I didn’t know what to to expect going into DC Universe #0. This is the third time DC has released a bargain-priced universe-wide one-shot, and while Countdown to Infinite Crisis was one of the best single issues of any comic ever, Brave New World was a bunch of crappy short stories designed to get you to buy a bunch of crappy new mini-series.

So when I got to page 8, and saw that DC Universe #0 was following the formula that Brave New World did, I was a little disappointed. Sure, I’d rather read short stories involving Superman, Green Lantern and Batman than OMAC, Uncle Sam and…whatever else came out of Brave New World that I’ve apparently forgotten about. But I already read Action Comics, so I know what’s going on with the Legion (and this week’s issue explained the “Legion of Three Worlds” thing better than DC #0 did). I don’t plan to read Batman RIP, WW and GL are already on my pull list, and I haven’t given two craps about the Spectre since he was seduced by Eclipso.

But then there was that last story. From the start of the issue, I had been a bit confused about who was narrating the story. It was someone that called Superman “Clark,” someone who “knows” Hal Jordan. Yet it’s was still someone who knew that Crispus Allen is the Spectre, which I’m guessing isn’t common knowledge to many people on this side of the grave. But I can’t believe that they’d actually do this.

Barry Allen is back fron the dead. Even though it could very well be a swerve and some other speedster could have returned, and even though Barry has been a better character dead than he ever was alive, that’s exciting.

When Grant Morrison was announced as the writer of Final Crisis, I was disheartened. When Countdown to Final Crisis became an unreadable piece of garbage week after week, I was disappointed. But when a “This is what you need to know” issue comes out, and I already know everything I need to know, that picks my spirits up a bit. And seeing the names Greg Rucka, Gail Simone and Geoff Johns attached, three people integral to the build-up to Infinite Crisis, makes me hopeful that DC might actually know what the hell they’re doing. Maybe Final Crisis won’t suck afterall.

I’d be willing to bet Jim Doom had a little bit of a different reaction, though: (more…)

It’s been three weeks since the Book of Doom returned with a vengeance, with a 4-day review-thon spotlighting as many books. Since then, we here at doomkopf.com haven’t been able to decide on a book that we had enough interest in to sit down and write a review. This week Superman #675, the final Kurt Busiek-penned issue of the series, seemed like it might be a good choice.

Emphasis on the word “seemed.”

Kurt Busiek’s Superman run has been pretty decent, but then again I’ve only been reading Superman solo stories for as long as Busiek’s been writing them. “Up, Up and Away,” the first One Year Later arc, was a great story. “Camelot Falls” was a nice saga that suffered drastically from constant interruptions by fill-in issues to give Carlos Pacheco time to play catch-up. Some of those fill-ins were even pretty entertaining, though.

But since Camelot Falls ended six months ago or so, Supeman just hasn’t been very good. Busiek seemed to be treading water, incorporating elements from the Richard Donner Action Comics arc that I tried my damnedest to avoid. There are only so many stories you can tolerate that involve a generic super-powered alien fighting Superman.

So imagine how overjoyed I was when I started reading this issue and discovered it was Superman versus three generic super-powered aliens. Yes, I said “discovered,” because Superman has fallen so far off my radar that I had completely forgotten what had happened in the previous issue. I thought this was going to be a stand-alone wrap-everything-up send-off issue. My apologies, Jim.

Jim Doom: “I bought this $3.99 issue because I was under the impression it was a standalone conclusion to Busiek’s run on the book. Had I known that it was just part 2 of a story, I wouldn’t have spent the money, extra pages or not. (more…)

It’s the final installment of our 4-Part Book of Doom series this week, reviewing four new issues that began four new arcs in their respective titles.

Ms. Marvel #25 followed up on last month’s revelation by Tony Stark that Carol Danvers - or at least a Carol Danvers was a Skrull. We can see from this issue, however, that there is also a Carol Danvers that isn’t a Skrull.

She was one of my first guesses as to who was a Skrull, based on little dialogue things from earlier issues of New Avengers and Mighty Avengers. But I’m kind of getting the hint that Secret Invasion will be full of red herrings.

The Colossus-Skrull made his first appearance in the New Avengers: Illuminati issue that revealed Black Bolt to be a Skrull. I’m still not sure if Colossus is real, Colossus is a Skrull, there’s a real Colossus and a Skrull Colossus, or if this is just another red herring since we all know that Colossus was dead for a while.

There wasn’t a whole lot to this issue, and definitely nothing worth spending $3.99 on. The writing was just kind of stiff, and I get the feeling that Brian Reed doesn’t know what it’s like to have the internal monologue of a woman. I don’t either, but I just doubt that it’s full of clichés like thinking about ice cream. Then again, maybe it is. I suppose I shouldn’t judge based on the authenticity — just on the fact that it felt cheesy and contrived.

I shouldn’t say there wasn’t a lot to this issue. Her boyfriend got killed. And maybe he’s a Kree. And maybe her agent is a Skrull. There is definitely more going on here, and regular readers of Ms. Marvel probably got a lot more out of this than I did. But as far as attracting a new reader, as this week’s 4-Part Book of Doom experiment was sort of based around doing, since it’s all about new arcs and whatnot, I don’t think I was interested enough to buy another issue. Maybe if it’s a slow week. But I have a feeling I’ll be more than happy to get my Ms. Marvel dose in Mighty Avengers. (more…)

I would’ve dropped Legion of Super-Heroes this month if not for the 4-Part Book of Doom. I really liked it during Mark Waid’s run. Tony Bedard’s was hit and miss with me. It seemed like it was leading to something great, then just kind of fizzled away. But Jim Shooter’s run downright stinks.

Last month’s issue was a whole lot of nothing — hunting down vermin and … I think that was it. Then this month, it’s a whole lot of puking, looking for the remains of vermin and … yeah, I think that’s it. Well, and there was arguing, too.

You see, apparently the best Jim Shooter could come up with for a Character-Defining Leadership Moment™ for Lightning Lad was to settle the dispute between Saturn Girl and Timber Wolf, in which Saturn Girl dared to control Timber Wolf’s mind so that he wouldn’t kill people, including herself. And she got in trouble for that!

That showed his tough side, because Saturn Girl is his sweetie, and he was willing to discipline her — FOR PREVENTING ONE OF THEIR TEAMMATES FROM KILLING PEOPLE, INCLUDING HER!! Man, that was stupid. Timber Wolf’s punishment? “Don’t try to kill your teammates anymore, or we’re gonna kick you out of the club.” They should start calling him Lightning Balls with brave discipline like that!

The whole rest of the issue was basically Brainiac, now cast as an annoying attention-hungry dork, rather than a cold, calculating egomaniac, trying to get Lightning Balls to care about the alien invasion. But Lightning Balls is just too much of a smooth, even flow to get ripples in his creek. He wants to sit back on a 31st Century Sofa and sip some coffee, man.

You know what, the odds are pretty dang good that when I was a teenager, I was an idiot. I’m sure of it, in fact. However, that does not mean that I want to pay $2.99 to read about a book of idiots, even if they are supposed to be teenagers. They’re SUPER teenagers! At least let one of their powers be something like the ability to not be an insufferable moron.

I hope they’re so busy sipping coffee and taking naked nutrient baths that the alien invasion comes and kills them all and the series ends at issue #41. It’s clear that DC likes the old Legion better, anyway.

Let’s see if Fin Fang Doom liked it any more than I did.
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I really like Daredevil. I really like the “true-crime” approach that Ed Brubaker and Brian Michael Bendis have taken with the book. I also really like the relationships between Daredevil and his supporting cast. But I really didn’t care much for this issue.

Ever since Daredevil got out of prison — emerging from the storyline that Bendis set up for him — I feel like Brubaker has just had no idea where to go with this character. I’ve ragged on this series in the past year for feeling like it was just retreading ground from the Bendis years. But I don’t think that has ever been more obvious than this issue.

The whole point of this issue is that Matt Murdock is so messed up with his personal life that he’s become a much more dangerous man out on the streets. Daredevil is a loose cannon. People are worried about him. Wasn’t that seriously like the undercurrent throughout maybe the last 50 issues of the Bendis run? Remember that superhero intervention and everything?

I thought the Mr. Fear storyline was kind of a dud. Maybe stuff that happens to Milla doesn’t seem as tragic as stuff that happened to Karen Page or Elektra because it seems like Milla was just brought in to be tortured. We never really saw Matt and Milla happy. He was always just lusting after Karen’s scent or trying to hook up with Elektra on a rooftop. So maybe that’s why Matt’s anger and guilt maybe seems a little forced or hollow.

I don’t know. Whatever it is, I’m just not feeling it, and I have a feeling it’s because this issue could have happened at pretty much any point between, oh I don’t know, issue #40 and now.

This issue actually made me start to think “Daredevil needs to die.”

I did like the art. It’s a little bit of a departure from the hyperrealism that has been this book’s standard visual style for the past 80 issues, but I like how it’s kind of bold and minimalist on the surface with a sort of old-school kind of John Buscema structure beneath it all. I am unfamiliar with this Paul Azaceta, but I wouldn’t mind if he stuck around.

Let’s see what Fin Fang Doom thought about the issue!
(more…)

At first I was really excited about the Secret Origin of Hal Jordan miniseries. Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern has always been one of my favorite characters, Geoff Johns is one of my favorite writers and Ivan Reis is one of my favorite artists.

But then I started reading it, and I was like “Man, I’ve heard this story so many times.” I don’t know why, but I feel like I’ve read Green Lantern’s origin a billion times. I’ve read it in the old ’60s Green Lantern series. I think it was covered in Green Lantern: Rebirth. It was in that stupid New Frontier movie. But I just started this issue thinking “Oh yeah … I already know all of this, and this is going to be boring.”

Though almost as predictably as this review is changing tones, the story I’ve heard over and over still managed to be told in a very fresh and moving way. The relationship between Hal and his family has been addressed before, but Johns managed to use that little tale of Little Brother Jimmy and Hal’s birthday present to illustrate so much about these people, especially the drastically different relationship between Hal and older brother Jack.

Geoff Johns has such a talent of telling massive stories through these small, personal moments. There’s an emotional impact in that scene of Jim’s eventual delivery of the birthday present that you just don’t find — and don’t even expect to find — in the spandex superhero comics.

It was a completely added bonus to discover that Abin Sur’s story will shed some light on the Blackest Night prophecies. I would’ve been completely pleased with this issue and the direction that the Secret Origin was going even without some tie to what’s happening now. I was totally content with a several-issue pause, so it was a great treat that this look back in time will have significance about what is yet to come.

And with Ivan Reis back on the art, it was an all around fantastic issue. Let’s see what Fin Fang Doom thought about the issue. (more…)

We’ve been batting around the idea of bringing the Book of Doom back here at Doomkopf.com, but it seems that whenever we’re talking about it, it’s just never the right week.

Well this week, there are four books coming out with either major events or the start of brand new arcs, thus serving as great jumping-on points for any readers out there who want to play along. Fin Fang Doom and I are going to celebrate the return of the Book of Doom by reviewing ALL FOUR in a special Return of the Book of Doom spanning four days.

So as always, we encourage you to join in by contributing your own reviews, either by e-mailing us at doomkopf at doomkopf dot com or joining in via the comments of the posts.

Thursday: GREEN LANTERN #29
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert

Kicking off the “Secret Origin” story arc! Witness the beginnings of one of the bravest Green Lanterns who’s ever lived as the “secret origin” of Hal Jordan is revealed in a whole new light!

While Hal begins his career another Lantern, the greatest of all time, uncovers the mystery of Abin Sur’s death and his obsession with the prophecy of “the Blackest Night.”

Friday: DAREDEVIL #106
Written by ED BRUBAKER
Penciled by MIKE PERKINS

MATT MURDOCK FACES A LONG NIGHT OF THE SOUL!

Reeling from the events of last issue, Matt Murdock struggles to come to grips with all the things we can’t tell you about because they would spoil the ending of the previous arc.

Drifting into anger and depression, Daredevil stalks the streets of Hell’s Kitchen, looking for bad guys to take it out on - but is he really just taking it out on himself?

By Harvey and Eisner-Winning Best Writer Ed Brubaker and special guest artist Mike Perkins (CAPTAIN AMERICA)!

Saturday: THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #40
Written by Jim Shooter
Art and cover by Francis Manapul & John Livesay

Part 1 of the story arc “Enemy Rising” - the beginning of the One Evil Saga! To save her world, Shadow Lass battles alone against a Life-eradicator.

The mystery of their origin deepens as important evidence emerges. Meanwhile, conflict between Timber Wolf and Saturn Girl explodes!

Action, angst, amour, amperage and accuracy to the max!

Sunday: MS. MARVEL #25
Written by BRIAN REED
Penciled by ADRIANA MELO

The record-setting 25th issue is here, and it’s super-sized!

Is Ms. Marvel on the front lines of the Secret Invasion… or is she part of the invasion?!

Brian Reed (CAPTAIN MARVEL) welcomes new series artist Adriana Melo onboard as Ms. Marvel begins her third year of action and adventure!

(This book is $3.99, but it is also 48 pages.)

As Doom DeLuise explained last week, the Doomkopf Book of Doom is now each member of the legion’s favorite book of the week. It’s a little late this week because comics were late this week and because I’m just always late at everything.

For my favorite this week, I’m going to take Captain America #33. While it was long said that Bucky would always stay dead, the Winter Soldier has changed all that, and I feel like I finally truly understand why. At the conclusion of this issue, I realized that Marvel was doing that which DC will never have the guts to do. Marvel killed their Batman and replaced him with Robin.

It’s basically something that both companies set up since day one, but the respective title characters just became too iconic in their own right for it to ever happen. That, and Captain America’s sidekick had been dead for 50 years.

The characterization of Bucky may have been kind of a no-brainer for Brubaker, but it works perfectly. He’s flawed, but you root for him. He wants to be a great man, but he lacks confidence. He’s more ruthless and “black ops” but not anywhere near that 1990s Deathblow / Wetworks way. He wants to be Steve Rogers, but he’d be the last person to admit he was qualified for it, and that’s what will make his run as Captain America intriguing (and hopefully long-lasting). He’s not just going to be the next Captain America — he’s going to be a new Captain America. And the 33 issues that have now come in order to build up to that moment are a fine tribute to both characters.

I think the only bad thing is that they brought in Alex Ross to redesign the uniform, which of course means that Captain America will now be shiny. And what’s up with having mini-Captain America shields on your shoulder? Bucky’s got one, Cable’s got one … it’s like the rugged superhero fashion accessory of 2008.

Speaking of Cable, that leads us to Doominator’s pick for Book of Doom.
(more…)

Hello, everybody. This week is the first week where we’ve decided to change the format of the weekly Book of Doom. It used to be that, each week, one of us members of the Legion would choose a book, we’d all read it, and, each Saturday, the original chooser would post a collection of each of our reviews of said book. It rarely turned out that we all enjoyed a book on any given week, so our reviews were mostly negative. But not anymore! Under our new format, each Saturday, one of us will post a compilation of each of our favorite issues from the week’s haul. Not only will there be multiple reviews of multiple books each week, but, hopefully, each review will be mostly positive. And isn’t that just a lot more fun to read? Well, let’s hope so. And, hey, if you disagree with us and think that something we don’t mention is the best book of the week, well, by all means, feel free to leave a comment or two.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get things rolling! (more…)

I really expected Gail Simone to hit one out of the ballpark with her first issue of Wonder Woman. Well, she didn’t, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t deliver an entertaining issue.

Wonder Woman versus an albino gorilla army was a nice way to start of the issue. It was a good action scene, and I really liked the line about WW preferring “never to use Batman’s methods.” Establishing early on that WW has her own way of doing things was important. There’s a lot of people with powers very similar to Wonder Woman, so it’s good to know that WW isn’t interchangeable with all the other super-strong, nigh-invulnerable flying heroes out there.

I also like that Simone teased a story featuring Hippolyta and a quartet of mysterious prisoners, and one of those prisoners’ desire to kill WW. It’s nice to know that Simone’s run is headed somewhere, instead of just being a series of adventures with no connection between them. With the end of the story being a bunch of uber-Nazis storming Paradise Island, I’m a little worried Simone may blow her wad a little early with this story, though. This seems like the type of thing that could build for quite a while as a sub-plot before actually coming into center stage on the title.

Being unfamiliar with Wonder Woman’s history from One Year Later to now, I was really lost about anything that happened at Diana’s day job. I know the characters of Nemesis and Sarge Steel from the few issues I’ve read before now, but I don’t really know their personalities or motivations. Hopefully along the way Simone will flesh out these guys a little more for those of us who don’t know their history and really don’t want to go back and read 13 crappy issues to learn it.

So Wonder Woman #14 was a good issue, but not a great one. It’s certainly one of the best issues of Wonder Woman I’ve ever read though. Let’s see what the rest of the Legion has to say. (more…)