Staff Picks July 31, 2013

I contributed a couple of previews to this week's Staff Picks feature on Broken Frontier. You can read it HERE.

Batman Annual #2 and Uncanny X-Men #9 look like two great books this week. The Zero Year storyline is featured in Batman Annual #2, and in Uncanny X-Men #9 Jubilee's baby has carried a world of trouble into the lives of the X-Men.

Once the books are available on Wednesday afternoon, I'll be writing reviews of them for BF. Stay tuned!

Review Batman Superman #2

Origin stories always make me nervous. I like the heroes you're messing with, and I expect to still like them once you've reimagined their beginnings. As with anything else, some origins work well and others don't.

Greg Pak's Batman Superman is outstanding. It's as if DC's two favorite sons become trapped in a story written by a character you'd find in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. It's filled with action, but that takes a backseat to who these characters are and who they could be given slightly different circumstances. Jae Lee's beautiful art is complex, so slow down and take it all in to really understand what's happening within the panels.

My full review of issue #2 is on the Broken Frontier site, and you can read it HERE.

If you are a fan of these characters, or you just want to add something fresh to your reading list, this series is a good place to start.

Review Rocketeer Spirit Pulp Friction #1

If I could explain why I find pulp fiction and noir irresistible, they would probably lose their appeal.

I think mysteries fascinate me because as a kid the first characters I read in multiple volumes were classic mystery figures like Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and Encyclopedia Brown. I even read the Bobbsey Twins books on the recommendation of our local librarian, but wow, the time period was so far removed from my own that I didn't really appreciate those books. When I was old enough to appreciate Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen, I went back and read Dashiell Hammett -- I was happily hooked on mysteries.

So when comics feature a good mystery or take on noir characteristics, I'm first in line to write their reviews. When IDW and DC announced a pulp character collaboration, I was very pleased to learn that The Rocketeer and The Spirit would be teaming up. But when I learned that Mark Waid would be writing the title, I knew he'd pull out all of the stops to get the period correct.

And he has! The Rocketeer/The Spirit: Pulp Friction #1 hit the comic shops this week, and it's the bee's knees. Paul Smith's art is a gorgeous homage to the styles of the Sunday funny papers, Dave Stevens, and Will Eisner. You can read my full review on the Broken Frontier site HERE. Seriously, if you love pulps this is the comic of the year for you.

Highlights of SDCC 2013: Friday

Although I'm not there this year, I've attended Comic-Con International San Diego many times and have the stories to prove it! When Comics Buyer's Guide magazine closed its doors back in January, I found myself looking for a new comics writing home. At the time, the idea of attending Comic-Con as a fan and not as a journalist was just too new and way too crazy.

Thankfully, I'm now a staff writer for Broken Frontier. The site focuses on small publishers/independent titles but keeps a close eye on mainstream comics, as well. Their international team has been very supportive as I learn the ropes, and I'm grateful for their patience. I enjoy a good challenge, and they also push me to try new things like writing opinion pieces and the subject of this post -- a round-up of Comic-Con's exciting Friday happenings.

You can read it HERE.

Now, the byline says it's all me. However, it's not. I wrote most of the stories, but several were contributed by Frederik Hautain, my editor. How do I know this? Well, when I posted my version, I also sent him a note asking him to go over it. The post has a lot of images, and I wasn't sure they all loaded properly. Well, it looks great, the additional stories are terrific, and I really appreciate the assist.

I'm already making plans to attend the con next year. It's definitely the place to be for comics fans.

Review Justice League #22

One of the biggest hits for DC's New 52 is Justice League. It's easily one of the best team titles on the shelves, and not just because of the fantastic action sequences. These characters are just getting to know one another -- and like any family there are things they like about each other and things they don't. Figuring out how to work together to save the planet can be messy, and that struggle is endearing.

In issue #22, the leaguers and their secondary teammates have a mystery on their hands with the crash-landed Watchtower, but something much worse is on the horizon. Billy Batson is determined to take Black Adam's ashes back to Adam's native soil of Kandaq, but he creates an international incident. The Justice League and the Justice League of America respond, and as Madame Xanadu has correctly predicted, a war breaks out.

Trinity War is the crossover event of the summer, and while it's going to be a slugfest, don't ignore the greater mystery surrounding Superman that is boiling under the surface. Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis are a wonderful team, the story is complex and engaging while the art is fantastic. '

You can read my full review of the book on the Broken Frontier site HERE.

Review Batman #22

Chapter 2 of Zero Hour kicks off in Batman #22, and Scott Snyder is in great form with an action-packed story. Angry and reckless, young Bruce Wayne isn't Batman yet. He has the drive, he knows his mission, but he's making mistakes and enemies while he struggles with his methods.

Read my full review on the Broken Frontier site HERE.

Review Superman Unchained #2

You have to read this book. I know you probably have a pile of books to read before you get to Superman Unchained #2, but you need to push this to the top of the stack -- it's that good.

Scott Snynder and Jim Lee aren't fooling around, and issue #1 wasn't a fluke. To use a film analogy, Superman Unchained is a summer blockbuster that delivers all of the pulse-pounding action you could want and all of the character development and clever plot twists that are usually missing from those films.

As the mystery deepens, Snyder adds the World's Greatest Detective, and the brief scene between the world's finest is easily worth the book's price. Jim Lee is at the top of his game, and you don't want to miss his gorgeous rendering of the batcave.

My full review is posted on Broken Frontier and you can read it HERE.

Review The Private Eye #3

Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin are at it again. The third issue of their pay-what-you-want online-only comic, The Private Eye, is a must read for mystery fans. The momentum established in the first two issues was not an accident, folks. This is a fast-paced, entertaining book that requires attention to the details offered in Martin's art.

With this issue, Vaughan starts with an enormous violation of P.I.'s privacy as we take a tour through his dreams. My full review is available at Broken Frontier, and you can check it out HERE.

The Private Eye is a terrific story well told. You're going to enjoy it.