I Have Issues Pick of the Week 1.21.2009

I Have Issues is a comic book review on the previous week’s new releases. SPOILER WARNING: if you haven’t read your books yet, read no further. These reviews will be posted a few days after comic book release day to give you time to read them so that you can throw your two cents in about what you thought of these books. The picks are currently limited, due to the small selection available in my local comic book shops, but hopefully that will change in a few months. Feel free to visit the Giggaheim.com Forums and start your non-censored, no-holds-barred thread on your favorite books. On with the reviews:

Fables #92

Written by Bill Willingham
Guest Art by David Lapham
Cover by Joao Ruas

I was poised and ready to heap praise upon a different book for this release week, but instead found myself enjoying this book the most this week. For months, hell, what seems like years after Fabletown’s triumph, this book has failed to capture my interest. It was one of the few books with the honor of being the book I would buy both in trade and issue format, but ever since “The Good Prince” storyline I have faithfully bought the book, and merely dropped it in my long box. The trades have fallen by the wayside, and with the absence of James Jean’s covers, I was poised to drop the book. But, I decided to thumb through this issue, with it being a slower week for me, and see what was new in Fabletown as was mildly shocked to find myself tearing through it at a faster clip. The old-styled Willingham storylines had reemerged, and I found myself intrigued as I had been with issue #7. The pencils by Lapham haven’t changed, and the illustrations breathed life into a script that has rejuvenated my interest in this series. I’m looking forward to the resolve in Part 2, and what else happens ever after.

Blackest Night: The Flash #2

Written by Geoff Johns
Art and cover by Scott Kolins
Variant cover by Francis Manapul

I was surprised that I didn’t put this on the “Pick of the Week” pedestal, but Fables outshone the Blackest Night Tie-In. Johns and Kolins haven’t lost any luster, and the Flash tie-in continues to race between the pages of the larger BLACKEST NIGHT story. This event is brilliant, and I have never felt as much excitement, as I do when I hold an issue with the black banner at the top, but the main theme is beginning to get repetitive. The basis of the story is brilliant, and deserves the exploration it’s receiving. After-all, we comic book fans thrive on the return of beloved comic book heroes, and the reactions of those that loved them, but such a story is good as a special and seldom used story.

Geoff Johns continues to shine as a Flash writer by masterfully exploring the rouges, and their motivations. These rogue-centric tie-ins are always a treat since I feel these are the best collections of villains in the DC universe. These villains play the bad guy, and never betray their motivations. They never step out of character, and they always pose a threat, no matter how corny. The resurrected villains give the rouges a true challenge, and the odds continue to stack up against the Flash and his villains. Scott Kolins’ style continues to illustrate the highs and lows of the emotional banter that plays such an integral part of the story. And hey, there’s Gorillas!

RASL #6
By Jeff Smith

I was set to deliver this as the pick of the week. This week had few choices, but all tough ones. With other quality titles such as GREEN LANTERN CORPS #44, and PVP#43 the decision wasn’t too easy, and my money was on RASL#6. This book has been my surprise book of 2009, and I thought for sure Jeff Smith’s indie title about the multiverse traveling art thief would have captured the top spot, but this issue seemed more like a replay of the first issue. The art was masterfully clean and poignant as ever, the story was engaging, but I had this disappointed feeling that I had seen all this before. I guess I’ll have to wait until June to see if this revamp is headed somewhere.