Stuff and nonsense

So I had planned to review World War Hulk #2, but since my old pal Dave F is a MUCH bigger (in every sense of the word) Hulk fan than me I thought I'd just cut and paste his e-mail to me on the subject.

"World War Hulk.... Verily the comic series I have waited for all my life.

X-Men: World War Hulk... I actually whooped and clapped reading this comic! Its how Hulk always should have been. Breaking Colossus' arms... Smashing Wolverine's face in...repeatedly (I gotta admit I actually drooled at these panels... then laughed... then looked at them some more... then drooled again).

McFarlane and Davis What bitter draught you made me swallow in the '80s when Hulk - IN HIS OWN FUCKIN COMIC! - was bested by a fuckin diminutive, hirsute, Canadian. Sure, Wolverine was popular, but only with other wankers. How I hung my head in shame as they mocked Hulk (and me) counting the blows and counter blows in every panel of every page of the comic at morning tutorial. Then that awful splash of Hulk gettin impaled... GBRRRH! It still makes me shiver.. As if I myself had been impaled by an ethereal dagger crafted by Stan Lee himself. (Hallowed be thy name)

Now Hulk's back and he's smashing fuck out of everyone... Amen!"

And I suppose that sums it up really. This is revenge for Hulk AND his fans.

I hate all the space gladiator shit (purple trousers baby, PURPLE TROUSERS!), but I have to agree with Dave, there is a certain comic geek joy to be had from watching Hulk smashing everyone into the ground.

SAWEEEET!

And you know the double page splash (I won't scan it in for fear of spoiling things) at the end of issue #2 was a total nerdgasm moment and absolutely guarantees that I'll be back for issue #3.

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What If Denis Nielsen was drawing for comics...



Black Gas Two #3 comes to a nasty end.

That man Warren Ellis. What can you say?

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Terrible how comics turn people into obsessive compulsives. I sat down to read my stack this week and was horrified to find that I'd forgotten to pick up Checkmate #16.

Now I know that the comic will still be sitting on the shelf when I return to the comic shop this Thursday, but it's taken heroic amounts of willpower to resist the urge to make the journey into the West End just to pick up it up.

It's not that I particularly need to read it, it's just...you know...it came out last week so I should have it in last week's pile! ARGGGHHH! 'tis but a short step from here to checking the gas is off every five minutes and lining up all the sauce bottles with labels to the front.

The Weekly Shop #11

I've noticed that there's a bit of a backlash going on among the movers and shakers in the comics blogosphere against the current craze for all things zombie. Personally I'm not sure why everybody is getting their knickers in such a twist. Sure the latest installment of Marvel Zombies wasn't that great, and no, I personally wouldn't want to put either of these on my mantelpiece...



But if someone else wants to then I say cool, it's no weirder than surrounding yourself with statues of gollum or Captain America is it?. As for the comics...bring me more! Especially if they're as good as Black Gas.

There aren't many bleaker or more unrelentingly violent comics out there than Black Gas, a zombie book that showcases the darkest parts of Warren Ellis's twisted imagination. I've been following it since the beginning and believe me it's nasty.

Issue #2 of volume #2 plumbs new depths of grim despair. It contains crazed zombie joyriders, collapsing buildings, a gory twist in the tail and the greatest line EVER to appear in a zombie comic...

Mmmm. Nice image.

With suitably dark artwork and colouring by Max Fiumara and Andrew Dalhouse complementing Ellis's warped story perfectly, this is a really good horror comic which I'll be sad to see come to an end next issue.

It's not my favourite read of the week though. That honour goes to the zombie-free Brian Bendis book Ultimate Spider-Man #109.

Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men are both failing to impress at the moment and The Ultimates was rendered nigh on unreadable by its constant delays, so Ultimate Spider-Man has been the only thing keeping the Ultimate Universe from disappearing off my radar. Its still the Ultimate flagship and I think issue #109 might be my favourite issue of the entire run.

The Ultimate Knights arc has been building beautifully and really starts to pay off this issue with a great spin on Kingpin that, in the best traditions of Ultimate Spidey, alludes to classic Marvel tales of yesteryear while still seeming fresh.

Bagley's art is slicker than ever and any sadness about him leaving the book after the next issue is tempered by the knowledge that a) he's going out on a high and b) he's being replaced by the genius that is Stuart Immonen. Marvellous.

Marvel Adventures continues to push the right buttons, I realise that I'm always banging on about how good Jeff Parker's scripts are, but respect also has to go out to the rest of the team on the book, in particular penciller Leonard Kirk who draws a mean superhero comic. When push comes to shove though it's Parker's gags which keep me coming back for more. Highlight of this issue? This line from The Puppet Master...

Issue two of Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer continues to clobber readers over the head with every fantasy cliche out there. Strangely amidst all the Conanesque sword and sorcery, several of the leading protagonists have started to talk like 21st century gamers, peppering their speeches with phrases like...

Uhhm, yeah dude. Radical.

Also on my list this week. Ultimates #13 (which will go in the to read pile), Outsiders #47, Checkmate #14, Batman #665 (which really wasn't very good) and 2000AD prog#1537 which is saved from being a very bad issue by a poignant little Nikolai Dante story. Detonator X is also half decent, but the Judge Dredd offering is pretty darn poor, Twisted Tales reads like a filler from a 1980's issue of House of Mystery and Sinister Dexter is just not my cup of tea. Sorry.