CBF 2010 Mid-Year Report Card
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We’re days away from San Diego (the comic world in general, not us – we’re glued to our desks playing Pokemon) and I felt it good to review what the 1st half of 2010 brought to us from the lands of Marvel and DC. This site has devoted a lot to DC books as of late, but there are still a few good Marvel showings that came out that weren’t Avenger-related. That being said, we really felt DC gave a lot to the readers from both its superhero and Vertigo imprints. Enjoy the show and all the best to those attending San Diego this year! |
CBF Quick Picks #27 : Action Comics #890
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This week, I sing the praises of Invincible Ultimate Collection 5 first and salute the stellar run Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley are having. Then I make haste and talk about a new arc going on in Action Comics led by Paul Cornell – a name I wish I knew well during his Marvel days writing Captain Britain and MI:13 in the midst of Secret Invasion. It’s a good start and makes Luthor the center of attention in the long-running Superman book. We were wondering when we’d get the follow-up to Luthor’s tenure as an Orange Lantern and it pays off well as Luthor obsesses over the power he once had. Enjoy the show and have a safe 4th! |
CBF 17: Let Brightest Day Begin, Graphic.ly
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CBF Quick Picks #16 – The Unwritten Brightest Day of Flash
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Such a tough week to pick one, so I’m breaking the system again…
I’m continually impressed by DC’s offerings – as much as Brightest Day #0 got things rolling off the heels of Blackest Night, Geoff Johns was not content to let one of his other characters he helped rejuvenate in the early 2000′s to sit on the sidelines. If Johns keeps this up, DC will be giving him every character to write and he’ll wish there were 48 hour days to accommodate them.
Not to be outdone, Mike Carey has silently been crafting a masterpiece of Vertigo fiction in Unwritten. This standalone story gives more tidbits as to what Tommy Taylor’s dad’s influence could be having on other stories within the book. And it definitely gets us prepped to jump back into the main storyline next month and see where the Harry Potter wanna-be goes next.
Enjoy my babble!
CBF 16: Blackest Night Conclusion, X-Men Second Coming
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So how freaking awesome was Blackest Night? Awesome enough to make me a Green Lantern fan! Tim and I wrap up the Blackest Night story line, talk a little about Brightest Day, The Return of Bruce Wayne, and then finish with X-Men Second Coming.
Enjoy!
CBF Quick Picks #14 – Blackest Night #8 (Spoiler-free goodness!)
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Was there really any other choice this week?
I know for sure Mike and I will be talking about this with spoilers soon, so I’m giving you my take in the meantime but without all the trimmings. It’s been a good while since I’ve read a superhero event that ended in a very satisfying way and you have to thank the fine work of Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis for putting everything together (on time too) and making it stick well. Johns especially has become the premier superhero storyteller today that you can consistently count on (we hope that for the future too now that he’s chief creative officer in DC land). And to think the roller coaster ride continues with Brightest Day next month, which is great as well because Blackest Night truly gave us a lot to look forward to with this new series.
Enjoy the podcast!
CBF 15: Holy Sh*t Moments in Blackest Night, Green Lantern, Plus Joe the Barbarian
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Tim and I review and discuss Blackest Night 7 and Green Lantern 50-51. But first a we talk about a great Vertigo mini series, Joe the Barbarian 1 and 2.
Enjoy!
The Brightest Day Arrives
So it looks like DC wasted no time in getting this week started with some new buzz:
DC sold me on two aspects: 1) it’s a bi-weekly series that will run concurrently with the main Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps books and 2) Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi will be writing the series as well. That’s enough to let me know that the characters will have the same voices and that we get to see what the writers have in mind for the post-Blackest Night world of DC. No artists have been announced yet, but I think it’s safe to say that Johns and Tomasi will get the best around as usual.
My only concern is any potential burn-out on Johns’ part because he’s been sending out scripts like a madman as of late, not to mention him now having more creative editorial input on DC books in general. But I have confidence that they’ll juggle this properly for him because Green Lantern has been a gold mine for DC and I’m sure they don’t want to mess that up now.
Click the image to read more about it on DC’s blog.
Happy 2010 from CBF!
We’ve arrived at the next decade. Hope everybody enjoyed themselves in 2009 and are prepared for more fury from Mike and myself in 2010. Marvel definitely seemed to enjoy the last of 2009 with the official acquisition of them by Disney made known yesterday.
As we prepare to see what the comic world has to offer this year, we’d like to see what you wish to see come out of 2010 in comic books. We already know Blackest Night is wrapping up in DC, Siege is just getting started in Marvel, and Vertigo is continually pushing new and fresh material at alarming rates. What do you expect to see come out of these books and others? What would you want to see overall this year?
Let us know your thoughts and resolutions for the year to come. We already know what Wolverine’s are. What do you say, bub?
Indeed…
CBF End of Year Podcast
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Mike and I recently wrapped up the decade with our 2-part Wizard Decade Edition podcasts (latest one is here if you want to check it out), but I figured to also provide one focused particularly on 2009 as well. A lot went on this year alone, which explains why this was probably the longest podcast I’ve ever done solo. Some highlights on the podcast:
- DC was the big publisher this year in my eyes with Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns leading the charge on the major story arcs.
- Vertigo continues to innovate with their new Unwritten and Daytripper series
- Marvel’s Dark Reign storyline dominates the year, but hear why I believe it lost its focus as the year went on.
- Image and Dark Horse continue to put out quality work in spite of the domination by the big two publishers
- 2010 will see more excellent books and a more focused direction on both DC and Marvel’s sides.
- I lay down challenges as to supporting independents and why comics should never be considered as just “spandex” books
A happy and safe New Year’s to all and we’ll see you on the other side of 2010!