www.ComicBookPage.com

Ultimates 2 #1 - I loved this book! It was a great Ult Punisher book, much better than any Punisher I'm reading in the reg Marvel U. So I'm excited to see what Millar does with a Ult Punisher and along with the Max book each month, I should be able to get a good dose of Punisher for awhile.

Doc Savage #1 I have not read Doc Savage before outside First Wave and the Batman special but I really enjoyed this issue. I thought opening it up with a strange lightning attacking the city was interesting. I know a few people hated it but I enjoyed it. The Avenger (Justice Inc) was fantastic. I am definitely on board for the next issue.

Kevin Smith's Green Hornet #1 - Man I really enjoyed this title. Loved the pacing and content and thought it was a fantastic first issue.

Green Hornet Year One #1 - Very nice tale of how the Green Hornet became a hero. Good storytelling. I slightly enjoyed the Kevin Smith one better.

FCBD Solar Man of the Atom/Magnus Robot Fighter #1 - This book was just too damn good to be free. I have the Valiant Vibe again and I am excited.

comicm wrote:Doc Savage #1 I have not read Doc Savage before outside First Wave and the Batman special but I really enjoyed this issue. I thought opening it up with a strange lightning attacking the city was interesting. I know a few people hated it but I enjoyed it. The Avenger (Justice Inc) was fantastic. I am definitely on board for the next issue.

I'm glad you liked it (I'm one of the "some people" who hated this).

Maybe this appeals better to people who don't have any Doc Savage expectations going in that are not met. Personally, how much I enjoy a book is often affected to a large degree by what i was WANTING it to be and then how much the reality did or did not meet up to that expectation.

I think the art (which I REALLY disliked as suitable for Doc) had a large impact on my overall feeling.

comicm wrote: FCBD Solar Man of the Atom/Magnus Robot Fighter #1 - This book was just too damn good to be free. I have the Valiant Vibe again and I am excited.

I don't know what it was about this one but I just came away from it thinking with was really mediocre. As I was reading it I had a thought running through my head that it had NOT captured the "lightning in a bottle" that had characterized the Valiant run.

I was excited for the Dark Horse re-launch, but after reading this, I'm pretty much thinking I'd just as soon skip the re-launch.

And you had an opposite reaction on Kevin Smith's Green Hornet, too.

I think you can use me for comic reviews like I used to use Gene Siskel for movie reviews. If Gene hated something I could be pretty much assured I'd love it. A lot of the books that are not "doing it" for me lately are hits for you, Mike. I'll keep you posted on stuff that does not ring my bell so you can check them out!!!

BobBretall wrote:

comicm wrote: FCBD Solar Man of the Atom/Magnus Robot Fighter #1 - This book was just too damn good to be free. I have the Valiant Vibe again and I am excited.

I don't know what it was about this one but I just came away from it thinking with was really mediocre. As I was reading it I had a thought running through my head that it had NOT captured the "lightning in a bottle" that had characterized the Valiant run.

I was excited for the Dark Horse re-launch, but after reading this, I'm pretty much thinking I'd just as soon skip the re-launch.

And you had an opposite reaction on Kevin Smith's Green Hornet, too.

I think you can use me for comic reviews like I used to use Gene Siskel for movie reviews. If Gene hated something I could be pretty much assured I'd love it. A lot of the books that are not "doing it" for me lately are hits for you, Mike. I'll keep you posted on stuff that does not ring my bell so you can check them out!!!

You can't really say that because I enjoy a lot of books that you enjoy as well. For movies I always listened to Ebert more because he was more of my taste. I am surprised you did not like Solar. I am not surprised you did not like Doc Savage. I thought Doc Savage was a breathe of fresh air in my reading stack. I may be in in the minority on that but it just goes to show how there are diverse opinions out there for this art form.

I also tend to not hold as critical an eye toward artwork that you do. For me a book can have a great story and horrible artwork and I will stick to it. Whereas a book that has a horrible story and fantastic artwork I might not like. So I am more of a story guy and find the artwork can grow on me. For Doc Savage I believe you hated both the art and the story so it would not have mattered there. The only thing that bothers me about Porters art is the eyes, but I can get past that. Maybe I got used to it after DC Decisions and Magog.

Sif #1 - I did not order this originally but the cover struck me and during FCBD I bought it. Story was ok but Stegman drew a hell of an issue that made it worth while for me. I am usually a story guy but Lady Sif was drawn to perfection.


Kato Origins #1 - Also a book I decided to purchase on FCBD. Definitely the weakest of the Green Hornet launches in my opinion. I am on the fence as to whether or not to finish out the arc.

comicm wrote: I also tend to not hold as critical an eye toward artwork that you do. For me a book can have a great story and horrible artwork and I will stick to it. Whereas a book that has a horrible story and fantastic artwork I might not like. So I am more of a story guy and find the artwork can grow on me.

I think you're right on with this assessment. While I like lots of different art styles, when one hits me as "wrong", I have a real hard time struggling through the book.

I can skim through a book with a bad story & art I love just looking at the pretty pictures, though

comicm wrote:Sif #1 - I did not order this originally but the cover struck me and during FCBD I bought it. Story was ok but Stegman drew a hell of an issue that made it worth while for me. I am usually a story guy but Lady Sif was drawn to perfection.

This one had what I thought was a kind of weak story, but, like you, I loved Stegman's art, and thus liked the issue as a whole. Just to show your vast insight in your observation above, this was a case of the art winning me over when the story is "fair-to-middlin'"

American Vampire #1 - Really did enjoy this especially the first story by Synder. Albuquerque's artwork fits well with this book and I especially like the 20's Vampire story. Stephen King story was good but it did not flow like a comic book.

BobBretall wrote:

comicm wrote: I also tend to not hold as critical an eye toward artwork that you do. For me a book can have a great story and horrible artwork and I will stick to it. Whereas a book that has a horrible story and fantastic artwork I might not like. So I am more of a story guy and find the artwork can grow on me.

I think you're right on with this assessment. While I like lots of different art styles, when one hits me as "wrong", I have a real hard time struggling through the book.

I can skim through a book with a bad story & art I love just looking at the pretty pictures, though

I'm with both of you. I grabbed this last week because I'm a fan of Stegman as well and I enjoyed his art a lot. The story did nothing for more and I still have no idea who Sif is!!

iZombie #1(Vertigo) - Really liked #1. I also like how DC chooses pages to preview that give the "flavor" of a series instead of just the 1st few pages of a book. The Preview floating around for this book is actually the last few pages of #1. Good book overall, and it's only $1, so folks should give it a try!

Shadowhawk #1(Image) - I'm not particularly familiar with previous incarnations of the character (I read the first few issues of the original series back in the 90s but have only a vague memory of them. That said, this was a decent story & I didn't feel lost by not having read intervening issues. They referenced stuff from past issues I was not familiar with, but that was an added benefit of giving me some backstory, not a detriment. I'll keep getting the series. That said, the back-up was not that good. Steve Niles has written better stuff, and the art by Valentino was very flat in comparison to the art on the main story.

Hellboy in Mexico (Dark Horse) - Great stand-alone issue! Highly recommended if you like Hellboy.

Frenemy of the State #1(Oni) - In interest of "full disclosure", I read this as a "Press Preview" PDF from Oni. The solicit was not compelling enough for me to buy it, and there is a shady track record for comics associated with Hollywood celebs (Rashida Jones from 'Parks & Recreation' on TV and the movie 'I Love You Man').
That said, going in with ZERO expectations I read this book in PDF format & really enjoyed it. Some very clever dialogue, nice plot, and I'm interested to see where they go with #2. One thing that bothered me was that the "flashback" part in the middle could have been a bit clearer that it was flashback. The key indicator is the page background/border on the flashback portion of the book is black, whereas the "now" portion is white.
Anyway, I liked it enough that I bought a "real" copy of the book at my LCS & am adding #2 to my pull list.

Kato #1 - This is the Kato from Kevin Smith's Green Hornet which is a young female. I thought this was a great companion book to the main title. Dynamite is really writing some great books here. As much as I was resisitant to having so many titles they are all good. (4/5)

Green Hornet Strikes #1 - This is a future Green Hornet following the adventures of the Green Hornet after Britt. That it was a good opening issue and Dynamite has me again. Alll the books tie in the generations of Green Hornet and I like that. (4/5) http://www.comicbookdb.com/graphics/com ... _large.jpg