Comics

Angel – After the Fall #1 (IDW)

Here we have the story of Angel picking up after the end of season 5. LA has literally been taken to Hell. Angel has convinced the dragon last seen in the final frames from the last episode of the show to be his ally. They are working to round up normal humans and take them to a safe haven. Who runs that safe haven – his son, Connor.

Angel returns to the Wolfram and Hart building and has a dustup with a demon lord. Wesley comes to break it up. Yep Wesley. Just as Lyla was tied to Wolfram and Hart after death, so to is Wesley’s spirit. We have more setup on the current status quo as we see Gunn and his gang taking out demons and freeing their slaves. After clearing out the demons, they promptly turn on the grateful humans and feed on them. Turns out, they are vampires – even Gunn. (more…)

Necessary Evil #2 (Desperao Publishing)

The premise: There exists a special hidden school of supervillainy. Jacob and Miller, twin sons of the Matriarch, have just joined the school. Miller is totally intoit, but Jacob is not sure he wants to be a supervillain.

This is an amazing title and in two issues has climbed into my top 10 ongoing series.

Issue 2 opens with the first day of school with classes like History of Supervillainy, Avoiding Forensic Experts and Mystic Weapons. In the last class of the day, Anti gives them an assignment entitled The Death of Innocence. Jacob, Miller and a few others work together to solve the riddle. Jacob discovers the way through a mystic portal to a forest glen. On a pedestal, sits a baby and a knife. As a girl picks up the knife, we cut to a base in the sky and a gathering of heroes. Dr. Daylight has confirmed the existence of the school and put his sidekick, Sunrise, undercover. (more…)

Maintenance #6 (Oni)

The Premise: Doug and Manny are maintenance men for TerroMax, inc., the world’s largest organization dedicated to helping mad scientists and evil geniuses conduct their research. Doug and Manny have to clean up after the scientists when their experiments go bad- from babysitting a Man/Shark hybrid to being shrunk to microscopic size to take care of intelligent bacteria living in a toilet bowl.

Yes, this is a comedy series. A slightly dark comedy series.

In this issue, the heating system is on the fritz an all the scientists and employees are meeting for an office party in the lounge. Except for Doug and Manny. They have to report to a scientists lab to clean up a coffee spill. What they don’t know is that the coffee spilled onto a batch of chemicals and is now alive … and hungry. It devoured the scientist and nearly devoured Doug and Manny. They pursue it throughout TerroMax, only to see it run into the lounge. As it begins devouring scientists left and right, it heads towards the secretary who handily captures it in a thermos.

I cannot stress how much fun this series is. While so many comics are being dark and serious, this title is a refreshing change of pace. (more…)

Justice Society of America #10

This issue starts the Kingdom Come arc in the JSA. The Kingdom Come (aka Earth 22)’s Superman is questioned and detained by the JSA as they try to figure out just what is going on. During all this Superman is content to answer their questions as he voices his own. As he tells part of his story, we see snippets of pages from the Kingdom Come series created by Alex Ross and Mark Waid. As the JSA try to figure out what to do with him, they lock him in their conference room. As they continue to debate, Superman listens in until he hears the sound of a girl about to jump off a building. Of course he busts out and saves the day. Power Girl is having a hard time with his appearance – he reminds her of her cousin Kal-L’s death at the hands of Superboy-Prime. (more…)

Ultimate Spider-Man #115

Bendis’ latest Goblin arc marches along with Peter in Shield custody. Kitty sees this and goes into action to free him. This leads to the revelation that Carol Danvers was holding Peter as bait for Norman Osborn. As the issue marches on, Norman is going after his former lawyers and associates looking for his fortune they have embezzled from him. Shield drafts Peter and Kitty – property damage ensues.

I’m still not used to the art change. I am really missing Mark Bagley’s art on this book. Immomen’s Aunt May looks like she aged 20 years overnight. (more…)