What 4/27 Comics I Would Recommend

Spoilers ahead!!

Invincible #0



I will be honest, I am kinda cheating here, as I actually did not think that this issue was all that good.

However, I do think that Invincible, as a series, IS quite good, and this issue IS a very good "jump on point," as it very effectively tells you everything that happened during the series up until this point.

Which is definitely nice to have.

The problem, though, is that that is basically all this issue was - a description of everything that has happened during the series up until this point, so there is not much of actual STORY in this comic.

Then again, it is only 50 cents and it gets you up to speed, so how could I NOT recommend it?

Oh, one complaint...the dialogue at the end. What the heck!?!? What is this, a Skinemax movie?!?!

Human Target #21



This may have been a bit of a predictable ending of the Human Target series by Peter Milligan and Cliff Chiang, but it was very well done.

This was just an extremely well put-together comic book.

Very nice art (someone get Cliff Chiang on a new comic STAT!) and a detailed, rich story by Milligan.

The characters in the comic - Christopher Chance, Mary, Tom, and Chris's flamboyant friend - are very interesting and layered.

In a comic where a man disguises himself as other people, it is imperative for the book's success that the underlying characterizations are strong and well defined - Milligan achieved this.

It is a shame that this series is over (although, not for nothing, but this series never quite matched the incredible first Human Target mini-series by Milligan and the late

Captain America #5



This one was funny, as I did not even know that this issue was apparently a "shocking change."

I had heard people (like David Welsh) talk about it being a big change, and I was totally oblivious.

Finally, I asked Tom Bondurant about it, and I learned that the whole "Bucky as Rambo" thing was controversial.

I guess I am desensitized, as I did not even really react to it...I just saw it as "these guys are at war."

Funny.

In any event, this was another strong issue in Brubaker's Captain America run, with a nice flashback to World War II with the Invaders working with the Soviets (click here to see how ironic that is).

I must admit to being a bit wary about the big "Winter Soldier" revelation that will turn Cap's world upside down...as I have been enjoying the individual stories so much so far that it seems almost a bit silly to me to throw a "world changing revelation" into the mix as well.

These stories are good enough that they don't NEED something like that to be remembered.

Solo #4



Chaykin, with his recent projects, has been edging perilously close to self-parody, so this comic was a breath of fresh air.

With his conscious decision to homage classic comic genres (War, Romance, Western, Horror, etc.), it also forced him to drop some of the tropes he has been bringing out with all of his other recent projects (heck, just look at City of Tomorrow #1 this week to see what I am talking about. Compare City of Tomorrow to Challengers of the Unknown - they might as well be the same book).

I was most impressed with the first story, where Chaykin was more subdued that I have seen him in YEARS. Very nice story about a black musician in France during the start of World War II.

The next story is a twisted science/romance right out of Tales of the Crypt.

The Pow Wow Smith story was very good, very reminiscent in its message as the Wild Bunch (if you recall the Wild Bunch, who did Deke Thornton have more in common with? The men paying him or the men he was tracking down?), and since I love the Wild Bunch, I liked this story.

The spy story was pretty straightforward, but nice art.

The white supremacist story was silly.

The autobiographical story at the end was quite good, with a lot of insight into Chaykin's world.

Good comic.

I missed Sleeper #11 and Supernatural Freak Machine #2, but I think that I am confidant enough in those titles that I would recommend the former and say I liked the latter, but the storyline is not "new reader friendly."

The following comics I liked well enough, but I would not go as far as to say I recommend them:

Legend #3 - The Russ Heath art is amazing, but Chaykin's story here, while interesting enough, I am not sure if it is interesting enough to warrant the prodigious price tag for this book.

New Avengers #5 - This series continues on well, but besides Spider-Man's very funny dialogue, nothing much of this series stands out for me. Is it good? Sure. Would I go out of my way to recommend it to someone? No.

Batman #639 - I have been REALLY enjoying Judd Winick's run, and Doug Mahnke was born to draw Batman (he is doing SUCH a great job). This issue, however, was a bit of a lull for me, so while I probably would recommend this run as a whole, this issue just fell flat.

Legion of Superheroes #5 - I am enjoying this series, but often, like this issue, for instance, I think the story is being drowned out a bit by the rhetoric.

Teen Titans Go #18 - This was a fun issue, but a bit too silly for me.

Daredevil #72 - This read like a high quality fill-in issue....which is fine, except that I do not believe it was intended to read like that.

Ultimate Secret #2 - McNiven's art is amazing, and Ellis upped the amount of story in this issue from "non-existent" to "some." If he ever upped it from "some" to "average," then this book would be dynamite, as Ellis writes very well - when he writes.

I took a look at some other books from this week here.

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