The Comics Pull List:
If You’re Not Reading These, Well, You Should Be
DC:
DC is absolutely knocking everything they touch out of the ballpark right now. But, I kinda wanna keep this short, so I have to narrow it down to a few titles:
1)-Blackest Night
Everyone’s talking about it, and with good reason. Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern zombie catastrophe is shaking things up for the DCU, and in a good way, not in a “Okay we get it, things will be different after this, get on with it” way. Following in the footsteps of recent DC epics (The insanely good Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, and 52, along with the “meh” Final Crisis”, everything’s shaken up for the Earth’s heroes, as every hero, villain, and other prominent characters that have died have been brought back to life by the Black Lantern Corps. With all the tie-in’s, it provides for some really interesting stories, one of my favorites being the Batman tie-in where Dick Grayson and Tim Drake have to destroy their own parents with the help of Deadman and Etrigan the Demon. The whole story doesn’t focus on just Green Lantern, although he is a major player: The Atom, the Flash, and Wonder Woman also play key roles, as they each get inducted into different corps themselves, amongst others. This is concluding in about a month or so, and I’m looking forward to seeing which heroes and villains will be brought back to life, or will stay dead.
2) Batman and Robin
Grant Morrison’s take on the Batman mythos has certainly been a breath of fresh air. By having Dick Grayson take up the mantle as Batman, and Bruce’s maniacal, conniving, and slightly evil son Damien take up the role as Robin, the interplay is fun as hell to watch. With a light-hearted, but determined, Batman, and a Robin who is constantly sarcastically criticizing everything his mentor does, the book acts as a half a comedy. However, the action provides a well balanced book, along with plenty of character development as both Batman and Robin deal with the loss of their father, both figuratively and literally.
Runner’s Up: Red Robin, Flash: Rebirth, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps
Marvel:
Marvel’s got a bunch of tricks of their own up their sleeves. Starting with Avengers: Disassembled a couple of years back, the Marvel U has been a never ending stream of events, where the good guys just can’t ever seem to win. However, that’s all changing this year as Marvel enters the “Heroic Age”: basically, everything’s going to get better.
1) Seige
This is it. The final part of the saga started by Brian Michael Bendis with Avengers: Disassembled, which continued through House of M, Civil War, The Initiative, Secret Invasion, and now Dark Reign, is being released. Basically, ever since Ragnarok, everyone thought Thor, along with the other Asgardians (and Asgard itself) were destroyed. But, Asgard reappeared on Earth, as a giant floating city in the Midwest, with Thor in tow. After assembling all the Asgardians, who had been disguised as humans, everything seemed to be working out again. Now, however, Norman Osborn plans on leading an invasion of Asgard, and it’s up to Earth’s heroes to finally re-unite once again to stop him.
2) Guardians of the Galaxy
Probably not the most important book at Marvel, but it is undoubtedly my favorite. It’s classic space adventures, exploring the depths of the universe just as much as the history of Marvel’s space heroes. I can’t say enough good things about this book. I’ll just sum it up with two words: Rocket. Raccoon.
Go out and support your local mom and pop comic stores... comics are not just for kids, they are for everyone!!!!
I never really got into the comic craze. I used to read all the GI JOEs though and I had a fondness for the DC 'Who's Who' 'cause I loved knowing all the origins.
ReplyDeleteRecently the wifey has gotten me interested in graphic novels. My first being 'Watchmen' right before I saw the film. Best thing I ever read. From there I devoured 'The Umbrella Academy' stuff.
This new go 'round with Batman and Robin seems intriguing. I think I'll grab those up!
I'm gonna keep checking in with you guys for direction in the comic world. Thanks!