This Week's Haul: Go Pens!

I burned through my comics and got my reviews done this week because game 7 is on tonight of the Stanley Cup Finals and I don't want any distractions. Go Pens!

Amazing Spider-Man #597

I kept moving this to the bottom of my comics pile this week because I was really dreading reading it. I hated last week's issue so much that I had pretty low expectations for this one. I would say it was marginally better, and by "marginally better" I mean nothing was killed by a projectile booger.

Two issues left in this arc and then hopefully the next one will be a whole lot better.

Super Friends #16

So in this issue all of the cold-themed villains face off to determine who is the BEST cold-themed villain. Sadly, we never find out the answer to this age-old questions because the stupid Super Friends break up the party. Boooo (I was hoping for Captain Cold).

Also in this issue: a gross misrepresentation of the great sport of hockey.

Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam #5

Mike Kunkel was booted off this title (I don't know if an actual boot was used) for being too slow. It's too bad because it really was a great comic when he was writing and drawing it. It was definitely coming out too slowly, though, especially considering the target audience. So the Tiny Titans team has taken over the writing duties, with Byron Vaughn on art. The result is a Captain Marvel comic that is still a lot of fun, and can be read in about half the time as a Kunkel issue, for better or for worse.

Green Lantern Corps #37

A bunch of fighting about lanterns or something happened in this issue. What I remember more clearly is that it also featured a preview of that boner-meltingly boring-looking Justice League Cry for Justice comic that they have been running in most DC titles lately. You know the one I mean: Hal Jordan is just whining for five pages while the other members of the JLA stand there and listen, contributing a few boring comments. Cry for Justice? More like Whine for Justice. Or Cry for Mercy. What about this preview would make people think "This is gonna be AWESOME!"

The battle continues? What battle? I don't want this battle to continue. If I were in the room with these superheroes I would want to leave.

Unwritten #2

It seems that Vertigo is knocking another one outta the park with this new Mike Carey series. The first issue, which was really long and only $1, was awesome and hopefully everyone picked it up. The second issue was equally promising, with lots of excitement and intrigue. The basic premise is a man whose estranged father wrote a wildly popular series of children's fantasy books featuring a lead character by the same name of his son, Tom Taylor (think Harry Potter). The real life Tom now makes a living doing the convention circuit as a guest, but now his life is taking a strange turn. There are several possibilities that he becomes aware of: one is that he is not his father's biological son. The other is that the world his father created is real, and that Tom Taylor is the Tommy Taylor from the books. It's fun and compelling, with great art by Peter Gross.

And here's good news: Marvel finally had the good sense to release the Joss Whedon run on Runaways in digest format! Yay! My collection is complete...until Kathryn Immonen starts writing Runaways. Because that is going to rule.