by Paul
New comics day is no place for loafers. Join me or die. Can you do any less?
SPOTLIGHT TITLES
The Flash #1 by Mike Deodato Jr. and Si Spurrier (DC): After proving that not even the Fastest Man Alive can outrun box office failure, Barry Allen heads to Character Timeout and discovers that Tank Girl left behind a hell of a mess. Meanwhile, even though everything seems to be going great with his family and his do-gooding, Wally West can’t shake a sense of lingering, creeping dread. It’s called middle age, Wally. Plus, now there’s high-contrast Mike Deodato blacks everywhere you look. How’s a guy supposed to relax with all this dramatic lighting going on? Oh, for those carefree Mike Wieringo days!
Ultimate Invasion #4 (Of 4) by Bryan Hitch and Jonathan Hickman (Marvel): Hitch and Hickman wrap up their re-introduction of the Ultimate Marvel Universe with a big ba-da-boom, and you’ll want to read it so you can be ready for the new Ultimate Spider-Man #1 coming up in January, about which we currently know little except that some kid will probably get bit by a spider and you can pre-order it here. Do it now! Galactus commands you!
Power Girl #1 by Eduardo Pansica and Leah Williams (DC): This first issue sees Power Girl bomb a yacht IRA-style and then casually stroll away with a pleased look on her face, satisfied knowing that she was able to get the life rafts, too. At least, that would be my takeaway based on Gary Frank’s cover, which is mind-boggling. Maybe that’s as far as he was able to get before DC called and said “PENCILS DOWN.” Weird, weird cover. Happily, the story inside the issue offers the context that the yacht is hosting a fundraiser targeted by terrorists who are foiled by PG’s intervention, and at no point does it depict her blowing up the yacht and then leaving all of the passengers to burn to death as she walks away with her jacket slung nonchalantly over her shoulder, ready to resume her quest to protect a world that doesn’t even pretend to make eye contact most of the time. Good issue. Crazy cover.
AT A GLANCE
Stuff of Nightmares: Red Murder #1 sees R.L. Stine return to comics with a chilling tale of terror for the Young Adult and the Young Adult at heart. This one’s about a comic book artist who gets menaced by an axe murderer on the 20th anniversary of his last hit title. I don’t know what R.L.’s experience was like working on the first Stuff of Nightmares comic, but he’s working with a different artist this time. If you’re the guy who drew the first one and you’re out there reading this, I advise you to sleep with one eye open.
If you’re excited for Transformers #1 next week, you’ll get a kick out of this week’s guest star in Void Rivals #4. Also, it’s not too late to pre-order your 1:10, 1:25, and 1:50 Transformers variants. Just saying.
