Mysterio! The Gauntlet! Dan Slott! Oh my!

After not reading comics for almost two months, I finally went and picked up all of the comics I hadn’t bought and in this monstrous stack was Amazing Spider-Man #618. Penned by Dan Slott with art by Marcos Martin, this was the issue I have been looking forward to for months (since I heard word of it back in August) that was apart of Spider-Man’s “The Gauntlet.”

In case you haven’t been keeping up with Amazing Spider-Man, what’s been happening is this: all of Spidey’s old villains have been coming back… with a vengeance. The thing is, they’re not coming back to get Spider-Man, but they’re coming back to do what they do best: do selfish things. So far, we’ve had Electro, Sandman, Rhino (2.0) and this weeks baddy–Mysterio.

It’s been all very good so far, but this week’s issue… I wasn’t feeling it so much, which is a huge surprise since I have an absolute love for Dan Slott’s Spider-Man. But let’s talk more after the break.

*some minor spoilery after the break*

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So, this new idea came to mind just a few days ago that we here at DestroyTheCyb.org should get together and let you guys all know what our favorite comics were for the month of November. We all have our favorites and even with the short amount of time we all managed to come up with our favorites, so without further ado, DestroyTheCyb.org’s Favorite Comics of November.

**possible spoilers after the break**

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Comic book fans are well acquainted with Kevin Smith. His films “Mallrats” and “Chasing Amy” contained oodles of great riffs on classic characters, and just about every year he stops in for wildly popular Q&A’s at the San Diego Comic-Con.

In 1998, Joe Quesada hired him to revive Daredevil, resulting in a popular run that re-established the character and led to mammoth, defining runs from Brian Michael Bendis and Ed Brubaker and opening the doors to let Hollywood writers such as Joss Whedon and J. Michael Straczynski to get runs on major comic characters. After acclaimed runs on Daredevil and Green Arrow, Smith became notorious for delays on his other comic book projects, one of which was delayed so long after only its first issue that it was finally canceled years later. But hot of the heels of one of his finest movies, Smith is back in the comic book world with a promising new miniseries, Batman: Cacophony.

*Minor spoilers after the break*

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I’ve always been at least a casual fan of Neil Gaiman’s original Sandman series, but then, who hasn’t? Dream’s intrigues with his family, the crazy art, the way it leaves you often thinking at the end of an arc, the little stories nestled away, just stellar stuff.

Sadly, the original coloring doesn’t live up to the discerning eye of today’s comic reader (at least, not mine); plus, it can be difficult to pickup an old issue for the sake of one-shot enjoyment without having to be intimately familiar with every ounce of backstory that has happened before.

This is part of what makes this comic adaptation of Gaiman’s novel “Sandman: the Dream Hunters” so wonderful. Starting as a simple Japanese fairy tale about a monk, a bold badger, and a wily fox, the tale time-releases mood and energy with fantastic lines, color, and page design by P. Craig Russell.

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52 Week 18 Cover

Last week in 52: Lex Luthor’s dream team makes it’s first appearance in battle, but not without conflict from team member, Eliza Harmon.

Starfire, Adam Strange and Animal Man find themselves stranded in space and are attacked by Devilance.  The trio is later saved by the now pious bounty hunter, Lobo.

**spoilers below**

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I had planned to write a post reviewing Grant Morrison’s New X-Men from the early 2000s, but unfortunately, I failed to finish those over the weekend, due to many factors. Hopefully I will have that review up soon. But I still wanted to get a post out tonight, so I thought I would talk about the news story I am most excited about coming out of Comic-Con International in San Diego: Neil Gaiman is taking the reigns on Batman starting in January.

There are several reasons why this is huge news. First, I love Neil Gaiman with a passion. Not even joking, I worship the man’s books. American Gods is probably one of the best novels I have ever read. On top of that, he has, in my opinion, single-handedly redefined the fantasy literature genre. On top of that, he has written some of the most critically acclaimed comic books. Sandman is still considered a great comic book and I haven’t met too many people who didn’t love Marvel 1602. I have only read Marvel 1602 as far as comic books by him, but I have to say I was blown away.

Simply put, I am excited to see what he can bring to Batman. The 2 part story that Gaiman writes will spin directly out of the Batman R.I.P. arc from Grant Morrison, but will also apparently herald back to Batman from the early days, like a retrospective of the character.

Oh yeah, did I mention that Gaiman’s partner from 1602, Andy Kubert is going to be penciling the issues? Oh yeah, he is. So there is even more reason to be excited.

It sounds like Gaiman’s arc will not require too much knowledge of the current goings-on in Batman, so even those who are not currently reading about The Dark Knight should be able to pick the issues up with no problem. After his work, Grant Morrison will pick back up the pencil for Batman and continue on with his master plan for Batman.

You can be assured that I will be picking the books up and I will review them for you right here. So look for my reviews of Neil Gaiman’s work on Batman coming this January to a computer screen near you. Until then, stay tuned to DestroyTheCyb.org for more news about your favorite comics!