Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Weekly Rankings For 02/18/09

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

5. Uncanny X-Men #506
4. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic #38
3. The X-Files #4 of 6
2. Highlander Origins: The Kurgan #2 of 2
1. X-Men Legacy #221

My LCS didn’t get their IDW comics so I am unable to read and review GI Joe Origins or Transformers Maximum Dinobots. It’s not clear if they will be in next week but I suspect they wont be. This week was close in the order but not nearly as good as last week’s comics.

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

5. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic #38

Miller, Zachary & Atiyeh

A one shot about Zayne and company (minus Gryph) finding a ship afloat. What they find is a bit of a murder mystery and while it seems like the issue is just a throwaway it actually introduces (or reintroduces) a rift between Zayne and Rohlan and also begins a relationship with Zayne and the robot, Elbee. The issue is fine but it teases some things in here that doesn’t make for a terrific one shot. For example, one of the villains seems to know an awful lot about Jarael but nothing is really revealed. For the most part it’s a good but not great issue. The art duties are handed off to Dean Zachary who has a very grim look to his style, which fits this story perfectly, especially without the comedy of Gryph.

4. The X-Files #4 of 6

Wolfman & Denham

Scully and Mulder figure out the multiple Chan people. This issue has an awful lot of action and killings in it. It seems to be loaded with gun fights which is fine but I kind of like the more detective side of this series. Generally, the plot has a very interesting conclusion and still leaves the door open at the end, which is how I like my X-Files to be. It’s a good issue with a couple of small surprises in it.

3. X-Men Legacy #221

Carey, Eaton, Hennessy & Reber

Rogue is trapped in the Danger Room scenario. She’s fighting X-Men, she’s fighting Marauders, she fighting off Mystique in her head. It’s a lot for her to do on her own. Xavier and Gambit realize they have stumbled on to something big in the Outback and begin the process of digging through the layers and they find the Shi’Ar crew held captive. This issue is still more build up and leaves a couple of mysteries here to be hashed out as the arc enters the final three issues. This issue has a lot of action and a ton of characters, which is a departure from previous issues in this series.

2. Uncanny X-Men #506

Fraction, Dodson, Dodson & Ponsor

Beast and company find an old genetic doctor in Japan after they fight off some giant crabs. Emma grapples with some turmoil and finds that the best medicine is to punch some heads like Colossus was instructed to do. The X-Men deal with a migration of refugees of former mutants while Colossus finds some Russian slaves who also are in need of some shelter. The issue has a lot going on in it, but much of the items in her probably will be a build up to a larger story rather than tying everything up in this arc. It seems that the genetic stuff and the former mutants being taken in will eventually lead to the undoing of M-Day. It will be interesting to see if some villains sneak into to the X headquarters with the refugees. This was an issue that ran the array of emotions nicely. It went from silly (fighting crabs) to highly emotional (Colossus finding the would-be slaves).

1. Highlander Origins: The Kurgan #2 of 2

Jerwa, Rafael, Lopez & Bowland

Kurgan goes through the centuries and grows into his villain role nicely. He’s faced with two main problems: he needs a sturdy sword and he can’t seem to kill Ramirez. The comic helps join Kurgan’s story right up to the beginning of the first movie and it does so very well. Kurgan shows some of the same problems other immortals have, like falling in love and finding themselves caught in the changing political times and involved with conquerors. It’s as good an issue as we’ve seen from this genre and it carries a steep price tag of $5 for 32 pages of story but I enjoyed nonetheless. I don’t know if more Highlander comics on the horizon but I would like to see more of them if they take this type of direction.