Friendly, Neighbourhood...Thing

I know ads for totally absurd merchandise are common place in any Marvel comic, but seriously:

 

What is this?

No, really? What is it?

These are my best guesses.

Salad Tongs.

Melon baller.

Ultra safe scissors?

Or some sort of medical tool? Foresceps? Or...uh...a speculum?

 

Ugh, chilling stuff.

 

Please help me out. The more I think about it, the creepier the possibilities.

This Week's Haul: Wednesday Comics Forever!

Wednesday Comics #1

This is one of the most creative and ingenious ideas DC has had since their short-lived Solo series (which, by the way, should be collected in trade format please). You take a bunch of the coolest comic creators and pair them up with a bunch of DC's coolest characters (many of which are underused usually) and print it in an awkward-yet-fun-to-read giant newspaper format. I am having a hard time choosing my favourite strip, but the Superman one was absolutely beautiful to look at, and probably had the best cliffhanger.

Amanda Conner obviously draws an awesome-looking Supergirl (and Super-pets!). I also really liked the Catwoman and Demon comic because it's nice to see Selina Kyle being Selina Kyle again. Man I miss that Catwoman series.

Green Lantern #43

I'll say this: Doug Mahnke was the perfect artist choice for this issue. If you need something gross and scary drawn, call up Doug Mahnke. We get a background story for the Black Lantern, who will be playing the part of our villain in the upcoming Blackest Night summer blockbuster event. We're gonna see a bunch of dead DC characters (heroes and villains) rise from the dead, and this issue gave us a refresher on who those characters might be. Dr Light might live to rape again!

I hope I won't have to see some sort of evil zombie Johnathan Kent. That would be terrible.

Uncanny X-Men First Class #1

This is the first issue of a new series that continues Jeff Parker's X-Men First Class series. This time it's written by Scott Gray. Where the first series was about the very first X-Men team, this series is about the dawn of the Uncanny X-Men era, with the expanded line-up of Cyclops, Wolverine, Banshee, Storm, Nightcrawler and Colossus. I really like this idea for a series because it serves as an updated introduction to this era of X-Men for new/young readers. It's all-ages appropriate, and the stories are fairly simple and funny. The characters are introduced and explained in very clear ways without being boring (I was impressed with the introduction of the Inhumans in this issue). Roger Cruz, who drew most of the issues of X-Men First Class, is the artist on this series as well, so that helps tie it all together.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #36

In this issue Peter Parker goes to Boston for Aunt May's engagement dinner. He gets to meet May's extended family and immediately gets the hots for his female cousins.

Really?

I like to think that Peter Parker would be more happy for his aunt being reunited with her estranged family than being all "Hot cousins! Boiiiiing!" The joke goes on for pages. It's disappointing.

The rest of this comic is ok. That's the best I can do.

Superman: World of New Krypton #5

I know that I am not stupid, or inexperienced at reading comics, so I am not embarrassed to say this: did anyone else have a hard time reading the panels of this comic in the correct order? It was all double-page spreads but none of the pages looked like double-page spreads. It was weird. But that doesn't take away from the fact that I am enjoying this comic a lot. I love Pete Woods' art and I am a big Superman movies/Zod nerd. The Gary Frank cover for this issue is absolutely beautiful.

The Nobody

I haven't had time to read this yet, and I really want to savour it. I will say that it is probably the nicest-looking Vertigo book I have seen. I flipped through it and got excited and had to put it down because I knew I didn't have time to read it. My Friday night plans include reading this and maybe watching a bunch of Mary Tyler Moore Show episodes. And ignoring the fact that my beloved Saku Koivu just joined the Anaheim Mighty Ducks (more like the Mighty SUCKS!). I mean really, Montreal, he buys cancer treatment equipment for your hospital and you let him go?

But I digress. The Nobody looks amazing.

Archie Double Digest #200

What's this? A gripping epic Archie storyline about our teen hero having to move away from Riverdale? And it's drawn by Norm Breyfogle?! Stay tuned for more details in this week's Archie Sunday post...

Showcase Presents Bat Lash vol 1

Judging from the size of this thing, I am gonna say that there won't be any further Showcase volumes of Bat Lash. This Showcase is about half the size of a regular one (and $7 cheaper). I'm kind of into that. It gives me hope that more characters with limited runs will get Showcases. Maybe I'll get my I...Vampire or Scalphunter Showcase. Or Rose and Thorn. At any rate, Bat Lash is awesome and this is going to be a fun read.