Tag Archives: Brightest Day

Weekly Anticipation: Wonder Canny Ultimates

by windiebird

(Cover by Kaare Andrews, Marvel Comics)

Ultimate Comics Ultimates 1 – and the rest of the new Ultimate Comics titles – are all covered by my arch-art-nemesis…but that doesn’t change my jubilant, crazy-fan elation this week in the slightest! Jonathan Hickman writes with a goal in mind and always with character first and Esad Ribic’s preview art is stunning. This looks like a strong start to a new Ultimate Universe, be sure to pick it up on Wednesday!

(Cover by Joshua Middleton, DC Comics)

Wonder Woman 614 concludes what has slowly and surely become a favorite title of mine. A simple but fitting metaphor to end it all (until next month); Diana literally battling the worst parts of herself in order to define and discover who she really is. Phil Hester, thanks for introducing me to how cool Wonder Woman can be. JMS, even though I give you nothing but flak, thanks to you too for coming up with a pretty neat idea…for Phil to finish, sorry! Really though, thanks for making this happen, DC, I’m now a true fan of Diana thanks to this mini-reboot of hers.

(Cover by Esad Ribic, Marvel Comics)

Uncanny X-Force 13 makes the list simply for its enduring quality in art and scribing! The Age of Apocalypse may be giving up a few of its weary inhabitants to the main 616 before long (Nightcrawler for sure and possibly Jean?) so this is one to watch for fans of just this series and the larger Marvel Mutant continuity as well. Darkness! Blood! ~ANGST~! But done so well, it accomplishes these overdone tropes perfectly with honest and engaging character development on top of it.

(American Vampire 18, Gates of Gotham 5, Batman Incorporated 8, Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing 3, Kid Flash Lost 3, Lois Lane & The Resistance 3, Project: Superman 3, Green Arrow 15, Emerald Warriors 13 and Justice Society of America 54, Xombi 6)

-windiebird

Weekly Anticipation: Wonder Xschism

by windiebird

(Cover by Joshua Middleton, DC Comics)

Wonder Woman 613 is my most anticipated pick of the week because Phil Hester is finally bringing us the two-part conclusion to The Odyssey! Diana vs. The Morrigan in a show-stopping finale…that won’t matter in two months! The thing about that though is that I’ve found this to be a legitimately captivating story arc to me. Phil Hester’s words (on top of JMS’ plot) made me care about Wonder Woman; where she’s been and where she’s going. It’s going to be one long metaphor with a strong sprinkling of ass-kicking. I am all kinds of signed up!

 

(Cover by Frank Cho, Marvel Comics)

X-Men Schism 2 makes the list since I loved the first issue! The only slight concern I have is that it almost felt too much like a “aww yeah, X-Men!” beginning, in that I don’t see the conflict coming to a head between Wolverine & Cyclops thus far. That’s a very minor quibble and doesn’t affect my desire to find out how this terrorist/Sentinel-response situation plays out for the beleaguered Utopians just that for an event about a rift between the mutants, we’re getting the more usual Homo sapiens vs. homo superior plot points. All masterfully done by the creative team, of course, just that my interest is genuinely piqued about how we get from point A to point Schism.

(Cover by Frazer Irving, DC Comics)

Xombi 5 is the penultimate issue of this magnificent but short-lived reboot. The team is on board the Ninth Stronghold and it’s up to David Kim to steal back the city-ship and save the day. Seriously, with only 4 other issues to pick up to be caught up, definitely seek them out! It’s strange, it’s funny it’s haunting and beautiful. This is art on top of art and well worth the time and money.

(American Vampire 17, Search for Swamp Thing 2, DC Retroactive: JLA The 70s, Kid Flash Lost 2, Lois Lane and the Resistance 2, Project Superman 2, Green Arrow 14, Green Lantern Corps 62, Emerald Warriors 12, JSA 53, Teen Titans 98, Ultimate Comics Fallout 3, Uncanny X-Force 12)

-windiebird

Weekly Anticipation: Ultimate Flash!

by windiebird

(Cover by Mark Bagley, Marvel Comics)

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man 160 has to be the comic of the week simply for the spectacle of it all! The 90s are back and they’re polybagged. Here endeth the series (to be re-booted along with the rest of the Ultimate universe in a few short weeks) and all jokes aside, I have a feeling it’s going to be a show-stopping conclusion. They’ve been dragging out Peter’s injury for a few issues now but there’s not more stalling! It’s dead or alive now and only time will tell what the future holds for Spider-Man!

(Cover by Joshua Middleton, DC Comics)

I know I’m always saying it but it’s for real now, you guys! Green Arrow 13 is actually JT Krul writing a Green Arrow series! Brightest Day is over and we’re getting back to the Star City goodness. The Queen is playing her hand once again and we’ll finally get more development on Ollie’s father, mother and how this villainess plays into his past. I know the reboot could set it all back to zero but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of opportunity for good stories in the next two months.

 

(Cover by Eddy Nunez & Sandra Hope, DC Comics)

Lois Lane and the Resistance 1 might be the Flashpoint tie-in I was looking forward to the most before it all started and I can’t wait to see what Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning do with her in this timeline! Lois is one of the few superheroines (and let’s be honest, she is a superhero) with super-journalism as her special ability and what better world than a war-torn police state to test that out in? Add Etrigan the Demon and a guy called The Canterbury Cricket to the cover and I’m there like a bear.

(Gates of Gotham 2, Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search 1, Kid Flash Lost 1, The Outsider 1, The Reverse Flash, JLA 58 & Zatanna 14 are the other comics I’m reading this week)

-windiebird

While My Wallet Gently Weeps

by windiebird

(Cover by David Finch, DC Comics)

Action Comics 900 has a huge order to fill, wrapping up Reign of Doomsday & the Luthor storyline in one 96-page mega-issue while paying homage to the Man of Steel and the villain…people-named-Lex.

(Cover by Simone Bianchi, Marvel Comics)

Age of X: Universe 2 is almost a What If? with the reveal from the previous chapters of Age of X but that doesn’t mean the story here can’t wrap up to be an interesting (if super-gritty) tale of a world gone mad!

(Cover by Rafael Albuquerque, Vertigo Comics)

American Vampire 14 continues the WWII-era arc from the chilling close of Skinner’s appearance last issue. Henry’s in trouble over there and Pearl’s got her hands full on the home front, a pretty excellent beginning so far to another year of American Vampire!

(Cover by David Finch, DC Comics)

Brightest Day 24 is Swamp Thing/one-pissed-off-planet vs. humanity/Alec Holland (or his body at least?)! Is it bad that I’m kind of rooting for Swamp Thing?

(Cover by Francis Manapul, DC Comics)

The Flash 11 has one fiiiine cover there! Flashpoint is coming and it’s bringing red spandex! Looks like all the speedsters are getting involved in the mixup and I’m hoping Liberty Belle (Jesse Quick, geez, let’s just ignore all that beautiful JSA characterization you wrote yourself, Geoff Johns!) shows up in this second-to-last issue.

(Cover by Tyler Kirkham & BATT, DC Comics)

Green Arrow 11 takes place before the finale in BD 24 so it looks like Oliver, Galahad and the forest are bringing this party to a fiery end! Final answers about the forest’s place in the White Lantern’s plan are promised and hopefully there’s some closure to this interesting and sometimes bumpy reboot to Green Arrow. Onwards and upwards to the next story arc!

(Cover by Felipe Massafera, DC Comics)

Issue 8 left us with Mogo blasting the newly-minted earth-born Lanterns haaaaaaard and Emerald Warriors 9 continues right where we left off! Is the yellow weakness restored with the impurity in the Green Lantern Battery? Hopefully so, since the learning curve on the new rings has been steep.

(Cover by Dustin Nguyen, DC Comics)

Generation Lost 24 – JLI vs. Maxwell Lord IV! The end is here and the OMACs are angry. I hope the ending is epic and the momentum continues into a new series for these one-of-a-kind heroes!

(Cover by Felipe Massafera, DC Comics)

JSA 50 is another anniversary issue this week and it’s going to be full even for an extra-sized issue! The Society joins with the Challengers of the Unknown to uncover the dark mysteries below Monument Point and more of Senator Eagin’s past is explored as well. Felipe Massaferra’s cover is (as always) worth the price alone.

(Cover by Mico Suayan, Marvel Comics)

New Mutants 24 is the end of the line for Age of X! All secrets revealed, all Moira entities defeated and all realities restored (we hope)!

(Cover by Terry Dodson, Marvel Comics)

Uncanny X-Men 536 begins the real story line about the asylum-seeking Breakworlders and it’s going to put Colossus through the wringer! Are they as innocuous as they appeared last issue or hiding more complex motivations? We’ll see starting today and what a curveball to start off with!

(Cover by Tony Moore, Marvel Comics)

Venom 2 is Flash Thompson’s second issue as Venom and I’m seriously digging the vibe so far. Military order and dedication meets the chaos of the symbiotes, now that’s a recipe for drama and action! Kraven fights Flash in the Savage Lands over some weaponized vibranium WMDs, hoo ah!

(Cover by Don Kramer & Jay Leisten, DC Comics)

Wonder Woman 610 couldn’t possibly give me any more (awesome) chills than last issue but if anyone could make it happen, Phil Hester could. You’re making a real Wondy fan out of me, P.H., and I couldn’t be happier about it!

(Cover by Terry Dodson, Marvel Comics)

X-Men 10 concludes “To Serve and Protect” with Emma Frost and Peter Parker the last hope of the X-Men as they fight the Lizardfolk of the NY sewage system! I’m back on board Marvel, so there!

(Cover by Frazer Irving, DC Comics)

Xombi 2 is sure to continue the sheer joy and insanity of the first issue of this re-boot. Nuns with guns, immortal caucAsians & psychic school girls; I’m so happy to be on this crazy train!

-windiebird

Hawk & Dove

by mutantaday

SO much to say about the Hawk and the Dove and the chaos and the order in which they are connected. With many incarnations attached the two heroes, both female and male, they are interesting characters that could use a bit more shiny stories on the forefront. Brightest day? Blackest night? Birds of Prey anyone?

Birds of Prey Variant Cover by Cliff Chiang

Secret X-Star IHerc Crusade Day

by windiebird

(Cover by Jim Cheung, Marvel Comics)

Avengers: Children’s Crusade 5?! Another Children’s Crusade so soon?! It must be my birthday or something! Magneto vs. Doctor Doom vs. Young & older Avengers all duking it out for the fate of Wanda! No one likes to have their lives bartered around though and supposedly Iron Lad’s reappearance reignited her dormant abilities to epic effect. So glad to see you again, (Y)A: TCC!

(Cover by Gary Frank, DC Comics)

Brightest Day 23 is the penultimate issue of the series and it looks chock full of answers and action! The cover makes it seem like our dusted friends might be back as elementals? Makes sense with the Angry Nature aspect of the book so far. Firestorm vs. Deadman, the Star City Forest’s secrets actually revealed and Captain Boomerang actually makes an appearance again! What a ride so far!

(Cover by Carlo Pagulayan, John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson, Dean White, Marvel Comics)

Herc 1 is a bit of a leap of faith on my part but one that should, by all accounts, blow my mind. An excellent writer, an excellent artist and a pretty unique concept (powerless god keeps up the good fight, is attractively hirsute) must mean greatness, right? Let’s find out!

(Cover by Michael Allred, Vertigo Comics)

iZombie 12 is our first Ellie-centric issue and a guest artist brings his take to the characters! We’ve got some Lovecraft, Old-West-meets-horror-type monsters and some personal back story revealed for the friendliest ghost around.

(Cover by Freddie Williams II, DC Comics)

JSA All-Stars 17 is another second-to-last issue from DC this week and it seems like Matthew Sturges is pulling out all the stops as the title draws to a close. The Prince appears to know why the timeline is out of whack and claims to be a member of the All-Stars themselves! Something strange is going on but the All-Stars always win the day, for one more issue at least.

(Cover by Daniel Luvisi, DC Comics)

Secret Six 32! I’m going to be all caught up on Secret Six trades once The Reptile Brain comes out so I’m just in time for the second part of the Get Out of Hell card storyline! The bearer of the Card is still a mystery but the price to actually use it is steeper than previously thought. Pretty sure that’s Ragdoll on the cover!

(Cover by Miguel Sepulveda, DC Comics)

Superman/Batman Annual 5 is out and morbid curiosity is just about the only thing keeping me going on the Reign of Doomsday. What could make all these talented writers agree (even half-heartedly) to let a pretty uninspiring plot device take real estate in their books? It’s a smorgasbord of JLAers and DCU supers vs. Doomsday and Cyborg Superman as a few answers might finally be revealed about Doomsday’s reappearance and upgraded physique.

(Cover by Carlos Pacheco, Marvel Comics)

Uncanny X-Men 534.1 answers one (maybe more) of the hanging questions about Utopia while providing a perfect Point One issue, in theory at least! The tension of having a mutant nation existing off the coast of California, Magneto secretly being a member of the X-Men and Hope’s Lights all have been quietly kept confidences from the human race…but that all changes when Magneto faces the light of day! Or people, at least.

-windiebird

Avenging Hope Agents

by windiebird

(Cover by Mike McKone, Marvel Comics)

Avengers Academy 11 is the second of two issues this month! Yusss! More Strange, Wasp and Korvac putting these meta-kids through their paces in the school of hard knocks. Still manages to always be an excellent read.

Avengers The Childrens Crusade - Young Avengers

(Cover by Alan Davis, Marvel Comics)

To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what in the sweet hell is going on in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade – Young Avengers but it somehow ties into the main Crusade, as well as reveals the very first adventure the Young Avengers took before their first series? Also, Fear Itself? Color me confused but overjoyed to read anything Young Avengers.

(Cover by David Finch, DC Comics)

Brightest Day 22 and the earth is pissed! Heroes are turning to dust (though probably not dying…right?), Deathstorm is making the 90s happen and the protector shows her or his face finally! Well, if the solicits don’t lie anyways! Weird, fun and I’m definitely going to be re-reading this once it’s all said and done to see if I’ve missed anything along the way.

(Cover by Jesus Saiz, DC Comics)

DCU Legacies 10 is the end of the series with Infinite Crisis fast approaching! In spite of a few glaring continuity errors, this effort to condense the history of the DCU has been a noble one. Blue Beetle v. Max Lord it the final backup feature here & it’ll be just as ugly as usual, I assume…

Fear Itself: Book of the Skull! Red Skull is HUNGRY, y’all. He and his daughter are up to no good in this prologue to the Marvel summer event. Red Skull’s WWII secret goings-on pave the way for Sin’s horrific revival of…something dark and wicked. Come on, Marvel! Make my wallet compete with Flashpoint!

(Cover by David LaFuente, Marvel Comics)

Generation Hope 5 give Hope and her backup dancers some much-needed processing time after discovering their mutant abilities and the events of Second Coming. Cable’s gone and Hope’s future is fully in her hands.

(Cover by Alex Konat, Aspen Comics)

But soft, what light from yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Mindfield 5 is the sun. Mindfield is J.T. Krul at his best and it’s a shame this has fallen by the wayside. It might be best to wrap this up as a mini-series, call it volume one and return to the series some day later since his DC work has taken all his time. Really fun psi ops/spy comic here though, read it if that’s a genre you dig!

(Cover by Francis Manapul, DC Comics)

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents 5 puts the spotlight on Toby (MENTHOR?!) as some of the Spider and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. mysteries are revealed. Mind-bending goodness from another writer signed to a different company now! Yeesh.

-windiebird

Two Whole Comics

by windiebird

(Cover by Tim Bradstreet, Marvel Comics)

Avengers Academy 10 is the first of two comics this week I’m getting (WHUT) but it sure looks promising! The return of the Wasp! A Doctor Strange cameo! Some guy named Korvac settling a score against these young Avengers-to-may-be? We’re promised two issues this month as well so I’m doubly happy to see this book doing so well! Worth every penny, every week it’s on the stands.

(Cover by David Finch, DC Comics)

Brightest Day 21 kicks off the final four issues of this crazy crossover with the convergence of the heroes and villains of the piece in one place for the final battle! Will it be Qward, the Star City Forest, Mars or some place over the Bermuda Triangle? The Aquawar is over and this is going to be one hell of a ride to the finish line!

-windiebird

Bright League

by windiebird

(Cover by David Finch & Scott Williams, DC Comics)

You guys, I can’t even be mad at Marvel’s updated comics catalog because these DC covers this month continue to keep me in a tantric state of happiness. Brightest Day 18 starts us off with Captain Boomerang’s epically stupid choice to free Zoom, seeking answers as to why he’ll be throwing his boomerang at Dawn. The Hawks seem to be reactivating something on Zamaron as well in their mini-war as Brightest Day starts winding down. So many loose ends seem to be dangling here, I’ll be mighty curious to see how the creative team gets all these stories told.

(Cover by Tyler Kirkham & BATT, DC Comics)

Green Lantern Corps 56 pits new Qward against the old! As the battle between the Sinestro Corps and the Weaponer comes to a head, the Green Corps finds itself caught in the crossfire once again. Breaking their truce with Sinestro could have devastating consequences. Firestorm makes a mystery appearance, tying the events of Brightest Day closer to the title.

(Cover by Mark Bagley & Rob Hunter, DC Comics)

JLA 53 concludes the Omega storyline and the inaugural crisis for Robinson’s JLA. It’s been a mixed bag so far but I feel confident in my optimism for the future of the title. These are some excellent and often under appreciated characters and I can’t wait to see what the Eclipso storyline brings! This issue wraps up the Crime Syndicate, the Omega Man and hopefully returns Washington, D.C. to normal…no small feat.

-windiebird