Comic Books I Love

I gotta say that I'm in a much better mood today: the sun's shining, it's opening day, the White Sox won 6-0 against Cleveland, and I finally feel like the old Johnson luck is turning around again and things are going well for me. So, I thought I'd make up for the "Doom and Gloom" of my last post by talking about some comic books that are out now that I absolutely love. Because too often I think I focus on the bad aspects of comics, like the rediculous love affair with the Silver Age at the expense of some of my favorite characters, that I don't spotlight how good comics are. So let's take a minute and do that shall we? Here's some of my current fav's in no particular order:

Jonathan Hickman's Secret Warriors and Fantastic Four- I'm now a huge Hickman fan. This Wednesday marks the debut of his new ongoing series S.H.I.E.L.D and I couldn't be more excited for it. This guy can flat out write amazing stories that combine continuity with new ideas and layer in rich characters all the way through. Hickman writes possibly the best Nick Fury in comics, and his take on Mr. Fantastic in the first arc of FF was outstanding. Not to mention all of the great work he's done with the titular Secret Warriors, who are my favorite part of the book despite other people's objections to them. The most recent issue where J.T and Daisy go out to eat was just an incredible, sweet, and poignant moment that felt real. Do yourself a favor, if you love Marvel heroes than buy these two titles.

Rick Remender's Last Days of American Crime- The first issue of this just might be my favorite issue of any comic this year, as the deck is already stacked against our main character (no one would ever call him a hero) as he tries to pull one last great heist before a government signal prevents anyone from being able to commit crimes ever again. The art is great, in a gritty and twisted way much like the world itself.

Geoff Johns' Green Lantern- Say what you will about Blackest Night, and I'll have my review of the event as a whole up soon, but this title is consistently one of the best on the stands and now that it can go back to doing what it does best, I think it's really going to take off and soar. GL is always balls out outer space action with a likeable (surprisingly) Hal Jordan and it's got all of the usual Geoff Johns touches throughout. If you're like me, than you consider that a good thing.

Jason Aaron's Wolverine: Weapon X- This is just an amazingly fun and awesome comic book. Aaron is the master at crafting brutal and engaging characters and ideas that are so incredibly bizarre and twisted yet are so well-developed that you can't help but love them. The villains he's faced Wolverine with so far, especially Dr. Rutt, have all been top-notch and the stories themselves are fascinating. Plus, this is the first creator in a LONG time that just flat out gets Wolverine. I reccommend everyone read The List: Wolverine and see just how awesome Aaron is at creating Wolverine stories. You'll fall in love, I guarantee.

Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead- Who doesn't love zombies? And better than that, this series never lets up for a second, as no character is ever truly safe and you really witness the despair and hopelessness beset the survivors led by Rick Grimes. The most fascinating part of this comic is witnessing the slow death of the survivor's humanity as they give up every tenant of society in order to survive. It really is a chilling look at what this situation would do to someone.


Those are mine. I love these comics, and I shouldn't get too down about the state of my beloved medium if such terrific series are being produced.

Event Fatigue Comic Book Reviews - 3/24

Hello Event Fatigue readers. Before I get into my reviews I need to air a grievance I have with a trend very popular in comics(at least the ones I buy anyways). The trend I’m referring to is hero X is fighting villain X and at some point the hero will make some sort of comment about the villain not making any clever quips. This happens in every New Avengers issue and most recently in an issue of Siege. I just can’t stand it, expecially in a situation like Siege, that is supposed to be a dire battle between good and evil. It’s ok not to use the same tired joke in an attempt at humor. On to the reviews.

Malevolent March: Day 17 - Single Issue Spotlight

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Today is going to be a special day, as you're getting two features for the price of one! Today was new comic book day, and far and away the best issue that came out this week centered around one of Spider-man's classic villains, The Rhino. Hit the jump for the issue review and the rundown of the Rhino!

Malevolent March: Day 15

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Today's villain is a souless, ruthless automaton who only wants the destruction of all carbon based life-forms so he can replace us with robots patterned after himself and his own twisted family. He is one of the Avengers greatest villains, due in part to his being created by a founding member of the team. He is Ultron! Hit the jump.

Malevolent March: Day 12

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Today, I'm going to shine a light on my favorite villain in the DC Universe. I know that I just did Sinestro recently, and as much as I love Sinestro (which is a lot) today's villain tops him. He's a normal guy who has a high-tech weapon, and a costume that is somehow rediculous and awesome at the same time. He's been a rogue to one of my least favorite DC characters and to one of my absolute most favorite characters ever, and every time he shows up (especially when written by Geoff Johns) than you can bet he's going to do something badass. Today's villain is Captain Cold.

Malevolent March: Day 10

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


If you just started reading comic books in the last year or so, then you would think that the Dark Avenger currently known as Hawkeye was the biggest pushover/punching bag in all of the Marvel Universe. But once, a long time ago it feels like, that man was once the most feared and badass assassain, the right hand man to the Kingpin back when that name actually meant something. Today's villain is one of my all-time favorites, Bullseye!

Malevolent March: Day 9

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Turning my attention back to comic books today, I'm going to be featuring probably my favorite villain in comics right now. He was once not only considered a hero, but one of the greatest heroes in the Universe. Now, his name strikes fear into the hearts of his own people. He started a powerful Corps and named it after himself, in an effort to ensure order and prevent Chaos from spreading throughout the universe. Let's here it for Sinestro!

Event Fatigue Comic Book Reviews - 03/03

All right readers, I’m sorry I’m late on reviews. That said I have a ton of books to get to, so let’s quit wasting time and get on to the relief.

Malevolent March: Day 2

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Today, I'm going to spotlight one of my favorite comic book villains, someone with an awesome name and look, and who is finally making his return to super-villainy! He was involved in the one of the biggest surprises in comic book history, and he is the 13th in a long line of bad-asses. Hit the jump for the villain!

Single Issue Spotlight - Blackest Night #7

So far, I've been really hot and cold about Blackest Night. I know that events as a whole aren't always going to be awesome the whole way through, but usually the best events have more highs than lows. BN so far has been fairly middling, alternating between pretty good to pretty bad between every issue. Since #6 was the best issue of the series so far, were Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis able to keep it going in #7? Hit the jump for my take on it. And of course...

All-Time Awesome Lines From Comics - The Boys #15

We're back with another installment, this time with one of my favorite current running series, The Boys. I reviewed the first two trades, and I've now caught up to the series by reading the other trades that have been released, but I can't say enough how good Garth Ennis is on this series. He's always been one of my favorite writers of comic books, with classic series like Hitman, his run on the Punisher, and of course Preacher. Hit the jump for the ATALFC.

DC Names Didio and Lee Co-Publishers, Johns Also Promoted

Hey all, so there was a fairly big news story released today as it pertains to the future of DC Comics, as Dan Didio and Jim Lee were named Co-Publishers of DC Comics and Geoff Johns was named as Chief Creative Officer according to CBR. The press release from DC has a couple interesting quotes about the move, like this one from Diane Nelson, President of DC Entertainment:

“DC Entertainment’s new executive team is a creative ‘dream team,’ with accomplishments and talent unrivaled in the business,” said Nelson. “This announcement continues and underscores DC’s legacy as the ultimate destination for creators. We’ll benefit enormously from the deep experience this team represents, while re-energizing the direction and focus of the company. I’m excited and honored to have each of them with me at the helm of DC Entertainment.”

I for one am happy with this move, as Didio seemed like a lock to get the position anyway having him split power with someone as knowledgeable about the business as Jim Lee is a great idea. And I am very happy with what this means for Geoff Johns, one of the best writers in the game and the person most responsible for shaping DC the last decade. Kudos to all three.

All-Time Awesome Lines From Comics - We3 #2

So through the time that we've been dating, I've been slowly convincing Jesse to read comic books. This past Christmas I bought Jesse We3, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly, because it's self-contained and incredibly moving. See, I'm often down on Grant Morrison, but it's only because compared to the work he's done in the past his work now is not nearly as good as it once was. But just because he is currently not putting out his best stuff does not mean that we can't enjoy his great comic books anymore. And with that, let's jump right into the awesome line from We3.

Attention Must Be Paid!

Well, we're back for another installment of Attention Must be Paid! which means that another comic book character has bit the dust. Shuffled off their mortal coil. Ceased to be. Become an Ex-Hero. So who was it? What happened to them? And why should you care? Hit the jump but be warned....

Put It Out to Pasture - Bendis' Avengers

I know that I often sound like a broken record. I have the creators that I support no matter what (Millar, Hickman, Johns, Meltzer, Aaron, Ennis, Tomasi, etc..) and I have guys that I rag on constantly even when they're writing something somewhat decent (Morrison, Robinson, Fraction [Uncanny X-Men], Grant Morrison, Dwayne McDuffie, Winick, Grant Morrison again). It's the nature of the beast for comic book fans to attach themselves to writers whose style they really like or who they think tell great stories. Mark Millar, for example, gets his fair share of detractors on the internet but I really enjoy the way he writes, and I especially get a huge kick out of his bombastic wide-screen action stories. Meanwhile, I've given James Robinson chance after chance to earn anything except my hatred and disgust with Justice League, but the man is just terrible now-a-days and has taken one of my favorite DC characters down with him. But there is one man who went from the first group to the second group practically overnight. Someone who I was always high on and always supported through the bad stories and massive plot-holes, until finally I had enough and now am swearing off his work as much as I can. That man: Brian Michael Bendis. How did I reach this point? What happened to send me over the edge? Hit the jump for the answers.

Event Fatigue Comic Book Reviews - 02/03

This week all of the reviews are Marvel books. Sorry for anyone out there that reads more DC than me, but times are tight and I can’t pick up all the books that are on the new comic rack. On to the reviews.

Avengers Members Announced

Hey all. So after the Siege is over, all four Avengers books are coming to an end. In their place, there is going to be only one core Avengers book featuring a more classic roster. So far, there have been four members announced via various websites this week, with more to come I'm sure. As the announcements come in I'll be sure to update this story as more people are announced. So who made the list? Hit the jump to find out!

Single Issue Spotlight - 1/30

So this week was a fairly eventful one comic book wise, as Justice League: Shitty for Justice and the new line-up of Justice League #41 debuted in addition to other books that were actually good as opposed to those I've just mentioned. With Peter's reviews forthcoming, I'm going to focus on my favorite issue that I read this week, an issue which was very good: Green Lantern #50. I'm going to be talking about this book in some detail, so for safeties sake, I'm going to introduce our newest character here at Event Fatigue: The Spoiler Pirate! Take it away, matey!

Terrific. Hit the jump for the review.

All-Time Awesome Lines From Comics - Watchmen #12

I finally watched the Ultimate Cut Watchmen film, and I was sorry to see that the major problems were still completely intact. And not only were the biggest problems not rectified, but in the case of the Tales of the Black Freighter and some of the other additions all it does is make it abundently clear that Zak Snyder was just not smart enough to direct this film. He didn't really grasp what was going on in most of the scenes it felt like, and that was most clear in how botched the ending was. I'm not talking about the lack of the space alien (or the "squid" as people call it) but what was missing was all emotional impact of the big event that happened, as the deaths were rendered almost meaningless by showing only an empty and smoking crater, but also the unneccesary changes to one of the most beautiful moments of the book. So today, I'm going to show you the scene that always stuck with me from Watchmen, probably my favorite from this last chapter of one of the greatest comics. Hit the jump for it.

Event Fatigue Comic Book Reviews - 1/20

Hello readers of Event Fatigue. Sorry that I haven’t had any reviews up in the last few weeks, but I’ve been away from the comic world since the beginning of the New Year. That said, I have three weeks worth of reviews coming your way. I am, however making a change to my reviews. My biggest gripe with the comic book industry is the $3.99 price tag for monthly books. My way of addressing this problem will be to get rid of my 1-10 scale of rating a book will from now on state the price of the book and whether or not the book was worth the money or not. Now then on to the reviews.