Where My Money Went - Nov. 27th

Every Wednesday, I push the limits of my budget for my comic addiction. This is where my money went this week:


Brandon wrote about this yesterday, and really nailed it. The Jim Lee cover has something hilarious about it, the characters seeming completely different under his pencil: White Violin looks like a member of Gen13. The Umbrella Academy is more of a family than a super-team, where they feel connected to each other but work as individuals to prove to their "father" their worth. To sorta cement this, U.A. uses "Futura", the same font Wes Anderson uses in Royal Tenenbaums.


Superman has no problem beating the shit out of zombie-looking Vampires and feral Werewolves, but when he recognizes a face, he becomes this wimp. Superman and Batman vs. Vampires and Werewolves is secretly this great team book, where neither Superman or Batman are the main character. Green Arrow, Dimeter the Vampire, Janko the Werewolf, and now The Demon, are all fighting together. It feels like a Marvel book that brings old characters out of the white-box to make them exciting again. If only Kelley Jones drew this book...

The Thor one-shot series has gotten better and better with each and every issue. After reading DC Comic's The Ring of Nibelung it's awesome to see Thor and The All Father outside of super hero story lines, even if it's just retelling of myths. In this issue, Thor fights Brunnhilda, a Storm Giant, and his father Odin. It's more than a five minute read--like some of the Wolverine one-shots--making the $3.99 price point worth it.

Incredible Hercules continues to be my favorite monthly comic, even more so after the World War Hulk story lines have ended. Hercules, Namora, and Namor save Poseidon from the Amazons, but not the world, since they seek axis mundi, which will put them at rule of the planet. Marvel implants it's mythology-based characters into their own universe using their original tales as a basis, and then, building the story lines and current lives of those characters around that.

Secret Invasion: Inhumans has come to an end, but it's been left open for a new series, War Of Kings. Medusa and Crystal settle their differences and find the location of Black Bolt, who no longer needs their help. His connection with his son grows, Black Bolt's able to communicate with his child the same way he does to his wife. Escaping from his restraints, he blows a super skrull away with a fucking whisper and returns to his family. Crystal marries Ronan and the Royal Family realigns itself with the Kree, meaning that hopefully we'll be getting some more Marvel space comics. Great ending to a great mini-series. Here's some promo art to get you pumped UP:

Where My Money Went - Oct. 28th

Every Wednesday I push the limits of my budget for my comic addiction. This is where my money went this week:


The Skaar Son of Hulk series has been something I have been putting off writing about. Sword and Sorcery comics hardly exist anymore and the ones that do exist are poorly drawn, usually with the coloring doing all the work and the "pencils" being nothing but lay outs. Skaar is Conan the Barbarian on an alien planet, fighting giant monster and dragons, but no big titty slave babes. Suspected to be a prophet, Skaar is coming into his own as an Old Strong, worshipped and followed by some but feared by others. Skaar feels like an old Epic Illustrated story, but you don't have to deal with stoner comics dealers to get it.


Superman and Batman VS. Vampires and Werewolves #2 promises a "Tentacled Creature from Beyond!" and delivers this fucked up frog monster that Batman literally kicks in two after a vampire talks some trash to it. Superman finally shows up to fight a giant snail monster. Where is this story going?


So this bearded old guy kills a vampire-ish naked babe and then all these bondage S&M dudes run in and Ol' Beard uses the lady's head that's screaming like a banshee to stop them. He throws the head into his car and heads to a small town to find his Kindred. It's the kind of comic that leaves you wondering what happened but in that good "can't wait until next month" kind of way.


Hellboy "In The Chapel Of Moloch" is the first Hellboy written and drawn by Mignola since "The Island" in 2005. After "The Crooked Man" drawn by Richard Corben, and the Lobster Johnson series, I don't know how much I care about Mignola drawing his comics anymore. It's great to have what feels like this throwback Hellboy story, but after the actual character the movies added to the characters themselves, an almost lifeless Hellboy is completely noticeable and no longer excusable. The foot notes were a nice touch for those of us not in the know about all things occult, but the comic felt stiff, not much different than his covers. He can write an awesome horror story, but he needs the collaboration for his books to shine.


X-Force is a series for X-Nerds who are sick of all the continuity following and bullshit you have to get through to get a decent Super Hero Team book. Lead by Bastion, Anti-Mutant groups are back in the government trying to irradicate the X-Men and eventually all mutants. They've hired a teleporting mutant named The Vanisher to steal the Legacy Virus, and after tracking him down the team find out he doesn't have it and it may already be in the wrong hands. The team continues to grow with Domino and Elixir, and still manages to stay seperate from the other X-Books. Also, Warpath fights a monster bear.


Even if you're not a Secret Invasion reader, the Thor tie-in is worth your time. Skrulls have fallen onto new Asgard with a Super Skrull made up of Norse Gods, powered by the hammer of Beta Ray Bill. The power of the Gods was underestimated by the Skrulls, and they pay for the mistake. Great end to the three issue mini series, especially with the delays to the regular Thor series. Hopefully this will breed interest in Beta Ray Bill and we'll get a new series with Ol' Creepy Horse Face.


Incredible Hercules is my favorite weekly comic right now, I'm a sucker for burly dudes and Hercules is the burliest. Namor and Hercules fight for a few pages until Namora puts an end to it and they attempt to save Amadeus Cho, who's been kidnapped by Amazons. Namor asks Hercules to help him with his own mystery, the disappearance of Lord Poseidon. Stepping away from the aftermath of the events of Planet Hulk, Incredible Hercules is taking a new direction, combining mythology and Super Hero story telling for just great comics. Every other character from Greek Mythology they have brought back has been updated except Hercules, and that just makes the book more perfect. He's the same big, sorta dumb horny dude you've already read about, except he wears slightly more clothes.