Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Weekly Rankings For 01/21/09

Here are this week’s comics ranked prior to reading them:

8. Frank Frazetta’s Moon Maid
7. X-Files #3
6. Highlander Origins: The Kurgan #1 of 2
5. The Lone Ranger & Tonto #2
4. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic #37
3. Uncanny X-Men Annual #2
2. Green Lantern #37
1. X-Men Legacy #220

Here are the rankings after the first read through with a mini-review:

8. X-Files #3 of 6

Spotnitz, Wolfman & Denham

Why is Wolfman’s name not on the cover? And what role does Spotnitz play in this that warrants a cover credit but not a title page credit? Anyway, Mulder and Scully are investigating murders that were took place at the same time by the same person (DNA speaking) by a man who was not in the country at the time of the killings. The story was interesting to start off, but the mystery isn’t really teased enough or played up enough. It’s almost like you knew from the first page that there were multiple people out there. It will be interesting to see how this arc gets resolved with how this issue was set up.

7. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic #37

Miller, Dazo & Atiyeh

What’s Star Wars without some good old fashioned pirating? Zayne shows up and helps the group con their way out of the con they walked in on. The issue spent a lot of time playing up the mind games and scamming through negotiation and was low on the action but the issue was still very entertaining. The issue also was used to showcase Jarael’s force potential. I was a little disappointed that Gryph didn’t play a bigger role in the solution with regard to how they make out financially out of this deal. Still, this was a good caper that got capped here. The art reminds me so much of the Marvel Star Wars run. Right down the big boots and the dirty space ships. This was a good way to start out the new direction for the title.

6. X-Men Legacy #220

Carey, Eaton & Hennessy

Xavier enlists Gambit to help protect him when Xavier finds and confronts Rogue. Rogue is sitting around in Australia kicking around the thoughts in her head and having conversations with Mystique’s essence. The issue builds a good story and sets up an interesting confrontation with an additional party that I won’t spoil. However, there are a couple of players that come from the Shi’ar Salvage Vessel that I have no idea who they are. This kind of stalled the issue for me in a couple of spots. Beyond that this was a good issue to put the pieces in a place for an excellent follow up issue.

5. Frank Frazetta’s Moon Maid #1

Fotos & Vigil

A one shot inspired by the Frazetta painting provides a back story where the Moon Maid is out there alone and is rescued by the man-horse who looks like a demon. It turns out a few parties are looking for this girl for various reasons that involve providing life to world that seems to have extinguished most of it. There are fun twists here and there. The highlight is the creature creation. The Frazetta line has a staple that involves making things look scary and this issue does its share. The only oddity was how dumb the girl seemed to be. I mean, she gives “Babe of the Woods” a new low meaning. A fun read nonetheless.

4. The Lone Ranger & Tonto #2

Matthews, Turnitz & Mavlian

The Ranger and Tonto investigate people’s claims that monsters are killing off the people who wander into a certain town. The story sounds corny but the Ranger unravels an interesting plot. The artwork here fits this story so well as it has an unpolished and distorted look to it. This matches up with the people hallucinating very well. The plot has some odd points that don’t get fully fleshed out, like the folks who seem to be in on the corrupt front, but the story is still very good. Also, this issue is very good because it really gives some unseen depth to the Ranger’s relationship with Tonto. The increased page count helps to ease the pain of the five dollar cover price.

3. Highlander Origins: The Kurgan #1 of 2

Jerwa, Rafael, Lopez & Bowland

A five dollar comic with an overused character in a new type of origins series had me cringing before I opened this thing. However, this was a great read. Kurgan is shown as a child and how he was wronged throughout his young life. Eventually he becomes a man and is still capable of being saved until another immortal (the first he encounters) enters his life. The comic has fantastic artwork, excellent irony, some fighting, a beheading or two and some great character development for a character who usually comes across as all brawn and no brains. The extra page count helped to cull the cost. This was a very good comic.

2. Uncanny X-Men Annual #2

Fraction, Breitweiser & Acuna

This issue helps piece together exactly why Emma was in cahoots with the folks in Dark Reign. This issue gives a mix of flashbacks of Emma’s past affairs with the Hellfire Club and her relationship with Namor. It also shows how Emma resolves these items in the present while propping herself up to be a leader at the same time. I wouldn’t have really been able to see how the parts of these plots made Emma part of the bad guys, but the ending really pulled everything together and left me shaking my head at how crafty this story was. One thing that annoyed me was how difficult it was for me to tell what was a flashback and what wasn’t, but then in the middle or so, I thought this was a great way to keep me guessing and it worked really well. The artwork is not the typically Emma cheesecake look, but she is still sexy in a classy and subtle way. The art reminders me of something out of the Criminal series and I think it suits this type of story where people are just lying to each other left and right. This comic was a pleasant surprise because Emma really carries the book without any other X-Men.

1. Green Lantern #37

Johns, Reis & Albert

Ah, the plot thickens! As seen in last issue, the Blue Lanterns want to convert Hal Jordan into their leader. Not so fast says Hal and not so fast says another Lantern Corps who wants him in their ranks as well. You tend to get this gray area with Jordan because he was a villain and a murderer for a spell. This issue is about the attempt to rescue Sinestro from the Red Lanterns, but when Yellow Lanterns show up on top of Hal and the Blue Lanterns you have a great battle and an interesting twist at the end. This was an extremely fun read. Though, I wonder what the Guardians have to say about all of this. Tremendously entertaining read in what promises to be an excellent run at the ramp up to Blackest Night.