GeekMom: Comic Book Corner — January 9th, 2012

Happy Comic Release Day! Welcome to another installment of GeekMom Comic Book Corner, where we recap our adventures in comics for the week.

Dakster Sullivan — Transformers: Prime (IDW Publishing)
Transformers: Prime is one of my families favorite animated series. Thanks to iTunes not picking up the episodes as they air , I have to resort to other means of getting my fix. Recently, I discovered the Transformers: Prime comic book series from IDW and while I enjoy reading about Optimus Prime and the others, some of the series are just not my thing…until I found the animated series in comic book form.

I picked up volume 1 on Comixology this week and while the stories are a little short on the details that happened in the animated series, it still has all the action and heart. The really odd thing about this book is watching the Arcee and Cliffjumper transform. They look more like jumbled heaps of metal in transition than the smooth transitioning robots that they are.

I wish they would put the entire animated series in a comic book form, but since that won’t be happening anytime soon, I’m happy to at least have this one.

Curious to know what I’m pulling this week? Check out my pull list on Comixology.

Corrina — Fear Itself, Marvel Comics, Matt Fraction & Stuart Immonen

There was a recent poll on a comic book board I frequent that dubbed this book as one of the worst of the recent Marvel crossovers. I had a review copy of the event that I’d been meaning to read, so naturally after seeing the comments,  I decided it was time.

And while it’s flawed, especially if you’re a big Marvel continuity stickler, it’s also a lot of fun to read.

And, best of all, Immonen’s art is wonderful. I closed the book thinking if a casual superhero fan watched The Avengers movie, they’d probably really enjoy this book, as many familiar characters show up: The Avengers, of course, a daughter of the Red Skull, much of the cast of Thor, not to mention a bunch of supporting characters. And, hey, cities get wrecked once more. I’ve been reading Marvel comics since the 1970s. This reminded me of the kind of story that used to run through all the summer annuals, seemed world-changing during the event, and then was promptly forgotten about by everyone.

The plot is basically that an escaped god of fear has sent his hammers/weapons out to certain powered people to make them avatars of destruction or fear. It’s not clear why but there’s a whole lot of destruction. The Avengers never seem quite afraid, however, even Thor, whose death seems to be connected to some prophecy regarding the returned god.

Lots of punching and smashing and stuff blowing up happens, and there are some good character moments, particularly with Steve Rogers and Thor and his people, and it ends on a somewhat hopeful note. There’s one big character death but that hardly counts, especially as that death was undone about two seconds later in comic book time. (The death did cause a lot of griping among fanboys at the time, however, and is no doubt partly why the story is viewed so negatively.)

Looking for something else, readers? Check out this week’s listed books:

Action Comics #16 (CP) Adventures Of Superman Gil Kane HC Animal Man #16 Animal Man Vol. 2 Animal Vs Man TP Batman Chronicles Vol. 11 TP Batman Through The Looking Glass TP Batwing #16 Batwoman Vol. 2 To Drown The World HC Detective Comics #16 (CP) Dial H #8 Earth 2 #8 Fairest #11 Gears Of War Vol. 3 HC Green Arrow #16 Green Lantern New Guardians Annual #1 Green Lantern The Animated Series TP Human Bomb #2 (Of 4) JLA Vol. 3 TP Legends Of The Dark Knight #4 Northlanders Vol. 7 The Icelandic Trilogy TP Phantom Stranger #4 Saga Of The Swamp Thing Vol. 3 TP Scooby-Doo Where Are You #29 Showcase Presents Weird War Tales Vol. 1 TP Smallville Season 11 #9 Stormwatch #16 Superman Last Son Of Krypton TP Swamp Thing #16 Sweet Tooth #40 (FI) War Of The Green Lanterns Aftermath TP Wonder Woman Vol. 1 Blood TP Wonder Woman Vol. 2 Guts HC Worlds’ Finest #8

Age Of Apocalypse #11 Avengers Arena #3 Cable And X-Force #3 Captain America Land Of The Free TP Carnage Minimum Carnage TP Dark Tower The Gunslinger Sheemie’s Tale #1 (Of 2) Defenders By Matt Fraction Vol. 2 TP Disney Fairies Magazine #11 Disney Pixar Cars Magazine #11 Essential X-Men Vol. 11 TP Fantastic Four #3 Fantastic Four By Jonathan Hickman Vol. 5 TP First X-Men #5 (Of 5) Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1 Tomorrow’s Avengers TP Marvel Masterworks Ka-Zar Vol. 1 HC Marvel Super Heroes #6 Marvel Universe The Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #10 Marvel Universe The Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Digest Vol. 2 TP Marvel Universe Vs The Avengers #4 (Of 4) New Avengers Breakout Prose Novel HC Powers Vol. 7 Forever HC (PE) Punisher Nightmare #2 (Of 5) Punisher War Zone #3 (Of 5) Scarlet Spider #13 Secret Avengers #36 Secret Service #5 (Of 6) Spider-Man Ends Of The Earth TP Superior Spider-Man #1 Thor God Of Thunder #4 Thunderbolts #3 Ultimate Comics Spider-Man By Brian Michael Bendis Vol. 3 HC (PE) Ultimate Comics X-Men #21 Wolverine And The X-Men #23 X-Men Legacy #4

Acronym Key:  VC = Variant Cover  / HC = Hard Cover / TP = Trade Paperback  / CP = Combo Pack  / PE = Premier Edition

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