Snap Judgements: Kick Ass #4, Runaways #1, Teen Titans: Year One #6, and More

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST. There is a potential spoiler within for Teen Titans, but I can't imagine you care.

Teen Titans: Year One #6 gets an A from AHR

This book is beautiful. Moments of terror, sadness, and victory. And still good for all ages. Also includes my favorite absurd bat-quote ever, "HRM. DAMN IMs". If only this wasn't the last issue.


Blue Beetle #30 gets an A from AHR

Oh, I was a fool to drop this book when John Rogers left...this issue is excellent. Funny, uniquely latino-minded, exciting, everything that made this series great in the first place. Lots of nerd jokes too, FTW.

Runaways #1 gets an A- from AHR

I know, I'm dumb, I didn't read this when Joss Whedon was writing it, but I'm reading it now and it's awesome! I'm a big fan of Humberto Ramos's super-cartoon anime style, though I wish the colors in this book were a little less day-glo. Terry Moore does an excellent job at making the heroes sound just smart and spontaionous enough to be believable kids, and you can tell you're in the hands of a pro for whom story and character comes miles ahead of one-liners and trying to be cool.

Kick Ass #4 gets a C from AHR

I only enjoy reading about the main character in this book when he's getting hurt terribly, and there's not much of that since #1. But there is some satisfyingly unflinching gore in this issue, and it's nice to see a "creepy little girl" character who can actually string a sentence together, as opposed to Cassandra Cain, the Female of the Species, The Little Sisters, Layla Miller, and the villain in every Japanese horror movie.

Teen Titans #62 gets a D from AHR

Jesus Christ, DC, we get it! You're not afraid to gruesomely murder lovable silver age characters who never hurt anyone. Enough. Enough.

Panel Discussion: Scans from Wonder Woman #21, Simon Dark #9, Kick-Ass #3 and More

Every week we at Geekanerd rip panels from our comics and put them on display here, recognizing the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the week. Beware some major SPOILERS.

Click the pics for high res goodness!

Celebrity Cameo Corner - Red Mass For Mars #1
Not only did the artist base this character on Paul Giamatti, he based him on the first Google Image result for the actor. Can I restate again my distaste for "casting" comics? -Albo

Blood, bad t-shirts, blood, and a big freaking shark (that's bleeding) after the jump!

Composition Counts - Simon Dark, #9
Gnerd's love of Scott Hampton's art for Simon Dark is well-documented. Issue #9 serves up plenty of flashy violence which, while fun, didn't impress me as much as this lonely moment in time, as this nearly disemboweled guy waits for help to arrive. Having the light from the window hit the empty bed instead of the figure on the floor adds a touch of voyeuristic realism to the image, and allows the blood to pool into complete blackness at the bottom of the page. I'd love to own a print of this, though I'm not sure where I'd put it. -AHR

Keeping It Interesting - Locke & Key #5
This "light on, light off" approach to page layout is basically the same thing Dave Gibbons does in that famous sequence from Watchmen, but it's still a cool trick. Especially since this static conversation probably didn't sound all that visually interesting in the script. Also, click on that sucker and check out the little touch of having the lightning bug blink at the same rhythm as the flashlight. I just think it's a nice looking spread. -Albo

Movie Ripoff Alert - Locke & Key #5
Uh... Scraggly haired scary woman dressed in white emerging from a stone well? I do believe I saw this before in a little flick called The Ring. Oh, I kid I kid. I love this book and this moment spooked the shit out of me. -Albo

Banana Randomizer Award for Achievement in WTF - Wonder Woman, #21
Look, I read and enjoyed the recent WW storyline about the Amazon Queen's super Secret Servicesque bodygards. I followed it. I get that the big bad of that storyline is back, not having died by the heretofore sure-fire method of falling off a cliff. But why does this shark indicate proof positive that "she lives"? Did she kill the shark then ride to safety in it's carcass, as may be indicated by the emphasis on the open mouth? Are we meant to recognize that perfect triangle as her favorite cut of meat? And that shark wasn't there in the previous panel - did it just wash up on shore seconds before Hippolyta sees it? The seagulls and non-waterloggedness of the body would seem to indicate it's been there for a while. Oh I'm confused. Thing is, this was still my favorite part of the issue. - AHR

Crimes Against Good Taste - Kick-Ass #3
I think it's hilarious that we're supposed to like this kid but he's drawn with t-shirts that make me want to strangle him. "Whateveritis... Amagansett"??? Seriously? Maybe we're NOT supposed to like him... -Albo

Reality Check - Kick-Ass #3
This book is all about bringing a superhero into the "real world," and while this scene is actually a kinda trite I still couldn't help but smile. -Albo

Best Actor - Kick-Ass #3
Look at Kick-Ass's eyes. They aren't trying to be intimidating, they aren't afraid, they aren't anything... At best, they're bored. At worst they are the dead eyes of an utter psychopath. Both possibilities would make me think twice about tangling with this dude. It's really an alternative approach to the illustration of the moment, and I dig it. -Albo

Beat Down of the Week / Most Shocking Moment - Kick-Ass #3
It's a testament to the world that Millar spent three issues setting up that this kind of ultraviolence actually shocked me as I turned the pages. I see this kind of thing all the time in other books and never give it another thought, but these few pages had me blurting out exclamations of shock. That's something I don't do but maybe once a year. -Albo

Snap Judgments: Reviews for Kick-Ass #3, Locke & Key #5, Wonder Woman #21 and Red Mass for Mars #1

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

Kick-Ass #3 gets an A from Albo
No really! I didn't like the second issue either! But I promise, this one picks the story back up in a big way. There are a lot of refreshing story bits that support the "real world" setting. For instance, after our hero's first successful outing as a vigilante he comes back to school acting like a total badass, showing his classmates a YouTube video of the dustup. He doesn't reveal that he is "Kick-Ass," but it's refreshing to see a teen superhero that doesn't keep acting like a dork and go to great pains to disassociate himself with his alter ego. I mean, what teenager actually HAS that kind of discipline? I don't think I'd even be able to keep my secret identity secret for a week. Anyway, the book's only OK for the first 15 pages or so, but the ending... I haven't audibly exclaimed in surprise at a comic in a long time, but the end of this issue is a real "holy shit" moment that adds a nice wrinkle to the world of Kick-Ass.

Reviews for Locke & Key #5, Young Liars #2, Red Mass for Mars #1 and Wonder Woman #21 after the jump!

Locke & Key #5 gets an A from Albo
If you're not already reading this book I pity you. You're missing out on one of the most consistently good reads on the shelves right now. And forget catching up, back issues of this are tough to find (though a couple of recent reprints do help). Joe Hill's storytelling is very fresh for the comic book world, and his characters are shockingly well developed after only five issues. Also, where many of these non-superhero books written by non comic book writers tend to work better in their collected format, Joe Hill shows a surprising adeptness at maximizing the monthly issue format. Every time you pick up the book you know you're going to get a complete experience, not just an arbitrary slice off the story's timeline.

Young Liars #4 gets a B from Albo
This book is killing me. I hated the first issue, loved the second, used the third as toilet paper... And now I like issue four. I don't like being in this limbo where I'm not sure if I like a book or not. Love it or hate it, I just want to know! Like the second issue, this one stays in one setting long enough for actual story progression to take place, rather than using the supremely confusing time-hopping format of what I shall henceforth call "The Odd Issues." It's a bit of the problem that none of the characters are likable in the least, but there's almost enough wild adventure to make up for it. So I guess I'll be back next month. *sigh*

Red Mass for Mars #1 gets a B from Albo and a C from AHR
AHR: Does anyone actually enjoy reading a character who can see the future? It's always so much smugness and "I know" jokes. I don't like it in Layla Miller and apparently I don't even like it from Jonathan Hickman, who had two major hits with me in Pax Romana and Transhuman. On the plus side there's a fun recap of the various ways that humankind will attempt to destroy itself in the next 100 years, and I enjoyed wannabe National Front superhero who uses his power to force English on the entire world. I'll probably stick with this series if just for tangents like these.

Albo: What is Jonathan Hickman's problem? Why does he feel the need to write so many books at once? Why doesn't the poor bastard take it easy? I feel like every time I pick up an Image comic there's an ad for a NEW Hickman book. What a crazy. Anyway, after having mixed feelings on the other two books of his I've read (wowed by Pax Romana, bored by Transhuman), I'm happy to say that this was a really enjoyable read. Hickman has a real knack for pulling extremely complex societies with rich histories and interesting power players out of thin air. Some bits I found distractingly unbelievable (the superhuman trying to destroy all languages but English), but as a whole I'm totally pumped to see where this goes.

Wonder Woman #21 gets a D from AHR
Wonder Woman meets Beowulf, much olde thyme englishe ensues. Even Gail Simone can't make me enjoy this armored-men-on-horses stuff. When I pick up a superhero comic, one of DC's "big three" no less, I want to see some superheroing.

Snap Judgments: Quickie Comic Reviews for April 2, 2008

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. There are probably some spoilers herein. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

American Splendor #1: B
New home at Vertigo, same old book. This ish has eight stories, some better than others (the David Lapham-illustrated lead story about a visiting "fan" stands out) and featured without ads. Yay! - Albo

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #13: B
High on situational comedy, low on plot progression, lol racism. -AHR

Omega: The Unknown #7: B from Albo, B- from AHR
While perhaps not quite as tight as last issue, in general this book just keeps getting better. The intro comic "drawn" by the titular hero is extremely cool and I really wish I didn't have to wait for the last three issues because I'm really pumped to see what happens next. -Albo

Issue includes a beautiful comic-within-a-comic sequence by Gary Panter, a very funny scene about movie theater etiquette, and some unsatisfyingly rapid plot development in the last few pages. It lacks the hypnotically smooth story progression of past installments, and feels like an issue without a theme. -AHR

Reviews for The Walking Dead #48, Secret Invasion #1 and Kick-Ass #2 after the jump!

The Walking Dead #48: B-
We finally get to the action Kirkman has been promising for months, and though the events certainly shake up the long stabilized status quo, the extremity of what happens left me more stupefied than upset. Probably wouldn't be an issue if I was reading this in a trade, but as it is this issue feels like an story experiment and not a chapter of a larger whole. -AHR

Secret Invasion #1: C
Ho hum beginning to this year's Mega Marvel Event. There's a good twist near the end that I really hope turns out to be legit, because it would make the oncoming story much more interesting than the big fistfight I fear it's going to become. -Albo

Kick-Ass #2: D from AHR, D from Albo
I wish the main character actually had died in the first issue. That would have been some realistic (and nihilistic) shit. Instead, mere months after being stabbed, beaten and hit by a car, not only is this skinny nerd eating non-tube-based meals, he is trashing four gigantic gang members and winning over the criminally depraved inhabitants of the ghetto (lol racism). You can ultra-violent it up as much as you want, it's not hardcore unless there are consequences. -AHR

I told a lot of people about this book after thoroughly enjoying the first issue, and now I have egg on my face and it makes me angry. This issue was boring as all hell: the first half is all about our hero sitting in a hospital bed and the second half ditches the "realism" that I so enjoyed about the first issue and has our hero kicking the crap out of a group of beefy hoodlums. This is a skinny kid that's never had any fight training, mind you. But even without the realism problem, this book has already jumped the shark in terms of writing quality. There wasn't a single satisfying moment to be found within these pages. -Albo

Panel Discussion: Scans From Kick-Ass#1, Batman & Robin #9, RASL #1, and More

Why Batman Is the Coolest: All-Star Batman & Robin #9
Say what you will about Miller's take on "The Goddamn Batman," this is some classy shit. He agrees to meet with Green Lantern but has Robin paint the whole place yellow to nullify the effects of Hal Jordan's ring. And then just to be a jerk he serves lemonade and has Robin prance around with a vanilla ice cream cone. Man this guy is cool.



Why Bruce Wayne Is Not The Coolest: Batman #674
After pulling some truly awe-inspiring tricks to get out of yet another death-defying situation, Batman has to suffer the indignity of staging an explanation as to how Gotham's most irrisponsible millionaire has managed to get himself blown up and battered within an inch of his life....FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME. Going far beyond the "I fell down the stairs" standby, he fakes a parachute accident that ends with poor Bruce in a dumpster. Was that humiliating touch necessary to sell the cover story to Gotham's cruel paparazzi, or is Batman just showing his own ingrained contempt for his feckless alter-ego?

Mark Millar On...: Kick-Ass #1
It's not often you get direct comics criticism in comics, so it was fun reading this bit about why Galactus as a cloud was stupid, why movie Spidey's organic web shooters made sense and why Joss Whedon's X-Men work is better than Buffy... It also is a quick way to establish the setting of the book as "our real world." Because I think I said all that stuff within the last month.

Achievement in Villain Design: RASL #1
Good God this weird little lizard man that chases our hero around is creepy creepy CREEPY! The stare he gives you in this panel chilled me to the bone.

Project Runway Winner: Spider-Man: With Great Power... #2
As much as I'm not into this book, I was really digging Spidey's temporary wrestling duds. I think the eye holes and the gloves are a really cool design!

Most Severe Beatdown of the Week : Kick-Ass #1
A Tragedy in Four Acts

It's fitting that one of our most severe beatdowns EVER (Come on Albo, no one even gets their head punched through! - AHR) should come from a book called Kick-Ass. This poor bastard gets it bad and keeps on getting it.

Act One, wherein our hero gets it in the nads.>
Act Two, wherein our hero's neck takes a whompin'.
Act Three, wherein our hero takes the business end of a knife to the chest.

Act Four, wherein our hero is proven to be the unluckiest bastard on earth.