I don’t think the market was exactly clamoring for a mini-series featuring Ultimate Hawkeye.  Were I a betting man, I’d say that the whole reason we got this when we did is because Marvel wanted some Hawkeye product in the bookstores in time for the arrival of “The Avengers” movie.  Even though it comes to […]

I’ll admit that I wasn’t expecting much going into this.  Though writer Jonathan Hickman has amassed a strong body of work over these past few years, there were reasons to be wary about this.  Its critical reception could best be described as “muted,” sales were lackluster compared to previous volumes, and as the teasers for […]

With this, Mike Carey’s six year, seventy-five issue run on the title comes to a close.  It would’ve been nice to say that things end on a high note, but this volume is more “not bad” than anything else.  As with many of the writer’s stories on the title, this one addresses some plot threads […]

(Or, “Raise ‘Dem Bones” if you’re going by the title of the opening issue.) Alan Moore’s run on “Swamp Thing” is rightly regarded as a watershed moment in comics.  Not only did it pioneer the idea of the “retcon” or the “Everything you know is wrong!” school of thinking and do it well, but it […]

This is Paul Cornell’s other contribution to the New 52 after the “finally got its act together at the end, but since he’s not writing it anymore why bother” Wildstorm import “Stormwatch.”  It’s also a much better fit for his style, allowing for plenty of humor that tweaks the conventions of the genre (not quite […]

I’ve been looking forward to reading this ever since the book was launched earlier this year to almost deafening acclaim.  On paper, it sounds like a project destined to fail:  a relaunch of a character created by Rob Liefeld who nobody remembers from a creator whose best-known work had to be license-rescued from another publisher […]

This volume was  solid… and not a whole heck of a lot more.  In the wake of Abe Sapien slipping into a catatonic state following his shooting in the previous volume, Kate and Johann find themselves on a plane to Russia after the dead start rising north of Moscow.  However, that’s not the only surprise […]

This latest adaptation of the “Parker” novels by Darwyn Cooke offers up the immense thrill of seeing highly competent professionals plan and pull off a job that is, shall we say, “unreasonable.”  After six months of idleness, the title character agrees to take part in a new job through an old contact.  It’s a job […]

Looking at a lot of the Marvel NOW! relaunches, I’ll concede that they’ve certainly done a good job of getting top talent on A-list characters.  Of course, looking at some of these launches still has me scratching my head at what they were thinking.  There’s also one that has a great idea for a mini-series […]