Top Five Fridays 4/25/08
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’s Top Five Books of the Moment
- Pigeons From Hell
- Annihilation Conquest
- Incredible Hercules
- Amazing Spider-Man
- Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files
Dave Farabee’s Top Five Books of the Moment
- Hulk
- Hack/Slash
- Northlanders
- Uncanny X-Men
- Warhammer 40K: Blood & Thunder TP
Dan Grendell’s Top Five Books of the Moment
- Fables
- Hack/Slash
- Thor
- Hulk Vs. Hercules
- Northlanders
Randy Lander’s Top Five Books of the Moment
- Northlanders
- Fables
- Dynamo 5
- Hack/Slash
- Wormwood Calamari Rising
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1) Wolverine: First Class- #2 was a great read, too. Still strumming that old-school Claremont chord but I am fine with that…that is still the best era of X-Men to me so there you go. And I love that they used a real restaurant for the location. Spooky.
2) Young Avengers- Vision
3) Fables- Continues to be cool and the new twist at the end to where this story might go is interesting.
4) Warhammer: Forge of War TB- Fantastic dark fantasy.
5) Hawksmoore- Sue me. I like this character a lot.
25 Apr 2008 at 5:01 pm
Quote1. my new favrote Manga inubaka. No really!
2 basil Wolerton in Space (many years ago by dark horse it’s great but better cheaper.
3 Bat lash 4
I don’t have a 4 or 5
25 Apr 2008 at 5:24 pm
QuoteIf you know Inubaka, you know…”HAPPY PEE!”
I only read the first volume of it, but it was really fun, had great dog art, and was so very clearly not afraid of animal pee and poo.
So very clearly.
25 Apr 2008 at 5:43 pm
QuoteNot a great week overall but there were enough to make a solid top 5:
1. Fables
2. Northlanders
3. Thor
4. Ultimate Spider-Man
5. Dynamo 5
Morrison’s Batman continues to be maddeningly uneven. How awful was that artwork this week? For such a high profile book with such a high profile writer they should really make it a priority to get an A-list artist on that title and keep them there.
25 Apr 2008 at 6:12 pm
Quotei’m good pals with the edtior of inyubaka and i’d like believe he listened very well to my lecture on sound effects
25 Apr 2008 at 9:25 pm
QuoteI second that. I nominate Joe Bennett since he’s finshed with Checkmate.
Seeing Fables on people’s top 5 list, make me sometimes regret waiting the trade for it. Glad to see it’s still enjoyable. I’m surprised it was left out of the Eisner nomination apart from James Jean for Best Cover Artist. And while were at it, All-Star Superman as well. I know we got a long way till the end of the year but I have to say, last issue of All-Star Supes was the best story written this year.
26 Apr 2008 at 12:38 am
QuoteI was out of the loop this week, but I got a chance to read most of this week’s books this morning, and there was a good haul of stuff that I enjoyed.
1. Thor - Simply a great issue. Love the Thor and Odin, father/son relationship and the outcome of the story. Also thought Djurdjevic’s artwork was filled with mighty amounts of awesome.
2. Hack/Slash - Seeley is still doing phenomenal things with these characters. I can’t say that enough. The ongoing story of who Cassie’s father really is is ramping up too, and the supporting cast just adds more goodness to the it. I love this series.
3. Northlanders - I’m up and down with this series. It’s always solid but there are times when it doesn’t mesh with my current mood. This issue though was DAMN good. Wood is fleshing out the bastard of a main character, and making him someone to actually like. The art is impeccable as well.
4. Transformers Spotlight: Grimlock - I’m a sucker for most things having to do with Transformers, and Grimlock is just one of those characters that I’ve always liked. The art is a bit hit and miss but the story in this one was well crafted and made the character as cool as he should be.
5. Wormwood Calamari Rising - Pure fun. That is all.
6. Fables - Espionage. Murder. Intrigue. Cinderella. War. This one has it all.
7. Uncanny X-Men - Not loving everything that Brubaker is doing with this one, but there are some cool, almost retro, things going on and he makes the relationship between Scott and Emma something that works.
26 Apr 2008 at 11:38 am
Quotekeep meaning to try x-men first class in fact I will this week. No interst in Brubeaker’s X-Men. He’s the best writer I don’t really like at all. His melencoly gets on my nerves.
26 Apr 2008 at 1:43 pm
QuoteDon’t start with this week’s First Class! It’s very much not representative of the series, being more of a meta-commentary issue in the style of those Dan Slott She-Hulk issues. It’s…uhh…got a group of kids called the “Continui-Teens”, so…yeah.
26 Apr 2008 at 2:53 pm
Quotewell actully that does’nt sound bad the orginal x-men DO have a lot of funny Meta stuff about them (bare with me some of this is funny.)
1 I think x-men and maybe Daredevil were re-writes Daredevil was Spider-man age 40 and X-MEN was the FF go to boarding school
2 think how little Stan thought about their orgin “they were BORN ok?”
3. they did’nt even DO much with the school idea (the orginal x-men graduated in uh…I think issuse 16? Whenver it happened it’s not mentioned again.
4 when Magneto shows up in ff 97 (shortly after x-men goes to reprints) Nobody mentions the x-men
5 the poor kids were replaced by a much better team with a kick ass killing machine on it they cant win
26 Apr 2008 at 3:56 pm
Quoteyo Dave f you were right this first class sucked pretty hard but I Also see it as a good comic sidetracked by a plot Marvel has a total fetish for.
27 Apr 2008 at 2:47 pm
QuoteYeah, sorry you just happened to stumble onto the issue where they decided to Make A Point, but don’t let it put you off trying some other issues to see what a strong superhero book it usually is.
27 Apr 2008 at 3:10 pm
Quoteyeah somebody at Marvel is obessed with the sort of “middle-brow mental masterbation” (like that phrase?) you can get into with the “What if Marvel was real? nonsense. two points about that kind of story
1 you have to use that plot REAL CAREFULLY
2 do we ever get to see a story where the comic readers are generals or presedents? Do they always have to be such DANG NERDS (OR nuts like sentry?) it’s kind of off-putting Marvel subext 3
27 Apr 2008 at 4:22 pm
QuoteWait…I don’t read First Class by issues, is this latest issue you’re talking about what I think it is? Marvel’s commentary on what they seen as “anal fans”, like those upset by One More Day? If so, up theirs, and nice way to waste an issue of one of your best series
But putting negativity aside…
1. Fables - I’m a bit frustrated by how cryptic Willingham is being with this story, but it’s still awesome and I’m patient enough for it to play out.
2. Hulk vs Herc - one of my favorite issues of the Herc run so far, even though it’s not really an issue.
3. Annihilation: Conquest - only now got to read this issue. Didn’t purchase my own copy because I can’t wait to own the thing in the second deluxe hardcover.
4. Batman - the latest Grant Morrison project you’re not sure whether to love or hate. I guess it’s all the hype for RIP that actually has me excited about this book right now.
5. Countdown - because it’s over
27 Apr 2008 at 7:25 pm
Quoteas a friend said about DC three years ago “all these crossovers need you to know everything DC then tells you all you knew was wrong!”
If you (Marvel not you guys you all rock) are going to write stories about those awfully geeks you risk losing my money on the massive crossover where were supose to figure out who’s a skrull
27 Apr 2008 at 8:01 pm
QuoteI feel compelled to explain the presence of Loeb’s The Hulk on my list…
Y’know how a lot of folks read All-Star Batman for the outrageousness value? Well that’s definitely a part of Hulk’s appeal for me. It’s sort of “my” All-Star Batman when it delivers howler lines like “A-BOMB HATES GIANT BETTY BIRDFACE!” But where Miller’s Batman drips with self-parody and cynicism, there’s something endearing about Loeb’s brand of neo-Silver Age. It’s a long ways from Morrison’s approach on All-Star Supes - Grant’s is more multilayered and more enamored with the absurd, Loeb’s revels in bombast and action for action’s sake - but I like that they both come from an unabashedly superhero-y place.
I also like the mystery angle. It’s all a bit silly and random but it’s a fun hook, and I’m just hoping that the parlor room scene isn’t so absurd as to put me off of the story. I won’t be shocked if it is, but I’m hoping it isn’t. I liked Loeb and McGuinness’s opening arc on Superman/Batman enough to buy the trade and I’m hoping the same will hold true with Hulk.
Lastly…I love McGuinness’s art. Definitely his own guy when it comes to style. I mean, who else would dare for immaculate puffiness when it comes to choosing an aesthetic? Artists love drawing big monsters beating the hell out of each other and I can sense that love when McGuinness does it:
http://www.comicartcommunity.com/gallery/details.php?image_id=28041&sessionid=cc56f32e81a0c682910e05aa80100464
All in all, a book whose sum is very much greater than its parts. It’s the first time in a while I’ve felt so drawn to a book that I know damn well is a bit crap
28 Apr 2008 at 3:55 am
QuoteI know that folks in these here parts have problems with Avengers both Mighty and New, but did anyone happen to check out ‘Mighty Avengers’ last week?
I bought it for the first time since I’m really into ‘Secret Invasion’ right now and was surprised.
It was a nice little showcase of Nick Fury as the ultimate spy right after he dropped off the map.
And no abuse of thought bubbles!
However, this tale, being a flashback and all, is *very* out of step with how the book is usually written.
28 Apr 2008 at 11:50 am
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