Since this week was one of comics’ mystical “fifth week” weeks, that means there were a lot of annuals this week. Sure, it put a strain on my wallet (comics aren’t cheap, after all), but that won’t stop me from giving you my totally uninformed and off-the-handle reviews of them! So here are my Guy Reactions to the books I read this week!
Archie Comics Super Special #1: Nice Christmas-themed magazine with 2 caveats. Don’t like previous digital only stories being touted as new, and the sections where readers are talked to are filled with too much “OMG LOL” crap to try and appeals to the young crowd.
Superman Earth One Volume Two: I hated this book so much, I can’t contain my rage in a single gut reaction. This isn’t Superman. This is “The Mopey Blue-Balled Avenger”.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Annual #1: “Eastman. He came out of the East to do battle with the Amazing Rando!” MST3K quote aside, Eastman’s solo work is still great. Glad to see it.
Star Trek #14: I always worry the stories in this book will be invalidated by the next movie, especially when minor characters are fleshed out. I hope not in this case. Keenser is cool.
Superman Family Adventures #6: John Henry Irons becomes Steel and fights a villain infused with Kryptonite and saves the day. Hi-jinks ensue. Also: Ma Kent doesn’t take crap from Solomon Grundy.
Action Comics Annual #1: John Henry Irons becomes Steel and fights a villain infused with Kryptonite and saves the day. Hi-jinks ensue. Superman Family did it much better, though. Also: abrupt Atomic Skull origin!
Aquaman #13: Aquaman is full of big, vengeance-y talk, and then backs off. Black Manta, on the other hand, while still a bad guy, has a legit reason to hate Arthur. Also, Orm might be bad! Never saw that coming!
Avenging Spider-Man Annual #1: I like this kind of annual. A complete story that’s a bit lighthearted, but still quite enjoyable.
Batgirl Annual #1: Absolutely stunning art. Also, this made me enjoy New52 Catwoman, so that’s something going for it.
Captain Marvel #6: I did not see that coming. I’m not entirely sure the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff makes sense, but I really enjoyed it. You should read this book.
Justice League Dark Annual #1: I bought this because of Frankenstein. If you like Vertigo, you may like this book, I suppose. Weird to include Amethyst though, when we don’t know her full deal yet.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #15: This was pretty good, Slash is back, but the writing and art makes him more like Tokka than Slash, in my opinion. But still, freaking Slash!
Ame-Comi Girls #8: Anime Wonder Woman has no tact for an “ambassador”. Jade/GL shows up and is Chinese. Good on ya, I guess. Anime Star Sapphire’s costume is even more ridiculous than the mainstream one.
AvX Consequences #4: They should rename this series “Talking heads in a prison with vaguely interesting vignettes on the side”, but that’d take too much space on the masthead.
A+X #1: Holy crap! Comics made in this decade can be unabashedly fun! Also, time travel shenanigans are always a plus for me. Captain America vs. Nazi Sentinels!
Batman Li’l Gotham #1: This was a fun little story. It’s probably for the best that it isn’t weekly though. I don’t want the charm to wear off.
Rocketeer – Cargo of Doom #3: While it feels like this issue took forever to come out, The Rocketeer with a ray gun versus dinosaurs? Shut. Up. And. Take. My. Money.
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #16.1: Hey, it’s another story where an Ultimate Spidey’s identity will be exposed! The twist? This one is compelling and worth your time!