WLG #123: Hero Pulse Squared!

By Michael A. Diaz

Thank god that this is a (fairly) light week for me this week. A couple of weeks ago I went camping so I didn’t have time to stop by my local shop to pick up my “bag o’comics.” Then there was Labor Day, so when I finally picked up my books last Thursday there were two week’s worth. Of course, it just had to happen that both of those weeks were heavy weeks for me. Let’s just say that the bill for my comics last week was much higher than I would like to admit (I won’t say how much just in case my girlfriend reads this; she doesn’t need to know how much my addiction calls).

But it was a lot.

Thankfully this week is a bit lighter because I really could use the break.

Oy.

I think that it might be time to trim down the old Pull List again, but what titles, I have no idea.

One book I won’t be cutting is Hero Squared. I didn’t highlight the book last week because I didn’t see it on Diamond’s Shipping list (see link below). Perhaps it showed up later, but when I wrote the column I didn’t see that issue #2 was coming out last week. Had I known it was I would have definitely highlighted it because I think Boom! Studios is really putting out a quality book. Yes, it is funny, that’s expected from the Giffen/DeMatteis writing team, but it’s also somewhat tragic and poignant. You’ve got a slacker filmmaker with a girlfriend who believes in him, yet his alter-ego is a superhero from a world that was decimated by her alter-ego.

It’s good stuff and if you haven’t checked it out already I highly suggest that you do.

And now this:

Standard Disclaimer: For those of you new to the WLG experience, here's how it works: Every week I check out the release schedule from the Diamond Comics Shipping List and decide which comics that I am going to spend my hard-earned money on. Yep, my money. I don't get any handouts. That's good, because it helps to maintain my objectivity. If I spend money on a comic book and it turns out to be crap I'm going to be upset.I'm also looking forward to the other series that Giffen/DeMatteis have coming (also from Boom! I believe) that features their global super-hero team. Of course, I can't remember what the name of that title is (and I even looked online for it) but from what I remember the premise will basically be their creator-owned take on a team very similar to what they did with the Justice League.

But that's much later.

For now, let's check out what's coming out this week and see What Looks Good…

DC

ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #2 $2.99 (Frank Miller / Jim Lee)

Frank Miller.

Jim Lee.

Batman.

Robin.

‘Nuff said.





DESOLATION JONES #3 (MR) $2.99 (Warren Ellis / J.H. Williams III)

Why do I get the impression that Desolation Jones is as close to Warren Ellis writing himself that I’ve seen? I don’t know this for a fact, seeing as I have never met Ellis so I don’t really know him, but that’s definitely the feeling that I get (mind you, I haven’t read Transmetropolitan either).

That said, this book is bizarre and strange in a way that only Ellis could make it. What else do you call it when a vampire-looking British former spy works as a detective and is currently looking for an illicit video created for the leader of the third Reich?

There’s a lot to soak up in this book and it is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

GREEN ARROW #54 $2.50 (Judd Winick / Tom Fowler)

There were a lot of subplots planted during the Identity Crisis crossover months ago, one of the most interesting ones being the revelation that Green Arrow was not exactly hip the mind-wiping that was done. This has been a secret that he has now harbored for some time, making this clash with Dr. Light (who was the one mind-wiped, and now, in true comic book fashion, remembers) all that more interesting.

I’ve said it many times before, but one of Winick’s strongest qualities has been his characterization, or showing how people might genuinely act in extremely stressful situations. I expect this arc to be exemplary of that and I couldn’t be happier.

MAJESTIC #9 $2.99 (Andy Lanning & Dan Abnett / Georges Jeanty)

Majestros.

Zealot.

Sounds like more Wildcats-style goodness.

Of course I’m geeked (see below as well).






WILDCATS: NEMESIS #1 (OF 9) $2.99 (Robbie Morrison / Talent Caldwell)

The Wildcats franchise has been one of my favorites for several years now, almost since I got back into comics. The credit for this, of course, goes to Joe Casey. I loved what he did with the concept and the characters. Yes, initially the Wildcats were an X-Men rip-off, but because of Casey I became obsessed with the characters. In the past few years I’ve even gone so far as to pick up just about every Wildcats related solo series there is (of which, I really liked the two Grifter series). So yeah, it’s easy to say that I like these characters, which means that you can guess how unhappy I was when Casey and Nguyen’s run on the title was cut short (IMHO). I’ve been waiting for word that the team was coming back in some way, shape, or form ever since the last title was canceled. Now we know that Grant Morrison and Jim Lee are bringing Wildcats back sometime next year, but in the mean time we’ve got this book to keep us up on the team.

It’s Wildcats, so of course I’m geeked.

MARVEL

THE PULSE #11 $2.99 (Brian Michael Bendis / Michael Gaydos)

Initially when The Pulse came out I was excited because it featured Jessica Jones, the star of one of my all-time favorite books, Alias. It was reported that Gaydos would be jumping onto the book shortly into the run, which made me equally happy seeing as he was just as much apart of Alias’s identity as Bendis was/is. However things didn’t turn out that way, so now here we are almost two years later and Gaydos is finally coming to the book.

That’s the first reason that I’m geeked. I think that Gaydos is highly under-rated and is personally one of my favorite artists.

The second reason I’m geeked about this issue is because of how much I enjoyed the previous issue, the one that featured Hawkeye’s return. Mind you, I’m not a fan of Hawkeye. I was one of the people that really didn’t care that he had been killed off (but that might have something to do with the fact that I’ve never really been an Avengers fan). That said, I was somewhat curious as to how he was brought back so while in the shop I started reading The Pulse #10. About half way through I decided that I liked what I was reading and bought it. This was kind of a big deal for me. If you’ve been reading this column for a while you may have noticed that I had stopped mentioning The Pulse. After a few months I had a stack of issues that I had bought but really had no desire to read, so I dropped the book.

But #10 was good, really good. Like I said, I don’t even like Hawkeye and I had dropped The Pulse, but the last issue was enough to make me consider coming back to this book.

So I’m looking at this book with a fresh set of eyes and am open to giving it another chance.

ULTIMATE X-MEN #63 $2.50 (Brian K. Vaughan / Stuart Immonen)

The Vaughan/Immonen team has become very much like the Bendis/Bagley team on Ultimate Spider-Man in my opinion: I always love the title and it is one of my favorite reads, but I’ve been gushing about it so much I’ve run out of great things to say about it.

Perhaps it is better if I say it this way: for me Ultimate X-Men never really felt real. I enjoyed it when Millar and Bendis wrote it, but the team never felt like the X-Men to me, unlike Ultimate Spider-Man and The Ultimates because those titles always rang true. I can’t put my finger on it, but like I said, for some reason the book just felt kind of gimmicky to me (no offense to Millar or Bendis). That is, until Vaughan and Immonen came aboard. It’s now that I can see this version of the X-Men as a true team instead of just an excuse to sell more comics.

Good stuff.

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Only a handful of books this week got me really excited, though I think that I’ll also be picking up Winter Men #2. I just got the first issue and it wasn’t exactly what I expected but that’s OK. It’s a crime mystery of sorts but I’m thinking that things will get more and more interesting as things progress. Who knows, I might be gushing about the third issue in a few weeks here.

Do you think my picks are off the mark? If so, please stop by the What Looks Good message boards (see link below) and let me know what you think.

Until then,

Peace!

-Diaz

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Were Diaz's picks on the mark?
Have your say on What Looks Good at the Looking Good message board.

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