Honorable Mention: Empowered Vol. 1
Not exactly a #11 or even 12 on my top of March but entertaining and interesting enough for me to shout out. Its about a female hero named Empowered and her often embarrassing exploits. powered by her skin tight suit that rips often and constantly tied up and made fun of by her colleagues. Adam Warren, the original manga-influenced American artist, brings fun and humorous stories with great art. Plus her supporting cast is fun. Her boyfriends and ex-villain minion, her best friends a hard drinking ninja, and her pets an evil alien warlord trapped inside a binding belt. Good stuff.
#10: Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1
Joss Whedon returns to the Buffy-verse with a "what if there was an eighth season?" Buffy comic. Yay? Hell, why not. Georges Jeanty on art and the two deliver a very strong first issue that is elevated by the fact these characters are just damn cool. Especially Xander with his whole Nick Fury stick going as he's the head of operations for Buffy's Vampire/Monster army of slayers. Nice surprise return of a recurring character at the end.
#9: Justice League of America #6
Controversial comic scribe and popular novelist Brad Meltzer with a fan artist of mine, Ed Benes, wrap up the first arc. This much debated comic book has the not-quite-official League take on Amazo. That's right, they aren't technically the League even though we know they are. Nice big fight scene with Vixen and Red Tornado outshining the bigger characters. There's some intense violence and a feel good happy ending. I love comics.
#8: Welcome to Tranquility #4
The mystery of Mr. Articulates murder deepens with more questions. The sheriffs got more dead bodies and she's running out of time before the feds come in and take over the operations. plus Leonas in the hospital and her boyfriend, upset they won't let him see her, decides that him and friends need to break in and snatch her. Nice twists and turns and Gail Simone and company are delivering the goods in this kicking new series.
#7: Checkmate #12
Being a Fire fan, this arc was even better than it probably was. The wrap up to Corvalho answers a few questions regarding Fires willingness to do the bidding of Amanda Walker. While I was not digging the art(two different art teams though work consistently well) it's still another great issue with a bit of a downer of an ending. This has been my favorite title to spin out of Infinite Crisis. Sadly the crossover with Outsiders means I'm going to skip it until it goes back to being self contained.
#6: 52 Week 45
Re-introducing Black Adam-total bad ass! The no prisoner taking punch-you-in-the-face-for-looking-at-him Black Adam. oh yeah... somebodies going to die. Or, in this case, a whole lot of people. Though the Science Squad mans up and does what Death couldn't do. Guess brains comes in handy.
#5: The Spirit #4
The Spirit finds himself cuffed with CIA operative named Silk Satin. The two were after one Hussein Hussein who has information on the mysterious Mr. Octopus and his terrorist organization Octagon. Another done in one with action, suspense, humor, and drama. Wow... what int he name of Jessica Simpson?(That's a line from the book I wanted to share). One of the best books out there and all because Darwyn Cooke knows who to do some ass-kicking work.
#4: Justice Society of America #4
Vandal Savage vs. the Wildcats. JSA vs. Nazis. Big action with larger than life characters. That's what its all about, or should be about, with superhero comics. Powergirl becomes the new chairperson of the Justice Society(much like Black Canary in Justice League) which is a nice change of things. Dale Eaglesham delivers some of his best art thus far and Geoff Johns continues to make JSA the most intense team book out now. Nice ominous ending leads into a nice crossover with JLA which I am psyched about.
#3: Birds of Prey #104
The Birds keep chugging along in a spite of Oracle being blackmailed by Spy Smasher and still recovering from their previous op. Huntress, Big Barda and Zinda encounter the Secret Six on their new operation to acquire a Red Rocket. Some nice moments between Catman and Huntress. Fun cameo by Hawkgirl and a great cliffhanger. At least, great for us fans of 'bwahahaha' Justice League comics. Recently its been announced writer Gail Simones leaving and it pains me right here(::points to heart::) but she's on till November and I know she's going to keep the high quality going.
#2: Shazam: Monster Society of America #2
Man... makes me feel like a kid again. Young main character, cool super heroics, and weird super villains. Billy Batson meets his younger sister Mary who becomes Mary Marvel when billy accidentally zaps her while turning into Capt. Marvel. Plus a talking tiger! Beautifully drawn and wonderfully entertaining. Unless you're into ::YAWN!:: realism and cynicism in your superhero comics. This is a fun book and very kid friendly too.
#1: 52 Week 44
How did Black Adam return to being the baddest sucker on the block? Right here! His brother-in-law was eaten by one of the 4 Horsemen. The kick off to the full fledged assault on Khandaq by the Horsemen. They terrorize his country as the battle Black Adam and Isis. Its a battle that costs Isis her life but not before she asks Black Adam to avenge the family. Yeah, it's depressing and sad. But it sends goosebumps down by skin seeing that page where he holds her in the rain, sad, and then suddenly motivated. Larger than life characters make the moments so much more intense. 52 is awesome.
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