The Walking Dead "18 Miles Out" Recap/Review

"18 Miles Out" sticker on GetGlue (from AMC)

*SPOILER WARNING*

Starting the episode with a tense zombie filled scene.  I love it.  Few series can make that work as perfectly as this series can, as now I'll be on the edge of my seat the rest of the episode almost every time this happens.

I hate the way Dale "deduced" that Shane killed Otis, but I do like that it has created some great threads amongst the characters.  Rick's and Shane's conversion at the beginning was one of the scenes I have most wanted to see in the comics (even though it will never happen now).  But Rick, side note, don't let the crazy guy hold the shot gun. Small thing (big gun), but don't want your brains blown away. Zombies will make a nice soufflé out of that.

Why the Comic Industry Needs Events

(Marvel Comics

Everyone complains about event comics these days.  It's natural.  The event barges into the universe and takes precedent over all the individual story lines.  Story lines that have been building naturally for months, maybe years, have to take a back seat so that a book that is barely involved can tie into the overall narrative.  Sometimes, if a writer is skilled enough, they can make the event work in their favor and keep the overall narrative working.  But why do we (yes, I include myself in this) bash events, when they do so much good for the comics industry?

Reviews for The Flash #6, Morning Glories #16, Wolverine & the X-Men #6 and a lot more!

Was a slightly smaller week than the past couple, but still a good week overall.  Only one bad comic, and I'm sure you'll see it coming when you see the cover.  With that said, on with the show!

DC Comics

Aquaman #6:  While Aquaman was off in the desert in last month’s issue, Mera was out having an adventure of her own.

While the issue isn’t that dramatic, it’s still a sound issue.  Geoff Johns gives us a glimpse into who Mera is and what makes her tick.  It’s fairly by the books stuff, but Johns makes it all interesting.  The scenes are set up well, especially the one in the grocery store.  The domestic abuse scene was a little over the top, as we just saw how strong of a woman Mera is and how she defends women.  Take out that, and then you have a perfectly written comic.

Ivan Reis is absent this month (for the most part), with Joe Prado finishing Reis’ breakdowns.  The affect works well, for the most part.  Mera’s flashbacks are perfect, where I couldn’t tell that they were breakdowns.  But in every other scene, the pencils lack.  Prado gives every character weird facial constructions, with many of them being overly elongated.  The action scenes look great, in usual Reis fashion.

Aquaman #6 gets 3.5/5.

The Walking Dead "Trigger Finger" Recap/Review

The "Trigger Finger" sticker from GetGlue (from AMC)

*SPOILER WARNING*

Lori must have been having pregnancy brain last episode and got hit, even though it lead to some tense scenes at the beginning.

So remember dumb ass #1 and #2 from the last episode? They weren't alone.  Reminds me a lot of Rick's time at the Governor, with the people being more threatening than the zombies.  It's good stuff, even if they have horrible Philly accents.  Guess Flyers fans survived the outbreak.

The TV show has taken liberties with a lot of characters and a few of them have worked well.  Carol having a quasi-relationship with Daryl is one of them.  It's small things like that which please the fan of the comics in me.

Digital Copies with Physical Copies. Good or Bad?

Justice League #1 (DC Comics)

In this new digital age for comics, it's hard to figure out what comic companies should do.  While the big two companies, DC and Marvel, have different plans, they might not be the best options.

Unless you have been living under a rock the past few months, DC and Marvel have been offering digital copies with physical books the past few months.  DC has only been doing this with Justice League, but you have to pay an extra dollar to get the code.  Marvel has been doing it with numerous books, and they are free.  Most of them have been comics in the Ultimate Universe and Avenging Spider-Man.  They will also be doing free copies with Avengers vs. X-Men.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Colombia Pictures

My Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance review just went up on the movie website.  As you might have expected, Nicholas Cage is an idiot and shouldn't have ruined this character.  Review is here: 

http://mrcomicbookgoestothemovies.blogspot.com/2012/02/ghost-rider-spirit-of-vengeance-review.html

Reviews for Army of Darkness #1, Batman #6, Amazing Spider-Man #679.1 and more!

Hello all.  Another week, another big batch of reviews.  Hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day and their valentine got them lots of comics!

Marvel Comics

Amazing Spider-Man #679.1:  Most of the .1 issues that Marvel has released over the months haven't done their job that well.  Amazing Spider-Man #679.1 actually does, and it's a good read as well.

Dan Slott and Chris Yost write this script, and their two styles mesh rather well.  So much so I couldn't tell who was writing what pages, something that can happen when two writers tackle an issue.  The story itself is sound.  It's a quick one and done, while setting up plot threads.  Having Morbius back is good angle, and it ends up making Peter's life much harder.  When kicking Peter down a little bit, it's always a difficult task.  You can't take away his job every time, so making it slightly harder being Spider-Man was a nice touch.  Most of Peter's coworkers have been cardboard cutouts, so developing one of them is good for long time readers.  The ending will please long time fans, and get the excited with anticipation.

Matthew Clark's pencils fit a Spider-Man book very well.  More so than Ghost Rider.  Morbius has an especially terrifying look to him.  While not spoiling the final page, it has a great look and hopefully Clark can come back when it comes time to tell that story.  His art would be a nice companion to the current Amazing Spider-Man artists.

Amazing Spider-Man #679.1 gets 4/5.