Heroes & Villains

We’ve enjoyed some great comics lately, and the Keeper doesn’t want to spoil his good mood by complaining about all the gross mischaracterizations and gimmicky events polluting the Big Two these days.

So instead of devoting several posts to the outrage du jour (we never liked Kyle much anyway … ), we’ll just give a quick shout-out to the more notable thrills and thuds of yesterday’s comics.

Yes, we’ve totally stolen the idea for this list from Devon and CalvinPitt. At least there weren’t any Skrulls involved …

Spoilers ahead!

Heroes

1. American Eagle, for kicking Bullseye’s punk @$$ to New York and back in Thunderbolts. Now we only have one question: Who the heck is American Eagle?!?!?
2. Traci 13, who pwned Jean-clipso and met cute with Jamie Reyes in Blue Beetle. If DC plays its cards right, Doctor 13’s pride and joy could be as big as Buffy.
3. Wolverine in Marvel Adventures Avengers for realizing the dream of a lifetime. The Keeper loves it when a fictional character ascends the Maslow Pyramid …
4. Supergirl, for sticking to her guns and leading a somewhat hostile Legion of Super-Heroes into action.
5. Susan Richards, for mentoring a young and impressionable Marvel Girl in X-Men First Class.
   
6. Hellboy. Nothing throws that guy for a loop.
7. Luke Cage, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing for setting aside that Registration $%^# to aid The Immortal Iron Fist and smash a horde of HYDRA agents in the process …
8. Invincible and Allen The Alien for discussing their differences instead of engaging in a pointless super-hero fight. We’ve had quite our fill of that nonsense these days …
9. Cable, for aptly summing up Gambit’s “appeal” in Cable & Deadpool.

Villains

1. Billy Batson in Countdown, for being a total jerk to an emotionally vulnerable Mary Marvel. Does everybody have to act like Tony Stark these days?
2. Supergirl and Wonder Girl for their latest blond moment in Amazons Attack.
3. Mallory Book, for making our gal Jen look bad in this week’s She-Hulk. Is Ms. Book overcompensating for the absence of a certain Amazing Android?
4. The U.S. government in Amazons Attack for throwing women into internment camps (!) after Hippolyta announced her plan to take over America (!!) Curse you, Mark Millar! What have you wrought!?!
5. Kyle Rayner in Sinestro Corps for succumbing to … you know … and setting up yet another multi-title event.
6. The genius who wrote the Diamond solicitation for Spider-Man: One More Day. We really must stop reading Newsarama. It’s bad for the Keeper’s blood pressure.

Life In The Haney-verse

Forget about New Earth, Earth-1 and Earth-Thingamajig.

We want all our comics to take place on this planet …

The Week That Was

Gee, we only bought three comic books last week. How come the Keeper didn’t get around to reading them until Monday???

Probably because most of our time was spent perusing what is perhaps the GREATEST TRADE COLLECTION EVER.

More on that in a few seconds …

The Brave & The Bold #4

This title contains every element lacking from DC’s dreadful Countdown maxi-series: fun, excitement and a deep understanding of what makes the company’s fictional universe tick. Writer Mark Waid juggles multiple characters flawlessly (he’s just about the only creator who understands the modern Supergirl) while artist George Perez brings his “A” game issue after issue. Pure comic-book goodness. Grade: A

Spider-Man/Fantastic Four #3

This fun mini-series contains all the hallmarks of an Elliot S! Maggin Superman story - a menace that can only be overcome by intellect, rather than violence; skillful use of the heroes’ supporting casts and a surprising assist from the world’s preeminent mad scientist. (In this case, Doctor Doom instead of Lex Luthor.) Somehow, Jeff Parker manages to adapt a DC-style tale to the classic Marvel universe without much difficulty. The interaction between Spidey & The FF is pitch-perfect, and it’s wonderful to see these characters behave heroically after Civil War cynically tore their fictional lives asunder. Mike Wieringo’s art is simply beautiful; the Keeper can never get enough of that guy’s work. Grade: A

The Spirit #7

Writer/artist Darwyn Cooke takes a month off - yet still manages to contribute a brilliant cover -and leaves the book in the capable hands of Walt Simonson, Chris Sprouse, Jimmy Palmiotti, Jordi Bernet and Kyle Baker. Everyone acquits themselves admirably, but we found Baker’s Sin City parody especially entertaining. You just know the Miller-helmed Spirit movie will include at least one scene where Denny Colt refers to himself as an “old man.” Grade: A

BEST OF THE WEEK

Fear Agent Volume 1: Re-Ignition

Yeah, yeah. The Keeper realizes he’s a bit late for this particular bandwagon. Fear Agent is one of those titles we always meant to pick up, but missed due to absent-mindedness. Well, your embarrassed host finally got around to picking up a trade collection and must admit the book literally knocked our socks off. (It wasn’t a pretty sight.) Heath Huston is Han Solo without the toy tie-ins, a likable rogue who acts heroically despite his better instincts. Writer Rick Remender throws in a horde of alien invaders and cynical wise-cracks that elevate this book from standard space-opera to pure, unabashed fun. Tony Moore’s EC-inspired art punctuates the tale with a loud exclamation point. We’ve heard the title suffers from publication delays, but the Keeper is definitely rushing out to purchase the remaining Fear Agent volumes. You just don’t encounter high-octane manly action much in comics these days … Grade: A+

Oh, and just to jump in on the latest hot new trend …

The above rating is determined by the presence of the words “punch” and “zombie” on our blog.

Hey! Does this mean the Fortress has all the necessary elements to be considered a Hollywood summer blockbuster???

‘Hef’ Richards

Rejiggered to belatedly qualify for Steven’s Monday Morning Macking.

Keep on playing, playah!

*Ugh* The Keeper just doesn’t do “hip” very well …

Sunday Punch

Plas knows the best offense …

… is a good defense!

And so ends our Summer Solstice Smackdown!

We plan to present actual content next week, but who knows? The Keeper may just find another way to coast through seven days …