Geek Goggle Weekly Rankings

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Weekly Rankings For 04/15/09

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

10. Rampaging Wolverine #1
9. Uncanny X-Men #508
8. X-Men Legacy #223
7. Captain America #49
6. Incognito #3
5. GI Joe Cobra #2
4. X-Files #6
3. Green Lantern Corps #35
2. Transformers Maximum Dinobots #5
1. Walking Dead #60

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

10. GI Joe Cobra #2

Gage, Costa & Fuso

This comic is fine as a study of the character layers within Chuckles. It does a good job of making him more than just a spy or an annoying comedian. However, the story and plot promised a ground up view of Cobra and we really aren’t getting that. All Chuckles does is interact with some Cobra henchmen and he gets some minor plot blurbs from Cobra Commander but this is not a ground up view. In fact, this might give less of a view into Cobra than the Origins series. You will like this if either a) you love Chuckles or b) you like crime dramas. If you were looking for a design level view of Cobra, as I was, this misses badly. I don’t know why they decided on this type of mini series at the beginning of the reboot.

9. Uncanny X-Men #508

Fraction, Land, Leisten & Ponsor

This issue is okay from the set up standpoint. The Madelyne Pryor gang seen to be up to no good but little is revealed of their intentions or results of their actions. The issue has a lot of Domino and she seems to be the one figuring out what Pryor is up to. Meanwhile the Beast science team is laboring over the M Day problem. Oh, and the X-Men get a new team member. I mean a lot happens and its all well and good but it just isn’t too exciting. If you like Domino or some of the others then you might like this issue. The Beast arc is starting to feel like the Endangered Species arc rehashed which is not a good thing. I can’t work this title out at all.

8. Captain America #49

Brubaker, Ross, Magyar & D’Armata

A standalone Sharon Carter issue. This feels like leftovers that were meant to weave into the previous lot of issues that were then saved for one single issue. It’s a fine issue but really all we get is the mindset of Sharon. She killed Steve and she’s guilty. It’s fairly obvious. It’s not a bad issue at all but it isn’t very exciting either. I cant help but think someone picking this issue up having not read any other recent Captain America comic would be bored.

7. Incognito #3

Brubaker & Phillips

The walls are starting to really close in on Zack. His buddy constantly forces him to perform crimes for him like he’s a circus animal while his old employers begin to dispatch their resources to track him down. And to top it off some others are after him. This issue has a lot of action and sets up a story that could go any number of directions. This was a very good issue for the series.

6. Rampaging Wolverine #1

Fialkov, Luque, Yost, Santolouco, Furth, Nelson, McKeever

A one shot with four Wolverine stories. You actually get a full forty eight pages of story with no ads which isn’t bad. The only quirk is that the whole issue is black and white. Wolverine doesn’t fight any super villains but its still a good issue to view Wolverine from the more human side. He takes on some land barons, his own memories of Jean, a sniper and then he lives among the animals in the finale. It’s a good issue and is almost worth the four dollar price tag. It’s out of continuity so it really caters towards the completists out there.

5. X-Men Legacy #223

Carey, Eaton, Hennessy & Reber

The plot unravels as Xavier takes on the Danger room. However, there is a twist at the end that he and Gambit didn’t really see coming. Meanwhile, stuck in the Danger sequence, Rogue isn’t having an easy time facing demon after demon. It’s a good issue that really pulls out some old stories and weaves them back in for the younger fan. I literally don’t know how this story is going to end next issue.

4. Walking Dead #60

Kirkman, Adlard & Rathburn

My favorite series had another awesome issue. The most important development here is that we get a bit of an explanation of zombie behavior. I loved the parallel to the Night of the Living Dead when they ran into the house to hide and trick the zombies. The issue deals with the zombie herd and sets up some interesting moments for almost all of the main group. I liked this issue but it isn’t the most exciting one. I cant help it if the bar is set so high in this series!

3. X-Files #6 of 6

Moench & Denham

Mulder tries to escape the cavern maze and finds the mole people. This issue is probably the best in the series because it makes very little attempt to reconcile the odd plot. There are mole people who seem to abduct people in numerous states using a network of tunnels. Or are there? What was Dante’s role in all of this? This was a great issue to display just how weird things are out there in X-Files land. I just cant say that all of the various characters who had various ideas about how this was all happened were all correct to some extent. We just get ever get the real explanation. The issue leaves it up to the reader to determine it, which makes the story that much better. This was a fun two-parter.

2. Transformers Maxium Dinobots #5 of 5

Furman, Roche, Raiz & Lafuente

Furman wraps many leftover storylines from his run that pretty ended last year in this issue. Grimlock comes into his own as a leader, the headmasters meet their doom, Shockwave shows everyone who is boss and Soundwave gets a reprieve. All of this and there are some surprise characters popping up in the end. The comic has a lot of action and many twists to the plot. The story is great, the arc is great and I hope Furman has more stories to tell for the Transformers because he is the master of these characters.

1. Green Lantern Corps #35

Tomasi, Gleason, Buchman

A terrific issue. Sinestro reveals his daughter’s identity (sort of) while there is a massive jailbreak on Oa. Oh and Yat deals with his annoying father as he tries to get his home world to fight back against Mongul. This issue has a massive battle of colored rings and it just gets the juices flowing for the coming Blackest Night arc. Once again Tomasi manages a huge cast very well. I knew this issue would be good I just didn’t know it would be this good.