Bruce Castle Presents: Anita Blake Likes Boys

Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse #3 (****)

Am I the only one reading this comic? Go read it if you haven’t read the books. I’m illiterate, but I like the the pretty pictures. And what pretty pictures they are. I love Ron Lim. He’s been drawing comics for how long? And yet his work still looks great. He captures Anita perfectly. I love her character. Hamilton is a talented writer. She should write more comics. Poor Anita! Everyone hates her in this story. Way to stand up for your principles girlfriend!

Boys #25 (***)

This arc should be called “great covers with a mediocre story”. Seriously, doesn’t Darick Robertson draw awesome covers? I love the Wolverine hammer hands already, but now he has to hold that drink with them? Does anyone else get that “Xorn looking at the burger” feeling? Which is probably one of the best covers of all time and I hope you know that. It’s sad though. The last Boys arc was four issues and it was the best yet. This one is supposed to be super important, it’s six issues long, and it’s shaping up to be the worst Boys tale ever! C’mon, Ennis! You are better than this! Robertson, keep up the stellar work man!

Bruce Castle Presents: Marvel’s Multiverse!

Ultimatum #1 (***1/2)

Jeph Loeb’s name is synonymous with good art. David Finch handles the art chores here and it’s nice to see him on interiors again. It’s even sweeter to see Finch return to the Ultimate U. But the art isn’t ever the problem in a Loeb comic is it? Well, maybe in that Liefield one. What? Liefield sucks. Anyway, I actually enjoyed this. It’s the set-up issue and that requires a big bang and it has to leave me wanting more. Ultimatum #1 accomplishes both of those. The characters are handled well, better than you might expect, and there are even a few deaths, maybe? It’s that maybe that bugs me a little. See, when I first read this issue I enjoyed it quite a bit, but after flipping through to write this review I had a few questions. That’s not a bad thing since this is the first issue, but one of these days I want to read a Loeb comic where everything is just spelled out. Oh well, at least this isn’t a murder mystery.

Invincible Iron Man #7 (****1/2)

Ah, the fun before the storm. Matt Fraction mentioned something about the next arc being a “Born Again” story. So naturally, this is the entertaining breather between arcs. But Fraction makes it more than that and proves once again why this book is so awesome. Spidey and Iron Man team up again! But this is a post-Civil War team up, are you interested yet? How about the fact that this issue references an old New Avengers story? With humorous results of course. You might also be pleased because Fraction doesn’t treat Tony like some kind of God like other titles do to their heroes. Iron Man is a flawed character. Anyway, the point is, though this appears to be an overdone concept, this issue is unique. Fraction continues to write the hell out of this book. 

Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse #2 (****)

It’s a little hard reviewing an adaptation of a book, especially since I haven’t read the book. I can say that if you have ever thought about reading Hamilton’s series, but either you don’t want to deal with all those words or you want to look at pretty pictures, you should give this book a shot. It’s an interesting take on the whole monster world (Vampires, zombies, ghouls, etc.) and it seems to be one of the more “girly” books that I read. Anita Blake is a badass chick that is actually a really interesting character. I’m not a Buffy fan so it’s possible that some of this stuff might feel familiar. On the other hand, if you like Buffy, it’s very possible that you’ll enjoy this. Lastly, I’ve always been a fan of Ron Lim’s art and he provides some fantastic visuals.