this week's stack

[Emperorjones]

The reality is only one of the top five is really formidable:  The Joker.  Catwoman is a quasi-hero/love interest, The Penguin is a short fat guy, the Riddler is literally a joke, and Two-Face is a great concept but never evolved to be a major bad guy.  Joker and Ras a Ghul are the top tier, but the Council of Owls is very promising.

Sorry RH but I got to disagree with you. I think it all depends on how the characters are written. Catwoman is a quasi-hero now, but that wasn't always the case, and there is always the possibility that she can slide back down into straight criminality like she almost did in the most recent issue of her series, if not for Batman's timely intervention. I think her threat to Batman, not counting her fighting ability, is her seductive powers, is her ability to make Batman blur the line and it could knock him off his game. He's already on a tightrope enough as it is, he doesn't need to question what's right or wrong or see more stuff in shades of gray and that's what Catwoman does to him. She gets under his skin.

I think Batman's war works better for him if its clear, good and bad, black and white, but Catwoman is anything but that. In a way she makes Batman a hypocrite.

The Riddler is an intellect that can match, or nearly match Batman's. There's a lot you can do with that, the contest of these two brilliant men. Penguin has become something of an information broker in recent comics, perhaps not full on villainy, but a person who knows a lot of secrets and that can bring him power and make him more dangerous. I think Two-Face is top tier already, and in the stories where there was a previous friendship/relationship between him and Batman or Bruce it makes their confrontations even more emotionally charged.

[Reginald Hudlin]

I hate being drawn into these discussions, but...Catwoman is a very interesting character, but actual threat to Batman?  Physically no, she might whup an average dude's ass but not The Batman.  Can she game and seduce him?  Yes, which makes her interesting, and dangerous, but not a "mighty foe".

Riddler, Two Face...are there great stories involving these characters like there have been for Joker and Ras? 

[Reginald Hudlin]

New Books:

KICK ASS 2 #5 - Wow, hell of a book. First one I read and had to go back and read it again. 

SECRET AVENGERS #19 - Great one and done story by Ellis.  Fantastic art by Lark and Gaudinano. Why can't more comics be this good this quickly?

WOLVERINE AND THE X MEN #2 - Can't believe I'm reading a second X title.  But it's a good book. 

IRON MAN 2.0 - This is a long storyline, but damn it's a great concept.  Sorry this book is coming to a close.  No one's made lead character that compelling, maybe that's it.

FANTASTIC FOUR #600 - I love 100 pages of all-new story, no reprints.  And all good stories.  Johnny's ressurection was done about as plausable as it could be done.  But the complexity of the FF world is what I love. 

HAWKEYE #4 - disappointing stop (not really an ending) to a good mini-series.

INVINCIBLE #85 - Fun, engaging story without the lead.  Great cliffhanger.

SUPERMAN #2 - Think I'll just read Morrison's ACTION instead.

[Emperorjones]

I hate being drawn into these discussions, but...Catwoman is a very interesting character, but actual threat to Batman?  Physically no, she might whup an average dude's ass but not The Batman.  Can she game and seduce him?  Yes, which makes her interesting, and dangerous, but not a "mighty foe".

Riddler, Two Face...are there great stories involving these characters like there have been for Joker and Ras? 

To be fair, the Joker can't really whup Batman's ass either, unless he gets lucky. It's arguable but I think Catwoman has been shown to throw hands much better than the Joker. It depends on different takes on Joker as to how good he is with his hands. Batman is usually portrayed as so badass there aren't many in his rogues' gallery that are a threat to him.

I'm not as steeped in Batman to be answer your question about great stories. I remember the a Two-Face origin back in the day (Batman Annual #14), written by Andrew Helfer, that I think nailed the origin for the character for me. Wouldn't know of any Riddler stories that I consider great. I think they have moved Riddler more into the anti-hero/hero category for a while at least, and they once did that with Two-Face. It just shows the complexity of these characters and their evolving relationship with Batman that he could impart any kind of trust in them.

[Reginald Hudlin]

Agree that hand to hand, the Joker can't hang with Batman.  Joker at his best, like in Nolan's second Batman film, is a master schemer.

[KIP LEWIS]

Fantastic Four 600:  Great issue; almost worth the 8 bucks it cost.


Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye 4:  Great issue, but this really wasn't a stand alone mini; it's sortof  between the panels Ultimates story.  You need to follow Ultimates to truly appreciate the end of this book.


Secret Avengers 19:  I am looking forward to the next creative team.  Ellis issues haven't been bad, but they're not great either.  Art doesn't help.


Thor 8:  Interesting.  SPOILERS  Tanarus is Spoilers "I'll leave it at that for now.


Annihilators:  Earthfall 3:  The previous storyline was better, It is still interesting, but it's falling short.


Captain America and Bucky 624--I liked the story; I could have done without the pointless nudity.  Yeah, casting a shadow across Black Widow's chest in a key spot may avoid a nude scene technically, but I think that crossed the line.


Alpha Flight 6:  I like, but the story needs to move to it's end quickly.  Only two more issues left.


Invincible 85:  except for some silly married sex jokes, this was a good book, setting up for what's next.  Interesting the the title character doesn't appear..


Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters 9:  Last issue of this title I'm getting.


Superman 3:  Fair story, but until we see where this is going, it's hard to "measure" it's worth as an opening storyline.  Action has been doing a better job.


New Guardians 3:  Really curious to see where this is going.  Still one of the best two GL titles.


Firestorm 3:  continues to excite.  We have no idea who the players are and if any of them are good guys, outside of Ronnie and Jason.


Teen Titans 3:  Again, this issue felt more like a set up issue than the first two.  slow burn build to the team forming is one thing; but I'd like to see the team together.  Oh, and it looks like we finally are getting teen "Green Lantern".  Bunker's powers seem to be Green Lantern style without the ring and with less variety.  (Maybe he's a Purple Lantern.)

[Battle]

Fantastic Four 600:  Great issue; almost worth the 8 bucks it cost.

8 dollars?!



Just think... some day, a comicbook could possibly have a standard price point of 8 dollars.

[KIP LEWIS]

Eight dollars for 100 pages isn't as bad as it sounds.  If a regular book is about 20 page long and cost 3 to 4 bucks; then 4 to 5 books have about as many pages but cost 12 to 20 bucks.

[Reginald Hudlin]

How many of you guys have (or are getting) ipads or some kind of tablet?  Because I think that's the future of comics.

[Battle]

How many of you guys have (or are getting) ipads or some kind of tablet?  Because I think that's the future of comics.

If iPads improve performance and work out all of the bug issues in the future, I can see myself with one, especially after owning my first laptop a month ago.  It's amazing what these mobile devices can do today.


Although I would not abandon books completely, yeah, I can see myself reading a few comic pages on a iPad someday. 

[Kristopher]

How many of you guys have (or are getting) ipads or some kind of tablet?  Because I think that's the future of comics.

I have a Motorola Xoom(Android) and I like reading comics on it. I have classic "Savage Sword of Conan" 1-60 pdf filles stored on the SD card and have all issues of the Morales Sider-Man stored on Dropbox for easy access. I think storing the books on a Cloud service works best for now.

[KIP LEWIS]

Wow, cheap week; only two books.  Can't remember the last time that happened.

Ultimate Comics:  Ultimates 4--I can't predict where this book is going and in this case that's a plus.

Legion Secret Origins 2--I like the Legion.

[KIP LEWIS]

Stormwatch 4:  team is taking form, with most of the focus is on Midnighter & Apollo.

Red Lantern 4: eh.  Story is moving too slow.  Only pick up for friend.

OMAC 4:  Last issue was a step down; this is back in the right direction.

Fearless 4:  Nice quest saga; nice Valkyrie story.

Defenders 1:  nice; better then expected, but not as good as 70s Defender.

Cold War 3:  last issue.  Not bad, but have to choose.

Action 4:  weakest issue so far.

[stanleyballard]

Picks of the week......

Uncanny XForce #18...Remender brings The Dark Angel Story to a riveting conclusion...he shows 80% of the X writers how to revive the X franchise going forward and provides strong characterization, shocking twists, a great tone and good dialogue.  Psylocke is hot again.

X Factor #228 is equally compelling as PAD makes the smart decision to kill off the team lead and brings his dangling plotline from 5 years ago with Wolfsbane killing Jamie and Layla Miller on their wedding night (to the fore) featured prominently in this story.  PAD is arguably the best writer at Marvel right now and certainly the most consistently shocking one with stellar characterization and long term plotting.  Who would have thought that the lead character would be killed?  How will this effect Layla, M and Siryn?  What is the tension building between M and Siryn over reviving Jamie?  Where does this leave Layla Miller now that the team knows her true mutant power is to reanimate people after they die?  Is Jamie really dead?  What exactly did Doom and Layla Miller plot together that makes her his acolyte?  How will Strong Guy react knowing Layla revived him and he has no soul?  Limitless possibilites...all the signs of an excellent writer.

[Marvelous]

How many of you guys have (or are getting) ipads or some kind of tablet?  Because I think that's the future of comics.

We've had convos at work about this with our customers.  Personally it seems on the customer, collector or readder, maybe a little bit of both.  I think of it like this, as a collector, would you collect coins on a tablet but as a reader like I am just to read the comics for the enjoyment, I'd digital it if it if I didn't read them for free at work.   

what's your input and why do you think that?