Sunday 29 January 2012

My Comics - Well, those from the last few weeks (and before) anyway

At the weekend I half of my pull list (and then some) through the post, which I then proceeded to read in a very haphazard fashion (meaning, when I wasn't having to do other things). However, I did get through them all (eight of them to be exact): 6 regular entries, one tie-in and a possible new addition (which has actually been out a month).
Demon Knights #5 is certainly a calm before the storm comic, setting up for the inevitable all out bloody siege that can only come from a comic like this. Whereas the first 3 issues were slow burn, this installment builds on #4 with snippits of deep insight into the main cast, ending with a (slightly) surprising reveal and cliffhanger into that (supposedly) chapter of the series. Cornell, continues to prove his skill at writing heavily interesting and complex characters, which is cemented here when bringing each character individually to the forefront of the story. Diogenes Neves' very unique pencils continue to impress on this book, proving he's certainly a good fit for the medievel content. I now firmly think this is Cornell's spiritual successor to Captain Britain and MI:13. Long may it continue.
Black Panther: The Most Dangerous Man Alive #528 is the second from last issue of what has been an incredibly underrated series. David Liss continues to write an immersive and engaging story while continuing to build T'Challa into a complx character that is quite unique to anything else in the Marvel U. Sadly, this issue (as well as the previous one) is let down by the artwork of Michael Avon Oeming, which does not hold a candle to the book's portrayal at the beginning of it's run. Nonetheless, it's still interesting to see where the Panther's status Quo winds up for the future in next month's finale.
Although I picked up a copy late, The Activity #1 is full of potential to be a mainstay on my monthly pull list. Nathan Edmondshon delivers a book that feels almost identical in scope as his previous work, Who is Jake Ellis? Continuing to delve into the espionage genre (which I rarely see enough of, to be honest) this book starts with a very quick action type cold-open before the slow burn of the introduction to the protaganists. The art, though not as stylishly colourful as Jake Ellis, still has very crisp images, as well as colours that fit the story nicely. If every issue is as good as this one then I'm happy to say I'll be sticking around for a good long while.
Being a DD fan, I also just had to get Amazing Spider-Man #677 due to it's 2-part crossover with the Man without Fear. By Daredevil scribe Mark Waid, This book is beautifully written, with Waid showing his time on Spidey previously not being wasted. All the characters feel exactly how they should which allows them to contrast with each other nicely. The artwork by Emma Rios has a very cold, crisp feel that certainly gives me the feel of the winter environment it so apparently is in the story. Left with two noticable cliffhangers, one seemingly more urgent than the other. I'm definitely looking forward to the second part.
Which really made me decide what was next to read, and I wasn't disappointed. Daredevil #8 continued both the story and the quality of the writing. Continuing from where he left off in Spidey, Waid beautifully finished this tale, weaving it into other ongoing story threads from his current Daredevil run. This book became very much all about the Man without Fear as Waid dispatched Spidey mid-way through and focused (almost) solely on the book's main hero. The art certainly helped this transition as Kano's work felt like a seamless change from the art used in part one of the story to the regular, exceptional art we've come to expect in this book. Waid has set up a couple of nice stories for the next few issues, which certainly makes me decide to stick around for them.

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