This week's comics: July 20, 2005

The best stuff for the week of July 20, 2005

Daredevil #75


Brian Michael Bendis wraps up the story line "Decalogue" with Part 5 of 5.

Tired of fighting the never ending battle, Matt Murdock set himself up as the Kingpin of crime. His only decree: "Clean up your act or get out of Hell's Kitchen!" That was a year ago.

A group of people huddle together in the basement of a church to discuss how Daredevil has touched their lives in the past year. As they compare notes a horrible mystery begins unravel. Issues one and two are a bit slow. By issue three this story is one of the best issues of the week.

So I should get #70 - 74 too?
Hell, yes!

House of M #4


House of M is a strange title. Basically, the Scarlet Witch's mutant powers allow her to change reality. She goes insane (see the latest issues of the Avengers, not New Avengers). Before the Avengers and X-men can decide what to do with her, she recreates all reality to suite her and her father, Magneto. Hence the "M" in House of M. Everyone wakes up in a world where mutants are the next stage of evolution and humans are the minority.

Why should you care?
House of M will make some serious changes to the Marvel universe. Not the usual someone dies and comes back, but well, I don't want to give anything away. Let's just say that X-men, Spider-man, Avengers, and Fantastic Four fans should read House of M and there corresponding House of M spinoff titles.

Issue 1 of the series is good for new readers because most history is covered.

Here's the second cover for the same issue, don't make the mistake of buying two copies of the same thing.

Kingdom Come

Remember the movie 50 First Dates with Drew Barrymore. (Dear Lord, she just gets hotter with age, doesn’t she?) At any rate... In the movie, every night as she sleeps her mind reboots and she forgets everything she experienced the day before.. So every morning she wakes up thinking it June 8, 2004, or something like that.

If you read Kingdom Come, you’ll wish you had that condition so you would read it again for the first time.

What’s it about?
There is no longer room for heroes with outdated ideas. Stuff like responsibility, duty, compassion, and honor are too “old school”. The public wants heroes that will take an Eye for an Eye! Unwilling to compromise their morals (y’know, the thing that makes them special), our heroes retire and a new generation takes the mantle to fight the good fight.

Have you seen that next generation? They are a buncha illiterates, I tell ya! With their Mtv and cellphones. Needless, to say our heroes return from retirement to show us what being a hero is all about.

Why is this special?
The art is painted by Alex Ross and he gives some of the best visuals you will ever see.
This books features almost every DC character of the modern and golden age.
Oh, and it has a heavy dose of the Specter.

And?
Superman vs. Shazam. nuff said.

Warren Ellis' Planetary

Do you remember how good the X-files used to be? I mean, when it was at the top of its game?

Remember how as the characters developed, the mystery moved forward and there was always some good science fiction to go along with it.

That is Planetary.

So, what's it about?
Elijah Snow was born January 1, 1900, but he doesn't look. He is recruited by a mysterious organization to be an "Archeologist of the Unknown." He works with Jakita Wagner, the teams powerhouse (super fast and super strong) and an idiot genius known as the Drummer. Together they explore such mysteries of this and the last century.

So why should you care?
What if the X-Files didn't have to worry about copyright law and could do the stories you really wanted to see. Like Mulder tracking down Steve Austin to get the story on Big Foot. Or, maybe Scully trying to piece together why no one remembers anything for a single day in 1932. Supposedly a giant monkey was supposed to have rampaged through New York City. For some reason beef became really cheap as if there was an influx of giant monkey meat flooded the market.

Yeah, it's like that.

Start with Planetary Volume 1: All Over the World and Other Stories. You won't regret it.