Comics from July 2nd

Batman #678

I'm sure this issue pissed a lot of people off! Admittedly I was not thrilled with it after my first read through, but that was probably because I had to rush to get to work on time. After a second more careful reading the issue made sense which is not to say that Morrison has laid everything out there in this issue in fact he just gives us more to wonder about, but I'm certainly enjoying the ride and looking forward to the rest of the story. Already I have been reading Morrison haters jump all over this issue complaining that it makes absolutely no sense, and I beg to differ. Of course not everything is explained, but what fun would a story be especially a six-part epic if we were privy to all the details by the end of part three. Anybody who has been following Morrison's run or even anybody who has read the first two parts of Batman RIP and knows how to use Wikipedia should not have much trouble getting through this. Zur-en-Arrh and Robin Dies at Dawn should not be foreign concepts to people in either of the two categories I described above. Daniel's pencils were impressive again especially in the particularly polarizing last three pages. Another great issue, but ultimately I suppose its success depends on what happens in the remaining three to build upon and clarify all the things that have been introduced thus far.

Astonishing X-Men #25

Like most other comic readers I was a big fan of Whedon and Cassaday's run on Astonishing X-Men, but I think it was slightly over-hyped. My main reason for saying that is I think that their initial arc was amazing and their run never quite made it back to that level. So needless to say Ellis and Bianchi's first issue had a lot to live up to for me and all the other fans of the previous run. Unfortunately this second run doesn't start with a bang at all. It was an enjoyable read, but the new creative team did not knock my socks off the way Whedon and Cassaday did with their first issue. Ellis does a fine job with the characters and their dialogue, but not much happens besides a bunch of talk except for Storm returning and the set up for the murder mystery which the first arc will center around. Based off the quality of all his previous work and his handling of the characters in this issue I'm sure Ellis will craft a solid run on this title but with Matt Fraction joining Brubaker on Uncanny and the possibility of that title becoming a book that is released more often than once a month, and Astonishing being brought more into X-Men continuity thus losing its somewhat niche status it will have to impress me more with upcoming issues to keep me interested in picking it up every month.

Dark Tower: The Long Road Home Part 5 of 5

Before getting into the story I just want to start by saying that Jae Lee's artwork on these two mini-series has been nothing short of spectacular. Not only is it down right gorgeous to look at, but it perfectly captures the tone of the scene on every single panel. The finale of The Long Road Home was an excellent issue that not only provided a satisfying conclusion to this arc, but also set up the next story arc too. The "confrontation" between Roland and the Crimson King was very well done and fairly short lived, but considering fans now know these stories are going to continue for sometime I don't see how anybody reasonably expected a huge showdown. After this the issue doesn't let up and there are some surprises along the way as well as the unique tone and voice that Peter David has crafted for these books; in merely 12 issues he and the rest of the people working on this book have brought Stephen King's world to life in comic form. To heep more praise on this book I'd like to elaborate slightly on something I mentioned earlier about this issue setting up the next story arc. Often at the end of a story arc the author will provide a panel or two to tease about what is upcoming or in worst case scenarios nothing at all, but this issue spends a good portion of time delving into something that will obviously be explored much deeper in the upcoming story and I personally enjoyed that very much. For one, it helps to reinforce the fact that this story we as readers are a part of is connected and quite epic in scale. Epic indeed.