There is one reason you should buy this and it’s Alex Ross. The man is an unbelievably talented artist and he does the interior art in this thing front to back, not just the cover which he’s been doing mostly for a long while now. This book is beautiful!

If you haven’t been reading Justice Society of America then you might be a little lost. Basically, a much older Superman from a parallel Earth (the one from the most excellent Kingdom Come miniseries from 1996) has shown up on the DC Earth we usually deal with and has to come to terms that most of the allies he saw die on his Earth are very much alive on this one. This one-shot gives us some great moments that are wonderfully accentuated by the outstanding Ross art. He also wrote the thing as well. This is part one of a JSA Kingdom Come Special trilogy that adds to the great story happening in the regular JSA book. But, even if you aren’t following the story, pick this up for the art alone! Grade: A+

Marvel Comics: Wolverine #69 ( Old Man Logan part 4 )

Oh yeah, this story is still a lot of fun! Writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven must be having a great time creating this story. To catch you up, the Marvel Universe has gone all to hell and it’s 50 years later. The supervillains won and divided America into quadrants ruled by particular baddies. Wolverine hasn’t given up his violent ways and just wants to take care of his family. Low on money to make the payment on his land he takes on a job with the now blind ex-Avenger Hawkeye to deliver some cargo to the east coast. They have run-ins with the Ghost Rider gang, the Kingpin and in this issue, the Moloids. Just a straight up cool read that’s superheroes mixed with The Road Warrior with a touch of the western flick Unforgiven. Definitely a fun read for those familiar with the Marvel Universe. The twists on what we know makes this worth reading. Grade: A

DC Comics: Green Lantern Corps #30

This title remains one of the best comics on the stands today. This issue is a lot quieter than previous issues but still gives you some good bang for your buck. This continues the saga of the expanding groups of ring bearers from the emotional/energy spectrum. The GLC go to the planet Zamaron, home of the Star Sapphire/Violet Lantern Corps, to spy under the disguise of diplomacy. They don’t like what they find being done in the name of “love”. And Kyle Rayner and other Corps members have a run-in with Kryb, a Sinestro Corps member who is murdering GLC members and their loved ones and abducting their infant children. Peter Tomasi has been writing his ass off on this book and Patrick Gleason is an artist with a fantastic visceral style that always makes this book find it’s way to the top of my read pile. Like I said, the issue is quieter than it’s been but still worthy of your moolah. Grade: B+

Cover of the Week: Marvel Comics – Magneto: Testament #3

This cover actually makes me feel sorry for the murderous bastard!

Until next time– Peace…

Written by Jimmy Palmiotti with art by Phil Noto, issue 1 of this 5 issue mini starts off with a Female Fury named Maelstrom who wants to become the queen of the evil ruler Darkseid and plans to do it by killing Superman. When she shows up on Earth she first encounters Supergirl and the aftermath of the battle takes a tragic turn. Pick this up. It apparently takes place before all of the Final Crisis crap, is devoid of excess continuity and has great art. Grade: A

Marvel Comics: Avengers – The Initiative ( one-shot )

I’ve stated before that the ongoing Avengers: The Initiative is one of the best titles that Marvel publishes and this one-shot is up to par. But I don’t really get why they just didn’t have this as part of the ongoing title. Written by Christos Gage with art by Steve Uy, this is a tale that concentrates on the romance between Initiative member, Hardball, and Komodo. Action, romance, origins and betrayal ensue. A good read. Grade: B

DC Comics: Trinity #23

This weekly series has been good most weeks and really good on some. This week’s issue….bleh! The cover’s cool though. Grade: D

Cover of the Week: A Tribute to Michael Turner (Aspen Comics)

RIP Mike…you are missed.

Until next time — Peace…

Writer Kurt Busiek closes out his run on the Man of Steel with a big fight with fanatical alien priests, a power-copying villain named Paragon and a gigantic Galactic Golem.

Renato Guedes provides the art and as I have said in past reviews, this guy is a great artist for Superman. The art is detailed and he is able to convey great emotion in the characters’ faces. The story itself is just okay. I really expected Busiek to go out with guns blazin’ and give us a story to remember, at least till he returns to write the character again. But, it’s decent enough and that Alex Ross cover sure is “purty”! Grade: B

Marvel Comics: Avengers – The Initiative #11

This is still one of my favorite Marvel titles and they do it all with C-list characters. Dan Slott writes one mean ass battle royale as evil clone K.I.A. (yes, that’s the name) keeps dealing out the gruesome death to the recruits of The Initiative. Stefano Caselli continues to be an artist that, if it was at all possible, I would be happy if he was penciling all of Marvel’s books –he’s that good. Some of the big guns of the Marvel Universe show up to try and save the day but there seems to be no stopping the supremely powerful and sadistic antagonist. If you haven’t bought an issue of this yet you really need to get off your butt and do it…pick up the first trade and back issues and jump on this book. It’s great! Grade: A+

Marvel Comics: Captain America #37

While there are cool moments in this issue this is still the weakest issue since the death of Steve Rogers. We are right in the middle of a storyarc covering an apparent “hostile takeover” of America so I can give writer Ed Brubaker a bit of a break since a lot of stories have some sag in the middle but for the most part this guy has delivered on every issue. Steve Epting is still kicking ass at the art but the most exciting thing in this whole issue is Bucky training with Cap’s shield. This title almost always finds itself near the top of my read pile but this week I regret putting it there. Grade: C

Until next time–Peace…

There is nothing better to a comic book fan than when a book that you already love has an issue that rocks it’s ass off and has you freaking out at the end because you can’t wait for the next ish. This is one of those! Writer Dan Slott continues his awesome work on this Civil War spin-off and Stefano Caselli produces some of the slickest visuals, mixing an anime feel with your classic “Marvel” art style. This is part 2 of the storyline “Killed In Action” which has a horrific incident that happened in the first issue(s) come back and bite them in the ass big time! Just go and pick this and any issues you might have missed up. There is no Spider-man, Captain America or Hulk but with a killer creative team doing their best work, you don’t need big name superheroes. Grade: A+

Marvel Comics: Spider-Man – With Great Power… #1 ( of 5 )

Hey, don’t like the One More Day/Brand New Day bullsh*t going on in the regular Spidey book but still need your fix? Check this mini-series out by writer David Lapham and artist Tony Harris that gives us the origin of the wall crawler set in recent time and with more detail. This is worth a buy just for the gorgeous Tony Harris art and hey, Peter Parker doesn’t make any deals with the “devil” in this, unless it’s metaphorical. Grade: B+

Dynamite Entertainment: Project Superpowers #0

Zero issues are usually subpar as they are often filled with sketches and character bios, which might be cool but you really want a story. Well, this book delivers. Written by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger with art by Stephen Sadowski and Doug Klauba, this issue tells the story of a group of superheroes fighting the Axis powers during World War II. This story has been told before but hell, it’s always fun to see Nazis get what’s coming to them. The characters in this are a lot cooler than I thought they would be and have similarities to characters from Marvel and DC but are different enough to not be total ripoffs. Going by this issue alone I see epic storytelling before us and I’ll definitely be picking up issue 1 but I am discouraged that the art team on this issue isn’t listed for the next. Hopefully they have a good artist picked out because they definitely have a great idea here. Grade: A

Until next time–Peace….