Panel Discussion: Scans From Spider-Man Summer Special, Buffy Season Eight #17, Special Forces #3, and More

Worst Battle Cry - Teen Titans #61
Truly putting the "kid" in Kid Devil, looks like someone is still hanging on to their third grade zingers.

Inappropriate baby imagery, inappropriate places to have sex, and inappropriate uses of the English language, after the jump...

Supervillainscuties - King Size Spider-Man Summer Special

Chris Giarrusso's brain-hungry symbiote and Colleen Coover's squat little Modok make for some adorable little miscreants.But what's up with the Spectacular Spider-Chub?

How They Like It - Catwoman #81
Catwoman and Batman have sex while falling off a building.

Is She or Isn't She? - King Size Spider-Man Summer Special
Hmm, that would explain her obsession with Thor--the girliest hero in all of comics. I also submit into evidence the fact that this story was drawn by Colleen Coover, the writer/artist responsible for the lesbian porno comic Small Favors. Coincidence? Perhaps.

Class Act - Blue Beetle, Teen Titans #61
Blue Beetle is such an enjoyable character to read, you have to wonder why more teen super heroes aren't written beyond petulant, angsty stereotypes. Here he tries to make piece with Kid Devil after they find their tracking the same vllian...
And though this next panel may seem like a dick move out of context, I feel that this is a honest attempt to respectfully keep KD in the loop, and to downplay the awkwardness of the situation by injecting a little humor. Tactful texts are very important in this day and age...

Stay classy, Double B.

Spider-Man is Creepy - King Size Spider-Man Summer Special
Keeping an eye on the missus? Trying to stare down her blouse? Any way you cut it, this is a little weird.

Irony Alert - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eight #17

Buffy has done more than her share of twisting the english language into a near unrecognizable web of adjective-nouns and superfluous suffixes, and only a thousand years in the future does Buff realize what her valley-speak hath wrought.

Woah, Overreact Much? - NYX: No Way Home #1
What? There's nothing I understand about this interaction. Her art? What the hell? Dumpster diving? And that face! She's really really pissed about this. I just don't get it.

Celebrity Casting Corner - Army @ Love: The Art of War #1
Paris Hilton makes an appearance here as Sylvia Stein, a hot actress who just happens to spend much of the issue as a giant ape that blesses a fanboy soldier with some rough monkey sex. Oh, that sounds like something you'd like to see?

Kyle Baker Goes Too Far - Special Forces #3

Going...
Goooiiiinnnggg...
Gone.

Writer's Worst Nightmare - Army @ Love: The Art of War #1
This issue opens up with writer Rick Veitch getting waterboarded for the suspicious web research he did when writing the first series. I'm sure this scenario has played itself out in the heads of anybody who has ever Googled something like "how to build a nuclear bomb" for the sake of some creative work. Or published the words on their public blog. Be right back, someone's at the door.

Panel Discussion: Scans from Logan #1, Zombies vs Amazons vs Robots #3, Buffy #12, and More

Every week (and usually on Monday, sorry) we at Geekanerd rip panels from our comics and put them on display here, recognizing the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the week. Click the pics for high res goodness, and if you didn't read your books last week, beware some major SPOILERS.

Slickest Move - Logan #1
This series has Logan in a former life (metaphorically, I think) being a solider in WWII era Japan. As he fights his way out of a prison camp with another POW, he appears to use one of those amazing, black-ops technique touch-of-death move on one of his captors....but we know what's really going on, don't we? Ehh?! Kudos to the always inventive Brian K. Vaugn for giving Wolvie a clever way to use his powers without making Eduardo Risso draw one of those cheesy Claws-Out poses this early in the game (just ignore the cover).

CG art gone good, Amazons gone bad, and a distinct lack of privacy after the jump...


Adventures in Computer Coloring - Cable #1
Albo recently picked on Amazing Spider-Man #549 for some seriously dubious decisions in using real world textures for comic pages. Here, however, using what looks like photographic reference and some sort of 3-D modeling, this splash page by Ariel Olivetti looks positively awe-inspiring. Okay, the water is still looking a little photoshoppy, but Cable himself and that strip of road...gorgeous. And I certainly never thought I'd be referring to Cable as gorgeous.

Most Awkward Moment - Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #12
The great achievement in this issue was having Buffy's highly publized sexual experimentation "morning after" scene go from angst to high comedy in about two panels flat, the high point of which is this extremely awkward, Jurassic Parkesque moment between Buffy and MegaDawn.


Biggest Anti-Climax - Zombies vs Robots vs Amazons #3
You know, I really liked the first few issues of this series. It walked a very fine line between sexy and exploitative, characterization and stereotype. But boy, they really blow it with this groaner of an ending....having to swiftly depose of their Amazon plotline now that the story is over, they have the survivors simply trip and fall down a bottomless pit. I understand there's been a high degree of silliness in this series (ref: the title) but these amazons deserved better than this lame and disappointing send-off.

The Magic of Comics - Zombies vs Robots vs Amazons #3
Okay, so maybe issue #3 had it's moments. Here at Geekanerd we're a big fan of panels that achieve this "moment in time" effect without the use of sound effects or action lines. This page is a quick lesson in balance and composition, beautifully "executed".

Snap Judgements: Batman Confidential, Killing Pickman, Batman, The Boys, Daredevil

Madder Love - Batman Confidential #8

While the general public likes to snicker about the supposed homoerotic relationship between Batman and Robin, the more obvious gay subtext in the Batverse has always been the Joker's obsession with Batman. Frank Miller famously interpreted the character this way in The Dark Knight Returns, Paul Dini and Grant Morrisson have both played around with the concept, and the current arc of Confidential dips into this oh-so-dogey territory once again. Writer Michael Green does a great job of laying the groundwork for the twisted relationship between Batman and his greatest foe, and highlights the similarities between the two - such as the fact that they're both batshit crazy, particularly well illustrated in a sequence that finds Batman playing the peeping tom on a lovely lady, while simultaneously obsessing about his war on crime.

Confidental seems to be jumping on the Dark Knight train by setting this story arc almost exactly where Batman Begins left off - the Joker hasn't quite become the Joker yet, Bats is still getting used to crime fighting, and there's a really fun sub-plot involving the origin of the Bat Computer. The scratchy pencils by Denys Cowan really stick in your head, even though he tends to shade the character's faces into almost German-Expressionist territory. But God knows there's enough wierdness going on in this book already, so you just go with it.

Murder as Flirtation + Scratchy Art + Mentally Divergent Batman + Cool Alfred = A-

Batman, Killing Pickman, The Boys, and Daredevil after the jump!

The Silver Age...OF TERROR - Batman #667

Now that he's got that Batman #666 unpleasantness out of his system, Grant Morrison is doing what he does best; taking strange, forgotten characters from the DC archive and making them modern, human, and hilarious. Here he gives us a modern day version of The International Club of Heroes, a bizarre conglomeration of multi-ethnic Batmen that one would expect to be padlocked in the Silver Age vault. Here, they behave like a clutch of has-beens who either live in the past or never really cared about superhero-ing in the first place. They've all got tons of personality and are immediately endearing, making the subsequent Agatha Christiesque mystery storyline all the more creepy. Humor, character, and action...no one nails the hatrick like Grant. Throw in some solid art bolstered by ace colorist Dave Stewart, and it's good to be a comics fan.

Bickering C-Listers + Scary Violence + Batman Teh Cool = A


Don't Go In There! - Killing Pickman #1
From Archaia Studio, the folks who brought you Mouse Guard, comes a gorgeous new title about a cop's hunt for a serial killer. Judged by the script alone, this is a solid crime story in the vein of Se7en,with a few unique touches, such as supernatural elements and an Asian-American lead (pretty much the only one on the stands, other than DC's new Atom). But story aside, what sends this books off the chart is the art by Jon Rea. Despite the fact this comic had the least amount of gore out of all the books I read this week, the visual story telling in Killilng Pickman creates such a distinct atmosphere of dread you have to steel yourself before turning each page. At times, words and commentary are etched into the panels like hidden messages, and it gives the feeling of a demonic third-person presence as you're reading. It's spooky stuff, and I can't wait for next month.

Real Deal Art + Atmosphere Over Gore + Scared To Turn The Page = A


Holy Scandal, Batman! - The Boys #9
This book has been very fun as a glimpse into a debaucherous world inhabited by heroes that look a lot like those we know and love, except they do some really dirty shit. Which is why this issue's high point is an intimate situation between three icons and the low point is pretty much the rest where they're still caught up in a mystery that I've totally lost interest in and have totally forgotten why I was supposed to care in the first place. If my vote counted I would hope issue 10 took us back to less talk, more stomp. Also, am I the only one that finds it extremely distracting that the main character is painstakingly drawn to look like Simon Pegg? He always comes off looking so stiff because Darick Robertson won't cartoonify him, instead going for accuracy in every panel. It just doesn't work.

Dirty Fun - Some Sorta Dull Mystery - Simon Pegg Gimmick = C+


So Grimy You'll Need a Shower - Daredevil #99
Daredevil is in such a fun place right now. His story is separate from those mega-events that are rocking the rest of the Marvel Universe, and it's a comfy little corner to be in. In case you haven't been keeping up, everyone pretty much knows Matt Murdock is Daredevil, though he still denies it and legally persecutes those who make such claims publicly. Most of the book these days is spent outside of the costume (though there is a good old fashioned information gathering beatdown break this ish), following Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson dealing with the troubles of being an outed superhero and trying to keep Matt's blind wife safe and happy. Oh, and there's also the girl that's hanging around who has the mild superpower of making every man she meets fall in love with her. The reason I'm telling you all of this is... I'm trying to catch you up so you can start grabbing this book off the shelves. Because it's solid, gritty, superhero crime fiction. Much better than the other superhero crime fiction on the stands (COUGHpowersCOUGH).

Crime Tastes Good - Maybe Almost Drags a Little + A Unique Superhero Situation = B

GayGamer.Net Can't Be Stopped

Over the weekend, videogame news blog GayGamer.net was attacked by some homophobic douchebag (or douchebags) who set upon the site with DOS attacks, spammed their message boards with anti-gay crap and eventually caused a server crash. GayGamer.Net is an excellent site for game news and smart, frequently hilarious commentary, but I'd assume that whoever was responsible for the attack probably never bothered to look past the domain name.

As a fan of the site and a gay gamer myself, I'm happy to report that GayGamer is back on it's feet as of noon today. Along with a short post on the details of the crash and aftermath, contributor The Boy Blunder has written a thoughtful post on how discrimination and hatred are dealt with in comic books. He pledges to subscribe to the Charles Xavier methodology of trying to reach out to people who hate those different from themselves. Reach out...with murderous psychic powers. Just kidding. I love peace. Hopefully, the blogosphere coverage of this whole mess will only help to publicize the site and win some new readers.

Via Kotaku

Top Six Renee Montoya Sass Panels

Guest Writer Gotham Gal brings you some sassitude highlights in the career of hard boiled detective, Renee Montoya.

She cuts through all the red-tape BS.

More Renee after the jump.

She’s all, it’s the 21st century, bitch.

This is sass without a shirt on.

I love a good gay guilt harangue.


This is some mild sass cause she doesn’t want to overplay her hand with red.


Her doodles were really cute. But her sass, that ain’t cute at all.

Snap Judgements: Blue Beetle, Thunderbolts, and The Boys

Today on Snap Judgements, three spoiler-free quickie reviews of comics out today, June 27.

Blue Beetle #16 - The Return of Brainstomp Demonface!

Everyone's favorite wife-killer/vengeance god Jean "Eclipso" Loring is through with all that "orbiting the sun" bullshit...now she's back on earth, stealing magic babies! It's a DC book alright! But what does this have to do with Blue Beetle? Well, not a lot. This book deals more with Traci 13 (who?), the issue's true protagonist. She does allow Jaime to tag along for the big fight, but he's really just there to flirt with.

The verdict on Blue Beetle plus reviews of Thunderbolts #115 and The Boys #8 after the jump.


This issue's biggest miss is the constant Wheadonesque teen-snark-speak, which is usually delivered with a much keener ear by writer John Rogers. But the book is saved by some funny touches involving the always ironic rules of magic, and some very touching (though possibility invented) continuity concerning the link between Eclipso and Traci 13 (who?).

Jean "Brain Stomp" Loring + Cheesey Teen Speak = C+


Thunderbolts #115 - Smashy Smashy II

Last week, this book gave us a big long street fight that was incredibly boring, featured a bunch of bland splash pages, and generally felt like Warren Ellis decided to take a snooze in the backseat and left artist Rain Beredo to drive for a while. This week's issue at first seemed to be more of the same - the 'Bolts are still fighting some unregistered Superheroes, aaand.....they fight. BUT - in this issue, the characters say interesting things to each other while they fight, the action is much more fluid and exciting, and there are some big plot-changing reveals. Still a few too many bulked-out Venom splash panels, but at least there's some dismemberment to show for it.

Bullseye Bein' Crazy + Whiny Penance + Dismemberment = B+


The Boys #8 - Not That There's Anything Wrong With That...

From the start, this series has played fast and loose with attitudes of misogyny and homophobia. Even for a comic book. But when the TPB was released earlier this month, I gave it a chance and found that it was too funny and engaging to write-off as shock-schlock. And though last month's issue made me cringe with a page discussed here, the lead male protagonist's attitudes towards gay men are discussed directly in this issue, as our anti-heroes investigate the murder of a gay teen. As the issue begins, it seems that nice-guy Hughie has a more accepting attitude than epithet-spewing manly man Butcher, but as events move forward we're shown that the way they actually act around gay people tells a different story. All the lead characters still treat gayness as something to be tolerated and not necessarily accepted, but I suspect that since this arc will last until at least issue #10, these issues will continue to be explored. The plotting and dialogue is spot-on as always, make sure you read Butcher's dialogue like Michael Caine for maximum effect.

Casual Prejudice + Meta Commentary + Realism? - Easy Answers = B


Tune in Friday for PANEL DISCUSSION, to find out which comic panel wins the Geekanerd Award for Best Acting, Greatest Hit, and the coveted Banana Randomizer Award For Achievement in WTF.