Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Weekly Rankings For 12/04/08

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

5. Hulk Family Green Genes #1
4. Wolverine: Manifest Destiny #2 of 4
3. Secret Invasion #8 of 8
2. Cable #9
1. Batman #682

I also picked up Astounding Wolf-Man, but can’t give it a fair review until I’ve read a little primer in issue #9 and the Image Monster Pile-Up. I passed on Hellboy mostly because I missed the Darkness arc and I passed on the Iron-Man, Hulk and Nick Fury one shot.

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

5. Batman #682

Morrison, Garbett & Scott

As much as I enjoyed RIP and much of the Morrison run, I disliked this issue immensely. It began simple enough with a sort of memory lane story telling from Alfred’s perspective. There are appearances of Batwoman and there is a lot of Dick as Robin interaction. But the issue dives straight into Final Crisis and it lost me in the dust because I’m not following that series. That’s not the only problem. It also, seemingly, has nothing to do with RIP. I liked the art and its direction as the bat costume changes along with the times nicely. I hate to say this, but if you aren’t reading Final Crisis I’m not sure why you would need to read this. With all the questions that RIP left open, this issue seems to address none of them. I wish I’d passed on this one.

4. Hulk Family Green Genes #1

Van Lente, Clark, Adams, Areola, Pak, Raapack, Sotomayor, Tobin, Jew, Baumann, O’Clark, Vey & Loughridge

Four stories in one along with a reprint of the 1970s first issue of She-Hulk. The first story is 16 pages and is probably the best. It’s She-Hulk in Vegas and she runs into Joe Fixit. She senses its Bruce, but isn’t sure and a couple of villains show up to screw everything up. The second is about Skaar, son of Hulk from Planet Hulk. This story is nine pages and shows the savagery and mercy that Skaar has, but he is very immature. It’s an okay story if you like warlord type stories. The third is about the daughter of Hulk and Thundra. She, though nameless, is the leader of the army of women. This eight pages story pretty much shows her savagery and mercy as well, only she is capable of speaking whereas Skaar cant seem to talk. It’s an okay story in a nondescript burned out future. The final story is about Scorpion, another daughter of the Hulk. This eight page story chronicles events that took place immediately after World War Hulk with a character who had a minor role in the event. It’s a decent story that has potential down the road, mostly because it’s set in the main Marvel universe. Is this worth 5 bucks? Not really. 41 pages of new material and a reprint, but I did like some of the material in it. This one is for the Hulk completists.

3. Secret Invasion #8 of 8

Bendis, Yu, Morales & Martin

The war is over and the good guys win! Well, sort of. This issue is about one thing: amazing art. Page after page we find details and more details. It’s a tremendous comic. The story is slightly lacking. It’s a straightforward story – aliens invade and the good guys are caught off guard until the gather up the troops. I like the story. The problem for me was the resolution was almost too easy. The Skrulls fell left and right and they seemed like mindless drones. Where were the Super Skrulls and the secret weapons and the tactical approach we saw in the beginning? Add in a twist that is done to some of the main characters and you have a story with some ups and downs. Great artwork and overall entertaining, but maybe a little to “easy” for the heroes.

2. Wolverine: Manifest Destiny #2 of 4

Aaron, Segovia, Salonga & Rauch

If you like Wolverine and martial arts then this is your issue. Wolverine takes a beating by some super powered ninja clan types. He gets a whipping. However, we still only get a glimpse into his motivation about returning to Chinatown in the first place. The story is slowly unfolding. Wolverine finds his “master” and looks to turn the tables on this corrupt group he’s found himself mixed up with. It’s a classic Wolverine near death type story and it works really well. The art is rough but is really fitting for this type of story. I was very lukewarm for this arc but I am liked the first two issues a lot.

1. Cable #9

Swierczynski & Olivetti

Bishop is a bad man. We get some frightening glimpses into the mindset of Bishop and lengths he’ll go to in order to kill the messiah baby (now child). Bishop may say he loves the X-Men, but he sure has an odd way of showing it. Cable, meanwhile, fights human-bugs and begins his training (on the job) of the toddler. She becomes almost a pawn in the battle that Cable fights to protect her. Cable shows more and more that he has honor and integrity in his choices. This series really has a great hold on what makes Cable tick and as we are seeing, it really knows how to break down a hero, like Bishop, and turn him into a monstrously delusional villain. This series is a real consistent one so far.