Action Comics | Geekscape

Geekscape Comics: Best Bets for 11/23/16

by KarsonNovember 23, 2016

It’s that wonderful time of the week again, new comic book day! Choosing what to read can be daunting (and expensive!). Don’t worry though, Geekscape has you covered. Each week we give our best bet for a comic book that you’re sure to enjoy. Let’s get into it!

It’s a quiet week from the big two publishers if you’re tastes are anything like mine. So let’s brush over them before getting to Image, who is responsible for all of this week’s sexy releases.

Marvel

I’m sure someone, somewhere once said “war never ends” or something like that. Well, I doubt they would have been referring to Marvel’s Civil War II, but they definitely could have been. Despite Marvel’s New or Now or Whatever the Heck reboot being in full effect, we still haven’t learned the conclusion of Civil War II. We get one step closer today though with the series’ seventh issue. If you’re caught in the web of Clone Conspiracy, the second Prowler tie-in issue is also out today.

DC

Nothing too crazy out of the DC camp this week. A lot of good titles but nothing I’m dying to read. Titans #5 is probably the book I’m anticipating the most, with Action Comics #968 in a close second.

Image

Get ready. There are a ton of great Image titles to read this week!

Outcast has lost a lot of it’s steam for me the past few issues, but I’m still excited to be reading another one this week.

Perhaps the series I’ve been most surprised by this year is
Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Snotgirl. I started reading this solely because O’Malley’s name was on it but after three issues I’ve really enjoyed the fresh feeling art and surprisingly interesting story line. Hopefully it gets even better with the fourth issue.

It seems like forever since we’ve had a new issue of Jason Aaron’s The Goddamned, and that’s because it has been! Well, since June. In case you forgot, here’s a snipped of the book’s description:

It’s 1,655 years after Eden, and life on Earth has already gone to hell. The world of man is a place of wanton cruelty and wickedness. Prehistoric monsters and stone-age marauders roam the land. Murder and destruction are the rule of the day. Humankind is a failed experiment. This is life before the Flood. The story of man on the verge of his first apocalypse. Welcome to the world of the Goddamned.

If I recall correctly, the first four issues were solid, so it’ll be fun to get back into this world.

Since it’s release, I’ve been saying Jonathan Hickman’s The Black Monday Murders is a book you’ll probably want to read in trade. Well, now is our chance! Sort of. The book’s first arc concludes in issue #4 today. So however you get your hands on the four issues is up to you but rest assured, you won’t regret doing it. Honestly, that’s probably what I’m most excited for this week. However, Image has one more title up it’s sleeve that I think’ll be even better!

Best Bet

A.D.: After Death Vol. 1
📝 Scott Snyder
🎨 Jeff Lemire

WHAT IF WE FOUND A CURE FOR DEATH? Two of comics’ most acclaimed creators, SCOTT SNYDER (WYTCHES, Batman, American Vampire) and JEFF LEMIRE (DESCENDER, Moon Knight, Sweet Tooth) unite to create a three-part epic like no other, set in a future where a genetic cure for death has been found. Years after the discovery, one man starts to question everything, leading him on a mind-bending journey that will bring him face-to-face with his past and his own mortality. A unique combination of comics, prose, and illustration, A.D.: AFTER DEATH will be serialized monthly as three oversized prestige format books written by SNYDER and fully painted by LEMIRE.

All I had to do was see that creative team and I knew this book was on my pull list. Having an innovative storyline and blending mediums together takes it to another level. While we won’t get it’s conclusion until the end of January, this has book of the year potential written all over it.

Geekscape Comics: Best Bets for 8/24/16

by KarsonAugust 24, 2016

Best Bet

Lake of Fire #1

$3.99
Story By: Nathan Fairbairn
Art By: Matt Smith

SERIES PREMIERE! It is 1220 AD, and the gears of the Albigensian Crusade grind on. When an alien spacecraft infested with a horde of bloodthirsty predators crash-lands in the remote wilderness of the French Pyrenees, a small band of crusaders and a Cathar heretic are all that stand between God’s Kingdom and Hell on Earth. DOUBLE-SIZED FIRST ISSUE featuring FORTY-FOUR PAGES of story with no ads for just $3.99!

Blah, blah, blah. Let me summarize:

Bloodthirsty aliens? ✔️
Knights? ✔️
Count me in.

I’m Most Excited For

Action Comics #962

$2.99
Story By: Dan Jurgens
Art By: Art Thibert, Stephen Segovia

“Path to Doom” part six! In the epic conclusion, the mystery of Black Zero deepens just as the Man of Steel makes a fateful decision that may stop Doomsday, but also risks the lives of those he loves most.

After the first few months of DC Rebirth, Action Comics is the frontrunner for my favourite new (uhh, I mean reborn?) series. I hope the conclusion is as epic as the rest of the event has been!

Honorable Mentions

Snotgirl #2
Captain America: Steve Rogers #4
Archie #11

Geekscape Comics: Weekly Reads!

by KarsonAugust 17, 2016

👎 – Skip, read at your own risk
👌 – Okay, not great, not bad, you might find something to like here
💪 – Great, highly recommended

Image

Another week and another huge Image release! This time it’s Black Monday Murders from the creative team of Jonathan Hickman and Tomm Coker.

“MAMMON” ALL HAIL GOD MONEY! From JONATHAN HICKMAN (EAST OF WEST, Secret Wars, Avengers) and TOMM COKER (UNDYING LOVE) comes a new crypto-noir series about the power of dirty, filthy money… and exactly what kind of people you can buy with it. THE BLACK MONDAY MURDERS is classic occultism where the various schools of magic are actually clandestine banking cartels who control all of society: a secret world where vampire Russian oligarchs, Black popes, enchanted American aristocrats, and hitmen from the International Monetary Fund work together to keep ALL OF US in our proper place.

This book is dense. Hickman essentially creates a world where the leaders of the financial markets are devil worshipping magicians, but you have to be a smarter person than me if you want to understand everything that’s going on in this oversized debut issue without reading it multiple times. There is tons of a dialog and diagrams as you might come to expect from Hickman. Tomm Coker’s art is a nice balance of photo-realism and creepy noir… if that makes any sense.

If you haven’t read anything from Hickman before, I strongly recommend reading this in trade as it is going to require a lot of focus to understand what’s going on.

👌 The Black Monday Murders #1

DC

This may have been the greatest week of DC’s Rebirth yet!

Action Comics has become my favourite of DC’s ongoing series. There is a ton of action in this issue as the battle with Doomsday rages on, as well as more glimpses of the cloaked men behind the scenes. This is exactly what I want in biweekly book, enough story to keep it interesting, but never too much that I feel lost or like I’ve forgotten plot points.

I’m pretty sure the creative meeting at DC before Rebirth must have went something like this:

“So what’s next for our characters?”
“How about we take every super hero we have and give their powers to everyone?”
“Ok”

The trend that began in the Flash is continuing with Super characters in Superwoman #1. I don’t even know how many of them there are now…

We have pre-Flashpoint Superman, his son, Lex Luthor Superman, Supergirl, powerless Clark Kent, the “new Super-Man” (which I haven’t read) and now not one but two Superwomen (well, sort of). That’s a whole lot of super! If you aren’t fatigued by the characters yet, I actually found Superwoman #1 to be a surprisingly enjoyable read, although a little dialog heavy at times.

Alright, one more DC title to dive into before we transition to Marvel, and that title is All-Star Batman. This is the title I was most excited about back when DC announced their Rebirth titles, basically because I recognized and was excited by the creative team. Remember, I read very little DC before Rebirth. This title is unlike any other Batman story (Batman, Detective Comics) on the market right now. John Romita Jr.’s art makes it worth the price of admission. While the book gets a little zany for Batman at times, it is still a fun and refreshing read if you are interested in a less dark Batman than what we’ve become accustom to.

💪 Action Comics #961
💪 All-Star Batman #1
👌 Deathstroke – Rebirth #1
👌 Detective Comics #938
👌 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #2
👌 Red Hood and the Outlaws #1
👌 Superwoman #1
👌 The Flash #4
👌 Wonder Woman #4

Marvel

While Civil War II isn’t of much interest to me anymore, but the few Marvel books outside of it that I’m still reading have been great and this week’s Amazing Spider-Man and Black Panther are no different!

Amazing Spider-Man is now into “Before Dead No More” but it definitely feels like the event itself. All the story lines that have felt ignored the past few issues are back in the spotlight and I’m loving it! Looks like Slott is ready to deliver us another superior (ok, bad pun) Spider-Man story.

I haven’t been into Black Panther, but this issue was one I actually enjoyed. I doubt I’ll ever go back and read these these issues and give deep thought to the themes Coates is digging into but this issue made me glad I’ve stuck with the series.

💪 Amazing Spider-Man #16
👌 Black Panther #5

Geekscape Comics: Weekly Reads!

by KarsonJuly 20, 2016

Surprise! Were you beginning to think this week’s edition of Weekly Reads was never going to be posted? Fear not, it has arrived. Things were a bit strange this week since I was camping the previous four days. Despite being able to adapt to reading digital comics, reading digital comics while camping is something I haven’t been able to master yet! So, between a full work day and a trip to the gym, I managed to squeeze a ton of comic book reading in, so without further ado, here are my brief, freshly-thought thoughts of last week’s reads!

Note: It’s getting late, so I don’t feel like tracking down the Comixology links, if you are interested in any of them, though, just Google the title followed by Comixology. Easy!

👎 – Skip, read at your own risk
👌 – Okay, not great, not bad, you might find something to like here
💪 – Great, highly recommended

DC

💪 Action Comics #959
👌 Detective Comics #936
👌 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps – Rebirth #1
👌 Nightwing – Rebirth #1
👌 The Flash #2
👌 Wonder Woman #2

Sadly, being able to keep up with all of DC’s new books may be coming to an end, but I decided to give it at least another week, we’ll see how much longer I can keep up. For the most part, I am loving everything DC is putting out right now and this week was no different.

Action Comics is a blast right now! I know it’s very similar to BVS (with Doomsday and all), but this is so much better! I love the way Jurgen’s handle’s Superman’s son. The action moments are awesome, the character moments are awesome, this book is a solid read. While there is some continuity to deal with it, I think the book does a good enough job of providing you with the jot notes.

If you remember a few weeks back, we discussed how Detective Comics would likely be a book more focused on Batman’s team? That point was driven home in issue #936, early on we find out Batman has been defeated in battle and it’s up to his unprepared team to save the day! If you’re only going to read one of the Batman titles, I’d recommend Batman over this, though.

This week’s Rebirth titles, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps and Nightwing, are both decent offerings. Hal Jordan might not be as accessible to new DC readers as their other titles are. It’ll take a few issues before I can get a sense of whether these books are worth recommending to those who aren’t superfans of the character.

I’m not sure if I’m just stupid, but I have no idea what’s going on in Wonder Woman so if you are digging that tweet me about it.

Marvel

👎 Civil War II #3
💪 Power Man and Iron Fist #6
👎 All-New X-Men #11

Sorry everyone, if you like Civil War II, you should probably read about it elsewhere. I’ll continue to subject myself to its torture, but I just can’t get into it. I’m sure there are a lot of people who enjoy it, and maybe it’s worth giving it a shot in trade, but for one reason or another, I just can’t get into it. The events in it seem to play out randomly, it lacks cohesion with other Civil War II titles, and overall I just can’t help but feel that it is a cheap attempt by Marvel to collect money from their fans.

A tough issue for Danny Rand, things go from bad to worse as this issue plays out and concludes with it’s biggest cliffhanger yet. Not quite as many laughs per page as you might be used to from this series but there is still some genuine laugh out loud moments. I didn’t like Captain Marvel’s cameo in this issue, her tone her doesn’t match her tone in the other Civil War titles. This is only a minor flaw, though. Flaviano’s artwork isn’t quite on the same level as Sanford Greene’s, but it gets the job done. Power Man and Iron Fist remain one my favourite series’ that Marvel is currently putting out.

Don’t let the cover fool you, you won’t find an adult Apocalypse in All-New X-Men #11, I assume that’s Marvel trying to sucker you into giving them more of your money. I enjoyed this story arc decently enough; it was cool seeing Apocalypse as a heroic child, although it’s too bad that we will probably never see what goes on to change him. Honestly, the ending to this aspect of Apocalypse Wars falls a little flat, just like all the books within it. The days of prioritizing the X-Men at Marvel seem to be long past, and it seems they are destined to follow in the footsteps of the Fantastic Four until a time comes where they require the film rights.

Image

Anyone check out Horizon #1? I haven’t had a chance yet, but hopefully, I get a chance to in the following weeks!

Book of the Week

Action Comics #959 blew me away. Love how the title balances action-packed battle sequences with endearing character moments.

Second Full-Length Trailer Debuts For ‘Man Of Steel’

by Shawn MaddenApril 16, 2013

Following a short viral campaign for the film, which included a Kryptonian timer counting down to the release, a second full-length trailer has debuted for Zack Snyder’s highly-anticipated Man Of Steel.The trailer delivers an even better look at what is sure to be one of the biggest releases of the summer.

In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Cavill) is a young twentysomething journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond anyone’s imagination. Transported to Earth years ago from Krypton, an advanced alien planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question – Why am I here? Shaped by the values of his adoptive parents Martha (Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Costner), Clark soon discovers that having super abilities means making very difficult decisions. But when the world needs stability the most, it comes under attack. Will his abilities be used to maintain peace or ultimately used to divide and conquer? Clark must become the hero known as “Superman,” not only to shine as the world’s last beacon of hope but to protect the ones he loves.

Man Of Steel soars into theaters June 14, 2013.

Geekscape Comics: New ‘Action Comics’ Creative Team Revealed

by Shawn MaddenOctober 10, 2012

It was confirmed earlier today by DC Comics that writer Andy Diggle (Daredevil) will be joined by Tony Daniel (Detective Comics) on art duties when the duo take over Action Comics from Grant Morrison as of issue #18. Diggle is probably best known for a controversial run on Daredevil and Daniels most recently wrote a very boring run on Detective. It also appears we may be seeing Superman donning a new suit in the first look at Tony Daniels artwork.

Diggle on the working on Action Comics:

“Even in an industry dominated by superheroes, Superman is THE superhero – the original and best – and I’m flattered, daunted and inspired in equal measure at being given the opportunity to build on such an incredible and historic legacy. The word ‘iconic’ is bandied around a lot in comics, but Superman defines the term. I’m excited to be working with Tony Daniel, whose artistic and storytelling skills will be bringing the world(s) of Superman to stunning visual life. Together we’ll be carving out spectacular new adventures that respect the past while redefining the future of the Man of Steel.”

Source: DC

Geekscape Comics: Grant Morrison Leaving Action Comics And Batman Incorporated

by Shawn MaddenJuly 23, 2012

An a recent interview with CBR, Grant Morrison made an announcement that is sure to be very upsetting to fans. Morrison announced that he would be stepping away from ongoing superhero books for the time being.

The ‘Action Comics’ run concludes with issue #16, ‘Batman Incorporated’ wraps up my take with issue #12, and after that I don’t have any plans for monthly superhero books for a while. ‘Multiversity’ is eight issues and I’m 30-odd pages into a Wonder Woman project but those are finite stories.

While the news of Morrison working on a Wonder Woman project may make Geekscape writer Eric Diaz quite happy the rest of the news here is sure to disappoint a number of Morrison’s fans.