ustupidvampire's Pain in Your Neck

Comic’s Wednesday was just wet and miserable here in Denton. I was really hyped up about the releases today so I left early to eat at IHOP. Then I made my way over to the Courthouse Square where my favorite comic’s retailer, Keith’s Comics, is located.

It opens at exactly 12pm on Wednesday’s and since I have dropped out and become unemployed I have all the Nerdy Bum Officiale time to arrive right when the key hits the lock, effectively also making myself look like a huge creeper.

Of course on the cold wet day I arrive early. Cellphone-less, computer-less and unwilling to walk the extra block to the coffee shop due to my massive migraine.

It was well worth the time I spent hanging out in the grandma boutiques being looked at like a crazy drifter to hit the door first. They only had one issue of my pick of the week which I will get to. First, I will be reviewing:

Azrael #1

Written by Fabian Nicieza, penciled by Ramon Bachs and inked by John Stanici I think that this, for a first issue, can be summed up by one word: potential.

I think because of the religious aspect it may get a mixed reception. I found myself wanting to read more at the end of it.

The art in this issue was consistent and detailed. No complaints there.

We have the character of Michael Lane who is announced to be the wearer of The Suit of Sorrows and calls himself Azrael whose character becomes more fleshed out as the issue continues.

It was clear in both the Batman and Detective annuals that this is a man with ambiguous goals, someone who may swoop in to save the day, take a life or both. He is no Batman. We do get a Batman cameo in this issue.

Overall this introduces us to the man, we begin to see a bit of what his motivation is and the people with whom he surrounds himself while in and out of the suit.

Not to give too much away but he does have a connection to the period in which Batman was absent. It’s suggested that his journey may have began during that time.

While the storytelling is smooth, one would have to wonder about the flash six months into the the future that is shown. If someone decides not to follow the story, this could also easily be the cause of it. Was that really necessary? Personally, I wonder what the future is really going to bring for Michael Lane. Is it what was pictured at the end of this issue? Or is there more to the story?

Personally, seeing the level of potential in what has been written already I would lean towards the latter.

Final Verdict: Tight art, interesting story and something that just makes a person want to know more about the character of Azrael is what will keep me buying this. Overall a seamless transition into the Gotham lore.

Definitely a BUY! not DIE!

OH MY LAWD usupidvampire’s Pick of the Week

Superman/Batman #65

Yes, this is pick of the week. This is the comic they only had one issue of that made proud to be that creeper who stands out in the pouring rain waiting for the shop to open JUST TO GET THIS.

Superman/Batman #65 “Sweet Dreams” written by Peter Johnson and Matt Cherniss, art by Brian Stelfreeze, Brian Haberlin, Kelly Jones Joe Quinones and Frederico Dallochio is AWESOME.

Okay so the DC website described it as being something like a romp through the minds of Superman, Batman, The Joker and Lex Luthor as they experience their worst nightmares. In this case literally.

There is such a large amount of brilliance in this tiny volume that it’s hard to describe without picking it apart piece by piece. We always wonder about the motivations of these four characters and for some reason seeing what terrifies them the most may give the biggest insight into what makes them tick.

I won’t give what the nightmares were away but I can tell you that Batman’s actually scared me. It was that freaky. The rest were insightful but still a bit predictable.

I love the illustration in this issue. It’s a teensy bit inconsistent and I just have to say…Superman is pretty on the last few panels. I wish that whatever artist contributed those illustrations had also worked on his dream sequence. You can’t always get what you want.

Oh well, there wasn’t anything in particular that jumped out at me as particularly horrid in the art so it’s all good in the hood.

One of the best parts in the last panel where you see the nightmare of the villain who caused the main nightmarish debacle in the first place. I laughed. The “Happy Halloween” in the bottom right hand corner of that panel tied it up nicely.

Final Verdict: If you are a fan of Superman or Batman YOU SHOULD HAVE THIS NOW. NOW. NOW. GO TO THE STORE. GO TO THE INTERNET. JUST GET IT. This is one of the best things I’ve ever invested my money in for $2.99. Put on your big person underwear and get it if you don’t already own it.

DCU Halloween Special ‘09

Okay, I’m not sure where to start with this. I think I will just break it down into individual short-thoughts about the better stories in here.

Have to say first of all I love the Bizzaro World opening and closing for this volume. It was cute and it worked well.

Guy Gardner in Tales of the Corps: Halloween: The Guy Way! I liked this Green Lantern short. It shows Gardner cooking up some first-class Halloween mischief on Oa. It’s fun watching his “party rules” interspersed with some pretty serious flashback scenes. I really enjoyed it though I don’t regularly follow the Green Lantern plots.

Seeing is Believing: A Tale of the Outsiders This story kind of jumps around. I’m not really sure what is going on here. I like some of the individual characters. Again, I don’t follow The Outsiders. The art was consistent but the story was just too disconnected for me to care too much. Maybe fans will like this one better.

Batman in Halloween Past and Trick Defeat Oh yay! A Bruce Wayne story. I really liked this one. Bruce Wayne holds a Halloween Party at the mansion. Alfred informs him that Dick is out trick or treating instead of doing his homework and that his costume is a surprise! Of course the party is crashed and Batgirl and Robin show up to save the day dressed as…Well, just read it!

Robin in Halloween Present: Cavity Search Oh Damien, special Damien. He goes out and tracks down a bad guy dentist (Sugar Tooth) and stops him from removing people’s teeth. Then he does something special. I really enjoyed this one but…Damien. Oh Damien…Hah.

Red Robin in Then and Now: Our Father’s Sins This one had a lot of squandered potential. Red Robin visits both Bruce’s and his father’s graves. He then travels to a place we are assuming is in Mexico for The Day of the Dead. RANT ALERT: Both times that The Day of the Dead (El Dia de los Muertos) is written in this segment it’s written as Day of Dead (Dia de Muertos). A writer didn’t do their homework. It’s sort of insulting when someone like me, who isn’t even fluent in Spanish, picks up on that. A lot of this just made me feel like Bruce was psychotic. In the bad way. Then it backtracks and confuses within it’s few pages. Not a fan of this considering the single issue Red Robin’s are so good. This was just a trainwreck, in my opinion.

Kid Flash in Mirror Games I tried to care but this plot felt tired.

Wonder Woman in Haunted or Hoax? The art here was so nice. It was a typical Halloween story but it passed muster. Bonus points for mentions of reality TV ghost shows.

Superman & Flash in To The Finish Line A race between Superman and The Flash with heroes and villains betting on the sidelines. Good art, loved the surprise ending. Such a perfect Halloween kid’s story.

Superman in My Turn To Be Scary… Okay, you just have to see who Clark and Lois are dressed as to know this is going to be golden. Premise is a haunted office tour. Superman cooks up some scares. I love his comment about Batman. Traditional scary story ending. Good stuff.

Final Verdict: Hits are hits and misses are…bad. The hits are probably worth forking over the money and there are a lot of mini-stories that I didn’t cover. This may be something you want to leaf through before purchasing if your wallet has fallen on hard times.

So I made my way out of Keith’s, head pounding, and I discovered The Chestnut Tree Garden Tea Room. I bought a hot chamomile tea. The rain continued to fall and I considered what I would write for this review. All in all this was a pretty good Wednesday. You can look forward to a retroview of Batman: The Dark Knight returns sometime later this week.

Tomorrow, I’ll have some new song reviews for you. Ya’ll come back now, ya hear!