Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Weekly Rankings For 09/10/08

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

8. X-Men Magneto Testament #1 of 5
7. Secret Invasion: X-Men #2 of 4
6. Cable King Sized Spectacular #1
5. Green Arrow & Black Canary #12
4. Star Wars Clone Wars #1 of 6
3. Lone Ranger #13
2. Secret Invasion #6 of 8
1. Green Lantern Corps #28

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

8. Star Wars Clone Wars #1 of 6
Gilroy, Hepburn & Parsons

This issue was a nice setup for the mini series but it didn’t blow my doors off. Anakin apparently has an apprentice and is acting very Jedi Master-like. Obi-Wan is slick in his manipulation tactics and snappy dialogue. The issue has some action, but it feels like tame threats. The plot isn’t very ominous, but it’s early on. The artwork is very similar to the cartoon, which isn’t my taste, but it isn’t the worst thing ever either. The issue is okay, but nothing huge – yet.

7. Lone Ranger #13
Matthews, Cariello & Cassaday

This issue dances more around the plot and the character interactions without really hitting any new or stimulating ground. It’s not to say I didn’t like the issue, but I just wanted it lead somewhere and it didn’t. Tonto and the Ranger almost have a meaningful conversation about where they are going, but they don’t. The Ranger and Tonto are sidetracking into putting out a fire in which we get some more insight into their characters. Beyond that this issue doesn’t give us a whole lot that’s terribly new. The art is very good, but much of the story takes place at night and that doesn’t allow the art to play to all its strengths.

6. Green Arrow & Black Canary #12
Winick, Norton & Faucher

We finally put an end to the mystery of Connor Hawke. When you consider how little info we got for five or six issues about the plot, this issue jams an awful lot in there. Most of the threads are tied up, but not all. The action is fairly good but the ending feels like a co-op. The art is good, but not too grabbing. The issue is good, but not great.

5. Secret Invasion: X-Men #2 of 4
Carey & Nord

The X-Men continue to battle the Skrulls on their terms. The thing about this issue that I really liked the most was how the X-Men were portrayed. They think of everything. They pull out a lot of tricks and tend to remain one step ahead of the Skrulls. There is a strange subplot with Nightcrawler that didn’t quite jive with me. The artwork was really tough to distinguish X-Men from X-Men in too many spots.

4. Cable King Sized Spectacular #1
Swierczynski & Lashley

I really enjoyed this issue. Cable has been on my chopping block, but this is the second issue in a row that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. The issue is told mostly from Bishop’s point of view, but it is very clever with the deception. I had some trouble with the art in some of the action scenes and the Bishop power-grab scenes, but I still liked the issue a lot. I would think if you like to make your head spin with future timelines and cat and mouse games then this issue is a great one to jump on with.

3. X-Men Magneto Testament #1 of 5
Pak, Di Giandomenico & Hollingsworth

This is an excellent story about Magneto in the early going. It takes actual historical events to help craft a comprehensive origin story. The real grab here is to see how horrible life was for Magneto to make him take the aggressive route he plays to perfection later in life. In some ways he’s more noble with this type of real-life background.

2. Secret Invasion #6 of 8
Bendis, Yu, Morales & Martin

I loved the issue. The only disappointment was that Captain America plays too small of a role for my tastes. The Avengers Assemble in a big way. The Skrulls try to convince the world that they are there for the better good of humanity. Also we get some hints at who might be a spy on the good guy’s side. It has a huge cast and it makes solid use of 90% of it.

1. Green Lantern Corps #28
Tomasi, Ross & Laguna

This issue wraps up a short arc. However, what impressed me about this story was that this is the kind of story that grabbed my interest immediately, solved the brunt of the problem and left a little bit tangled for future issues. I liked the artwork a lot as well as it had a very polished look to it, even in the more gruesome parts. Basically, the Lanterns have to solve the mystery of who is killing the families of the rookies. Then they have to track them down. Finally, they have to fight them and get intel from them. It’s a great issue that uses lots of the Lantern cast, including some of the lesser Lanterns. The series has proven to be on par with Green Lantern main issue after issue.