Detective Comics/The Legend of Wonder Woman

I'll be the first to say I'm Marvel all the way but recently I've found my comic cravings drifting towards DC to get my satisfaction of a good story. I've tried a few of their titles to start off with but one of the ones I enjoy the most is perhaps a surprising one; their namesake: Detective Comics.




I started by randomly picking up DC #45-#46 when I was in the mood for some Batman but didn't like the look of the current Bats line-up. I went in with an open mind but probably still wasn't prepared for how out there the story was. My perception of DC has thus far been epic stories only, Batman: Year One/Knightfall/Death in the Family, etc. I didn't expect such an unhinged story arc. First off Gordon is Batman now, and he wears lot of different suits.

That's about as much as you need to know to get maximum enjoyment out of this title since the stories are anything and everything. DC #46 was about a mythical snow-giant/alien...thing where the Justice League gets involved. DC #48 (this month's offering) is about... George Washington. Like I said, unhinged. It's exactly what I was looking for, especially since everything Marvel seems to be graniose story arcs (Parker Industries anyone?) or incredibly mundane story arcs (Hellcat and She Hulk...), DC provided a decent, well, detective story.
Coincidentally the three I picked up are the ones written by Peter J. Tomasi (the only other one he wrote was #27!). So it could be a case that I'm a Tomasi fan and never realised it!

On another note I picked up The Legend of Wonder Woman #1 last week by Renae De Liz and her husband (whom she met at San Diego Comic-Con!) Ray Dillon. It was my first time reading Wonder Woman and I loved, instantly hooked.

New Deadpool Movie Poster

The geniuses behind the upcoming Deadpool movie have released another poster for the movie but this one is a Comic Book Movie Poster!

The artist is Diana Greenhalgh, have a gander at her commission work on her Instagram page here!

Winter fresh. #DeadpoolCore

A photo posted by @deadpoolmovie on Jan 26, 2016 at 10:05am PST

All-New Wolverine/Snow Blind

From issue #1, note the overhead Angel accessory.

Snow Blind #1 Cover

All new wolverine
I talked about All-New Wolverine #1 previously and how much I enjoyed it. Well since then we're up to issue #4. Issue #5 lands in the first week of February so there's time to get in while the getting is good! I've read up to issue #3 myself and I'm really enjoying it so far. She's a very cool no nonsense kind of character but she's a lot more willing to trust others than Logan ever was. And unlike old man Wolverine she wants to break the cycle of killing early on in her career.


Our first story with new Wolverine involves getting into her past a little bit with a splash of too-many-clones. On one hand it's tempting to ask Marvel to go with a bigger story arc for her first story in her own title, taking on something bigger than her past. At the same time that's how our beloved Logan started out when in Vol. 1 Issue #1 Wolverine travels back to Japan. Since then Japan has been a big part of Logan's character. The first three issues of All-New Wolverine have seen her discover that she was cloned by Alchemax (yes, the Alchemax from 2099) and has a few 'sisters', one of whom causes a fuss in Paris in the first issue.

The other sisters are planning something sinister and have been accused of burning down a laboratory so Wolverine joins the hunt to track them down but all may not be as it seems...




Snow Blind

This really deserves a much longer post of its own but for now a snippet will have to do. Snow Blind is the new mini-series from Boom! Studios, written by Ollie Masters and drawn (beautifully) by Tyler Jenkins (Peter Panzerfaust). The story centers around Teddy Ruffins who has recently discovered that his parents may be hiding some pretty big secrets from him. It's a story that involves isolation, frustration, persistence and great art.

The series will go for four issues, we're only on issue #2 this week so plenty of time to start reading.

Star Wars: Poe Dameron

The penny dropped for me after a while that the central character in Shattered Empire issues #1-5 was in fact Poe Dameron's mother! Well now he's getting his own Marvel mini-series written by Charles Soule (Daredevil, Lando) and drawn by Phil Noto (Chewbacca, Uncanny X-Force).

Phil Noto was born to do Star Wars comics especially iconic images like X-Wings and colourful jump suits! He previously had a taste of the Star Wars universe working on the recent Chewbacca mini-series. The first issue cover leaves me already foaming at the mouth in anticipation! Noto's art was inspired by what he saw on screen from Isaac as well.

“Seeing so much of him on screen, it’s easier in a way to act that part out in my head while I’m drawing: How would Oscar Isaac act in this situation as Poe Dameron?” - Phil Noto (artist)

The writer Charles Soule has previously worked on the Lando mini-series which I reviewed less than favourably (to put it mildly...) and Obi-Wan and Anakin which just came out this month.

So what do we know about Dameron? Thankfully little. 

"...the way the Episode VII galaxy is set up, there are opportunities for new archetypes almost, and the bad guy we’re working with is going to feel fresh and cool.” - Charles Soule (writer)

I was pleased that he wasn't given many lines in the film since he's such a nice guy it would have seemed too obvious that they were trying to replace another likeable guy who *spoiler* might not make it to end of the movie...Oscar Isaac's demeanor really helps people love the character as well. 

He's one hell of a pilot as seen in the flying scenes in Force Awakens but apparently this is going to be more of a lone ranger type story-line. Fan reaction to the character was enthusiastic, let's hope Noto/Soule live up to the expectation!

Deadpool & Cable: Split Second

Deadpool and Cable are back!

Prepare yourselves for the continuation of the endless Deadpool alternatives, team-ups and of course variants (I picked up the Anka variant this week like a sucker). The first issue though I couldn't help but pick up if only for nostalgic reasons; Cable was always one of my favourite X-story arcs and Deadpool is... Deadpool.

If you're expecting a lot of gags, singing to himself and vicious violence then you will not be disappointed with this first issue. It begins with the Merc-with-a-mouth tearing up some Hydra nobodies (literally no-bodies when Wade is done with them...) in collaboration with SHIELD. After this we switch to Cable who's having visions of Wade killing someone. Hilarity ensues. The story then centers around tracking down a time-travel scientist who was working with Hydra and trying their best not to kill him.

"Deadpool shoots a lot of guys. Don't forget that part!" - writer Reilly Brown (this is an actual quote)

Issue 1 came out in Digital only format in October to run as a six issue series. The physical release came just in December so now is the perfect time to get down to your friendly local comic book store and grab a copy!

If you haven't seen the latest Deadpool trailer, have a look here! *Warning: May not be safe for work*

Preview: Spider-Man #1

Brian Michael Bendis (Invincible Iron-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Old Man Logan) and Sara Pichelli team up to bring us Spider-Man #1.


What can we expect? Probably strong writing and nice art work if their previously well-reviewed Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man is anything to go by. Before this new comic the only appearance of Miles Morales (Spider-Man) was in the pseudo alter-Marvel Universe (what a mouthful!) after the death of Peter Parker in those comics. Spider-Man #1 will be his first adventure in the 'real' Marvel Universe.





So, the current Spider-Man titles are:

Spider-Man/Deadpool
Spidey
The Amazing Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2099
Spider-Man
Spider-Woman
Spider-Gwen

Thank God Spider-verse is over at least...

Spider-Man #1 looks awesome from the preview, first issue is February 2016!

The Fett

I recently changed the profile picture on the Facebook page for this blog to one of my favourite Star Wars covers and I thought I'd write a little about the comic history of one of Star Wars' favourite bad boys: Boba Fett.

Self-replicating, self-motivating and ruthless, Boba Fett has become a fan favourite since appearance in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Seen on the command deck of Vader's personal super destroyer, the Executor, along with the other "scum" bounty hunters, Fett's character had few lines but all of them awesome. The original voice actor, Jason Wingreen, died on Christmas Day but new fan's might not recognise his voice anyway since his voice was re-dubbed with Temuera Morrison's voice in 2004 to tie in with prequel Boba Fett.

Fett's first official appearance is not entirely agreed upon between comic fans. He appeared in the Marvel Special Edition #2 but since this was more of a magazine than the traditional comic many take the first appearance to be Star Wars 42 on the cover with Bossk and Dengar.

It seems clear that fans take this as the real first appearance since a graded 9.6 Marvel Special is valued around $80 whereas the same grade Star Wars 42 is $300!

Fett's next appearance (and my favourite Fett cover) wasn't until Star Wars 68 in 1983. A graded 9.6 of this bad boy will cost you over $100 although grades this high for this time are hard to come by.

The Fett-man is still as popular as ever among fans. You can play as Slave-1, Fett's heavily customised Firespray spaceship, in the new Star Wars Battlefront. And gamers playing X-Wing miniatures game can use Fett in Imperial or Scum and Villainy squadrons.

The recent Star Wars volume 2 from Marvel had an absurd amount of variants for the first issue, one of which is Fett in the classic Punisher pose!

 

All-New Wolverine/Carnage

All-New Wolverine

The Marvel 'All-New Everything' phase has brought us some interesting alternatives to our regular Marvel readings. One of those is All-New Wolverine. After Logan's demise (I said spoiler before that didn't I?) his clone, Weapon XXIII, has taken up his old mantle. 

As an aside, it's no secret that Marvel have pushed the more-females-in-comics agenda big time. They've pulled this off so well it's actually a little hard to believe it was so seamless! Of my favourite takes on this are Spider-Woman, Gwenpool (the Christmas Special is worth picking up as a good introduction, add Howard the Duck to your regular reading for more also) and now I'm happy to add Laura Kinney, the All-New Wolverine, to that list. Meanwhile DC have Batgirl...and not much else of note as regards female books. If Marvel can sell an anthropomorphic duck comic successfully you have to wonder why DC haven't changed tactic even a little bit. In saying that DC were ahead of the curve with Supergirl.

Onto the story. Weapon XXIII, also called Laura Kinney, was created as a killing machine, an assassin extraordinaire but she's stopped all that now to be one of the good guys. I also like the fact that the first syllable of each part of her name is close to Logan (La-Kin). Or I could just be missing Patch too much...

The first issue switches between dark and damp Paris where Wolverine is trying to prevent an assassination and flashback scenes in middle-American farmlands where Weapon XXIII is learning to cope with not being a savage killing machine with the help of mentor Logan. Back in Paris her assistant is another experienced X-Man, the Angel. There's a lot of good humour in this issue, and really well-delivered, I think a new subscription is on the cards. 

Carnage

I also picked up Carnage #1 and grabbed the Perkins #1 Variant while I was at it. It's not the greatest cover ever but I love it. Reminds me of the cover with Venom when I stayed in my cousins house as a kid which gave me nightmares due to being glow-in-the-dark.

Carnage #1 follows the rather insane Cletus Kasady. Gerry Conway doesn't even hold back on quite how insane Kasady is. The opening scene where he's just sitting eating his sandwich has you feeling sympathy for the poor waitress serving him surrounded by corpses.
The story revolves around the FBI trying to capture Kasady (already an awful idea...) with the help of using a woman as bait. The woman is the sole survivor of Kasady's first ever massacre (Yay! Childhood memories!).

I bought it mostly for nostalgic reasons so it's unlikely I keep buying it. When it comes to serious gruesome writing DC has me covered but I'll talk about those another time.