Panel Discussion: Scans from Daredevil, Secret Six, Locke and Key, And More!

The Magic of Comics - Daredevil

Its been a long time since I've stumbled across an image this striking in a comic. The simplicity and economy of design on this page tells more of a story than the words... and that's comic book art at its best. This is a beautiful and simple way to sum up Kingpin's life as a supervillain in New York. My particular favorite is the subtle Bullseye within Daredevil... and notice he's holding Elektra's sai. They really jammed alot of history in a single, beautiful image.

Movie Moment - Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #1
Oh. Man. It's a fargate!

PS: I feel kind of bad that the only panel that I pulled from this fun and awesome issue by one of my favorite indie writers (Jonathan Hickman!) is just an excuse to make a stupid Aqua Teen Hunger Force joke. But honestly; why are people still making interdimentional portals look like Stargate? Have we reached the limits of our collective imagination when it comes to giant sci-fi gates?


The Magic of Comics Part Deux - Locke and Key: Headgames #3

This book never ceases to amaze. Here's an awesome (and rather hot) use of the repeated panel-a comic classic! In this case, bringing us from the realm of daydreamed fantasy to embarrassing reality. Notice her smile turns into a frown in the second panel. Classic!

Banana Randomizer Award for Achievement in WTF - Secret Six #7

Its easy to forget in a cloud of d-list super villains that Bane is as A-list as they come... he literally broke the Batman... very few villains in the DCU have street cred like that. Its nice to be reminded of that sometimes. But that's not what's crazy about this page-its Bane's venom fueled vision of the world that's nutty-go-crazy. Apparently when he's all juiced up, he sees the world as a series of twisted Batmen. Somebody's got some serious bat issues. Heh, be sure to look closely and check out the Ragdoll batman!


Most Hardcore Move - Terror Titans #6

So Clock King doesn't want to get to close to Ravager, cause his pre-cog skills don't work in close combat. So he throws these little saw-blade ball thingies at her, which for some reason she doesn't have time to dodge. So she just reaches out and CRUSHES them with her hands! KRAK! SMASH! That's some Wolverine shit right there, minus the sissy healing factor.

Clearest Example of Batman's Insanity - Gotham Gazette #1

If you can't see a lady in person, but still want to make an impression, what's a gentleman to do? Nothing says "refined elegance" like rigging suspending a champagne bottle from the ceiling and rigging the cork with a miniature explosive device so the cork explodes off when she gets home! JESUS CHRIST, BRUCE! Even from beyond the grave you embarrass us all with your horribly cold and twisted ideas of intimacy.

Best Line of the Week - Secret Six #7

It's great when comic characters are able to see beyond the absurdity of their situation and just speak bluntly for a change. Sometimes it takes no name D-list villains to get us there (is the Electorcutioner or something like that? Anyone?) The broken jawed mumblings of the shark dude are funny enough, but its the electric dope's blunt "screw this, I need a hospital" that takes the cake this week. Understandably, you'd be pretty fed up with all the convoluted BS going on in this scene too... he's the voice of the everyman-or at least, every man with shattered ribs and 3rd degree burns... I don't know what goes down in a super villain fight but I'm sure it hurts like a mofo.

Beatdown of the Week - Daredevil


David Aja has quickly climbed to the top of Geekanerd's fave artist list with his offering this week in Daredevil. As far as visual storytelling goes, this issue is top notch. You could erase every word bubble and narration box and completely understand what's going on. And the icing on this brilliant cake? A giant monster fat man fighting 3 dozen ninja! What more could you ask for in a single comic? Not only is the action dynamic and exciting, but Aja punctuates it with stark black, white, and red panels of weapons and blood-you can practically feel each strike. I love the black and white rising sun effect as the ninja nails Kingpin in the back. And to end it, the massive Kingpin is beautifully brought to his knees with katanas jutting from his back in a series of 5 panels. This is comic book fighting at its finest. Well done Mr. Aja.


Slashiest Exchange - Terror Titans #6
JUST KISS ALREADY! Actually, there's not much in the dialouge to suggest any slashiness, so don't even bother reading it. But let's just say I happen to know, FOR REASONS WHICH ARE TOO NUMEROUS AND CONVOLUTED TO EXPLAIN, that on the internet there exists a bizzare amount of of Rose/M'gann fic, so this exchange just sort of ping'd that on my radar screen. I'm just. Saying.

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 Judgments: Reviews for Wolverine, Locke & Key, True Believers and More

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

There are probably some minor SPOILERS herein.

Editor's Note: I didn't buy (or read) David Lapham's final issue of Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility this week, but I did pick it up in the store and skip to the end and was shocked by the twist ending. Without giving anything away, did anyone suspect that this was going to be a "What If?" story?

Amazing Spider-Man: Brand New Day: Extra!! gets an A from Albo
As if three issues of ASM a month weren't enough, here's a one-shot teasing what you can expect from the book this fall (after the advertised Slott/Romita Jr. Venom story!!!). While Kelly and Bacholo's Hammerhead story is a bit muddled, the other two tales are great little Spidey nuggets. One has him starting a fight with some snobs making fun of Harry, and the other has him defending himself in a court of law with Matt Murdock at his side. Lots of sharp dialogue in both these stories, and I continue to think Marcos Martis is the best of the current Spidey artist crop (though that will probably fall out the window when [did I already mention this?] Romita Jr. comes in to illustrate a Dan Slott Venom story!!!).

Reviews for The Lost Ones, Wolverine #67, Locke & Key #6, and True Believers #1 after the jump!

The Lost Ones gets an A from Albo
Does it bother me that the writing is sloppy in places? Does it bother me that sometimes the art ain't so great? No way. And why not? 'Cause this bastard was FREE. It's a big, handsome trade paperback collection of a Steve Niles story illustrated by four alternative artists that was originally published online somewhere. And now it's in my hands and it's FREE. This thing would cost like $20 normally. But instead it's FREE. Oh, the story is a really cool time travel dealie and some of the art is honestly out of this world.

Wolverine #67 gets an A from Albo
Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's post-apocalyptic "Old Man Logan" story continues. I'm loving it, and not just because I'd enjoy freaking Family Circus if it had McNiven drawing it. Millar's vision of Marvel's future is fresh, not the police states of 2099 or Days of Future Past, but something somehow infinitely more interesting--a world not in which the powers that be have turned bad, but in which the bad have turned into the powers that be. It's somehow a more optimistic view, because there is such a clear enemy. An enemy with a face that can be dealt with by way of a serious ass kicking. Too bad our hero is a pacifist.

Locke & Key #6 gets a B from Albo
This book has been so good to me since issue one, and now here we are at the end of the miniseries. The only fault that can be applied to this issue is that it wraps things up a bit too quickly, but with an ongoing series coming in the Fall I don't feel all that cheated. This book came out of nowhere (you may have noticed that you were never able to find the early issues because your store under-ordered BIG TIME) to become one of my favorite reads of '08. Definitely pick up the inevitable trade when it comes out, then flood my inbox with thank you letters.

True Believers #1 gets a B from Albo
A tentative B. This issue had just enough new ideas to excite me about the potential of upcoming stories, but not enough blatant quality to assure me that it will live up to that potential. The story is about a team of superpowered folks who've taken on the duty of uncovering corruption and scandal among the elite, both superpowered and otherwise. They are very advanced technologically, so much so that even S.H.I.E.L.D. can't draw a bead on them. Honestly, I probably won't pick up the next issue unless there isn't much else out that week, but as blind buys go it was completely inoffensive.

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.

Panel Discussion - Scans From Batman and the Outsiders #4, Mighty Avengers #9, Locke and Key #1 and More

Deja Vu - Batman and the Outsiders #4
Ooh, a reprogrammed evil robot joining the Outsiders? Good idea! What could possibly go wrong?!

Hydra Has the Sexiest Nurses - Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death
No wonder those goons in green always go down without much of a fight... The infirmary is staffed by hotties of epic proportion!

Most Inappropriate Use of Expressionism - The Flash #237
This panel would not at all be out of place in a show exhibiting expressionist takes on the horror of war. I like that about it. This whole issue feels like a tremendous rush job in terms of art, so perhaps this was just a first attempt at "upset" that came out so over-the-top crazy the artist just couldn't resist actually finishing and turning it in.

This next panel, on the other hand, is a total disaster. Depth, perspective, scale and shading all mashed together in a three car pile up. DC, if a book is late, I can live with that. This hurts me.

Best Actor Award - Tyler, Locke & Key #1
Throughout this scene Tyler has such a wonderfully authentic look of fear. Even after his attacker is dead, he is terrified with what he's done.

Overkill Alert! - Mighty Avengers #9
What happens with Earth's Mightiest Heroes storm Dr. Doom's castle? THREE DOUBLE PAGE SPLASHES IN A ROW. Man o man. My opinion on this has vacillated between disgust and admiration. I'm not a big fan of Bagley's art and only buy the book for Bendis' words, so three solo Bagley pages didn't interest me on my first glance. But when going back, I realized that these pages were pretty good for Bagley, and that much action should be exciting. Once I put together more pieces and realized Bendis' whole idea with this book is to make it a really traditional superhero book (bringing back word balloons and all that), the splashes started making more sense. Still, I can't help but think something like this is a bit of a waste.

Locke & Key #1

This book begins as a sort of Straw Dogs tale of rural violence, with disgruntled teen Tyler walking in on his mother being raped over the body of his dead father while a second psychopath looks on. The terrified boy is driven to murder one of the killers with a brick, and his mother takes the other one down with a hatchet. Needless to say, the whole experience shakes him up a good bit. Not helping his mental state is the fact that he knew the killers, and maybe even had a conversation with one of them about a hypothetical dad-less existence. And just like in Strangers on a Train, the other guy took it a little too seriously. His father also seemed to know something was going to happen to him, and had arranged for his family to go live at Keyhouse, an old house in Lovecraft (ahem), Massachusetts that has been in his family for generations. And if you couldn’t guess, there’s something about that house…

Writer Joe Hill is doing a great job setting up a real world with just a hint of the mystical, and I’m hoping as the series progresses it stays like that without ever going too over the top with fantasy. The art, by Gabriel Rodriguez, is clean and expressive and aside from the occasional amateurish bits it’s top notch. He puts an excruciating amount of detail into every setting–there’s not a single throwaway background in the whole book. I’m very excited to see where this one leads.

This review was originally published as part of Pop Culture Shock's "Picks & Pans".