Top Five Fridays 09/12/07
Some of you may have noticed on the sidebar, we have our “Top Five of the Moment” listed. These are the five books that are most clicking with each Pants writer. It may or may not represent the best books we’ve read all month, year, or just what we’re digging that week. We generally try to update it with books from that week, but there are no hard and fast rules. Inspired by an email from one of our readers, we’re going to post every Friday with the most recent Top Five from each member of the Panteon, and hope for your comments on our lists, or maybe even your own “Top Five of the Moment.”
Also, just as the Wednesday Number Ones feature is generally our spot for folks to talk about the comics of the week, we hope that Top Five Fridays is where you’ll come to talk about what’s going on in comics in general. News in the comics world, thoughts on comics you’ve recently read, talk about comic-related movies that release this weekend and more are welcome in the comments thread for Top Five Fridays.
This week, the Top Five Books of the Moment are:
Nick Budd
- Suicide Squad
- JLA Wedding Special
- Thor
- Fables
- Green Lantern
Dave Farabee
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Lobster Johnson
- Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus V.2
- Incredible Hulk
- Annihilation Conquest: Wraith
Dan Grendell
- Thor
- JLA Wedding Special
- Path of the Assassin V.7
- Kurohime V.1
- Potter’s Field
Randy Lander
- Suicide Squad
- JLA Wedding Special
- Potter’s Field
- Fear Agent: The Last Goodbye
- Walking Dead
David Martindale (D3)
- Fables
- Thor
- JLA Wedding Special
- Potter’s Field
- X-Men: Emperor Vulcan
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1. Fables: Story continues to move along, if a bit slower than I would have hoped. Some neat revelations but nothing too surprising based on certain character’s pasts. How it plays out will be more interesting (and hopefully less predictable).
2. MA: Hulk: Still like its mix of old-school “Banner on the run” with the lighter, snappier delivery. Even the monkey didn’t bother me as much. Good one and done story.
3. Potter’s Field: Great concept and solid delivery by Waid. I just started watching Burn Notice on USA after a friend recommended it and I was able to find a marathon to DVR that will get me caught up. While different tonally, I like the whole “Helping those that the system won’t…” concepts that this comic and that show represents. That and the added The Shadow-meets-Global Frequency angle in Potter’s Field was cool.
4. Nova- Gads, this is good stuff. This IS surprising stuff. I have some ideas where it will go and I can only assume it will turn out well for our hero but I am still wondering how. Very nicely done (as is the whole series).
5. Suicide Squad- It was like stepping back into the older series. I didn’t get into Giffen’s return to the story a few years ago for the opposite reason…it didn’t have enough to connect it to what I enjoyed or expected from the original. The Wall, Deadshot, Boomerbutt (no matter how annoying), Belle Reve, exploding cons, etc. Good stuff. I guess it is sort of a continuation of the original but it takes a story done in the early 20’s of the original run and seems to ignore all that came after it (including the leap forward in years near the end). Hmmm… Good to see Nightshade back with the team and not with the (sorry, Willingham) lame Shadowpact.
14 Sep 2007 at 10:57 am
QuoteNo update from Dave F. this week, he’s on vacation. For me, it was another pretty good week.
1. Suicide Squad #1- Ostrander doesn’t disappoint. Great flashback tale using all the classic characters, and Javier Pina’s art is fantastic.
2. JLA Wedding Special #1- McDuffie doesn’t disappoint either. OK, so it’s not really a Wedding Special, it’s more like JLA #12 1/2, but it’s a good setup for his new arc.
3. Potter’s Field #1 - Covered this in Wednesday Number Ones, but to reiterate: It’s dark, but it’s good. I don’t know that I mentioned how much I like Paul Azaceta’s art in my review, but I dig his stuff quite a bit.
4. Fear Agent: The Last Goodbye #3 - As good as Walking Dead is at the whole “post-apocalypse” thing, and at the interesting cast of characters. Plus Moore does great alien designs and action.
5. Walking Dead #42 - Speaking of Walking Dead, this is a nice breather issue where the characters get to have some minor bits of happiness… before that awesome three-page cliffhanger blows it all up. I can’t remember the last time I was this excited to see the next issue of Walking Dead.
6. BPRD Killing Ground #2 - Fantastic Guy Davis art as always, plus an interesting turn of events for Johann, visions of the apocalypse for Liz and rampaging monsters in BPRD Headquarters
7. Fables #65 - Loving the story of the Frog Prince turned into a warrior king, and loving the return of some of Fables’ scheming villains, back from the dead
8. DMZ #23 - Not the strongest issue of the series, but it’s an interesting one, and it’s got a solid ending
9. Daredevil #100 - Good use of multiple artists, and I actually like Mr. Fear, so I liked the villain reveal… just hoping Brubaker has something mind to reveal that Milla isn’t really a murderer, because I hated that twist
10. Nova #6 - Bummed out by the ending, but otherwise I’m still really enjoying this series
11. Marvel Adventures Hulk #3 - Hulk vs. Radioactive Man! The best Marvel Adventures book this side of Avengers, and I’d say that even if Paul Benjamin weren’t a friend of mine
12. Thirteen Steps #1 - Kind of uneven, but I laughed out loud several times at this story of a werewolf trying to balance real life and his supernatural life
14 Sep 2007 at 10:59 am
QuoteYeah, I totally get where you’re coming from in referencing Burn Notice. Which is really good, btw, I haven’t watched last night’s episode but I’m looking forward to doing so tonight.
14 Sep 2007 at 11:01 am
QuoteI put “Potter’s Field” on my list for next week. I read “Batman 100″ this week and the “JLA Wedding Special”. I watch too much tv.
Including Burn Notice. I imagine the show doesn’t have all that much heat because it’s on basic cable, but it’s a really fun show. As I watch it I think, “this should be a comic book!” The voice over, the freeze frames.. and just enjoyable execution. I really like the balance of the A and B stories (where B is ‘who burned me?’). I have seen a few of the new pilots this year and I don’t know that they have this balance.. but they’re only pilots.
Too much tv for comic pants!
I am going to dive into Morrison’s “Seven Soldiers” next week. Wish me luck?
14 Sep 2007 at 11:20 am
QuoteDan, please tell me about “Kurohime”.
14 Sep 2007 at 11:28 am
QuoteMy Top Five:
1. Suicide Squad: From The Ashes
2. Casanova
3. Drifting Classroom Vol. 7
4. Batman and Son
5. Zombie Proof
14 Sep 2007 at 11:44 am
QuoteHmmm … looks like I may have to check out “Potter’s Field.” And I’m glad to see someone else is digging Matt Fraction’s crazy-cool “Casanova” as much as I do …
14 Sep 2007 at 11:52 am
QuoteHow about I just go through my list?
1. Thor
I’ve been digging Thor so far, but it’s been slow. Not anymore. JMS continues to write Iron Man as a jerk, but he has Thor nailed. Plus, if Asgard is unguarded, who is the first God you find? Hell, yeah.
2. JLA Wedding Special
Can McDuffie write JLA? Yes. Oh, yes.
3. Path of the Assassin V.7
I love this book. Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima team samurai and ninja for some beautiful stories, volume after volume.
4. Kurohime V.1
This was crazy cool. Witch gunslingers who shoot magic spells from their guns, one of whom is a sexy bitch cursed by the gods to be a little girl for her hubris until she finds true love, a badass with four guns who delivers justice with compassion who was once inspired by that bitch… it’s the Old West, funky stylee. This was fun as hell, had excellently cool fights, and some great comedy. I loved it.
5. Potter’s Field
I have to echo what everyone is saying about this book. Cool concept, some of the best work Mark Waid has done in years.
14 Sep 2007 at 12:35 pm
QuoteA question about Suicide Squad: I love all of John Ostrander’s Star Wars stuff (Legacy is the cat’s meow!), but have never read his first run on SS and am not all that familiar with the characters. Would I be able to pick up this new issue and enjoy it, based solely on my enjoyment of the author’s other work?
14 Sep 2007 at 1:53 pm
QuoteDancinBrud - after being threatened with excommunication if I didn’t read ‘Suicide Squad’, I picked it up. (shoots Randy a look)
I am almost wholly unfamiliar with the characters myself. The only one I could recognize without fail is Deadshot, but all I know about him is that he looks cool.
I wasn’t lost when reading the story and thought it was a fun, well told yarn, but I do think any real praise would be dependent upon having an attachment to the characters. Since I knew nothing about them, I could take it or leave it.
14 Sep 2007 at 3:03 pm
QuoteThis was a really strong week for me, with the exception of Countdown, which I went ahead and removed from my pull list.
1. Green Lantern
2. JLA Wedding Special
3. Daredevil
4. JSA
5. Fables
6. X-Factor
7. Suicide Squad
8. DMZ
9. Booster Gold
10. Thor
11. Walking Dead
PS. Is anyone reading Welcome to Tranquility anymore? Gail Simone is obviously talented, but after the first arc it went downhill pretty fast.
14 Sep 2007 at 8:58 pm
QuoteTim, I will wish you luck with Seven Soldiers!
It is an interesting experiment, that is for sure. Some of the minis were great (Guardian and Frankenstein were my faves), some were cool (Zatanna and Klarion and Bulleteer) and one was just frustrating (Mister Miracle). I won’t give away my feelings about the bookends, though. You gotta go into those with your eyes open. 
Have fun! To emulate what readers of the series went through, though, you need to read all the minis and book end #1 and then put them all away for a year or more before reading the last book end. That should do it. 
15 Sep 2007 at 8:27 am
QuoteHey, I never said you’d be excommunicated.
I said we’d burn you at the stake as a heretic.
That’s a fair assessment, I think. I can’t honestly judge completely, as I do love the series so much and know all the characters about as well as any characters in comics, but I can totally see where some of the cool moments are dependent on there being a bit of an “aha! cool to see *that* character again” kind of thing, even if the overall writing/art is very well done, even for the newbies.
So I guess I’d say that if you’re new to Suicide Squad, I can see where the book might read as solid but not great for you.
Heretic.
15 Sep 2007 at 11:07 am
QuoteAll i’m getting is She-hulk and showcase Batman and the Outsiders. Question:Is anybody as happy to see that as I am?
15 Sep 2007 at 12:31 pm
QuoteSuicide Squad was a lot of fun. I haven’t read any older issues, but I still enjoyed it a lot.
16 Sep 2007 at 11:12 am
QuoteFinally got to catch up on all my recent reading (ah, the joys of a week off work) so a bit of longer list for me this week:
1. Daredevil
2. Thor
3. Battle Royale
4. New Warriors
5. X-Factor
6. Suicide Squad: Raise The Flag
7. Iron Man: Enter The Mandarin
8. Ultimate Spider-Man
9. Soon I Will Be Invincible
10. New Avengers
And Tim, before you jump into Seven Soldiers (which I loved coincidently), if you can find JLA Classified #1-#3, read those first as those issues are a prequel to Seven Soldiers
16 Sep 2007 at 11:29 am
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