More powerful than an oversized logo...

What has come before:
“Rocketed to Earth from a dying planet, he was born with powers far beyond those of mortal man. Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Able to bend steel with his bare hands and change the course of mighty rivers. Who, disguised as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, fights a never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.”

That’s all you really need to know to enjoy this one-shot, containing a handful of short stories by various writers and artists that I have never heard of. Most of the stories are “man on the street” stories where the average person crosses paths with the Man of Steel. Others feature flashbacks to Clark’s childhood, or Clark taking care of Lois while she’s home sick. It’s certainly not action-packed, but the stories are mostly poignant, often touching, and sometimes very funny. Plus, it gives some fresh, upcoming voices in the industry a chance to play with the shiniest toy in the DC toybox.

Highly Recommended.

More info on what’s reviewed after the jump!
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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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After a long hiatus (sorry about that), I’m finally back to bring you more previews of solicited comic books. This time, I’m showing you what to look forward to in August. And boy, is there a lot to be excited for. It seems like the comic book publishers decided that they wanted to get in on the summer blockbuster action and decided to pull out all the stops in August. Some of the biggest titles of the year look to be coming out, so let me break down some of the big ones to keep an eye on.

The Marvels Project #1

The Marvels Project is likely to be the biggest Marvel comic this year, if not the biggest comic of the year period. While Blackest Night over in DC land might overshadow it slightly, The Marvels Project is likely to be the critically acclaimed hit of the year. Much like the smaller, more story-based movie compared to the summer blockbuster, Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting are celebrating Marvel’s 70th anniversary in style, by retelling the origin story of the entire universe! With talent this great and a story to match, how could you not be excited to see what is in store from this limited series?

Batman: The Widening Gyre #1

While much of the DC fanbase will have their eyes turned towards the previously mentioned Blackest Night event, a little Batman book by acclaimed writer Kevin Smith is set to hit the stands. Set to be a 12-issue maxi-series, Widening Gyre will be 2 6-issue story arcs, separated by a 3 month publishing gap. According to Smith himself, the 3 month gap will allow him to start writing an on-going series about one of the characters he will introduce in Gyre. While some might be skeptical about whether the often-late Smith can really pull out this much writing, I have faith and hope, cause this sounds like a great series from one of comic’s top writers.

Daredevil #500

Nothing shouts “70th anniversary” like milestone issues. And dammit if Marvel hasn’t had their share of them this year. From Thor to Cap to Hulk to the up-coming Amazing Spider-Man, this has been the year of landmark issues (and the return to the original numbering). Add to that list Daredevil, which will hit issue 500 this August. What Brubaker has in store for us is anyone’s guess, but it is sure to be a doozey as he ends his legendary run on Daredevil and passes the reigns over to the capable Andy Diggle.

Incredible Hulk #601

Ok, so this isn’t a milestone issue, but the one after, so what gives? Why is this so exciting? Well, I’ll tell you. Greg Pak is returning to Hulk. Yeah, Jeph Loeb is still going to be fucking up the beloved character over in the Hulk book, but hopefully Greg Pak, the man who brought us the amazing Planet Hulk, can restore the green giant to his former glory.

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1 and Avengers #1

Speaking of Jeph Loeb fucking up beloved things, Marvel’s Ultimate line relaunches as Ultimate Comics in August with the debut of Spider-Man and Avengers. Fan-favorite Brian Michael Bendis continues his outstanding work with Spidy in the Ultimate universe (though, it might not be Peter Parker, if Loeb has anything to do about it). And even better, universe co-creator and certified badass Mark Millar returns to the Ultimate Line with Avengers, a book which is set to focus on groups or characters in the Ultimate universe (no, this is not replacing Ultimates). Millar has stated that each arc of Avengers will be like a mini-events, so this will be a book to watch. Honestly, I’m pissed at what Loeb is doing to my beloved Ultimates line and I disagree with the “relaunch” and renumbering, but with any luck, we’ll survive this editorial mistake and still have a good universe to enjoy.

Blackest Night: Superman, Batman and Titans

With Blackest Night starting in July, DC is set to start releasing their tie-ins to the universe-altering event in August. Can’t say I’m all too excited about the Superman or Titans tie-ins but Batman should be a book to watch. Not only is it written by the great Peter J. Tomasi, but it might just feature the supposedly dead Bruce Wayne as a Black Lantern. We’ll see when the series launches in August, but those following Blackest Night will probably want to pick up at least 1 of these tie-ins.

Amazing Spider-Man #601, #602 and #603

Coming off their own landmark 600 issue, the ASM crew is not slowing down. Starting at issue 601, Mary Jane is back!!! As a huge fan of MJ and one of many who were sorely disappointed at the breakup of one of comic’s most beloved couples, it is great to see that the Spidy writers are finally bringing her back. Likely, she will not be a romantic interest in Peter Parker’s life (at least not right away), but at least she’s back in the fold and the possibility is there. Here’s hoping we also get some more answers about what exactly Mephisto did at the end of One More Day.

Fantastic Four #570

Last but not least (seriously, any other month, an issue like this would be at the top of things to look forward to) is Fantastic Four #570. Why’s this such a big deal? Well, that would be because writer Jonathan Hickman is taking over the writing duties on Marvel’s first family. Not only has Hickman proven himself to be a great writer with his indie work and his outstanding work on Secret Warriors, he’s proven that he can writer the Fantastic Four like nobody’s business with his work on Dark Reign: Fantastic Four. I, for one, am looking forward to him bringing his unique voice to FF and hopefully continuing Mark Millar’s work at bringing the Fantastic Four back to the top of the Marvel line.

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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“The story of a *child* rocketed to Earth from a doomed planet…”

“In brightest day, in darkest night, no evil shall escape our sight…”

Yeah? Prove it.

“Criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot, so my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. I must be a creature of the night, black, terrible…”

“Flash Fact.”

Just writing these phrases gave me chills. As I sit here, eating my 7-11 banana, my mind boggles at the wealth of powerful story material that DC Comics has to work with and play with. Truly iconic figures and an army of beloved (and lovingly behated) supporting characters, all with strong character traits and flaws, are available to work with and mingle across the entire DC Universe.

So why, I ask you, are comic fans getting stuck with a dead Batman that we have already been assured will come back with nary a scratch, two simultaneous summer events that have nothing to do with each other, one of which is essentially a serialized Elseworld, and story lines that, when set side by side, contradict each other without validation or explanation?

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A while back I saw this trade on the shelves at Borders and thought “I must have it!” Unfortunately at the time I didn’t have enough doughski but thanks to Jesus’ birthday and all I came into a little cash and decided to make this purchase. A re-telling of Superman and Shazam’s avatar Captain Marvel written by preeminent scribe Judd Winick and drawn by Joshua Middleton of NYX fame; is it as sick as it sounds? I’ll tell you in a hot minute.

———-SOME SPOILERS AHEAD———-

First off the opening couple of pages really grabbed me. I don’t really know why but I think it has something to do with me enjoying Winick’s alluding to Marvel’s epic nature. Anyway the wizard heralds the second coming of an age of heroes in the DC universe with the rise of Batman and Superman in Gotham and Metropolis. Captain Marvel is third in Fawcett City, “before the amazon, the speedster, and the space knight.” That just sounds cool to me. (more…)

Originally posted on MikeRapin.com

Despite my normally going to the comic shop on Wednesday to pick up comics, I hit up the comic shop a total of three times this week.

Why? Well because 1) Tommy asked me to go on Tuesday, 2) Wednesday was new-comic-book-day and 3) Amra/Jared/Tommy wanted to go on Saturday.

So there I was, at Tardy’s and the four of us has been looking around at comics for a good 45 minutes or so talking it up and such when, as everyone was seriously ready to leave, I notice something… I noticed DC’s Justice Society of America Kingdom Come tie-in for Superman.

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Wow. Usually, solicitations are the typical new issues of a series. Sometimes they are the start of an exciting arc, but mostly, there’s not a lot to get excited about. The few new series or mini-series are what are usually most exciting. This month, the comic book publishers (mostly Marvel) decided to pull out all the stops and bring out a bunch of really interesting stuff. Seriously, this post is going to be really long, as I have a lot to feature. So sit back, grab a drink and get ready to find out what comics are going to be making headlines as the weather starts to turn warm again.

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Action Comics #873 Cover

It’s funny. I was writing up my weekly previews post, trying to figure out if anything good was starting or ending this week and what is really excited. And I was having trouble. What I failed to realize was that the New Krypton arc that spans across all Superman books ended this week in Action Comics #873! I feel like such a fool! But I’m sure all of you will forgive me, as I am rectifying this major oversight by writing up a review for said comic. So here we go.

As New Krypton readers already know, Kandor has been re-bigified on earth at the north pole and thousands of Kryptonians have been unleashed upon an unsuspecting Earth. While it seemed like maybe these Kryptonians would all become superheros like Superman himself, it seems that some of them just aren’t as “boy next door” as Kal-El. Naturally, things get out of hand and the Earth superheros step in to battle the Kryptonians. This is were Action Comics picks up.

Full review after the break.

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