Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Weekly Rankings For 11/05/08

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

3. Iron Man: The End
2. Transformers Spotlight: Blurr
1. Cable #8

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



3. Transformers Spotlight: Blurr

McCarthy, Coller & Lafuente

Not the most popular Transformer in the comic stories, so my only impression was from the cartoon 20+ years ago. There he was a fast talking buddy of Hot Rod. In this comic he is a celebrity racer in the old Cybertron. This version is much better. He’s beyond arrogant in this comic until the war breaks up and then he must make a choice. He is propositioned by both sides, Starscream makes the best argument. It’s a good story. Both sides want his skill, but both sides see the drawbacks with taking in such a elitist. It’s a very good issue with excellent artwork. I liked that it used some members of he usual cast, but I would have liked a little more identification of some of the others. Beyond that, this is an excellent one shot that has a great tale of someone’s world who got rocked by the outbreak of war.

2. Iron Man The End

Michelinie, Chang, Layton & Cavallaro

An expensive comic at $5, but it delivers a very good “End” story. Tony is old, in his seventies. He’s married and he’s got some type of erosion of his reflexes in the form of shaking. He’s on medication, but him being Iron Man isn’t happening the way it used to. He’s looking for a replacement and he finds obstacles he wasn’t expecting. This story explores a lot of what makes Tony an interesting character. He’s mastered Stark Universal, his company, but still struggles with the bottle. He’s married but still isn’t too great with relationships. The comic has a small cast of about four characters, but the wife is an interesting selection. It’s a very good story. The only “End” story I liked more was Hulk’s. If you have the cash then this is a good read and its forty eight pages of story.

1. Cable #8

Swierczynski & Olivetti

An excellent comic. Not perfect, but really very, very good. Bishop gets tortured by Emma. They want to know where he planted the bombs to blow up the world and the future. But the real fun stuff happens with Cable. Cable’s farmland gets invaded by US Government bugs. Some sort of humans crossed with roaches. It’s clever and cool. Cable tries to figure out how to get the kid out of there but the hero in him kicks in. It’s not perfect because you might question why a solider like Cable would bury his weapons to begin with. Also, you might wonder why the bugs cant spot Cable ten feet away when he’s spying on the bugs. Its quirky things like these that prevent the comic from being outstanding. The art is an acquired taste, but the bug battle is pretty cool. I guess this comic is a guilty pleasure.