Panel Discussion: Scans from Amazing Spider-Man, Locke & Key, Final Crisis, and More

Most Hope-Inspiring Panel - Amazing Spider-Man #583

Oh noes, two Obamas! But which one is real? Let's see; one reacts to Spider-Man with angry, closed-door political paranoia. The other reacts with calm, open-minded discourse. There's no mystery here; kick that partisan imposter to the curb, Spidey! WHOO! FOUR MORE YEARS!

Weirdness, sadness, dodginess, and more after the jump...


Least Respectful Death of a Character We've Known for 11 Issues - Young Liars #11
Good old whatsherface here has been a solid supporting character for the entire run of this series, and she gets her final dismissal in a small panel on a crowded page with no great final moment and not even a mention of her for the rest of the book. Lapham, how can we care about your characters when you don't?

Most Respectful Death of a Character We've Known For 11 Pages - Locke & Key: Head Games #1
This, on the other hand, is how you do it! This guy was introduced this issue, and by the end we know him and love him, and when it comes time for the series villain to kill him, he gets his heroic moment before he sinks into the abyss and reunites with his smokin' dead wife. It makes me wanna cry just looking at it again. Goddamn this book is good.


No Comment Award - Final Crisis #6
Er, that's Mary Marvel on top, for those of you not following the series. So...yeah.

Best Splash Page - Locke & Key: Head Games #1
Shakespeare never looked so good! Bonus points for anyone that can identify the play without cheating!

The Old Alter-Ego Blues Award - Amazing Spider-Man #583
This is a classic of superhero ironies; Spidey is out saving the world, misses a civilian appointment, irony ensues. For more examples, read our comprehensive article on the subject.

Best Scam - Invicible #58
Oh, those wiley shapeshifters. Poor bastard's not even gonna get a design credit.

Most Heartbreaking Screw Up - Captain Britain and MI-13 #9
The second time I may cry during this single Panel Discussion... Captain Britain and crew are fighting an entity that tempts you with your heart's desires, so when Brit is tangled up with him and sees his long lost wife Meggan, he of course assumes it's some sort of trick. But apparently the realm they're fighting in intersects with many others--including this terrifying Hell dimension that Meggan is trapped in and only briefly escaped. Oh God, it's like Baz Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet all over again. Hold me.

Banana Randomizer Award for Achivement in WTF - Cleaners #2

Wow, just....wow. There is context for this, but I had to go back and read through the comic a few times to really understand it. So just enjoy this goretastic Tales From The Crypt-esque panel on it's own merits, such as they are.

Snap Judgements: Reviews for Walking Dead, Captain Britain and MI13, DC Universe: Decisions and More

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

Amazing Spider Man #572 gets an A from Albo
Dan Slott and John Romita Jr. continue to deliver an awesome, classic Spidey story. This ish has Norman Osborn getting even more unstable, and even trying on his old Goblin duds. They still fit! And speaking of old costumes, Mac Gargan (the new Venom) slips back into his old Scorpion outfit to create a terrifying Scorpion/Venom amalgam. These developments plus the trashing of New York in their hunt for Spidey makes me feel like pretty soon the feds are going to notice that their team of "heroes" are actually just the new Sinister Six. So good.

All Star Superman #12 gets an B+ from AHR
This book has tons of great moments. Lex is a such a wonderfully brilliant-yet-oblivious bastard in this book, and his brief super-powered reign of terror is a pleasure to read. But this book just wraps up so damn fast; no mention of the Bizzaro plotline, or the insane meta-bottle universe that was actually Earth Prime (or something)? I wanted more of this book, and it bums me out that the incredible mythos Morrison created will likely dead-end with this miniseries, unless of course....there's a sequel....

Reviews for Captain Britain and MI13 #5, DC Universe: Decisions, and The Walking Dead #52 after the jump...

Captain Britain and MI13 #5 gets a B from Albo
While Captain Britain bores the pants offa me, the supporting characters of this book are worth reading. The Black Knight and Faiza make this issue worthwhile, in a scene where they are trying to get the blessing of Faiza's conservative Muslim parents for her new life as a superhero. Black Knight's attempt to ingratiate himself by speaking their language backfires when Fiaza's dad points out that the Knight picked up the language while fighting in the Crusades. Anyway, great stuff. Blade's there, too, but probably not for long so don't let that turn you off of this solid book.

DC Universe: Decisions #1 gets a C from AHR
I thought between a smart writer like Bill Willingham and the aggressively-progressive Judd Winick, this book might actually be a political satire. Nope! The politicians are cardboard stand-ins with no real-world counterparts, and they exist in a completely bloodless political landscape. The Republican nominee is a black woman, and yet the JLA is shocked, SHOCKED, by an assassination attempt...who could imagine a motive for such a crime? And indeed, the perpetrator is being mind-controlled, no doubt by some villain with some sort of non-partisan world domination scheme. We're coming up on the most important election of our lives, if DC wants to cash-in on the hype, can they please grow some balls first? All that said, the JLA interaction is funny and fun, even though Ollie looks like a dumb pushover, that's pretty much par for the course.

The Walking Dead #52 gets a C from AHR
This issue is a perfect example of why this book needs to be read in trades. Some interesting things happen, the writing is good as always, but it's so damn short! There's no satisfaction in reading a detailed, deliberately paced story like this in 30 second bursts. It's not the book's fault, the fault is in comic companies business model that makes everything a serial. C'mon Kirkman, you're in charge now, cut out the middle man and release these as trades! Please?

Snap Judgments: Reviews for Young Liars, Captain Britain and MI13, Secret Invasion and More

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

There are probably some minor SPOILERS herein.

Captain Britain and MI13 #4 gets an A from Albo
My good friend Hunter told me last week that Captain Britain and MI13 was the best comic Marvel was currently publishing. Never one to turn down a strongly-worded recommendation, I bought all four issues of the series today and that old sumbitch might be right. It may just be because I'm getting so sick of Bendis' Secret Invasion books, and yet this series uses the mega event as its jumping off point and somehow manages to stay grounded enough to get some good character work done. This four issue intro just wrapped up, I can't wait to see where the book takes us in a post-Skrull universe (oh, did I mention? The British have already dealt with their Skrull invasion.)

Reviews for Young Liars #6, Welcome to Hoxford #1, Universal War One Book 2 and Secret Invasion #5 after the jump.

Young Liars #6 gets an A from Albo
Ah, David Lapham, how did I ever doubt you? Yeah, many of the issues of this series have been miserable reads, but you've really picked it up here. This issue and the last one are filled with some incredibly shocking scenes. In a storytelling medium where the biggest threat (*cough*World War Hulk*cough*Secret Invasion*cough*) can be handled with a fistfight and zero serious consequences, it's a real treat seeing main characters go through severe, non-reversible, life-changing shit. Like, uh... Beheading. Last issue was castration. Where can they go from here?

Welcome to Hoxford #1 gets a B from Albo
I didn't get too much out of this issue. It's certainly not bad, the art is suitably creepy for a Ben Templesmith horror book and the writing is solid, I think I just have to see where it's going to really decide if I like the world the book is set in. So I guess what I'm saying is, stay tuned. But hey, if you like dark stories about prisoners getting (SPOILER) eaten alive, jump right in!

Universal War One Book 2 gets a C from Albo
I'm probably being a bit too harsh on this one. As far as spacey sci-fi comics go, it's better than most. There's even something exotic about the whole package because it's a French import. But really, despite the good art and the above average panel to panel writing, the pacing of the whole shebang is really screwy. Add to that the fact that after two looong issues I'm still not sure what I'm really supposed to be caring about and you've got yourself a C book in Albo's... book. Though a planet getting cut in half is admittedly pretty darn cool.

Secret Invasion #5 gets a D from Albo
Every time I attend or watch online a Marvel panel at a comic convention, someone inevitably gets on the mic and asks the question: "Why do you guys keep doing these big events that nobody really likes?" And Marvel's answer is always the same: "You keep buying them." It's a very honest answer, but it's also kind of a slap in the face. We buy them because they've told us the event is the most important thing going on in the universe and we're afraid that if we don't follow the books we'll be out of the loop. I haven't liked Secret Invasion since issue one, but here I am telling you what I think about the latest issue I bought. But I swear to you, right here and now, I will not buy another issue of this series. Why? Because nothing happens. Nothing. We're still where we were at the end of issue one. The characters are so secondary to the whole thing that they might as well be G.I Joes or the Scooby Doo crew and it wouldn't affect the story. Full disclosure, I'm still going to read these things in the store. But I swear I will not contribute to "you keep buying them" any more.