCC. The 656ers have been kind enough to hook me up with some copies of their book and I’m gonna pimp their wares at the con. If you like zombie action in the vein of Fulci and Romero, you need to pick up this book, some of it is in Spanish but the book rocks though the art and storytelling. If you want more info about the 656ers then be sure to click on the link included in the link box to the right of the page, and if you want a copy of the book, which is in limited supply, be sure to ask for me, Ray, on Thursday or Saturday at our table in the Small Press area table, “S3” unfortunately i don't have an image for the cover but head on over to www.o-lee-a.deviantart.com for more info!

That’s it for this week, I gotta hurry up and pack and find my chones before I forget them like last time! Catch you guys on the flip side, and see you at the San Diego Comic-Con!!!

Make Mine Madness!!!

p.s.
don;t forget to pick up Civil War #3...Somebody dies!!!

A Man Called KEV

Written by: Garth Ennis
Art by: Carlos Ezquerra
Cover by: Glenn Fabry
Published by: Wildstorm/DC Comics

The Story:
The world is a lonely place when you're a man without a home — just ask Kev Hawkins. After murdering his boss in a nasty government scheme, he's been banished from the United Kingdom under pain of death. What does the world hold for a man with little life experience or job training beyond wetworks and assassination? Then again, with the past about to catch up with Kev in the most violent and terrifying way possible, what the world holds for him may soon be beside the point!

What can I say about Garth Ennis…he rocks out with his c@ck out!!! The man has the mean skills to pay the mad bills and all of that other Ebonic talk that says he’s a damn fine writer. I remember when Ennis was supposed to take over the Authority, right after Mark Millar left, and I was way looking forward to it, but then 9/11 had to screw everything up, and comics had to be careful as to what they were saying and how they were saying it. Gone were the balls to the wall tales of the Authority that Ellis and Millar had crafted, and instead there entered a dark time in comics where one had to watch their P’s and Q’s in order to not be labeled un-patrioticor Al-Qaeda sympathizers, this is something that comic creators refuse to talk about and it’s a hush-hush subject that mysteriously no one in the medium will confirm or deny. The Authority took the brunt of the blow, and comics no longer were able to show the Whitehouse being blown up by aliens or the Golden Gate bridge being bent to the will of Magneto (wait, didn’t that happen in X3? Maybe things ARE changing!)

One of the few comic book writers out there who still has the cajones to back up his shite is Ennis, and when he’s written the Authority, it comes through and delivers like it used to in the Ellis and later Millar days! A Man Called Kev should be one such tale, the character made his debut in an Authority one shot, where he single-handedly managed to kill off the entire team! What couldn’t be done by ultra villains or Henry Bedix aka: The WeatherMan was done by a SAS operative who is forever down on his luck. Despite all his training, Kevin Hawkins is not very muscular or intelligent and is cursed with probably the worst luck of anybody on the Wildstorm Earth!
This issue is Kev on his own, no backup from the Authority, unless he really needs it, which is more than likely. With everyone trying to do him in, it’s a reliable thing that it’s going to have a huge body count which is what these tales of Kev by Ennis are known for.

So if you like a little of the ultra-violence, and balls to the wall action, pick up this issue and sit back and enjoy the Tarantino of comics weave his magic!

Uncanny X-Men #475

WRITER: ED BRUBAKER
COVER & PENCILS: BILLY TAN
INKS: DANNY MIKI
COLORED BY: FRANK D'ARMATA
LETTERED BY: CHRIS ELIOPOULOS
PUBLISHED BY: MARVEL COMICS

THE STORY:
“THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SHI’AR EMPIRE” Part 1!
A brand new era for the Uncanny X-Men begins here! Fresh off X-MEN: DEADLY GENESIS, Ed Brubaker takes the helm of Marvel’s mighty mutants. Billy Tan joins Ed for a story that won’t just affect earth, but will rock the foundations of the entire galaxy! Vulcan is out for revenge and has his sites set on the Shi’Ar Empire! Get ready for the ride of your life! A perfect starting point for any new reader!

Ed Brubaker has quickly become one of my favorite writers, I first saw his talents on his short AN ACCIDENTAL DEATH which was pure genius but didn’t realize it when I read it in Dark Horse presents like a trillion years ago but was lucky enough to find the Fantagraphics collected version for a buck! (Yay dollar bins!!!) Recently however, Brubaker won me over with his CAPTAIN AMERICA run and of course X-MEN: DEADLY GENESIS, which was one of the best X-men stories to come out in recent years, it was something that Grant Morrison would have written if he had the cajones to do it! As I read DEADLY GENESIS, I was for the first time in many years excited about the Uncanny X-Men. I’m a loyal X-fan, but no one has been able to get me interested in those merry mutants like I was in the Claremont/Lee days as much as Brubaker and that says a lot. Actually I was thinking of stopping my Uncanny X-Men run with Claremont’s final issue, but then found out that Brubaker would be taking over and bringing one of my most favorite characters back from oblivion…WARPATH!!! I saw the potential in Warpath as a kick ass character many years ago when he debuted in NEW MUTANTS, and then returned in X-FORCE. The angry Apache youth could have been a beacon for my teenage angst at the time, with all the betrayals he had suffered and sacrifices he had endured with the loss of his brother THUNDERBIRD, one of the original NEW X-Men, back in the hey-day of X-MEN. Just like the strong black characters that lacked in comics or rather that were downplayed, which is slowly being rectified i.e. BLADE, BLACK PANTHER, JOHN STEWART, the Native American heroes are all but non-existent! What did we get? Friggin RED WOLF and APACHE CHIEF!!!
WARPATH could be different; like all the young Native Americans growing up on the reservation, watching the world just pass them by, their people slowly being eradicated by time, along with their traditions and how it was time to stand up and do something about it. These were the things that could have been addressed by a strong Native character in comics, but instead, WARPATH ended up wearing giant shoulder pads, salad bowl kneepads, and feathers to symbolize, “Hey everyone, look! I’ve got feathers in my hair, I must be an Indian!!!”
Well Brubaker is bringing WARPATH into the X-fold and making him a full fledged X-Man, and hopefully make him the kick ass character I thought he could be all those years ago! This issue, #475 is where it begins, and as long as ICEMAN and/or ANGEL aren’t on the team, I know I’m going to enjoy the run! Not only that but it takes the events that happened in DEADLY GENESIS and elaborates them even more, with the return of VULCAN, the lost Summers brother who was introduced in the mini! If you haven’t read DEADLY GENESIS, then rush out and hunt down the copies, or the trade, I think it is already in trade, if you are an X-FAN, you MUST read this story!
Well UNCANNY X-MEN is exciting again and I am looking forward to this run, sadly though I am going to quit my regular X-MEN run, I don’t really dig much for the team that’s going to be featured in that book, especially with ICEMAN being in it,( as you’ve probably guessed by now…I HATE ICEMAN!!!)
I guess I’ll drop X-MEN and pick up DETECTIVE COMICS instead…I heard some guy named DINI is going to be writing it…I wonder if he’s any good?