Panel Discussion: Scans from Robin, New Avengers: Illuminati, Lucha Libre and Y: The Last Man

Every week, Geekanerd brings you the cream of the crop (and crap) in comic scans. Click 'em for hi-res, and BEWARE THE SKRULL SPOILER AT THE END OF THIS POST.

Achievement in Verbal Athleticism - Beth II, Y The Last Man #59
Leave 'em alone for a couple years and dames'll come up with the nuttiest things.

After the jump: Mexican fighters, bastard children, and alien infiltrators!

Beatdown of the Week: The Luchadores 5 vs The Tikitis, Lucha Libre #2
The Luchadores, with their creative and visually arresting fighting style, are always a shoe-in for Beatdown of the Week. But it's this next move that really sealed the deal...
Hands in your pockets, gentlemen. Casual headbutting wins the day.

Most Contrived Setup: Robin #126
Bruce, I think it's time to retire Alfred, he's tripping over his own friggin' feet. This inane scenario is only here to make it look like Damian has attacked Alfred, so that Tim can bust in and take part in a hilarious misunderstanding. But c'mon; Damian is a spoiled, violent, socially retarded preteen, SURELY there's a more organic way this could have gone down. Idea 1: Alfred gets a call from Bats and Damian tries to grab the communicator, leading to a scuffle just in time for Robin to enter and misread the situation. Idea 2: Alfred tries to be a good host and take Damian's ninja hood, and Damian reflexively does some sort of awesome League of Assassins over the shoulder throw. These are just off the top of my head. Someone hire me.

Bone Chilling Twist - New Avengers: Illuminati #5Sure, at least one of these guys had to be a Skrull, but this reveal still made me gasp. It was a great choice to make it Black Bolt, the noble silent guy, because the moment he opens his mouth it's clear we're in it deep.

Panel Discussion - The Week in Comic Book Scans

Geekanerd brings you the week's most notable comic book panels. Spoiler Alert for those who haven't read their books yet.

Wackiest Plan - Metal Men #2
That's what I call teamwork! If saving the day demands you pop a giant balloon monster, you might as well do it with style.

Biggest Fake-Out - The Incredible Hulk #110
Oh Noes! The Incredibly Angry Hulk just killed his teenaged pal Amadeus! And an adorable puppy! Look, you can even see the blade of the big Final Fantasy sword poking out the back of the kid's jacket, hewn fibers and all! C'mon everyone, let's start a letter-writing campaign, this level of Hulk-on-Puppy violence is unacceptable...*turns the page*....oh. Never mind.

No Comment Award - Countdown #34
Okay, this time I really have no comment. Except: Poor Piper.

Most Severe Beatdown - King Karateka, Lucha Libre #1
When a book stars five dudes who model themselves after the heroes of Mexican "free wrestling", you know you're going to see some good fights. There are plenty of awesome moves being perpetrated against these werewolves, but the start of the fight is King Karaterka, the guy in white. Look at those holds! That can't be legal! And this certainly must be against regulations...

Best Spin On A Classic - Metal Men #2
Duncan Rouleau is doing wonderful things with the art in the new Metal Men series. The first two issues have featured a retro-futuristic feel, as seen here in his interpretation of a classic "evil lair on a hill". Nothing like making an old favorite feel new again.

Best and Worst Actor Award - Night Thrasher and Tempest, New Warriors #4
Here are two great examples of character's reacting to another character's death - one is effective, the other, not so much.

Artist Paco Medina manages to nail shock and horror using only Night Thrasher's eyes, but Tempest, well...that's more of an "Aww, man!" or "What the F, you guys?!" face than a "NoOOOoOOo" face. To be fair, I'm sure it's hard to draw a good "NooOOoOO" face. You don't see many of them in real life. Unless you have a really intense life.

Read all of our past Panel Discussions!

Snap Judgments: Countdown #34, The Boys #10, Lucha Libre #1

Geekanerd's Snap Judgments gives you Triple-S comic reviews: short, sweet, and spoiler-free.

Countdown #34 (DC)

Thought I'd give this title another chance. Aaaand it let me down again.

Things started out promisingly enough, with Batman interrogating Piper and Trickster. The Bat's rooftop shakedowns rarely disappoint. But this spark of excitement is soon extinguished, and we're soon wading through boring fake science talk, two scenes that take place in laboratories, Clarion the Witchboy looking like a drag queen, and Holly Robinson fighting Harley Quinn in Gladiatorial Combat. Actually that last part was okay. But still no bang for your buck. Wake me when Eclipso comes back.

Hope Springs Eternal - Disappointment + Harley Kicking Holly Robinson in the Face = C-

Reviews for The Boy #10 and Lucha Libre #1 (awesome) after the jump...


The Boys #10 (Dynamite Entertainment)

Now that this arc is over, I can finally stop buying this book. Not that I haven't been enjoying The Boys - it's been fun, but when reading a hard, nasty series like this, I'd prefer to revel in the opulence of a trade paperback, rather than lurch along every month with single-servings of depravity. But that's just me.

This issue lacked the head-busting finale I was expecting, and continued with an annoying habit of playing gotcha games with certain character's perceived homophobia. I'm all for defying expectations, but how many times do we need to be told that men who use gay epithets may not, in fact, hate gay people after all? Wow, the more you know! On the plus side, this issue features a wonderfully over-the-top epilogue that encapsulates the series' attitude towards super heroes, and for once doesn't involve a splash page of a woman being sexually assaulted. It involves something getting sexually assaulted, but I wouldn't want to spoil the details of that whimsical surprise.

Unsatisfying Mystery Solved - More Lessons + A Touch of Humanity + Absurdist Perversity = C+

Lucha Libre #1 (Image)

It's a good time for Latino characters in comic books. Jaimie Reyes (Blue Beetle) is the best written teen character in the DC Universe, Renee Montoya is getting her own sexy, sexy series, and now we've got Lucha Libre, a slam-bang cartoon style series about five Mexican dudes in wrestling masks who fight monsters in East L.A. I hasten to add that none of these books are in fact written by Latinos, but...well...let's focus on the positive here.

Written by Jerry Frissen, ish #1 introduces a huge cast of characters, including an evil bug-eyed Elvis impersonator, stereo-stealing werewolves, bickering aliens, and of course our heroes, the Luchadores Five. The unblinking absurdity never seems forced, and the tone recalls the comedic glory of Sam and Max, and that, my amigos, is high praise indeed.

Even more impressive is the art, drawn and colored by Bill. Just Bill. His backgrounds are beautifully detailed, and his more subtle depictions of the characters go a long way in supplying some of the depth that can feel lacking in Frissen's writing.

Rockin' Toon Art + Bonkers Plot + Great Extra Story - A Wee Bit Light on Characterization = A-