Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Weekly Rankings For 11/26/08

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

9. Secret Invasion X-Men #4 of 4
8. Hulk #8
7. Captain America #44
6. Superman #682
5. Star Wars Legacy #30
4. Wolverine Origins #30
3. Walking Dead #55
2. Flash Gordon #3
1. Batman #681

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

9. Secret Invasion: X-Men #4 of 4

Carey, Nord, Sepulveda & McCaig

The tie-in series ends with the X-Men outsmarting the Skrulls rather than out-muscling them. Beast works on the magic genocide pill to kill all the Skrulls, but the Skrulls have a twist of their own when the trap is sprung on them. It’s a pretty good issue with a unique conclusion. This series has managed to put names and ranks and roles with the Skrulls which makes the characters a heck of lot more interesting and helped this story tremendously. The art was all over the place. I’m not sure what happened here but I am pretty sure they had more hands in this issue than the credits would have you believe.

8. Hulk #8

Loeb, Adams & Cho

This was a fun issue. It’s not going to make you think too much, if at all, but the story and action keep the thing interesting. Like last issue, we have two stories in one. The first one deals with Green/Gray Hulk fighting Ms. Marvel and Sentry. This is the better of the two stories as it sort of ties into the ending events of World War Hulk (finally). This half of the issue has somewhat of a plot and larger story somewhere in it. The second half is about the Red Hulk and his battles with various female heroes. It’s okay, but its driver seems to be the cheesecake artwork. I’m not sure what the real purpose of this story is, but I guess I don’t quite understand the Red Hulk’s purpose as a whole. Although, he does have some interesting powers as this issue displays.

7. Captain America #44

Brubaker, Ross, Laguna & D’Armata

A terrific issue. Bucky finds himself in a deeper plot than just one with Batroc stealing something. Bucky investigates and pursues and ends up involved in a trap that seems to stem from events that happened decades ago. The issue gives some more flashbacks, this time to the 60s in the middle of the Cold War when he was on the other side of the battle. The comic has a great story and a fast pace to it. It shows Bucky is still a little green in the Captain America role, but not in the spy game.

6. Star Wars Legacy #30

Ostrander, Duursena & Parsons

Oh does this issue GET DOWN. Cade and Celeste spring their trap. Krayt and some other Sith get themselves caught up in the lightsaber duel with Jedi, Imperial Knights, Celeste and Cade. It’s an epic battle. This issue merely sets up the huge finale for next issue. The issue manages to keep all the main characters from losing “face”. We’ll see if that can hold up. This one is for lightsaber battle lovers for sure and the artwork only enhances them. It’s a fantastic issue.

5. Wolverine Origins #30

Way, Deodato & Beredo

Original Sin concludes with a terrific issue. You might have thought Daken and Wolverine would have a bloody showdown, but instead that a confrontation plays out in Xavier’s mind. It’s a great way to show how Xavier’s meddling isn’t always a bad thing. Daken, at the end of this thing, isn’t a shallow character anymore. He isn’t fully defined, but he at least has some direction so this arc served its purpose. I liked that this issue went the other way on the blood bath ending. It shows Wolverine has something to him other than killer. This was a great arc and a great ending to it.

4. Flash Gordon #3

Deneen & Green

Flash and Eldun are held captive by the Lion folk. Flash gets them deeper in trouble each time he opens his mouth. Flash and Eldun find some common ground and become friends, somewhat. Dale saves Ming’s life which opens up a path to a very interesting relationship development. Zarkov meets Vultan and finds that Vultan is a slave that needs help saving. However, Zarkov is met with steep threats rather than a cry for a help. Unique art with extreme light and dark tones only enhances the fast moving story. This series is becoming my new favorite toy only three issues in.

3. Superman #682

Robinson, Guedes & Magalhaes

The sixth chapter of New Krypton hits the ground running. Ma and Clark are visiting Pa’s grave and they find someone already visiting. Elsewhere, Kryptonians decide Superman’s villains are too dangerous left out there running around (or in prison) as they round them up. The tension is mounting and it seems like even Supergirl’s family is split about what’s right and wrong. This was a great issue.

2. Walking Dead #55

Kirkman, Adland & Rathburn

This issue is light on action (and zombies) but takes leaps in character development. We have a comparison of how Rick deals with grief versus how Maggie deals with it. Rick doesn’t appear to be going crazy. In fact, he seems to just feel guilty about his decisions. I’d argue he is more disappointed with his failed leadership then the actual deaths of his wife and daughter. On the other hand, Maggie has been losing family members steadily all along and she is reaching her boiling point. We also get some development on one of the newer characters, Abraham, who seems to be a little on the nervous side. This is a terrific series that I just jumped off the trade-waiting band wagon and into the singles. It’s a great comic.

1. Batman #681

Morrison, Daniel & Florea

RIP ends with the best issue yet. Every character gets a little page time and stay in their established characters. Interestingly enough, the Joker, of all people, gives the best explanation of everything. Basically, there was no pattern is all of this is what he claims. But Batman is the exact opposite. He plans for everything and it seems he was playing some opossum all along. He goes down with his ‘A’ game in place and he goes down fighting. This issue is fairly straight forward and only answers the essential questions. A lot is left open for future arcs, but RIP is definitely dead. But is Batman? I would recommend this issue to anyone, whether they have followed the Morrison run or not. Tremendous.