Do you buy comic books?

That’s my question for you today. Do you buy comic books? If so, why? What keeps you coming back each month to each book you buy?

I’ve stated on many occasions that I’m an avid X-Men fan and each month I come back to my X-books knowing that the story is going to go forward to something great–and also, small hopes that Gambit will make an appearance. Marvel has (pretty much) had solid writing on the part of X-Men for the last 10 years or so and since I started picking up single issues instead of trades (which started roughly a year and a half ago) I’ve been buying at least one X-book a month because they’re that good. Of course, as of right now I’m buying almost all the X-books (Uncanny X-Men, X-Force, X-Factor, X-Men: Legacy, Cable)… because I’m a super nerd.

But I also pick up a lot of non-X-books.

Invincible Iron Man, for instance, is a book I’ve been buying since I read the first issue of “World’s Most Wanted.” Combining the art of Salvador Larroca and the writing of Matt Fraction, the 12 issue story arc has kept me wanting more and more each month. Both the plot and the art are above and beyond what I ever thought possible for a story focused on Iron Man. This is one of the books I’m going to classify as “I’m glad I started reading/buying when I did.”

Incredible Hercules. I have been reading Incredible Hercules since it’s first issue after World War Hulk, but I didn’t start buying it until issue #125 or so. Since then, I have bought the back issues of the comic (back to #112). This is a comic that when I read it, I don’t want it to end. The story and the writing in general is simply fantastic. It drives the comic beyond what I would ever expect from a Marvel comic. It’s strange to say, but this comic is so good, I’m surprised it hasn’t been canceled yet. Do you know what I mean?

Marvel aside, I do grab some DC/Vertigo comics as well as some independents.

Detective Comics. This is the one comic book I never thought I’d see myself reading a year ago. To me Detective Comics and Action Comics are the definitive DC comics and a year ago I wanted nothing to do with DC. I was a fool. On a whim I picked up Detective Comics #854 after a buddy of mine recommended it to me. This is another one of those “I’m glad I started reading/buying when I did” comics as I can not stop loving every piece of this comic. The art alone keeps me coming back each month.

The Vertigo comic I read right now that keeps me wanting more each month is DMZ. A comic I started buying back around issue #35, I wish I owned #1-34 because Brian Wood’s story is just fan-flipping-tastic. This is probably the best non-super-hero comic I have ever read in my life. Period.

Outside of Robert Kirkman’s plethora of sexy-time comic books, I read some random independent comics because I always like to try out the indie publishers here and there to see if there is greatness out there. Warren Ellis‘ torrent of comics that he releases tend to keep me buying every month (most recently Supergod and Ignition City), Garth Ennis‘ Crossed, and Mark Waid’s Irredeemable keep me wanting more every month. With these indie comics, it’s a sick hunger I get for more story each month. Wendigo style.

There are a few others in there I buy but the comics above are the ones I always look forward to the most. But again, I have to know, why do you buy comics? What keeps you coming back to your favorite titles? Let me know in the comments.

The World's Second Finest Duo...

What has come before: Connor Kent (aka Kon-El aka Superboy) has recently returned from the dead. Shortly before his death, he was cloned from both Superman and Lex Luthor. He is now trying to figure out his place in the world, and which of his “fathers” paths to follow…

This comic worked for me on a couple of levels. On the one hand, it was a self-contained story that had some really nice character development between Connor and Tim Drake (formerly Robin, now Red Robin). It was a little light on action, but had genuinely touching moments and an intriguing cliffhanger.

On the other hand, the events in this series are tightly woven into current events in DC Continuity (this title is one of many written by the prolific Geoff Johns). As Superboy reacquaints himself with the world, it also allows the reader to discover what’s going on in the DCU.

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More info about this video after the break.

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More info on what’s reviewed after the jump!
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Alright, so here’s the deal. I attended the DC Nation panel at Chicago Comic-Con on Friday completely ready with my laptop to take notes and give you guys a great rundown of what DC announced at CCC and all of the spectacle that comes with these kinds of panels.

Except… I can’t do that. Because for some reason, DC decided that this year, they don’t want to talk about shit. I started off the panel taking notes of everything that was said, but about 10 minutes in, I realized that nothing was being said. All DC was giving us was a rundown of all the books that they are publishing. That’s it. So I stopped taking notes.

Now, I’m not here to rag on DC and say anything bad about them, but seriously, when  you come to a major comic book convention, you have to come with a least something to get people excited. I can’t say that Marvel really announced a lot of stuff at their panels, but at least they gave fans something, instead of just saying that you should buy their books.

And then, to make matters worse, the Q&A portion of the panel turned into the moderator bashing the fans asking questions because they were asking for spoilers. Yes, they may have been asking for hints at what was coming in the big DC storylines, but that’s no reason to bash them. And then other fans started to yell at each other for asking dumb questions.

Bottom line, this panel was a mess. It put a terrible taste in my mouth. I decided to skip the Sunday Conversation because of this panel and am not sure if I will ever attend another DC panel at a convention.

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DC’s big summer crossover for 2009 is here at last. Geoff Johns has teased this comic since 2007, since the end of The Sinestro Corps War, and appears to have laid the groundwork for it since 2004’s Green Lantern:  Rebirth. Issue #1 finally made it to the stands, as did the first issue of the Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps miniseries. So how were they?

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Short Pants No More!

For the past few years, the issues of Detective Comics written by Paul Dini were at the top of my “to read” pile the Wednesday they came out. Gritty, snarky, and new-reader friendly, Detective was everything that a comic book should be. As his run continued, he did have to accommodate the occasional editorially-mandated crossover (such as “The Resurrection of Ras Al Ghul”), but immediately returned to his previous “done in one” method of storytelling. During the “Batman R.I.P.” event, he had written the uncharacteristically long 5-part “Heart of Hush” arc, which I would have liked a lot more had it been two issues shorter and about anyone but Hush, a character that I have little to no interest in. Then the Bat-Titles took a break, in order to get back on schedule.
Anyway, despite shaking the Batman titles to their very foundation, DC decided to keep Dini and Grant Morrison around to write the adventures of the new Dynamic Duo. Can Dini get great stories out of Dick Grayson like he did out of Bruce Wayne?
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Faster than a Speeding Recap: Superman has moved to New Krypton to keep tabs on General Zod. He has been drafted into the Kryptonian Military and serves directly under Zod. Naturally, this is the kind of thing that the Green Lanterns of Space Sector 2814 would want to investigate. So here they are…

Let it be noted here that 3 June 2009 was a great day for comics. Aside from the comic I’m about to review, it also saw the release of Batman & Robin #1 (off to a great start), War of Kings #4 (some truly epic space opera), Mighty Avengers #25 (where Reed Richards & Henry Pym argue about whose… brain is bigger), and Secret Six #10 (Why aren’t you reading this title?!?).  Even in some lofty company, this comic is still my pick of the week.

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What happened? Wally West came back from the dead not too long ago. So did Bart Allen. Why not bring Barry Allen back too?

I have been waiting with nervous anticipation for this title ever since it was announced last summer. On the one hand, I have been a Flash fan for a long time, and Barry Allen was always my favorite Flash, possibly even my favorite superhero. On the other hand, Allen’s death in the pages of Crisis on Infinite Earths is one of the most poignant and heroic deaths in fiction, and to resurrect him would be to tarnish his legacy. Still, when I heard this series was going to be written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Ethan Van Sciver, I was obligated to give them the benefit of the doubt. Not only have Johns and Van Sciver proven that they can deliver great Flash comics, but they also oversaw the last great resurrection of a dead superhero.

So can lightning strike twice for Johns, Van Sciver, and DC?

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Last Will and Testament #1

If you’re looking for a good one-shot to read, especially if you’re into the Final Crisis series, then pick up DC Universe: Last Will and Testament #1 by Brad Meltzer (writer), Adam and Joe Kubert (pencils), John Dell (ink), and Adam Sinclair (colorist). This crew teams up to deliver a great story encompasing an abundance of beautifully illustrated characters such as: Geo-Force, Black Lightning, Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, Nightwing, Starfire, Batman, Robin, Grace Choi, Rocky Davis, Captain Cold, Deathstroke, Superman, Green Arrow, Arsenal, Flash, Jim Gordon, Barbra Gordon, and others. A lot is covered in less than fifty pages, but a lot should be for the last day.

The primary story revolves around Geo-Force who…

Spoilers after the break.

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