
Well, one new title that is certainly hitting the stores and shops of the world this week is yet another Mark Millar Hollywood proposal in the making with Superior #1. While the premise is certainly interesting - a former high-school basketball star with friends, great looks, a small amount of fame and endless possibilities ahead of him has his future cruely torn away as he succumbs to multiple sclerosis before Golden Age hero Superior enters his life and turns it upside down - but with Marvel dubbing it a ‘smash series’ before the first issue is out and the usual rumblings of a cinematic outing on the cards, I can’t help but wonder if we’ll end up with a fulfilling comic read or simply a skin-and-bones showpiece for production company executives and agents to drool over during Los Angeles-based creative business lunches? It is Mark Millar after all, a writer and creator who seemingly enjoys turning lead into gold one moment and then reversing the process on a whim, so I guess we shall just have to wait and see.
With the debutant out of the way I get to sink into a world of consistent comic quality with a host of my favourite titles turning up. Top of the list is Thanos Imperative #5 as the perilous predicament of Starlord, Nova, Rocket Racoon and the rest of the Marvel Universe’s galactic guardians grows ever darker and more hopeless in the face of overwhelming odds and unending life. This event has quite possibly eclipsed every other that Lanning and Abnett have had their involvement in when it comes to pure, focused storytelling and the constant fear that any of our beloved heroes could perish in heartbeat has kept me glued to the page at several points. There has worryingly been little advertised beyond the end of this event for the Space Based Universe and I think it’s something of a tragedy that such a well handled corner of Marvel’s arena could be in danger of drifting out of view.

So what’s going on over at DC this week you may well ask and I would answer “A heck of a lot dear fellow, just look at this bunch of spiffy GL titles old chap!” Admittedly I’d probably get a funny look or two for speaking in such a tone but then I suspect Green Lantern #58 and Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #3 are likely to do strange things to me as I scroll from page to page, comic to comic. Emerald Warriors has started incredibly well and Peter J. Tomasi dealing with Guy Gardner’s Red Lantern Ring-induced inner conflict is a story that I will see through to the end no matter how long it takes. Fernando Pasarin has impressed me greatly with a very clean, yet hugely detailed style that really wouldn’t surprise me should it be revealed that it was birthed within a glowing lantern of power itself. Likewise, Doug Mahnke has been ‘knocking it out of the park’ on Green Lantern for quite some time and with the latest issue promising to deal with the Blue Lantern avatar of Hope I’m expecting a delicious double helping of all things Lantern-based this week.
DC’s ‘Big Two’ also show up in my basket as I pick up Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5 and Superman #703 but I must say that I’m less optimistic of getting an unmissable read from either of these titles. Batman’s return seems to have been crawling on for an age now - fair enough he’s got the whole of human history to jump through so maybe I should be a little more patient? - and the constant change of artist hasn’t worked quite as well as I had hoped it might. Superman on the other hand has suffered just a little in the pacing of each issue and the relative lack of spectacle or anything particularly ‘super’ is intriguing but I wonder how long it will hold my interest. Straczynski couldn’t put a foot wrong with his character work on Thor but there’s only so long that the kudos earned from that effort can keep me picking up his latest offerings with the Man of Steel.

Happy reading folks!
2 comments:
Good news Stewart. Edge of Doom should be in this week.
On the subject of the Return of Bruce Wayne 'crawling on' it gets worse....
This issue should have been out in August followed by #6 in September (obviously) leaving October free to deal with the fallout of Bruce Waynes return. Oddly these comics are still coming out on time (4 this week). I'm guessing the schedules were lost in time along with Bruce. So will you read them now or stick them to one side and wait for Bruce to actually return?
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