Finally got around to buying some comics this week. Here are my thoughts on a couple of them:
Wonder Woman #1
This is written by Allen Heinberg, the writer behind The OC, but more importantly also behind Young Avengers. It deals with Wonder Woman having been gone for a year after the events of Infinite Crisis. She is still gone, and the new Wonder Woman in the issue is, well, someone not entirely unfamiliar to fans of the comics. 
I didn’t feel the writing was as sharp as what Heinberg had been turning out on Young Avengers. However he did a great job of incoporating some of Wonder Woman’s more fun villains into the story, and gave us a classic “WTF?!?” moment on the last page. He has me on for issue #2, but he better not let this grow stale.
Civil War #1 & #2
A comic where Captain America single handedly takes out around a dozen S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents can’t be all that bad. And of course most have heard by now even if you aren’t into comics that Spider-Man has revealed his secret identity to the world.
Yeah, this series is pretty big. Really though what makes it great is the writing. The dialogue is extremely well written and the pace is excellent as well. The second issue was a little too fast personally, but overall both issues have delivered a top notch storyline. Essentially the superheroes have been messing up the world while saving it for too long. Buildings get destroyed, cities vanish, people die… So the government has insitituted a Superhero Registration Act. All superpowered beings in the US must register themselves with the goverment and receive authorization to continue to be allowed to do their heroic duties. Some heroes such as Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and now Spider-Man, are in favor of this. Some heroes, most notably Captain America and Daredevil, are against this.
Frankly I am hoping for something that really changes the Marvel Universe. Marvel up to now has been doing a decent job with that recently between Avengers Disassembled and House of M. Hopefully things are shaken up even more with this. In the meantime though, I can honestly say it is a fun read. Kudos to Mark Millar for writing some fun issues and equally fun dialogue.
Superman #650
Much like Wonder Woman, this issue kicks off the One Year Later storyline for Superman. Unlike Wonder Woman though, this is a few months old.
The basic premise is that after Superman flew through the red sun to stop Superboy at the end of Infinite Crisis, he lost his powers. This story begins taking a look at what it is like to be Clark Kent and Clark Kent only. It is actually quite humorous. It shows how he actually turns into an exceptional reporter at the Daily Planet, spends most of his free time with Lois Lane, and develops his relationships with others now that he has more time. Don’t worry though. There is still plenty of “Superman” in here, as Lex Luthor is acquitted of all previous charges against him, confronts Clark on it in typical “Lex” fashion, and even a superpowered bad guy that Super–, well, SOMEONE super takes him out. 
A fun issue and definitely worth the $6 I had to pay in backissues for it.
Marvel Romance Redux: Love is a Four-Letter Word
I’ll make this very simple. This. Is. The. Funniest. Book. I. Have. Read. In. Years. I felt like an idiot laughing outloud, at full volume no less, while reading this book. The concept is to take romance comics written in the 50′s and 60′s and write entirely new dialogue for them, while keeping all of the art, word balloon/box placement, everything. These are the original comics, the only thing changing is the words, to HILARIOUS effect. Think Mystery Science Theater in comic format.
Now I have never read the original stories, and I don’t think I ever could again after reading these. The stories range from aliens kidnapping humans, secret agents using sex to complete their assignments, and just fairly humorous romance tales. However before you worry, as I said they are using the art and pages from 50′s and 60′s comics, so there isn’t anything (visually) too risque here. The words are another story, but nothing horrible and not meant for humor.
It has been years since I have read a comic this funny. Probably not since What The-!? #1 or Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamters #6. This definitely puts the “funny” in the funny book. Out of all the books I enjoyed this week, this was by far the best.
