Comic reviews from LAST week plus Wizard World

All Star Superman #11

Issue #10 of this amazing series was easily my favorite of the run up to now so it was only natural that this one was going to be a let down on at least some level. While far from my favorite issue of this run #11 still was better than most of the books I got this week. Like other issues of ASS #11 is as much about Lex Luthor as it is about Superman, and the issue shines regardless of which character is the center of attention. I'm blanking on what more to say about this book if you follow comics in the slightest you have heard by now how incredible this run has been so just go buy it already.

Daredevil #107

Mr. Fear is out of the picture for now and Matt is about to back to life in the courtroom. Wow, that sounds awful when I look at it, but this issue was far from that. Former partner Greg Rucka has joined up with Brubaker for this issue [and will stay on for this 4 issue arc] and it has certainly paid off for now. Being down in the dumps is nothing new for Matt Murdock, but the beginning of this issue wonderfully shows us just how far he has fallen with the help of a certain New Avenger. The main story centers around said New Avenger trying to convince Dakota and Foggy to let Matt take on the case of a man on death row who has confessed to multiple be- headings. Matt actually takes a back seat to Dakota through much of the issue which is fine because the scenes with her are written very well. The art in this book has been good for a while, but it really stood out for me this issue probably due to the use of very cinematic cuts, particularly the first scenes with Dakota and the scenes of Matt alone in his apartment, with dialogue-less panels which if you read my Scalped review you know that I absolutely love. So, a great issue which made excellent use of supporting cast and has me excited for the rest of this arc.

Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1 aka Astonishing X-Men #25

Just about everybody has been both anxiously awaiting and dreading this issue which marks the end of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's take on the famed team of mutants. The series started off with one hell of first arc then faltered a bit in the middle, but managed to pick back up again for the latest arc on the Breakworld. Minor spoiler here. When I finally sat down to read this issue I was pretty surprised to open up to a splash page of Spiderman. I mean this is Giant Size Astonishing X-Men which cost 5 bucks and the first thing I see is Peter Parker, not into it. Unfortunately the rest of the Marvel U get much more face time in this issue, and none of them add anything interesting to the story. Yeah they move the story along [sort of] but why make them part of your plot line if most of them just end up standing around. In the finale of one of the most impressive X-Men stories in years I don't really want to see a bunch of people who aren't X-Men and have not had a single thing to do with the previous 24 issues. That being said I still really enjoyed the issue and thought it was a fitting ending to a great story that began all the way back with issue #1. Cassaday's art is incredible as usual, and Whedon's dialogue and memorable one liners are there too. The most enjoyable aspects of the issue for me were the scenes between Beast and Agent Brand who will hopefully pop up more frequently throughout the Marvel Universe or at least in the X-Universe since she is a really intriguing character. There has been better issues of Astonishing X-Men [Issue #23] but Whedon does an excellent job of wrapping up an excellent run. Congrats.

Iron Fist: The Story of the Iron Fist Bei Bang-Wen

This issue is another one shot looking at one the previous Iron Fists written solely by Matt Fraction without the help of Ed Brubaker. I don't have much to say about this issue since I didn't really enjoy it very much. Don't get me wrong it wasn't awful, but it was probably the worst issue of Iron Fist thus far. Granted it was only a one shot, but both of the main characters lacked any kind of depth to pull me into the story or to make me care about them. I'm sure Fraction's last issue on the book which will return to the world of Danny Rand will be excellent, but don't feel bad if you skip on this one.

Batman 677 [Part Two of Batman RIP]

Since I've been reading Morrison's run on Batman from the beginning the first issue in the Batman RIP arc didn't satisfy my desire enough [even though it was great] because it spent a lot of time recapping what has been going on in the book over the last year and some odd months, so thankfully for me I only had to wait 2 weeks to get my hands on issue #677. To start Tony Daniel's art is brilliant, he is really taking his work to the next level so far on this story arc. In the issue we get to see Batman become even more hell bent on figuring out what the Black Glove is and what they have in store for him. In one panel Daniels has Batman standing looking at a computer screen and his head is cocked slightly to the right in such a way that he seems to almost be in a trance, his obsession with the Black Glove is on that type of level. As readers we are privy to Dr. Hurt's plans which seem like they will make for an interesting storyline and also potentially piss off a lot of readers if what Grant has him uncovering turns out to actually be true. The scenes between Bruce and Jet which are the focus of the issue are great especially a certain point she raises towards the end of the issue, and it is great to see someone finally confront Bruce about the road his life has taken for so long. The shit finally starts to hit the fan at the end of the issue, and I personally can not wait another month to get the next issue. Why can't Batman come out bi-weekly for the next 4 issues, please? Since my wish won't come true I'll just use the extra time to reread some of Morrison's previous arcs which are of key importance to this story, and I suggest you do the same.

So, Wizard World was this weekend. I was in attendance all three days and I certainly enjoyed myself and some of the great deals I got on books. The guest list didn't have me too pumped on the con, but the panels were still enjoyable especially the Marvel Knights retrospective with Joe Q and Jimmy and the laid back panels on Sunday both with Marvel and DC where everyone just sat around and talked casually about all things comics. There were no big announcements which was kind of a bummer, but I am excited for the Lady Bullseye we got a sneak peek at as well as Greg Pak's upcoming Magneto origin story. Definitely worth the $48 admission and overall a good way to have spent a weekend.

I'll put reviews up Thursday or Friday for this week's books and a show review of Friday's Career Suicide/Straight Jacket Nation show at Disgraceland at some point on Sunday.