Lots of comics from June 25th

Daredevil #108

Part Two of Cruel and Unusual continues immediately where the previous issue left off with Matt Murdock telling Donovan he wants to be his lawyer. As with #107 Dakota North gets a lot of face time in this issue and the team of Brubaker/Rucka write her fantastically well yet again, and even have her kicking some ass as opposed to getting her head smashed into a car. A few panels of Luke Cage never hurts a book either. The art is great as usual, and is especially good in the panels which involve Dakota chasing someone around and kicking ass. Three separate surprises in the last few pages including an old friend [read enemy] from the Frank Miller days. I was glad to see Daredevil get back on track last month, and this issue was even better so I'm sure the second half of this arc will be incredible.

Thunderbolts #121

Well I figured Warren Ellis' finale on Thunderbolts would be action-packed and it was, but unfortunately it wasn't much else. Moonstone fights with Doc and Robbie, Green Goblin fights with Songbird, and the rest of the Thunderbolts are no where to be found except for one reappearance towards the end of the issue which I'm sure is no surprise to anyone who has been following the book. A weak ending to what was an incredible run by Ellis. With Ellis departing and a bunch of Secret Invasion tie-in issues coming up I'm not sure whether I'll continue to read Thunderbolts.

Runaways #30

Man was I excited when I heard that Joss Whedon was going to be writing Runaways, and man did that excitment die fast. I suppose the biggest factor was the fact that the book came out when it wanted to instead of on a regular monthly basis. However, Whedon was also telling a story that I simply wasn't that interested in. I didn't like the fact that he was introducing so many characters considering he was only supposed to be around for six issues, and when it never came out on time I found it harder to keep track of all these new faces. So for all of the big 1907 war scenes I didn't have a good idea of what was going on, but the moments with the Runaways are done well. There is a wonderfully touching twist to the story that will probably hit harder once I read this run in one sitting and know what is going on, and Chase has some great scenes at the end where he talks about Gert. So while I wasn't the biggest fan of this arc I'm sure it will read better in trade or in one sitting with my single issues. Stoked for another new #1 for Runaways come August.

Uncanny X-Men #499

While I'm writing this I'm listening to a Word Balloon podcast and Brubaker and Fraction so I am incredibly excited for those two to work together on this book starting with the highly anticipated #500. However, most people have not been pleased with this current Hippie storyline, but I've actually enjoyed it thus far although this issue is probably the worst of the whole arc. Due to two different artists working on this issue I actually felt like I was reading two different books because the art styles are totally different; it simply didn't work. We basically have two big fight scenes in this issue and then we finally get the official move to SF that we all knew was coming. Like I said I've enjoyed this arc more than most people, but I guess it just ran a little too long because this final issue didn't do much for me.

Captain America #39

This issue starts out really strong with some clever dialogue that puts Senator Wright's storyline in a unique perspective. Then we get some scenes with Bucky and Sam that feel somewhat unnecessary, but I like what Brubaker did with this other Captain America and Senator Wright. It reinforces just how much Captain America means to this country which is an important concept for the story to convey to the reader. However, what makes this issue are the scenes with Sharon Carter which are awesome. If only we had some more time with her instead of four pages of Bucky and Sam trying to kick each other. Again I still feel like this book is moving just a tad too slow for my tastes plus the fill-in artist for this issue just didn't do anything for me.

Immortal Iron Fist #16

My favorite of the week in a very busy week. I am incredibly sad to know that this is the last issue of Iron Fist from Matt Fraction. I'm confident Duane will do a good job even though I hear his Cable series didn't start out so great. But back to Issue #16, wow. After such a crazy arc that recently wrapped up it is wonderful to get such a close and perfectly written story about Danny Rand. Not only that, but this issue also changes a lot for the character. In just one issue we see excellent scenes showing Danny with kids, Jeryn, Misty, Luke, the other Immortal Weapons, and himself. Thankfully this issue is entirely done by David Aja which of course adds to its greatness. This issue will certainly end up being one of my favorite single issues of the year. Excellent work.

Superman #677

So since I will have some extra income starting in September I figured I should add some books to my pull list. After reading some interviews with James Robinson and hearing about how good the first issue of John's Brainiac arc in Action Comics was I suddenly have two new books to look forward to each month. Perhaps it is because I have a dog of my own, but the first few pages of this issue made me fall in love with Krypto; Robinson did an excellent job with these scenes. The dialogue between Superman and Hal Jordan was handled nicely too, and kind of boiled Superman down to his essence. Most of the issue deals with members of the Science Police, and these scenes are okay, but they will seem like kind of a waste unless these people play an important role in this storyline. We get pretty much standard fare here with the SP, a big strong guy beating everyone up and demanding Superman to face him, but Robinson has me convinced I should stick around on this title. The art really impressed me too so hopefully we don't have to deal with fill-ins anytime soon.

Next week Warren Ellis starts on Astonishing X-Men, Batman RIP continues, and Dark Tower: Long Road Home comes to an end. Take care.