money out of the pocket. The Pull List.

Howdy, folks - Dan here with that list I promised you. Here is what I am currently reading on a monthly basis, coupled with those titles I am waiting for the trade on. You'll probably notice that i'm a Marvel guy, something which I make no apologies for. I love the universe, I love the characters, and I love their stable of writers and artists. Someday i'll probably make a post about why I have problems with DC.

But, for now, here's the list : -

Singles

• Wolverine: Weapon X [Jason Aaron is one of my new favourite writers]
• Wolverine: Old Man Logan [Mark Millar, probably my most favourite writer. one more issue to go, and i'll probably drop it when it becomes Dark Wolverine]
• Kick-Ass ['nuff said. it'd be nice if it came out a bit more regularly though...]
• Fantastic 4 [Bryan Hitch is an amazing artist, we all know this, and i've already mentioned Millar. This title is just fun, all the way.]
• Fantastic Force [giving this one a try. I can't decide on whether I like the art, and the writing has been alright so far. The only thing is, on the first issue, it says "1 of 5", and on the second it says "2 of 4". anyone know the reason for the change?]
• Avengers: The Initiative [way back when the first issue came out I almost didn't pick it up. I'm glad my mate managed to change my mind. Still loving it even though Slott is gone, but I don't understand Hardball's character and what he's doing.]
• Ultimatum [buying it strictly for Finch's art and just to see what happens to the universe I love. I know there's a lot of bitching about Loeb... and it's all deserved.]
• Ultimate Spider-Man [one more issue to go, and then i'll be picking up Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man]
• Thor [never really liked the character before this run.]
• Secret Warriors [the storyline puzzles me at times, but it's got gorgeous art and good writing and characterisation.]
• Dark Avengers [I'm a fucker Bendis' Avengers, especially this new Dark iteration.]
• New Avengers [I know a lot of people think the quality has gone down, but i've never stopped loving it. Always the book at the top of the pile when I get it.]
• The Mighty Avengers [Slott deserves this book, and this book deserves Slott. I'm loving the classic feel]
• Uncanny X-Men [best X-Men in years, really enjoying it. I don't mind Greg Land's art, but all the naysayers on the internet are starting to make me notice it more and more.]
• New Mutants [tried this out on a whim, ended up really liking it. looking forward to seeing where it's going, hope it doesn't get cancelled before it's time - Zeb Wells says he's got a good two years worth of stories.]
• The Flash: Rebirth [The only DC title i'm reading until I go and get Batman and Robin #1 today, I loved Green Lantern: Rebirth and didn't wanna miss out if Johns managed to pull the same level of quality out of his ass. So far I haven't been as impressed as I was with GL:R, but that might be because I don't like the character as much as I do GL.]
• Groom Lake [Quirky little indy comic with always-really-good art by Ben Templesmith.]
• Destroyer [also picked this up on a whim, and haven't regretted it yet.]
• Exiles [the new series by Jeff Parker has knocked me out in terms of quality. Feels like a return to the Winick days of yore which is what I like to see.]
• War Heroes [will it ever be finished? who knows. I somewhat enjoyed the second issue, and the first was really really good. we'll see.]
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 [what is there to say that hasn't already been said a million times? good comic.]

Trades

• Scalped [right now? one of my top 5 favourite comics. this book needs more readers.]
• Fables ['nuff said]
• X-Force [I love X-Force, although i'm dreading reading the Messiah War crossover as a trade because of all the Cable elements to it. ah well]
• The Invincible Iron Man [I loved the first arc as singles but I didn't have the money in my budget]
• Green Lantern [started with the Sinestro Corps War, can't believe i'm going to have to wait about two years before I read Blackest Night...]
• The Walking Dead ['nuff said]
• DMZ [i've only got volumes 1-3, and kind of lost interest, but someday i'll pick up the rest and get caught up.
• Moon Knight [I just re-read the first arc, which I had in singles, and have promptly gone out and bought the second Premier Hardcover. Gonna get all caught up.]
• X-Men: Age of Apocalypse - The Complete Epic [just ordered volume 1 off the net, gonna get all four. This crossover was one of the first things that got me into comics.]
• New X-Men [not the Grant Morrison stuff, but the latest cancelled New X-Men title. it was so good. I want all of them. Volume 5, which I got from a library, was one of the best arcs of any comic I have ever read. and that's sayin' something.]
• Captain America ['nuff said.]
• Thunderbolts [so far i've only gotten the Warren Ellis trades, which are amazing, and i'm dubious about picking up the Secret Invasion trade... but I probably will.]
• The Boys [loving it, although it can be quite disturbing sometimes... which can only be a good thing]
• Powers [trying to get caught up, i've got volumes 1 - 6.]
  

whew. so there you have it. over 30 reasons why i'm pretty broke all the time. but I wouldn't change it for the world!

i'm with Red Skull getting knocked the fuck out. Wolverine #72 Review.

Hello one and all, I thought i'd kick things off today with a review of the latest issue of Wolverine, #72.

Being the penultimate chapter of "Old Man Logan", I thought I was in for something different to what I got. What we get IS very entertaining, I mean, it's Mark Millar. The guy was born into explosions and people saying cool, slightly mean things in bold.

So what it is is basically a fight between Logan and the Red Skull. There's very little follow-up on Hawkeye's death (which I find a shame), and we see a brief flashback to the day Captain America died. Precisely which Captain America is up for debate, but as he's depicted wearing the costume Bucky's wearing currently, i'm just gonna go with Bucky.

As the flashback ends we see Red Skull in his trophy room with loads of mementos from our fallen heroes. I loved looking at the cabinet and seeing what came from which character - loved the inclusion of Beast's head and shoulders, fur just sliced right off him. Pretty chilling.

The fight is sick, as any McNiven-drawn fight is. The Civil War homage shot was great, although why exactly there's a Civil War homage shot when this title has no relation to that story save for the creators is anyone's guess. I think I just made my guess, as it's probably just because it's Millar and McNiven again and they wanted to hark back to it.

Logan dispatches Red Skull in a very gruesome way, which made me cheer inside. Personally, I love it when heroes kill the villains. You'd think it wouldn't take Red Skull gathering up all the villains, annihilating all the heroes, then ruling over the U.S. for 40 odd years before someone decided it was just better to off him. But hey, killing off villains in an in-continuity title is never really good as it can ruin characterisation of your heroes, and you lose a perfectly good villain (lord knows after 75 years it must be hard to ocme up with new villains) and killing off villains in a (supposedly) out-of-continuity title is what out-of-continuity titles are for.

Then we get to the end, and Logan finds out his family have been killed by the Hulk gang. He pops his claws and declares himself Wolverine, and man McNiven can draw. I did see it coming that Logan's family were gonna get whacked, but I was still shocked when I read it. I guess I just thought "Millar'll probably kill 'em, but how much shit is he gonna make Logan take?" That much, apparently. and now, i'm excited for the Giant-Size Old Man Logan Special Extreme Deluxe.

Solid writing, fantastic art (I would like to have a child with Steve McNiven), the only real problem being the pace. I read it in about 3 minutes flat. Too many big panels with not much happening. If I read all of "Old Man Logan" in one sitting it'd probably be less noticeable, but this isn't good in a single format. Especially if i'm paying $3.99.

7.9 / 10 SNIKTS

you are at the top of the rollercoaster.

Hello, and welcome to Jean Grey Isn't Dead. A little blog about comics.

My name is Daniel Woburn, and I love frickin' comic books.

I am 20 years old and currently dividing my time between Uni in Canterbury, and home in London.

Every week I toddle along to the comic book store (if i'm in Canterbury, WHATEVER COMICS, if i'm in London, the mother ship that is FORBIDDEN PLANET) and pick up whatever books are out that week. I'll be posting a full list of the books I read later, if I can squeeze all this blogging in between work, revision, and drinking.

Stay tuned to my blog for weekly reviews on singles and graphic novels, and other musings on writers, artists and the comic book industry.

I'll try to update daily, but for now, keep your eyes on the skies.