Four Color Commentary - Books Shipped 4-12-06

Albion #4 (of 6)
Alan Moore, Leah Moore & John Reppion, Writers
Shane Oakley, Penciller
George Freeman, Inker

Is it wrong that I am actually more excited about the two adds from Titan Books in this issue than I was the issue itself? I am certain most of this comes from the time that has passed between the publication of issues 3 and 4 of this series. I read a lot of comics on a monthly basis, not to mention real books, magazines, newspapers, and websites, so there are times where I have trouble keeping track of everything I have read in just a month. Of course when there is more than just a month between issues I really start to have trouble remembering where the story left off, therefore I spent most of the first pass through this issue trying to remember who was whom and the like. Once I get more caught up on my bagging and boarding project and come up with a better filing system for my comics I am going to start keeping limited series aside until the series is complete. This should help because right now I couldn’t be arsed to try and track down the first three issues of this series to reacquaint myself with the characters and goings on.


Annihilation: Super-Skrull #1 (of 4)
Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Writer
Greg Titus, Penciller

The Annihilation event is slowly growing on me. I was fully expecting to not like this issue since, as a general rule, the Skrulls just bug me, however I found myself really enjoying the book. I like how the Super-Skrull himself has been cast in the role of the old soldier, doubting himself at times and seemingly concerned more with his duty than the petty fights that characterize the Skrull empire. It is a pleasant change to read a story in which the Skrulls appear and they are not jester-like in their behavior, although the Baroness’ behavior was a bit clichéd and I thought something more interesting could have been done with her. Now I am genuinely excited about the next Annihilation book coming out.


Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #41
Kurt Busiek, Writer
Butch Guice, Artist

Mmmm. Kurt add some more buckle to the swash he set up in the first issue of this number one-less relaunch. From his behavior in this issue I am beginning to suspect that the Dweller in the Depths may be a character we are all too familiar with, however we shall see. I enjoyed this issue immensily and hope that my LCS will have this added to my pull list for the next issue so I do not have to search all over creation. It appears as though this book is the first sleeper hit of OYL as I cannot find this book anywhere in Houston and had to go to two shops in College Station to put my grubby little paws on a copy.


Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Bludhaven #1 (of 6)
Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti, Writers
Dan Jurgens & Jimmy Palmiotti, Artists

Gak! I am not sure what to say about this book except that I am a little irritated that I let the comicsblogoweb convince me that something by Gray and Palmiotti might be worth reading. There are WAY too many new characters introduced in this issue and quite frankly I am wondering how many cities in the DCU need to stand in for New Orleans. Although the more I think about it, the more I think Bludhaven is a mixed metaphor for Iraq and New Orleans. I think this is a series that I will continue to pick up because of pure bloody-mindedness, but I do not have high hopes for the series. That having been said I thought the Silent Majority was a funny character, but a bit chatty for a character with Silent in it’s name.


Exiles #79
Tony Bedard, Writer
Paul Pelletier, Penciller
Rick Magyar, Inker

Much like many of the other places on the World Tour the Exiles have been on recently, I am unfamiliar with the Future Imperfect world and so I came to the table without any preconceptions, except my general feeling of unease with the series. I was pleasantly surprised by this issue as I enjoyed it from beginning to almost end. I found the Maestro character interesting, not terribly surprising considering he is a Peter David creation, and I am intrigued enough by the world to consider picking up the Hulk: Future Imperfect miniseries if I can find it lurking in a dollar bin somewhere.


The Rest:

• Batman Year 100 #3 (of 4)
• Paul Pope, Wroter & Artist

• B.P.R.D. The Universal Machine #1
• Mike Mignola & Jon Arcudi, Writers
• Guy Davis, Arist

• DMZ #6
• Brian Wood, Writer
• Riccardo Burchielli & Brian Wood, Artists

• Fables #48
• Bill Willingham, Writer
• Mark Buckingham, Penciller
• Steve Leialona, Inker

• Green Arrow #61
• Judd Winick, Writer
• Scott McDaniel, Penciller
• Andy Owens, Inker

• Legends of the Dark Knight #203
• Christos N. Gage, Writer
• Ron Wagner, Penciller
• Bill Reinhold, Inker

• Loveless #6
• Brian Azarello, Writer
• Danijel Zezelj, Artist

• Nightwing #119
• Bruce Jones, Writer
• Joe Dodd, Penciller
• Bit, Inker

• Ultimate Extinction #4 (of 5)
• Warren Ellis, Writer
• Brandon Peterson, Artist

• Uncanny X-Men #472
• Chris Claremont & Chris Bachalo and a bunch of other people.

TPB:

• The Tourist
• Brian Wood, Writer
• Toby Cypress, Artist