NB of the Week

-EVERYONE IS NECESSARILY THE SPOIL OF HIS OWN LIFE STORY-

Double your pleasure, double your fun with co-NB's of the week.

Hawkeye #11 - Pizza Is My Business
Written by Matt Fraction
Drawn by David Aja

Told entirely from the perspective of Pizza Dog, we get an amazingly emotional tale of survival and a little confusion. After find the body of the slain tenant on the roof (from two issues age), Pizza tries to sniff down a lead and finds his way back to the Tracksuit Bros who beat him to which he runs away from. Soon he's placed in charge of watching the building for Clint but the tail of another dog pulls his mind elsewhere (and who can blame him?). Thanks to that, he's able to spy the Bros going back to the rook where they meet the killer, whom Pizza finally recognizes the scent of. After an awesome fight, the dog is taken captive (technically speaking) but he escapes and heads back to Clint, who is once again arguing with Kate, who is now walking out, all belongings in tow. After calling for him, Pizza takes off with her in her car, a little unsure why they're driving away at all.
Completely wordless and told from the perspective of a dog. Wow. Pulling this off took balls. Most other books would have fallen flat with this premise but not Fraction and Aja. Another homerun for a book that continuously impresses me.

Justice League #21 - Shazam: Conclusion
Drawn by Gary Frank

Why do I only mention the artist? Because that's all that really mattered in this issue. Yeah the story was pretty cool and this ending has been building for some time (it's been smaller, back-up stories for a while now) but there is nothing that out-shines the art of Gary Frank. Every page is beautiful. Every sequence is brilliant. Shazam turns his adoptive family into his new Marvel Family (even though it didn't last), Black Adam is tricked and turned into dust (even though I'm sure it won't last), and we even got the super tiger Tawny (which also sadly did not last) and every piece of it was amazing. Even if you don't know the story or even if you just flip through the pages, there is no way you can't love the look of this issue.

Trailer Watch: Gatchaman

I was never a Gatchaman/Battle of the Planets guy so I can't say I'm necessarily "excited" for this movie but golly darn does it look fun. I'd see it whenever it came out here.
(and it's obviously not my fault there are no subtitles so just deal with it)

For Adam

This was in a recent issue of FF. I took out a wood balloon but everything else is from the comic. And I thought of you first, good sir.

NB of the Week

-ALL SPOILS ARE READY, IF OUR MINDS BE SO-
It's a double-dose of awesome as two books lead the pack of books this week

Brother Lono #1 (of 8)
Written by Brian Azzarello
Drawn by Eduardo Risso
It's been four years since Azzarello and Risso closed the door on the amazing series 100 Bullets but with issue one of the further adventures of it's character Lono, it's like the last issue was yesterday and they don't miss a beat. The first issue is pretty basic and essentially just (re)introduces us to the characters. Some bad people are in Mexico wanting answers and Lono needing to protect a nun. That's about it. Good old, dark writing that sets up a great mood and feel for the world it's in. A place that is very familiar to us who have read Bullets but still new and scary for readers trying it out for the first time. And if you are trying it for the first time, don't worry about the last 100 issues of Bullets. It appears that although it shares the title character and world, it doesn't look to spin directly from the stories. A great read for anybody looking for a dark and gritty tale filled with murder and mystery.

The Ultimates #26 - Disassembled: Part 2
Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Drawn by Carmine Di Giandomencia
I've read from lots of people online that they wish the last writer, Sam Humphries, could still be on this title or that Marvel should throw him on something else to showcase him. While his run definitely had it's moments, I found it overall lacking and boring. New writer Fialkov has started his run with great ease. Issue 25 was his first, but his sophomore issue is even better. Reed Richards is back in the evil chair only this time he has friends: Quicksilver, Hulk and a new, female Kang. After thoroughly beating the team last issue, the Evils have done the unthinkable: given peace to the world. They're giving food to the starving, money has no value, corporations have no secrets. Everybody lives on equal grounds. Which is exactly how you know they're plotting something bad. With an awesome fight between Hulk and Thor ("To those who want to live, I suggest you leave in the next three seconds.") and the reveal of the Power Gems location (inside Starks head?!), Fialkov is making his mark known and doesn't look to be holding back.

Trailer Watch: The Lego Movie

Yeah. The Lego Movie is coming next year and I'm not ashamed to say that I think it looks pretty darned cool.

Four Colored Frak

For about two years, DC knew what they were doing with the Arrow family. Star City destroyed, Ollie an outlaw after murdering Prometheus. All in all, it was some great story. Mostly. When Star City was destroyed, Roy Harper's daughter was killed. After that, he got all kinds of drugged up again and started swinging a dead cat around that he thought was his dead daughter...
Happy Father's Day Everybody!

NB of the Week

-THE SPOILS HAVE WON. WE HAVE LOST-

Thor: God of Thunder #9 - Godbomb Part 3
Written by Jason Aaron
Drawn by Esad Ribic

You have a monster who is killing every and all Gods he can find. You also have three Thors from different times (past, present and future). So what happens when they all meet? A hell of a lot of badass fighting.
As the Thors Three go after Gorr, they force him to feel something he has not felt in a very long time: fear. In order to fight their power, Gorr decides to start killing off the slaves/Gods he has building his bomb, their essence making him stronger and stronger. After all the fighting, the Thors force Gorr into a sun, hoping to finish him. But this is only part 3 of 5. As the dust settles, we see our ending: the sky rains down godblood, followed by the falling of three hammers, "And Thors. And Despair." Gorr stands triumphant and orders the slaves he has left to finish his bomb.
In retrospect, nine issue of GoT haven't progressed much story but every issue is absolutely, amazingly written and I love the title more and more each time. Whether it's Scalped or Wolverine or Punisher MAX, Aaron has shown that he is one of the top writers in comics today and his take on Thor only solidifies it. This book may be the second most waited for book each month from me, right behind Hickman's Avengers (but I do count all three of those monthly issues as essentially one. It's only fair). If you want something different and amazing, this is a great place to start.

NB of the Week

-I DON'T READ THE SPOIL. THE SPOIL READS ME-

Earth 2 #13 - 1,370°C

Written by James Robinson
Drawn by Yildiray Cinar

While last week's annual was mostly about Atom, we did get the first introduction of the new Captain Steel and the setup for this week's issue. Years ago, after Sloan took matters into his own hands, he left fire-pits around the world, made by him, but from Apokolips technology. After being born with a defect that left his bones deteriorating, Hank Heywood's father replaced his skin (and most organs) with an experimental metal, Cap Steel is super-human strong and can control metal objects (not sure how the two are related but it works). Once a fire-pit in Rio is found to not be killing those around it, the two go head to head and Steel enters it in order to try and find anything new that can help. 39 hours later, a burning and smoldering Steel crawls his way out the pit, carrying a grave message:
"There's something in there! Someone...! ...She's unstoppable! The Red Lantern! We have to save the world from her! Protect the Earth! If she ever gets out -- our planet dies!"
This issue just furthers how great Robinson is making things. One of maybe three books that has fully taken advantage of the new start that the New 52 was supposed to bring, each issue brings in another great concept. This issue also laid out something called the Red Files, where things involved with Apokoliptic tech is categorized such as Red Arrow and Red Tornado so a Red Lantern being part of this is really awesome and I think it's a safe bet to say that it won't be the same Red Lantern we've come to know in the proper universe. Sadly, it's all bitter-sweet as we know that Robinson is leaving the book with issue 16. DC had better put somebody great onto the book otherwise they will definitely be losing me as a reader of Earth 2.