I thought that as one of the resident comic book readers here on the AC that I would bring to you a weekly column on the best comic books that come out each week. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
1. The purpose of this column is not to preview books that should buy. The purpose is to talk about what happened on the comic. That means there will be spoilers.
2. Most weeks I will not have time to read every comic. Therefore, I will start with the ones I actually want to read the most, if I have more time I will also read others. Hopefully most weeks I’ll get to most of them so I’m not reading just the same four or five titles each month.
3. For all you Marvel and DC haters that love the indy comics, don’t flame me if you don’t like that most of my choices are going to be Marvel and DC. This is the first time I’ve tried reading a ton of comics every week and most of my favorites to begin with will be Marvel and DC simply because it’s easier to jump into the middle of a story and understand what’s going on because I’m already aware of the characters and universe. When I jump into the middle of a indy title it’s going to take a while to catch up.
Here are my choices for the best comics for the week of March 28th, 2007.
Action Comics #847
In Action Comics #847 we get a story about Superman’s Earth parents Martha and Jonathan Kent. The two are worried because a villain is threatening to destroy the world once again and their son Clark is nowhere to be found. Jonathan tries to ease Martha’s worries by telling her that Clark always prevails even during the hardest battles. Jonathan then tells Martha a tale of one adventure he and Clark had where Clark saved trillions of people by single handedly stopping a Sun Eater from destroying this world’s solar system.
This issue of Action Comics is a touching story because it shows Jonathan’s feelings for both his wife and son. First of all he is telling his wife this story to ease her pain even though in the process he is revealing that he lied to her earlier (he and Clark were supposed to be on a fishing trip, not in space.) Second of all the whole time Jonathan is telling Martha you can tell that Jonathan is as proud of his son as a father could possibly be.
Black Panther #26
In Black Panther #26 the Wakandan embassy in New York has been destroyed. Black Panther and Storm, who is now his wife and queen, are trying to put back the pieces when they are contacted by Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four. The two Fantastic Four members reveal to Black Panther that they are going on a second honeymoon to try and patch up their marriage. They will be gone for a while and want someone to watch the Baxter Building because the Human Torch and Thing are not capable of running things. Not only does Mr. Fantastic offer to let Black Panther and Storm stay there, but he asks them to lead the team while he and Invisible Woman are gone. This makes the new Fantastic Four the Black Panther, Storm, Human Torch and Thing.
I find the new group interesting. I’ve always loved the Thing and Human Torch, I love their characters, I love their abilities, I love their relationship with each other. Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman are just so boring though. The addition of the Black Panther and Storm actually gives the Fantastic Four a little something new and I’m looking forward to seeing where they go from here.
Catwoman #65
There isn’t really a whole lot to say about Catwoman #65 because not a lot happens as far as the story goes. The whole issue is just a fight, but I really enjoyed the showdown. This issue pits Catwoman against what we think is Lex Luthor but seems to actually be a very powerful android made to look like Lex Luthor, much like Dr. Doom’s Doombots. The fight is your typical David vs. Goliath match. The Catwoman is smaller and not real strong and is really more a stealth character than a power character so the super strong android has a huge advantage and dominates most of the fight. Catwoman is tough though and hangs around in the fight long enough to think of a way to out think the android and eventually win the fight.
Green Lantern #18
Yes I am biased. The Green Lantern is my favorite comic book character so you’ll see plenty of this comic each month. In this issue the Green Lantern’s ex-girlfriend, Carol Ferris, is possessed by a telepathic alien crystal simply because it believes that Carol is the person that the Green Lantern desires. Meanwhile, the Green Lantern is actually at a bar flirting with another woman when the possessed Carol shows up. The Green Lantern is forced to fight his ex-girlfriend and eventually saves her, only to find out that the alien has switched bodies and has now possessed the girl he was flirting with in the bar. It’s a good enough story to satisfy me and the art is really good and some good dialogue between all the characters makes up for a lack of much happening.
Sensational Spiderman #36
In the Sensational Spiderman comic there have been all kinds of Spiderman impostors showing up. The thing is, they don’t just dress like Spiderman; they also have the same powers that Spiderman does. Spiderman must capture all these impostors and at the same time figure out where they are coming from. We eventually find out the man behind it is Calvin Zabo, a scientist that is known for having a serum that will turn into the evil Mr. Hyde. Spiderman is hot on his trail so Dr. Zabo decides it’s time to turn into Mr. Hyde and have a little fun with Spiderman.
It’s always interesting to see how a comic book character will react to fighting what is virtually themselves. How do you beat someone with the same powers and abilities as you? I also enjoyed the scene with all the Spiderman impostors together in the jail cell. Each impostor had something a little bit different about them; they all wore different costumes of Spiderman’s past too. It was like an image gallery of Spiderman’s past looks.
Ultimate Spiderman #107
The great thing about Spiderman back in the day is that we could relate to Peter Parker. Peter Parker was a dorky high school kid that got picked on like many of us even though he was a super powerful hero. The Spiderman comics have really been lacking that ability to relate with our hero
That’s what one of the great things about the Ultimate Spiderman book is, when they rebooted we got to see Peter Parker from his struggling through high school days. In this issue Spiderman was dating Kitty Pryde of the X-men. Peter Parker got back with Mary Jane so Spiderman had to break up with Kitty Pryde, except that Peter never told Kitty. Now Kitty Pryde was asked to leave the X-Men and has to enroll in a regular school and it just happens to be Peter Parker’s school. Now Kitty has seen Peter and Mary Jane together, realizes that they are broken up and is very mad at Peter. *sigh* High school, what a bunch of drama. Really though we have all known somebody in a similar situation, except for the being super heroes part. That’s what is great about Ultimate Spiderman, cheesy teenage drama or not, it’s more interesting than grown up Peter Parker who is now a teach trying to change kids’ lives. Boring!
Also in this comic we find that a group of superheroes, including Dr. Strange, Moon Knight, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, and Daredevil are plotting to take down the Kingpin. The group decides that Moon Knight will infiltrate Kingpin’s gang and learn everything they need to know about the Kingpin. Unfortunately for the group Kingpin has already infiltrated them because Iron Fist works for the Kingpin. Bum bum bum! What a brilliant idea though, Iron Fist is a butt kicking machine and will make an awesome right hand man for the king of crime.