New This Week - Wolverine: Origins #30

This month is part five of the Original Sin story arc. Wolverine has found out he has a son, Daken. Like father, like son, Daken is a wild animal much like Logan was when Professor X first found him. Now, Wolverine has enlisted the Professor to help him rescue his son from the Hellfire Club and to try and sort his mind out. As with many current X-Men titles, Professor X is still struggling with decisions he made in the past, and whether or not he has lived as righteous a life as he once thought. Alienated from the X-men and disowned by Cyclops, Prof. X is none to eager to join Logan on this quest, but Wolverine is in no mood to take no for an answer.

This is another title that now lacks the Ennis/Dillon influence. The first few story arcs were inked by Steve Dillon, and really had the Preacher look, which I thought suited the stories very well. Now drawn by Mike Deodato (The Amazing Spider-man, The New Avengers), it still looks great, but I do miss Dillon's work. He is rumored to be drawing the new Silver Fox series, so I guess I will have to wait for that.

New This Week - Batman #681

So ends the strange saga that has been Batman R.I.P. I have to admit, I had a lot of trouble following this story for the past few months. I often found myself confused about what was going on. This final issue explains some of the things I missed, but I'm still not really sure if I liked it or not. It certainly left things open; is Batman still alive? If not, who takes over the Dark Knight's cowl? I hope it will be Nightwing; he's my favorite!

New This Week - The Punisher #64

This is part 4 of the first story arc since Garth Ennis stopped writing this Marvel MAX series. After the Punisher was tricked into thinking he shot and killed an innocent young girl, he considered taking his own life. Now, he has found out the truth, and he is on the rampage to make those responsible pay! I was very disappointed when Ennis quit this title, as I thought he really nailed it. Now, it just doesn't seem quite the same. The good news is that Ennis is reuniting with former partner, Preacher artist Steve Dillon, to work on a new title called Punisher: War Zone. This will coincide with the release of the Punisher: War Zone movie, which gives me hope that the film will be dark like Ennis' books!

New This Week - The Amazing Spider-man #578

With all the huge problems Spider-man has to deal with these days, it must be a such a bother for him to have to still handle the B-list villains. Another one is back this week, causing havoc in New York and Peter Parker is there to mop it up. The end of this issue introduces a surprise character that I guess will be the basis for the next story arc. I wasn't too impressed with this week's issue, but I'll have to wait and see what it becomes. I'm not the biggest fan of Marcos Martin's artwork on this title. As with his work on Batgirl: Year One, I find the art to be a little loose, and I prefer it when Spider-man characters are very defined. On a side note, Batgirl: Year One is a great series worth checking out, and I think Martin's style works a lot better in Gotham City.

Logan

The 3 issue arc begins with Logan waking up in a Japanese prison camp and takes place over a few days near the end of World War II. I won't say risk giving anything away by saying too much, just that this is a very good story, as you would expect, for it is penned by Eduardo Risso (100 Bullets) and Brian Vaughn (Y:The Last Man). I like Wolverine and I like these books.

All Star Batman and Robin

This is a strange series indeed! Written by Frank Miller (Batman: Year One, The Dark Knight Returns) and inked by famed X-Men artist Jim Lee, this title looks at Batman from a whole new light. The Dark Knight is portrayed as cocky and abrasive. In true Miller style, Batman is very aggressive and seriously injures many of the criminals he encounters. This Caped Crusader thinks they are better off in traction for 18 months than they are back on the streets in 3. This storyline involves a Justice League (consisting of Superman, Wonder Woman, Hal Jordan's Green Lantern and Plastic Man) that thinks this strange vigilante is dangerous, and they want him to tone it down. Batman, however, sees them as idiots and doesn't hide this fact. I really enjoy how Miller presents the Green Lantern; as an unimaginative douchebag who just happens to hold all the power in the world.

All this is just a sub-theme however, as the main plot here is the retelling of when Batman took on Dick Grayson as Robin. In this arc, Batman kidnapped Grayson from the circus after his parents were shot on stage. Batman had been watching him as a possible sidekick for years, but had intended to wait until he was older. Robin is trained through tough love this time, with Batman being quite harsh to him.

I can see how many people might not like this new title, but I rather enjoy it. I was a big fan of the Dark Knight Returns/Strikes Back and this definitely borrows from the tone of those two titles. So, if you like those, there is a good chance you may want to check these out as well.

New This Week 11/13/08

The Amazing Spider-man #577 – Things are not looking that great for Peter Parker these days. Not only is he still wanted by S.H.I.E.L.D. as an unregistered superhuman and accused of five murders as the ‘Spider Tracer’ killer by the DB, now he has even more problems on his hands. A mysterious new villain known as “Mr. Negative” has drafted Hammerhead to help him take over all the gangs in New York. As payment, he has equipped Hammerhead with a metal endoskeleton fused over his bones, which Spider-man learned about on the wrong end of a savage beating. Now Spider-man must try and find out who is behind all this recent violence. At least things couldn’t get any worse, right? Enter the Punisher…

New This Week 11/13/08

Wolverine #69 – Part four of the Old Man Logan arc. It’s 50 years since the world’s superheroes fell and America has been divided up amongst the baddest of the bad. Logan is now a pacifist living with his wife and children. Two months behind on the rent owed to Bruce Banner’s violent offspring, he gets an offer from the former Avenger, Hawkeye. Clint Barton, now blinded, needs to make a delivery across the country and wants Logan to act as his driver. Out of desperation to make some money, Logan agrees, but under one condition; the Wolverine will no longer conduct acts of violence. Together, they hop aboard Peter Parker’s old Spider-Mobile on a journey through the heartland of a destroyed nation.

Spotlight on...

Joker (hard cover) – Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets) wrote this tale of Batman’s most prolific nemesis. Drawn by Lee Bermejo (Lex Luther: Man of Steel), this story arc focuses primarily on the random madness that makes up the Joker’s life. It can be seen as a continuation of the summer blockbuster, The Dark Knight, as the characters are portrayed in the same light. After just being deemed no longer insane and released from Arkham Asylum, the Joker looks to retake control of the city that he considers rightfully his.

This is, by far, one of the better hard covers that I have read in a while. The tone is both funny and dark, and the artwork is done very well. I started reading it and I could not put it down until I was finished. For anyone interested in the Joker and his relation to those that work for him, this one is a must read. If only Heath Ledger were still around, this would make for a great story basis for the next Batman film.