Weekly Comic Review for 4/3/13
Another week down and all I’ll have left are the ones that came out yesterday. There was an interesting twist in the DC comics this week. (I’m assuming it will happen for all this month’s issues.) The front cover is a gatefold cover with some sort of twist on the inside portion. Not sure what caused this idea. I find it hard to believe that something like this would cause sales increases. But, on to the reviews…
All-New X-Men #10 – Mystique, Sabretooth, and Lady Mastermind go on a crime spree while the older Cyclops tries to recruit the students from Wolverine’s school to come to his own. The Stepford Cuckoos obviously decide to go with Emma but there’s one other mystery person who decides to go too, but we won’t find out who until next month.
Archie #642 – It’s part 2 of “Parallel Lives”. The New Directions members who crossed over audition for and join the Archies as they prepare for a battle of the bands with Josey and the Pussycats. Dilton works on a new dimensional gateway spurring a discussion of the crossover between the Flashes of Earth 1 and Eatch 2. And it seems that if any of the cross-universe people kiss or if Jughead loses his crown, things will get quite messy. The first part was better. Hopefully there will only be 3 parts.
Dial H #11 – Nelson freaks out over sleeping with Manteau and uses the dial. This time he turns in tho the Flash, someone from their universe, which really makes them question what happens to the heroes that they turn into. Plus, Centipede works on some insidious plan involving the “shadow on the line”. I’m actually hoping this will lead to an end to this pale imitation of the old dials.
Earth 2 #11 – Wotan fills in more details on his history in which he used to be a female who fought Nabu. Meanwhile, Flash and Khalid try to avoid the beast of the Tower while trying to find the helm of Fate. And since Khalid is a doctor, he’s known as Doctor Fate. Meanwhile, Steppenwolf sends Fury after Mister Miracle. It’s good to see Doctor Fate finally. Wonder who else we’ll get on this Earth.
Green Lantern #19 – Wrath of the First Lantern part 9 – Sinestro finally meets up with the First Lantern which leads to a history change that destroys Korugar. This one may actually stick. Seeing all the inhabitants of Korugar appear in the dead zone, Hal decided to try to become a Black Lantern to save the day. Sinestro finds a yellow lantern which may lead him back to his old path. I wonder if Kyle, being a White Lantern now, will be able to bring Hal back if he becomes a Black Lantern.
Harbinger Wars #1 – This issue builds on the recent storylines in both Harbinger and Bloodshot. Everyone seems to be after the psiot youth from Project Rising Spirit. It’s Harada vs. Bloodshot with Peter and crew on the way and the Bleeding Monk backing Peter.
Phantom Stranger #7 – It’s the Stranger hanging out with the dog again. I thought the dog was supposed to be god but I’m not too sure now. All I know is that he’s the Phantom Stranger’s master. The Stranger ends up on another mission which has him crossing paths with Jack Ryder (a.k.a. the Creeper) and the Challengers of the Unknown. He finally makes it to meet up with Terrance Thirteen who ends up betraying him. Things are really going down hill for the Stranger.
Shadowman #6 – Baron Samedi finds a way to escape the Deadside. Once out, he confronts the Shadowman who is on quite an anti-crime spree. It turns out that he actually wants to team up with Shadowman to stop Master Darque. I don’t know who to trust in here any more.
Son of Merlin #3 – Simon and Gwen fight the son of Morgana who is surprised by how powerful Simon is. They are able to escape and get information on Morgana’s plans by breaking into her office. The only safe place Gwen knew of to hide afterwards though was her mother’s place and Gwen doesn’t get along too well with her.
Stormwatch #19 – This issue is the start of a big mess. Some aliens change time and keep this Stormwatch from being formed which causes the Shadow Lords to create a new Stormwatch which still includes Engineer, Midnighter, and Apollo. They go back and kill Adam One though so he’s not around. Instead of the rest of the old cast, they add in Storm Control (whose real identity is obscured), Hellstrike, Jenny Soul (who is a much weaker Jenny than Jenny Quantum so probably not a century child), and the Weird who probably hasn’t really been used since that mini-series ages ago. Jim Starlin just jumped on board and I’m not sure if he’s trying to get the title cancelled or what. The old team was much better. The other funny thing is that with all the time manipulation, it’s interesting that the rest of the world hasn’t been thrown all off. *sigh* Like I said… a mess.
This time around, there were some interesting books. My top 3 for the week were Earth 2, Shadowman, and Son of Merlin. I’m looking forward to seeing where each of them goes from where they are now. One other side note I should mention about the Harbinger Wars book is that the preview added at the end of this book is for the next new Valiant title coming in July — Quantum and Woody. And it shows the goat too. This could be a lot of fun.
