London Loves Comics: The weekly shop #2

I still have no Cap #25 although I did put my name down on the list for a copy of the overprint. Maybe I should get a subscription to avoid problems like this. Then again part of the thrill of comics for me is picking them off the shelf myself. Sad but true.

Anyway, I didn't buy any trades this week but I did shell out for six monthlies.

Battlestar Galactica #7

While I think Greg Pak is doing a good job with the writing on Battlestar Galactica, I'm still annoyed by the fact that none of the characters look like the actors from the TV show.

NOT Kara Thrace

If Number Six was played by a 7 foot transvestite
with a crush on a man who looks nothing like Gaius Baltar

Madame President?

I've no idea if it's Darrin, but that's definitely not Dee

Oh my God, Sharon Valeri looks NOTHING like this

Of course I'm a sucker for Battlestar Galactica so I'll continue to buy this even though it makes me frakking angry.

Irredeemable Ant-Man #6

This book is going to get cancelled. I can feel it. Shame really. It's not a patch on Kirkman's Image books but it's a hell of a lot better than Ultimate X-Men or Marvel Team-Up.

This issue features a fight on the brim of Dum-dum Dugan's hat. Yet another excellent aside from the fringes of the Marvel Universe.

Spiderman Reign #4

An issue which wraps up a nice little mini-series.

For anyone that doesn't know, this is a Marvel version of Frank Miller's Dark Knight with Spiderman standing in for Batman. It works well and looks superb.

Any comic that has Spidey fighting The Sinister Six is alright by me. Spidey even gets to dispense some life lessons in this one...

Sage words indeed.

Tales of the Unexpected #6

I only bought issue #1 of this because it featured Andrew Bennett in the back-up to the main Spectre story. House of Mystery was a BIG favourite of mine when I was a kid and I was pretty obsessed with I...Vampire as an 11 year old, so obviously this had to be read.

To be honest I'm not even bothering with the main Spectre story anymore. The Dr 13 back-up featuring Bennett continues to keep me coming back though. I mean not only does it have I...Vampire it also has a monocled Nazi gorilla vampire. We need more MNGVs in comics.

Loved this panel from the latest issue by the way...

Thunderbolts #112

Judging by the griping on the letters page, long term Thunderbolts fans aren't happy with the new direction Warren Ellis is taking this book. Hopefully enough people out there do appreciate what he's doing though, because whatever the moaners say, this comic ROCKS!

The main complaint from fans seems to be that Ellis has dropped the whole idea of redemption. It's too early on in his run to say if they're right, but does it really matter? I don't think so.

There's plenty to enjoy in this book without redemption getting in the way. For a start the characterisation is superb. All of the central players are sociopaths, but it's clear that there are a whole host of different mental disorders at play here. Bullseye's sadism is a world away from Moonstone's calculated egoism and she in turn is a different animal to the magnificently crazy Norman Osborne.

It's a fascinating look into the minds of the criminally insane then, but Thunderbolts also has a lot to say about the hawkish philosophy which holds sway in the corridors of power and the moral vacuum at the heart of corporate America.

Yes it's cynical, but with apathy on the rise we need cynics to kick us every now and again. It's good to see a mainstream comic putting the boot into the balls of so many deserving targets. I hope Marvel continue to give Ellis the freedom to take Thunderbolts in the direction he wants.

Ultimate Spiderman #106

The Ultimate line has gone a bit cold for me. I'm not enjoying Kirkman's run on Ultimate X-Men, I can't get on with Ultimate Fantastic Four since Millar left, and The Ultimates is so damn late that I can't even remember what it's about.

Still, I've been buying Ultimate Spidey since Issue One and I'm damned if I'm going to stop just because the cover of the latest issue suggests that Daredevil and Spidey are about to get caught up in some kind of superpowered skipping contest.

"Get up and Double Dutch Wallcrawler"

Cover aside, this is actually a great issue which gets BIG bonus points from me for the inclusion of Ultimate Shang-Chi.

I'm a sucker for a bit of Shang-Chi although, take note Mr Bendis (he reads this blog you know), I prefer to see him in his red robe and headband than that metal contraption you've stuck him in.