DC MECH #1 DC COMICS
Sigh, not another Mech book?! What is it that makes comic companies think that creating armored warsuits for their popular heroes is a hot ticket item. Mech suits reek of a 1990’s action figure gimmick that has long past it’s prime. The problem here is that writer Kenny Porter’s story is a good one. And it is the longest JSA cameo in a DC comics for the past decade (which was nice to see!). Mixing elements of the Fourth World, some New 52 concepts, along with some altered Secret Origins, the tale makes sense, flows smoothly, and raises interesting future plot points. While it deals with many concepts we’ve seen before, it manages to tweek them enough to make them interesting. Based on that, I’m giving this a 7 out of 10 Grahams. However, if I find a line of DC Mech action figures the next time I’m at Target, it drops to a 3 and I’m going to be severly ticked off.
SUPERMAN SPACE AGE #1 DC COMICS
It’s always good to see the unique art stylings of Mike Allred especially when his art is being colored by the talented Laura Allred. And when you combine them to illustrate the amazing historical tale by Mark Russell it becomes a Win-Win. Russell’s story flows in and out of real life history flawlessly. However, the real treat here is the characterizations and how they interact with one another. Whether it is Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor, Clark and Pa Kent, Lois Lane and Perry White, these people are real. When the holographic Jor-El responds to Clark’s question of how to save the world, his words speak volumes. However, this is a word of warning. While an amazing tale, this is filled with a overall feeling of hopelessness that I can’t exactly explain. This is a narrative that while set in the 1960’s is still unbelievably relevent today. Reading this can make you think! 10 out of 10 Grahams.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #900 MARVEL COMICS
Aside from the annoying need to renumber every title until we hit a milestone that you should be proud of, Marvel has collected an (dare I say it?!) amazing group of stories which revolve around one question … Who is Spider-Man? And if you said Peter Parker, you’d be wrong. The question is more involving the heart and soul behind the character and we are given a full blown look by both friends and foes from as far back as original issue 8. And while the short back up stories are simply adorable, our main feature is a whopper. The Living Brain returns! Spider-Man’s friends are captured! Spider-Man’s foes have no choice but to (gulp!) team up with him! Writer Zeb Wells just knocks it out of the park merging past and present in a classic Spider-Man yarn. Now, if we could just get comic companies to go back to regular numbering systems instead of this insane legacy numbering … I give it a 9 out of 10 Grahams.
