Hey, Comics Congregation! Time to shake off your weekend and get down to BRASS TAX! That means we here at God Hates Geeks have a brand new round of SUNDAY STASH!
SCROLL DOWN to get a taste of what “Abess” Jackie Henley, “Father” Joe Tower, “Heirophant” Luke Anderson, “El Sacerdote” J.L. Caraballo, and “Minister” Gabe Carrasco are throwing down in THE PULPIT!
The alien ass-kicking begins right away in DC Comic’s Lobo #1, written by Cullen Bunn (Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe). The super-jacked Lobo reclaims his Alpha dog title at the top of the comic, plagued by some gnarly Titanic-meets-The-Walking-Dead-type dreams. He takes a bounty hunting job as a distraction, but the money isn’t bad either.
A battle on Earth ensues, and Lobo must work to figure out the reasons for the rampage. Pencil and ink by Rielly Brown (Deadpool) and Nelson Decastro (Robocop: Prime Suspect) paint this super space fantasy fallen to Earth, with appropriate tones of silver and blue hues and extra special (and appreciated!) detail on Lobo’s biceps.
Overall, the comic earns a 4.5/5, only missing half-a-point for ending too soon. And for making me sit in my apartment alone and wonder if the eponymous bounty hunter will ever be looking for his Loba. Lobo #1 = 4.5/5. — Jackie Henley
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Since the New Gods wanna take down Darkseid, the Green Lantern Corps shouldn’t have a problem with that… right? But, as it turns out, the self-proclaimed New Gods’ vendetta is actually one of those “at all costs” sorta things. No matter who’s stuck in the crossfire. Since Godhead Part 1 and Part 2 were released the same day, it appears DC has suckered me into buying both the $3 regular issue, and the $5 Godhead issue for one $7 mediocre crossover event (and is it just me, or is it true that ever since the New 52 started it’s been crossover event after crossover event?…) From the first page, I was yawning. Now, I understand the need for exposition, but there’s gotta be a better way to get it out. DC, you’re aware that the most interesting things about your comics are the bad guys, right? So why would a huge crossover event revolve around such one-dimensional characters?
The only real hint of something interesting was when we’re reminded that everyone still thinks Kyle Rayner is dead, even though he’s just off in a space tryst getting busy with Hal’s Ex. It’s a little touching for a moment, then we’re back to New Genesis where we’re once again dropped into the middle of more boring exposition. The rest of the book is mildly entertaining, but nothing really happens. Mogo dramatically loses his ring to one of the New Gods. At this point everyone’s all “What are we gonna do?” And Part 2 doesn’t quite answer that question either. This issue has one fight between the Corps and a couple of New Gods, and it doesn’t go all that well for team green. It’s Part 2, and I don’t even know any of the characters names. That’s how little I care. Altogether, I give it a 2 out of 5, simply because this is the beginning of an arc, and now that we have all the origin stuff out of the way, it can only get better from here… hopefully. Godhead #1 & #2 = 2/5. — Gabe Carrasco
Valiant’s latest summer crossover event comes to a close, and the world will never be the same.
With the Unity Team now public knowledge, and the cute sentient space-ship that destroyed Mexico City now working with the good guys of G.A.T.E., the Valiant universe has seen some serious shake-ups in this event, as detailed in this epilogue chapter from writer Robert Venditti (The Surrogates) and artist CAFU (Earth 2).
The wildly imaginative and socially relevant storytelling par for the course for Valiant is clearly on display here, even for a place-holder story/round-up issue such as this. CAFU’s artwork displays both a talent for epic scale and action, and for intimate nuances and facial expressions. Valiant continues to put out books of such quality, that even addendum issues like this are worth checking out for new readers.
I realize Marvel legends Jim Shooter and Bob Layton and Co are no longer intrinsically linked to Valiant, but nowadays Valiant 2.0 might in fact be the real Marvel comics. Armor Hunters: Aftermath = 3.25/5. — ‘Heirophant’ Luke
No adamantium skeletons. No proclamations of vengeance. No interstellar civil war.
The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood is nothing more than the classic cautionary tale about a man down on his luck. If anything, in this first issue written by Christina Blanch (Alter Ego Comics) and Chris Carr (Thrillbent), Dynamite certainly proves there are a lot of things you don’t need to make a good comic book, but it doesn’t change the fact that there are still a lot of things you do.
At the foundation all the elements are present — Charlie Wormwood’s son is terminally ill and he’s behind on medical bills. His wife is growing distant, and has been lying to him. The economy is in a tailspin and it doesn’t look like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Enter Barnum, a mysterious inmate with a potentially compromising offer. What will Charlie choose?
What’s missing in this story, unfortunately, is a sense of itself. Granted, it’s a copy of a copy of a copy, sure, and that’s fine, but it never catches hold! Even the art itself, by Chee (Tag) — the simple lines and muted grey hues — convey a vague overall atmosphere. Hopefully in the next few issues readers will be treated to a ‘break’ into ‘act three’ rather than the ‘act two holding pattern’ that The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood seems stuck in. The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood = 2.5/5. — Joe Tower
Marvel Comics goes cosmic once again, as the Avengers battle Armin Zola and his offspring from Dimension Z; and Bucky Barnes (a.k.a. the Winter Soldier) travels to distant planets as he takes over the intergalactic escapades of Nick Fury.
First off, long story, but if you haven’t kept up, Steve Rogers had his super-soldier-serum removed from his body and is now a frail, old man… and that’s covered in Captain America #25. Sam Wilson (a.k.a. the Falcon) is Cap’s replacement. “You guys all knew it was me, didn’t you?” Wilson says, emerging in the star-spangled outfit. “There’s literally no drama left in this reveal,” in a great meta moment, as if to deflate any controversy that may have arisen. Meanwhile, future drama is established with Zola’s daughter, Jet, who feels betrayed by the Avengers, although this development occurs a bit quickly. However, kudos to writer Rick Remender (Fear Agent) for deftly cramming so much plot and development into a scant thirty pages, at once finishing up a cosmic storyline, introducing a new character, and setting up future stories, all at the same time (as well as saving some panel safe for some fun banter between our favorite heroes, too).
The art by Carlos Pachecho (Avengers Forever) is serviceable and slick, nothing too much to boast about, although Sam Wilson gets a beautiful splash page for his reveal. Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier #1 fares so much better in terms of its art, which is absolutely beautiful and worthy of being framed. Seriously. It’s like an Alex Ross fever dream thrown into a 1950’s science fiction magazine. Marco Rudy (New Avengers) has designed a transcendent, decadent, and ultimately fantastic-looking comic, painted and lush with beautiful coloring and a fun and chaotic interplay with the layout. The script, by Ales Kot (Zero), also suffered from cramming too much exposition into its almost thirty-odd pages, so much so that I had to read it twice to follow it — mainly Bucky cementing Daisy Johnson’s (a.k.a.Quake) commitment to being his equal partner, and his teaming with Namor to disrupt Loki’s underwater drug supply line…or something like that. Captain America #25 = 4/5; Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier #1 = 4/5. — Jose Caraballo