In comics..the Swiss army knife connection

Sporting a diamond encrusted baseball bat and a Swiss army knife, Csar and his stunted partner in crime 'Big Murder' grace the cover of this time traveling adventure/farce mini from Marvel. Much delayed, but great fun to read, the story has Spidey and Wolverine jumping back and forth through time and shadowed by villains Csar and Big Murder at the behest of a mysterious super villain.

In this issue our two heroes come face to face with Mojo, a megalomaniac psycho with the attention span of a gnat who has been playing 'Truman Show' with Spidey and Wolverine and broadcasting the results to the television hungry masses on his planet. Great fun comics, well written by Jason Aaron and nice pencils by Kubert.




In Terry Moore's Echo 29 we follow Julie Martin, NSB agent Ivy Raven, Dillon Murphy and Vijay Narayanan into the frozen wastes of Alaska as they close in on the top secret project that is the Phi super collider which could potentially bring about the end of the world. Julie Martin who has been fused with the ghost of Dr. Annie Trotter, an experimental physicist who was killed whilst wearing an experimental flight suit made of a strange and powerful metal, faces her penultimate challenge in the last couple of chapters of this brilliant tale from Terry Moore.

In the image below the gang find a ventilator shaft to the collider complex and Vijay cuts himself in an attempt to remove the lid with his trusty Swiss army knife. You can read an interview with Terry Moore about Echo here.

Got a light boy?

Jason and Ronnie square up to the Anti -Monitor in DC Comics Brightest Day 22. Only two more issues to go now and I'm not even thinking of the money that I've poured into this year long story line. In this issue we get to see Jason and Ronnie working as a team to unleash the powers of Firestorm to defeat the universe eating Anti-Monitor. Firestorm conjures up a giant kitchen match and hurls it at 'Monty's' head which has been encased in a ball of hydrogen. KABOOOM!!

The comic book page: Love and Hate part 1.

Love...

Silver age romance! Batman falls for the new bat on the block. Batwoman seals the deal in this panel drawn by rising star Chris Burnham from Grant Morrison's Batman Incorporated no.4.

Hate...

Following the horrific fallout from a bank heist in downtown Manhattan involving the new super villain 'Massacre', spiderman checks into his private clinic to have a bullet wound seen to. Now that he's without his 'spider sense' fighting crimes has become a different ball game all together! Misfired webs, inability to track spider tracers, no early warnings... looks like its time to suit up!

Spiderman is also still reeling from the recent death of Mayor Jameson's wife Marla, who was killed during the Spider Slayer's attack, making it hard to swallow these words of critisism from 'gun for hire' super hero Paladin.

Birds and animals in Comics Part 1.

From Batman Inc no.4. A mysterious and powerful ring around the world, 'the serpent eating it's own tail'. Grant Morrison is crafting a story that stretches right back to the Silver Age. Super spies, Nazi scientists, criminals, a mad old man feeling the web from a remote South Atlantic island and an ultimate weapon 'Oroboro', powerful enough to "blow a hole in the world". So, south Atlantic island and penguins, which means judging by the art that these little 'happy feet' must either be Adelie or Rockhopper penguins.

When the sun shines on Peter Parker

Picking up in Ultimate Spiderman 155 following the events where Spidey and JJ Jameson were held captive by Mysterio, JJ finds out about Peter Parker's big secret, gets himself shot in head and narrowly escapes death. In issue 155 JJ offers PP a college fund, his old job back at the Daily Bugle and not surprisingly a handshake on a deal that suits both of them, but mostly JJ (ha ha!).

I love the panel where they shake on it, JJ goes from well meaning ('we've shared a life experience together') to hard nosed JJ ( 'we all know too well') brokering a deal. His smile never slips as he tells his new employee to get out of his office, PP on the other hand...


So Peter gets his old job back, Kitty Pride returns to the fold, everyone celebrates his 16th birthday and to top it all off Peter declares his love for Mary Jane and wins her affections. This rosy glow however is about to lose it's shine with the upcoming arc of 'Ultimate Death of Spiderman'. Here's hoping that this great little comic isn't coming to a close with each issue being accessible, engaging and fun.

Chris Samnee was a great step in artist for this issue, he drew a fab retro JJ Jameson who looked 'so' much better with that hat on, Daily Bugle interiors were top notch and even the panels of Spiderman swinging through the city punched fresh air through the page. Next stop.. white doves and the light of heaven shine down on our web slinging hero.

Li'l Depressed Boy

Poor old L'il Depressed Depressed Boy watches the sun drop. I'm really enjoying this new series from Image which has been running as a web comic for a long time now. Lovely coloring, simple panels and music pointers similar to Phonogram. Nothing happens really, we just get to be the fly on LDB's wall as he struggles with his daily routines. Top marks Image!