It’s about time for that monthly I’m-behind-on-comics post! And since no one really cares what I think about any of these books, but I still want to jot something down, here it is. (And I know that some of these comics didn’t come out in September, but that’s when I read them. One of these days I’ll read them in the same week they come out.)
All Star Superman # 12: Already reviewed to death elsewhere on the web, so go read all of that for anything deep and worthwhile. With the exception of the Club of Heroes stuff from Batman, it’s Morrison’s best recent work. Get it in trade paperback if you haven’t read it yet.
Northlanders # 9, 10: Quite a good take on the the Vikings. A book that deserves way better sales than it’s getting. More about it at the Northlanders website.
Scalped # 20, 21: Look, Scalped is past 20 issues, and I don’t have another way to say that it’s good. It is. And you should read it.
Ex Machina # 38: Better than it was, but still not as good as the very beginning. But, with Mayor Hundred starting his White House campaigning, chances are good that the story will pick up in a big way.
Superman # 678, 680: Krypto shows up and kicks some ass. That is one amazing dog. James Robinson knows how to write a story that captures the essence of a character without subsequently shitting all over it with substandard plotting and dialogue. While the end feels a little bit deus ex machina, it’s still decent enough and makes good use of Krypto.
Ultimate Spider-Man # 125, 126: Read any of the other Ultimate Spider-Man stories? This is more of that.
Black Panther # 40, 41: I hadn’t read any Black Panther since picking put Hudlin’s first issue on this title, and I hadn’t read any good Black Panther stories since Christopher Priest’s work. These two issues were a nice return to something decent, although there’s no way I could care less about Secret Invasion.
Ghost Rider # 26, 27: Never bothered to read Ghost Rider until Jason Aaron’s run, and I think I can see why. A lot of these callbacks are pretty cool and fun now, but I suspect the issues they originated from are mediocre to awful. Makes me feel good for waiting for the good stuff.
Criminal # 5, Vol 2: I got so used to the one-and-done-but-yet-connected stories, that this one surprised me when I picked it up and realized it was part 2 of 4. Doesn’t matter to me, though, whether it’s a one shot or part of a longer arc. Criminal is the best comic you’ll see listed in the Marvel Previews catalog, and every comic reader should be buying it.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 # 18: I’m not sure how I feel about topless centaur Dawn, but the return of Fray hasn’t done much for me. This whole Season 8 thing hasn’t done much for me either, so maybe this issue’s failure is to be expected.
The Goon #27, 28: Continues to develop the series-running Labrazio storyline while retaining a one-and-done feel. It’s nice to have a comic with something worthwhile in each issue instead of being asked to wait until its done for it all to make sense.