Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: The Walking Dead #75 – This was a really good issue that shows the pressure of leadership finally getting to Rick, plus it had the whacky, cool, back-up story.  You could also consider this a bit of a lifetime achievement award for a creator-owned comic that has never (by my reckoning) had a poor issue.

Most Anticipated: Uncanny X-Men #526 – I really enjoyed Second Coming,  so I’m excited to see the new direction for the X-Men.  My world is just happier when the X-books are good, and they’ve all been pretty sharp recently.

Other Top Picks: American Vampire #5, Haunt #8, Wolverine Weapon X #15, PunisherMax #9, Incorruptible #8

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Avengers #2 – A dose of old-school fun that genuinely surprised me.  It’s nothing complex, nor is it the best for overall narrative progression, but it’s a rippingly enjoyable read and often that counts for quite a lot.

Most Anticipated: Wonder Woman #601 – In an absolutely, ridiculously stacked week that is guaranteed to make the wallet bleed, I decided to go for the unknown.  Where is JMS going with this?  The fact that I have no idea what to expect from this issue, outside of high quality, has me intrigued.

Other Picks: American Vampire #5, Secret Avengers #3, Batman: the Return of Bruce Wayne #4, Fantastic Four #581, The Flash #4, Green Lantern #56, Madame Xanadu #25, Punishermax #9, Action Comics #891, Thor #612, Unknown Soldier #22, Wolverine: Weapon X #15

Joe’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour GN – Bryan Lee O’Malley brought to a close his wonderful pop culture romance in a way that pleased me to no end.  6 years in the making, and even with all of that build-up, I was still satisfied with how the creator wrapped up the many plot-lines and relationships that he set into motion so long ago.  And it was all a heck of a lot of fun!

Most Anticipated: Uncanny X-Men #526 – I’m still riding off of the high of Second Coming, so I’m eager to see where the franchise goes from here.  The fact that Allan Heinberg and  Olivier Coipel have a bonus back-up that connects to Avengers: The Children’s Crusade is the cherry on top.

Other Top Picks: American Vampire #5, Flash #4, Green Lantern #56, Secret Avengers #3, Punisher Max #9, Wolverine Weapon X #15, X-Men Legacy #238

Green Lantern #56 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (writer), Doug Mahnke (pencils), Christian Alamy, Tom Nguyen, Keith Champagne and Doug Mahnke (inkers)

The Story: The New Guardians, Chapter Four: A really creepy Hector Hammond is sprung from prison by an even creepier former guardian. In the meantime, Hal is trying to deal with Larfleeze, who is discovering the true meaning of Christmas. Why does Hal bother? Larfleeze has done something that interests Hal very much – he has trapped the entity of greed in his orange lantern. Hal might need access to that trick soon– for the other six entities. As always, there’s a complication…

What’s Good: Johns and Mahnke have delivered another fun ride full of characterization and surprises. The dialogue is crisp and relatively spare, considering the heavy conceptual lifting it has to do. Hal and Larfleeze and Hammond have distinct voices, interests and intents and that comes out in the writing. The humor and irony are equally good (Larfleeze contrasted against the concept of Santa Claus) and lighten the load for the heavier stuff that hits later on. Johns and Mahnke also use Hammond’s telepathic abilities to full dramatic effect to show us, in pictures only, a glimpse of Larfleeze’ past and motivations. It was a cool window to press my nose to and left me itching for other views of this fascinating, ultra-powerful, unstable muppet.