Comics

If you the reader have ever enjoyed anything I have written, you owe some thanks to Chris Delloiacono and Daron Kappauff.   Chris has been a close friend and writing partner since we met over 15 years ago working at K-B Toys.  Chris ended up doing some writing at 411mania, so I followed the site regularly, though I was annoyed at the time by their lack of coverage for Crossgen.  So I sent an email to the editor, Daron Kappauff, and he basically told me, “If you like Crossgen so much, write up a sample review and I’ll put you in charge of writing for Crossgen.”  I basically had never done a review before, but I gave it a shot, and Daron clearly saw something in me as he hired me.  And I’ve been writing about comics ever since.  Chris ended up at Critical Blast, and as usual, I eventually tagged along and that is how I got here.

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week.   Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that.  Let's get to it!

Comics shipping this week

After two relatively small weeks, this week is just about the biggest week of comic buying I’ve had in a very long time!

Front Lines Reviews by Mike Maillaro, Mike Weaver, Grey Scherl, and Gina Maillaro

E IS FOR EXTINCTION #4 by Chris Burnham, Dennis Culver, and Ramon Villalobos

Back On the Streets….that might be a good name for this column, not just this trade this week.  Open Mike Night is back from our summer hiatus!

Transmetropolitan Vol. 1 - Back on the Streets

FAMILY PETS is a just about a perfect graphic novel. It’s nice when you can get a complete story in 6 issues for less than 10 bucks. That doesn’t happen much anymore, everyone seems to be looking to use mini-series to launch longer stories. Granted there is some space for a sequel here, but I still think we got a perfect, self-contained story here. Highly recommended!

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week.   Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that.  Let's get to it! 

Front Lines Reviews by Mike Maillaro, Mike Weaver, Grey Scherl, and Gina Maillaro

With assistance by Mike Maillaro

Check out Newsarama for a complete list of Marvel books shipping in December.

SECRET WARS #9 (of 9) by JONATHAN HICKMAN & ESAD RIBIC

Mike: Secret Wars finally comes to an end.  About 3 months after Marvel has already started their relaunch.  Great planning there.   I am just sort of bummed out we will still be doing “Front Lines” into December, just because Marvel can’t get their act together.  I love the column, but I thought we would be long done by then.

With assistance by Mike Maillaro

Check out Newsarama for a complete list of DC book shipping in December.

DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #2 by FRANK MILLER,  BRIAN AZZARELLO, ANDY KUBERT and KLAUS JANSON

 Front Lines Reviews by Mike Maillaro, Mike Weaver, Grey Scherl, and Gina Maillaro

AGE OF APOCALYPSE #4 by Fabian Nicieza and Iban Coello

September 26, 2014 marked the 75th anniversary of the first appearance of Batman in DETECTIVE COMICS #27. I knew the year was the anniversary, but I didn’t pay much attention to the actual date. So when I saw the solicits that 9/26/15 was BATMAN DAY, I tried overly hard to figure out out. “Okay, I get ‘May the Fourth” as STAR WARS DAY, and ‘March the Fifth’ as National Jim Beam Day (am I really the only one who celebrates that?), but what was the archaic, numerological meaning that marked these numbers as BATMAN DAY. Boy, was I let down when there wasn’t some clever number-play going on, and it was simply an anniversary date -- the 76th one at that.

Still, they say every dog has its day, so why not at least one bat? The Critical Blast geeks decided to sit around the cave and discuss the whys, wherefores, and woes of being a Bat-Fan.

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week.   Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that.  Let's get to it! 

Comics shipping this week

1602: WITCH HUNTER ANGELA 3 by Marguerite Bennett, Kieren Gillen, Stephanie Hans, Frazer Irving

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week.   Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that.  Let's get to it! 

Comics shipping this week

Logged on this morning to a nice surprise!  We finally got a release date and a teaser trailer for Marvel's Jessica Jones.  It will begin airing on Netflix on November 20.  It also looks like they stopped calling the show AKA JESSICA JONES.  

Jessica Jones is an adaptation of Bendis and Gaydo's brilliant comic series ALIAS.  Jessica Jones (played by Krysten Ritter) is a former superhero who has become a private investigator.    The series will also feature:

I have been looking forward to this comic for a long time now. I will admit, I had sort of lost interest in STAR WARS for a while, but with REBELS and all the hype for THE FORCE AWAKENS, I have been in a STAR WARS mood lately. Thankfully, I don't have as much free time as I did when THE PHANTOM MENACE came out. My wife and siblings spent way too much time driving me all over the place to find STAR WARS toys and cup toppers from Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Thanks, Gina, Patti, and Chris.  You are terrible enablers.

Instead of toys, this time I am acting out my obsession with comics and books. I have bought every STAR WARS comic Marvel has put out so far, and slowly I'm working my way through the novels that have come out the last few years that Disney declared official canon. And SHATTERED EMPIRE sounded like it was going to be a real good one.

Valiant has provided Critical Blast with a textless sneak preview of WRATH of the ETERNAL WARRIOR #1. In the wake of BOOK of DEATH, all-star creators Robert Venditti and Raul Allen launch an odyssey of war, love, and honor in the darkest reaches of the Valiant Universe. Based on the images provided, it looks like we'll get a senses tingling adventure! The art looks superb and the layouts look downright cinematic in nature.

WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR #1 – Variant Cover by Lewis LaRosa

WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR #1 – Interior Art by Raul Allen

Front Lines by Mike Maillaro, Mike Weaver, Grey Scherl, and Gina Maillaro

AGE OF APOCALYPSE #3 by Fabian Nicieza & Gerardo Sandoval

Summary: Dr. Nemesis is interrogating Jean Grey, who was brought there by Sabretooth and Wild Child to have him interrogate her to find out what the humans are planning.  At the same time, Essex is interrogating Carol Danvers.  And the X-Men are interrogating Cyclops.

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week.   Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that.  Let's get to it! 

Comics shipping this week

Marvel's latest attempt in their continued march towards a more progressive and diverse lineup of characters, has Amadeus Cho becoming:

Totally Awesome HULK

Amadeus Cho is a Korean-American. One of the most endearing parts of this concept is that we're given a Korean-American creative team to go along with it: Greg Pak (writer) and Frank Cho (artist).

Hulk is now a 'person' of color. Although, technically he's always been that way hasn't he? The jade giant has been rampaging through the pages of comic books for over 50 years now. We've seen several different 'colored' versions of HULK over the years (Red, Gray etc.). But this change isn't about giving that classic muscle car a new paint job, it's about finding someone new to drive it. Someone who will take the wheel and push the limits.