Top Five Fridays 2/15/2008
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
- Battle Royale Ultimate Ed HC Vol 2
- BPRD: 1946
- Fantastic Four
- Nova Annual
- X-Factor
Dave Farabee
- Astro City
- Amazing Spider-Man
- Showcase Presents Enemy Ace
- Fantastic Four
- X-Factor
Dan Grendell
- Showcase Presents Enemy Ace
- BPRD: 1946
- Wonder Woman
- Battle Royale Ultimate Ed HC Vol 2
- X-Factor
Randy Lander
- Battle Royale Ultimate Ed HC Vol 2
- Walking Dead
- Nova Annual
- X-Factor
- Wonder Woman
David Martindale (D3)
- Nova Annual
- Battle Royale Ultimate Ed HC Vol 2
- X-Factor
- Amazing Spider-man
- Wonder Woman
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1. Astro City Special: Beautie
2. Nova Annual
3. BRPD 1946
4. X-Factor
5. Amazing Spider-Girl
15 Feb 2008 at 4:15 pm
Quotewhat happened to Rumble Pants? It was a bit silly, but I always enjoyed it.
15 Feb 2008 at 4:32 pm
QuoteRock Band.
Rock Band happened.
15 Feb 2008 at 4:45 pm
Quote1. Fantastic Four
2. X-Factor
3. Amazing Spider-Man
4. Uncanny X-Men
5. New Alias. Sorry, Avengers
Nova would be in there but I’m on trades with it.
15 Feb 2008 at 5:21 pm
Quotei usually don’t have a top five. but i gotta say walking dead would be number one for me. this ish and past issues have been stellar.
15 Feb 2008 at 6:39 pm
QuoteHey guys! I remember you reviewing the Hellboy vol. I HC for your February Down-the-line but I can’t find information anywhere when this is coming out. Even on Dark Horse’s website, there is no solicitations or anything. Am I just an idiot and can’t find it or have they delayed its release?
15 Feb 2008 at 7:01 pm
QuoteAre the extra features in the Battle royale Ultimate Ed HC vol 2 good, becasue I bought the vol 1 and I found them somewhat underwhelming.
15 Feb 2008 at 11:25 pm
QuoteI also miss Rumble Pants.
a new podcast would be nice too…… (hint hint, wink wink)
15 Feb 2008 at 11:58 pm
Quote1. Maps - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2. I Fought The Law - The Clash
3. Cherub Rock - The Smashing Pumpkins
4. My Iron Lung - Radiohead
5. Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers
16 Feb 2008 at 12:23 am
QuoteOK that was clever to pass up
1. Run to the Hills- Iron Maiden
2. Enter Sandman- Metallica
3. In Bloom- Nirvana
4. Sabotage- Beastie Boys
5. Reptilia- The Strokes
16 Feb 2008 at 2:36 am
Quote1) No love from the Panteon for Astro City: Beautie? Busiek hits another one-shot out of the park. I am not that in love with the Dark Age but his one-shot stories have usually been big winners to me. This newest issue, the story of the constant background character Beautie, the animated full size Barbie doll, is great stuff. Oh, and Radiohead “Creep”
That said, the rest:
2) X-Factor and The Hives “Main Offender”
3) Nova Annual and Blue Oyster Cult “Don’t Fear the Reaper” (finally, a video game with honest to god More Cowbell!!!)
4) Blue Beetle first trade (thanks!) and Jet “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” (both of these were better than I thought on the surface)
5) Suicide Squad and Garbage “I Think I’m Paranoid”
16 Feb 2008 at 10:02 am
QuoteLots of set-up issues this week.
1. The Goon — set-up, but some great sequences, such as Frankie’s dream and his discovery upon waking. I never see this book make the Comicpants top 5. Are we all taking it for granted at this point?
2. Fantastic Four — I saw enough to just wait for the trade now. Wasn’t surprised at the quality because I figured this would be closer to Millar’s UFF run than his awkward Civil War characterizations. Loved Hitch’s Kirby-esque spread at the end.
3. Wolverine — Given current events, I found it a bit tasteless to see Mystique blow up mosques in Iran and slaughter innocents in Afghanistan. But she IS a villain, so whatever. The X-Men relaunches aren’t doing it for me. Despite being mildly interested here, I think I’ll stop with them.
4. Scalped Vol. 2, Casino Boogie. I hope this book isn’t cancelled.
5. Crossing Midnight Vol. 2, A Map of Midnight. I hope this book isn’t…oh, wait.
16 Feb 2008 at 10:48 am
Quotemy two favs were wonder woman and that CMX manga dokkoida this past week.
16 Feb 2008 at 4:55 pm
QuoteRumble Pants will return, but I’ve been putting it together based on lists we have, and the last one needed some tweaking and I’ve been on really limited time lately. Soon, it will be back.
Nope, Dark Horse (and increasingly DC and others) advance solicit so that their trades and hardcovers wind up coming out a month or two later than the other books in Previews. I believe that Hellboy Vol. 1 HC is due on April 9th.
Nope, extras are pretty sparse. But if you didn’t buy the original manga, the hardcovers are cheaper, slightly larger and contain larger chunks of story in each. If you already have the manga, you definitely don’t need the hardcover.
I had Chinatown on my Top 5 the week it came out, or the week thereafter. Given the long delays between issues, and that I find the book a more satisfying read in trades, I’m pretty much waiting for the trade on this series.
A good week, if I’d had time I would have written Short Pants reviews again. Since I didn’t…
1. Battle Royale Ultimate Ed HC Vol 2 - Great stuff in this issue, including the first face/off between Sugi and uh, crazy bad guy whose name I forget. Oh, and the bomb-building stuff is fantastic too.
2. Walking Dead - I’m still not wild about the eeeevvviilll Governor (not terribly subtle, and usually too dark even for a book about a zombie apocalypse), but that last page was awesome. Can’t wait to see what happens next, so that gives the book a leg up in terms of Top 5.
3. Nova Annual - See full review
4. X-Factor - Best issue of the entire series thus far, awesome action sequence with Jamie and Purifiers at the end, nice transition issue for everybody - basically, see my Wednesday Number One review for more of why I liked it.
5. Wonder Woman - Wasn’t wild about Gail’s first issue, but having read the entire arc in one sitting, I was really impressed, and thought this was a pretty strong ending with kickass action.
6. BPRD 1946 - Creepy monster girl, cool Nazi vampire plot, great stuff with soldiers and early B.P.R.D.
7. Foundation - As with the second issue, I like that it’s a psychological story about the toll of trying to prevent prophecy as much as a high-concept sci-fi suspense piece.
8. Amazing Spider-Man - Surprise! Guggenheim is hitting the sweet spot for classic Spidey, I like what he’s doing with Jackpot, *love* the inclusion of C-lister Blue Shield and I’m pretty happy with Larocca’s art.
9. American Virgin - Felt kinda like Seagle saying “Oh yeah, cancel my book, will you? Then I’m going to fucking blow it all up!” Still solid, but a bit jarring and unfortunately not the ending I was looking for. *Almost* puts me off buying the last trade, but the rest of it has been so good, and the art is still great.
10. Suicide Squad Raise The Flag - Still not wild about the inclusion of modern-day DC universe elements (I grit my teeth every time I see Flag alive, or Boomerang Jr. instead of classic Boomerbutt), but this has good action, political/corporate intrigue reminiscent of Ostrander’s ’80s work and Amanda Waller controlling Chemo.
11. Atomic Robo - Still digging this science adventure book with nice art, and I loved the team investigating what seemed to be an empty old hideout. Nice suspense building.
12. X-Force - I don’t remember why. But I liked it enough when I read it.
Oh, and…
Top 5 Rock Band Original Songs:
1. “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” Jet - Every part is fun to play/sing on this one\
2. “Dani California” Red Hot Chili Peppers - Fun drums and guitar, my favorite part on this is the singing
3. “Won’t Get Fooled Again” The Who - Awesome drums and guitar, but if you can get someone who can really wail on the mic, it’s a great song for everybody
4. “Say It Ain’t So” Weezer - After it came up on Mystery Setlist a billion times, the sight of this song made me want to put a gun in my mouth… but once it didn’t show up *every time you tried to play* I remembered how much I liked all the parts
5. “Wanted Dead or Alive” Bon Jovi - Just too much cheesy fun to pass up, and I love the guitar part
This was really tough to pick, and I’ve got another half-dozen that could easily have made the list.
Top 5 Downloadable Songs:
1. Cheat Pick - All 3 of the Oasis pack - I loved this pack most of anything else I downloaded
2. “Bang a Gong (Get It On)” T.Rex - So much fun in a group, especially if your singer gets into it
3. “Hard to Handle” Black Crowes - Ditto
4. “Gimme Three Steps” Lynyrd Skynyrd - Classic Southern rock
5. “My Sharona” Knack - A blast to play on drums or guitar, and kinda fun to sing too
I’m bummed by what Wikipedia lists as the March releases. Not a lot that I’m excited about, there are a few I’ll play, but nothing I was really hoping for. I’m weirded out that they keep picking more obscure songs (I have four Weezer albums, and I’ve *never* heard El Scorcho before tonight… and you’re doing more Garbage, and you pick Why Do You Love Me? instead of “Only Happy When It Rains” or “Push It” or “Temptation Waits”… wtf?) I’m dying for some Fratellis (although I know that’s unlikely) and I’d love some Green Day, Spoon, Van Halen and basically just more alternative and classic rock and less metal.
After how good the initial downloadable content was, I’m hoping that wasn’t a fluke, and that these stranger, more obscure selections are an anomaly.
17 Feb 2008 at 12:50 am
QuoteSpoilery post…
I am shocked at home much I like MG’s Spidey. Especially after how much I did not like the Slott issues. I usually love Walking Dead but I have to say I was kind of bummed that the one black guy got beheaded so soon after the one black female was brutally raped. I know he says in the letter page it’s not what it looks like but damn.
17 Feb 2008 at 4:42 pm
QuoteMine this week:
1. Nova Annual
2. Fantastic Four
3. Amazing Spider-Man
4. Booster Gold
5. The Foundation.
18 Feb 2008 at 12:45 pm
QuoteAfter reading the Walking Dead last week, I just really needed to be held.
18 Feb 2008 at 1:28 pm
QuoteWe at your LCS do not provide this service, Murphy. But we will kiss your boo-boos.
18 Feb 2008 at 6:34 pm
QuoteHard to handle is on Rock band? that’s a tougie!
19 Feb 2008 at 4:21 pm
QuoteWhat, no Cable & Deadpool love?
It was freaking awesome.
–Tom
22 Feb 2008 at 3:07 pm
Quote