The Fantom... REVIEWS!

So Marvel pretty much dominated my wallet this week especially since there were variant covers done by two of my favorite artists: Marko Djurdjevic and that bastard, Steve Mcniven. I mean look at that Iron Man Cover. HE IS OBLITERATING THAT MANS FACE!

Now that we got the ole' adrenaline running, its time for this weeks reviews.

AVENGERS INVADERS #1 (OF 12) -

Wow. I was really either surprised that I really liked this or AMAZED that this creative team did not screw this up. And when I say this creative team, I mean the peoples responsible for Project Superpowers, which I regard largely as a disaster. But this, this was good. I mean, I'm a total sucker for nostalgia, and Captain America, but come on folks, I AM A RED BLOODED AMERICAN. In fact if you don't like this comic, a comic which features the return of the brave men who saved the world from Hitler during World War II, then, well, you must hate America and must kindly ask you to leave my blog.

Well that just got me banned in China.

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1 -

Matt Fraction is the man. I remember reading an interview with him a while back and he said, "Iron Man being made out to be a villain is bull-shit." I agree with the man, but he has been darn near unlikeable up until recently. The film has won over many (including myself), but in comics, he has become the most detested man in the medium. Forget Maxwell Lord, Lex Luthor, Sinestro, Cloned Spider-Man(s), Ultimate Hank Pym, Gambit, or Onslaught. People hate Tony Stark. A recovering alcoholic, war-profiteer, who has slept with more woman than there are comics in existence. Which I think is millions. Which is close. I think.

Okay, more than Kareem Abdul-Jabar. Yeah, that's right.

But Fraction makes you love this man. In the span of one issue, we fall in love all over again with Stark, while simultaneously becoming revolted by the men who perpetrate evil which Iron Man is destined to stop. There is something very pulpy about it. Iron Man is good. The villain (which I'll save for you to read yourself) bad. One will win, one will lose. You know the outcome. But its the execution that makes it so good.

IRON MAN VIVA LAS VEGAS #1 (OF 4) -

I rarely feel like I waste my money on comics. But this is one of them. As Chris of ISB observed, you can finish this in 2 1/2 minutes. Sigh. Also its $3.99. Double sigh.

BUT! It does feature the art of Adi Granov, who I feel does indeed do those online commercials that feature 3-D models. You know the ones I'm talking about. They look human, but they were obviously constructed with some kind of program. Outside of the armor, everything is relatively boring to look at.

LOGAN #3 (OF 3) -

Holy shit, the art in this is AMAZING. The story was good, but Marvel Knights, and I'm a firm believer in this, needs to go directly to trade with all their stories. I'm tired of paying $3.99 for what are often drawn out stories over 3 or 4 issues. Brian K. Vaughn does a better than most job with Wolverine, but Eduardo Risso carries this book to a spectacular looking conclusion.

MIGHTY AVENGERS #13 -

NICK FURY IS TOTALLY BACK. THIS IS HEAVY SHIT EVERYONE. But seriously, this issue re-introduces a character from Secret War as well as establishes Nick Fury's new team. Yes. Fury's new team. A team which features a family member related to the ORIGINAL FUCKING GHOST RIDER. Awesome.

NOVA #13 -

Still my favorite comic every month. Action packed, hi-flying, sci-fi adventure, never read or looked so good to me.

SECRET INVASION #2 (OF 8) -

Ahhh yes. Secret Invasion. After issue #1 how would its follow up be?

Ehhhh. Just ehhhh.

Yu's art is terrific but once again, issues like this show and teach the reader a lot about the story but don't really reveal anything. Particularly who the heck is skrull! That's really all I want. But the last page makes up for some of it. At least for me, I got to see Yu draw Thor in a classic Kirby costume. Which unfortunately makes this great for me, but not for everyone else. So I guess this issue is a necessary evil to advance everything.

WAR THAT TIME FORGOT #1 (OF 12) -

Yes. This is what I'm talking about. I understand that Bruce Jones apparently is the assassin of many a comic book, but this was pretty fun. FUN, in capitals. That's it. Fun. You may not fully understand whats happening, and there are a lot of characters from the DC's war years in 50's and 60's but this was fun. I always enjoyed the original Bob Kanigher title, and this carries on his proud tradition of soldiers fighting dinosaurs, a tradition almost forgotten by many. I can now only PRAY TO GOD that the Haunted Tank shows up.