1. Scott Pilgrim….half way through, but I’ve been waiting about a year for this, and it is not dissappointing me….obvious choice….

2. Spent the Weekend at the Dublin Comicon here in Ireland (they had Jim Lee! And I got a kick-ass coloured sketch of Kang from Carlos Pacheco! : ) and I picked up a ton of cheap trades, mostly 70’s Marvel reprints….aaaanyway, I have been mostly reading Champions Classic vol. 2, and it kicks ass! Not just for the obscure characters (Stilt-Man, The Stranger, and Black Goliath in a single issue!), but for the incredible lines of dialogue….a cheese-smothered masterpiece

3. Punisher War Journal….”Crackheads talk when a guy dressed up like a Rhino cops a squat in their crackhouse.” Man, Matt Fraction either really loves the Rhino….or really hates him

4. Avengers: Initiative….I’ve grown to love this one…..just let all my doubts about ‘heroes’ doing questionable things evaporate in the glorious sunshine of wacky that radiates from this book

I finally got around the picking up the latest “Punisher War Journal” and couldn’t agree more. That wacky Matt Fraction …

To Nick and/or Randy:

Do either of you plan on putting up a full review of Black Dossier? Since I live outside of the States, where the book can’t be sold, I’d just appreciate a little more coverage on it here.

I can’t speak for them, Martin, but I suspect it will be covered more fully in this month’s Fat Pants, as it’s a major graphic novel.

Do either of you plan on putting up a full review of Black Dossier? Since I live outside of the States, where the book can’t be sold, I’d just appreciate a little more coverage on it here.

I don’t know why I expected any more, though.

Does this mean LOEG Black Dossier sucked? If so, damn, I was really looking forward to it. I will still get it, but damn…

I’ll go on record as saying that it didn’t suck. Yes, Moore did go kind of insane-o with it at times, especially with the numerous texts pieces that resembled great big walls O’ text, but the core story was still fun and even had the same feel that the other two did. Is it a flawless victory (sorry about the bad Mortal Kombat reference)? Nope, but nor do I feel bad or cheated by picking it up. The entire LOEG story is probably my favorite Alan Moore creation and there was enough in this one for me to still think that.

2. Spent the Weekend at the Dublin Comicon here in Ireland (they had Jim Lee! And I got a kick-ass coloured sketch of Kang from Carlos Pacheco! : ) and I picked up a ton of cheap trades, mostly 70’s Marvel reprints….aaaanyway, I have been mostly reading Champions Classic vol. 2, and it kicks ass! Not just for the obscure characters (Stilt-Man, The Stranger, and Black Goliath in a single issue!), but for the incredible lines of dialogue….a cheese-smothered masterpiece

3. Punisher War Journal….”Crackheads talk when a guy dressed up like a Rhino cops a squat in their crackhouse.” Man, Matt Fraction either really loves the Rhino….or really hates him

4. Avengers: Initiative….I’ve grown to love this one…..just let all my doubts about ‘heroes’ doing questionable things evaporate in the glorious sunshine of wacky that radiates from this book

LOEG Black Dossier - Someone send out a search party! Alan Moore has officially disappeared up his own ass! Jesus, I didn’t think a book founded on a fun concept like “The 19th Century Justice League” could get more pretentious, but it did.

Does this mean LOEG Black Dossier sucked? If so, damn, I was really looking forward to it. I will still get it, but damn…

2. All-Star Superman: What a beautiful book, with a fun story too.

3. House of M: Avengers: I would buy a Gage and Perkins ongoing, on pretty much any book. Mike Perkins has gone from a Steve Epting fill-in guy to an artist worthy of carrying his own book each month.

4. Nova: Good solid read, with incredible covers.

5. Batman and the Outsiders: Not a bad start. I’m intrigued enough to keep reading.

1. Nova
2. Thor
3. Black Adam: The Dark Age
4. Wonder Woman
5. Booster Gold

I’d like to add LOEG: Black Dossier to the list, but DC won’t let us read it in the UK!!

Did you just boo at being sold out of something at our store when you do all the ordering?

Technically, I suppose, I’m boo-ing myself for not guessing right on order numbers, yes.

2, LOEG: The Black Dossier HC - Randy’s got a point that Alan Moore seems to have lost it a bit. This has most definitely taken place but still, this book was bizarrely fantastic to read. I will groan about how the text pieces almost drove me into a coma but Kevin O’Neil’s art is still striking and I’ll give any book props if they can make me wear a pair of 3-D glasses while sitting in a coffee shop. I got some strange looks from people but that in itself was a blast.

3. Nova - I Short Pantsed this one and I stand by everything that I said, and what the rest of the guys in the Panteon have said. This was a great issue. READ THIS BOOK.

4. House of M Avengers - Liked the story, loved the art. Glad to see more of Mike Perkins and I still think he should be used more. One of the best Misty Knights ever.

5. Queen & Country Operation: Red Panda - Final story arc? Possibly, but this was still a really good mini that stacks up well with the rest of them. Now, if we can only get a few more Declassified stories.

6. Avengers Initiative - Another good read, in a surprisingly good week for Marvel.

7. Wonder Woman - I like Gail Simone’s work and I’ve always thought that she’d do great stuff with WW. This one was probably the best issue since the book was relaunched but there are still quite a few problems. Some good work by Dodson though.

Courtney Crumrin And The Fire Thiefs Tale - Sold out… boo!

Did you just boo at being sold out of something at our store when you do all the ordering?

My head hurts now.

1. Scott Pilgrim V.4 - I said why in my review, but basically, Scott Pilgrim is always awesome, and this was the best volume so far, which makes it super-mega-tacular awesome.

2. Nova - Show ▼

There is almost no way a comic fitting that description can’t be great. Best issue of the series thus far.

3. House of M Avengers - So good it almost makes a case for House of M being worthy of ever existing, a delightful ’70s riff on superheroes with a great cast, good writing and spectacular art

4. Atomic Robo - Jump to the present after last issue’s origin of Robo’s U.S. citizenship, and this is a really fun riff that reminds me in all the right ways of B.P.R.D. without feeling like a knockoff. Potentially the best new title of the year.

5. Fables - Damn, this Frog Prince story is great. Maybe even knocking Homelands off the list as my favorite Fables story.

6. All Star Superman - After a couple issues of Bizarro meanderings, Morrison and Quitely get back on track with this fun done-in-one take.

7. Avengers Initiative - Fantastic read for any Spider-Man fan, best issue of the Initiative so far.

8. Marvel Adventures Hulk - Dormammu possesses a monkey and fights the Hulk. Doctor Strange kicks out the magic jams like a badass. Chris Sims over at Invincible Super-Blog called it, Paul Benjamin and David Nakayama are the heir apparent to the Parker legacy of awesome Marvel Adventures stories.

9. Batman And The Outsiders - Surprisingly fun, beautiful art, reminds me that I really need to reread Dixon’s Birds of Prey stuff at some point.

STUFF THAT MIGHT HAVE MADE THE LIST, BUT I HAVEN’T READ IT YET:
Atheist #4 - Decided to just wait for the trade at this point

BPRD Killing Ground #4 - Been too busy to read this one

Courtney Crumrin And The Fire Thiefs Tale - Sold out… boo!

Ex Machina Vol 6 Power Down TP - Diamond shorted me more than half my order, and my customer service rep (an ironic name, it turns out) fucked up the emergency direct ship, so I have to wait until next week to read it. They also shorted my entire shipment of Black Adam, but I don’t care so much about that… as a reader, at least.

STUFF THAT NOTABLY DIDN’T MAKE THE LIST:

Wonder Woman - Some great moments, but they really needed to let Simone start over with a new #1 and a new status quo. The Heinberg/Picoult baggage is too much for anyone to carry, at least for me.

World War Hulk - I wasn’t disgusted with it or anything, but it was a bit of a letdown. However, I did enjoy seeing Sentry get punched repeatedly in the face. Someone should make some kind of animated gif of that.

DMZ - I’m just not a fan of Danijel Zezelj. I know a lot of folks love him, I really don’t like his art.

LOEG Black Dossier - Someone send out a search party! Alan Moore has officially disappeared up his own ass! Jesus, I didn’t think a book founded on a fun concept like “The 19th Century Justice League” could get more pretentious, but it did.

Salvation Run - Kinda bored, and they kept referring to the Rogues killing Flash, which turned off my interest

World of Warcraft - I was hoping for something that captured the world and maybe had a little either epic quest or fun, tongue-in-cheek RPG adventure feel. Instead I got decent (but not my thing) manga-style art and a dull story about slaves, gladiatorial arenas, yadda-yadda-yadda-snoooorrrre.

6. Fables
7. Batman and the Outsiders
8. Thor
9. DMZ
10. The Sword

Hon Mention: 100 Bullets, Wonder Woman, Messiah Complex. Pretty solid week overall.

Nothing else really impressed me too much. Glad to see “Scott Pilgrim” getting so much love, but wondered about “A:I” as well. It actually made me look forward to Slott’s upcoming Spidey work.

Also, “Nova” for some reason gave me an awful “Marvel Zombies” aftertaste. I’m sooo done with that whole concept!