Grading the Comics! April 3 Edition

UPDATED! Friday April 4
Okay, I picked up some books and did a little reading last night.
Here's what I'm thinkin'...

ANNA MERCURY #1 - Okay, NOT Warren's version of Madame Mirage (thank God! I LOVE Dini's book!). Seems like there's civil war between two cities, with stealth operatives and saboteurs on the loose. Anna *seems* to be on the right side but... is she? And what the heck to make of that last page? B+

BOYS #17 - hits a new high note for "EWW!" Billy will be laughing about this one for months. And Hughie's gerbil only just started feeling safe. Oh no. B+

COUNTDOWN #4 - Mary's gone bad (again--oh, she is so gonna get killed), Jimmy's on a one-way trip to Apokolips, Red Robin calls it quits, Holly and Harley hit the road, Atom has misgivings and... oh, did I mention this is a spoiler-heavy commentary? I just saved you $2.99. C
COUNTDOWN SPECIAL: KAMANDI - Cool to see Klassic Kirby! A

DETECTIVE COMICS #843 - Spotlight on the all-new Ventriloquist and fan-fave Scarface. Interesting but I'm seeing an awful lot of Zatanna cropping up in 'Tec. Does Dini want to write a Zatanna series or what? B-

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #44 - One kid's take on his old man, who happens to be... nah, I'd rather let you read it. B

NEW DYNAMIX #2 - I really have no idea what's happening here. Lots of talking, summoning up a few way-old characters from GEN13 (first volume) and mid-90s WildStorm, not to mention a pissing contest between Black Halo and Sword? Plus, I get the sense that Sword's more a whitewashed villain than a badass hero. Still, I'm onboard for a few more issues. C

SECRET INVASION #1 - Kick. Ass. The Marvel heroes just got their heads handed to them in nearly every possible way. Big opening to what looks like a very world-shaking series. A+

TRIALS OF SHAZAM! #12 - Freddie finishes his exam and... ok, here's one I won't spoil. A leeetle too obvious wrap up but still worth reading. B

WALKING DEAD #48 - OMG. Unbelievable. There's one splash page that I would defy any long term reader not to scream in horror and disbelief at seeing. Where the heck does Kirkman go from here? A

Haven't yet read...
ACTION COMICS #863 (sold out!)
KICK-ASS #2 (sold out!)
METAL MEN #7 (of 8) - I'm working on this one!

Join us here next time, true readers, as we wrap up this list.

Grading the Comics (October 24)

Okay, this will be a first. Let me know if you agree or disagree.
Here we go!

• Action Comics #857 - the end of the Bizarro World trilogy. (Thank God.) Honestly, "Superman vision?" Yikes. D
• Authority Prime #1 - Bendix's memory tower again? Geez, how many secrets can the guy possibly have left? Let the old Weatherman rot already. There's a difference between plucking up old plot threads and gravedigging Ellis' leftovers from 1998, especially if all you want is StormWatch Classic duking it out with the Authority. F
• Countdown #27 - wait, wait, is something... happening? Kinda sorta. Sadly, I'm falling out of love with DC's weekly project-du-jour. D-
• Gen 13 #13 - the Gen kids try to cheer up Grunge (sorry, "Eddie") after last issue's unpleasant business. And they have a battle with a batch of brain-scrubbed clones, too. Not a terrific entry but not bad. B-
• Green Lantern Corps #17 - a lot of action but not one of the stronger entries in the series. Felt like it was more placeholder than anything else. (We got a new Ion! Guy Gardner goes to fetch a painting! And Kilowog kicks an alien's ass real hard!) Again, not a strong entry but the whole thing has been so good... B
• Madame Mirage #3 - standout issue of a kickass series. Major revelations, but no spoilers here! Dini's writing is gold and Rocafort's artwork? INCREDIBLE! This guy can draw women like nobody's business. Top Cow's best release of the year. A+
• She-Hulk #22 - Peter David kicks things off in an interesting way but I'd like to see where he takes it from here. Pretty good art, too. B+
• Superman #669 - art's good, story is okay. Might be good if they develop this third Kryptonian further, but it looks like it'll be bye-bye Kandor real soon. B
• Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman Prime #1 - SP is still a whiny manbitch. Hearing his backstory (and long list of rationalizations) doesn't change a thing. Nice back-up story. B-
• Teen Titans #52 - continuing last issue's fight with the future Titans, it looks like the kids are getting beat down hard, caught between their fascistic future selves and Starro-enslaved supervillains. Lots of action, some interesting character insights (potentially). Nice splash page at the end, too. A-
• Ultimate Spider-Man #115 - Peter's in SHIELD's hands and Kitty Pryde doesn't like it. Plus, the Green Goblin (sorry, Harry Osborn) is running around loose and you know that ain't good at all. A
• Uncle Sam & the Freedom Fighters vol 2 #2 - a major Phantom Lady issue, slow paced but with some nice character moments and a mild shock at the end. B
• Walking Dead #43 - shows the build-up to last issue's huge "oh F*** no!" closing splash page from the other side. Nicely done, Mr Kirkman. A
• Umbrella Academy #2 - some pretty freaky stuff, boys and girls. A
• X-Men #204 - The X-Men lick their wounds and regroup after having their collective asses handed to them by a coalition of their enemies, while Rogue and Gambit rediscover their passion (and not for Sudoku). BTW, why haven't the X-Men killed Mystique yet? A

Hm. Not a lot of love for some of DC's output this week. Am I holding them to a higher standard? I dunno, but I wasn't feeling it too much on some books.

The Drop Box
So am I dropping anything after this week? Hm.

1. Don't know if Action will come home again (sorry, I just wasn't digging that story AT ALL).
2. Countdown is on the chopping block. Think I'm ready to call it quits with the book.
3. This was the last issue of Tales of the Sinestro Corps I think I'm interested in.

And that's it for this week! Hey, this wasn't so bad. Maybe I'll rev it up next week... oh wait, that's Halloween and we're off to WFC on Thursday. Well... I'll do it again soon, promise.