Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Weekly Rankings For 09/04/08

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

3. X-Men Manifest Destiny #1 of 4

2. X-Men Origins: Beast

1. Green Lantern #34

I passed on Manifest Destiny as this issue had two stories about characters I really have little interest in: Boom-Boom and Karma. As for the Iceman story, I thought the rollout of this particular villain was a little odd. I would think this character will start showing up in Uncanny fairly soon. So I only got two comics this week as a result.

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

2. X-Men Origins: Beast One Shot

Carey & Woodward

This comic nearly scared me off with the extra dollar cover charge, but this comic is easily a candidate for one-shot of the year in my opinion. It’s an excellent take on the teenager Hank McCoy. It’s not a Beast comic, but a Hank McCoy comic. This story captures all the wit, charm, strength, humor and intelligence from all the stories that the Beast has been in over the decades. The artwork captures the attitude behind the fur brilliantly in a painted style. For a comic with such a simple concept I could have read a mini-series with this type of quality story telling. If you have any interest in the character at all I would read this issue.

1. Green Lantern #34

Johns, Reis & Albert

Awesome issue. In the sixth part of this story I finally get some real character development between someone and Hal. Thankfully, it’s Sinestro that gets it. Oh sure, the issue cleans some things up with William Hand, Carol and Atrocitus, but the real meat is the interaction between Jordan and Sinestro. This issue delivers some new depth to their relationship, particularly the feelings Sinestro has for Jordan. It’s an excellent issue. The art is outstanding, though the zoom out shots seemed a little rushed in the first few pages of the review. This is a can’t miss book.